still cooking... i swear

Although I haven't been documenting my cooking as much anymore, Josh and I are still cooking quite a bit, and have added a few more recipes into our weekly repertoire. Here are some dishes that we have liked quite a bit - some are more complex than others.

Pasta with Beans and Ricotta
This Giada recipe was great for a weekday. I substituted white beans for the garbanzo on a whim and we liked it quite a bit. When we first made the recipe, it was a little bland, as the creamy cheese flavor can overtake the other flavors. If you made this, beef up the seasoning. The leftovers are great if you mix in an egg and bake it.



Split Pea Soup
Josh loves this recipe, and it is his usual "go to" when we are planning the weekly means on Sunday. It's pretty easy for a weekday and is wonderful on a cold day. The consistency is a little tricky; sometimes it's too thin and runny and sometimes it's too thick (and chewy... yuck). If you make this, play with the amount of broth and the simmering time until you achieve the consistency you want. A note - this is not a good "take to work" the next day. To reheat this soup, you really need to boil it. Otherwise, you get this block of green sludge (still tasty, but still sludge). The office microwave may not cut it...


Mushroom Marsala Pasta
Oh man, we LOVE this one. Sometimes we make it twice a week, because we might as well "finish the wine...". I always mean to take pictures of it (it is a very pretty dish), but with that amazing aroma of the mushrooms and wine and cheese, the pasta barely hits the bowl before we eat it. I couldn't tell you how it reheats, since we put away the whole dish over the course of the evening (dinner at 6, snacking on leftovers at 7:30, licking the bowl around 10, bed). I cannot stress how insanely easy this is. With already sliced mushrooms and frozen/canned artichokes, all you have to do is dice the onion and boil pasta. No work, awesome meal. Make this.


Chicken Soup
This one is a little more involved, not great for a weekday (but doable if you do the meatballs ahead of time). The extra work is beyond worth it. We watched Tyler Florence make this one Sunday morning and made plans to make it that night. I was going to Whole Foods that day anyway (wanted to get frozen fruits for Rohan's baby food), so the chicken sausages I bought for the meatballs were AMAZING. The Whole Foods carrots were also very sweet, which gave the soup balance. You can easily make, saute, and refrigerate the meatballs the a day or two before (no more than two days, I think) and then add it to a soup when you make it. We made this on a Sunday and I ate it for lunches until Wednesday. It got better each day.


The recipe calls for 6 sweet sausages, but I got three sweet and three spicy and was a huge fan. Josh thought the meatballs were too spicy, though. Too bad I do the grocery shopping:)




Broiled Salmon
We saw this on Alton's Brown's show one night and our interests were piqued by the recipe's simplicity. You just make the rub, coat the salmon, let it rest for 45 minutes, and broil. We ran into a little hiccup with the last step, since I could only find thicker pieces of salmon at Whole Foods, so we had to bake it for a while before that caramelizing broil. It tasted just fine, but took a little longer in the oven. This is another must-make for any weekday. A little side salad and this was just as good as any restaurant meal.







Turkey Osso Bucco
This is another one that we make often. After Josh bought me an amazing coccette from Straub for Christmas, I use it almost every day. This was the inaugural dish, and we come back to it weekly. It takes a while to cook but requires almost no work. After a quick sear and some vegetable chopping (and minimal clean up), the meat cooks low and slow and literally falls off the bone when it's done. We eat it with parmesan cheese and egg noodles; the recipe lasts us about three or four meals. I froze some portions as well, and it reheats on the stove perfectly.


Let me know if you try any of these recipes or if you have any favorites to share!