Have you ever had a meal that has impressed you so much, its deliciousness pops into your head for days and you find yourself talking about it? This is one of those meals. We had this for dinner a little over a week ago and ever since, my husband will still look at me, at the most random times, and say, “That chicken was really, really good.” In fact, I don’t even think he realizes how much he’s said it to me. This, my friends, is the power of a great meal.
I’m whooped.
This getting ready to move thing is exhausting. Actually, it’s not the getting ready to move that’s tiring me out, it’s more the getting the house ready to sell. I feel like I’ve been packing, hauling, pitching, cleaning, buffing, and shining for months…and my house wasn’t that messy to begin with. I’m to the point where having the house on the market will actually be a welcome relief, because then all I’ll have to do is tidy it up each day. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself.
As you’ve probably guessed after reading this blog, there’s not much I won’t eat. Up until recently, however, mushrooms were on my No-Fly list. My parents have told me time and time again, that when I still small enough to be in a high chair, I loved mushrooms so much that my mom would saute some to have with dinner, and my dad would have to fight me for them. I don’t believe them. I don’t ever remember a time as a child when I came near a mushroom without cringing.
Just when you think I can’t possibly roast another vegetable…it’s happened again! This is yet another example of how roasting makes all veggies better. Really. Incredibly good. So good, that Emily’s eyes rolled back in her head when she tried it.
This time, it’s broccoli. I know, I know. I never would have thought broccoli would be a good candidate for roasting either, but then I ran across a roasted broccoli recipe in Ina Garten’s cookbook Back to Basics. There, she tossed the roasted broccoli and garlic with lemon, Parmesan pine nuts, and basil. Looked good to me! I figured I’d give it a try that night with dinner.
Where has this year gone? I truly can’t believe that it’s time for me to talk turkey already. It seems like it was just yesterday that my mother and father in-law came to visit and I made this for them…but that was last year, before Thanksgiving. Since we weren’t going to be able to have Thanksgiving Day dinner with them, I made a mini-Thanksgiving for us and had this turkey breast for the first time. I’d never made a turkey breast before, always a whole turkey, and if I’m being honest, I wasn’t expecting much.
I have a lot of friends who think it’s pretty funny that I’ve held down more odd jobs than I can count. You name it, and I probably dabbled in it at one point in my life. When I was in high school, I worked in a local bakery. Besides the amazing cakes, breads, pastries and desserts we whipped up, we had a pretty mean lunch menu. That bakery was where I was first introduced to cauliflower soup. Up until that point in my life, cauliflower was just…cauliflower. Nothing spectacular. It was usually the last to go on a veggie tray and we had it with dinner a lot, but it was just cauliflower.
I’ve made no bones in the past about my love of roasted vegetables. I’ve roasted cauliflower for you, brussels sprouts, edamame and corn, potatoes, and even kale. My obsession with roasted vegetables may border on annoying, and I’m sorry, but I really feel the need to share yet another one with you. Please bear with me.
Roasted Green Beans.
Oh my goodness.
I never, ever thought of roasting green beans before I saw this recipe. I don’t know why it never crossed my mind, given my obsession, but I’d never tried it before.
OK, this heat is crazy. It’s officially summer. Gone are the days of June, where I was almost swayed to believe that the weather was going to stay pretty mild until the kids went back to school. We’re at the point in our summer where the kids don’t even want to be outside because it’s so hot. This is a major bummer from a parental standpoint.
Emily, my oldest, loves broccoli. She loves broccoli so much that on her third birthday, she asked if I’d serve a big bowl of steamed broccoli alongside the chicken fingers I had out for the kids at her birthday party. Avery, my youngest daughter, who would rather eat my shoe than try most vegetables, also (surprisingly) loves broccoli. Since both of my girls will gladly devour a serving of steamed broccoli, we have it with dinner a lot. I realized recently that we may have it a little too often. Emily walked in while I was cutting up some broccoli to steam the other night and said, unenthusiastically, “Wow…broccoli, again? We eat a lot of broccoli. ~sigh~” and then she sulked off.
Soooooo, remember last week when I went on and on about how I’m not really very good at creating my own recipes, so I depend on my kazillion cookbooks and the power of the internet? Well, you can chalk THIS recipe up as a true miracle.
I made it up myself, and you know what? IT WAS GOOD! Good enough that it passed the kid test AND the husband test. (Those of you who know my family, know how truly different these two tests really are.) It turned out to be something worth repeating, which is a good thing, because…