Tag Archives: quick dinners

August 27, 2015 · 7:07 PM

Easy Acorn Squash with Mushrooms & Roasted Onions

Easy Acorn Squash with Mushrooms & Roasted Onions | real food. home made.

I love dinners that are practically all vegetables, yet have enough different colours, textures and tastes where you might not even notice. You might even say: “it has meal appeal out the wazoo!” And did I mention it’s quick? I got off work at 4:30 and have already swung by the post office and bank, stopped at the grocery store for my ingredients, made dinner, did the dishes AND wrote this blog entry and it is only 7:00pm.

Easy Acorn Squash with Mushrooms & Roasted Onions

Ingredients:

  • 1 acorn squash, halved, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 1 red onion, cut into 1/2 inch wedges
  • 10 oz baby bella mushrooms, cut into bite sized pieces
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 T fresh thyme
  • 1 T fresh parsley
  • 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
  • extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
  • freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
  • splash of balsamic vinegar

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 475º
  2. Toss squash and onion pieces with EVOO and season with salt and pepper.
  3. Roast on an even layer for 15-18 minutes, until squash is tender.
  4. Meanwhile, heat a skillet on medium heat, add EVOO, your chopped mushrooms, garlic and thyme, and season with salt and pepper.
  5. Cook until mushrooms are tender (adding a splash of balsamic vinegar halfway through cooking), then turn heat to warm and add parmesan and parsley.
  6. Arrange squash and onion pieces in a radial manner, add mushroom/parmesan mixture on top, and serve immediately!

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February 22, 2015 · 5:15 PM

Smoky Thyme Sweet Potato Hash

Sweet potatoes are such a staple in my life; they can be prepared so many ways, and are appropriate for every occasion.  I always like to have 1 or 2 on hand so I can whip up a meal at a moment’s notice without having to go to the grocery store.  Today I felt like brunch, so I came up with this dish.

Smoky Thyme Sweet Potato Hash | real food. home made.

Smoky Thyme Sweet Potato Hash

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

  • 1 large sweet potato, peeled and grated
  • 2 large shallots, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 t sea salt
  • 1/2 t black pepper
  • 1/2 t smoked paprika
  • 1 T fresh thyme, chopped
  • 1-2 T extra virgin olive oil
  • grated fontina cheese (optional)
  • 3 pastured eggs, over easy

Method:

  1. Mix the first batch of ingredients together in a bowl.
  2. Heat EVOO in a large pan or skillet with lid over medium heat.
  3. Add hash mixture, and alternate between frying and steaming with the lid on, stirring intermittently.  (If  you want to attempt to make them super crispy, more power to you, but I’ve never been able to master the technique.)
  4. Prepare your over-easy eggs.
  5. When your hash is done cooking, put a scoop on your plate, a few pinches of cheese (if desired), and the egg on top.

Smoky Thyme Sweet Potato Hash | real food. home made.

Grant likes his with sri racha.  I have a feeling I am going to be making this a lot for dinner this winter.  I hate going to the grocery store after work in sub zero temperatures!  “Iiiiiiiiit’s SMOKY THYME” is surely going to become my new catch phrase.

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February 16, 2015 · 3:37 PM

Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale

Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Kale | real food. home made.

“Not Your Mama’s Pasta Salad”

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup uncooked Delallo organic whole wheat orzo
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 t dijon mustard
  • juice of 1 small lemon
  • 2 T extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • big handful of kale, torn and stems removed
  • 1 can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/3 cup feta cheese
  • 1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts
  • sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:

  1. Cook your pasta according to package directions.
  2. In a medium sized bowl, combine all other ingredients except kale and 1 T olive oil.
  3. When the pasta is done cooking, strain it and add it to the bowl.
  4. Heat remaining olive oil in a large skillet with lid.  Fry/steam your kale until it both wilts and becomes slightly charred.
  5. Add the kale to the bowl and season to taste!

This is a great combination of textures and flavours.  You can subsitute rice, quinoa, farro or israeli couscous for the pasta if you’d like.  I like Delallo organic whole wheat pastas because they have only one ingredient.

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September 23, 2014 · 9:54 AM

Pesto Pasta with Brussels Sprouts and Apple Chicken Sausage

Pesto Pasta with Brussels Sprouts and Apple Chicken Sausage | real food. home made.

This is a fantastic quick, simple recipe to have in your arsenal.  In a pinch, grab some sausage and brussels sprouts on your way home from work and you can have a delicious dinner on the table in no time.  I almost always have pesto, parmesan, garlic and a variety of whole wheat pastas in stock at home.  One time, the store had no brussels sprouts, so I roasted up some zucchini “coins” instead.  That was okay, but nothing like the brussels sprouts.

Pesto Pasta with Brussels Sprouts and Apple Chicken Sausage

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced in half
  • 3 T extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1/2 t each of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 12-16 oz whole wheat orecchiette or Tinykada brown rice pasta or pasta of choice (I use 14 oz)
  • 4 chicken & apple sausage links, sliced medium (or any other sausage that you like, just make sure you recognize all the ingredients on the label)
  • 5 cloves garlic, sliced thin
  • 1/2 cup pesto (I never dirty a measuring cup, just spoon in however much you prefer)
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400º.
  2. Slice brussels sprouts, and add them to a bowl with 2 T EVOO and the salt and pepper.  Mix gently and spread them out on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
  3. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until sprouts are tender and crispys are crispy.
  4. Cook your pasta according to package directions while slicing your garlic and sausage links.
  5. When pasta is cooked, add it to a large bowl with the pesto, parmesan, and the finished brussels sprouts.
  6. In a large skillet, heat 1 T of olive oil over medium-high heat and cook your sausage links until they are browned.  During the last minute of cooking, add in the garlic.
  7. Add your garlic and sausage to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients, stir together, and then serve!

Adapted from Gimme Some Oven

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