Escarole-Stuffed Haddock with Sherry Tomato Sauce

This dish is perfect to start the year off on a flavorful note. Serve with pasta or some crusty bread for mopping up the yummy sauce.

Sweet Potato, Kale, and Bacon Breakfast Burritos

Make ahead frozen breakfast burritos are one of our favorite weekday breakfast options. Every couple of weeks I’ll make a big batch of burritos with varying ingredients (usually some sort of reduced fat meat product like chicken sausage with peppers and onions), but I just loved the idea of adding kale and sweet potatoes for a nice nutrient punch in the morning.

Kale and Potato Salad in a Creamy Mustard Vinaigrette

This salad is DELICIOUS. I love how I feel after I eat a ton of dark leafy greens — like you just did something good for yourself. It doesn’t hurt when they’re tossed in a flavorful, creamy vinaigrette using greek yogurt, maple syrup, red wine vinegar, and grainy mustard, either. Oh, and toss it all with some teeny tiny potatoes and bacon. Eat your greens!

Eggs on a Cloud with Bacon and Chives

I yanked this recipe out of my Rachael Ray mag yesterday (no judgment) and knew that I would make it right away. At first I thought it was an egg perched on a biscuit (nothing wrong with that), but as I read the recipe, I realized the yolk was atop a pile of whipped egg whites. Egg whites! Brilliant.

Fiddlehead, Bacon, and Mushroom Tart

This is a strange post because I really didn’t care for this dish, HOWEVER, I think it’s because deep down, I don’t really like fiddleheads.  When they came bundled in our CSA box last week – along with the ‘shrooms – I was once again seduced by their cuteness and decided to give them a shot.  I mean, I like them when my mama breads them and fries them (but, really, what isn’t good when it’s breaded and fried?), and what’s not good on puff pastry, especially when eggs and bacon are involved?? I gotta say, they made this tart kind of taste like house plant to me. That said, if you’re a fiddlehead lover, I’d love to know what you think!

Bacon, Fig, and Asiago Mac & Cheese

Just when I (and my thighs) thought we were in the clear with comfort food cravings, Boston’s been hit with a swell of gloomy, rainy weather, which, inconveniently, seems to only occur on the weekends. I’m not too disappointed, though — gives me a chance to make this dish which I thought I’d be waiting ’til the fall to try. The verdict: probably the best mac & cheese I’ve ever made or tried. The sweet fig, salty bacon, and buttery breadcrumb topping is ah-mazing. Thighs be damned.

Southwest Turkey Burgers

Since I had some extra ground turkey leftover from my indian pizza, I decided I would make some turkey burgers. I wanted to try something new other than my go to turkey burger recipe, and I had all of these ingredients in the house — big score after a long week.  These burgers were easy, super flavorful, and packed a nice bite.

Steak Sandwiches

“Steak Sandwiches” is probably a bit of an understatement. This is a steak sandwich. The steak sandwich, even. Seared flank steak surrounded by a spicy and sweet mixture of onions, cubanelles, roasted reds, and jalapeno, covered in a blanket of provolone cheese.

Yes, please.

Oh, and then, top it with some chopped bacon, for good measure.

Swordfish with Tomato-Bacon Butter

A meal like this fills me with questions…

Like, a) why don’t I eat seafood every single day?? It’s so good!

and

b) why don’t I cover everything with tomato-bacon butter???

I feel lost. Sigh.

White Bean and Warm Spinach Salad with Bacon and Mushrooms

This was so damn good that B didn’t even realize it had mushrooms (his alleged arch enemy) in it. I loved this, and since it pretty much contains ingredients that I always have on hand, I will be making this a lot.

Grits & Greens Casserole

This was a perfect side dish to a southern feast we had over the weekend. This mixes several of my favorite foods together in one creamy dish: polenta, bacon, cheese, and greens. Personally, (and probably because I have a slightly unhealthy relationship with bacon) the crispy bacon along with the creamy grits was the best part, but the bacon could easily be omitted for a vegetarian option. Yum!

Also, the dish is very forgiving. Throw whatever greens you have in there, and keep it in the oven until you’re ready to serve. The original recipe’s instructions just said to bake “until lightly browned”, which I translated to about 30 minutes. Turns out we weren’t quite ready to eat then and the dish stayed in the oven for an hour total…and was totally fine. Love that!

Bacon and Butternut Squash Pasta (cooking light)

I knew when I saw this recipe in my inbox that I would be making it. My former roommate apparently thought the same thing because she forwarded the same recipe to me moments later saying, “I know you like bacon”. Well folks, it’s true. And this dish highlights it beautifully.

This recipe features a new sauce-making technique for me — “dry-roasting” flour before it’s eventually combined with milk to make a “roux”. That’s right — no fat of any kind in the roux. It felt weird, but I was willing to give it a shot in the name of lighter cooking, and it turned out great! The sauce is super creamy, with a nice tang thanks to the provolone. The butternut squash and bacon make this dish a-mazing. It’s a great weeknight meal because it can be made wholly in advance, or a few things can be done in advance (like prepping and roasting the squash, cooking the bacon and shallots, and storing it all together, like I did)

Biscuit & Egg Cups

I’ve been sick for almost a full week, so I needed some comfort food this weekend. These biscuits were easy, yummy, and naughty, which are all good things for me right about now.

Whole Wheat Orzo with Butternut Squash, Chicken, & Bacon

I made this yummy dish for a couple people, one vegetarian, one not. This is one of the rare dishes that you can easily make a meat & meatfree version without literally cooking the dish twice or otherwise sacrificing flavor. Add in cooked bacon and chicken at the end and blam! – everyone’s happy.

Sweet Potato Skins!

These were outstanding. Salty, bacony, cheesy, crispy and UNFRIED. Make these immediately.

Tuscan Roasted Chicken with White Beans and Spinach

Um, yeah. This was amazing. Perfect Sunday fall comfort food. And, if you buy an already cut-up chicken, it’s pretty easy to put together. Coupla tips: #1. Make sure to really brown the chicken. Don’t skimp on this step. If it’s not browned, it won’t taste good. Cooking Light suggests 2 minutes per side to brown it. It took me close to 10 minutes per side. That’s right, brown it. Another 35 minutes in the oven, and you’re good to go. The lovely thing about bone-in chicken is that it takes quite a bit to dry it out, which makes for a nice, moist piece of chicken. #2. Before putting it in the pan at all, pat all sides of the chicken with a paper towel. This ensures maximum brownness. Mmmm…this will be in my regular comfort food rotation for sure.

Chicken Paillard with Figs, Gorgonzola, and Pancetta Salad

I am whole-heartedly convinced that figs are a miracle fruit. They literally make everything else taste better, and they’re so pretty!

This meal was so delicious. I love the sweet figs, stinky cheese, peppery arugula, crispy pancetta all together. Add in the tarragon, and this is a really special combination.  YUM.

Bacon and Feta Stuffed Oregano Chicken

So, even though this has BACON and CHEESE, I wasn’t wildly excited about this meal. Until I ate the first bite. Then, then I was in love.

Crab and Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms

I just bought another ginormous tub o’ crabmeat at Costco (if Costco were a person, I’d marry it). Expect to see a couple of crab recipes coming up, as I love it, and have a TON of it. Anyway, this is a super easy and relatively healthy recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Now Eat This by Rocco Dispirito. It was intended in the book to be an appetizer (and would make a lovely one using smaller mushrooms), but I decided to bump it up a little to make it suitable for lunch.

Mushroom and Pancetta Tart

I had no intention of making this today, but I found myself with some extra time and extra ingredients and the desire to laze around the house and cook. I’m so glad I did. This is a bit of a quiche/tart/frittata idea, and it’s delicious. The pancetta definitely makes this dish, so don’t skip that. To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t thrilled with the crust, so next time I’d try this one instead.