Elisa's Eye on the World

Meals that March On

Cold but not freezing weather, good produce, the Internet for on going recipe ideas, here's what I served up last week:

• Roasted mustard/maple syrup root vegetable: turnips and sweet potatoes
• My mac and cheese from the freezer with a tossed green salad
• Roasted yukon gold potatoes to accompany already roasted root vegetables
• Store bought frozen potato dumplings with steamed broccoli and carrots
• Asian noodles from the 'fridge case stir fryed with my own home simmered Teriyaki sauce. With tofu, baby bok choy and white mushrooms; served with short grain brown rice. The leftovers made a nice lunch today with some store bought frozen spring rolls and some shredded Romaine lettuce.
  
  

Week of Eats

Ah, we have rolled into February, with 29 days this years so extra extra!

This week we had:

• Walt's classic baked burritos. Refried beans, chopped red pepper, carrots and spinach. Monte Jack Cheese rolled up in a flour shell, served with brown rice.
• Mock Chicken Chow Mein with "non meat" tenders, lovely fresh noodles mixed with homemade sauce following package directions. Veggie list: purple onion, baby bok choy, orange pepper, peas.
• Another amazing pizza with the "Artistan Dough in Five Minutes Per Day" book. Pulled from the freezer were the dough, sauce and cheese. From our co-op a small container of Vegan (no cheese) basil pesto. Topped with chopped fresh sweet onion and orange pepper this was nothing short of Kick Ass.
• Thai Fried Rice for One was a zippy lunch with some stray veggies: chopped Swiss Chard and Bell Pepper a scrambled egg topped with slivered almonds.
• Baked potatoes were simply delicious, flaky and flavorful without any added fat. The accompaniment were Ms. Paltrow's Roasted Vegetables with of equal amounts of maple syrup, extra virgin olive oil and Dijon mustard. I did not have sweet potatoes but had turnips and carrots. Served the next night, it was even better. Can't wait to try again with the sweeties.

Vegetable and Tuna Casserole in the New Skillet

The distinctive base of the dish are slowly sauteed onions, mushrooms, yellow pepper and green peas. The milk is standing by on the stove, warmed by this and the pasta water pot.

The cooked egg noodles, tossed with pepper, parsely and olive oil.

Bringing to a simmer after whisking in flour and milk. The spaciousness of the pan made this easier than last time.

After the sauced vegetables were simmerd for a bit the pan was removed from the heat, and tuna & cheddar cheese mixed in.

Homemade breadcrumbs with fresh thyme and a wee bit more cheddar cheese topped the dish.

The finished product cooling on the counter. Some of the fresh thyme did not get chopped right, so I plucked those stemmy pieces away before serving.

Orange-Tomato Couscous with (Mock) Chicken

I'm in the process of making the Orange-Tomato Couscous with Chicken in this month's "Eating Well" magazine. Since we don't like meat I'm using these mock chicken tenders. I just added up the ingredients and it's pretty close to their estimate of $2.50 per serving, based on 6 servings.

What a lovely array of colors -- and the scent of cinnamon, cumin and orange is quite pleasant.

The finished dish ready for doling out onto a bed of baby spinach.

My dish and the photo from the magazine. Next time I'll get the cilantro and we're thinking of enjoying the leftovers in spinach wraps served with plain yogurt.

 This is the first full dinner prepared in our new 13" skillet, and the start of the new "skillet meal" category in Elisa's Eye. Thanks Mom S. for the thoughtful gift subscription!