Quick: Chicken with Cherry Tomato Sauce

The January issue of Cooking Light is full of great recipes for Chicken Breasts. Which is good, because it’s a staple aroudn here. We made this one with a side of rice and sugar snap peas with sesame oil and sesame seeds. Not too bad….

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Beef Randang

We made Cooking Light’s Beef Rendang this weekend. It was a nice change from the Turkey-stuffing-potatoes-cranberries we’ve been filling up on. It was a little tedious at first, but the long simmering time gave me plenty of time to clean up and relax before dinner time. The beef was very tender and we added some green peppers for some excitement. Next time I’ll add more peppers and probably mushrooms. It was full of flavor and had just the right amount of spice. Overall, it’s a keeper!

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The Best Spaghetti and Meatballs

Now that the weather has turned a bit colder, we turned to this old standby: Lady and the Tramp Spaghetti and Meatballs. It’s versatile (we’ve used ground turkey, beef and bison), comes together quickly (especially when Husband makes the meatballs) and is really, very delicious (add a touch of crushed red pepper). The meatballs are moist and full of flavor and it’s hard to tell that it’s a jarred sauce. With the addition of fresh basil from the garden, it was a a fabulous meal. Oh, and the glass of Pinot Noir didn’t hurt either.

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Meatless Monday: Bean Burritos

For dinner last night we made these Bean Burritos from Cooking Light in honor of Meatless Monday. Great idea, not so great recipe. The beans were just boring, even with double the garlic, double the chipotle powder and HOT salsa. Oh well, it came together really quickly (about 15 minutes) and it filled us up. I’ll need to look around for a better meatless option next week…

(if you’re confused, I ate mine like tacos, just because)

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Korean-Style Beef with Rice Noodles

Here’s another easy recipe for a weeknight meal. A pound of top sirloin, a few pantry ingredients for a marinade and a box of rice noodles. Just allow 30 minutes to marinate the beef in a mix of soy sauce, sugar, garlic and chili paste, thread the beef on skewers, grill ’em up and enjoy. This dish was very flavorful with just the right amount of heat. We’ll be making it again. Soon. Let me now if you try it.

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Chili-Glazed Salmon

We needed a really quick dinner idea. I was exhausted, but more than that, I was hungry. Cooking Light came through again. I went to their website and saw a quick link to recipes with 5 ingredients. Perfect. I knew the cupboard was bare and I didn’t want to have to buy twenty things at the grocery store over my lunch hour. So we made this simple recipe for Chili-Glazed Salmon. We served it with rice from our awesome rice cooker and broiled some asparagus along with the salmon. It was quick, easy and really good. Enjoy!

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Thai-Style Pork Stew

Speaking of happiness…. throw this recipe (Thai Style Pork Stew) into your crock pot, put a bottle of wine in the fridge to chill and enjoy a fabulous, healthy meal 8 hours later. Happy.

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Goodbye, Cooking Light

I just canceled my Cooking Light subscription. Again. They kept sending me renewal notices for a year at $20. I’ve been subscribing to the magazine for at least 10 years. A new subscription is $9.99. HALF the price. Last year when this happened, I called, complained, and paid the lower rate. This year I keep returning the notices with a nice little note explaining my position. I haven’t heard a word from them. Yet. Meanwhile, I’ll stick to Eating Well, Bon Appetit. and Food and Wine.

But, before I let it go, as I still have a few months left, here’s a recipe we made tonight for dinner. Very simple, very tasty and very fast. Mongolian Beef with Green Onions. We served it over rice with some extra hot sauce and a nice Pinot Noir.

So, Goodbye Cooking Light. It’s been a good ten years, but I’m done. And BTW, the redesign? I don’t like it. Makes the magazine hard to read. All your pages look like ads. I’m disappointed. But keep posting those recipes to your website. I’ll find them there instead. And I’ll save that 20 dollar bill for more groceries. Thanks.

Oh – one more thing. Go the the Food & Wine website and sign up for their weekly newsletter. It’s the only one I receive that I look forward to, that I actually read. It’s great. Enjoy!

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It’s Cookie Season!

Every year around this time I start to bake. I really don’t bake that often the rest of the year, but come December my kitchen is transformed with flour and powered sugar and cookie cutters. I always make Gingerbread Men. And usually the family specialty, Bon-Bon Cookies. After that I switch it up each year. This year I pulled recipes from Cooking Light, Martha Stewart and the Food Network. Here is the list I plan to make, we’ll see if I get through all of these.

Gingerbread Men

Key-Lime Thumbprints

Espresso Crinkles

Bon-Bon Cookies (recipe follows)

Meringues

Macaroons

Sea-Salt Caramels

Chocolate Truffles

There were also a few interesting options in the Star Tribune Taste Section last week. Guess I’ll see how much flour I’ve got.

Bon Bon Cookies
For the cookies:
1 cup butter, softened
1 to 1 1/2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla
3 cups floor
1/4 tsp salt
Candied cherries

For icing:
1 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar
2 Tbsp cream
1 tsp vanilla
Food Coloring

To make the cookies:
Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla. If dough is dry (and it almost always is) add 1 or 2 Tbsp cream (you’ll have cream on hand for the icing). Wrap level Tbsp of dough around one candied cherry and roll into a ball. Place each ball about 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes.

For icing: Mix together sugar, cream, vanilla and food coloring. If you want two colors of icing (we always used red and green for the holidays) divide the icing before adding the food coloring.

When the cookies are still warm, but not too hot to handle, dip the rounded tops into the frosting. Sprinkle colored sugar or other decorations onto frosting immediately, before the frosting is set. Allow to cool and dry completely before storing.

Makes 3 dozen.

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Soup Swap, The Finale

We swapped our soup the other night. And from left to right, there is Jen’s Winter Golden Soup, Jaime’s Red Lentil with Lemon Soup, Jackie’s Butternut Squash Soup with Cinnamon and Kathryn’s Pumpkin Coconut Soup. I brought epicurious.com’s Pasta e Fagioli. I can’t wait to try all of them, and the hardest choice I had all day was which one I should pull out of the freezer first.

I’ll post reviews as I try them, can’t wait!! (Recipes after the jump)

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