dinner last night

[narlus]

rice noodles. on top of that, chopped arugula and watercress, w/ a bit of fresh lemon squirted on top. then on top of that, some pan-seared scallops, w/ a shallot-white wine reduction sauce.

i also made two side veggies, some oven-roasted fennel, and some blanched/sauteed chard w/ garlic and red pepper flakes.

[OGRipper]

Sounds good. I came home late, expecting to order in and my girl had made steamed artichokes, roasted root veg, and a damn good salad. It was a little healthy but I managed...

[TN]

That sounds good. I have been craving scallops for a while now.

Last night we had pan fried tilapia with a balsamic reduction, farfalle with tomatoes & blue chesse made from goats milk & sauteed fresh spinach.

[TreeSaw]

Mmmm....I love scallops but I haven't had them in a while :( Last night I made meatloaf, mashed potatos & fresh green beans.

[MMcG]

chard? What does it taste like?

[mogulskr]

You all had better dinners then myself. I had 2 Sam Adams Black Lagers and 1/2 a chocolate bunny. The scallops sound good.

[narlus]

chard? What does it taste like?

it's pretty close to spinach. i usually use red, but last night organic regular chard looked better. here's how i cook it:

- get some water boiling
- wash the leaves
- trim the ends
- cut the stalks off from leaves
- cut the stalks into ~1-2" pieces
- coarsely chop the leaves

put the stalks in the boiling water first, then about 1-2 min later add the leaves. stir, cook for ~45 sec, then remove from the water and blanch (run under cold water). squeeze out all moisture

heat some oil in a saute pan, add some garlic (you can also use leeks, shallots, onions, etc) and then dump in the chard. stir frequently for ~30-45 seconds. sprinkle some crushed red pepper over and serve.

this recipe also works well for broccoli rabe and spinach (i like to grate a bit of nutmeg in w/ the spinach).

[OGRipper]

Or, if you're lazy like me, skip the boiling water and just cook it down in a pan with a little olive oil and salt. It will release a bunch of water and wilt down to a tiny fraction of it original size. Keep cooking and when the excess water evaporates, add a little chopped garlic and lemon juice, more salt if needed.

I love chard (or spinach or rabe) mixed in pasta with garlic and italian sausage. MMMMMMM.

[narlus]

tonight's meal was sort of a variation....quick marinade (soy, sesame oil, oil) for the salmon, some steamed broccoli, some boiled carrots finished w/ butter, and a bed of water cress and baby spinach for the fish (first pan-seared, then finished in the oven).

[BikeMike]

Tonight's dinner was leftovers from last night's dinner: rice noodle soup with pork, spinach, sweet corn, chard, and some delicious miso.

[TN]

Last night I had a grilled cheese (some kind irish cheese Dubliner? maybe on rye) with homemade potato soup & water.

[mogulskr]

tonight's meal was sort of a variation....quick marinade (soy, sesame oil, oil) for the salmon, some steamed broccoli, some boiled carrots finished w/ butter, and a bed of water cress and baby spinach for the fish (first pan-seared, then finished in the oven).

Do your kids eat all these meals with you or do you eat after them? My kids wouldn't eat this and then I would have to cook twice. Just wondering.

[narlus]

Do your kids eat all these meals with you or do you eat after them? My kids wouldn't eat this and then I would have to cook twice. Just wondering.

good question. no, the last two nights i was just cooking for myself and my wife; the kids had things going on and had already eaten before i got home (last night, the oldest was at a b-day party, then a sleepover at a friend's house).

they are not too big on fish, sadly, though halibut is something they will eat. my youngest likes squid and octopus. yeah, he's a nut.

[TreeSaw]

good question. no, the last two nights i was just cooking for myself and my wife; the kids had things going on and had already eaten before i got home (last night, the oldest was at a b-day party, then a sleepover at a friend's house).

they are not too big on fish, sadly, though halibut is something they will eat. my youngest likes squid and octopus. yeah, he's a nut.

I was wondering the same thing. Syd will eat most of what we eat, she isn't big on the spicy stuff yet though. Last night I made calzones and she seemed to enjoy it!

[narlus]

both my kids are adverse to spicy things...not sure when that taste/palette changes (maybe for indian and thai kids, there is a built-in physiological difference?).

treesaw, my experience is that kids start w/ a pretty wide-ranging taste, then narrow (miles has done that a lot in the past 3 or so years). some of it is the fairly limited choices they have at school lunch, i think. kids' menus @ restaurants are straitjacketed too.

[mogulskr]

kids' menus @ restaurants are straitjacketed too.

Yeah, i would say so.

Mac N Cheese
Hot Dog
Pasta w sauce maybe a meatball
Grilled Cheese
Chicken Fingers

If I can get my kids to try something most of the time they will like it. My youngest (4) loves fried clams.

[TreeSaw]

both my kids are adverse to spicy things...not sure when that taste/palette changes (maybe for indian and thai kids, there is a built-in physiological difference?).

treesaw, my experience is that kids start w/ a pretty wide-ranging taste, then narrow (miles has done that a lot in the past 3 or so years). some of it is the fairly limited choices they have at school lunch, i think. kids' menus @ restaurants are straitjacketed too.

I totally agree on the kids menus. I always let Syd have whatever we're having. One day she decided she didn't like what we were having, dumped her plate and said "chicken". this was about 2-3 weeks ago! What a food snob ;) I really want to teach her to try things and be polite when it comes to food. We'll see how it goes though.

[narlus]

yeah, sometimes @ restaurants we just order appetizers for the kids to eat; the portion size is fine, and much better variety.