Every once in a while, I eat semi-vegetarian. After 2 weeks of over-indulgence during our holiday escapades, my body is in need of a break from the rich, meat-laden dishes. I don't think I could ever give up meat though. I just bought 4 pounds of strip steaks from Costco and will be back on the chuck wagon by tomorrow.
Last night, I cooked just for ME. ME and only ME. It may sound self-indulgent, but I really don't care. My family dinner menu planning revolves around trying to please 5 different palates. Not too spicy. Not chicken again. I want steak. What am I going to eat? Tonight it's ME.
After tricking the kids into making their own Thin Crust Pizzas, I went to work on dinner for ME. My original recipe came about from what was available in the fridge and freezer. I started picking ingredients out and began boiling and sauteeing. Usually I can never duplicate my made up recipes because my memory fails me. I really need to do some more crossword puzzles.
Here's what I came up with. Change up the vegetables and cheese, and nuts to what you have on hand. Tell ME what version you made and I'd like to give it a try.
Every once and a while, take care of #1. You'll like #s 2, 3, 4, and 5 much more if you do.
Two Pastas with Sauteed Spinach, Mushrooms and Bleu Cheese
Ingredients on hand:
about 2 - 3 cups pasta, I used rotini and penne, cooked and drained
olive oil
pat of butter
1 big handful mushrooms, sliced thin
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped
3 tablespoons half and half
1/4 cup bleu cheese, crumbled
dash of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
3 - 4 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
Heat a saute pan to medium high. Add a good drizzle of olive oil and a small pat of butter. Saute the mushrooms for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and spinach and cook until the spinach wilts, about 2 minutes. Stir in the half and half and bleu cheese and cook for a minute or 2. Add a dash of red pepper flakes, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in pine nuts.
3 comments:
Cooking Accomplished! has been a great find for myself and several of my friends. The concept is simple; you go online, pick the entrees you want and the date you want to assemble them. The difference between Cooking Accomplished! and several other businesses like this in Portland, is quality! The owner is a trained chef. They have a commercial kitchen where all the ingredients are prepped by Shelley and her staff. Many of my friends, prior to joining me for meal assembly sessions at Cooking Accomplished!, admitted to serving and eating frozen or pre-cooked meals several times a week and to dining out two or three times a week. We decided since we are worried about nutritional value and using quality local ingredients we would research meal assembly as a solution to reducing time spent shopping and preparing dinners with the goal of eating healthier. The only assemble-your-own meal company that we found in Portland, that had great selections, high quality local ingredients and prepped all their food in-house is CookingAccomplished! in Lake Oswego. Since I started preparing meals at CookingAccomplished! I've also signed up for a couple of great cooking classes. My son attended a kids class as well and he can't wait until the next one. Shelley has done a fantastic job of creating a quality experience!
Mmmmm...this looks delish! And I think my whole would like it. I will try it and let you know how it goes!
Meant to say my whole FAMILY would like it. Oops.
...need more coffee this morning, obviously.
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