Lunch - January 9, 2010

I made a last minute trip with my mom down to see my sister and her family before I started my new job. I took three recipes with me from Kornfeld's The Healthy Hedonist. One was the standard Tofu and Vegetable Stir-Fry. The second was this salad, Asian Chicken Salad with Crisoy Wonton Strips, that can be made with the same Glazed Tofu. The third was Spinach-Tofu Wontons which is a version of ravioli in red sauce. I picked them because they were three very different dishes that were tied together by several ingredients.

Matt and I had enjoyed this salad before with the tofu. On this day we tried it with the chicken. I didn't have breasts on the bone with skin but rubbed some boneless, skinless breasts with olive oil. I also opted to replace the watercress with arugula. Both of these substitutions worked well. I think I do like the dish better with the tofu because you add a little sweetness.

Dinner - August 1, 2009

This does not look good. The squash on the left is a yellow zucchini. While the flavor was good it was too large and seedy for this preparation.

The dish on the right was a sad version of olives, walnuts, and arugula on spaghetti squash. I really need to give up on the spaghetti squash as pasta substitute.

We both ate this meal because it was healthy. It did taste better than it looked but I would avoid making both dishes in this way in the future.

Lunch - July 16, 2009

This lunch was left over from the meal I made the night before. It really holds up well as leftovers.

This is a favorite recipe of mine form Immer's Everyday Dining with Wine. The recipe is called "Linguine with Walnuts, Olives, and Arugula." You can find a variation I posted about previously here.

I gave this a preparation rating of 3 before but I think it is getting close to a 4 or 5 for me with some practice and triple washed baby arugula. I am leaving it at 3 since it does take two pans.

I leave out the cheese and use whole wheat pasta.

Dinner - June 30, 2009

It is July 14th as I write this post, but I can still taste this meal. I really enjoyed this meal and would be proud to serve it to any guests who will eat olives.

For a first course we had microgreens on top of tomato slices. I dressed the microgreens in a simple olive oil and balsamic dressing. I used the fancy balsamic vinegar that Jan shared with me. This vinegar is so good that Jan and I are known for drinking it.

For the meal we had a whole wheat pasta dish with a side of yellow wax beans. The pasta recipe is from Immer's Everyday Dining with Wine and is called Linguine with Walnuts, Olives, and Arugula. We were out of linguine and had to go with penne. I would recommend sticking with the linguine and I would also recommend using a whole wheat or partial whole wheat pasta. I left out the cheese and I can't imagine it being any better with it.

This pasta dish reminded me why I cook from recipes from cookbook writers that I like. The food is greater than its parts.

The beans were prepared in boiling water as outlined in Bishop's Vegetables Every Day.