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Meals from December 2001

November 2001 | January 2002

2001-12-03 Mushroom Risotto and Bruschetta

We’ve been dying to make some risotto for some time now and tonight seemed like the perfect night. It took a little bit more effort than a typical meal, but boy, was it worth it. The risotto was slow cooked perfectly and the grilled bruschetta was a fabulous side.

Mushroom Risotto , Herbed Bean and Roasted Pepper Bruschetta , Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad

2001-12-05 Chicken and Risotto Cakes

Rather than simply reheating leftover risotto, we make risotto cakes. We choose to saute up some chicken for the main course and add a little salad. This is a very simple meal (of course a lot of work went in the risotto the first time around!).

Sauteed Chicken , Risotto Cakes , Mesclun salad, drizzled with balsamic vinegar ,

2001-12-06 Chicken Curry

A quick trip to Trader Joe’s produced some curry sauce. The sauce was really quite good – very spicy. We added some eggplant and some chicken to make tonight’s meal. We served it with some Madras lentils and pita bread.

Chicken Curry , White rice , Tasty bites Madras Lentils , Pita bread

2001-12-10 Beef Tenderloin and Mashed Potatoes

Ooh. Beef. Beef tenderloin is expensive, but a piece of the fillet is easy to cook and the meat is tender and juicy. We serve tonight’s meal with sauteed mushrooms, mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus. This is elegant dining at it’s best!

Beef Tenderloin , Mashed potatoes , Roasted asparagus with balsamic vinegar

2001-12-16 Sausage and Peppers

If you’re looking for a short journey to heart-burn city, this meal is the quickest ticket that we know of. We’d try to warn you off of this recipe, but it is so very good. Where are those Tums?

Sausage and Peppers , Fresh italian bread

2001-12-17 Shrimp Pasta

We’ve recently come across some Rao’s restaurant pasta sauce and some frozen shrimp. Never ones to miss an opportunity to be lazy on a Monday, we combined the two into tonight’s meal. The shrimp was wonderful – the pan frying sealing the flavor in nicely. The sauce, with tomatoes, onions, garlic, hot pepper flakes, was very tasty. Served with a salad and fresh bread, tonight’s meal was an elegant start to the week.

Shrimp Pasta , Fresh italian bread , Salad

2001-12-27 Seafood Salad

It’s not the holiday season without seafood salad. Lemon juice, capers, olives, shrimp and, of course, squid combine to make this very special dish. We actually made this on Christmas Eve, but were just too busy to include it here until tonight (when we had it as leftovers).

Seafood Salad , ,

2001-12-30 Sun-dried Tomato Pizza

We’re starting to get the hang of pizza – tonight’s turned out rather well. The dough was crispy and some sun-dried tomato spread served very nicely as the base. In addition to making a tasty meal, the kids really enjoyed helping.

Pizza , Salad with balsamic vinaigrette ,

2001-12-31 Alaskan King Crab Legs

King crab legs are a New Year’s Eve tradition for us. Anybody who has ever had these knows how succulent and tender the crab meat in these legs are. They’re a tad expensive, which makes them great for an annual meal. We serve roasted potatoes, sauteed spinach, crudite and “cheesies”.

Alaskan King Crab Legs , Roasted Potatoes , Sauteed spinach with garlic chips