The Dinner Winner

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4 Dinner

Cucumber Soup with Avocado and Mint

Cucumber SoupToday was one of those miserable late summer days that was so absurdly hot and humid, there was no way I could possibly turn on the stove. I spent my morning working outside, dripping sweat, contemplating what cool refreshing dinner I would make. After much deliberation, I settled on this cucumber soup with yogurt, avocado, and herbs. It required no cooking whatsoever, and I had everything I needed to make it at home.

The biggest problem was that I was totally making the recipe up as I go along. I’ve been reading Samin Nosrat’s excellent cookbook, “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” which lays out some pretty clear and rock solid principles for winging it in the kitchen. Since it was a million degrees outside, I decided to forget about the heat part, but made sure there was enough salt, fat, and acid in the cucumber soup.

I also wanted this to be a meal for my family, so a bowl of watery cucumber soup wasn’t going to fit the bill; the soup needed some body. I wanted to make this redolent of tzatziki sauce without being a dip you eat with a spoon, not that there’s anything wrong with that. I decided to throw in an avocado to make the soup a bit more rich and velvety. Add some mint, dill, and lemon to make the flavors bright, and some feta cheese and olive oil to deepen the flavor a bit. I added a shallot because I was out of garlic (shame!), but it came out great, so I’ll stick to that in the recipe.

On blenders

The best part of this whole recipe is that you all you need to make it is a decent blender. Until about a year ago, I had an old hand me down blender that I thought worked just fine. When it died, I replaced it with a Blendtec and couldn’t be happier. I regularly make huge vats of smoothie to feed an entire family and the thing has proven to be bombproof. I think the motor is 3 horsepower, which seems to be plenty for anything I’ve ever needed to blend.

Make it a meal

If you want to make another dish to make this a meal, why not try pasta with dandelion greens, or a grilled pizza?

 

Cucumber Soup with Avocado and Mint

6 bowls

A cold cucumber soup that is filling enough to be a meal of its own. Redolent of the flavors of tzatziki, made silky with the addition of an avocado.

15 minPrep Time

5 minCook Time

20 minTotal Time

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INGREDIENTS

  • 2 English Cucumbers
  • 1 Avocado
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 3/4 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 cup fresh dill
  • 1/4 cup fresh mint
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small shallot
  • 3.5 oz feta cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

  1. Roughly chop the cucumbers and seed and peel the avocado. Separate the mint and dill leaves from the stems.
  2. Add all ingredients to the blender jar.
  3. Blend until smooth. If the soup looks too thick, add a but more water 1/4 cup at a time.
  4. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust the seasoning. Depending on how salty your feta cheese is, you may need no salt, or up to 1.5 teaspoons.
  5. Chill for at least three hours if you are the kind of person that plans ahead. If not, just eat it right away.
7.8.1.2
13
https://thedinnerwinner.com/cucumber-soup-with-avocado-and-mint/

Nutrition

Calories

1119 cal

Fat

93 g

Carbs

56 g

Protein

27 g
Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

1 Breakfast

Wild Blueberry Pancakes

Wild Blueberry Pancakes

I have three kids. This means a lot of things when it comes to eating; nothing spicy (mostly), noodles are always their first choice, and anything shaped like a pancake is delicious. This can be something savory, like a black bean griddlecake, or the apogee of all pancakes, the blueberry pancake. So, I thought I would publish this wild blueberry pancakes recipe for all to make. It is about as good as it gets. 

A few years ago, I was on a series of hikes in Harriman State Park and noticed that there was an area that was absolutely covered in wild blueberries. This blueberry patch went on for miles, over hills, under trees, in clearings; it was very impressive. These were totally wild blueberries, completely untended. The bushes were relatively high, and you had to pick your way through the foliage, bending down to pick berries as you went. 

Wild Blueberries

Since then, I have been meaning to go back and pick wild blueberries. Well, this was the year I finally did it. I dragged my two daughters (3 and 6) along to help with the promise that I would make a wild blueberry pancakes recipe, or blueberry muffins for them if we got enough berries. It was a challenge to get the girls to actually put the berries in a bowl and not in their mouths, but there are worse problems to have. By the end of the day, their little mouths were stained completely purple, yet they assured me they had not been eating any berries. Yeah right. It seemed reminiscent of Blueberries for Sal, thankfully minus the bears. The best part of picking your own wild blueberries is the berries are totally free, and organic.

For this wild blueberry pancakes recipe, and pretty much anything else that involves flour, I usually like to use a mix of all purpose and white whole wheat flours. I usually use King Arthur white whole wheat flour, which is great. It has 13% protein content, so you are definitely getting a bit more nutrition than you would from all purpose flour. If you are substituting white whole wheat for all purpose flour in another recipe, you might have to increase the liquid a bit.

Wild Blueberry Pancakes

Basics

There are some basic things about making quick breads that everyone should know. I’ll lay them out just in case you aren’t aware. First, you never want to over-mix the batter. The more you mix, the tougher the batter will become. You generally don’t want tough pancakes or muffins. The opposite is true for most breads, which is one reason why we knead bread. Next, I have found that your pancakes will come out with a lighter texture if you let the batter sit for a few minutes before you start cooking the pancakes. This lets the gluten “relax” a bit and makes everything more tender. I never have patience to do this for more than ten or fifteen minutes. 

Equipment

I do love this big cast iron griddle. You can make a bunch of pancakes at the same time, and as long as you wash it correctly, nothing ever sticks to it. You can also flip it over and use it as a grill pan, which is great for grilling tofu, or searing a steak if that’s your thing. Purchasing anything via the links on this page helps support the site.

Serves 3 pancakes

Wild Blueberry Pancakes

24 pancakes

10 minPrep Time

15 minCook Time

25 minTotal Time

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INGREDIENTS

  • 1.5 cups all purpose flour
  • 1.5 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups milk
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted,
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1.5 cups wild blueberries
  • 2 tablespoons butter (for griddle)
  • Maple syrup for serving

METHOD

  1. Mix flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
  2. Whisk milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla in another medium bowl
  3. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, and gently mix until just combined.
  4. Gently fold in the wild blueberries. If you are using frozen blueberries, there is o need to defrost them.
  5. Preheat the griddle to medium. Make sure a few drops of water sprinkled on the surface sputter for a second or two. If they evaporate right away, the griddle is too hot. If they boil for a little bit, it is too cool. If you are using a cast iron griddle, this could take 5-7 minutes to preheat the griddle, a good time to let the batter rest. You can also cook these in a skillet.
  6. Melt the butter on your griddle and spread it evenly using a spatula.
  7. Ladle about 1/3 cup of batter per pancake onto the griddle. The pancakes should be about 4"-5" inches across.
  8. Cook until you see the top of each pancake speckled with small bubbles. Flip each pancake and cook until the underside is nicely browned.
  9. Serve immediately with maple syrup and butter, or keep warm in a 200 degree oven until you finish cooking the rest. Do no cover the pancakes in the oven, they will get rubbery.
7.8.1.2
12
https://thedinnerwinner.com/wild-blueberry-pancakes/

Nutrition

Calories

727 cal

Fat

25 g

Carbs

105 g

Protein

22 g
Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

Wild Blueberry Pancakes

5 Dinner

Simple Kale Salad

Farmer's market kale

I have made a lot of kale salads over the years, and done quite a bit of searching around the interwebs to find new ways to make a simple kale salad. There are tons of great recipes out there, but most of them are extravagant, and not something that I’m going to throw together in 10 minutes while the pasta is boiling. So, here is a recipe for a simple kale salad that i make regularly. It is so easy, and so good, that my daughters regularly request it, and can nearly make it by themselves.

Simple Kale Salad

Backstory

A couple of years ago, we visited my in-laws for Christmas. They live in the mountains of northwest North Carolina, right in the corner where North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia all meet. So close in fact that you can walk to either state fairly easily. It is a beautiful, very rural place, and the mountains are surprisingly steep. These are not the rolling Catskills or the gentle Poconos. The valley where they live is dotted with small farms with a few head of cattle or some chickens, along with some vegetable gardens here and there as well. They are close to the headwaters of the New River, and the water literally flows right through their front yard. There are also Christmas tree farms everywhere. Ashe County, NC calls itself the Christmas tree capital of the world.

While in theory, it should be warmer in North Carolina than in New Jersey, this is almost never the case at their house since the elevation is about 3,000’ or so. They get significant snows just like we do in the northeast without the benefit of armies of road crews clearing the stuff around the clock. This particular Christmas was another story. It was in the mid 60s for most of the time we were there. In fact, it was so warm that my father in law rarely fired up the great wood cook-stove in the kitchen that keeps the house so warm and cozy. It was also warm enough that the kale in their magnificent garden was still growing, even at the end of December. Seemingly every day, my mother in law would take my daughter Silvia out to the garden to gather a massive bowl of Kale to turn into this or that, and maybe pull a few last carrots, or whatever else still was left in the garden.

Garlic

One of the dishes my mother in law made was a simple kale salad with this beautiful, organic, just harvested, baby kale. I don’t know what it is about greens that have just been plucked from the ground, but they tase so amazing, like they are somehow quivering with life. It really was a magnificent salad. Silvia nearly polished off an entire batch of the stuff herself one night, placing the blame for nobody getting enough salad on me for supposedly eating it all, then running out for the evening to go see a movie with my father in law. Little did everyone suspect that my four year old daughter was the culprit!

The best simple kale salad

This simple kale salad has become a year round staple in our house. Both of my daughters request it, help make it, and devour it almost weekly. So much so, that you seriously have to make sure they don’t eat it all before you get to it. The dressing is simple, light, and vibrant, and you can use it on other salads too. Just maybe don’t massage your romaine lettuce. If you want to have your kids cook this with you, have them help separate the leaves from the stems, and also help massage the kale with the dressing. I love it when my girls really get their hands into the food we are making. This salad won’s make too much of a mess when they dive in with two hands.

Simple Kale Salad

On kale…

You can use any kind of kale you like, but I prefer it with lacinato kale. The texture fits the preparation very well. Baby kale works nicely as well, and you don’t have to massage it much. If you use curly kale, make sure you really mush it well, and it doesn’t hurt to let it stand for ten minutes before you serve it. Also, make sure you zest the lemon before you juice it, unless you enjoy being annoyed, then definitely juice it first. If you want to pair this simple kale salad with something, how about a grilled pizza? And, a pro tip for any greens, if you find your greens have a lot of grit or dirt on them, separate the leaves and fill your sink with water to wash them. Swish all the greens around with your hands and let the dirt settle to the bottom of the sink before you take the greens out.

kale being washed in the sink

Fill the sink with water at least 4″ deep to wash dirty greens

 

Simple Kale Salad
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INGREDIENTS

  • 1 bunch lacinato kale, (also known as dino kale)
  • 1 small clove garlic
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • zest of half a lemon
  • Juice of one lemon. If it’s a huge lemon, use half of it for the juice
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
  • Pepper to taste

METHOD

  1. Using your hands, separate the kale leaves from the ribs. You can usually just rip it all off in one quick motion. Roughly chop the kale into 1 inch wide strips and wash and dry the kale. Put the kale in a large serving bowl.
  2. Finely mince the garlic, and dump on top of the kale along with the salt, lemon zest, lemon juice, and olive oil.
  3. Using your clean hands, squeeze and mix the kale for a minute or two. The leaves will become more tender, and the volume will seem to reduce. There might be some extra liquid in the bottom of the bowl. Don’t worry about it.
  4. Add the Pecorino Romano and the pepper, usually about 1/2 tsp. Mix well again and serve.
7.8.1.2
11
https://thedinnerwinner.com/simple-kale-salad/

Nutrition

Calories

565 cal

Fat

54 g

Carbs

6 g

Protein

18 g
Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

 

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0 baking

The Dinner Winner Pizza Dough

The pizza dough before rising.

The pizza dough before rising.

There is something about making your own bread at home that is just awesome. I’m not one of those amazing home bakers who has a sourdough starter bubbling away on my counter. I do like to make bread, and yes, I’m lumping pizza dough in there with bread. There is something about getting your hands into the pizza dough, watching it rise, and rolling it out that is incredibly satisfying. And, my daughters love helping to make pizza dough, especially since there is usually the promise of pizza at the end of it.

Which pizza dough to make?

I have tried dozens of recipes over the years, and consistently go back to a variation of Mark Bittman’s basic pizza dough. He calls for using instant yeast, which is far more convenient than the packaged kind you must hydrate before you use. With instant yeast, you just add it to the rest of the dry ingredients, and it does all the yeasty magic all on its own. Bittman also calls for making the dough in the food processor. I have made dough by hand, the hard way, with a lot of kneading, in the KitchenAid stand mixer, and in the food processor. You can get a great pizza dough with any of the methods. The food processor is the fastest, so if I stand any chance of making a pizza dough from scratch on a weeknight, it’s going to be in the food processor. If you are in the market for a good food processor, this is the updated version of what I have and it is great.

I like to vary Monsieur Bittman’s recipe a bit, and use half all purpose flour, and half white whole wheat. This means using a bit more water to get the dough to come together, but makes for a bit more nutritious dough.

You can also use this dough for making focaccia. Roll or press it out to about half an inch thick, rub olive oil on top, sprinkle a little salt on and maybe some fresh rosemary and bake at 500 degrees for 10 minutes.

If you are looking for a good pizza recipe to make with this dough, why not try my Grilled Pizza with Summer Vegetables?

The pizza dough after rising.

The pizza dough after rising.

The Dinner Winner Pizza Dough

2 pizza dough balls

A quick and nutritious pizza dough with no kneading required.

15 minPrep Time

1 hr, 30 Total Time

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INGREDIENTS

  • Ingredients
  • 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 ¼ cups water
  • cornmeal for dusting

METHOD

  1. Put both types of flour, yeast, 2 teaspoons salt and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a food processor. If your food processor came with a plastic dough blade, use that. If not, no worries. Turn the machine on and add 1 ¼ cup water through the feed tube. Process until the mixture forms a slightly sticky ball, about 30 seconds. If the mixture is too dry, add more water 1 tablespoon at a time and process for 5 to 10 seconds after each addition. If the mixture refuses to come together, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time and process until it does.
  2. Once the mixture is in a ball, take the dough out and form it into a ball by tucking it under itself several times. Here is a clip of the pro level version of what that looks like Basically, you want the top to be totally smooth, and the bottom to have all the seams tucked under. Drop the dough into a large mixing bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Set the bowl somewhere warm to rise for at least an hour and up to three. If you don’t have an hour, take this time to get all of the toppings ready, and preheat the grill, then proceed to the next step. You need at least 20 minutes for the dough to rest. If you are making the dough the night before, just pop it in the fridge and it will rise more slowly overnight. Some interesting flavors develop this way, so it’s worth a shot if you remember to do it.
  3. If you are making this pizza the same day as you are making the dough, you might want to get all of your toppings ready while the dough is rising.
7.8.1.2
10
https://thedinnerwinner.com/the-dinner-winner-pizza-dough/

Nutrition

Calories

1774 cal

Fat

34 g

Carbs

303 g

Protein

61 g
Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

4 baking

Grilled Pizza with Summer Vegetables

Grilled Pizza with SUmmer VegetablesI’m pretty sure I have had a lifelong love affair with pizza. Who hasn’t really, but it still holds a special place in my heart. I came to grilled pizza later, but we’ll get to that… I grew up in Richmond, VA, before it was the hipster mecca it seems to be now. Down the street from our house was this classic 80s pizza joint called Italian Delight. It was one of those places that doesn’t really exist these days, with tons of cushy red vinyl booths, a jukebox, brown formica tables, really large red translucent plastic cups, and soda that came by the pitcher. We would frequent this place after a swim meet, or on a Friday after a busy week, and my brother and I thought it was heaven. It was made even better by the fact that there was an arcade next door, so you could play Street FIghter while your pizza baked.

For a pizza joint in the south in the 80s, it was pretty damn good. They didn’t have any fancy grilled pizza or anything, no pizza topped with arugula, figs, and burrata. But what they did have was solid and tasty. Now that I live outside of NYC, pizza is ubiquitous; it is at every child’s birthday we go to, and is the default for ordering in or takeout for seemingly everyone. There are fifteen pizza places in my town alone, which is a little under six square miles in area, though if you want a grilled pizza, you have to do it yourself.

If you have read some of my earlier posts, you know that I’m not a huge fan of turning on the oven in the summer, certainly not to 500 degrees to make a pizza. So, why not make a grilled pizza? You can absolutely use your BBQ grill like an oven, and you can even work some nice wood smoke flavors into the pizza if you want to.

The pizza stone on the grill.

The pizza stone on the grill.

You can do this on either a gas or charcoal grill.I have a three burner Weber Spirit grill that is pretty great. I have owned and used other gas grills in the past, and the Weber heats much more evenly and is better constructed than all of them. You’ll also need a decent pizza stone. I have gone through several of these over the years, and finally bought a really nice Emile Henry pizza stone that is grill safe. It has been excellent both in the oven and on the grill.

On  Making Pizza Dough…

The pizza dough before rising.

The pizza dough before rising.

To make a grilled pizza, the first thing you need to do is make a pizza dough. I have tried dozens of recipes over the years, and consistently go back to my variation of Mark Bittman’s basic pizza dough. He calls for using instant yeast, which is far more convenient than the packaged kind you must hydrate before you use. With instant yeast, you just add it to the rest of the dry ingredients, and it does all the yeasty magic all on its own. Bittman also calls for making the dough in the food processor. I have made dough by hand, the hard way, with a lot of kneading. I have made it in the KitchenAid stand mixer, and in the food processor. You can get a great pizza dough with any of the methods. The food processor is the fastest, so if I stand any chance of making a pizza dough from scratch on a weeknight, it’s going to be in the food processor. If you are in the market for a good food processor, this is the updated version of what I have and it is great.

I like to vary Monsieur Bittman’s recipe a bit, and use half all purpose flour, and half white whole wheat. This means using a bit more water to get the dough to come together, but makes for a more nutritious dough. Here is a link to my pizza dough recipe.

The pizza dough after rising.

The pizza dough after rising.

Spring Onions and Red Pepper

Chopped Spring Onions

The unbaked pizza topped with pesto sauce.

The unbaked pizza topped with pesto sauce.

Grilled pizza

Grilled Pizza with Summer Vegetables
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INGREDIENTS

  • Ingredients
  • 1 recipe Dinner Winner Pizza Dough
  • ½ pound mozzarella, grated (use fresh or not fresh, either one will be delicious)
  • ½ red bell pepper, cut into strips
  • 2 spring onions, chopped
  • 2 ounces prepared pesto sauce (I had some frozen. If you don’t, the Costco pesto sauce is really good. Use that if you can)
  • Grated parmigiano reggiano (for serving)

METHOD

  1. Preheat the grill - After the dough has risen you’ll need to preheat your grill. I like to add a little wood smoke flavor to the pizza. This is 100% optional. The pizza will only be on the grill for a few minutes, so we are not talking about an 18 hour smoke or anything here. I have a lovely oak tree in my backyard that is constantly dropping sticks. I will usually take a couple of sticks and break them into about 8” lengths. Wrap the sticks in aluminum foil and using a knife or fork, poke a couple dozen holes in the foil. There is no need to soak the sticks because there will not be enough airflow for them to actually catch fire. Use whatever wood you like, but don’t use anything with sap, so no pine trees.
  2. If you have a gas grill, turn it to medium high and using tongs, nestle the foil packet of wood down near the flames. Replace the grill grates, and place your pizza stone directly on the grill grates. If you have a charcoal grill, preheat the coals, then arrange them for indirect heat. I like the Ring of Fire method that Weber describes. Replace the grill grate, and place your pizza stone on top of the grate. Now, off to assemble the pizza.
  3. Roll out the pizza dough - Once the dough has risen, flour a work surface, and turn the dough onto it. Divide in half and form two balls. Put one of the balls back into the bowl it just came from and loosely cover again. Press or roll the dough until it's as thin as you can make it, but not bigger than your pizza peel; let it rest a bit if it becomes too elastic. (Patience is your friend here.) Dust your pizza peel with cornmeal and transfer the rolled out dough to the peel. Don’t skimp on the cornmeal, it will help you get the pizza onto the stone a little later.
  4. Add the toppings to the pizza - Once the dough is on the peel, use a large spoon to plop the sauce in the middle of the pizza. Working out from the center in concentric circles, spread the sauce around nearly to the edge of the dough. Once the pesto is spread evenly, sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the dough. Next, evenly spread the onions and red peppers. The pizza is ready to go onto the grill.
  5. Grill the pizza - Go and check your grill. You should see wood smoke, and a temperature of at least 400 degrees. The grill can be as hot as 550 without having to worry. Any hotter, reduce the cooking time by 2 minutes. Getting the pizza from the peel onto the stone can be a little intimidating if you have never done it before. First, shake the peel back and forth a bit to loosen the pizza on the stone. Once it is moving on the stone, place the peel at the top of the pizza stone and, using a quick back and forth flick , transfer it onto the stone. If a few veggies, or a little cheese falls off, no big deal, it’s your grill, not your oven.
  6. Close the lid, and don’t open it for 10 minutes. If the cheese looks bubbly, and a bit browned after 10 minutes, you are good to go, if not, wait another two minutes or so. To get the pizza off of the stone use your peel like a giant spatula. Sometimes, it helps to have an actual spatula handy, in case the pizza is sticking and you need to help get it started.
  7. After you have the pizza off of the stone, slide it onto a large cutting board and wait for a minute or two for the cheese to set a little bit. Serve, top with Parmesan cheese if you want, and enjoy with a cold Italian white, or a Peroni if you are feeling authentic.

Tags

Cuisines
Italian
Cooking
Grilling
Diet
vegetarian
lacto vegetarian
pescetarian
Allergy
egg free
soy free
peanut free
seafood free
treenut free
sesame free
mustard free
7.8.1.2
9
https://thedinnerwinner.com/grilled-pizza-with-summer-vegetables/

Nutrition

Calories

1774 cal

Fat

34 g

Carbs

303 g

Protein

61 g
Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

 

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

6 Dinner

Grilled Bok Choy Recipe

Grilled Bok Choy

Today was the first real hot day of the summer. Sticky, sweaty, and energy sapping. It scraped the upper 90s for a while which usually saps any motivation I have for firing up the stove. The grill is another matter altogether though. Somehow, I don’t mind the searing heat of the grill as long as I can leave it outside, and maybe throw back a refreshing beverage while doing it. Enter, this simple grilled bok choy recipe.

I came across a grilled bok choy recipe by Andrea Bemis the other day that looked fantastic, so I decided to make it for dinner. This particular recipe called for leaving the bok choy whole when grilling, which sounds nice in theory. In reality, bok choy grows in very sandy soil, like leeks do, and it’s almost impossible to get all of the grit out without separating them into individual leaves and giving them a bath in the sink for a while. (If you know of a way to do it, tell me how in the comments.) Neglect to rinse the bok choy well, and you’ll be chewing on sand all meal. Also, if you’re wondering, yes, you eat the white part on bok choy. There is no need to trim that part.

I still had no desire to turn the stove on, so I decided to make use of my perforated grill pan. It’s kind of like a cookie sheet with holes in it to let the heat pass through, but it keeps stuff from falling through the grates into the grill. It’s useful for all sorts of vegetable cookery and I highly recommend picking one up. I basically just used the grill pan like a giant sauté pan, turning the bok choy every couple of minutes or so until it seemed done. Top it with a delicious sauce, and you are all set.

Simplest Grilled Tofu and Grilled Bok Choy

To round out the meal, make the simplest grilled tofu, and some rice and you are all set. Serve with a little bit of soy sauce if needed, and your favorite Asian hot sauce of the moment, sriracha, gochujang, or whatever you are into, and maybe a Kirin or Sapporo, and you’re all set. 

 

Grilled Bok Choy

Serves 4 - 6

15 minPrep Time

15 minCook Time

30 minTotal Time

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INGREDIENTS

  • 6 Heads bok choy, about 2.5 lbs
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp ginger
  • 3.5 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2.5 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1.5 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1.5 tsp toasted sesame seeds

METHOD

  1. First, preheat the grill to medium. You’ll want to place your grill pan on the grates for preheating as well.
  2. Fill the sink at least 4” deep with cold water. Trim the ends of the bok choy off and separate into leaves. As you separate them, toss them into the sink. Gently toss all of the bok choy around in the sink for a minute or two to rinse the sand off, then let them sit still for a minute to make sure the sand sinks to the bottom of the sink. Transfer the bok choy to a large kitchen towel and pat dry.
  3. In a small bowl, mix ginger, soy, vinegar, honey, and sesame oil until well mixed. Taste the sauce and adjust as you see fit. If you want to make this gluten free, use tamari instead of soy sauce.
  4. Transfer the bok choy to a rimmed baking sheet or large bowl, and toss with the olive oil. When the grill is hot, put the bok choy on the grill pan and spread evenly and close the cover. My grill pan is pretty large, about the size of a baking sheet. If yours is smaller, you might have to cook the greens in batches.
  5. Cook for 4 minutes or so before tossing with tongs. You should be getting little charred pieces of greens here and there. If you don’t see any, either turn up the heat to medium high, if you have a gas grill, or just let them cook a little longer before turning. Cook for 4 additional minutes after turning, then remove to a serving bowl.
  6. Toss the greens with sesame seeds. Drizzle the grilled bok choy with the sauce and enjoy!
7.8.1.2
8
https://thedinnerwinner.com/grilled-bok-choy-recipe/

Nutrition

Calories

506 cal

Fat

33 g

Carbs

45 g

Protein

14 g
Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

0 Dairy-Free

Simplest Grilled Tofu

Simplest Grilled Tofu

I came to tofu late in life. When I was growing up, I can’t recall a block of tofu ever making it into my house, let alone crossing my lips. I was a carb loving meat eater who like most children that grew up in the 80s and 90s, ate a lot of microwaved broccoli with cheez whiz. Fast forward 20 years, and I have a vegetarian wife and three vegetarian kids. I have found all sorts of ways to cook broccoli that don’t involve a microwave or cheez whiz, and a bunch of ways to cook tofu that take it way past tolerable into delicious territory. This simplest grilled tofu recipe is something you can crank out in a few minutes without a recipe once you make it a couple of times.

If you have been avoiding tofu because you would rather just eat chicken, fear not. I have made this for decidedly carnivore friends, and they all love it. The tofu gets really flavorful and firm when you use this method. I promise it’s not like eating a flavorless sponge or anything.

This is one of those ways, and it is so painfully simple, you’ll feel like you won’t want to tell your friends how you did it because they will think you some kind of kitchen cheat or corner cutter. Don’t even worry about that for a second. Making great dishes with just a couple of ingredients brings out the flavors of your ingredients.

This dish is really a building block to either include in other dishes, or to serve alongside a couple of things to round out a meal. You could try this awesome grilled bok choy. My girls love it with some broccoli and rice on the side.

To make this gluten free:

You don’t have to change much to make this dish gluten free. Fist, use a gluten free brand of tofu. Next, substitute tamari for the soy sauce and you are all set.

Serves 2 slices

Simplest Grilled (or broiled) Tofu

12 slices

An absurdly simple way to marinate and grill tofu.

10 minPrep Time

8 minCook Time

18 minTotal Time

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INGREDIENTS

  • 2 lbs extra firm tofu
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 tsp sesame oil

METHOD

  1. Cut the tofu into six pieces each block, cutting the short way across the blocks. Don’t make them too thin or they may fall apart when you flip them on the grill. Lay out a paper towel or a dish towel and place as many tofu pieces as will fit onto the towel. Cover with another towel and press down to remove as much moisture as possible. Repeat for all of the tofu
  2. on a large rimmed baking sheet, mix the soy sauce and sesame oil with a fork until well mixed
  3. Place the tofu in the soy mixture. Flip the tofu over to coat all sides.
  4. Preheat your grill to medium high heat. If you are going to broil instead of grill, preheat your broiler to high. If the tofu has absorbed most of the liquid on the baking sheet, there is no need to even transfer the tofu to another sheet to broil.
  5. While the grill heats, flip the tofu a couple more times to absorb as much of the marinade as possible
  6. Spray the grill with some canola, or other neutral oil. If you don’t have an oil sprayer, you can put some oil in a small dish and fold a paper towel. Then soak the towel in the oil. Using tongs, gently rub the paper towel on the grill grates.
  7. Cook the tofu for 4 minutes per side. Flip carefully using tongs or a spatula. Pro tip: I've found that sliding the tofu a tiny bit to the side with tongs before you pick it up helps keep it from sticking to the grill.
  8. Remove to a serving dish and enjoy

Tags

Diet
vegetarian
vegan
lacto vegetarian
ovo vegetarian
pescetarian
Allergy
dairy free
egg free
peanut free
seafood free
treenut free
mustard free
7.8.1.2
7
https://thedinnerwinner.com/simplest-grilled-or-broiled-tofu/

Nutrition

Calories

560 cal

Fat

34 g

Carbs

5 g

Protein

57 g
Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

1 Dinner

Pasta with Garlicky Dandelion Greens and Raisins

My daughters absolutely love running around any patch of grass and grabbing a bouquet of dandelions to lovingly present to my wife, or anyone else who happens to be at hand. Swing by, you might get a bouquet too. So, the other day when I came across a lovely stock of dandelion greens at the grocery store, they were delighted when I told them we were going to eat dandelions for dinner.

If you’ve never cooked dandelion greens before, you can treat them pretty much the same as any other green you would wilt, but be forewarned, they are quite bitter. In this recipe, I cut the bitterness of the dandelion greens by also using a power greens mix of baby kale, chard, spinach, and arugula. The sweet raisins and earthy parmesan make for a wonderful play of flavors in the dish. Best of all, you can get this on the table in under 30 minutes.

If you are feeling adventurous, you can forage for your own dandelion greens  I would recommend finding some grass you are certain has not been treated with weed killer though.

P.S. – I’m still figuring out how to make the nutrition content correct for the dish. There is no way this is 2000 calories per serving.

 

Pasta with Garlicky Dandelion Greens and Raisins

Serves 4 - 6

A simple way to make a meal out of dandelion greens.

15 minPrep Time

15 minCook Time

30 minTotal Time

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INGREDIENTS

  • 1 bunch dandelion greens, about 8 oz
  • Other assorted greens to make 12 cups. I used baby chard, kale, spinach, and arugula power greens mix
  • 5 cloves garlic sliced
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 12 oz short pasta like rotini, cavatelli, even ziti. I used whole wheat
  • ½ cup raisins
  • 1.5 oz grated Parmesan
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Serve with crushed red pepper flakes

METHOD

  1. Put on a large pot of well salted water to boil. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. If you time it right, the pasta will be done right when the greens are done. Wash your greens and roughly cut into three-inch pieces. Mix all the greens together with your hands, so you don’t end up with big clumps of only one kind of green once everything is cooked.
  2. Slice the garlic into thin rounds. Heat a large (at least 12”) skillet over medium heat. Sauté the garlic for about a minute. Stir it regularly so it does not burn. After a minute, dump in all the greens. It will seem like a lot of greens; they should be mounded over the pan. Sprinkle with salt and stir to get the garlic off the bottom of the pan so it does not burn. Cover and lower heat to medium-low. Cook for about four minutes, or until the greens are wilted. Add the raisins, cover, and remove from the heat. I like the raisins to get a little tender with the warmth of the pan, but not cook so long that they get mushy.
  3. When the pasta is done, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water before dumping the noodles into a colander. Put the noodles into a large bowl. Toss the pasta with the greens and raisins. Mix in parmesan and serve.

Tags

Diet
vegetarian
vegan
lacto vegetarian
ovo vegetarian
pescetarian
Allergy
dairy free
egg free
soy free
peanut free
seafood free
treenut free
sesame free
mustard free
7.8.1.2
6
https://thedinnerwinner.com/pasta-with-garlicky-dandelion-greens-and-raisins/

Nutrition

Calories

2192 cal

Fat

83 g

Carbs

306 g

Protein

76 g
Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

18 Breakfast

Tomato, Egg, and Feta Shakshuka

Tomato Shakshuka with Feta and Egg

I first had this dish, or at least a version of it at Bustan in NYC. It was savory, delicious, and amazing in every way. After eating it, I discovered this entire corner of the culinary kingdom that I knew nothing about. Tomato, egg and feta shakshuka is middle eastern comfort food, and you can find it anywhere around the Mediterranean, from Israel to North Africa.

Often I crave something truly satisfying, delicious and savory, but don’t want to spend hours toiling in the kitchen. This dish is absolutely the thing to make. I have made it for skeptical company who thought I was feeding them some sort of strange frittita, or for house guests who had never heard of this apex of savory eggy goodness. Everyone devours it. The dish does take a bit of time, but very little involvement. You can make it in one pan, and serve it out of the same pan. It can be breakfast, lunch, or dinwner, and you can make it anywhere from rocket hot to totally mild, as I do for my kids, and the dish does not suffer.  Serve it with warm pita bread or a crusty baguette to make it a meal.

EQUIPMENT

A 12” ovenproof skillet, not non-stick. I use a calphalon skillet. Cast iron is great too.

This recipe is adapted from Melissa Clark and The NY Times.

Tomato, Egg, and Feta Shakshuka

Serves 4 to 6

15 minPrep Time

45 minCook Time

1 hrTotal Time

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INGREDIENTS

  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
  • 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika (pimenton) (optional if you like it mild)
  • ½ teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika, or to taste
  • 1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes with juices, coarsely chopped
  • ¾ teaspoon salt, more as needed
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper, more as needed
  • 5 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (about 1 1/4 cups)
  • 6 large eggs
  • Chopped cilantro, for serving
  • Harissa, for serving

METHOD

  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and bell pepper. Cook gently until very soft, about 20 minutes. Add garlic and cook until tender, 1 to 2 minutes; stir in cumin, paprika and pimenton, and cook 1 minute. Pour in tomatoes and season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; simmer until tomatoes have thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbled feta.
  3. Make six little indententations in the tomato mixture for the eggs so they stay put.
  4. Gently crack eggs into skillet over tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until eggs are just set, 8 to 11 minutes. If the yolks seem set how you like them, but the whites are still runny, pull the pan from the oven and cover with a pot lid for a minute or so. The residual heat will set the whites. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with harissa.

Tags

Diet
vegetarian
pescetarian
Allergy
gluten free
soy free
wheat free
peanut free
seafood free
treenut free
sesame free
mustard free
7.8.1.2
5
https://thedinnerwinner.com/tomato-egg-and-feta-shakshuka/

Nutrition

Calories

1102 cal

Fat

73 g

Carbs

14 g

Protein

51 g
Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

0 Dinner

Couscous with Grilled Asparagus and Herbs

Couscous with Grilled Asparagus and Herbs

My commute is about 50 minutes each way, which isn’t the end of the world, but it isn’t great either. On the way home, I nearly always pick up both of my daughters at school and start thinking about dinner. Who am I kidding, I’ve been thinking about dinner all day.

I like to take my daughters grocery shopping with me. Some might think, “are you insane man? It would be so much faster to go alone!.” That is true, but they get really excited about what veggies look good, and what we can cook with them. My 3 year old saw the beautiful asparagus at Whole Foods the other day and said “papa, can we have that tonight?” How many times do you hear that from a three year old? Sure, I thought, and added it to the cart without really thinking through what I would do with it. Fast forward a few hours, and inevitably, I have not left enough time to make dinner, get everyone through the night time routine, and to bed at a reasonable hour. What to make, well, how about this couscous? It’s in the pantry, couscous takes five minutes to cook, and I can throw a bunch of other stuff in and make it awesome. Toss together some simple ingredients, and this becomes a great warm weather weeknight meal, or an awesome side to bring to a cookout.

If you’ve got kids and they are reluctant to try couscous because it looks weird, try a little rebranding. We told my girls it was noodle balls and they have loved it ever since.

Asparagus pro tip: if you are going to buy some asparagus at the grocery store, and it isn’t standing upright in water, it’s probably not the greatest asparagus. You can still eat it, but its not going to be amazing. Also, if you get really fat stalks, you can run a veggie peeler over the fattest part of the stalks so things cook evenly. I never do this because I am lazy though.

We have had a ton of rain lately, and all of the herbs nestled in the flowerbeds are doing really well. I ended up with mint, thyme, oregano, and chives. The basil wasn’t quite ready yet. When I went out to snip my chives with my girls, we found the beautiful, lavender chive blossoms in full splendor. I figured throwing them on top couldn’t hurt. You probably don’t want to eat the blossoms though. Herb snipping has become the absolute best cooking task for them. I send them out to pick whatever herbs I need, and they will inevitably come back with way too much, and probably the wrong herb, but it will take 10 solid minutes, which lets me finish up the meal a lot more quickly.

To make this dish, you also need to throw together a recipe of grilled asparagus with garlic. It won’t take long, I promise.

Couscous with Grilled Asparagus and Herbs

Serves 4

15 minPrep Time

10 minCook Time

25 minTotal Time

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INGREDIENTS

  • One recipe grilled asparagus with garlic (Recipe here: https://wp.me/p9XQzL-z7)
  • One cup couscous
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup fresh herbs (I used chives, mint, thyme, oregano)
  • Salt to taste
  • Fresh pepper
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 oz shaved pecorino Romano or Parmesan
  • 1 tbsp champagne vinegar

METHOD

  1. First, prepare grillled asparagus with garlic. Cook couscous according to package directions. Usually, that means equal parts couscous and water, salt to taste and a tablespoon of olive oil. Bring the water to a boil, stream in couscous while mixing, turn off the heat and cover for about five minutes. While the couscous is resting, you can throw together the rest of the dish.
  2. Chop grilled asparagus into 2” pieces. Roughly chop all of the herbs. Reserve 2 tbsp herbs for garnish. Mix all ingredients together in a serving bowl. Top with remaining herbs (and flowers if you have any).

Tags

Diet
vegetarian
pescetarian
Allergy
egg free
soy free
peanut free
seafood free
treenut free
sesame free
mustard free
7.8.1.2
4
https://thedinnerwinner.com/couscous-with-grilled-asparagus-and-herbs/

Nutrition

Calories

486 cal

Fat

49 g

Carbs

2 g

Protein

13 g
Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info