Seafood is a favorite weekday dinner of mine because it usually takes under 30 minutes to make a seafood dish. This particular recipe for Sheet Pan Balsamic Fish with Roasted Tomatoes has become a staple in our home because of the relatively easy clean up as well – most of the meal is made right in one sheet pan!
I like to serve this over rice or couscous to soak in all of the juices on the sheet pan. This makes 2 hearty servings, with plenty of the tomato mixture to enjoy!
Note: I was sent affiliate boxes from Sitka Salmon Share in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
I’m back with another post using my Sitka Salmon Share! This recipe for Pan Seared Lingcod with Wilted Spinach uses Lingcod, which is a lean white fish native to the North America west coast. It has a mild flavor similar to halibut or cod so it’s very versatile.
I adapted this recipe from one on Sitka Salmon Share’s recipe website. The original recipe served this over mashed potatoes, but I went with a cauliflower puree instead. (To read more about Sitka Salmon Shares and get a promo code for a premium share, check out my other post.)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
5 ounces spinach leaves
salt and pepper, to taste
2 (6 to 8 oz) pieces lingcod
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter
1 small shallot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped roasted pistachios
1 lemon, divided
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
I absolutely love grilling. When given the chance, I’d choose it over cooking on the stovetop or in my oven. So I am thrilled that the weather is turning and I can get back to using my favorite appliance as much as possible. To start the season off, here’s a recipe for Grilled Salmon and Asparagus Foil Packets that tastes awesome and is super easy to clean up!
This recipe is also really adaptable, so I’ve given a couple of suggestions below, but definitely make this your own!
Ingredients (serves 2, multiply as needed):
2 (8 oz) salmon fillets
salt and pepper, to taste
1 lb asparagus, woody ends removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
one lemon, divided
1 teaspoon hot sauce or your favorite mustard
1 shallot, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
During these stay-at-home orders, there have been a few foods that I’ve been craving that I would order frequently from local restaurants. One of my biggest recent cravings was for Messina Social Club‘s pierogis. So, when I accidentally ordered 10 pounds of potatoes (?!), I figured it was the perfect time to try to make my own Homemade Pierogis.
This recipe is a very basic version, but once you try it out, you can add different stuffings to create different flavor profiles.
They also freeze really well, so feel free to double the recipe and stock your freezer for future meals!
Ingredients:
Dough:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
Filling:
1 cup mashed potatoes (I halved the recipe and substituted in sour cream for the Greek yogurt)
I am very much on the pressure cooker bandwagon. It’s awesome for tough cuts of meat, cooking beans, and other processes that can take forever, but my favorite use is speeding up recipes just enough to make them weeknight friendly!
We don’t actively follow the Mediterranean Diet, but following it can help reduce reduce inflammation, avoid disease, and lose weight, making it popular for anyone looking to live a healthier lifestyle. The Everything Mediterranean Instant Pot Cookbook shows you how to recreate classic Mediterranean meals in under an hour using the much-loved multi-cooker, the Instant Pot. With more than 300 recipes for delicious meals, snacks, and even desserts, you’ll have everything you need to create healthy, fresh, and fast meals every day of the week!
As I mentioned, I’ve already made a few recipes in here, but I wanted to share these recipe for Lemon Orzo with Crab and Herbs, which I’ve slightly adapted from the original in the cookbook.
Ingredients (serves 2):
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium shallot, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 fresh parsley, chopped, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped, plus more for garnish
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
2 cups water (or chicken broth for more flavor)
8 oz orzo
8 oz jumbo lump crab meat
the juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for garnish
I honestly don’t make pork tenderloin much. Unless I’ve slow cooked it, or wrapped it in bacon, I feel like it comes out pretty dry. Which makes it the perfect meat to make using a precision cooker! So since I’ve gotten a precision cooker, this recipe for Sous Vide Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin has become a staple in my house.
Cooking the pork tenderloin sous vide keeps the meat juicy and tender. Plus, it infuses the meat with whatever herbs you add!
Chicken Riggies is a pasta dish native to Utica, NY consisting of chicken, peppers, and rigatoni in a spicy tomato-cream sauce. So why exactly is a Philadelphia-based blog posting a version of Smoked Chicken Riggies?
I had my first taste of this dish while visiting Utica earlier this year and loved how comforting the dish is!
A few months prior, I also had the opportunity to try some dishes from Cry Baby Pasta, an Italian restaurant that recently opened in Queen Village. Since then, I’ve been back for dinner as well, the food it awesome!
Source: Drew Callaghan
The restaurant, owed by restaurateurs Bridget Foy and Paul Rodriguez, offers a casual and warm atmosphere with a menu focusing on Italian fare prepared by husband-and-wife team chefs David Gilberg and Carla Concalves. (Gilberg and Concalves’ previous restaurant Koo Zee Doo was one of my absolute favorite restaurants in Philadelphia!)
Source: Society Hill Farms
The menu’s Italian fare is a mixture of traditional Italian dishes along with influences from Gilberg’s upbringing in Rochester, NY. Favorite items of mine include the meatballs with tomato and smoked ricotta, Bainbridge greens (Gilberg’s twist on Utica greens), the grilled sardine brochette, and, of course, the Rigatoni with vodka sauce, pancetta, smoked chicken and cherry peppers– an elevated version of Chicken Riggies.
Source: Kory Aversa
My version, Smoked Chicken Riggies, is an at-home version of Cry Baby Pasta’s dish. Chicken Riggies (especially when using smoked chicken sausage and pancetta) has a ton of flavor and comes together in no time, perfect for weeknight meals!
Note: I received a box of produce from Misfits Market in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
I really like stuffed artichokes, but the idea of making them has always kind of intimidated me. I finally got up the courage to try them out when I received a box from Misfits Market with four lovely artichokes inside.
If you’ve never heard of Misfits Market, it was born from a mission to bring delicious, fresh, and affordable misfit produce to people everywhere and reduce food waste at a scale that creates positive and lasting impact.
Every box of Misfits produce benefits farmers, helps prevent food waste, and ultimately helps save the environment. Misfits is Philadelphia and New Jersey based but is rapidly expanding. The company rescues produce from regional farms and distributes it throughout the Northeast in three business days or less.
Misfits Market has two sizes of boxes: the Mischief and the Madness with a variety of fruits and veggies in each one. You can learn more about them here.
You’ll see more posts from me showing how I used my box, but let’s get back to the artichokes! My mother-in-law makes a batch of stuffed artichokes around Christmas and I am always amazed with the amount of work they can take! So this version for Baked Stuffed Artichokes is a bit of a cheat. Cutting them in half and baking them takes some of the “stuffing” work out, but not all of it.
Ingredients:
4 artichokes
3 lemons, juiced
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 large shallot, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups Italian breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped, plus more to taste
Note: I was sent a ZOS wine saver for review. All opinions are mine alone.
Using wine in recipes both adds and enhances flavor. I love cooking with both red and white wine, but I really only drink red wine. Which means I keep a re-corked bottled of white wine in my fridge, which over time, begins to oxidize and change taste (and not for the better!)
So when I was contacted to try ZOS wine saver, I was intrigued. The ZOS wine saver is a solution that eliminates 100% of the oxygen from an opened bottle of wine, which can preserve the bottle for weeks or months. The ZOS wine stopper has an oxygen-absorbing cartridge that allows you to use a small amount of wine and still maintain its flavor for future use.
Source: zos.wine
The ZOS wine saver is made of an oxygen barrier stopper attached to a replaceable cartridge. You just insert the ZOS stopper into an open bottle of wine and the cartridge absorbs all of the oxygen in the bottle. Each cartridge lasts 5 to 15 bottles and is easily replaceable. The ZOS wine saver (paid link) can be purchased on Amazon.
With the weather warming up, I wanted to make a yummy seafood recipe that’s hearty but light. Cioppino is a fish stew originally from San Francisco, utilizing whatever was caught that day at sea. This recipe for Cioppino (Seafood Stew) includes making a broth and then making the actual soup. The broth can be made a couple of days ahead of time. Both parts of the recipe use white wine, so this recipe is the perfect test for the ZOS wine saver.
Ingredients:
Broth:
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup dry white wine
1 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
2 8-oz. bottles clam juice
4 sprigs parsley
2 dried bay leaves
salt and pepper, to taste
Soup:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 lbs mussels, scrubbed and debearded
1 lb clams, scrubbed
¼ cup dry white wine
1 lb sea bass, skin removed and cut into 1” pieces
1 lb shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails on
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes (or margarine for dairy free)
Note: This post is sponsored by Nasoya. All opinions are mine alone.
I’ve been sharing fairly meat-heavy recipes recently, so it’s about time I shared a meatless (and vegan) option that is perfect for busy weeknights, so here’s a yummy recipe for Thai Basil Vegetable Dumplings with Spicy Peanut Sauce.
Nasoya, the nation’s leading brand of tofu, has two flavors of Vegan Dumplings (Tofu Vegetable and Thai Basil Vegetable) that can be ready to eat in as little as 10 minutes!
Source: Nasoya
The Tofu Vegetable Dumplings (filled with tofu, mushrooms, bok choy, carrots, ginger, green onions, and sesame oil) and the Thai Basil Dumplings (filled with tofu, red bell peppers, green peas, carrots, and basil) are USDA Certified Organic and also contain 6-7 grams of plant-protein per serving. Nasoya can be find at most retailers, including Acme, ShopRite, Giant, Weis, and Wegman’s. Check out Nasoya’s retail finder here to find your nearest location that sells Nasoya products.
This quick recipe for Thai Basil Vegetable Dumplings with Spicy Peanut Sauce uses the Thai Basil Vegetable Dumplings, but the Tofu Vegetable Dumplings can definitely be substituted.
When I first began learning to cook, Coq Au Vin was one of the first recipes I attempted to make. And boy, did I fail miserably. So I’ve stayed away from the recipe since — I haven’t tried to make it in over a decade!
I figured it was time to finally try making it again, and use my trusty multi-cooker to make it fail-proof!
This one-pot-wonder for Pressure Cooker Coq au Vin takes about 80 minutes to prepare, so I’d suggest saving this for a weekend. I made this on a Sunday and saved it to eat during the week.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if needed
4 ounces pancetta, diced
2.5 lbs chicken, assorted pieces (I used bone-in and boneless chicken thighs and legs)
salt and pepper
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
I’ve mentioned before that my smoke alarms in my house are… sensitive. If I roast anything in the oven, they tend to go off. So when possible, I try to find alternate means to cook my food. In the summer, that means a ton of grilling. And as the weather cools off, my slow cooker becomes my best friend!
My latest Hungry Harvest (note: this is a referral link) included 2 pounds of red potatoes, so I wanted to try cooking the potatoes in my slow cooker.
This recipe for Slow Cooker Garlic Red Potatoes works well as a side to a recipe that already is using up your oven, like a roast turkey or chicken. It’s also a good option for a night that you can set the slow cooker in the early afternoon, and let it do its thing while you go about your day. When it’s dinner time, your side is all set, and you can quickly whip up a seafood dish, or sautéed chicken in no time!
Because I usually have a recipe in mind when I go food shopping, it’s pretty rare that I come home with a rogue ingredient. But recently, while picking up ground beef and sausage for my Meatballs and Tomato Sauce at Primal Supply, I noticed that they had ground lamb, and felt compelled to buy it.
I didn’t exactly have a goal for the ground lamb, but decided to work with ingredients that I know work well with the flavors of lamb: cumin, saffron, mint, and cinnamon.
The result was Spiced Lamb with Saffron Couscous: saffron couscous, topped with flavorful ground lamb, pistachios, feta, dried apricots, and fresh mint!
Ingredients:
Couscous:
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed between your fingers
I’ve mentioned before that once warmer weather is here, I make it a priority to use my grill instead of my oven/stovetop whenever I can, like with this recipe for Grilled Lamb Pita Pockets. It keeps the temperature down in my house, and it’s super easy to grill! Plus, who doesn’t love the flavor that grilling adds to food?
I had a craving for lamb this week, so I decided to make grilled lamb pita pockets for dinner one night. I grilled lamb meatballs on skewers and then topped the meatballs with a drizzle of tzatziki and a Greek-inspired pesto sauce with some extra feta and cucumbers for good measure. I unfortunately didn’t have any tomatoes on hand, but would strongly suggest adding chopped tomatoes as well!
I’m so impatient weather-wise in the spring. I want it to warm up immediately, but that’s not exactly how this season goes.
Although today is supposed to be quite nice, some spring nights can be rainy and down right chilly. So it’s nice to have a comforting meal available for colder nights that still makes use of ingredients readily available in the spring.
This Slow Cooker Spring Lamb Stew is a Greek-inspired dish is made in a slow cooker, so dinner will be ready for you when you return from work. It also freezes well, so you can enjoy it whenever the weather calls for a yummy stew.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 pound lamb shoulder, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice (I used 6 allspice berries; I was out of ground allspice)
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1/2 pound shallots, peeled and quartered
1 pound baby new potatoes
1/2 pound carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
