Pork Chops with Herb Gravy (and a partial kitchen tour)

Hello, lover [gravy]. I am clearly obsessed with anything gravy, and this is no exception. The sage adds a really nice “woodsy” quality to the sauce, but you might want to use a little at first and see how strong you like it. I served it up with mashed sweet potatoes and steamed and buttered green beans.

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.

Favorite Turkey Burgers

Martha calls this the “favorite turkey burger”. I have to say, it was delicious! And since I always have these ingredients around, it’s a great go-to. I served these with some ridiculous sweet potato skins (recipe soon!) and a green salad. Yum.

Spatchocked Cornish Hen Salad with Sourdough Croutons (and pictures of butchery)

I was strangely excited about performing surgery on these cutie little cornish hens. Normally, I’m less than thrilled dealing with raw chicken, but there was something fun about “spatchcocking”, and it wasn’t just saying “spatchcock” every 3 minutes, which I did.

Chicken with Apple Cider Gravy, Cheesy Rice, and Green Beans

This is one of my favorite fall meals. The apple cider gravy is one of my favorite things ever and, while you might have to do a little juggling to get the timing right, it’s SO worth it.

Chive Egg Noodles in a Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Sauce

I’ve made this dish countless times. It’s an especially nice meal when you’ve had too much wine the night before, too 🙂

Meatloaf with Herbed Cream Sauce

We’re definitely in full-on comfort food mode this week. And it might not stop until March. Just sayin’.

On to the meatloaf: This meatloaf kicks ass. It kind of reminds me of swedish meatballs from IKEA with the white sauce, which is so so good. It is a total comfort food, and while I didn’t grow up eating it ever, it makes me think of my mama.

Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese

In order to maintain my Awesome Girlfriend status, I decided to make this dish for the Patriots’ game on Sunday. Turns out there was no Patriots’ game this week, but that didn’t stop us.

Ok, let me just say that there is nary a vegetable to be found in this dish, unless you count onion, celery, or garlic (….oooh! and parsley! parsley is kind of healthy!…), lots of cheese, and buttery breadcrumbs. And it’s worth it. I did, however, serve this up with a huge pile of sautéed spinach to cut the guilt a little bit. 🙂

Brian and I ate this in silence, exchanging the occasional happy looks and yummy sounds. So delicious.

Poached Eggs over Moroccan-Spiced Hash

I made these moroccan-spiced veggies the other night as part of a vegetarian meal that I served to some of my lovelies, and I knew the leftovers would be fabulous for a weekend brunch with some eggs on top. Sweet potatoes, onions, green beans, and spinach spiced with fenugreek seeds (my new favorite spice), cumin, cinnamon, and hot paprika. YUM.

Lime-Glazed Coconut Banana Bread

Although baking scares the bejesus out of me, I think I have mastered the fruit bread. This is my absolute favorite banana bread recipe, and if you cut it into 16 slices (but, really, who would do that?), it’s even inspired by a Cooking Light recipe. I, of course, slice it into about 8-10 fatty slices, slather it with a little smart balance, and dig in.

Slow-Cooker Steel Cut Oats

When i read about cooking oats overnight in a slow cooker, I was psyched. I love a hearty bowl of oats in the morning during the colder months, but I would rather spend a spare 30 minutes sleeping rather than cooking oats. Sue me.

I used to frequent those little individual packets of plain oatmeal, until I read about how many nutrients are lost the more oats are processed. Steel cut oats are barely processed, are a great source of fiber and protein, and are really worth the extra effort. Cooking them in a slow-cooker removes a little bit of the *oaty* flavor, but it’s still a nice way to shave a few minutes off of morning cooking time.

I love to eat them with a sprinkle of toasted wheat germ, sliced bananas, and some natural peanut butter.

Cous Cous with Caramelized Shallots and Walnuts

This is a delicious side dish, and healthy…using whole wheat cous cous, lots of thinly sliced shallots, and toasted walnuts. Yummy.

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.