We got a package of long beans at the grocery store and this was a nice easy side dish to make with them. Nothing fancy, but tasty.

Recipe as written calls for fresh ginger and one bell pepper. We didn't have fresh ginger, so I swapped in ginger paste, and we had lots of bell peppers, so I added a second one.

Dry-Fried Long Beans

From Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan (p. 208)

Ingredients

• ¼ C chicken broth
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ C canola oil
• 400g long beans, cut into 10cm lengths
• 1 Tbsp ginger paste (or 2 Tbsp peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger)
• 1-2 red or yellow bell peppers, seeded and chopped into 1cm pieces
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Directions

1. Whisk together the broth and sugar in a small bowl.
2. Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat until almost smoking.
3. Add the beans and cook, alternately stirring and squishing, until starting to wrinkle and develop brown spots, 3-5 minutes.
4. Remove beans and buffer.
5. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp of the oil.
6. Return wok to heat, add ginger, and stir-fry until fragrant, ~30s.
7. Add broth and beans. Cook until pan is almost dry, 4-5 minutes.
8. Stir in the bell pepper, vinegar, and sesame oil, toss once, and remove from heat.

Spanish Peppers with Olives and Capers

This was a great side dish and complemented the halibut dish that I'd made to go with it nicely. It was very simple to make. And I loved the flavours of the olives and capers with it. Lovely!

Photo goes here.

Spanish Peppers iwht Olives and Capers

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 red onion, halved and sliced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 900g bell peppers (red, yellow, and/or orange), cut into 4cm pieces
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 c. sherry or white wine vinegar
• 1/4 c. pitted and chopped green olives
• 1 Tbsp. capers, drained

Directions

1. Warm the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened (2-3 minutes).
3. Add the peppers, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring often, until softened (~8 minutes).
4. Add the vinegar, olives, and capers and cook until liquid has mostly evaporated (~2 more minutes).

This recipe was really meant to be done with skin-on, bone-in chicken pieces. You're supposed to start with a whole chicken and break it down into serving-sized pieces. And while I'm sure that would've been great, I didn't have a whole chicken to work with. What I did have was some skinless, boneless chicken breast pieces that I got on sale at the grocery store a few weeks back and stuck in the freezer for later use.

The lean, skinless pieces don't have quite as much flavour as you'd get if working with a whole chicken. But they were still very good. The sauce was quite flavourful. And making it with a nice lean, skinless cut does make it a bit healthier, at least.

Braised Chicken with Peppers, Capers, and Olives

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• ~1kg skinless boneless chicken pieces
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. schmaltz (or olive oil)
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 red bell peppers, sliced
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 45g pancetta, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 small (~400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1 c. white wine
• 1/3 c. Kalamata olives
• 2 Tbsp. capers

Directions

1. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Melt the schmaltz over medium heat.
3. Add the rosemary, bell peppers, onion, pancetta, and pepper flakes.
4. Season with salt and pepper and cook until softened (~5 minutes).
5. Add the tomatoes and wine.
6. Add the chicken, olives, and capers.
7. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low.
8. Simmer until chicken is nearly cooked through (~15 minutes).
9. Uncover and simmer for another 5-10 minutes to thicken sauce up slightly.
10. Serve with rice and/or crusty bread.

A nice quick breakfast scramble that uses up a bunch of veggies. I've adjusted the proportion to use integer vegetables rather than fractional ones.

Confetti Scramble

From The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 large bell pepper, chopped into 1cm pieces
• ¼ C fresh or frozen corn kernels
• ½ C chopped mushrooms
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 8 large eggs
• ¼ C milk
• ¼ tsp dried thyme
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper, ground
• parsley and black olives for garnish

Directions

1. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add bell pepper, corn, mushrooms, and green onions and cook until tender, 6-7 minutes.
3. Whisk together eggs, milk, thyme, salt, and pepper.
4. Pour into skillet and let set for 20 seconds.
5. Stir until fluffy and almost dry, 3-4 minutes.
6. Top with parsley and olives and serve.

Baked Rigatoni with Fennel, Sausage, and Peperonata

This was delicious! But I think it could have used more sausage. (And maybe a bit of spinach.)

Baked Rigatoni with Sausage and Peperonata

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 450g rigatoni
• 1 bulb fennel
• 450g Italian sausage, casings removed
• 3 bell peppers, julienned (preferably all different colours)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar¹
• 1 1/2 c. tomato sauce
• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream²
• 150g baby spinach (optional)
• 250g fontina cheese, grated
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F) and grease a 23x33cm lasagne pan.
2. Cook the rigatoni according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
3. Remove and discard the core and stems from the fennel bulb. Dice the remaining bulb and set aside.
4. Heat a pan over medium heat and add the sausage.
5. Cook for 3-4 minutes, breaking up the meat as it cooks.
6. Add the fennel and cook until softened and beginning to brown (~5 minutes).
7. Add the sausage and fennel to the bowl with the pasta.
8. Add the bell peppers to the now-empty pan. Add a little oil if necessary, but the sausages released sufficient fat that I didn't need any for mine.
9. Season to taste with salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes.
10. Add the sugar and vinegar and keep cooking until vegetables are glazed.
11. Add the tomato sauce and cream to the peppers and cook until slightly thickened (~5 minutes).
12. Pour the peppers and sauce over the pasta, add the spinach (if using) and the fontina, and toss to combine.
13. Dump the mixture into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the Parmesan.
14. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 10-15 minutes.

---

¹ The recipe called for granulated sugar and red wine vinegar. I swapped out the white sugar for brown. But I used the red wine vinegar as specified. Having tasted it though, I'd be inclined to try balsamic next time. I think that'd be even better! ^Back
2 The recipe called for 1 c. of tomato sauce and 1 1/2 c. of cream. We had a bit of extra sauce though, so we just tossed it in. I'm not sure if it was a full extra half cup. It might've been more like 1/3 c. But... close enough. Meanwhile, after putting in just 1 c. of cream, the sauce looked both very rich and very pale already. So I opted to omit the extra half cup. If you wanted to make this dish a bit lighter, you could use half-and-half instead. (I normally would've done that. But the cream has been in the fridge for a while and needs to be used up.) ^Back

These waffles are... weird. The batter uses an unusal ordering of ingredients. The flavour profile of the salsa is bizarre. And the overall effect, while not bad, is quite unusual.

Hawaiian Waffles with Tropical Salsa

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

Salsa

• 1 c. diced mango
• 1 c. diced pineapple
• 1/2 c. chopped bell pepper
• 1 jalape&ntile;o, seeded and minced
• 2 green onions, minced
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 tsp. red wine vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Waffles

• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 c. butter, melted
• 1 3/4 c. milk
• 275g flour
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder, sifted
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 c. chopped macadamia nuts
• 1/2 c. unsweetened coconut

Directions

1. Combine all of the salsa ingredients, stir, and chill for 1-2 hours.
2. Preheat waffle iron.
3. Beat the eggs until foamy.
4. Drizzle in the butter and continue beating.
5. Mix in the milk.
6. Add the flour, sugar, and salt and stir to combine.
7. Stir on the nuts and coconut.
8. Scoop a portion of batter into the preheated waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer directions.
9. Repeat with remaining batter.
10. Serve topped with maple syrup and/or tropical salsa.

I've spent most of the last few months flying by the seat of my pants when it comes to scheduling and meal planning. Lots of "just-in-time" compiling of food. And lots of emergency takeaway as I realize that I've run out of either time, ingredients, or energy. (Or sometimes all three.) This stir-fry was very much in that vein. I needed something that I could throw together quickly with ingredients on hand. And this happened to fit the bill. And, bonus: It was even pretty tasty!

Spicy Basil and Chicken Stir-Fry

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 6 Tbsp. chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 2 tsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 bell pepper, sliced
• 2 fresh Thai or finger chilies, thinly sliced
• 2-3 coves garlic, minced
• 450g skinless boneless chicken breases, sliced
• 3/4 c. fresh basil chiffonade (preferably Thai basil)
• 3 green onions, chopped
• cooked rice, to serve

Directions

1. Combine the stick, fish sauce, sugar, and cornstarch and mix well. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil over high heat.
3. Add the bell pepper and stir-fry for 1 minute.
4. Add the chiles and garlic and stir-fry for another 20-30 seconds.
5. Add the chicken and stir-fry until no longer pink (2-4 minutes).
6. Add the basil and green onions and stir-fry for one more minute.
7. Stir the sauce and then pour it into the wok.
8. Bring to a boil and cook for 30-60 seconds longer.
9. Remove from heat and serve over rice.

I was at a bit of a loss for dinner the other night. I haven't been sleeping well lately and have been very much flying by the seat of my pants when it comes to meal planning.

I needed something that would come together quickly, without too much effort, with the ingredients that I already had on hand. And this fit the bill. It's not the greatest meal ever. And, having tried it both ways now, I actually think I prefer it as a pasta sauce rather than serving it on buns like you're "supposed" to. But it got the job done. (And it is excellent on pasta!)

Sloppy Joes

Slightly adapted from Delish.com

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 c. ketchup
• 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. yellow mustard
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• black pepper, to taste
• 450g ground beef (preferably extra lean)
• 1 c. tomato sauce

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook until softened.
3. Add the bell pepper and cook for another minute or two.
4. Add the ketchup and cook until the colour darkens slightly (2-3 minutes).
5. Add the garlic and chili powder and cook for another minute.
6. Add the vinegar, mustard, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce and season to taste with pepper.
7. Add the ground beef and simmer, stirring and breaking up any large chunks, until meat is cooked through (~5 minutes).
8. Add the tomato sauce and simmer until heated through (3-5 minutes longer).
9. Serve on buns or over pasta with toppings of your choice. Dill pickles, lettuce, and cheddar cheese are all particularly good.

Yes, kung pao beef. I know that chicken is the traditional choice. But Woks of Life had a recipe for it using steak, so I decided to give it a try. And, I gotta say, while it wasn't a favourite, it was very good.

Like many stir-fries, the mise en place takes longer than the actual cooking, but I don't mind that. Just be sure to do all of your chopping before you start cooking. Because once you're underway, there won't be much time to stop until it's done.

Kung Pao Beef

Slightly adapted from The Woks of Life

Ingredients

Beef

• 400g steak (preferably flank steak or similar), sliced ~5mm thick against the grain
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 2 tsp. Shaoxing wine (绍兴酒)
• 2 tsp. oil
• 2 tsp. oyster sauce
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda

Sauce

• 3 Tbsp. water
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 1 tsp. hoisin sauce
• 1/2 tsp. Sichuan peppercorn powder
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp. dark soy sauce

Everything Else

• 1 tsp. minced ginger
• 5 dried chiles¹, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-3 green onions, chopped with greens and whites kept separate
• 1 c. roasted (unsalted) peanuts
• 2 Tbsp. oil

Directions

1. Combine the beef, cornstarch, wine, oil, oyster sauce, and baking soda. Mix well and set aside for 1-2 hours.
2. Meanwhile, combine the water, light soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, cornstarch, hoisin sauce, Sichuan peppercorns, sesame oil, and dark soy sauce and mix well. Set aside.
3. Combine the ginger and chiles and set aside.
4. Combine the bell pepper, garlic, and the white parts of the green onions and set aside.
5. Combine the peanuts and the green parts of the green onions and set aside.
6. Heat a wok over high heat.
7. Drizzle in the oil and swirl to coat.
8. Add the beef and cook for 3-4 minutes, flipping and turning once or twice until seared on the outside, but not quite cooked through.
9. Reduce temperature to medium-low, remove beef from wok, and set aside.
10. Add the ginger and dried chiles and cook for a minute or two.
11. Add the bell peppers, garlic, and white parts of the green onion and stir-fry for another 2 minutes.
12. Return the beef to the wok.
13. Give the sauce a good stir and pour it over the beef.
14. Stir-fry until beef is desired doneness (2-3 minutes longer).
15. Add the peanuts and the green parts of the green onions and stir-fry for one more minute.
16. Serve over rice.

---

¹ The original recipe calls for removing the seeds from the chiles, which I did. I found this made for a very mild final dish however. And while I suppose that this could be addressed by adding more chilies, I do wonder if simply leaving the seeds in might be the better way to go next time. ^Back

Yachaejeon (Korean Vegetable Pancakes)

I think I was a bit too skimpy with the oil when frying these pancakes. They were good, but came out a little gummy. I think a bit more oil, a slightly higher temperature on the pan, and going to the trouble of properly julienne-ing the potato (rather than grating it) probably would've made the difference. But I was still feeling a bit tired and decided to try to save some time and simplify my life by grating the carrot and potato rather than exercising my knife skills. And I had hoped that I could get away with just a light coating of oil on the pan to make these somewhat healthier. But, sadly, this lead to somewhat lacklustre results. Not bad. Just not great either.

On the bright side, this did make for a very low-effort vegetable side to go with the leftover stir-fry from the night before. And it let me clear some things out of the fridge that needed to be used anyway. I didn't have quite as many garlic chives as I would have liked, but everything else was lovely. Although I might consider adding some thinly sliced yellow onion along with the green onion next time. Can't go wrong with more alliums!

Also, given that the batter is basically just a lightly seasoned mix of flour and water, I'd be tempted to try making these with sourdough starter at some point. The hydration of the batter is much higher than what I usually keep my starter at. But that could be easily remedied by simply watering it down a bit. A 2:1 ratio of starter to water by mass should produce the right proportions. The flavour would be a bit different, to be sure, but I think it'd still be good! Something to try for next time...

Yachaejeon

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Sauce

• 1 cheongyang or jalapeño chile, thinly sliced
• 1 mild red chile, thinly sliced
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 c. light soy sauce
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. white vinegar
• 1/8 tsp. sugar

Pancakes

• 180g flour
• 1/2 tsp. dasida (or salt)
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 360g water
• ~150g (or more) garlic chives, cut into 5-cm pieces
• 1 small Yukon Gold (or similar) potato, julienned
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 cheongyang or jalapeño chile, thinly sliced
• 2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the chiles, green onion, yellow onion, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar for the dipping sauce. Mix well and set aside.
2. Combine the flour, dasida, and pepper and stir to mix.
3. Pour in the water and mix.
4. Add the garlic chives, potato, carrot, bell pepper, chile, green onions, and yellow onion (if using) and mix well.
5. Heat a pan, skillet, or tawa over medium-high heat.
6. Pour in ~1 Tbsp. of oil.
7. Spoon some batter onto the tawa and spread thin.
8. Cook until golden-brown on underside, then flip and cook until second side is also nicely browned.
9. Repeat with remaining batter, adding more oil as necessary.
10. Serve pancakes with the chunky dipping sauce.

I've been a little preoccupied lately and haven't felt up to doing much meal planning or cooking. This meant that I needed to find something quick and easy to do for dinner last night. Normally my go-to for that is curry. But I've been feeling kind of curried out lately, so I decided to hit up Aaron & Claire for some ideas instead.

I ended up settling on this spicy chicken stir-fry. We were all out of doubanjiang (豆瓣酱/Sichuan spicy bean paste), but we did have Laoganma (老干妈), so I just used that instead. It's not the same. Laoganma is much more oily and salty than doubanjiang. But it makes a tasty dish nonetheless. And some people¹ find they prefer the results of dishes made with Laoganma over doubanjiang anyway. Personally, I think I still prefer the doubanjiang flavour, but this certainly got the job done.

Spicy Ground Chicken Stir-Fry

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. doubanjiang (豆瓣酱/Sichuan spicy bean paste)
• 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. mirin
• 1 tsp. chicken bouillon powder (or dasida)
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground

Stir-Fry

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 500g ground chicken
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. minced ginger or ginger paste
• 200g garlic scapes, cut into bite-sized pieces (optional)
• 450g asparagus or green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 small red bell pepper or mild chile, chopped
• 1/2 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
• cooked rice, to serve
• fried eggs, to serve

Directions

1. Combine the doubanjiang, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, mirin, bouillon powder, and pepper. Mix well and set aside.
2. Heat a wok over high heat.
3. Drizzle in the oil and swirl to coat.
4. Add the chicken and cook until underside is browned.
5. Flip and continue to cook, breaking up as it sears, until chicken is cooked through and liquid has boiled off.
6. Add garlic, ginger, and garlic scapes (if using) and cook for 2-3 minutes.
7. Add the asparagus and bell pepper and cook for another minute or two.
8. Pour in the sauce and stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes.
9. Remove from heat and sprinkle with sesame oil and sesame seeds.
10. Serve on a bed of rice, topped with a fried egg.

---

¹ Looking at you, Reiver!

I was originally planning on doing a turkey sausage and barley stew for dinner the other night, but then I found a whole chicken on sale. I had intended to cut it up and freeze it for later use. But I kind of ran out of time. And decided that rather than thawing out the sausages, making dinner with them, and then breaking down and freezing the chicken, may be it just made more sense to eat the chicken right away and save the sausages for another time. So, I ended up going with this chicken stew, which not only used up the chicken, but also the bell peppers that we had in the fridge going begging.

Spanish Chicken Stew

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 (1.5-2kg) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. butter, olive oil, or schmaltz
• 2-3 red or yellow bell peppers, finely chopped
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small (~400mL) tin diced tomatoes
• 2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. hot paprika
• ~2 c. cooked chickpeas
• 3/4 c. pitted green olives¹
• 3/4 c. sliced almonds, toasted and divided

Directions

1. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper.
2. Heat the fat over medium-high heat.
3. Place the chicken pieces, skin-side-down, in the pot and sear until crispy. Flip and sear briefly on the other side. Transfer to a plate.
4. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp. of fat from the pot.
5. Return to medium heat and add the onion and bell pepper. Cook until softened.
6. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.
7. Add the tomato and both kinds of paprika and stir to combine.
8. Nestle the chicken pieces into the sauce, skin-side-up.
9. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until chicken is cooked through (30-40 minutes).
10. Uncover and add chickpeas, olives, and 1/2 c. of the toasted almonds. Simmer for 10 minutes.
11. Sprinkle with remaining almonds and serve.

---

¹ I didn't have enough green olives on hand for this, so I ended up using a mix of green and kalamata. I do think the green olives went with the dish slightly better, but they were both good. ^Back

We got some surprise Brussels sprouts in our produce basket this week. And while I have a bunch of sprout recipes still waiting to be tried, this one looked particularly well-suited to breakfast. And since that's the meal that I tend to have the most trouble planning for, I figured this would be the best way to use them up.

The original recipe just called for onion, Brussels sprouts, and potato. I only had about half the quantity of sprouts called for though, so I upped the amount of potato somewhat and added a carrot to balance things out. I think next time I'd add a bell pepper as well. But it was still very good as-is.

Brussels Sprouts and Potato Hash

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 450g potatoes, diced
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 250g Brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced
• 1-2 carrots, grated
• 3/4 tsp. dried thyme (or 2 tsp. fresh)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 4-6 large eggs

Directions

1. Melt the butter with the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook until softened (4-5 minutes).
3. Add the potato and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown (~15 minutes).
4. Add Brussels sprouts, carrots, and thyme and season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables caramelize (~15 minutes longer).
6. Add stock and cook until liquid is absorbed and vegetables are tender (~5 minutes).
7. Meanwhile, fry eggs in a little butter until desired doneness is reached and season to taste with salt and pepper.
8. Serve hash topped with eggs.

I had intended to make a lamb tagine for dinner tonight. But I didn't end up making it out to get the requisite lamb, so I had to push that and shuffle my meal plan around a bit.

Luckily, we did have all the bits needed for this simple steak dish. Or at least very close to all the bits. As written, the recipe calls for a flank steak. We didn't have any of that, but we did have a nice porterhouse. I know there are probably much better uses for a good porterhouse steak. But we don't tend to cook a lot of steak dishes and I figured it was better to use it for this than to let it keep languishing in the freezer for another year. And everyone did seem to quite enjoy it. So, all-in-all, I feel it was a good use of the ingredients I had on hand.

Steak Pipérade

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 700-800g steak¹
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 3 red or yellow bell peppers, sliced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme
• 1/2 c. dry white wine
• 1 small (~400mL) can diced tomatoes

Directions

1. Season the steak with salt and pepper.
2. Melt 1 Tbsp. of the butter over medium heat with the oil.
3. Add the steak and cook to desired doneness².
4. Transfer steak to plate and let stand while the veggies cook.
5. Melt the remaining 1 Tbsp. of butter in the now-empty pan.
6. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and thyme, season to taste with additional salt and pepper, and cook until just softened (3-5 minutes).
7. Add the wine and cook for another minute or so.
8. Add the tomatoes and simmer for ~5 minutes.
9. Slice the steak into thin strips and serve with the pipérade.

---

¹ The original recipe called for 680g of skirt or flank steak. I ended up using a 900g porterhouse steak. Personally, I think you could get away with a lot of different cuts. Just adjust the seasoning and cooking time appropriately for the weight, type, and thickness of the steak. ^Back
2 Cooking time will vary a lot depending on how thick your steak is and how well-done you like it. It could be anywhere from 3 minutes to 12 minutes per side. I ended up cooking my porterhouse for ~10 minutes per side for medium. (After 8 minutes per side, it was nicely rare, but TF and the Kidlet both like their steaks cooked more than that, so I tossed it back in the pan for a few minutes.) ^Back

TF made some shrimp and mushroom pasta for dinner last night. It was excellent. This is the vegetable side that I made to go with it. (Because I'm trying to get a bit better about making sure we have some sort of vegetables with our pasta-based dinners.)

This is pretty basic and simple, but it was very tasty. And it let me use some of the fresh rosemary from my mom's herb garden, so that was nice.

Roasted Peppers with Olives and Rosemary

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 4 large red and/or yellow bell peppers, sliced
• 1 sweet onion, cut into wedges
• 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. dried rosemary, chopped
• 12 kalamata olives

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and line a baking sheet with foil or a silicone baking mat.
2. Toss the bell peppers and onion with the olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread out on the prepared baking sheet.
3. Roast at 200°C (400°F) for 45 minutes, turning/stirring every 15.
4. If using dried rosemary, add it after the first 30 minutes of roasting.
5. After 45 minutes of roasting, add the olives and fresh rosemary (if using) and roast for another 5 minutes.

Urulikazhungu Molagha Bhajee (Potato-Pepper Vegetable Curry)

I don't make potato curries very often. We're usually having either rice, flatbreads, or both if we're having curry for dinner, which pretty much fills the "starch" slot in my dinner plans. So, when I'm selecting which curries to make, I'm generally looking for something with lots of non-starchy veggies and/or protein in it and most potato curries do not fit those requirements. In this case though, I already had a bunch of other curries already made: lots of veggies and protein on hand already. I didn't really need any new curries at all. We already had plenty for dinner. But I had the time and the ingredients on hand, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to whip up one more. Just to have a little extra variety!

Urulikazhungu Molagha Bhajee

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 6 1/2 tsp. canola (or other neutral) oil, divided
• 450g russet (or other floury) potatoes, cut into French-fry strips
• 1 bell pepper, cut into 1cm wide strips
• 15 fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 1 c. water
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. skinned split black lentils (mapte beans/urad dal/white lentils)
• 1 Tbsp. yellow split peas (chana dal)
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1 cinnamon stick (~7cm long), broken into smaller pieces
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh or frozen curry leaves

Directions

1. Heat 2 Tbsp. of the oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the potatoes, bell pepper, and curry leaves and stir-fry until potatoes begin to brown (~5 minutes).
3. Add water and salt and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are fork tender (10-12 minutes).
5. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1/2 tsp. oil over medium-high heat.
6. Add the lentils, split peas, and cinnamon and cook, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes.
7. Transfer the spice mixture to a plate and allow to cool.
8. Once spices have cooled completely, transfer to a spice ginder and grind until the texture resembles ground black pepper.
9. Once the vegetables are tender, add the spices and lime juice.
10. Sprinkle with chopped curry leaves and serve.

Bhuna Hua Simla Mirch aur Masoor ki Dal (Red Lentil Dal with Slow-Roasted Bell Peppers)

We at the last of our chickpea stew last night, but we still had a couple of other curries and some rice left, so I just threw together a simple dal tonight to fill the legume slot. It's surprisingly tasty considering the brevity of the ingredient list and the lack of alliums!

The original recipe calls for green bell pepper and green chilies, but I had yellow and red respectively, so I just used those instead. The chilies give it a nice kick while the bell pepper adds a bit of sweetness, making it a flavourful dish despite turmeric being the only actual spice used. My only complaint is that it comes out quite thin. I halved the amount of water called for in the sauce, but even so, I found it very soupy. Next time I think I'd reduce the water used to cook the lentils as well. (The instructions below reflect both of these changes.)

Bhuna Hua Simla Mirch aur Masoor ki Dal

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1-2 fresh Thai, cayenne, or finger chilies, sliced thin
• 1 c. skinned split brown lentils (red lentils/Egyptian lentils/masoor dal)
• 3 c. water, divided
• 3/4 c. diced tomato
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add bell pepper and chilies and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, thoroughly rinse the lentils.
4. Add 2 c. of the water to the lentils and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
5. Skim off any foam from the surface, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low.
6. Simmer lentils, stirring occasionally, until tender (10-15 minutes).
7. Once the peppers have gotten some colour and started to brown, add the tomato, salt, and turmeric and deglaze the pan.
8. Add the remaining cup of water and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomato begins to break down (5-8 minutes).
9. Once the lentils are tender and the sauce is done, pour it into the pot with the lentils and stir to combine.
10. Continue to simmer the dal, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for an additional 5 minutes.
11. Stir in the cilantro and serve.

I thought that we had made all of the various enchilada recipes from the Dish of the Day and Vegetable of the Day cookbooks. But it turns out that I'd missed one! This one involves a simple filling of black beans and kale (spinach in the original recipe) with a bit of cheese and some homemade salsa verde to bring it all together.

Personally, I felt like the sauce could have used a bit more kick. I would be tempted to add some jalapeños and/or finger chilies next time. But the kids seemed to enjoy it this way, so that's good at least.

I'm glad that I tried doing the sauce from scratch for these. It was nice. That said, if you're looking for a way to streamline the recipe, I wouldn't hesitate to use store-bought salsa verde in place of the homemade.

Kale and Black Bean Enchiladas

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Sauce

• 12 tomatillos, husked and halved
• 3 poblanos, halved and seeded
• 1 jalapeño, halved and seeded (optional)
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 1 c. fresh cilantro
• salt and pepper, taste

OR

• ~1L store-bought salsa verde

Enchiladas

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. dhania-jeera masala
• ~300g frozen chopped kale or spinach
• 2 cans (~400mL each) black beans (or 1 1/2 c. dried black beans, cooked), drained and rinsed
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 250g Monterey Jack (or pepper jack) cheese, shredded and divided
• 1 medium tortillas¹
• 1-2 avocadoes, sliced

Directions

1. Preheat the broiler (on high if it has multiple settings).
2. Place the tomatillos and chilies, cut-side-down, on a baking sheet and broil until slightly charred and softened (8-10 minutes).
3. Transfer tomatillos, chilies, onion, garlic, and cilantro to a blender and purée.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
5. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
6. Heat oil over medium heat.
7. Add onion and bell pepper and cook until softened (~5 minutes).
8. Add the cumin and masala and cook for another minute or two.
9. Add the frozen greens and cook until thawed.
10. Remove from heat and stir in the beans, cilantro, half the cheese (~1 c.), and 3/4 c. of the sauce.
11. Spoon ~1/2 c. of sauce into the bottom of a 23x33cm (9x13") baking dish.
12. Put ~1/2 c. of filling in the centre of each tortilla, roll up into a tube, and place seam-side-down into the prepared baking dish.
13. Once all of the tortillas have been filled and placed in the baking dish, pour the rest of the sauce over them.
14. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, cover with foil, and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30 minutes.
15. Remove foil and continue baking for another 10 minutes.
16. Serve topped with avocado and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.

---

¹ The recipe calls for flour tortillas and that's what I used this time, but I actually think that corn tortillas would have been better here. They just didn't have any when I went to the grocery store and I didn't feel up to making my own from scratch this time. The flour tortillas were fine. I just think that corn ones tend to work especially well for enchiladas. ^Back

I took this recipe as more of a suggestion/inspiration than actual instructions. Because, as written, it was completely insane! First off, recipe-as-written, it called for no cheese. And, I'm sorry, if it doesn't have cheese, it's not a pizza, it's just a vegetable-topped flatbread. Secondly, it called for white button mushrooms rather than cremini or oyster or something with a bit more flavour. And finally, they had you relegate each of the four toppings to its own quadrant. So, you could have mushrooms or peppers or artichockes or olives, but there was no way to get all of the above without eating four separate slices of pizza. Which is completely bonkers!

TF and I took one look at the recipe and immediately decided to go off-script. We added a bunch of mozzarella cheese and also increased the topping quantities slightly and put all four toppings on the whole pizza rather than doing that weird quadrant thing. And, having done that, it was pretty good!

Mushroom, Bell Pepper, Artichoke, and Olive Pizza

Adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 450g whole wheat pizza dough
• 1/2 c. pizza sauce
• 1 c. grated mozzarella
• 1 roasted red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 3-4 cremini or oyster mushrooms, sliced
• 2-3 marinated artichoke hearts, sliced
• 8-10 black or kalamata olives, sliced
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil

Directions

1. Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat to 290°C (550°F) or the highest temperature it will go.
2. Roll out pizza dough into a 35cm (14") circle.
3. Dust a pizza peel with cornmeal and place the pizza crust on top.
4. Spread pizza sauce over dough (leaving a 1cm border).
5. Top with mozzarella.
6. Sprinkle with bell pepper, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and olives.
7. Quickly slide pizze onto preheated pizza stone and bake until crust is crisp and cheese is bubbling (~8 minutes).
8. Remove from oven, sprinkle with basil, slice, and serve.

I haven't been great at staying on keeping up with cooking and meal planing lately. There's been a lot going on and it's been hard to stay on top of everything.

I needed a vegetable side to round out a meal. (I no longer remember which meal since I didn't get along to writing this up right away.) We didn't have a lot in the way of vegetables on hand. But we did have a bunch of fresh tomatoes and some bell peppers. And it turns out that you don't really need much beyond that to make peperonata. So that worked out quite well!

Peperonata

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2-4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 bell peppers, seeded and sliced
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh Basil and/or flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Warm the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook until softened (~5 minutes).
3. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.
4. Add the bell peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown (~10 minutes).
5. Add the tomatoes and cook until they break down and the sauce thickens (~20 minutes).
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. Garnish with basil and/or parsley.
8. Serve with eggs, steak, and/or garlic bread.