Food

I Love Food.
Lately I have been wanting more diverse food. I love trying new foods and I'll usually try anything once. While I love eating food, I do not like cooking it. I have been bored of the same "old faithful" meals that I always cook so I got inspired by Julie and Julia to try something new. (I even poached my first egg!)

I picked out a menu of meals of things that either I hadn't cooked before or with better, higher quality ingredients and fresh herbs. Martha helped me find alot by showing me some great recipe blogs like Tammy's recipe's and Recipe Shoebox. (btw, all photos are stolen from their sites:-)

So far I have made:

Fish Tacos with halibut and homemade tzatziki sauce. It was so good I think I could've eaten the sauce on it's own.

Tzatziki sauce ingredients:

1/2 cup grated peeled cucumber (seeds removed and juice drained*)
1/4 cup greek yogurt or plain yogurt
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped oregano
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Grilled Chicken Souvlaki Gyros...they were sooo good.
I stole the picture from Tammy's blog but mine looked just as good...of course! :-)


http://www.tammysrecipes.com/grilled_chicken_souvlaki_gyros



Creamy Spaghetti and Beans with Earthy Portobello Salad with Prosciutto
(Rachel Ray says this is Italian comfort food and will wrap your stomach in a cozy blanket!)
It was yummy but I would cut down the beans next time. You put dry spaghetti in a skillet and add a little wine and chicken stock a few ladles at a time until the spaghetti drinks it all up. I was babying it and keeping a close eye until my neighbor came by to talk about the road. You know how you don't want to be rude when someone is talking but you need to do something? So I kept trying to sneak in the kitchen to stir it, but it ended up a little drier than I think it should've been.



http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/creamy-spaghetti-and-beans-recipe/index.html


Joe normally isn't a huge salad fan, unlike me who dreams about salad, but he liked this one! Mostly because of the large chunks of portobello mushrooms!!


http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/earthy-portobello-salad-with-prosciutto-recipe/index.html



Garlic Chicken Latta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes from http://recipeshoebox.blogspot.com
This was really delicious and even Shawn loved it. I usually have a hard time making creamy sauce without some issues for some reason...curdling or it not being thick enough. This turned out PERFECT! I guess I should follow a recipe sometimes.


http://recipeshoebox.blogspot.com/2010/05/garlic-chicken-pasta-with-sun-dried.html



Skillet Rosemary Chicken from Food Network

This one turned out so good....tender and juicy with a slight lemon flavor. I ended up using the leftovers on top of salad. What else?

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/skillet-rosemary-chicken-recipe/index.html


I also made Chile Verde: I used stew meat cooked all day in the crockpot with green chiles until super tender and then put in tortillas topped with mozzarella and baked.
I've been craving it for months, literally because that's how I am :-) It wasn't as juicy as it should've been so it was a little on the dry side but I didn't care!!

I also tried my hand at Paninis....Artisan bread with prosciutto, salami, tomato, fresh basil, provolone, olive oil and balsamic (mouth watering). However, the panini effect is hard to achieve without a press so it was more like a grilled cheese but still good.

I'd say the biggest challenge of it all is trying to plan the meals around Joe's schedule. His work schedule is so unpredictable that he could get home at 5pm or 10pm. I don't like to cook a big meal just for myeslf so I saved these ones for the nights I knew he'd be home. For myself I'd fix a big greek salad with spinach, olives, feta, cucumbers, pieces of salami, balsamic dressing...yum

Next recipes to try: Zippy Steak Chili and Balsamic Chicken and Pasta.

Wish me luck.