What We Eat

I often wonder what everyone out there generally eat for their everyday dinners. This is one of our favorite meals, and it takes about half an hour to forty-five minutes to make, a lot of it unattended: sauteed veggies, mashed potatoes, and a protein which is usually baked tofu or a Quorn Naked Chik'n Cutlet as you see here. I've written about Quorn products before, and I've loved every one that I've tried. If you're looking for a vegetarian protein source I highly recommend these.

This meal is very flavorful and very satisfying. Here's a quick method:

1. Set the oven to 425F.

2. Get a pot of water boiling. Peel two baking potatoes and one sweet potato, cut into very large chunks, and add to boiling water.

3. Put the Chik'n Cutlets on a sheet of foil. Pour some balsamic dressing or other sauce or herb combination of your choice over the cutlets, then flip and pour more on the other side. Fold up the foil into a package. Put in the preheated oven to cook for 20 minutes.

4. Slice up some veggies of your choice - here I used leek, yellow squash, and red cabbage. Melt some butter in pan and saute the veggies. I put the leek in first so it would get soft, then added the squash, and at the end added the cabbage and some minced garlic so it would stay relatively crisp. Season with salt, pepper, and a dash of lemon juice. Set aside.

5. Drain the potatoes when they're soft. Put a tablespoon or so of butter in the pot you cooked the potatoes in and let it melt, then toss in some minced garlic. Add in the drained potatoes and a few tablespoons of milk and mash, adding more milk if necessary.

6. Layer it all on a plate and enjoy!

So what do you have for dinner?

Related Recipes: 

 "Meat"loaf Spinach and Mashed Potato Terrines

 Risotto with Roasted Butternut Squash and Garlic

Three in One

"Meat"loaf base, topped with a layer of creamed spinach souffle, and finished with a generous helping of garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes. What do you call this? Meatloaf terrine? A take on Shepard's pie? Casserole? I don't know, but I call it tasty!

I don't have exact recipes, since this is really just layering three yummy dishes. Make your favorite meatloaf recipe (I used faux ground beef and the usual meatloaf suspects - bread crumbs, egg, seasonings).If you use a big pan you can make one big dish, but I liked the idea of smaller terrines so I used large ramekins.

For the spinach, I sauteed garlic and onions in butter, then added baby spinach and cooked until wilted and bright green. Next add heavy cream and a little cornstarch and cook until slightly thickened. Whiz together in a food processor with an egg or two until combined and the spinach is chopped. Return to the pan and cook, stirring frequently so the eggs don't scramble, until thick. Then put a layer of this spinach mixture on top of the meatloaf mixture.

Mashed potatoes are simple. I like to put garlic, butter, cream, and Parmesan in mine, and use my food processor to whip them. Some people don't like the consistency of using a food processor as it makes them a little gluey, so feel free to mash them with a standard potato masher. I like the gluey consistency and the ease of using the food processor. Mound the mashed potatoes over the spinach, and top with more Parmesan, then bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until the meatloaf at the bottom is cooked through.

This was a great dinner for the first rainy day of fall: hearty, homey, and warming. I think the next time I make this I want to get some small springform pans and see if I can remove it completely after cooking. The spinach would probably have to be less creamy, and I'd most likely have to use less mashed potatoes, but it would look great on a plate.

A Little of This, A Little of That

Here's another little slideshow I made with some pictures of the pets. The first few pictures are older, with some from a trip or two to the dog park. Mac has a great time there, and would much rather run up and say hi to the people than play with the other dogs, though he will wrestle if there's someone of a matched size to him. Ayla likes to chase a ball and try to entice us to get it from her and could really care less about the other dogs or people.

The next set of pictures is from today. Chris took a half day off from work to use up some vacation time before the new job starts since he doesn't foresee being able to take any vacation for quite a while after that, and its use it or lose it. He took the dogs to Shadow Cliffs and tells me Mac was a trooper, despite the half-mile or so hike in and back. He followed Ayla right in to the water, and he might even have swam!

Following that are a couple pictures of the two on the couch. We don't have snuggling dogs yet, but Ayla's really starting to tolerate Mac when she's lying down and feels more vulnerable. She still doesn't like him jumping into bed with her in the mornings though. (Hover your mouse over the slideshow and you can pause it to have a better look at a picture if you'd like)

Tonight we had one of our favorite dinners: Burgers and Fries. I love that Costco sells Gardenburgers by the huge boxful. I made regular and sweet potato fries, using the classic double-fry recipe (from Bittman). Basically, slice your potatoes and fry them in oil (I used vegetable oil, about 1.5" in a wide pan) for 8-10 minutes until they start getting a little golden. Remove and drain on paper towels. Heat the oil again, hotter this time, and fry the potatoes in small batches for a minute or two each batch, until golden. Then I seasoned them with a dash of sea salt and some chopped cilantro. The sweet potato fries ended up looking a bit charred, but they tasted great. This is definitely not a healthy recipe, but all things in moderation!