Dinner tonight - or last night.

Me, too! Steamed, tossed with just a little butter & a big hit of ground pepper. Yum. Think I might buy some today! (But are they available right now?)

Minestrone time...

I sauteed four or five chopped garlic cloves in a splash of olive oil, added one chopped spanish onion, and cooked those together until the onions were translucent. Added a can of beef broth, a drained and rinsed can of pinto beans, a can of small diced tomatoes, two cans of water, and a fat teaspoon of Morton & Basset italian seasoning, and simmered til the soup cooked down quite a bit. Added some fusilli that a friend had brought a couple of months ago and I still hadn't used - an artisan pasta from Puglia in southern Italy. Added some fresh spinach leaves, simmered some more until the pasta was done. Tasted, added a little salt and lot of ground pepper. Couldn't wait to eat it, just finished second bowl. What's left should taste better tomorrow, but the soup was good already.

<urp>

Brussels sprouts, yum!

In a casserole, with a white sauce, grated cheese and bread crumbs.

Tossed with buttered bread cubes, seasoning and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Haven't been able to find the fresh baby brussels sprouts lately, though, so have been buying them frozen.

Osso, I can almost taste your minestrone. That is my favorite soup; it is flexible and open to substitution. When I make it, I add a can of white kidney beans whizzed in the blender with their juice. It makes the soup slightly creamy.

Hello msolga. I like Brussels and cook them different ways. I'm going to try mckenzie's casserole.

(Hello dlowan. So you like them, too? Figures....)

I found some fresh-caught flounder in the market yesterday, so I broiled it after marinating in soy sauce, bit of sherry, olive oil, and some Dijon. It was good. I sauteed some sliced red Swiss chard in lots of oil and garlic and added a splash of balsamic at the end.

Wow! You guys are making me......huuuunnnggry!



num, num, num, num....that does sound good, littlek! What exactly was the bread called?

I bought some multi-grain bread today too, the kind that comes in thick slices. It's great for French toast.

Osso....mmmm....that minestrone sounds goooood.....so does this:



(little pink tongue hanging out)...keep these ideas coming, folks!

It's soup time! Tra laaa! (The one good thing about cold weather! )

So yesterday I made a bits & pieces of everything I fancied soup, no particular recipe: Lightly sauteed onions, garlic, some chopped flat leaf parsley, a few chili flakes (always!), bay leaves, a fennel bulb, 5 chicken pieces, potatoes, some fast of my fast vanishing tarragon, lots of flat broad beans (they looked beautiful at the market yesterday!), some cubed potatoes, 2 small carrots, a small apple zuccini (sp?) & finally a bunch of a mystery Vietnamese greens (not bok choy, something entirely different. ?). A bit of a mixed bag there, yes? But it tasted very good! And there's enough for many meals when I return home from work & have no energy or inclination for cooking. Into the freezer! Tonight: a 5 minute walk down the street for an Indian meal with a friend.

I don't think I've ever had flounder. Or, a flounderer. Much less, a fried floured flounder, not that Kara did that.

So today I bought a zucchini that I can chop and remembered I also have some crimini mushrooms to add to the leftover minestrone..

So that's how it's spelt!: zucchini. Thanks, osso!

Mmmmm, & dinner sounds great!

stray cat, you remind me of what littleK wrote about the ancient grain bread avec quinoa and white truffle oil cum goat cheese. How could I have forgot to comment on that? I have seldom heard a more enticing description of a food arrangement. Good bread is a basic item, yes. But how many of us have white truffle oil in the larder? I will find that somehow.

Osso, you have not lived where flounder were in the fresh fish market perhaps. And they are surely not where you live now. Or are you a true vegetarian?...I did not think so.

The white truffle oil and bread came from Whole Foods (formerly Bread and Circus). The oil comes in two sizes, I got the tiny one because it was expensive and a little goes a long way. The bread is actually called "Ancient Grain Bread". The grains are: wheat flour, kamut berry, spelt berry, quinoa, amaranth, triicale. The 'berry' is code for whole grain.

LittleK,

I have two Whole Foods within driving range but neither offers Ancient Grain Bread. They do offer an array of other excellent breads. I will find their truffle oil.

Kara, I'd never seen this bread before last week. It's made by whole foods themselves.

Everything starts in Boston.

It may take a while to drift south....

I think everything Whole Foods starts in Cali. Hopefully this bread will be a hit and spread all over.

Hmmm....I think there might be a Whole Foods somewhere near me. If not, I know there's a Wegman's pretty close by. They have everything. I'll have to see if they have the "ancient grain bread."

so this is some kind of day old whole wheat bread

It's not a day old.....it's ANCIENT.

Can I talk about tomorrow's dinner yet?

actually the meal you described with the bread, is similar to a ploughmans lunch, which usually consists of some form of a black bread, cheeses and relishes (pickles), washed down with a nice pint of beer

LOL, too-many-letters-to-copy-and-paste.

By all means!