for a side i made a very simple salad of spinach, spiced pecans and fresh berries. i fondly remember a little french cafe in new york near one of the theatres i worked at. one of their cheapest meals was the "quiche of the day and mixed green salad". and as i was in the midst of my starving artist days? the cheapest meal was always the one i opted for. this meal was always perfectly filing. a lovely balance between the crisp salad and hearty quiche. so i harkened back to this meal for tonight's dinner!
06/07 my mom and sister are coming to visit later tonight. as i know we will be up late chatting and snacking, i made a very simple dinner. salmon in a mustard dill sauce with a side of roasted tomatoes. the sauce for this tastes decadently creamy, but is actually quite healthy. greek yogurt mixed with fresh dill, dijon mustard and a little lemon juice. it was a meager meal....to make room for the requisite snacks that come with "girls night"!
i set out a plate of cheese, crackers, dried apricots and grapes. the cheese is a "salted caramel wensleydale". a savory/sweet combination that is absolutely amazing combined with fruit.
and no girls night would be complete without....CUPCAKES!!!! since i wanted a variety, i figured it was easier to go to a local bakery and buy tonight's treats rather than make them myself. i split them all into quarters so we could each sample the different flavors. from left to right, top to bottom, the contenders are: lemon, strawberry champagne, nutella, red velvet, kaluha, and oreo. my personal favorite? definitely the lemon!
06/08 there is a sad lack of thai restaurants near my home town. since my mom and sister were here for dinner? that's what we decided to have! i took them to the nearby thai luang (one of my favorites) to indulge in the cuisine. we all split an order of the house dumplings. and each got a different dish that we swapped back and forth from. my mom got the red curry with chicken. a delectable broth of red curry and coconut milk that covered thin pieces of tender chicken, sliced eggplant and bamboo shoots. amy got the shrimp pad thai. here their pad thai isn't overly sweet like at some places. i could eat pad thai daily and never get tired of it! but tonight i got the spicy drunken noodles. and boy were they serious about the spicy part! so to cool our respective palettes we ended the night by splitting an order of mangoes and sticky rice. one of the most genius desserts ever created!
06/09 after the indulgences consumed with my mom and sister's visit, i kept tonight's meal fairly simple. i made a mediterranean wrap. a small flour tortilla with a spread of hummus, tzatiki, cucumbers, roasted red peppers, black olives, tomatoes and feta. all wrapped up and ready to go!
06/10 i've been seeing a lot of "copy cat" recipes for the bang bang shrimp served at bonefish. i've only ever had the dish once, but the memory of the sweet, creamy, spicy sauce definitely stands out in my mind! so tonight i compiled a few of the recipes to create a wonderful dish of sautéed shrimp tossed in a combination of greek yogurt, mayonnaise, sriracha, sweet chili sauce and scallions. it was actually very quick and easy to throw together. and a phenomenal balance of textures and flavors. the addition of the greek yogurt to substitute part of the mayonnaise lightened it up significantly. and actually added a nice tangy flavor.
as a side dish i made something i've been wanting to experiment with for a while. oven baked "fried green tomatoes". well....actually these were tomatillos. i was hoping to find green tomatoes at the farmer's market but struck out. though i read many reviews that tomatillos make a good substitute, so i gave them a try! i had never even heard of fried green tomatoes until i moved to atlanta. and it took me a while to try them. they sounded so....weird. tomatoes are squishy, why would you fry them? but after i had my first bit of a cornmeal crusted fried green tomato at the flying biscuit cafe in candler park i was hooked. since then i've ordered them whenever i've had the chance (which is far and few between when you don't live in the deep south). i figured the crispy, slightly sweet, slightly tangy and slightly spicy creation would be a good side car to the shrimp. i am happy to say, i was not wrong! i mixed the cornmeal and breadcrumbs for these guys with old bay which added a wonderful flavor that complimented the heat of the shrimp. i opted for an oven baked version to be health conscious. maybe they weren't as crispy as if they had been fried. but they were still good! next i want to use these as part of a "blfgt"....bacon lettuce and fried green tomato sandwich!
06/11 i had a fair amount of shrimp left over from last nights meal, so tonight i threw together a salad and topped it with those wonderful spicy crustaceans. i added some sweet corn and bacon to bring extra flavor and texture to the salad. the shrimp were just as good the second day!
06/12 at least once a summer i make a batch of pulled pork bbq. i guess technically it isn't summer yet, but it sure feels like it! so i turned on the crock pot and put a beautiful pork tenderloin on a bed of sweet onions to slow cook for the day. i know pulled pork is usually made with pork shoulder, but i was trying to cut out a little fat and add extra flavor. when i slow cook this recipe, i pour in a bottle of ginger beer, which not only adds and excellent flavor, but provides enough moisture to keep the tenderloin from drying out! once it's tender enough to shred with a fork, all it needs is a little bbq sauce! this has consistently been a successful meal over the years. pulled pork always calls for a side of cole slaw. and personally? i like a three bean salad. and i'm not ashamed to admit, i use the kind from a can! i find that hanover brand has an excellent three bean salad. the strong bite of vinegar and the sweetness of the sauce pairs perfectly with the pork and cole slaw!
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