Week 41 began with our new favorite from Rachael Ray. Her one pan roasted grapes and sausages are easy, flavorful and delicious. I watch for specials on grapes and the availability of beautiful fennel and then I add this recipe to the menu plan.
Roast Sausages and Grapes
A 5-ingredient sausage dinner!
I spent the day on Wednesday in the kitchen. I made soup…there was still a chill in the air and I have been meaning to try this particular recipe. It was a quick preparation and perfect for lunch.
20-Minute Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Soup
This delicious chicken enchilada soup is thick, cheesy, and ready to go (once your ingredients are prepped!) in just 20 minutes! As promised, here is your second chicken enchilada soup recipe in one week!
I also had zucchini remaining that was beginning to look rather sad, so I tried yet another intriguing bread from my pinterest board. I should have stuck with my tried and true zucchini bread. This bread we used as a dessert not a bread.
GLAZED LEMON ZUCCHINI BREAD – StoneGable
Zucchini are one of the most underrated vegetables in the garden. They are huge producers and only get a nod or recognition for it!!! But, I’ve found a recipe that does what Marinara Sauce did for the tomato and what Buffalo Wings and Bleu Cheese did for celery!
For the ‘Ole Buckeye’s Thursday meal I found a recipe on my pinterest board “Looks Good Enough to Try” that I thought would interest him. The ingredients were stocked and the preparation simple. An added plus…the crock pot, no last minute attention would be needed and his day would be free.
Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken
Slow cooked shredded chicken with corn, tomatoes and black beans. Prep this the night before and turn your crock pot on in the morning for an easy weeknight meal. Serve over rice or in a bowl with nachos on the side, and don’t forget the toppings.
Avocado Bell Pepper Salad – Wholefully
I’m hesitant to even post this recipe because it is so stupendously easy that it really isn’t a recipe. But then I remember that I eat this pretty much every other day for lunch, and I figure a salad that I eat that often should probably exist somewhere on my blog.
I had avocados and peppers in the frig, so I googled a salad with a Tex/Mex feel to accompany his meal. Voila…a fresh, easy and very tasty salad that was perfect with the meal and a keeper for a recipe. I see this being well utilized in the summer and no dressing to mix….just lemon. (Actually I used lemon and lime because we like lime with avocado.)
Dinner was a success and it will take the place of our other favorite Tex Mex Crock Pot recipe…maybe.
Friday it rained, and rained, and rained. Tornado warnings all around us. It was the perfect day to veg out at home. And bake. And change the menu.
I was making a supreme attempt to clear out the refrigerator and I still had a zucchini. Since the Lemon Zucchini bread was more like a dessert, I decided to try a savory bread.
Bacon, Cheddar, Zucchini Loaf or Muffins
Bacon, Cheddar Zucchini Loaf. A wonderful light and fluffy bread with great flavors. Serve warm or cold, it’s delicious either way! great for brunches, lunch boxes,parties too! Bacon & Cheddar Zucchini Bread. The flavours are simply wonderful! This is delicious served warm from the oven or cooled.
I made the loaf version and as I prepared our Greek dinner we sliced off a piece while still warm as an appetizer. Yum. So different than most vegetable breads. We decided it would be a perfect breakfast bread.
The rainy day also brought an evaluation of my menu plan. I had plenty of time to cook and I knew that several of the meals planned would provide enough for Cook Once/Eat Twice. Since we would be traveling next week, I decided to put the salmon dish on hold and go ahead with the Greek shrimp dish. I would stick with the company pot roast on Sunday since we were having our son in law for dinner. (my daughter is out of town for work), I also knew that both of these dishes would be eat again meals and take us to the middle of next week without additional cooking. Now that’s a plan!
OK, on Friday I went to Greece, well as close as possible without going either out to eat or boarding a plan to travel east. I made the Shrimp with Feta that sounded so much like one of my favorite dishes from the past. IT WAS AWESOME!
Greek Shrimp with Tomatoes & Feta – Once Upon a Chef
This easy, over-the-top delicious recipe comes from my good friend and Once Upon a Chef right hand, Betsy Goldstein. Since it’s made almost entirely from pantry and freezer staples, it has quickly become one of my go-to meals when I have to hit the kitchen running.
The flavors were just as I remembered. I served it with a Greek village salad and rice, but next time just some Greek green beans–no rice needed. This is a keeper! AND there is enough left that we can eat it again!!! Yeah.
Just so you know, I love Greek food. Greek feta, dill, lemon,mint, seafood…all of the flavors that they use so well. What is the Greek word for yum? «γιαμ γιαμ»
Saturday proved to be a refrigerator inspection day to deplete any leftovers and figure out what to do with anything that might spoil over the next week. I also had a partial loaf of Italian Bread that was on the verge of stale and enough sausage and peppers and Avocado Pepper Salad to make a go of dinner. I knew the Sausage dinner would be good. I sliced, and buttered the bread and sprinkled it lightly with parmesan and garlic. Into the oven it went with the sausage dinner to heat. I was uncertain how the salad would be since it had chunks of avocado. To our delight the salad was still excellent. Just one more reason to add to favorites!
We had invited out son in law for dinner early in the week because I had the Pot Roast dinner planned. I had not taken into consideration the prep and cook time for the dinner. We had a soccer game schedule that looked to make the meal a little stressful. As it turned out the later game was cancelled due to wet field conditions, so we were home be 2:30. It turned out to be a good thing, because this meal took the rest of the afternoon to materialize.
As so often happens, I bit off more that I should chew. I decided to not only make the New pot roast recipe, but also a new smashed potato recipe, a new brussels sprout recipe, and a new dessert. Obviously my Sunday afternoon and early evening were spent in the kitchen.
Outcome…the men were overjoyed. Dinner a success.
Company Pot Roast
For the ultimate one-pot comfort food, try Ina Garten’s Company Pot Roast from Barefoot Contessa on Food Network, served with an herbed Burgundy-cognac sauce.
Ina’s pot roast was tender and flavorful.
Parmesan Smashed Potatoes – Once Upon a Chef
This side dish is like a rustic version of mashed potatoes. To make it, you simply boil a few pounds of baby red potatoes, smash them with a dinner fork, and mix them with butter, Parmesan cheese and seasonings. So easy…and everyone loves it.
The potatoes were so simple. I don’t make mashed potatoes very often any more because I don’t like the process of the whole mixer element and questioning just how much milk to add. Sometimes they are good, sometimes too runny sometimes more like glue. These smashed potatoes were great. The Parmesano/Reggiano unneeded for this particular meal. Just plain would have been fine. For many other menus the addition of the cheese would be a great accompaniment.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Shallots with Balsamic Glaze | Skinnytaste
These pan roasted brussels sprouts are perfectly charred, and finished with a sweet balsamic glaze. Please welcome my friend and guest author Jackie Ourman, who writes at CAFE Celiac & Allergy Friendly Epicurian. I tested these out myself while taking the photos and we LOVED this recipe!
My son in law’s favorite vegetable is brussels sprouts and he was a fan of these. The ‘Ole Buckeye was not a fan of the balsamic glaze. He does not like to mix sweet and savory. I think the next time, and there will be a next time, I will add plain balsamic to this dish. It was great.
Last but by no means least…dessert. Blackberries were on sale this week. Normally we would eat them fresh, but I needed a company dessert.
Easy Blackberry Cobbler
Rather than breaking a sweat over the perfect pie crust and lattice top for your farmers’ market blackberries, use them up in a simple cobbler. All you need are fresh berries plus 5 more ingredients. To make it special, top with whipped cream and a mint garnish.
I served this with fresh whipped cream and it was delicious. Simple to create and great flavor. I will be tossing the strawberry cobbler recipe from last week and adding this. I am certain you could use any fresh berries. Adding the lemon…who knew it could make such a difference in flavor. (The ‘Ole Buckeye eyed it the next morning for breakfast.) He was a fan.
Monday and Tuesday were repeats of the Greek Shrimp and Feta and the Pot Roast Dinner. Both were thoroughly enjoyed once again. It never ceases to amaze me that the second time around is often more flavorful than the first. It also amazes me that so many people I know do not eat leftovers. So sad.
We had yet another week of fine eating and more recipes to add to our meal rotation. What a great week of fabulous food.
