Tag Archives: weeknight dinners

Jan19

An assortment of tiny grilled cheese sandwiches

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I thought it would be fun to make a few different types of small grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. It’s just as easy to make a few different types as it is to make one. I also love making mini grilled cheese sandwiches to pair with slow-roasted tomato soup. They are perfect for dipping!

I used half of a seeded baguette, cut into 1/2-inch slices (I wish I had gone a little bit thinner), cheddar cheese, emmentaler cheese, apricot preserves, and some thinly sliced sausage.

I buttered one side of each slice of bread, then tried a few different combinations inside: cheddar and sausage, plain cheddar, emmentaler and apricot preserves, and emmentaler and sausage.

The emmentaler/apricot combination was the winner, in my opinion!

Jan16

Sausage, artichoke, potato salad omelet

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Paco and I had a few people over to watch the epic 49ers/Saints game on Saturday (I am by no means  a football fan but this game was intense), and we have some leftover sausages, potato salad, and artichoke salad. To me, this sounded like the makings of a delicious omelet. You can use whatever you have in your fridge. Leftover grilled vegetables or fresh vegetables would be fine, and if you don’t have leftover sausage, you can just brown some regular breakfast sausage (or bacon/ham/pork product of your choice) and throw it in.

“Leftover” Omelet

5 eggs
1/4 c. milk
black pepper
cheddar cheese, grated
cooked linked sausage, diced
leftover potato salad (this one did not have a ton of mayo), with the big pieces broken up
leftover artichoke salad

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray or butter a loaf pan.
2. Beat the eggs in a large bowl, add the milk, pepper, half of the cheese, the sausage, potato salad, and artichoke salad.
3. Pour the egg mixture into the loaf pan. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the mixture.

4. Bake for 25 minutes or until firm and golden brown.

Jan12

Slow-roasted tomato soup

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I never liked tomato soup until this past year, and it is all thanks to this recipe.  The roasting of the tomatoes makes a huge difference to me!  This soup is light, savory, and perfect for dipping either toasted, buttered slices of baguette, or a grilled cheese sandwich.

Roasted Tomato Soup
Adapted from Melissa D’Arabian

8 roma tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise, or quarters if they are really big
3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 T olive oil
1 T butter
1/2 onion, diced
2 c. chicken or vegetable stock
1 tsp. dried herbs de provence
1 T fresh tarragon

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, then drizzle a little bit of olive oil on the foil.
2. Place the tomatoes cut side down on the cookie sheet. Drizzle a little bit more olive oil over them, and toss the tomatoes around in the oil. Add the cloves of garlic to the cookie sheet, and season the entire sheet liberally with salt and pepper.


3. After an hour, take the tomatoes out of the oven and flip them over. The skins should be blistering, so that you can easily peel them. (If not you can peel the skins later.)


4. Put the tomatoes back in the oven for another 30 minutes.
5. While the tomatoes finish roasting, saute the onion in butter over medium low heat. When they are soft, add the herbs de provence and tarragon, and saute for another minute. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Allow both the tomatoes and the stock to cook a little bit before handling. Peel the roasted garlic. Puree the stock, tomatoes, and garlic in a blender. When blending hot liquids, remember to remove the plastic stopper in the middle of the blender top, and cover with a dish towel instead. (If you close the blender normally, the steam will build up in the blender the top will pop off.)
7. Pour the soup back into the pot, and heat over medium low heat.

Serve with buttered bread or toast.

Jan8

Baked eggplant parmesan

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Baking eggplant parmesan is so much easier than frying it. I love that you can bake a whole sheet at once in the oven.

I bought these cute little eggplants at the farmers market, but one big one would be just fine. I always leave the skin on, but you can peel it if the texture bothers you.

Baked Eggplant Parmesan

1 1/2 lbs. eggplant
kosher salt
black pepper
1/2 c. flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. panko crumbs
1/4 c. plus more for sprinkling, finely grated parmesan or parmesan/romano blend
28 oz. can whole tomatoes
1 small onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. sugar
8 oz. mozzarella
1 lb. linguine

Make the eggplant:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Slice the eggplant into 1/2-inch slices. Salt with kosher salt, and allow to rest for an hour. Blot the water that has been released from the eggplant, then flip the slices over and salt the other side. After an hour, blot the second side. (You can skip the salting and just slice the eggplant if you’re pressed for time.)
3. Set up a little assembly line, and coat the eggplant slices first in flour, then egg, then a mixture of panko and grated parmesan/romano cheese.
4. Place the eggplant onto a wire rack on a cookie sheet. Spray the coated eggplant lightly with a little bit of olive oil or cooking spray.
5. Bake at for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Make the sauce while the eggplant is baking:
1. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic, onions, and red pepper flakes. Sautee until the onions are translucent, and season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the tomatoes, 2 cups of water, the oregano, and the sugar. Salt to taste.
3. Bring to a gentle simmer, and allow the sauce to simmer for at least 20 minutes. You can add fresh basil or parsley at this point as well.

Assemble the eggplant parmesan:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. I like the eggplant to stay crispy, so I only use a little bit of sauce and then serve it with extra sauce over the pasta. Spread a little bit of sauce in the bottom of a large casserole dish, then lay the pieces of eggplant on top of the sauce, and cover the eggplant with the mozzarella and parmesan.


3. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown.

Serve over pasta with additional sauce.

Jan5

Panzanella salad

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Even though it’s January, the weather has been quite summery here lately. One of our favorite things to eat when it’s warm out is panzanella.  This “recipe” can be modified as much as you’d like. I don’t usually measure when I make this, so you can adjust the amounts  to taste.  You can also add cucumbers, olives, or anything else that sounds good to the salad.

Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt
Pepper
1/2 loaf of baguette
1 lb. tomatoes, I used mini heirlooms from Trader Joe’s
10 basil leaves, chopped or ripped
8 oz. fresh mozzarella, or as much as you like
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
Parmesan or Romano cheese

1.  First make the dressing. Mix 2 parts olive oil with 1 part vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper.  Add a bit of mustard or dry mustard if you’d like.

2. Toast the bread. Slice the baguette into 3/4 inch slices. You can drizzle them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, or you can leave them plain. If you like extra garlic, cut a clove of garlic in half, then rub it along the slices of bread before baking. Bake at 425 degrees F for a few minutes, until lightly toasted. Cut the bread into cubes. (OR, you can get really crazy like I did, and smear a little bit of this garlic crack spread that they sell at the farmer’s market on the bread before toasting, for extra garlic flavor.)

3. While the bread is toasting, slice your tomatoes into a size that works for you. I usually use cherry tomatoes and slice them in half. Slice the mozzarella balls into bite-size pieces.  Toss the tomatoes, mozzarella, and red onion with the dressing.

Look how cute the “mini heirlooms” are!

4. Add the bread, a sprinkle of parmesan, the basil, salt, and pepper to the salad.

Serve immediately, before the bread gets soggy.