Farro Salad Serves 6 as a side dish Ingredients: 1 ½ cups farro – $ 5.99 (for a 1 lb. bag) 3 cups chicken stock or water ½ lb. sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½ inch dice – $0.99 3 oz. prosciutto – $3.99 2 scallions, chopped, green and white parts – $0.25 ¼[…]
Tomato-Braised Chicken Thighs with Olives & Capers
Tomato-Braised Chicken Thighs with Olives & Capers Serves 4 Inspired by a recipe from Real Simple Ingredients: 2 teaspoons olive oil – stock 2 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs – $4.00 Salt & pepper – stock 1 medium onion, chopped – $0.50 2 large cloves of garlic, minced or run through a press – stock[…]
Beef Barley Soup with Mushrooms
Beef Barley and Mushroom Soup Serves 10 Ingredients: 1 cup barley, cooked according to package instructions – $1.59 3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided – stock 2 lbs. boneless beef Chuck steak, cut into small chunks – $8.70 the juice of 1 large orange (1/3 cup) – $0.50 2 cups diced carrots – $0.99 1½ cups[…]
Chorizo and Shredded Chicken Soup
Chorizo and Shredded Chicken Soup Serves 8 to 10 Ingredients: 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts – $3.99 1 lb. Mexican Chorizo sausage, cut into ½” thick rounds – $8.49 1 medium sweet potato, about 2/3 lb. – $0.89 3 Tablespoons olive oil – stock 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped – $0.99 ½[…]
Classic Chicken Parmesan with Crunchy Panko & Smoked Mozzarella
Chicken Parmesan with Panko Topping Serves 6 Ingredients: ½ cup Panko bread crumbs – $2.49 ¼ cup finely grated parmesan cheese – stock 1 Vidalia onion , diced – $1.14 2 cloves garlic, minced – stock splash of Balsamic vinegar – stock 3 Tablespoons plus 2 Teaspoons olive oil – stock 2 ½ cups jar[…]
Sliced Steak with Turnip Puree and Toasted Quinoa
Sliced Steak with Pureed Turnips and Toasted Quinoa Serves 4 Note: When buying turnips, select the smaller ones. They are not only sweeter but also a whole lot easier to peel and dice before boiling. And the quinoa (a protein-packed grain, BTW) is actually crunchy as this recipe requires only a small amount of water[…]
Vegetarian Chili with White Beans & Wild Mushrooms
Vegetarian White Bean Chili with Mushrooms Serves 6 Note: Don’t use canned beans for this dish as the lengthy cooking time will cause the beans to lose their integrity. Additionally, if you don’t want to soak the beans overnight follow these directions for the quick-boil solution: Using a large pot, cover the beans with about[…]
Red-Wine-Braised Brisket with Dried Fruit
Red-Wine-Braised Brisket with Dried Fruit Serves 10 Ingredients: 2 cups robust red wine (I use Cabernet) – stock 5-6 lb. beef brisket (aka bottom round roast or pot roast) – $40.00 Paprika, kosher salt & pepper – stock 3 large onions (about 2 cups), chopped coarsely – $1.49 2 bay leaves – stock 3 sprigs[…]
Hot Crab Dip with Old Bay Seasoning
Hot Crab Dip with Old Bay Seasoning Serves 10 Ingredients: 8 oz. whipped cream cheese, softened – $2.19 3 scallions (about ¼ cup), chopped fine – $0.99 ½ of a red bell pepper (2/3 cup) , chopped – $1.07 a heaping ½ cup grated Monterey Jack cheese – $1.09 ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese –[…]
Cheesy Zucchini Pie with Prosciutto and Sweet Onions ala Alyssa
Zucchini Pie ala Alyssa Serves 12 Ingredients: ½ lb. zucchini, scrubbed and chopped diced – $1.75 2 Tablespoons olive oil – stock 1 medium-large Vidalia onion, diced – $1.16 3 cloves garlic, minced – stock 3 oz. Prosciutto – $3.99 ½ cup shredded Fontina cheese – $2.99 ½ cup diced fresh mozzarella – $2.69 ½[…]
Pulled Pork Pasta Salad
Pulled Pork Pasta Salad Serves 12 as a side dish Note: This salad was intended as a straight-up side dish to enjoy pretty much any season. As I wasn’t entertaining a large group of guests, I found myself scarfing up just about all of the leftovers after our first round of photos and tastings. At[…]
Chicken Marsala with Prosciutto
Chicken Marsala with Prosciutto Serves 10 Ingredients: 3 lbs. boneless chicken breasts – $7.10 Flour seasoned with salt and pepper, for dredging – stock 1/3-cup olive oil – stock 4 Tablespoons sweet butter, divided – stock 1 large Vidalia onion, diced – $ 1.74 3 cloves minced garlic – stock 1½ lbs. assorted mushrooms, sliced[…]
Cheesy Eggplant Lasagna with Prosciutto
Eggplant Lasagna Serves 10 Ingredients: 1 large eggplant cut and sliced into ¼” rounds – $2.79 5 Tablespoons olive oil, divided – stock 1- 8 oz. package no-boil (oven-ready) lasagna – $1.99 1 small Vidalia onion, diced – $1.11 3 oz. prosciutto, chopped – $3.29 3 cloves garlic – stock 2 (15 ½ oz. each)[…]
Sweet & Savory Asian-style Pulled Pork
Sweet & Savory Asian-Style Pulled Pork Serves 8 Inspired by Dessert Before Dinner Dry Rub Ingredients: ½-Tablespoon Chinese Five Spice – $2.26 Generous amount of freshly ground black pepper – stock ½-Tablespoon kosher salt – stock ½-Tablespoon packed brown sugar – stock 1 teaspoon ground ginger – stock 5lb bone-in pork shoulder – $10.51 Ingredients[…]
Sweet Potato-Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheese
Sweet Potato-Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheese Serves 8 Tip: My local grocery store sells Butternut squash already peeled and chopped. This makes the vegetable just so much more “user-friendly” as I simply had to cook it in a pot of boiling water along with the peeled and chopped sweet potato. I didn’t need all of[…]
Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew with Chicken Sausage
Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew with Chicken Sausage Serves 10 Ingredients: 5 Tablespoons olive oil, divided – stock 2 stalks of celery, sliced – $0.49 3 medium-large carrots, cut into ½ – inch rounds – $0.69 1 medium Vidalia onion, diced – $1.22 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½ – inch dice[…]
Black Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage and Honey Crisp Apple
Black Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage and Honey Crisp Apple Serves 8 Note: When I’m preparing homemade soup, if I don’t have a stash of my own chicken or veggie stock I buy organic stock, not broth, from my local market. The stock is less salty than canned broth and while it’s more expensive, it’s[…]
Buffalo Chicken Chili
Buffalo Chicken Chili Serves 6 Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon olive oil – stock 1 tablespoon butter – stock 2 lbs white meat ground chicken – $9.49 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped finely – $0.89 1 sweet onion, chopped – $1.19 2 ribs of celery, chopped finely – $2.99 5 cloves garlic, minced or run thru[…]
Quiche with Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms, and Ham
Quiche with Caramelized Onion, Mushrooms, and Ham Serves 6 as an Entrée Note: I cut back the amount of mushrooms and onion for the specifics of this recipe, but we highly recommend that you make a much larger batch of the duxelle of shrooms and onion for other dinners. I freeze single serving sizes and[…]
Crab Cake Bake: An Ode to Lizzie Dean
Crab Cake Bake Serves 8 Ingredients: 4 eggs, beaten – stock 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard – stock 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce – stock ½ cup chopped scallions, both white and green parts – $0.79 4 Tablespoons finely chopped parsley – $0.99 3 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning – stock 1 small Jalapeno pepper, minced – $0.24[…]