Saturday, August 11, 2012

Shop-ahead Dishes

With a friend coming over towards the end of the week, but likely no time to go grocery shopping in the middle of the week, the following were some shop-ahead dishes that seem to work, mainly because they use ingredients that keep well for a full week or more:
  • Italian - pasta with sausage; and italian squash
  • Mediterranean - hummus with pita bread and chips, with curried sides (e.g. tomatoes, bell pepper, etc)
  • Asian - noodles with shrimp, and stir fry vegetables
  • Mexican - enchiladas, and cornbread with chorizo, and fajita vegetables 
I also saw some mediterranean salads in the store today, which inspired me to look online for some recipes.  Following are some that I found:

    3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1/4 cup
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    1 (1-pound) box Israeli couscous (or any small pasta)
    3 cups chicken stock
    2 lemons, juiced
    1 lemon, zested
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
    1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
    1/4 cup dried cranberries
    1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Directions

In a medium saucepan, warm 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the couscous and cook until toasted and lightly browned, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Carefully add the stock, and the juice of 1 lemon, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the couscous is tender, but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the couscous.

In a large bowl, toss the cooked couscous with the remaining olive oil, remaining lemon juice, zest, salt, and pepper and let cool.

Once the couscous is room temperature, add the fresh herbs, dried cranberries, and almonds. Toss to combine and serve.

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Ingredients

    18 cups torn romaine (about 2 large bunches)
    1 medium cucumber, sliced
    1 cup crumbled feta cheese
    1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
    1 small red onion, thinly sliced
    1/2 cup julienned roasted sweet red peppers
    1/2 cup pitted Greek olives, halved
    DRESSING:
    2/3 cup olive oil
    1/4 cup red wine vinegar
    1 garlic clove, minced
    1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

    In a very large salad bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients. Drizzle over salad and toss to coat. Yield: 28 servings (3/4 cup each).


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Ingredients

    1 pkg (9 oz each) romaine lettuce, coarsely chopped
    1 can (14.5 oz each) Hunt's® Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic and Oregano, drained
    1 can (15 oz each) garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed
    1 can (3.8 oz each) sliced ripe olives, drained
    2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
    1/2 cup chopped red onion
    2 tablespoons red wine vinegar


    Place all ingredients in large bowl. Toss together.

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1 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup uncooked couscous
1 cup cubed plum (Roma) tomatoes (3 medium)
1 cup cubed unpeeled cucumber (1 small)
1/2 cup halved pitted kalamata olives
1/4 cup chopped green onions (about 4 medium)
1/4 cup chopped fresh or 1 tablespoon dried dill weed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

    1 In 2-quart saucepan, heat broth to boiling. Stir in couscous; remove from heat. Cover; let stand 5 minutes.
    2 In large bowl, place tomatoes, cucumber, olives, onions and dill weed. Stir in couscous.
    3 In small bowl, beat lemon juice, oil and salt with wire whisk until well blended; pour over vegetable mixture and toss. Cover; refrigerate 1 hour to blend flavors.
    4 Just before serving, sprinkle with cheese.


20-Aug:   I ended up making just sausage pasta and serving it with a salad.   It turns out that my friend doesn't really like fruits and vegetables much.    So, I just grilled the sausage (cut it into slices after initial grilling, so that it would cook throughout).  Then, I sauteed onions, cubed tomatoes, italian parsley, and sliced portabella mushrooms; mixed with some tomato-basil sauce; add the grilled sausage; and simmered.   This was served over rotelli.  For the salad, I just mixed spinach with tomatoes and onions; and I happened to have a sweet roasted garlic balsamic dressing.

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