Quick Vegetarian Dinner! Hearts of Palm and Avocado Salad

This salad involved a bit of chopping but it still didn't take very long to make, about 15 minutes.  The dressing has mayonnaise in it, but not a lot.  It's a pretty healthy vegetarian meal. It would also make a good side dish for a meat entree though you might have leftovers. I made a half recipe, using only one can of hearts of palm.  It made plenty of food for two people for a light dinner on a warm day.  The dressing is tart, but not overwhelming so the hearts of palm aren't smothered.  The original recipe called for yellow cherry tomatoes.  I didn't have any, so I used orange grape tomatoes and it was fine.  I preferred the hearts of palm sliced a little thinner than 1/2 inch.  It's annoying to only use half an avocado in a recipe, so I just ate the rest of it tossed with some lemon juice.

Agedashi Tofu

I've loved agedashi tofu since I first had it back in law school.  It's pretty easy to make at home.  I use instant dashi instead of making my own from scratch.  It's easier, faster, and I can make mine more mild because I don't like the strong bonito flavor of full-strength dashi.  I've made this dish many times, and it's really important to get the silken tofu, it makes a huge difference.  Wegman's doesn't usually carry it and so I've substituted soft and firm and it will work, but if you can get silken tofu, it's worth it.  For this batch, I stopped by my local Korean supermarket and got some silken tofu.  The tofu is lightly crunchy on the outside and the silken tofu melted in my mouth.  The garnishes are a nice touch.  I used daikon, ginger, green onions, and a mix of basil and mint.  I served this with a side salad and some left over Asian style slaw.

Quick Beef Stroganoff

Normally when I hear the words "beef stroganoff," I think of the uber salty and gross frozen meals I used to nuke for lunch at work.  The ones with the limp noodles, mushy vegetables, and "meat" of questionable quality.  But I love egg noodles and the picture for this recipe gave me hope that beef stroganoff could, in fact, be edible and even tasty. True to its name, this dish was very quick!  I loved it, and will definitely make it again for a good work night meal.  The sauce was nice and creamy, I added extra hot paprika to give it a kick.  I used skirt steak instead of flank steak because I didn't feel like buying 2 lbs of steak when I could get  1/2 pound instead. I used full fat sour cream instead of nonfat. The only other change I made was to buy crimini mushrooms instead of the exotic blend, which my grocery store didn't have.

Carnitas Tacos with Pineapple, Jalapenos, and Tomatillo Salsa

A few weeks ago I made carnitas in my slow cooker and froze the leftovers. Initially, I decided that the meat was definitely an ingredient rather than something to throw in a bowl with some cheese, lime, and pico de gallo.  There's a fantastic Mexican restaurant near me that serves amazing carnitas tacos with pineapple, pickled jalapenos, and habanero salsa. They're unbelievably addictive!  I've wanted to try and make something similar for a while. I decided to make a green salsa instead of attempting to use habaneros.  At the restaurant they pickle their own jalapenos.  To make this a quick meal, I bought a can of them instead.  Since this dish was made from leftovers, it was super fast.  All that needs to be done is defrost and warm up the meat, chop the pineapple, and make the salsa.

Tecate will always be "Hellboy Beer" to me. 

Truffled Potato Gratin and Wild Boar Ragu

The first time I shopped at Wegmans, I noticed the truffles in the produce aisle.  They were locked in a plastic case and at the time it was really strange to me. Who on earth would spend that much money on a mushroom?! I think I'd tried something with a truffle in it once or twice and wrote them off as insanely pricey.  As the years went by, I got more curious but never actively searched for something to make with them.  A few years ago, some friends invited us over for dinner and they served truffled potato gratin.  It was amazing!  My husband and I promised we'd make it ourselves and then we never did.  Last week, my in laws came to visit and we decided to cook for them instead of going out.  It was the perfect excuse to make the potatoes.  They aren't healthy.  They're expensive.  They're fabulous.  

Sprinkle liberally with Lipitor before serving

Carnitas!

I love carnitas!! There's a Chipotle a few blocks from my office and I can't resist a rice bowl with carnitas and tons of hot sauce. I finally decided to make my own. It's probably healthier and I can freeze some for leftovers (not that "healthy" is the first word I would use to describe eating a MOUNTAIN OF MEAT).  I made this in my slow cooker.  The pork shoulder pulled apart very easily; it was so tender.  I will definitely make this again!  I didn't think ahead and so I had nothing to serve it with except salad.  Ideally, I'd use this as a filling for tacos or enchiladas.  The fresh orange juice and Mexican oregano added both sweet and savory components.  The flavor was mild and a squeeze of fresh lime juice really brought it all together.  I added some cheddar cheese and made a quick approximation of pico de gallo with a random tomato, lime, and some left over red onion from last week.

Coconut and Orange Snowballs

I made cookies!  And my house is still standing!  I don't bake terribly often.  I feel like baking has to be so precise.  I can't just cover up my mistakes with garlic.  I think the last time I made cookies was for my friend Maggie's cookie swap last year.  Fitting that I made them this year for the same party.  This year I decided to branch out and try a recipe with more ingredients.  They turned out so well that I made them twice!  And the second time I was willing to feed them to my parents, so you know they were good.

Proper Christmas dish provided by my mom.  I just use ziplock because I'm lazy like that.