Roasted Turkey with Green Beans & Brown rice/quinoa

Harri's Dream Sandwich

Recently I made a grilled cheese (using Gruyere and Monterey Jack) with bacon. Harri LOVES cheese and bacon; whenever I make something with those ingredients, I'm guaranteed that I'll have a four-legged visitor looking for scraps and samples of the meal.

Chicken Quesadillas

I like to use McCormick's spices of Garlic and Herb to marinate chicken breast (boneless; strips or breast. I mainly use strips as it's easier to dice up. If it gets flakey, don't panic, use it! It doesn't have to be perfect) with EVOO, S&P for 30 minutes or more until you are ready to cook. I cooked the chicken for about 7 minutes or so before I take it out to let it rest while I clean out the same pan to heat up the buttered-tortillas

I also used Sargento's 5 Mexican cheeses (or Cheddar/Montery Jack)

Also: either scallions, cilantro, or caramelized onions to go inside with the chicken and cheeses.

I used my grill-saute cooking pan to make those lovely grill marks.

Served with a couple of dollops or sour cream. Or Salsa.

If you are a vegetarian, just leave out the chicken.

Pasta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes & Garlic

with toasted pine nuts

served with basil-garlic butter bread topped with parm. cheese 

 

note: technically tomatoes are a fruit, so therefore in the "tag/labels" just below, I put down fruit as well as vegetable as it's often mixed with other veggies

Crouton-Crusted Chicken with Red Pepper Gravy

Served with green beans, and brown rice/quinoa

Very easy: turn croutons into crumbs for the "breading station" (with eggs and flour) to coat the chicken before pan-frying it and finishing in the 350 degrees oven for about 10 minutes on a roasting rack pan.
To make the gravy: using the pan drippings while the chicken is in the oven (take out any breading that may have fallen off of the chicken), saute the red pepper and a cup of chicken stock to slightly reduce. Puree the gravy.

Corn-Potato Soup with Kale

Ingredients:
-6 Corn on the Cobs (if using canned: 3 to 4 medium cans; if using frozen: 2 bags), kennels cut off from the cobs
-3 potatoes, peeled and chopped
-1 carrot, chopped
-1 onion, chopped
-1 celery, chopped
-dry or fresh bay leaf
-a palmful of dried or fresh tarragon
-1 quart (or 6 cups) of chicken broth
-a bunch of kale, washed and chopped
-S&P
-EVOO
-5-6 slices of bacon

Method:
In a dutch oven (or spaghetti pot) over medium-high, heat up some EVOO before adding in the bacon until it's cooked. Take out the bacon to a paper towel-covered plate to drain out the remaining fat. Save about a tablespoon of bacon fat/EVOO in the pan to use to saute the onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, and S&P. When the onion start to sweat, add the potatoes and cook them for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the corn and the chicken broth. Let it come to a boil before covering it and reducing the heat to medium-low to let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.

Crumble up the bacon while you wait for the soup to cook and get the kale ready

In a blender, puree the soup in batches. Put the puree soup in the large mixing bowl while working in batches. Once the dutch oven is empty, put it back on the stove with a little bit of EVOO and saute the kale until it wilts down. Add in the reserved bacon and the puree soup. Stir until mixed well on low heat. Add the tarragon and S&P to taste. Ready to serve.

Serve either alone or with a grilled cheese sandwich.

If you want it vegetarian, use vegetable stock and omit the bacon

Grilled Lamb Chops with Cous-Cous & Broccoli

I marinated the lamb chops in pomergrante-cherry juice with orange peel (seasoning), dried mint, S&P, and cumin before I put them on the grill. At the end, slauthered with butter
With the cous-cous,  I used those flavor enhancers from Swanson's Broth/Stock (chicken) and cumin and lightly toasted the cous cous with butter before putting in water to cook.
With the broccoli, EVOO, butter, garlic powder and cumin (to tie together with the cous cous and lamb)