I agree with @Courteous_D, that is a well proportioned and healthy looking dinner. Since getting the Zojirushi rice cooker you guys talked me into I’ve made a lot more rice lately and LOVE how well brown rice turns out in it. Or hell, any rice cooked in it. But brown is healthier for me but usually a pain to get just right due to the long cook time. No more though.
Also, can we all just agree that spinach salad is THE best salad?
Last night’s goal (and this week in general) was at least healthier than usual, if not necessarily perfectly so. We’ll be following up later on with a seafood pasta that I’m gonna just try to make up, so wish me luck there!
I do love a good pilaf. I’d actually normally add some silvered almonds and dried cranberries to the one above… But then too much overlap with the salad. Alas.
And yeah, spinach salad all the way. It’s just about the only green my gf will eat (and even then, only baby spinach if it will be raw), so if I wanna get some actual nutrients on her plate, it’s my go-to!
Try toasted pine nuts, too. The only drawback is that they cost a million dollars each. But so good.
Considerably less healthy dinner from last night:
Open-face smoked turkey and ham sandwich on toasted sourdough, with Mornay sauce, and finished under the broiler. AKA “Hot Brown,” a specialty from Louisville, down the road a bit. It wants grilled tomatoes, but sadly I had none. And something green, but I had none of that either, not even for a garnish. I did have spare bacon, though.
The hot brown is a fine and upstanding sandwich despite having the least appealing name imaginable. Looks good!
Reportedly the name comes from Louisville’s Brown Hotel, where the sandwich originated. I guess sometimes you get “Waldorf Salad” and “Delmonico Steak,” and sometimes you get … “Hot Brown.”
Still, you’d think someone would have said “No. Not ‘Hot Brown.’ Think of something else.”
It was tasty. But it does need something on the side to brighten it. Iceberg salad, maybe, or—ooh, gazpacho!
Yeah, I think the acidity from the tomato is meant as the lightener against all the fat and richness, but tbh, I think it usually gets a little lost in the mix. Maybe a lemon spritz or something, hah.
I still think Louisville is a thoroughly ridiculous town and not nearly as much fun as Lexington, but I’ve got some good memories in both places :)
I remember the first time my friend tried about poutine.
“It even has poo in the name!” he remarked.
Nothing super special here, but last night was broiled salmon w/wild rice and broccoli with cheddar. I’ll point out though that I recently bought the McCormick Garlic Pepper grinder and it has been a tremendously easy way to season almost anything when I’m working fast to get stuff on the table. The salmon got a pat of butter, a little kosher salt and that ground garlic pepper. It was excellent.
You guys are killing me with these amazingly healthy (and delicious) looking dinners.
I think they’re trying not to kill you, really.
Lasagna. Right out of the oven. First time I’ve made it since my mother passed. This one’s for you, mom.
Much heart, my dude. I hope the lasagna is appropriately glorious <3
Sure looks like it.
Yeah, Rich. That looks great.
I’ve only made one version of lasagna, because I used to hate lasagna as a child because I thought ricotta cheese was gross. So I basically avoided it once I was an adult. Then I found this interesting product at Trader Joe’s, a box of lasagna noodles that were quick baking and had a good looking recipe on the back that used sausage and this mascarpone mixture (in place of the ricotta). So I tried that and I freaking loved it.
Well done!
-xtien
I use half ricotta and half cottage to lighten the cheese mix. It’s pretty popular at work.
Lasagna is good, but more work than I normally feel like making. But damn @RichVR I could go for a slice of that!
Yeah it’s a pain to make. But I discovered a short cut. I was dreading using a box grater to shred the mozzarella. Then I remembered that my food processor had a disk that would do it. A few slices and bam, a huge container of shredded mozzarella. I’m never using a box grater again.
Hmm. Interesting. That’s a good idea. I lost my food processor in the divorce. I’ve got a mini-version now that a friend gave me. It’s great for small applications, like making a batch of pesto or a puree of tomatoes for jambalaya, but it doesn’t have one of those grater attachments. I’m just glad you didn’t get pre-grated cheese as your shortcut. I got nervous for a second.
I also really love that statement about it being for your mom. My mom taught me a couple of cooking things, my favorite being how to properly make artichokes. Which isn’t hard, but if you’re inexperienced, those things can look daunting. She has one dish she made for my birthdays when I would request that as my birthday meal. It was skillet enchiladas. Meaty and melty-cheesy and full of olives. Damn I loved that dish.
It’s one of those things I never learned to make even after she gave me the recipe, because I just had too many warm feelings of her having done it, and I didn’t want to break the spell.
I really like that you made this in your mom’s honor, Rich. Lovely.
-xtien
Huh. I think ricotta is pretty rare in lasagna over here (and in Italy). You don’t really need any cheese at all.
I do this for fondue all the time. Well, with gruyere and emmental, but still. It’s a godsend.
You’re killing me here! It’s been so long since I made fondue. I freaking love that stuff so much.
I once had it in Gruyères, Switzerland. It was August, and very hot, and we all ordered fondue (and I think raclette as well). All the Swiss folks around us looked at us like we were idiots. It was so good.
After that the women went off shopping, and I went for a walk through the little town with my then father-in-law. We found the HR Giger Museum by accident.
Don’t go to the HR Giger Museum with your father-in-law.
-xtien
