Pasta with Prosciutto, Asparagus, and Carrots

I love pasta dishes where half the plate is veggies. This dish screamed "Spring" to me with asparagus, snap peas, and carrots. I loved the flavor of the quick sauce made from chicken stock, heavy cream, and Dijon mustard. As a bonus, it was super fast to make for a weeknight dinner.

LESSON LEARNED: To make this dish in even less time, prep the veggies the night before. That's what I did!

Recipe for Pasta with Prosciutto, Asparagus, and Carrots

Salmon with Rhubarb Marmalade

Rhubarb is one of our favorite spring vegetables! We love it in all sorts of sweet applications, but I wanted to create a few savory dishes as well.

In this dish, I made a rhubarb marmalade to top over grilled salmon. The tartness of the rhubarb cut through the richness of the salmon, so I really thought the two flavors worked well together. I served it with a green salad and it was a quick (and restaurant quality!) lunch.

LESSON LEARNED: If you have extra marmalade, it is excellent mixed into yogurt for a healthy breakfast.

Recipe for Salmon with Rhubarb Marmalade

Beef Kabobs

It was Justin's birthday a few weeks ago and he requested this meal as his birthday dinner. In fact, all 3 birthdays that I've known him, he's requested this same meal! We've now made this birthday dinner in Tucson (AZ), Hudson (OH), and now Maumee (OH). Hopefully there's no more moving for us!

Pieces of steak are marinated in a mixture of dry onion soup mix, ketchup, oil, mustard, and vinegar plus a few other ingredients. This may sound a little strange, but the marinade is simmered on the stove for a little bit, then cooled, and tossed with the steak. The steak is threaded onto skewers with cherry tomatoes, onion, and green pepper and grilled until charred. The whole thing is served over rice with extra marinade sauce.

LESSON LEARNED: Marinate the beef at least an hour in the refrigerator.

Recipe for Beef Kabobs

Curry Beef Noodle Bowls

I never worked with curry before, so I was super excited to try this recipe. I thought the curry paste that I chose was really flavorful because I tasted spices first and the heat slowly built up. It wasn't too spicy, but you can add as much spice as you like. Who knows, if I keep using curries, I might start making my own blend!

Thin slices of steak are browned in curry and stir fried with onions, garlic, red pepper, scallions, and edamame. A quick sauce is created from fish sauce and chicken stock. After the sauce simmers for a few minutes, you toss in cooked whole-wheat noodles and you are ready to enjoy this Thai inspired stir fry!

LESSON LEARNED: Don't be afraid of using curry. It adds a lot of flavor to a dish with little effort.

Recipe for Curry Beef Noodle Bowls

Pork with Grapes & Tarragon

This dish looks deceptively fancy but is surprisingly easy to make. I made it for dinner one day when I wasn't really in the mood to cook, but I didn't want to go out to eat. As I was eating this meal, I kept smiling and remarking on how I was glad that I decided to make this new recipe.

Boneless pork chops are first seared and cooked in a medium hot saute pan. Then, a quick sauce is made by browning grapes, then adding minced onions and a pinch of sugar. Vinegar and red wine are added to the pan along with chicken stock and reduced into a quick sauce. Finally, the pork chops are added back to the pan to briefly simmer in the sauce and topped with fresh tarragon. It's really that easy and takes about 20 minutes.

I served the pork chops with mashed sweet potatoes and roasted asparagus. So YUMMY and really COLORFUL! :)

LESSON LEARNED: Quick cooking dinners can look fancy and time consuming.

Recipe for Pork with Grapes and Tarragon

Chicken Toastadas

Last week, I made a roasted chicken and needed a way to use up the leftovers. I first made chicken stock from the bones, but then I came across this recipe for a Mexican inspired dish. The recipe used a homemade roasted tomato chile de Arbol salsa, and since I'm a sucker for good Mexican food, I thought I would give it a shot. The salsa ended up tasting slightly smokey (from charring tomatoes in the oven) and a little spicy from the dried chile de Arbol peppers. My leftover roasted chicken stewed in this silky smooth salsa and was layered over toastada shells, homemade fried beans, cojita cheese, sliced radishes, and sour cream.

LESSON LEARNED: You could take this recipe and modify it to include as many pre-made (salsa, refried beans) or homemade ingredients as you want.

Recipe for Chicken Toastadas

Chicken Cutlets with Orange & Arugula

I absolutely LOVE using this three step breading method to make crispy & crunchy pan-fried chicken. First, you dredge pieces of chicken in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Next, the chicken is given a quick bath in beaten egg. Finally, the chicken is dipped in a bread crumb mixture flavored with whatever seasoning you choose. In this dish, it was grated Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, and orange zest. To cook the chicken, you heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a shallow pan and cook until lightly browned and cooked through. It's as simple as that!

I served the chicken along side a salad of baby arugula, sweet oranges, and chopped orange heirloom tomatoes. The salad was simply dressed with a little olive oil and salt. If you ate a piece of the crunchy chicken with the sweet and peppery salad, it was the perfect bite!

LESSON LEARNED: Cook the chicken in batches and keep the cooked pieces warm and crispy in a low oven.

Recipe for Chicken Cutlets with Orange & Arugula

Citrus Noodle Stir-Fry

Looking for a quick weeknight meal? This noodle stir fry dish is sweet, spicy, and chock full of vegetables and chicken. I used red bell pepper, snow peas, edamame, and scallions, but you can change up the vegetables depending on what you are in the mood for or what's in season. The yummy sauce is a mixture of orange marmalade, chicken stock, soy sauce, and hot sauce. This meal was ready in under half and hour and gobbled up even faster in our house!

LESSON LEARNED: The recipe I used called for whole wheat noodles. Even though I'm usually not a fan of whole wheat pasta, I really liked the nuttiness and texture they added to the stir-fry.

Recipe for Citrus Noodle Stir-Fry

Cheddar Cheese Chicken Pot Pies

Whenever it rains I feel like comfort food. I think it's because makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside whenever it's cold and damp outside. Last week, it was cold outside and I was in the mood for this chicken pot pie: especially after I thought about the delicious lobster pot pie I made last month. :)

I made individual pot pies because I feel that this achieves the right crust to filling ratio (being food nerds, my husband and I have frequent conversations about the correct ratio of ingredients in many dishes I make!). Instead of using a plain pie crust recipe, I decided to add in a good amount of shredded cheddar cheese. This was definitely a great decision! While these guys were in the oven, the whole house smelled like cheddar cheese crackers. Seriously! I used up some cooked chicken from a roasted chicken along with my homemade chicken stock and some leftover veggies from the refrigerator. This is the way I like to use leftovers! DELICIOUS!

LESSON LEARNED: When adding cheddar cheese to the pie crust, mix it after the dough is formed. If you mix it in before the water, it makes the cheese stick together and not distribute evenly throughout the dough.

Recipe for Cheddar Cheese Pot Pies

Orange Roughy in Paper

This dish looks deceptively fancy. It's really easy to make and extremely versatile. For example, I used orange roughy, but you could use any whitefish. For the veggies, I used zucchini, yellow squash, onion, red pepper, and green pepper, but you could use any veggies you have on hand.

The fish and veggies are encased in parchment paper with a slice of lemon and white wine, then baked in a hot oven until the fish is gently steamed. The fish was buttery, light, and slightly lemony. The veggies were swimming in a white wine sauce. So DELICIOUS!

Incidentally, the recipe idea came from Anne Burrell's Cook Like a Rock Star cookbook and after I tasted the fish, I proceeded to dance in the kitchen signing "I cooked like a rock star". Sometimes I get a little excited when I make good food :)

 LESSON LEARNED: Steaming fish in parchment paper adds a ton of flavor! Shhh...don't tell anyone that this could be considered diet food!

Recipe for Orange Roughy in Paper

Italian Sweet-and-Sour Chicken

OK, I have a confession to make. Some times I try new recipes and they don't turn out. As I've been cooking more and more, it's easier to look at a recipe and have an idea if the flavor work together or if it will be something I'll like to eat. Last week, I pulled a few recipes some higher-end cooking magazines that feature recipes from famous chefs. I had some success, but I also had a couple failed dishes. At one point in the week, I threw away two dinners in a row and we ate grilled cheese for dinner. I didn't burn the dinner, under cook it, or drop it on the floor. I just didn't like the way it tasted (my husband also agreed with me so at least it wasn't just me!).

This recipe was one of the successes of the week. I didn't have much faith given my previous experience last week, but I thought I would give it a shot. Surprisingly, it tasted REALLY, REALLY good. The chicken was super juicy from cooking it in a mixture of red wine, vinegar, and freshly squeezed orange juice. It was sweet, yet tangy and was perfect with the veggies that were braised in the same liquid.

LESSON LEARNED: Don't be discouraged when recipes don't turn out the way you expect them to.

Recipe for Italian Sweet-and-Sour Chicken

Roasted Salmon with Whole-Grain Mustard Crust

Before moving to Arizona to attend graduate school, I never ate much salmon (or a lot of the other foods I've come to love!). One of my graduate school friends introduced me to oven roasted salmon at our weekly dinner get-togethers. Even though we now live hundreds of miles apart, I still think of her when I make salmon.

This recipe is super simple and can be easily adjusted to taste. The mustard crust only contains 3 ingredients: whole-grain mustard, minced chives, and olive oil. Once you season the salmon filets with salt and pepper, you spread as much of the mustard crust as you want on top and let it roast (i.e. bake) in the oven. Then, you finish off the salmon by broiling it so the mustard turns a deep brown. When we ate this dinner, I rounded out the meal with steamed green beans and buttered fresh fettuccine noodles. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!

 LESSON LEARNED: Roasting is an easy way to prepare salmon! When it gets closer to summer, I'll share my favorite cedar plank grilled salmon recipe :)

Recipe for Roasted Salmon with Whole-Grain Mustard Crust

Coconutty Chicken with Spinach & Pasta

When I first mentioned to my husband that I was making a coconutty chicken dish, he was not very excited. He absolutely hates coconut. It's one of the foods that he won't even try to eat, so consequently, I don't make very many sweet or savory dishes with coconut. So, needless to say, I wasn't expecting very great reviews of this dish. I was SHOCKED when my husband ate two helpings of this dinner!

I'm pretty sure that it was the sauce that made this dinner EXTRAORDINARY. I would describe it as a creamy, Asian inspired sauce. It contains coconut milk, cider vinegar, and soy sauce with garlic and an earthy flavor from bay leaves. The chicken is cooked in the sauce, then broiled to give crisp the skin. The sauce is tossed with spinach and served along side orzo pasta.

 LESSON LEARNED: A sauce can make a typical chicken dish taste special.

Recipe for Coconutty Chicken with Spinach & Pasta

Lobster Pot Pie

We decided not to go out to dinner on Valentine's day. Instead, I decided I would make a dish that I normally would never make: lobster pot pie. A while ago, I saw an episode on Food Network where Ina Garten made these adorable individual pot pies and I filed it away as something I wanted to make in the future. When I decided I didn't want to eat at a crowded restaurant, I immediately knew I would make lobster pot pie at home.

At first, I was intimidated because I haven't worked with lobster before. I knew I didn't want to get a live lobster and cook it at home, so I settled on lobster tail. I still had to cook it (I boiled it very briefly in salted water), but at least I wasn't dealing with a whole lobster. I only bought a single lobster tail because I only needed to make two portions, but the dish ended up with a BIG lobster flavor. The filling is a thickened seafood stock with sauteed fennel and onion along with peas, corn, parsley, and chopped lobster tail. Around the filling is a homemade pie crust which is thick, flaky, and buttery.

This was a DELICIOUS Valentine's day dinner at home!

LESSON LEARNED: We decided that making these pot pies (or any pot pies) in individual servings is the best way to achieve the perfect ratio of filling to crust.

Recipe for Lobster Pot Pie

Spinach Lasagna

Oh man! This is comfort food at it's best. This lasagna is super creamy and cheesy with layers of Parmesan bechamel sauce, pureed cottage cheese, and shredded Fontina cheese. Spinach, garlic, and shallots add to the flavors of rich lasagna.

This isn't a traditional lasagna with layers of meat and tomato sauce. My husband was skeptical at first when I said I was making lasagna sans tomato sauce. But, as I assembled the lasagna and the aroma of it baking filled the house, he quickly became a believer in the yummy-ness of this type of lasagna. The hardest part of the lasagna is waiting for it to cool after it bakes. You definitely need to let it set so you can cleanly cut a piece out of the pan. It WILL be a big mess if you don't wait - not that I know from experience or anything like that :)

LESSON LEARNED: Even though this lasagna isn't what you typically think of when you say lasagna (or as psychologists would say "your schema of lasagna"), it tastes wonderful!

Recipe for Spinach Lasagna

Fajita Casserole

This dish has all the flavor of fajitas in the form of a casserole. It's been on our list of recipes to try for a while and we finally got around to making it late last week.

I thinly sliced sirloin steak (but you could use chicken or pork) and quickly marinated it in a mixture of onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, oregano, and cinnamon. Cinnamon may seem like the one ingredient on this list that doesn't belong, but it provides a warm, slightly spicy note to the dish. I quickly cooked the steak in a hot pan, added some Mexican beer, and let the sauce reduce. Believe me, it had TONS of flavor!

Next, I stir-fried some red bell peppers, onion, and garlic. I added a splash of lime juice and chopped cilantro to the mix. While the veggies were cooking, I made some homemade tortilla strips by slicing flour tortillas, spraying with non-stick cooking spray, and baking until golden brown. Finally, I layered the casserole by placing the steak and veggies in the bottom of a dish, adding the tortilla strips on top, and shredded cheese. I think we went a little over-board with the cheese, but it didn't detract from the deliciousness of the casserole.  We served the dish with sour cream and salsa. Enjoy!

LESSON LEARNED: A quick marinade adds a ton of flavor to this steak!

Recipe for Fajita Casserole

Orecchiette with Roasted Brussels Sprouts

A lot of people that I know don't like Brussels Sprouts. I think I'm on a one-women mission to slowly change their ideas about this under utilized vegetable. I've already converted my mom and husband!

Most people think of boiled Brussels Sprouts, but they have so much more potential. One of my favorite ways to prepare them is roasting. This is simply tossing them with olive oil, salt, and pepper and baking at a high heat until they are brown and crispy. The browner, the better. However, if they turn completely black, you've probably burnt them :)

This simple dish combines roasted Brussels Sprouts with a creamy pasta sauce. The sauce is flavored with garlic, scallions, and wine (or chicken/vegetable broth). I used little "ear shaped" pasta, but any short round pasta shape you have on hand would work.

LESSON LEARNED: Roasting Brussels Sprouts is simple, easy, and makes this vegetable taste delicious!

Recipe for Orecchiette with Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Chicken & Noodles

When the weather is cold, I feel like comfort food. One of my favorite comfort foods is chicken and noodles served over mashed potatoes. My family and I used to travel to Amish country in Indiana and one of the restaurants we always ate at featured chicken and noodles. This dish definitely reminds me of my trips to Amish country.

You begin by making homemade egg noodles. I love these noodles because they require very few ingredients and take just a few minutes of work. Even though I have a mixer with a dough hook I normally use for kneading, I prefer to knead these by hand. It's very therapeutic! After the dough is kneaded, it's rolled out thin, and cut into strips. You let the strips dry while you bring a pot of chicken stock to a boil. Next, you add the noodles, cooked chicken, and dried thyme. Everything is gently simmered for 15 minutes and you are ready to serve! I mashed up Yukon gold potatoes to serve with the chicken and noodles. YUM!

LESSON LEARNED: Homemade egg noodles are a snap to make!

Recipe for Chicken and Noodles

Orange Cashew Chicken

I love making my own Chinese takeout at home. It's such a fast dinner to whip up and, for the most part, tastes a lot better than ordering Chinese takeout. At the very least, it's fresher and piping hot when you want to eat it. One of my favorite dishes is Cashew Chicken.

This recipe mixes up a typical stir fry by adding orange marmalade & hot sauce in addition to onions, red peppers, bite size pieces of chicken, and cashews. The end product is half sweet and half spicy with the nutty, buttery flavor of cashews. This dinner disappeared fast in our house!

  LESSON LEARNED: I've found that a 3:1 ratio of vegetables to chicken works well. It makes the dish healthier by adding more veggies and you'll never miss the chicken - especially when you add cashews.

Recipe for Orange Cashew Chicken

Orange and Soy-Glazed Ribs

In my cooking repertoire there are certain proteins that I feel very comfortable working with. Give me a chicken breast, pork chop, or ground beef and I have no qualms about trying a new recipe. I can't say that I've ever worked with an entire rack of ribs before. When I first saw the recipe in a magazine, I thought they looked delicious but then I read the recipe I saw I had to cut ribs and use a few different techniques to cook them. Let me tell you, it was not as big of a deal as I imagined.

Most of the recipe is pretty hands off. Of course, once you cut the rack into individual ribs! My advice is to use a sharp knife and take your time. Then, the individual ribs are poached in a flavorful liquid which includes soy sauce, red pepper flakes, and cumin seeds. Once the ribs are tender, you make a glaze which includes more soy sauce, fresh orange juice, and a touch of honey. Finally, the ribs are broiled for a few minutes with the glaze. It was actually pretty easy and definitely not the trickiest recipe I've tackled.

The ribs reminded me of summertime in the middle of winter. I would describe them as having a spicy orange Asian flavor and they were incredibly tender. By broiling them for a few minutes, the ribs became a little charred and developed a nice smokey flavor. Enjoy!

LESSON LEARNED: Don't be afraid of using different cuts of meat.

Recipe for Orange and Soy-Glazed Ribs