What I've been Cooking Lately...

No time for a real post, but I thought I would link to some recipes I've found online and made recently, to varying degrees of success.

The Ultimate Vegetable Torta from Cooking Light. This torta is seriously labor intensive, but pretty delicious. I've made it twice now and I'm not entirely sure it is worth the effort, however it is a great way to use up the results of an over-zealous Farmer's Market trip.

Roasted Cod with Warm-Olive-Caper Tapenade from Eating Well. Mmmm, I loved this and it was such a snap to pull together on a weeknight. If you like briney things you'll be all over this. I served it with the suggested orzo (cooked in vegetable broth) and spinach.

Ziti with Grilled Gazpacho Sauce and Sausage from Gourmet. Another total winner, smokey and delicious. I used penne, and turkey Italian sausage in a vain attempt to lighten the recipe. Delicious, great leftover as well.

Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa from Gourmet. Delicious, healthy, filling. I served this with something--grilled chicken or fish maybe? It should tell you a lot that the side dish stuck out a lot more than the main course. Would make a lovely vegetarian lunch all on its own.

Beef Saté with Peanut Dipping Sauce from Cooking Light. Another super speedy and tasty weeknight dish. The meat wasn't my absolute favorite but I liked this meal well enough. I made it with brown rice instead of the instant.

Chicken-Chorizo Burgers with Avocado Mayonnaise from Cooking Light. I liked these, although I over processed the meat mixture and I think that made it a bit tough. Great flavor, though, and a nice alternative to beef or turkey burgers. The recipe makes a lot and I froze a stack of the patties, seperated with parchment. I'll let you know how they fare after being thawed.

Green Onion Pancakes with Tomato-Avocado Salsa from Cooking Light. Oh, baby, I loved these. Served them with a pile of garlicky grilled shrimp. I used my own guacamole recipe, however, because I'm not a huge oregano fan. I also used Gruyeré in the pancakes.

Crispy Soft-Shelled Crabs with Bean Salad from Martha Stewart. The dish of the summer! If soft-shelled crabs were in season longer (and I could afford them), I think I'd make this all the danged time. I used some fresh black-eyed peas, edamame, and some coarsely chopped green beans in the salad. And make the homemade garlic mayo, please. You won't be disappointed. I made this same salad later in the summer to serve with crabcakes and it was lovely as well.

Single Girl Crabcakes

I am always inordinately proud when I make a real meal on nights when Chris is away, because really, isn't rice pudding and popcorn with lots of butter more appealing? I regret those nights of food debauchery every single time, though, and so I generally try to make something real.


These crabcakes weren't perfect, in fact I'm not going to post a recipe until I get a chance to tweak it. However, they were warm, they used up some ingredients languishing in the refrigerator, and they were satisfying to my ravenous stomach. Topped with a quickie fake-remoulade and joined by a tangle of wilted lemon spinach, I had quite a nice little meal on my hands.


Other single night favorites include linguine with white clam sauce, BLEATs, Lemon Risotto, Tuna Burgers, and Couscous with Halloumi and Spinach. Before you start to think that Chris has abandoned me, these "single" nights only come along 3-4 times a month, when he has a show or practice or something like that.

Also, one last thing, you might notice, over there on the right, a new "email me" link. That's right, kids, she's slowly being drug into the 21st century and you can now email the old girl at marianne at theunemployedcook dot com.