Monday, June 28, 2010

two small dinners is better than one large dinner?

Wondering how my Italian Chicken Bracciole was for lunch?  IT WAS FANTASTIC.  To know whether or not you would enjoy it, let me tell you what I am starting to learn are the keys to a delicious (Italian, in this case) dish for me:
  1. Fresh garlic, chopped and cooked in a pan (possibly garlic powder works just as well, but I like to use fresh garlic).  I also like to include other Italian seasonings.
  2. Cheese (Usually Parmesan and/or Mozzarella).
  3. Bacon (I use low-fat turkey bacon).
  4. Diced tomatoes - fresh or canned - cooked so they become more of a chunky sauce.  This is so much better than marinara sauce in a jar, I don't think I'll ever go back.  Yum.
  5. Cooked onions (gotta be chopped up small and cooked through).
Delicious. This recipe also had bread crumbs, another love of my life.  This would have gone well with pasta, but instead I had it with a side salad.  On to dinner.  I am definitely in a cooking funk this week - I am just not motivated to go to the grocery store or cook.  But dinner must be consumed, so I have to push through!

I had one piece of pork yet, so I made a fairly simple recipe: Pork Medallions with Hot Pineapple Glaze.  I don't like pineapple, and this recipe said to use either pineapple or orange marmalade spreadable fruit, so I went with the latter.  Even the orange marmalade flavor isn't my favorite, but it's definitely better than pineapple!  This recipe was quick, simple, and tasted good.  However, I could not for the life of me think what vegetables go well with orange marmalade, so I ate it solo and decided to eat two small dinners instead of one big dinner tonight.

After dinner #1, I knew I needed to find a way to use the asparagus I had leftover from last week.  I found a recipe for Halibut and Asparagus Stir-Fry.  I didn't have halibut, nor did I need another serving of meat/protein right after my pork, so I basically made this recipe sanz fish.  It was pretty good, but not spectacular... although I feel like I have to try this again when I have some halibut.  Also, I didn't chop up the asparagus spears very small, I think that would have helped.  The mushrooms, onions, soy sauce, and garlic were a great flavor combo, though!

Err... no plans for lunch tomorrow and nothing much in the fridge to make... we'll see what happens.  Still in a funk, not really excited about cooking or going to the grocery store.  It would be a miracle if I avoided fast food even for the rest of the night, haha!  What do you do when you are just craving fried, unhealthy, greasy fast food?  Hopefully having my eyes glued to the TV (BACHELORETTE!) will prevent me from going out.

1 comment:

  1. Keys to your Italian dish: yum, yum yum! (Minus the tomatoes part, of course). But yes, fresh chopped garlic sauteed! Cheese! And BACON! Onions are solid too.

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