Last weekend, we were invited to a potluck brunch for a friend’s birthday. I wanted to bring a savory breakfast dish that would work well for a crowd.
With the big game this weekend, my mind went to making a breakfast version of spinach artichoke dip. I live in Philadelphia, so I clearly had to make a green dish too!
This Spinach and Artichoke Breakfast Casserole is packed with spinach, artichokes, bell peppers, onions and cheese. The result is a flavorful dish that can feed up to 12.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 (14 oz) can artichokes hearts, drained and chopped
Happy New Year! I’m a bit late in posting this recipe, but honestly, this comfort food Southern staple for Black Eyed Peas with Collard Greens makes for a delicious meal on any cold winter night.
Black eyed peas are a New Years Day staple in the South, as eating them on New Years Day is thought to bring you prosperity throughout the year.
This version is a bit of a fridge and pantry cleaner. Or, at least it was for me after hosting a New Years Eve party.
I used leftover sandwich rolls to make bread crumbs, leftover bacon from New Years Day morning, collard greens from a Blue Apron meal I forgot to make (oops), and then added in what was left of the onions, garlic, carrots and herbs I had on hand, which kind of turned this recipe into a cassoulet of sorts.
Ingredients:
1 cup dried black eyed peas
6 oz bacon, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced, divided
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 sprigs of rosemary, divided
4 sprigs of thyme, divided
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce, or to taste
about 1 cup chopped day old bread (I used one sandwich roll)
This cold snap feels like it will never end. One good part about the cold weather is I definitely do more cooking!
One of my husband’s favorite recipes I make is one for Slow Cooker Chicken and Chickpea Tagine. I wanted to try a tagine with a different meat, so when I found this recipe for Slow Cooker Lamb Tagine on the cooking section of the New York Times, I used it as a base to make a slow cooker version.
Tagine or Tajine dishes are Moroccan slow cooked dishes named after the pot they are cooked in. The dishes are typically a stew with a protein, spices, and fruit. And, well, they are fantastic; they make for a perfect comfort food meal!
I braved the cold so I could pick up the ingredients for this yummy dish. I’m lucky enough to live close to Reading Terminal Market, and La Divisa Meats in the Terminal cubed some lamb leg meat for me for this recipe. If you do not have a local butcher, lamb stew meat works too.
Ingredients:
3 pounds cubed boneless lamb leg meat
salt and pepper, to taste
2 cinnamon sticks
large pinch saffron
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1 3/4 cups beef broth
1 cup dried apricots
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (or margarine to make dairy free, or ghee to make paleo)
One of the perks of being a friend of, or related to, a food blogger, is random food deliveries. I try to keep my sister’s freezer stocked with comfort foods, but have been neglecting her a bit recently. So when I saw this recipe for Chicken and Brisket Brunswick Stew, it seemed right up her alley and I knew I had to make it for her.
I adapted the recipe for what I could find/what I had on hand, but the general gist is still there.
My sister doesn’t live in Philly, so I need to pack her goodies up in freezer-friendly containers to give her when I see her. Zyliss recently sent me a 10 piece fresh plastic food storage container set, which is perfect for freezable foods.
The containers are 100% leak proof and airtight, and are freezer, dishwasher, and microwave safe.
Zyliss was kind enough to send a second set my way to giveaway! More details at the end of the post.
Ingredients:
3 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups beef broth
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 lb shredded barbecue beef brisket (I purchased this at my local supermarket)
As the weather turns cooler, it seems like everyone around me is fighting a cold. My husband is currently feeling a bit under the weather, so I wanted to make him a nice comforting soup. Cooking Light had this recipe for Turmeric Chicken and Chickpea Soup in their November magazine and their timing is impeccable!
This soup is packed with antioxidant-rich ingredients including turmeric, ginger, and garlic. It also substitutes in chickpeas for noodles for added texture and fiber.
The chicken broth in the recipe is further enhanced with the addition of coconut milk at the end.
Even better, this soup comes together really quickly, and has a bunch of ingredients that you may already have on hand in your fridge and pantry.
Ingredients: (serves 6)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1 large red bell pepper, seed and membranes removed, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups unsalted chicken stock
1 (15 oz) can unsalted chickpeas, rinsed and drained
You’ve probably noticed that I’m a huge fan of slow cooker recipes; I have almost 50 slow cooker recipes on this blog! Slow cooker meals work great for make ahead meals, feeding a crowd, and getting that “cooked-all-day” flavor.
I was sent Phyllis Good’s latest cookbook Stock the Crock, which is right up my alley. The cookbook has 100 delicious, tried-and-true recipes, plus 200 easy to follow variations for any dietary preference, such as gluten-free, paleo, vegan, etc.
There are a ton of awesome sounding recipes, but a recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala caught my attention. Gotta love a make-at-home takeout favorite!
This recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala is incredibly simple but really delivers on flavor.
It’s a bit rare for me to share a recipe like this Slow Cooker Parmesan Herb Prok Loin because, for whatever reason, I tend to shy away from making pork or ham.
So when my friend and I were having our cooking marathon, I figured it was a good time to add one in for some variety.
We found this Southern Living recipe for Slow Cooker Parmesan Herb Pork Loin with Chunky Tomato Sauce on myrecipes.com. I couldn’t resist a freezer friendly slow cooker meal, especially when it’s served over pasta!
(Please excuse the quality of these photos. This recipe was too good not to share, even with crummy photos!)
Note: I was sent a box of various Bob’s Red Mill products to make the below recipe. Opinions are mine alone.
Lentils are one of those foods that I wish I had experimented with earlier in my cooking. They are easy to cook, really tasty, and packed with nutritional goodness. Just one serving (1/4 cup) of red lentils has 14g of fiber and 13g of protein. Red lentils in particular are great for soups and stews because they cook really quickly and break down when heated, making for a nice thickened base.
This Lemony Red Lentil Soup is adapted from a New York Times Cooking recipe. I mostly kept to the original recipe, but increased the spice and lemon and added in another carrot.
The half chunky half smooth soup is super comforting and makes for a really satisfying lunch or dinner.
My friend and I made this during our cooking day and froze it for future meals.
Ingredients:
3tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1tablespoon tomato paste
1teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground chile powder, plus more for garnish
1quart chicken broth (or vegetable broth to make vegetarian)
Note: This post is sponsored by Moyer Beef. All opinions are mine alone.
One of the biggest bummers of cooking a lot (and, boy do I cook a lot) is that the dishes are never ending. I can basically fill up my entire dishwasher with some meals! But some weeknights, you just do NOT want to deal with all those dishes. Which is why it’s great to have a couple of one pot, or in this case, one sheet pan recipes.
Fajitas work really well as a sheet pan meal. You just add the onions and peppers to a pan, broil until they begin to brown, and then add your protein of choice.
For these Sheet Pan Steak Fajitas, I decided to use Moyer Beef’s London Broil to make steak fajitas.
Ingredients: (serves 4)
Seasoning: (or can use Mexican seasoning mix)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
Other ingredients:
1 cup olive oil
the juice of 3 limes, divided
1 (~3 lb) London Broil
4 medium-sized bell peppers, multi colored if desired, thinly sliced
To make, combine the garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, salt, pepper, coriander, smoked paprika, and chili powder in a small bowl (Note, if you don’t have all of these spices on hand, you could use a Mexican seasoning mix as well. You’d need 3 1/2 tablespoons).
Add the olive oil and the juice of two limes to a large gallon zip top bag. Add the spices, seal, and move the mixture around in the bag to evenly combine.
Add the London broil to the bag, seal, and evenly coat in the mixture. Let sit at room temperature for 2 hours, turning the bag over at least once. (You could also add this to your fridge overnight to marinate. Just let come to room temperature before cooking).
Thinly slice your bell peppers and onion and add to a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, toss to combine.
When ready to cook, preheat your broiler. Add the pepper and onion mix to a sheet pan in a single layer. Broil for approximately 8 minutes or until some of the mixture begins to brown.
Move the mixture to each side of the pan.
Remove the London broil from the ziptop bag and add to the pan, discarding the marinade.
Broil for approximately 5-7 minutes per side, or until the meat is browned and cooked through (135 to 140 degrees F for medium rare). Be sure to watch your veggies in particular, they can burn really quickly when using a broiler. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, thinly slice the beef, or cut into bite sized pieces.
Add to the tortillas and top with pico de gallo, sour cream, and fresh cilantro. Squeeze the remaining lime over top of the fajitas and serve.
If you like heat, I’d suggest also topping with jalapeno, or adding a bit of hot sauce on top.
This is a really satisfying dinner that’s really simple to make!
The little bit of char on the veggies adds a bit more flavor to the seasoned beef and sweetness of the onions and peppers.
After a yummy meal, it’s even better knowing that you only have one sheet pan and two bowls to clean!
To make, combine the garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, salt, pepper, coriander, smoked paprika, and chili powder in a small bowl (Note, if you don’t have all of these spices on hand, you could use a Mexican seasoning mix as well. You’d need 3 1/2 tablespoons).
Add the olive oil and the juice of two limes to a large gallon zip top bag. Add the spices, seal, and move the mixture around in the bag to evenly combine.
Add the London broil to the bag, seal, and evenly coat in the mixture. Let sit at room temperature for 2 hours, turning the bag over at least once. (You could also add this to your fridge overnight to marinate. Just let come to room temperature before cooking).
Thinly slice your bell peppers and onion and add to a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, toss to combine.
When ready to cook, preheat your broiler. Add the pepper and onion mix to a sheet pan in a single layer. Broil for approximately 8 minutes or until some of the mixture begins to brown.
Move the mixture to each side of the pan.
Remove the London broil from the ziptop bag and add to the pan, discarding the marinade.
Broil for approximately 5-7 minutes per side, or until the meat is browned and cooked through (135 to 140 degrees F for medium rare). Be sure to watch your veggies in particular, they can burn really quickly when using a broiler. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, thinly slice the beef, or cut into bite sized pieces.
Add to the tortillas and top with pico de gallo, sour cream, and fresh cilantro. Squeeze the remaining lime over top of the fajitas and serve.
If you like heat, I’d suggest also topping with jalapeno, or adding a bit of hot sauce on top.
This Freezable Ratatouille is another recipe my friend and I made last weekend during our cooking marathon. This time of year is perfect for making a huge batch of ratatouille and freezing it!
Ratatouille is a produce-heavy dish, using eggplants, zucchini, onions, and peppers. My friend doesn’t really love eggplant, so I used fairy tale eggplants which are smaller, with thinner skins and are a bit sweeter than regular eggplants.
This Freezable Ratatouille also allows you to do a lot of the prep work ahead of time. The vegetables are cooked separately, so prep work does go into a bunch of bags, but it makes the cooking process much easier. We used a recipe from The Kitchn as our base.
Ingredients (makes 8 to 10 servings):
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
3 medium green bell peppers, chopped
6 to 8 medium zucchini, cut into bit sized pieces
4 large tomatoes, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 fairy tale eggplants
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 cup basil, sliced into ribbons, plus more for garnish
Note: I was sent a box of various Bob’s Red Mill products to make the below recipe. Opinions are mine alone.
This past weekend, a friend and I got together to stock our freezers. The fall is a super busy time of year for most, so we wanted to have a variety of meals ready to make some nights (and mornings) easier. We settled on eleven (11!) recipes, organized a shopping list split between the two of us, and set up prep work (chopping veggies for the most part) for the night before. The next morning, we met at my place and got to cooking!
Chili is a go-to freezer recipe. Not only does it freeze well, but it works great on its own, with cornbread, over polenta, as a “dip” with corn chips, with eggs for breakfast, etc. This recipe originally began as a vegetarian chili, but we had more ground beef leftover, so in it went!
I am a firm believer that dried beans make for a tastier dish than canned beans. There is some prep work needed, but it is very much worth it. I used Bob’s Red Mill Red Kidney Beans and Cannellini Beans for this recipe.
source: bobsredmill.com
We made a LOT of this chili, somewhere around 20 servings, so I’ve scaled it down for this post to make it more appropriate. Feel free to double if needed.
Note: I will share and link all of our recipes below. It was quite a successful cooking day!
Ingredients (makes 8-10 servings):
12 oz dried Bob’s Red Mill Red Kidney Beans (~1/2 bag)
12 oz dried Bob’s Red Mill Cannellini Beans (1/2 bag)
Note: This post is sponsored by Moyer Beef. All opinions are mine alone.
Last weekend, I stumbled upon a farmer’s market while walking around my neighborhood and picked up a bunch of veggies: peppers, tomatoes, onions, and potatoes. I didn’t really have plans for the vegetables, but then I realized these ingredients would make a really tasty hash!
I had been planning on making a steak and eggs recipe using Moyer Beef’s Angus Top Sirloin, so after my bounty at the farmer’s market, that morphed into a steak and eggs hash!
This recipe is a great sharing recipe with friends and family. You can serve the meal right out of the skillet (just add a towel to the handle so you don’t burn yourself)!
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 Moyer Beef Angus Top Sirloin Steaks
1 pound yellow potatoes, diced into small bite sized pieces (can substitute sweet potatoes to make paleo)
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
4 large eggs
1 cup small heirloom tomatoes, halved or quartered (if larger)
Note: This post is sponsored by Moyer Beef. All opinions are mine alone.
It’s definitely still summer weather for the most part, but this past week, we’ve had a bit of a cool down in Philly. Which got me thinking about more fall inspired dishes.
Hashweh, or rice stuffing, is a wonderfully flavorful ground meat and rice dish that is perfect for fall weather (or honestly, any weather, it’s really tasty!)
The dish originates in the Middle East and is typically made with lamb or beef seasoned with spices including allspice and cinnamon, served with rice.
Most recipes also include toasted pine nuts with some also having a sweet dried fruit.
This dish is a nice comfort food option that comes together in roughly 30 minutes. The spice profile makes it really crave worthy!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 1/2 cups white rice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
3 cups chicken broth
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 whole cloves
2 whole cardamom pods, smashed
1 lb ground beef (I used Moyer Beef’s 81% lean ground beef chuck)
Note: This post is sponsored by Moyer Beef. All opinions are mine alone.
This past weekend, we had my parents over for dinner. I had a hankering for Lamb Kofta, which is a dish of ground lamb with spices formed into meatballs and grilled.
My dad isn’t exactly the most adventurous eater, and doesn’t like lamb, so I instead decided to adapt the spices added to kofta into a marinade for beef kebabs. Kofta can be made with any ground meat, but I had some beautiful Moyer Beef’s Rib Kebab meat on hand, so kebabs it is!
Kofta can be made with quite a range of spices, so this recipe is very adaptable. This version uses fresh parsley as well as dried spices to add a different dimension of flavor. I also served it with some tzatziki for dipping.
Ingredients:
Tzatziki (omit to make dairy free):
1 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt
1/2 cucumber, seeded, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced
the zest of one lemon
the juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Kebab:
4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2 lbs kebab meat (I used Moyer Beef’s Rib Kebab meat)
My mom makes a mean pasta salad. Her mayo-less version is a mostly traditional Italian pasta salad which marinates in an Italian salad dressing for a few hours before enjoying.
This Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad version is based on hers, but I decided to make it all the more summery but adding grill-friendly vegetables.
This is mostly a make ahead recipe. Right before serving (or while grilling up the main dish), you just add the veggies to the grill, then toss into the pasta.
