Dinner

Pesto Pasta Salad with Slow Roasted Tomatoes

September 27, 2016 by mollygilbert520 Leave a Comment

Hello, friends! Fall has come to Seattle in all its glory, and I find myself invigorated by the crisp, sunny days, fire-colored trees, early sunsets, and ample opportunity to pumpkin spice just about everything (not sorry… well, ok, a little bit sorry.) Still, there are pieces of summer that seem to be holding on tight – as evidenced by the (still!) exploding tomato plants in my backyard – and I’m fine with that, too.

September always feels a bit in-between-ish to me – the sun hasn’t yet given way to the dark, misty drizzle of true Seattle winter, but days are shorter, new routines are starting, and everyone seems to be hunkering down for the season – which, at least in my case, means getting back into the kitchen. It feels time to stock the freezer with easy meals (this and this come to mind), time to bake too many cookies (I’ve got my eyes on these ones, next), that first can of pumpkin to use up (always a good choice), and all those tomatoes! They want to be roasted.

A big batch of puckered, candy-sweet, roasted tomatoes can (should!) be covered with olive oil and stored in the fridge, to use in myriad forms of deliciousness – eaten straight up, smushed over a hunk of crusty bread, maybe, or tossed into a frittata or scrambled eggs, layered in a veggie lasagna, or thrown into a quick pasta, either hot or cold. Maybe with fresh pesto, tangy olives, creamy cheese and sharp arugula? Yes, yes, yes and yes. As the air cools and days shorten around us, we’ll be happy to have these sweet, juicy remnants of summer at our fingertips.

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Quick Asparagus & Artichoke Pizza

June 22, 2015 by mollygilbert520 3 Comments

I feel like I’m always “saving” my good clothes – the cute swingy tops and dry clean only dresses and rompers and jeans that fit perfectly – just for the really right time to wear them. As a result, I often find myself out and about in the world, kicking around in ratty leggings (the ones which are thinning in places, oy) and ugly tee shirts because all of the good clothes I own? I’m saving them. Keepin’ em fresh. For when it really counts!

Am I the only one who does this? It’s insane.

Luckily, I’ve decided that our honeymoon – or, more specifically, PARIS – is the right time for a person to dress like she means it. But now I feel like I’m out of practice! I’m fumbling around with this top and those pants and what about these shoes? What goes together, anyway?

HELP. Everyone here is #chic and my only instinct is to choose stripes. Like, all the time. I’m not sure it’s cutting it here on l’Île de la Cité.

At least I can make pizza?

I made this the other night (stateside), when I was short on time and long on asparagus. I bought a ball of dough from Whole Foods and went to town. Spread with herbed goat cheese, crisp asparagus, and tangy artichoke hearts, it was an unexpected and satisfying weeknight dinner. Ben and I polished off half the thing in one sitting, and the leftovers made an excellent cold lunch.

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Butternut, Spinach & Chickpea Red Curry with Chicken

March 2, 2015 by mollygilbert520 13 Comments

Evidence that you’re an adult:

1. You own a tablecloth.

2. 10pm feels TOO LATE. For anything.

3. A productive day is one that involves laundry.

4. Really high heels just aren’t worth it.

5. You can use the expression “on fleek” in a sentence but don’t actually know what it means.

6. You can eat cheese and crackers for dinner and answer to NO ONE.

7. You place a premium on being well hydrated, and keep a water bottle around at all times.

8. Dental floss is a necessity.

9. You know when stuff goes on sale at the grocery store (Wednesday, obvi).

10. YOU OWN A HOUSE!

Number ten number ten number ten number ten! It’s happening. We bought an adorable house in Seattle and it’s not ours quite quite yet but it’s going to be soon, and did I mention that it’s adorable? #ADULT.

To celebrate, I made you a warm and hearty red curry stew, with sweet squash and tender chicken, bright spinach and creamy coconut milk. It’s adapted from Amanda Paa’s lovely cookbook, Smitten with Squash, which it turns out I really am. I’ve dog-eared about twelve pages so far, and am excited to cook my way through them all (Brown Butter Delicata Doughnuts HELLO).

In the meantime, I’m going to eat a big bowl of red curry off of my tablecloth while contemplating my 401k. In my HOUSE! Like a grown up. Yikes.

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Slow Cooked Chicken Tikka Masala

January 13, 2015 by mollygilbert520 5 Comments

I made us dinner!

It’s in a pot and everything! (And #MadeWithChobani.) I feel like that’s a real accomplishment, today. I’ve been feeling a little bit off my cooking game lately — just lazy in the kitchen, mostly. Too often, dinner these past few weeks has consisted of takeout noodles or, better yet (worse yet?), a bunch of crackers with cheese.

…And then a bunch more cheese.

But that happens, right? Even directly after New Years resolutions are firmly resolved? EVEN to people who write cookbooks about easy and delicious home cooking?

(The correct answer here is, apparently, YEP.)

But then! Then you find yourself with some meaty chicken thighs, a scoop of tangy yogurt and a whole lot of spices, and there you are! Back in the kitchen, chopping and mixing and stirring, and before you know it you’re humming happily and catching yourself saying: “this is going to be GOOD.”

And you know what? It really is.

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Quick Chicken & Baby Broccoli with Spicy Peanut Sauce

December 2, 2014 by mollygilbert520 37 Comments

It’s here! It’s here! It’s publication day!!!!

Can somebody hand me a large glass of wine, please?

I mean, my nerves are in knots and my palms are super sweaty, but IT. IS. HERE! Sheet Pan Suppers. Two years of work, in cookbook form! Is anyone else freaking out a little bit?

…Just me? Cool.

In honor of publication day, I thought I’d share one of my favorite weeknight recipes from the book – this Quick Chicken & Baby Broccoli with Spicy Peanut Sauce!

Peanut sauce (or peanut “snauce,” if you’re my sister) should be it’s own food group, as far as I’m concerned. This one is sweet and tangy and spicy, and you could probably get me to eat an old boot if it were covered in enough of the stuff.

As it is, we’ll thickly slather it on thinly sliced chicken breasts and tender broccolini, and the whole thing will cook — you guessed it — on a SHEET PAN, under the broiler, in about twelve minutes!

Happy publication day! If you’re feeling it, go buy yourself a copy of Sheet Pan Suppers from your local bookstore, or from any of these online retailers:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Workman

Thanks for your support, friends! You rule. #sheetpansuppers!

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(Sheet pan!) Turkey Roulade with Autumn Hash

November 24, 2014 by mollygilbert520 6 Comments

It’s short-week Monday, hooray! I hope you’re gearing up for Thanksgiving, because in just three short days, the oven mitts come off and the battle begins. Who will win out this year – you, or the Butterball? (Here’s hoping it’s you.) Your dignity, or a fourth slice of pie? (Hint: it’s always the pie.)

Here’s a little secret though, about this turkey-est of holidays: you don’t have to roast a whole turkey on Thanksgiving.

(Gasp!)

It’s true. It’s not even sacrilege. Not when you make a turkey roulade, instead!

A roulade hits all the high points of the holiday – tender meat, crispy skin, warm stuffing – without any of the lows (like waiting 3 hours for a whole bird to roast, for one). It’ll still feed and please a crowd, but can also be scaled down for a smaller, more intimate gathering. Plus the recipe is from my cookbook (the whole thing cooks on one sheet pan, yipee!), which comes out in just 9 days! Celebrations all around!

With this gorgeous roulade on the table, all you’ll really need to round out a hearty Thanksgiving dinner is some mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce! And maybe a few slices of pumpkin or pecan pie. Or both. …Probably both.

I know this is a busy week, but check back in periodically — I’ll have a few more recipes up for you before Thanksgiving, and maybe even a giveaway or two! Happy turkey week!

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Kale & Sausage Stuffed Shells

November 18, 2014 by mollygilbert520 3 Comments

Remember stuffed shells?!? My mom used to make them for my sisters and me when we were kids, but I haven’t eaten a jumbo pasta shell, stuffed or unstuffed, in years.

I’m not sure where or how the craving first lodged itself in my brain, but when I saw a box of shells staring at me from the shelf at the grocery store, I snatched it up without thought and headed straight for the cheese section to find ricotta. Stuffed shells = happening!

After all, I enjoy stuffing things. I mean, there are like twelve recipes in my cookbook for things stuffed in other things… there’s Israeli cous cous-stuffed peppers, thai tofu-stuffed eggplant, salad-stuffed squash bowls… plus I’m always overstuffing my washing machine and then wondering why my clothes are still dirty. So.

Stuffed shells!

Mom used to fill her shells with a mixture of different cheeses (yum), but I wanted some protein and greens in there (I’m so adult), so I added some turkey sausage and wilted kale. Good choices, both. They heft up the meal and cut through the richness of the cheese (in a good way – the dish is still plenty cheesy!).

Now all I need is a tall glass of apple juice, my two sisters sitting across from me at the table in their feetsie pajamas, and the promise of an episode of Saved By The Bell (the early years) for dessert.

…I’m totally kidding I would never accept anything less than a cookie for dessert. Come on, mom.

Kale & Sausage Stuffed Shells

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Curried Coconut Chicken Soup

November 11, 2014 by mollygilbert520 7 Comments

I made you soup! It’s what often comes out of my kitchen when I’m feeling hungry but direction-less. I can usually be counted on to have an onion or two rolling around in the back of the fridge (I get anxious when I run out of onions, see), and probably some butter (same deal), and so it begins.

This soup was deliberate, though. There’s a place in Seattle (a grocery store called Metropolitan Market) where, when I’m feeling too lazy to cook but not too lazy to drive, I like to go to “grocery shop,” by which I mean I like to go and pick up one or two actual groceries and then load up on pints of house-made curried coconut chicken soup.

This happens… often. Because the soup! The soup. It’s so good. It’s a little bit sweet and a little bit spicy, just-creamy-enough with coconut milk, and full of hearty texture from still-crisp vegetables and tender pieces of chicken.

The soup has become a bit of a ritual for Ben and me, the ease of stirring and the smell of ginger and coconut, bread toasting, then cozying up at the table. We treat ourselves to it at least once a week, so I figured since I’m, you know, a chef and all that, I should try my hand at making it from scratch.

So here we are! It’s not exactly exactly the same, but it’s pretty close. Rich with spice and coconut milk, filled with tender veggies and shreds of chicken, it’s the perfect antidote to a long and chilly day….

Spicy Sautéed Kale with Tofu

September 17, 2014 by mollygilbert520 4 Comments

Things are moving quickly around here! I mean, not around here here (I’m long overdue for a post, sorry), but the regular, on-my-feet, day-to-day? I mean, WHOOSH. Moving. Flying, really.

It always feels this way when summer slides into fall, doesn’t it? Everything on the move, and days getting shorter. There are lunches to pack, traffic to navigate and, in my case, a wedding to finish planning. (I’m trying to sound casual about this, but !!!!!!!!!!!!@%$#^@&%*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is what’s actually happening in my brain). We’re at T minus six weeks until matrimony, people! Yeesh.

YEESH. Let’s look at a tranquil photo of Ross Lake that I took this summer:

And then let’s eat some kale. It’ll calm our brains and help our bodies feel good… about our brains and our bodies.

We’ll sauté it in a hot, hot pan. It’ll get wilty and crisp at the edges, and it’ll soak in all the flavor we throw at it. Coconut oil for health and sweetness! Garlic and red pepper flakes for bite! Baked tofu for heft, scallions and sesame seeds for depth and crunch, and soy sauce and rice vinegar for salt and tang.

It’s a quick and flavorful option for a busy weeknight. I’ve made it four times in two weeks, and I love it for its imprecise (in an I-don’t-feel-like-measuring-things way) deliciousness (you don’t really need to measure — just trust yourself and, if you need to, taste as you go. You can’t mess this one up). Plus it’s just so quick. You can do it while packing lunches. Or creating seating charts. For your wedding. In less than six weeks.

…Deep breaths. And more kale.

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Classic BLTs

September 4, 2014 by mollygilbert520 12 Comments

Summer’s not over! Stop it with that. Put your Halloween-candy away, Mr. Drug Store. See these tomatoes? SUMMER TOMATOES.

Make no mistake, Fall is my favorite season, but I’m not rush rush rushing to get there. I don’t want a pumpkin-spice latte just yet, thank you. Pumpkin-spice lattes mean heavy sweaters and the end of peach season and oh, yeah – that little October wedding thing. Nooooot ready for that (I need to find shoes first, and also probably write some vows. …Details).

I’m hanging on to peaches and tomatoes as long as I can, and as long as the calendar says it’s still summer (we’ve got a whole 19 days left until the first day of Fall!), I’m making a damn BLT for dinner. (With peaches, I make grilled cheese sandwiches.)

The trick to this BLT recipe (if you can really have a “recipe” for bacon, lettuce & tomato sandwiches) is cooking the bacon on a wire rack set over a sheet pan in the oven (holler, sheet pans!). Have you done this before? It’s the only way I make bacon, these days. Oven-baking frees up our hands to do other things (like get into the mayonnaise and shop for shoes online), and eliminates the inevitable bacon grease splatter burn of the stove-top method.

Get into this BLT! Summer’s still hot! …