Baked Feta Dip

This dip was quite the hit at Halloween. It’s a little labor intensive but delicious. Resist the temptation to add extra salt (well, I was tempted, anyway) – the olives and feta do the job.

Feta Vinaigrette

I remember seeing a recipe for a feta dressing online somewhere, but can’t remember where. I decided to wing something like it for tonight’s Cobb salad.

Steamed Salmon with Garlic and Ginger

This was so good! Really tasted like something I might get at a Vietnamese restaurant. I had some issues rigging up the steamer plate situation (as described here) – I think it’d be easier if you had a bamboo steamer rather than my silicon floppy one.

I served over my new obsession, soba, but it’d be great over rice. Pictured with Asian greens and shitakes.

New obsession: Soba Noodles

So it looks like soba noodles are my new cooking obsession. They’re super low in points (3 for a cup!) and really versatile, especially for someone whose cooking style on lazy nights tends to skew Asian. I’ve tried out some formal recipes with them, but now am just using them as a component of my Sunday Stir Fry routine. My only “rule” is that I tend to like them with some sort of dressing or sauce – it seems to balance out their slightly sour aftertaste.

Last night’s combination: 2 chopped chicken thighs, onion, Chinese radish and garlic stir fried with soy sauce. Scramble in two eggs. Set aside. Heat up some leftover frozen veggies (broccoli, edamame, green beans) with some leftover roasted cauliflower in  a quick sauce with soy sauce, chicken broth, corn starch and red pepper flakes. Return chicken and egg mixture to pan and toss with soba noodles, adding more soy sauce as you need it. Garnish with a little scallion and basil. Healthy, delicious and a great way to clean out the fridge.

Crab and Corn Chowder

My fall cooking routine lately tends to be “Make a batch of soup or two on Sunday, then have it for dinner Monday with some bread, and freeze the rest so I don’t have to cook.” It works out well, particularly for nights I don’t have a lot of time before an event, or want to fit in exercise/shopping after work. So far I’ve done it with tortilla soup, French onion soup, sausage bean soup and now this new recipe.

Corn chowder sounded like a good call for finishing off the last of our CSA corn. I thought this recipe was good but not great (crab makes things a little fishy, but that may have been the quality of what I bought?). I started with an Emeril recipe as my base and then added random stuff I had around the house. I might recommend sticking with the heavy cream suggestion (I used light because it’s what we had) in terms of soup thickness.

Truffled corn and white bean salad

We’re wrapping up our CSA and we still keep getting corn, surprisingly. I used up 4 ears in this salad, which I tried to make kinda French-inspired to go with the rest of our dinner.

Radish Crostini with Butter

We got these great Chinese radishes at the market Sunday – nice and spicy. I made this as an appetizer to go with a dinner of French onion soup and French-inspired truffled corn and white bean salad (recipe to follow).

Soba Noodle Salad

This salad has been making the rounds lately and I decided it was our turn. I made some changes – I took Joy’s advice re: fish sauce and chicken thighs, and I threw some Chinese radish, broccoli and egg into the mix. So tasty!

John’s Bangers & Mash

This was so delicious. We’ve been meaning to make these British-style bangers we got at the Farmer’s Market for awhile now, and John took on the task. He really stepped things up – I wolfed down two servings immediately.

Pasta with spinach, ricotta and herbs

This was this year’s other pasta party meal. Really nice and light-tasting. A good way to say a last goodbye to summer, if you’re still in denial. Do a straight doubling of ingredients for a crowd. Recipe from Cooking Light.