Onion Roasted Potatoes

This is an old standby recipe for us and we love it. When I pulled these out of the oven last night I got a big hug around my legs from Carina (age 5) and was told that I was the "the best!"

Onion Roasted Potatoes

1 1/2 lbs any type of potatoes
1 tsp salt (I prefer kosher salt for this)
1 envelope Lipton's dry onion soup mix
2-3T olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Slice your potatoes into 1" pieces
3. Sprinkle on salt and soup mix
4. Drizzle on olive oil and mix till all is evenly coated
5. Roast for 30 minutes in the oven - or longer, they only get better as they carmelize

When you serve them be sure to scrape up the yummy bits from the bottom of the pan.

Skirt Steak with Peppers, Raisins, and Almonds

We had this Skirt Steak with Peppers, Raisins, and Almonds for dinner tonight, and I had a hard time limiting my portions.
Notes 1) The recipe says it's Cuban-inspired, but I found the hint and cinnamon and cloves along with the raisins and almonds to be more Moroccan, but not so much so as to scare off American eaters - just 100% delicious.
2) I used my new favorite cut of meat the flat iron steak and I didn't use the full 1 3/4 lbs called for in the recipe. I think that would be too high of a meat/peppers ratio. I used about 1 lb.
3) I used golden raisins. I think they are more tender and work better in this kind of dish.
4) I served it with simple steamed broccoli and Onion Roasted Potatoes (see next entry)

Bon Appetit!

Toasted Barley Minestrone

This soup was delcious and loaded with fiber! It is a great meatless option and you do not miss the meat one bit. The recipe is from Good Housekeeping. Notes 1) Don't skip the pesto. It adds a lot of flavor and the soup would just kind of be so-so without it. 2)Don't be scared by the cabbage. After the meal, my husband was busing dishes (yes, he's a keeper 'eh?) when he spotted the leftover cabbage on the counter and said "This had cabbage in it?" 3) The recipe for the pesto calls for Romano cheese. I used good-quality Paremesan and it was delicious. If you still have a green bottle of Kraft Paremesan in your pantry please stop reading this blog, get up, go to your kitchen and throw it away. Thank you. You can buy inexpensive good-quality Parmesan at Trader Joe's. 4) The pesto recipe says to blend it up in a mini-processor. I used my regular blender. I had to poke the leaves around a few times, but we got there. Instead of stirring this in to each individual bowl, just stir it into the whole pot before serving. That way the pesto doesn't get all used up at meal time and leave the leftovers naked. Let me know what you think!

Quick Beef & Broccoli

Wow, chinese food at home in about the same amount of time as it would take to order and go and get it. This is a delicious, super-fast and easy recipe for Quick Beef and Broccoli. The recipe calls for a bag of frozen broccoli - do your taste buds a favor and just steam some fresh broccoli - the difference in taste and texture is well worth the extra three minutes. Get that going while you slice the beef. I like the new cut that available now "Flat Iron Steak" for this dish. It is as tender as a Filet Mignon at a fraction of the cost. When you toss it with the cornstarch it's not going to look like it does when you've dredged it in flour since you're only using 1 1/2 T of flour, but just go with it. You don't want to add more cornstarch. Also, when you add the soy sauce and water to the pan, be sure to scrape up on the goodies off the bottom of the pan. Not only will that add flavor, but much of it is cornstarch that will thicken your sauce.

I served this with the Brown Rice Medley featured below.