LIFE FROM SCRATCH Archives - Page 143 of 228

C’s picks.

August 25, 2014 / By Courtney / 4 Comments

Our weekend in one word? TRAIN! We got to enjoy them at Ravinia this weekend with great friends, and of course great food. I forgot how much I love the song, Drops of Jupiter. Therefore, it’s been playing in our home nonstop since.

Alright – our menu plan for the week. Let’s do this.

Sunday we are headed to the city for a goodbye party for my sister in law, Molly. She is off to the big apple and will be missed! To bid her farewell, these bars will be served up for dessert. Dream big, Molly!

Again, until football season ends Mondays and Wednesdays are all about quick cooking dinners! I went way back in the archives for this one (note awful photo!) – baked creamy chicken taquitos for Monday and homemade chicken tostadas for Wednesday night sound perfect. Apparently I’m in a Mexican sort of mood.

Tuesday night let’s get some burgers and grilled corn going. Brie-rugla ones are to die for. Have you tried these yet? Oh my.

Thursday night let’s go with my favorite salmon on the grill. Sausage for for the boys, and brown rice for all.

Let’s wrap up the week with our pizza, on the green egg.

What are you making this week? I’d love to hear!
C

Rain rain go away.

August 22, 2014 / By Courtney / 1 Comment

It was a gray summer day – the kind that just doesn’t seem fair and had me singing ‘rain rain go away’ over and over again to B as we splashed in the puddles and hunted for frogs.

I knew dinner needed to be a bit of comfort, but we’re still talking super hot muggy temps, so something light(er) had to be on the agenda. I had spied a pasta recipe in my mom’s new cookbook, A Modern Way To Eat, and knew I had my answer.

Whole wheat pasta, fresh green summer herbs, diced avocado – all brightened up with lemon zest and of course, parmesan.

This was right up my alley. Add in a bit of grilled chicken for M, and we have a winner all around.

We ate this in deep bowls in our screened in porch while the rain pelted down. It was one of those rare moments where each and everyone of us was happy, full, content… and for a brief moment, quiet.

……laughing – who am I kidding? M and I were inhaling this in the few brief minutes that B was content with a popsicle melting all over the couch while watching Full House. L was up in his room for pushing B off the couch, hard, and his yelling of “Not fair! I never want to see you again!’ serenaded us through our dinner.

Cheers!

Here’s hoping the sun cracks through for the weekend – happy Friday friends!
C

Yellow & Green Pasta, Round II

2014-08-21 21:28:05

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Ingredients

1 box whole wheat spaghetti
olive oil
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
zest of 1 lemon, plus juice for topping
large handful fresh basil, chopped
large handful fresh parsley, chopped
2 ripe avocados, diced
freshly grated parmesan
salt & pepper

Instructions

Cook the pasta in salted water according to package directions.
In a large skillet, saute the shallot in a little olive oil for a few minutes over medium heat. Add in the garlic until it just starts to brown. Remove from the pan and stir in the zest and fresh herbs.
Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid from the pasta. Drain pasta and toss in the skillet with the reserved cooking liquid. I added in extra olive oil and this point. Season with salt & pepper.
Top with avocado, parmesan, and additional lemon juice should you prefer. (I went heavy on this, as well as the parm).

A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

(Late) summer love.

August 20, 2014 / By Courtney / 7 Comments

I don’t know about you, but I’ve completely fallen for late summer cooking.

I am totally smitten with it.

The fresh tomatoes. The sweet basil, highlighted in so many of my recent recipes, and rightfully so. I can’t get enough. I want to make this one, and this one, over and over again until every last sun drenched tomato is used.

Then this roasted tomato bake recipe crossed my path. Passed along by my mom, who had spoken of nothing else for a few days, and I knew I had to give it a try.

Like always, she was dead on. The tomatoes and mini onions blister into pure caramelized perfection. The potatoes, browned at the edges, are buttery soft on the inside. I added whole cloves of garlic, which might just be the best thing to be roasted, ever. A fresh bite from the basil and some staying power with the cannelini beans – this really could be a one dinner dish, no meat required.

(Grilled chicken on the side never hurts though.)

Get this roasting away in your oven while you can. We’re deep into August, friends, and I don’t even want to think what is around the corner. For now it’s summer, sun, and this sweet & sticky recipe.

Sweet & Sticky Roasted Tomato Bake

2014-08-19 16:12:54

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Ingredients

2 bags mini pearl onions
2 pints large cherry tomatoes
2 lbs mini yukon gold potatoes, or new potatoes
1 garlic bulb, cloves separated but still peeled
sea salt
pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes
2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
large bunch fresh basil

Instructions

Put the mini onions in a bowl and cover them with boiling water. This will make peeling them easier.
Throw the peeled onions into a large roasting pan. Add tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, a generous about of salt & pepper, and the pinch of red pepper flakes. Pour over the olive oil and toss to coat.
Into the oven it goes for 1 hours. Gently shake the pan every 15 minutes or so, if you can, so things roast evenly.
After an hour, add the drained beans and some whole basil leaves. Roast for another 15 minutes.
Remove from the onion, topped with some more fresh basil and serve immediately.

Notes

Tip from my mom - she fried up the leftovers with an egg the next morning. Genius!

Adapted from Anna Jones

A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

C’s picks.

August 18, 2014 / By Courtney / 4 Comments

Our weekend in one word? JOY!

Sunday was one of those fantastic days where nothing was on the calendar. We ended up barbecuing with great neighbors. Filets on the grill? Can’t be beat. I brought over a sweet & sticky tomato and onion bake that I ended up dreaming about. Can’t wait to share with you.

We are all about quick cooking for football on Mondays and Wednesdays. Let’s go with these awesome summer sandwiches for Monday and quick Chinese chicken for Wednesday.

Tuesday let’s get back to that grill. Bruschetta chicken, please! It’s all you need.

I can not believe summer has almost gone by and I have yet to make my farmers market pasta. Getting it on the table for Thursday.

Friday I’m hosting a little girls night in, woo hoo! I’m going to recreate this beautiful bruschetta bar – can’t wait! Pink champagne all around because, why not?

That’s our menu plan for the week – let’s hear about yours!

Repeat.

August 15, 2014 / By Courtney / 1 Comment

Sometimes a recipe just warrants two posts.

I’ve done that once before here on ALFS with our pizza. Took the original and put a summer spin on it. It was so pretty and fresh, I just had to share again and that’s exactly what happened with this recipe.

I started with the original summer stew, of course, but then thought – hey, why stop at just onion, tomatoes, and corn? There is a plethora of summer veggies that are so in right now, so into the pot went some chopped up green pepper and zucchini. Other options? Egg plant, summer squash – it’s all good. And now for the other added twist – fresh parm on top. Clearly I was having a mom brain moment not to include that the first time around.

This recipe is the absolute best summer recipe to make if you miss cooking, want something easy, and only want to dirty one dish. Who has time for more than that? There is summer sun to be enjoyed before it sets into fall, so grab a glass of wine, a plate of this, and get to it this weekend.

Oh, and the instructions? Head on over to the original post, here, and have fun with it.

Happy Friday everyone!