i never enjoy salad. usually, i just force my way through it bite by bite while i daydream about all the good snacks I’m going to eat later when i’m alone. my point here is that if I’m recommending a salad on here, it’s probably a pretty good salad.
this is another one of my mother-in-law’s recipes. i don’t know where she got the recipe, but I’ve been scarfing it down at her house for as long as i’ve been with my husband.
i think the key to this salad is that it’s simple, so there aren’t a lot of ingredients to pick through and contend with, and it makes a great side dish because it has vegetables AND rice. it would probably even make a good main dish, if you eat enough of it.
i usually serve this with some grilled or pan-fried chicken thighs, but yesterday was sunday and i wanted to make a big dinner, so we had it with this amazing mushroom lasagna.
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Judy's Spinach and Rice Salad
A great accompaniment to meat or hearty pasta dishes. Comes together quickly and easily and (I know it's unbelievable) it actually tastes great!
1bunchgreen onionssliced, some greens and some whites
Instructions
cook rice according to package directions.
while the rice is cooking, combine olive oil, white wine vinegar, soy sauce, black pepper, and turmeric. shake or whisk the combination together until fully combined. add to rice once rice is fully cooked (rice will be a bit wet and oily).
combine spinach, green onions, and rice mixture. the rice acts as a dressing for the spinach leaves; a few will wilt a little- that's ok.
serve! works great as an accompaniment for hearty pasta dishes or meaty main courses.
you know how when you grow up with something you think that’s just how things are but then you find out it was actually specific to your experience? like how i have these weird things in my mouth called tori, but until the dentist told me that they were weird, i thought that was just what mouths were like.
anyway, i grew up thinking that chicken vesuvio was just regular old italian restaurant food, but i’ve recently learned that it’s actually regional to chicago! so i decided to make some for a little taste of my very cold homeland. if you’ve never had chicken vesuvio before, all you need to know is that the potatoes are so good. so soooooo good.
this recipe is adapted from cook’s illustrated complete cooking for two. in addition to making a few changes to the recipe, i have to double everything because apparently dylan and i eat for four. traditional chicken vesuvio would normally have peas in it, but dylan is allergic to peas and i hate them, so i don’t add them. a more traditional version would also use bone in chicken pieces but i think that’s too much work, so i went for boneless instead.
further note: i tried to do some research about the history of chicken vesuvio, but i ended up at this page of people just arguing a lot and being angry and i started getting sort of sad and overwhelmed so i had to quit. research at your own risk.
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Kate's Chicken Vesuvio
A classic Chicago chicken and potatoes dish that comes together easily in one pot.
This recipe belongs to my mother-in-law, but I was lucky enough to be able to snap a picture of it the last time we saw her (at pizza night, of course!). My mother-in-law makes amazing pizzas with really unique and tasty topping combinations (one of her classics is an asparagus, gorgonzola, and carmelized onion that I sincerely hope to feature here someday).
With a crust like this, though, the toppings are really an afterthought. This crust will come out right every time and can hold up to all kinds of toppings, classic or crazy. Basically, if you master this crust, the whole world of pizza is open to you. Take hold of your destiny.
This is a thin pizza crust that cooks up crunchy and crispy, but I wouldn’t quite call it a “thin crust” pizza, since this recipe has enough baking powder and yeast in it to give it a little lift and a hint of bready texture. To me, it tastes like a classic homemade pizza crust. Also, you can prepare it ahead of time and then top it and cook it up once your guests arrive. Get ready for pizza night!
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Judy's Homemade Pizza Crust
Basic pizza crust that comes out right every time. A little crispy, a little bready, and sturdy enough to hold up to a whole heap of toppings. Pizza night has arrived!
In the bowl of a standing mixer, whisk flour, semolina, yeast, baking powder, and salt together.
Add in 2 tbsp of the olive oil and the beer and knead with the dough hook on low. Continue to knead, until ingredients come together as a dough, about 5-10 minutes. My dough was a little dry, so I added 2 tbsp of water to help it come together.
Knead the dough with your hands a few times to form a cohesive ball. Cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 hours. Warning: this isn't the typical pillow-y pizza dough, so it won't rise a whole lot. Don't worry. It's going to be fine.
While the dough is rising, prepare all your toppings. You'll want to have them ready to go before you put the dough in the oven.
Preheat oven and pizza stone to 500°F. Divide dough into two equally sized balls.
Line countertop with parchment paper, and roll dough into a 12-14 inch circle with a rolling pin (dough should be a little less than 1/4 inch thick). This isn't the typical stretchy elastic pizza dough, so it's easier to roll it with a rolling pin than it is to use a more traditional stretching method.
Drizzle rolled-out pizza crust with 1 tbsp olive oil and spread to coat pizza evenly. Don't bother with a brush here; it works best to use clean hands.
Slide the pizza dough and the parchment (you're basically never going to take your pizzas off the parchment) onto the preheated pizza stone and pre-bake, untopped, for 4 minutes. The crust will get bubbly and patchy brown. Pull it out early if the edges start to blacken.
Slide pre-baked crust and parchment out of the oven (a pizza peel is obviously the best tool for this, but I used a cookie sheet since I don't have one of those).
Add toppings to your preheated crust. This is a sturdy crust that can handle a lot of toppings, but keep in mind that you will have to slide your pizza in and out of the oven one more time, so don't go too crazy.
Slide your topped pizza, parchment and all, back onto the pizza stone. Bake about 10 minutes more, until edges begin to blacken and cheese is bubbly and patchy brown.
I’m still going crazy for spaetzle. The other night I started off making a mushroom paprikash and spaetzle recipe that I had found online. After mixing up the spaetzle batter and chopping all the mushrooms and onions, I realized that I hadn’t read the instructions well enough and I didn’t have half the ingredients.
So it was time to improvise! I knew spaetzle would be good with mushrooms and onions no matter what, so I just needed some kind of sauce to add richness and flavor and bind everything together.
I found a nice block of Swiss cheese hiding out in my fridge (I had bought it for a recipe I never ended up making), threw together a quick bechamel, and grated the Swiss into it.
The result was like a hearty mushroom-y mac and cheese, except with the tangy flavor of Swiss and the tender springiness of the fresh spaetzle. It was a lot of fun to put together and it tastes great!
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Spaetzle with Mushrooms and Swiss Sauce
Creamy Swiss bechamel, savory sauteed mushrooms, and fresh, springy spaetzle! A hearty treat for a cold night!
Start by making your spaetzle batter so that it's ready to go when you need it. You can find the recipe for that in the link in the description above.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onions and cook until just beginning to soften, then add in mushrooms and stir to combine. Continue to cook until mushrooms begin to brown and release their juices. Add in minced garlic for the last minute. Once everything is cooked, set skillet aside for later.
In a large saucepan, heat butter until just beginning to foam. Dump in flour and whisk constantly. This mixture will turn into a paste that you'll keep whisking for a minute or two longer until it turns a little brown. Congratulations! You've just made a roux!
Now add the milk by the 1/2 cup, whisking constantly with each addition. Let the mixture thicken for a minute or two on high heat, continuing to whisk so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of your pot.
Dump in the grated swiss, stirring constantly until completely melted and incorporated into a smooth sauce. Set the sauce aside.
Boil your spaetzle, according to instructions. Combine fresh spaetzle, mushroom mixture, and Swiss sauce and enjoy!
I’m finally reading Anna Karenina for the first time (thanks to inspiration from Elif Batuman whose novel The Idiot I recently devoured) and it’s so good! In honor of this book that has been consuming all my thoughts and all my time, I decided to make Russian food.
So, I don’t actually know how authentically Russian Beef Stroganoff is, and I certainly have no idea if it’s something that Anna Karenina herself would have ever eaten (update: I looked it up, and she maybe would have, but it wouldn’t have been anything like what I made), but I do know that this recipe is delicious, super easy, and all comes together in one pot. All of which leaves me more time to keep my head buried in the book.
I got this recipe from this blog called Hip Foodie Mom and I make it all the time. The recipe is perfect and needs no real changes, but I eliminated the cornstarch slurry, because I find that’s usually more trouble than it’s worth. I used 80/20 ground beef because it was cheaper and because the added fat helps to thicken the sauce a bit. If you’d prefer your dinner to be a little bit healthier, serve with a side of green veggies.
Heat the olive oil over medium high heat and cook the mushrooms with salt and pepper. Add in onion and cook until onions are translucent.
Add in ground beef, breaking into small chunks with a spoon, and cook until no longer pink and beginning to brown. Stir in smoked paprika.
Add noodles and beef stock. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally so that all the noodles cook evenly.
When most of the liquid has cooked off, move the pot from the heat, and stir in 1/2 cup of the sour cream. Mix together until incorporated and season with salt and pepper.
Serve topped with chopped parsley and a dollop of the remaining sour cream.
FYI also tastes super good the next day- cold or reheated!
