I made these for a family dinner this weekend - we had Ameir’s mom and Ameir’s stepfather over for dinner (and Mom gave me this phenomenal floral blooming tea set that I can’t wait to try. And yes, there will be pictures). The whole dinner, attempting to be mostly low carb, was: this stuffed chicken - spaghetti squash with garlic cherry tomato sauce - grilled asparagus garnished with grilled lemon - grilled eggplant rolled with ricotta, carrots, and olive tamponade - couscous with corn (oop, not low carb) - potatoes (ouch, sorry) and bruschetta with garlic-sundried tomato-herb butter (ouch again). I said mostly low carb.

These were very tender and a fresh change from my usual, heavy, creamy mushroom stuffed chicken. I’m glad that the chicken was still super moist without having to stuff it with bread cubes.

Recipe here: (more…)

Another extraordinary part of the Sara-TQ Asian dinner extravaganza. The flavor in this meat was so incredible because of the soy sauce and red curry paste. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. Make sure you let your mouse scroll over the pictures for the caption!

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Ameir went out for dinner with a friend, so I just wanted something easy and warm to pour into a bowl and sit on the sofa with (and watch 4 episodes of Monk). For some reason, I had been craving green beans all day - not the gross school lunch kind - the slow simmered with lots of garlic kind.

Braised Green Beans

1 lb green beans
2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1 huge tomato, diced
1 onion, sliced
1/2 cup vegetable broth, or more if you want this soupier
salt, pepper
red pepper flakes

Cut the tips off of the green beans, then cut them in half and split them lengthwise. In a medium-hot pan, heat some olive oil and add red pepper flakes when it’s hot. Swirl around. Add the onion and garlic and saute till softish. Add the green beans and let them cook for about 5 minutes. Salt/pepper it. Add the tomatoes, let them cook for another 3 minutes. Pour in the vegetable broth and bring to a boil, then back down to a gentle simmer for about 15 minutes or until they’re as soft as you want them. Serve on top of couscous.

Ohh, this was a good one! The chipotle peppers give this soup a smoky smooth flavor. It’s a nice departure from the normal corn chowder. But, beware. The first bite of the soup isn’t spicy, so you might be tempted to add more chipotle. Be ye warned - it gets progressively spicier as you eat it. In the end, I felt feel somebody kicked me in the tastebuds. And I liked it.

The fish tacos couldn’t be easier. Why? They’re made of fish sticks! Gasp! Cheating! I know. Fish tacos from frozen fish sticks? What? But they taste so good, and they’re so quick. All you have to do is fancy them up a little with some salsa.

Recipe here: (more…)

Okay, alright, so it doesn’t *look* that good. But this is comfort food. It tastes awesome, I promise. Don’t let the weird picture stop you from making this chicken.

This chicken is one of the first things I learned to make after Ameir and I got engaged. It’s stuffed with a creamy spinach stuffing that keeps the chicken incredibly moist while baking, and then smothered with a mushroom gravy. It’s based on this recipe from Kraft Foods, which I used to browse compulsively for something that didn’t look too hard. Over time, I’ve adjusted and enhanced it for my taste and it’s something I even make for company, to everyone’s great enjoyment.

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