Scallops with leek, corn and carrots

It snowed here-finally!!! We spent the day in and out of snow clothes! We had dinner with friends tonight and I had some frozen sea scallops that I had bought at Costco, Trader Joe's used to sell them, but stopped.

I defrosted the scallops in a bowl of hot water for about 5 minutes. While the scallops thawed, I heated 1 tbs. of olive oil in a large nonstick pan on high. I add in 1 leek that I had thinly sliced and rinsed in a bowl of cold water to get the dirt out. While that sauteed, I cut 2 peeled carrots on the diagonal into small pieces (maybe 1") and threw those into the pan with the leeks. I added in 1/2 C. of chicken stock, covered and let cook for about 5 minutes, or until the carrots were slightly soft. I had 2 ears of leftover cooked corn from last night's dinner which I cut the kernels off, and added to the pan. I added in a pinch of salt and a good large pinch of black pepper. Then I removed the whole mixture from the pan.

I drained the water from the scallops, sliced them in half lengthwise and sprinkled a little of my seasoned flour on each side. I added in another tbs. of olive oil to the pan on high and added in the scallops. They cook very quickly and should only be turned once. They take about 45 seconds per side. The little bit of flour on each side will give the scallops a nice brown crust. I flipped them once and added in the juice from 1/2 a lemon before removing them from the pan. I added the vegetable mixture to the top of the scallops and served them.

They were amazing. The kids ate pears for dinner- go figure!

turkey tacos and super fast black bean soup

What a joy to have a brand spankin' new clean fridge! I made ground turkey tacos tonight and black bean soup which is soooo easy, my kids loved it!

The turkey tacos were nothing fancy, I just browned ground turkey in a pan and added in a packet of taco seasoning. I served the tacos with spanish rice, flour tortillas and some corn on the cob that I had steamed.

Here's my recipe for black bean soup:

Heat 1 tbs. olive oil in a medium sized pot on medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add in 2 cubes frozen garlic and either 1 finely chopped shallot, 1 C. of thinly sliced leek or 1/2 C. of diced onion. Saute for 3 minutes or until the onion begins to take on some color. Add in 2 cans of black beans and stir. Next, add in 3 C. of chicken stock, a pinch of cumin, a pinch of chili powder, salt and ground pepper. Stir until combined. Bring to a low boil and add in 1-2 cubes frozen cilantro. Let boil on medium heat for 10 minutes. Blend with a handheld blender right in the pot until thoroughly smooth. Let cook another 10 minutes and squeeze in the juice from 1/2 a lime.

Serve.

I added in some hot sauce to my bowl of soup, and you can add a dollop of soup cream to the top, or a few leaves of fresh cilantro if you have them laying around.

**You could also get really fancy and combine 2 cubes of frozen cilantro to 1/2 C. sour cream and serve that atop the soup.

Fridge on the fritz!

Our refrigerator broke on Saturday and coincided with the beginning of school vacation. UGH!!! Thankfully we had another smaller fridge in the basement and we didn't lose too much food. We've had this one for at least 9 years and never did much to maintain it, except kept it clean and changed the water filter.

We ventured out first on the internet to look at new models, how overwhelming- what size, what color, ice maker, blah, blah, blah... I am a touchy visual person so we went to Sears today to look at new refrigerators. We had narrowed down our choices a little and had looked at Consumer Reports before venturing out.

It took us about 45 minutes even after having done all of that homework. We choose a Stainless, energy efficient, ice maker, big one. I can't remember which brand we got, but I think it was GE or Kenmore. I was surprised how little difference there was between the more expensive models and the less expensive ones.

The best news is that it is being delivered tomorrow!!! I will admit that I am looking forward to starting with a new fridge, I LOVE to organize!

We ate at the Diner last night and I have some Bulgogi (Korean thinly sliced beef) I bought at Trader Joe's that I am going to cook tonight with some couscous and edamame.

Pasta with mushrooms and truffle oil

We had a really nice relaxing day today, the kids even bundled up and rode their bikes outside. We ate dinner with our neighbors tonight and I have been in the mood for truffle oil, so I made a really simple pasta. Here's the recipe.

Boil a pot of water for pasta, I used linguine.

While the water boils, melt 2 tbs unsalted butter in a pan on high heat. Rinse 1 package of button mushrooms and quarter. When the butter is melted, add the mushrooms and saute for 5-6 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and a couple grinds of black pepper. When the pasta is just al dente, add it to the mushrooms. Stir to incorporate and add 3 tbs. of truffle oil. The truffle oil is very strong, so don't be tempted to add much more. Add in 1 handful of chopped fresh parsley and about 1/4 C. of parmesan cheese. Serve.

We had some mahi mahi that I bought at Trader Joe's the other day. It was marinated and frozen and I let it thaw in the fridge, then I baked it at 400 for 15 minutes. It was ok, a little tough for my taste, but fine.

The pasta was a hit and we all enjoyed it.

Seriously easy chicken parmesan!

I went to Trader Joe's yesterday to buy the stuff to make Spanikopita (recipe to follow) and came out with a couple cool new products. One of them is the frozen cooked breaded chicken tenderloin breasts. I am always looking for healthy quick alternatives and the kids like my chicken fingers so I tried these tonight.

They are pretty healthy, 150 cal for 2 pieces and 4.5 grams of fat. You simply bake them in the oven at 400 for 15 minutes. They turned out crisp and tender. They ate them up and were asking for more, but I had only made 2 pieces.

I made a quick chicken parm for the grown-ups. I took 4 pieces of the chicken, placed it in a shallow cooking pyrex dish, put some tomato sauce on top (about 1 C.) and 1/2 C. shredded mozzarella cheese which I keep in the freezer. I baked the whole thing in the oven at 400 while the other chicken cooked for 20 minutes. Before I took it out of the oven, I put it on broil for 2 minutes to brown the cheese. It was great and sooooo easy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've just returned from my daughters' school where the little performed a bunch of adorable songs and dance!

In an effort to hear from those of you who may read the blog (is there anyone out there??) but not respond, I am now taking requests. If there is a recipe you'd like or have a cooking/dinner question PLEASE ask me!

I went to Trader Joe's today to buy 2 things and came out with 3 grocery bags full of stuff! That store does me in. I did buy some good looking things, frozen Mahi Mahi, I want to try my hand at frozen fish again, as well as some pre-breaded chicken breasts that looked rather healthy.

I got a great recipe for Spanikopita (Greek Spinach Pie) that I am going to make in the next day or two. I will tell you now that this will NOT be an easy recipe, working with phyllo dough is tough, it breaks easily, so you have to work rather fast.

I'll give the recipe after I see how it turns out. I also bought some seasoned bulgogi, which is a korean dish of thinly sliced beef in a marinade. I've bought marinated beef from TJ's before and it's turned out to be quite good.

Pork chops and apple sauce

This is one of my husband's favorite dinners and since he won't be home for valentine's day we are going to have an early family dinner tonight.

Preheat the oven to 450. If you have a heavy Le Creuset pan, use it, if not, use a skillet, then transfer to a cookie sheet.

Heat 1 Tbs. of oil in the pan on medium high heat. While the oil heats, place 1 C. of panko and 1 tsp. garlic salt onto a plate. Rinse the pork chops, spread a little bit of dijon mustard on each side of the chop and dredge them in the panko mixture.

You can use bone-in or boneless chops, but buy thick cut ones.

Cook the chops for 3-4 minutes one each side or until they begin to turn golden. Turn the chops only once.

Transfer the pan with the chops into the oven and bake for about 12 minutes.

I am going to serve this with potato latkes, apple sauce and boiled edamame.