Week Five: Beef Barley Soup, Rustic Genovese Basil Pesto Pasta, and Curried Chicken with Coconut Rice

Beef Barley Soup

This week, I was craving warm, comfort food. Thus, beef and barley soup. This recipe is pretty darn quick and easy. And it is the ultimate cozy, comfort-food inspired meal. The beef and barley combination is classic; the flavors and textures meld so perfectly together. I just love barley too; it's a really hearty grain.

Find the Whole Living recipe here: Beef Barley Soup.

I like to buy "stew beef" for recipes like this. It's already chunked into pieces. Since they are usually pretty hefty chunks, I tend to cut the pieces into halves or thirds. That way, you don't feel like you are gnawing through your meal as much.

This is a great weeknight recipe, and it made for a great lunch the next day.

Rustic Genovese Basil Pesto Pasta

This recipe came from Clean Eating magazine. Find the recipe here: Rustic Genovese Basil Pesto Pasta. What drew me to this recipe was the bright green, almost chunky pesto.

I love pesto. But I really don't like using store bought pesto unless I have to. I mean, it's kind of brown-looking and I can never remember how long it's been in the refrigerator. Seriously, let's think about this. Pestos are usually made from basil, and we all know how long fresh basil lasts. Usually, I've had it about two seconds before the leaves start browning and it starts smelling kind of rancid. I guess that's a good reason to have it growing fresh at home. However, I have read lately that if you're dealing with store bought fresh basil, it's good to trim the ends, place in a glass of water at room temperature, and trim the stems/change the water every day until used. Supposedly, it can last up to two weeks when stored this way (I have yet to see this happen).

Now, that I'm done (well, almost) with my basil and pesto rant, let's talk about this delicious recipe. Blanching and shocking the basil leaves and green beans keep them nice and bright green. What an incredible idea! (I think that's what the makers of store bought pesto are missing out on.) The pesto in this recipe, combined with whole-wheat pasta and roasted cherry tomatoes, is truly rustic as the recipe name implies. It was really good.

Word to the wise though. This pesto has garlic (of course). Which is great. But uh, it was pretty strong in this recipe. I don't know if I used too much or if it's flavor was heightened when added to the extra virgin olive oil for the pesto, but it was potent. Like Zack-and-I-were-still-tasting-it-the-next-day potent. Zack was so worried that his patients would notice his garlic breath that he passed on his lunch leftovers to his unsuspecting co-worker. (Who absolutely loved the pasta, by the way.) So, you have been warned. Delicious, but garlic-strong.

Curried Chicken with Coconut Rice

This curry recipe was a Pinterest find. What's new, right? Find the recipe here: Curried Chicken with Coconut Rice.

Zack loves curry. He could eat it everyday. And he loves Indian. So this recipe was a very good find. Other than the fact that I used brown rice instead of basmati, and the dish took a little longer to cook than indicated as a result, this was great. Oh and other than the fact that I was like crying from the time I started dicing the onion all the way until I was done eating this piping-hot (temperature-wise) and spicy meal. So good though.

The chicken was so tender and the spices are perfect. And as Zack says, the combination of the hot, spicy with the cool, fresh tomatoes is really good. Plus, it's a one-pot meal and you will have plenty of leftovers. 

Well, that's all for Week Five. This meal planning thing has been going really well. I enjoy searching for recipes/ideas at the beginning of each week. Goodness, I don't know what people did before the internet. Furthermore, because of the planning that this involves, Zack and I feel like we are eating healthier and we are more satisfied with what we are eating. It's a win-win. I don't plan on stopping now; see you back here soon! Cheers.

Week Two: Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew, Pasta with Light Turkey Ragu, Tortilla Soup, Applesauce, and Pumpkin-Spice Rice Krispie Treats

We are cookin' over here! I don't really know how something as boring as "meal planning" could get me so excited about cooking. I don't know about you working folks out there, but sometimes making dinner isn't the first thing you really want to do after a long day at work. Let alone, making up lunches to take to work the next day after you do dishes from dinner, when you really just want to relax or maybe exercise or hangout with your husband.

Now, I've realized it's not the cooking that I dread doing after work. It's the stress of, "oh, shoot, I need to run to the store because I don't have that on hand" or "wow, I wish I would have realized that this recipe takes like 4 hours to make and we won't be eating until 9 o'clock tonight." That's the thing! If you set aside a little time over the weekend or on Monday to plan out the week and grocery shop, you save yourself so much stress. Plus, it gives you more opportunity to eat more healthily and less of an inclination to grab take-out for lunch. And the idea of being able to pull good menus to use that I have from the past sounds just great.

Lentil and Sweet-Potato Stew.

Alright. So, Lentil and Sweet-Potato Stew. This was really delicious. And again, a recipe I found on Whole Living, one of Martha Stewart's websites. I know, I know...I keep going back to it, but all the recipes are so good! And this stew was no exception. Mildly spicy, with a subtle curry flavor, and packed with vegetables including sweet potato (evidently), onion, carrot, celery, and green beans. I almost considered adding some sort of meat, but I figured that the sweet potato and lentils would make it hearty enough, and they did. This soup stands alone.

When it comes to my next recipe, I have a confession. I do not have a Pinterest account (yet), because if I did, I would spend way too much time browsing recipes, home decor, arts and crafts, and whatever else happened to strike my fancy. Therefore, I have resorted to browsing through recipes only and I am already addicted. Now you may find a wide range in terms of quality when it comes to recipes on Pinterest, but there are also many gems which I simply take a screen-shot of and save for later. He he.

Now that you all know about the values of Pinterest, we can talk about the Penne with Light Turkey Ragu. So simple, and very tasty. Ground turkey, leeks, oregano, basil, tomato...delicious. I love leek; such a great vegetable. The recipe calls for penne, but I just used the pasta I had on hand which happened to be a mix of whole-wheat and regular rotini.

Tortilla Soup with Black Beans.

My third dinner recipe this week was Tortilla Soup with Black Beans, another Whole Living find. This is so easy, but definitely more than satisfactory. I added some ground beef, which I had been saving in the freezer for a time like this, and I'm glad I did. My mind must have been elsewhere when I was making this, however, because I neglected to add spices until towards the end of cooking, and then I forgot to squeeze fresh lime over the soup before serving. Oh well. I think my version will be better tomorrow after marinating in the refrigerator all night, and we still have limes. Ha ha. But even so, it was really delicious and a great go-to weeknight soup. We crushed our tortilla chips over our individual bowls right before serving, so as to prevent tomorrow's leftovers from being full of soggy chips.

To top it all off, Tim and Amy visited us last weekend, and were so kind as to bring us a big bucket of farm-fresh (I believe, Jonathan...?) apples and a watermelon. They even brought us pumpkins they had grown, which was so cool because we were considering getting pumpkins the day before but didn't. So, what to do with a bucket of apples? First thing we thought of was applesauce. My mom makes some great applesauce. Actually, she made an amazing batch with some Gravenstein apples that Tim gave us last year. So I thought she would be the best person to seek applesauce-making advice from.

She uses an adapted version of Julia Child's recipe from The Way to Cook. Basically, wash, peel, and quarter apples (you can leave on peels or reserve some peels to put in the pot, then sieve out later (Julia says they give flavor and body to the sauce)). Place apples in a heavy-bottomed pot with fresh squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest, and a little cinnamon. Cover and set over low heat (this is key); the apples will slowly soften, rendering juices. Stir and mash frequently until tender, about 30-45 minutes. At this point, if using apple peel, you can push the sauce through a sieve, return to pot, and add some sugar and vanilla extract, cooking a little longer.

I, being an amateur, just kind of threw some peels in with my peeled apples, thinking I would just pull them out later. But they kind of got mashed up too. Oh well. We skipped the sieving and ended up with some delicious, chunky applesauce. The apples were not quite as tender as I would have liked (I think we man-handled the apples a little too much with aggressive mashing), but Zack thought it was perfect and our friends enjoyed it too. Oh, and we used brown sugar instead of granulated sugar.

And lastly, our dessert of the week was Pumpkin-Spice Rice Krispie Treats, another Pinterest find. We made these to take over to our friends' house on the evening of Halloween. So festive, so tasty. It's amazing what a little pumpkin, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg will do for a traditional treat.

Pumpkin-Spice Rice Krispie Treats.

Well, that's all for Week Two. Cheers.

Chicken Cutlets with Tomatoes and Green Bean Succcotash

Monday and Tuesday nights are a little tricky. Zack doesn't get off work until 8:00 p.m. so dinner is kind of always up in the air. Do we eat leftovers from lunch while Zack is still at work? Or, uhhh...cereal? Do we eat late (even though we know that eating after 8:00 p.m. is not really the greatest thing health wise)?

My solution is a light, easy meal that can be ready right when Zack gets home. (Doesn't that sound like a line out of a women's magazine? Yikes.) Okay, well you can't blame me for being a perfect wife right now because I don't exactly have a permanent job. Plus, I feel compelled to make it up to Zack, since he's the only one bringing in money at this point. And I spend it on groceries. And kitchen equipment.

Anyways. We've discovered the giant bag of frozen chicken breasts at Cost-co. We always have vegetables on hand from our vegetable delivery, and now we always have chicken. An easy meal is made. Last night it was chicken cutlets with some diced tomatoes (which were from my dad's garden I might add...thanks Dad) and a succotash.

The chicken isn't any more difficult that butterflying the breasts in half, seasoning with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, throwing in a skillet with some canola oil, and cooking over medium high under nicely browned. Pretty simple? Take out the chicken, and warm up your diced tomatoes in the same pan. The tomato juice just starts flowing and the flavor is incredible enhanced. It makes the chicken.

I discovered "succotash" at a restaurant recently. It's a food consisting primarily of corn and lima beans (or other shell beans). My dream. For those of you who don't know, I'm obsessed with corn. I really don't know why...how special is it really? Apparently, special enough. I have to refrain from making recipes that contain corn on a regular basis. Otherwise, it's all we would eat. Corn chowder, corn salsa, cornbread, grilled corn, corn with pasta...I have even had corn on pizza. Although, at this moment I can't recall where that was. Maybe in a dream...? So. I had corn, but no lima beans, so this is sort of a succotash variation. Green beans, carrots, peas, corn, onion, garlic, and thyme. All sauteed in vegetable stock, but the green beans and carrots need to be steamed first. Really, this was delicious. Onion and garlic make anything better, and the vegetable stock gives really good flavor.

A successful weeknight meal indeed. Here's to hoping I still have time to cook once I get a permanent job. Because I really like to eat. And I really like to cook.

Three-Bean Pasta e Fagioli

Pasta e fagioli. What does that mean? Apparently, "pasta and beans." When I look for a recipe, I usually look for one that requires some of the ingredients that I already have on hand. This time, it was the beans; green beans, cannellini beans, and chickpeas. This recipe is a hearty soup; heavy on the vegetables, beans, and ditalini, but light on the chicken stock. Onion, garlic, and fresh rosemary give it an I-must-eat-you scent, and the grated Pecorina Romano cheese just tops it off. Lesson learned? Pasta and beans together isn't weird...it's Italian. And delicious.