Sausage, Pumpkin, Potato and Halloumi Bake

This is fall cooking. This is what I’m talkin’ about. Roasted acorn squash (use any seasonal squash/pumpkin you like), buttery yukon gold potatoes, sausage, tomatoes, and squeaky and salty halloumi cheese. Homey and comforting and the best thing I’ve had this fall. And not just because ‘fall’ just officially began today, either.

Summer Vegetable Skillet

Have you ever seen Put a Bird on It? The cast from Portlandia put birds on things. Once you watch this, you will definitely notice how many things have birds on them for absolutely no reason. I have fallen prey (haha, get it?) myself in buying things with random birds on them.

Anyway, I feel like I could do my own skit called “Put an Egg on It”. Eggs are probably my favorite food (at least in the top 5), and I feel like many, many dishes can be easily elevated by putting an egg on it. I put an egg on this summer veggie skillet (SO GOOD), and it was perfection. This skillet dish is also perfect for summer as it doesn’t require you to turn the oven on, which I certainly appreciate. I used some tomato and cheese chicken sausages I had from Costco, but you can use any pre-cooked chicken sausage. Delicious!

Potato Salad with Chilies, Celery, and Capers

I wanted to make a potato salad but something about the idea of heavy, goopy mayo was not appealing to me with this heat. I remembered a Rachael Ray recipe I once saw where she used capers and celery in an olive oil and vinegar dressing – yum. I spiced it up with a few thai chilies, which I have a zillion of right now and will be putting in everything. These are not for the faint of heart – start with 2 and work your way up.

Deep Dish Sausage Pie with Hashbrown Crust

*Content and photos updated July 2012.*
This was one of those clean out the refrigerator types of meals. Make this when you’re too lazy, poor, or uninspired to order takeout — We both agree that it was WAY better than what we expected, and way better than take-out, too. Next time I may try with a mixture of eggs and egg whites to make it a smidge healthier. Literally add whatever’s in the fridge and go to town.

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!

Pan-Roasted Chicken Leg and Gnocchi with Brussels Sprouts

So over Christmas I got some heat from a few family members about slacking off on my blog. I was a little taken aback…I mean, I feel like I cook almost every damned day, but I guess it’s true — I’m definitely not posting as frequently. I think this is partly because I really actually like my favorite recipes and tend to make them over and over again, but also because if I’m trying to eat healthy, who wants to see/read about a boring dinner salad? Or, conversely, when I talk about eating healthy then cave in and make an ohmygodsogood mac & cheese, do I always post that? Nopers. These reasons, along with my growing photo snobbery, perhaps are why I’m not posting as frequently. Quality, not quantity, maybe? Anyway, I’m gonna try to keep it real.

For instance, this recipe. Roasted chicken with some simply roasted brussels and some fried gnocchi. The brussels — a super basic Ina Garten recipe in my head. The gnocchi — something I saw on Nigella’s show a long while back that suddenly popped in my head tonight. Probably not something I would normally have posted. Not that it wasn’t really delicious (which it was!), but it just seems like such a simple meal. I didn’t really follow a recipe for any of the dishes (but can vaguely remember the origins), it was a bit of on-a-whim meal. That said, my cousin’s voice still lingered in my head and I decided this was the kind of dish that I used to post at the start of this blog — in fact, these were the types of dishes that I started this blog for. To document, file away for future reference as something I would certainly like to make again. Well, consider it posted and filed. 🙂

Grilled Pierogi with Kielbasa

Even though I am half Polish, I didn’t grow up eating a lot of Polish food. I don’t think I had a pierogi until a few years ago even. Why I have had a kielbasa and pierogi craving for the last couple of weeks is beyond me, but I’m glad I did because this recipe is delicious!

Roasted Fall Vegetables

I am a big fan of roasted vegetables in general, and this is just a perfect combination to accompany pretty much any meal. We had this alongside roasted chicken a couple of nights ago, as a “hash” for breakfast today with some poached eggs, and am about to transform the rest of the leftovers into a yummy fall pizza. Versatile and super simple.

Vegetarian Samosas with Mint-Cilantro Sauce

These are my new obsession!! I love love love samosas but anything deep-fried always comes with a side of guilt. These, my friends, are BAKED. And AWESOME. I kind of want to put this sauce on everything (cats beware).

Potato and Broccoli Rabe Gratin

I have been craving a naughty potato dish for a while now. And despite the fact that this was based on a cooking light recipe AND I had the nerve to add additional veggies in AND omitted the bacon, this still definitely satisfied my naughty craving.  Not too shabby.

Mixed Greens with Grilled Salmon, Avocado, Egg

This salad is perfect in every way. Easy to make, beautiful, delicious, simple, healthy and hearty. This year, skip the resolutions and make more food like this.

Bangers & Mash

Brian’s been asking me to make bangers and mash foreverrrr. Why in god’s name did I wait so long?? It’s SAUSAGE and MASHED POTATOES. How bad can that be? Overall, this is one of the best mashed potatoes recipes I’ve ever made, and the sausages couldn’t be easier or yummier. Make this!

Pan Roasted Potatoes

I was in a steak-and-potatoes kind of mood, and this recipe is perfect for getting crispy and creamy potatoes.

Smooshed Potatoes with Lemon and Herbs

This recipe was a wee bit labor intensive, but who can resist a fried smooshed potato?

Mediterranean Tuna Salad

First, I apologize for the picture. My poor little camera finally died and this was taken with my phone. New camera is on the way…

Now, THIS is a tuna salad. I’m typically not a fan of conventional tuna salad (I think it’s the goopy mayo with the fish…ew), but this is something I can get behind.

I’m trying to enjoy more salads as dinners, but I realized that I really hate lettuce. It’s just so boring. This tuna salad uses olive oil instead of goopy mayo and leafy celery hearts instead of lettuce. So good and perfect for summer.

Warm Potato, Green Bean, and Egg Salad

This is a perfect salad. You know me, I love anything with an egg – but this is so healthy, easy, and fast – it’s definitely going to be a new go-to. Add bacon or other veggies to mix it up.

Basil Pesto Red Bliss Mashed Potatoes

Basil Pesto Red Bliss Mashed Potatoes
serves 4 / 3 ww pts

Here’s what I used:

• 1 1/4 pounds baby red potatoes
• 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tbsp store-bought pesto (I bought Classico)
• 4-5 leaves of fresh basil, sliced thin
• S&P

Here’s what I did:

• Cut potatoes into similar sizes (leave the really small ones whole) and put in a large pot of cold water. Cover the pot, put over high heat, and bring to a boil. Boil for 12 minutes or so until the potatoes are fork tender (not knife, fork).
• Drain and mash with the chicken stock and pesto. Toss in the fresh basil and season with S&P to taste.

Shepherd’s Pie with Scallion Cheddar Crust

Ok, I may have outdone myself with this one. Totally comfort food, totally delicious. I’ve been looking for a good shepherd’s pie recipe for a while, and have tried a couple of RR’s recipes over the years…well, THIS is the only recipe you want for shepherd’s pie, legit.

Eggs in Purgatory

This is a classic italian dish and a perfect use-up for leftover mashed potatoes, which I HATE seeing go to waste. I always make this after Thanksgiving when there always leftover mashed potatoes as well as leftover gravy for the pasta course we gluttonous Italians always serve.