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I find that pasta is the go-to meal when you’re short on time. It only takes a few minutes to boil the water for noodles, a couple of seconds for pre-prepared sauce, and you’re good to go. But it makes a nice special dinner too, with a little extra effort. One of the easier, faster homemade sauces I make for pasta is garlic cream sauce. No, really – its fast and easy – and I can be impatient, so that’s a good thing. This was D’s plate of shells and garlic cream sauce with sauted shrimp and halved grape tomatoes. Trust me, its worth it.
Easy Garlic Cream Sauce
- 1 pint heavy cream
- 1 bulb garlic, chopped very fine or to a paste
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
Melt you butter in a pot and add the garlic. Saute at low heat until garlic just begins to turn golden. Add flour and stir very well – cooking at low heat for a minute or two. Stir in sea salt, then slowly mix in heave cream. Use a stick blender to make sure the garlic is well incorporated, then heat on low for 5 minutes or so. Now you’re ready to go!
As a veggie I end up eating an aweful lot of salad. Unfortunately, I don’t care much for lettuce (well, at least the regular iceburg kind – I find it bland). So I try to be as creative as possible, or find a decent dressing. I brought this little spinach salad to friend’s house as my contribution to dinner. The salad is raw baby spinach, roasted almonds, strawberry and orange pieces, and on the side were parmasan bits to add. The dressing was equal parts balsamic and olive oil, with 2 tbsp orange juice. Simple, yes. Tasty, also yes. Leftovers, a resounding no.
Two delicious bentos for two different people, all tied up in one photo! Its like a two for one, only better. And, my lunch was the best because of the tofu. After experimenting, i made grilled honey terriyaki tofu to great success at dinner, and it was even better with my soba. I used the same marinade/sauce chicken for D, but even he agreed the tofu was superior (score!).
In the yellow bento (my lunch) are soba noodles with sauce container, honey terriyaki grilled tofu, edamame, grapes, pomagranate arils, and kiwi slices. In the blue bento (D’s snack pack) are soba noodles with sauce container, veggie gyoza, grapes, pomagranate arils, and kiwi stars.
Honey Terriyaki Marinade/Sauce
- 1/2 cup terriyaki sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
mix together. marinate for at least ten minutes. cook. yummy
I have a problem with ravioli. I’ve never liked your typical varieties, i.e. meat or cheese. They just always seemed heavy and fairly bland apart from the sauce they were drenched in. Maybe i just never had good ravioli.
I much prefer a savoury squash or vegetable filling, which I why I thought, why not use courgette? I scoured my recipe books and the internet and after coming up short, I deceided to do what I usually end up doing anyways, make stuff up and pretend that I know what i’m doing! These garlicy roasted courgette filled wonton ravioli were excellent, and the shallot-balsamic-olive oil sauce was a simple compliment. The only request from D was to make more next time!
Roasted courgette wonton ravioli
- package wonton wrappers
- 2 cups courgette (zucchini) in chunks
- 1 head garlic
- 1 cup sliced shallots
- 1/2 cup olive oil, plus
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinnegar
- 2 tbsp basil
- 1 tbsp sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
Put chunks of courgette and cloves of garlic from a whole head in aluminum foil wrap with a drizzle of olive oils and roast at 345F for about 1/2 an hour until all is tender. Purree courgette and garlic with 1 tbsp basil and a little salt until smooth.
To assemble ravioli, brush two wonton wrappers with water. Put about a tbsp of filling in the center of one, placing the second wrapper on top. press down edges, trying to get as much air out as possible. seal edges by applying pressure with a fork. Drop in boiling water for about 5 minutes until done.
In a sauce pan carmelize shallots in a little olive oil. Add tomatoes, basil, and sugar. Mix in balsamic vinnegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Drizzle over finished ravioli
The first of the squash seasons is upon us! Summer squashes are some of my favourites from the number of things you can do with them. Grilled, broiled, baked, or fried, you can even use them in baking. Jessica at work has an amazingly productive garden and has been bringing in some of the bumper crop for us poor city dwellers. So with an icebox full of yellow crook-necks and courgettes (zucchini, to you) I’ve been very much enjoying the possibilities.
For with last night’s dinner, I decided to make courgette oven fries, similar to the fried zucchini you find in restaurants, but a lot healthier. Simply because I’m out of marinara sauce, i made a quick honey mustard sauce to got with them. D liked them so much, I put some in his bento for today.
Courgette (zucchini) oven fries
- 1 large courgette, cut into 1/4 thin slices or wedges
- 2 eggs, well beaten
- 1 cup flour
- 2 cups bread crumbs (seasoned)
Preheat oven to 400F. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray or drizzle with olive oil. Take each piece of courgette, dredge in flour, coat in egg, then cover in bread crumbs. Shake off excess and place on baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown, flipping once. (hint: if your bread crumbs aren’t seasoned, make your own by adding basil, oregano, parmesan cheese, or other herbs and spices you might like)
I make fish dishes for D all the time, but i was tired of making the same standards. So for Friday’s dinner I tried something new: a dijon dill sauce. It was savoury and creamy and absolutely excellent on my roasted vegetables. So much so, that I made sure to put it in D’s side bento for with lunch. So here, in the right tier is salmon with dijon dill sauce and a potato latke. In the left tier is a sliced peach and blackberries.
Dijon dill sauce
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp dill
- 3 tbsp butter
- salt and pepper to taste
In a small saucepan over med-low heat melt 1 tbsp butter, and saute minced shallot until translucent. Add wine and simmer until reduced by half. Whisk in dijon mustard and dill. Cut in remaining 2 tbsp cold butter until well incorporated. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Originally uploaded by mosli
I love when dinner looks like its taken a lot of work, but really you threw it together in less than an hour. That was this one. I made pasta with peanut butter sauce and tofu, but this time instead of tossing it all together, I spooned the mixture over some lomain noodles. Next time I’ll toss is – its better when the sauce leaves an even coat. The tofu was cooked in the steamer basket of my rice cooker (I needed to make some rice for D’s lunches), then thrown in the sauce with carrots and bell pepper. Garnishing with green onion and sesame seeds makes it look harder than it was! Then, I heated up some frozen homemade veggie eggrolls and cream cheese wontons (15min in 350F oven). Quick salad with miso dresing and a sliced mango even it out. No time at all and I’m a kitchen rock star!
bento1Originally uploaded by mosli
Bento! the answer to your everyday boring lunch. That’s how my new love for lunch started. I was bored with bringing the same thing for lunch and the lack of options around my place of employment. Wandering around the internet I discovered Lunch in a Box, and thought hey, now that’s an idea. I’ve recently started making bento for myself and D, and it really makes lunch worth remembering.
This bento is one I packed for D. the left tier has veggie gyoza, plantain, and grapes. On the right is whole wheat pasta with carrots, broccoli, tofu, and peanut butter sauce. The peanut butter sauce is something I started making when I lived in England and couldn’t afford a whole lot of ingredients. Its quick, rich, warm, and vegan!
Mosli’s Peanut Butter Sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced finely or mashed
1 inch grated ginger root (powdered ginger works just fine, too)
3/4 cup peanut butter (I prefer creamy, but it would be just fine with chunky)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup warm water
Stir all ingredients in small bowl until well mixed. Pour over hot noodles, tofu, and vegetables. As you stir, the sauce will melt, coating all the ingredients. If you would rather have this with rice, pour the sauce over your tofu and veggies and mix, then spoon on top of hot rice.
Originally uploaded by mosli
Nothing beats a good shrimp boil. Its straight-forward fast food and darn good. When my family lived in Florida, we would head over to Pass-a-grille beach and eat at The Wharf. Its still my idea of what a beach bar should be. My mum and I would both get boiled shrimp, and while licking our fingers watch the dolphins play in the channel.
I really had the taste for something homey, so I put together this shrimp boil with key lime mustard dipping sauce, plantains, and grilled salad.
Florida Shrimp Boil
1 can beer per 1lb shrimp
1 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning per 1lb shrimp
Bring beer and Old Bay to boil in a pot. Add shrimp and cook until done. TaDa! that simple.
Key Lime Mustard dipping sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tbps Dijon mustard
1/4 cup key lime juice
3 dashes Tabasco sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Stir all ingredients together. Chill for an hour or longer.
