Saturday, September 21, 2013

30 Days of Dinner - Week Three

I have to admit, week three was not great. There may have been other factors influencing this, in particular a trip to the dentist that left my teeth very sensitive for a few days, and therefore taking away a lot of my joy in eating. I was also feeling a little stifled with the pre-planned meals. There were days when I felt like making something different, but we stuck to the plan through and through. Here are my thoughts and our favourite recipe.



Day 15 - Leek and Hazelnut Ravioli
This recipe itself wasn't bad, it was the choice of packaged ravioli that was our downfall. The ravioli's we chose fell apart when they were cooking. We have not purchased pre-made ravioli in years, and this night reminded us why. The sauce with the leek's, hazelnuts and goat cheese was quite nice.

Day 16 - Mexican Tortilla Soup
This soup was really good. I prepared it during the day, as I had a finance group meeting that evening, and it kept really nicely. Key to this recipe is the toppings, especially the lime and cilantro. I was quite thankful that I had this soup later in the week when it hurt to chew regular food.

Day 17 - Easy Ginger Beef and Snap Peas
This recipe was really easy, quick to prepare and cook. I didn't feel as though there was enough for a full meal, so I stir fried some other veggies on the side, which I would probably just add in the next time (mushrooms, pepper, carrots, celery).

Day 18 - Creamy Scrambled Eggs with Mushrooms
This was a nice meal, and Brent is now a huge advocate of eggs for dinner (after this and the frittata last week). The eggs cooked way faster than the recipe, I think maybe because I was using a cast iron skillet, which holds heat much better than other skillets. This would make a great brunch item too.

Day 19 - Dinner Dippers
There's an episode of Seinfeld where Elaine's boyfriend David Puddy asks 'Why can't you have dip for dinner?', and before this I thought he was right. But dip for dinner did not work for us. I think it could, because believe me, I love dips! However, the combination of dips did not work well together. The beet dip, frankly eating the beets would have been better. The deli style egg dip was really just pureed egg salad, and it was tough to figure out what to dip in the wasabi edamame dip. I was glad I still had some of the Mexican Tortilla Soup leftover.

Day 20 - Grilled Vegetable and Chicken Salad
We grilled everything for this salad the night before, and again great timing as I had an economics study group meeting this night and the salad was super portable. Simple concept, but it was a nice addition having grilled the vegetables along with the chicken.

Day 21 - Sun-Dried Tomato Agnolotti with Walnuts and Swiss Chard
This was by far the best meal of the week. It did take a little longer than the time on the recipe listed, but for the prep time and the result it was well worth it. This will definitely be repeated at the Bouchard house.

We had originally thought that it would be the Mexican Tortilla Soup recipe that would be shared this week, until we had the Agnolotti. Here is our favourite recipe.

Sun-Dried Tomato Agnolotti with Walnuts and Swiss Chard
- 1 egg
- 36 wonton wrappers
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- pinch salt and pepper
- 2 cups chopped stemmed Swiss chard

Filling:
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/3 cup grated Pecorino-Romano cheese
- 1/3 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 tsp dried Italian herb seasoning
- 1/4 tsp pepper

Filling: Stir together cheeses, sun-dried tomatoes, egg yolk and seasoning. Whisk egg with 1 tsp water to make egg wash. One at a time, lightly brush egg wash over wonton wrapper; spoon rounded 1 tsp filling onto centre. Fold wrapper diagonally over filling to form triangle; press edges to seal.

In skillet over medium heat melt butter; cook shallots and garlic, stirring occasionally until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in walnuts; cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in wine, salt and pepper; simmer for 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, in large pot of boiling salted water, cook agnolotti until pale and floating, 2 minutes. Drain and return to pot. Add walnut mixture and Swiss chard; toss until chard is wilted, 2 minutes.


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