We love anything scallops, and this was a great quick weeknight meal. The sauce created from the bean/spinach mixture was great, though next time I might thicken it up a bit. We served this with tomato bread for a nice dinner. This one came from Cooking Light.
Main Dish
Soy Citrus Scallops with Soba Noodles
This one is another result of “clean out the cooking magazines frenzy,” and it came from Cooking Light. We really liked it. I changed up the cooking method a little – I skipped marinating the scallops because I didn’t think they would pan sear as well if already wet. I like a nice sear on them, so I took care of that first, then cooked them in the sauce for a minute to get the flavor set in. I served with a side of snow peas tossed with a soy and mirin vinaigrette, which was nice but alas I overcooked the peas. Don’t do that and it’s a great side! 🙂
Baked Egg Foo Young
I’ve been working on cleaning out old cooking magazines that have now made 3 moves with me, tearing out pages of old magazines, etc. I tear out the page and keep it, which is kind of silly since I access the recipe online in the kitchen when actually cooking! This one came from an old Eating Well and it was worth a try – with good results, we thought. I augmented with some traditional egg foo young recipes as far as seasonings, but did not modify the cooking method. I served it with brown rice and some sugar snap peas and we would definitely make again. A pretty quick no-fuss weeknight meal and good vegetarian option.
Hummus Chicken
Another baked chicken recipe; I wish I could say I remember where I first saw this…Pinterest, maybe? Regardless, it’s on a lot of blogs now. We really liked it. The hummus coating kept the chicken very moist while it baked, and formed a nice crust. I think it will be even better with different types of hummus, but it was definitely worth repeating, and can’t beat the relatively low cal. I served this with roasted brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and yellow pepper, and a wild rice mix.
Baked Pesto and Mozzarella Chicken
This was a quick and tasty meal that tasted a lot more caloric than it was. 🙂 I used Skinnytaste’s method of making basil pesto, leaving out the pine nuts and cutting out a lot of the oil. It was very good; you’d hardly notice it. I also used part-skim mozzarella, which also worked well. This made enough for leftovers, and it reheated for a nice lunch. We had this with asparagus tossed with a leftover pepper I had lying around. Definitely a make-again, but worth waiting until summer when the tomatoes and basil are very fresh.
Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese
The groundhog was seriously wrong and Spring did not come early. In fact, it’s rather late…it’s snowing right now, no lie. We were thinking today that comfort food would go well with this disappointing weather, and given it is MMM, Mac and Cheese was the first thing that came to mind. Definitely a splurge meal, but we enjoyed it. 🙂 I used a Cooking Light recipe and tweaked it a bit – we will definitely do this again. Recipe below is with my adjustments/additions.
Momofuku’s Ginger Scallion Noodles
On the advice of my friend Missy, we gave this a shot for MMM. I don’t know where it has been all our lives, because it’s awesome. Despite the fact that we have the Momofuku cookbook and never saw this, I’m glad it has been pointed out now! You can do anything with this base sauce and noodles. We did broccoli and green peas. Would have been great with an egg too, and many non-veggie possibilities as well. Definitely a favorite of mine now! I served this with Sichuan Green Beans.
Mushroom Stroganoff with Goat Cheese
MMM is going pretty well so far, and this was one of the dishes we liked enough to repeat. This is an Alton Brown recipe that I did not alter save to use vegetable stock instead of beef stock. I did not find any change or lack of flavor due to the stock…however, next time I will increase the salt a bit and also double+ the mushrooms. Recipe below is with my adjustments. I served this with spicy brussel sprouts.
Brussels Sprout Risotto
Mostly Meatless March has been a huge success so far, and this was another recipe we enjoyed a lot. A take on risotto I would never have thought about, but I love brussel sprouts so it sounded like a great idea. This one also came from Chow, which definitely has given us a couple of good recipes to kick off MMM. I didn’t make too many changes to this – I used raisins instead of figs because that’s what we had on hand, and I used all vegetable stock instead of a stock/water combo. I had homemade veg stock on hand and I think it definitely added some flavor to this. I did find it needed more salt than I would have expected, so keep that in mind. This is a definitely make-again.
Slow Cooker Garlic Chicken
This was a very simple dinner in the slow cooker that tasted like it was far more work than it actually was. We really liked it; I didn’t make any changes to the original except to use split breasts only. Next time I might throw in some thighs or drumsticks, but just the breasts were excellent – very tender and flavorful. I think bone in is necessary to the flavor, and we just removed the skin before eating. I served this with asparagus for a very, very filling dinner. I originally got this recipe from a website called Recipegirl, and will definitely to back to see what else she’s got!
Om nom nom! 