Archive for the ‘Savory Main Dishes’ Category
I like to make soup frequently in the winter. Not only is it warm and comforting, but it also gives me an extra outlet for freshly-baked breads, since just about every soup is better with a bit of bread dipped into it. French onion soup is one soup that bread is essential to because the traditional way to finish off the soup is with a layer of melty gruyere cheese and you really need a toasted piece of bread underneath to hold it up! French onion soup also happens to be one of my favorite soups to make because it is surprisingly easy to put together.
The soup starts out with thinly sliced onions, cooked in a large pot over medium-low heat until they are a deep, golden brown. Caramelizing onions takes quite a bit of time to do, especially with a huge batch of onions, but it is necessary to release all the natural sweetness of the onions and is crucial in producing a good soup. You can use pretty much any kind of white or yellow onion. I often use a combination of sweet Vidalia onions and regular yellow onions. Once the onions are done, beef broth/stock is added in, along with a bit of thyme and some salt and pepper, and all you have to do is wait until it comes together.
I’ve seen recipes that are more involved, or add more flavorings to the soup, but I’ve found that this one is rich and satisfying. Start with a good beef broth, lots of onions, and have bread and cheese at the ready – and you’ll definitely have a satisfying soup on your hands.
+Continue Reading
I always make too much spaghetti when I cook it for dinner. In fact, I always make too much pasta of any shape. In an effort to control the problem, I used to try and measure out how much pasta I was using with a scale or a measuring cup, but since I inevitably ended up throwing an extra handful or two into the pot (it never really looked like enough just sitting there!), I have long since given that up and am resigned to the fact that I’ll just always have more pasta than I can eat in one sitting.
Making a frittata is one of the best ways to use leftover pasta. You can use any size or shape of pasta, regardless of whether it was cooked with sauce, sausage or any other extra ingredients. The leftover pasta is stirred into a mixture of eggs and cheese, then cooked the same way that any other frittata is: cooked until set on the stovetop, then cooked under the broiler to finish it off. Spaghetti is my favorite type of pasta to use in a dish like this. My leftover pasta almost always has some marinara sauce still on it, and I mix that leftover sauce into the frittata as well. For this particular frittata, I also stirred in some fresh diced tomato and some feta cheese – delicious! The eggs hold everything together well and the dish is so unique and tasty (not to mention easy) that you’ll probably make it again and again. Vary the cheese and other add-ins to suit your tastes.
You can cut down on the number of egg yolks by substituting 2 egg whites for one of the whole eggs. I wouldn’t recommend cutting back on the number of eggs, however. The eggs are what give the dish structure, hold it together and make it really exceptional – not to mention that they keep it from being a sticky pile of leftover noodles.
+Continue Reading
Normally, when I think of a spinach and feta pie, I think of some rendition of spanikopita. The savory Greek dish has a filling made with spinach, feta and eggs that is sandwiched between layers of filo dough. The spinach-feta combination is a winner in my book and I like it in any form. I used the idea of a spanikopita-type filling as inspiration for the filling of this savory, open-faced pie.
This is a good brunch dish, but is also a great vegetarian dinner option when you’re looking for something quick and easy. The filling is actually similar to a fritatta in makeup. I started with cooked garlic, onions and spinach, and added in eggs and feta cheese. The filling isn’t overly eggy but is enough to hold all the other ingredients together. It bakes up to be firm, but tender, and is best eaten when it is fresh out of the oven. The spinach – even though it is cooked before being added to the filling – could give off some additional moisture as the pie sits, whether at room temperature or in the fridge. The flavor of any leftovers is still good, of course, but perhaps not ideal for serving to guests.
One of the most interesting things about this pie is the crust. I used sliced (whole grain) sandwich bread pressed into the pie plate to form the base of the pie. It’s quick, easy and you can use any type of bread you like. Be sure to press the bread down very firmly so that it makes a good seal in the pie plate. It is ideal if you have two pie plates and can sandwich the bread crust in between them to press it into place. A traditional crust can be used (it should be baked before the filling is added if you go this route), but this makes it a bit more unique. The bread bakes up to be quite sturdy and presents a nice contrast for the slightly eggy filling. The top crusts can be removed if you prefer a more uniform/traditional appearance.
+Continue Reading
Now that my tomatoes are starting to ripen left and right, I’m starting to look for more uses for them than just adding them to salads and making pasta sauces. And because I know that I haven’t even hit the peak of tomato season yet, I prefer that the recipes I end up with use more than just two or three tomatoes each. This recipe uses over a dozen tomatoes – all cherry tomatoes.
I decided on a clafoutis because the baked custard dish is traditionally made primarily with cherries, and I thought that doing a savory version with cherry tomatoes would be a fun way to showcase the ripe veggies. I started with my standard clafoutis batter, but omitted the sugar from the recipe and added more salt and some pepper to the mixture. I considered sauteing some onions at first, though I ultimately opted against it in an effort to keep the recipe as simple as possible. I added some fresh, chopped basil for extra flavor and a bit of cheese to make the overall dish more filling.
The flavors in the clafoutis were wonderful. Basil and tomato always work well together, and the hint of creaminess from the cheese was a nice touch. I’d personally opt for a fairly mild cheese, like cottage cheese or a mild goat cheese (I used cottage cheese here), but feta would work well for a stronger flavor. The only thing I didn’t like was the fact that the clafoutis needs to be cut carefully if you want to prevent it from becoming watery; those roasted tomatoes are only too happy to burst and leak all over the dish during serving.
This is a great thing to have alongside a salad for a first course and can even work as a light dinner on a hot summer night if you do big slices. Be careful with those tomatoes, though. They get quite hot inside when the dish first comes out of the oven, even after letting it rest for a while, and while biting into a juicy cherry tomato is a treat, burning your tongue is not.
+Continue Reading
Pasta salad is a staple food in the summer. This type of dish is easy to make, can always be made ahead and there are an almost infinite number of variations out there for it. It’s great to take to a barbecue or picnic, but because they keep for a couple of days are served cold, they’re also something that you can keep in the fridge at home and have for lunch without much additional fuss.
The salads always start with cooked pasta, to which a variety of veggies and sometimes meats are added. The whole mixture is tossed in a usually mayonnaise-based sauce and chilled before serving. I didn’t want to go with this traditional route for a pasta salad this summer and took inspiration from a pack of Thai rice stick noodles – the same type of noodles used in dishes like pad thai – and made a lovely dressing using some of my favorite asian/Thai flavors.
The dressing for this salad is mostly made with soy sauce and peanut butter, with some honey thrown in to sweeten things up and take a bit of the edge off of all that salt. Creamy and chunky peanut butter both work really well here, although using crunchy will guarantee you a bit of extra texture from chopped peanuts. Supporting flavors are sesame oil, ginger and garlic. I used all kinds of vegetables in here and have also made the salad non-vegetarian by including thin slices of cooked tri-tip steal; the base recipe is vegan. From start to finish, it only took me the time that I needed to boil water and cook the noodles!
+Continue Reading
