What’s cookin’ lately
Now that the holidays have died down, I’ve had some time to actually cook! I figured I’d share some of my most successful recipes and experiments. A lot of the ingredients have been inspired by our CSA, which we loved so much in the fall, we signed up for a winter share too! (Thanks again for the recommendation, Jamie!)
Spinach and butternut squash white lasagne
I love making lasagne. It’s one of those things that is just a vehicle for sauce, veggies, and cheese and it doesn’t really matter what you put into it. I’ve made a few lasagne over my break, but this one was killer. I used the bechamel recipe from here, but I improvised the rest. The filling was basically a bunch of fresh spinach, roasted butternut squash, garlic, shallot, egg, parmesan, feta, and ricotta cheese.
Roasted veggies and sausage
This is our go-to recipe. I always keep the supplies on hand. We currently have an abundance of root vegetables from our CSA. I chop up the carrots, radishes, onions, and potatoes, throw in some sliced chicken sausage, toss with a little olive oil and maybe garlic salt… and roast those babies. Mmmm.
Tikka masala
This recipe rocks my face off. It’s so stinking easy. I’ve never made the cucumber relish, because it doesn’t need it. And yes, splurge for the bottle of garam masala spice. You’ll make this recipe like 400 times in the next two weeks, so you’ll need it.
Avocado BLTs
I’m a big advocate of the avocado. I strongly believe that any meal is better with fresh avocado. Naturally, so is the traditional BLT. I buy par-baked french rolls at our supermarket so I can serve this delectable combo on warm, fresh bread. I mean. Shut up. So good.
Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden knock off)
You guys, I don’t even like the Olive Garden, but sometimes I get excited about going because of this soup. Now I never need to go again because I make it even better. I don’t think I have a recipe for it anymore, but I basically sautee Italian sausage with onions and garlic, deglaze the pan with white wine, add a bunch of broth, chopped potatoes, and red pepper flakes, and then at the end, add a splash of heavy cream and a bunch of torn kale.
Have any recipes you’d like to share? What’s been the highlight of your menu lately?
Dan got a wok for Christmas and we’ve been on a stir fry kick lately. This week we mixed broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and green peppers with some chicken (marinated with soy sauce and brown sugar) over rice. It was quite tasty. I feel like you really can’t go wrong with stir fry. Your zuppa toscana sounds delicious! I might try to make that the next time I’m craving soup.
I am a huge fan of the avocado BLT myself. Delish. When I was pregnant and didn’t know (very early on) I craved Greek food and Avocado Caprese Sandwiches. If you like Caprese anyway, try adding Avocado. So freaking good.
Thanks for including the link to the Tikka Masala. I am currently obsessed with Indian food and crock pot cooking, so I’ll be sure to make this sometime soon.
am totally going to try that tikka masala
Sounds DELICIOUS.
I think I had some version of that soup last night at a restaurant here, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Thank you for that quick little how-to, because now I’m going to try it!
I LOVE tikka masala. I’m all over that.