Zucchini Bites and Swedish Meatballs…

Two recipes from my current number one source of food inspiration…

I don’t know if you’re like me but I’ll go through phases where I’m all inspired in the kitchen and come up with some pretty amazing quick meals and then all of a sudden, nothing! It’s like I hit a wall and don’t even know what I want to eat anymore and so I keep preparing the same old same old.

My new number one source of food inspiration these days is Pinterest! You can just type in an ingredient, do a search and Boom!!! So many options! Most of the time the pictures are what grab my attention and if you are on Pinterest you know what I mean, almost everything looks so delicious that I want to make everything!

Here are two recipes I did last Sunday that turned out so good and the big plus is that they can be easily doubled or even tripled for freezing.

Easy Zucchini Bites Apetizers…

Zucchini Bites with Sour Cream and Salad

Now here is a screen capture of the recipe from my Instagram feed, here. Cooking time was at least 10 more minutes. I served them with plain sour cream, a simple version of Cesar Salad and it made for a delicious lite vegetarian meal. Extras can be kept in the refrigerator for a good 4 days and they heat up in no time.

This other recipe is my idea of comfort food!

Swedish Meatballs…

Who hasn’t been to Ikea? Ever ate there, tried their Swedish Meatballs? Well I did years ago and I must say they were kind of good. I know you can buy them frozen now but I haven’t tried them nor have I taken the time to look at the ingredients. I’m not much of a fan of ready-made frozen food although I know you can stumble on some good options.

Swedish Meatballs with Egg Noodles, Green Peas and Cranberry Sauce

This recipe for Swedish meatballs is pretty good, super easy and what I love most about it is I know what’s in them and can control the salt factor. The quantity of meat I used made 30 meatballs translating in three meals for Catherine and I.

Five meatballs are more than enough per person and in fact four could do it but hey this is comfort food so a little extra does feel good! Two thirds of the meatballs I didn’t cook through since I was planning on freezing them.

In the microwave about three minutes to defrost, I prepared half of the sauce (perfect for two servings) while the pasta was cooking. Once the sauce was ready I put the meatballs in, put the lid on a few minutes. Oh and the last five minutes of the pasta cooking time is when I poured a big cup of frozen peas. It will cool down the temperature of the water meaning the cooking time will be a little longer but the idea is to use only one pot. Less dishes is always good in my book! 🙂

This is truly a 20 minute mid-week meal with little to do, perfect after a long day and I’m guessing It’ll be a weekly staple when the temps go down next winter. As you can see cranberry sauce can be enjoyed with more than turkey!

Both these recipes are on my Pinterest food board, here.

Original websites…  Zucchini Bites, here.  Swedish Meatballs, here.

 

When you don’t know what to cook anymore, where do you get your inspiration?

 

 

Couscous, avocado, blueberries & microgreens salad…

Last night was my first night alone in a long time. My daughter went to a sleepover and so it was supper for one. Not in the mood for cooking, I simply mixed what follows and it was heaven!

Couscous, avocado, blueberries & microgreen salad with poppy seeds vinaigrette.

For the couscous salad…

2 cups of cooked couscous

1 cup of blueberries (strawberries, rapsberries, peaches, mangoes… all would be delicious!)

1 half ripe avocado in smallish pieces

1/4 cup of thinly sliced sweet onions, I love the Vidalia variety in summer but you could use red if you like for color or Spanish for an extra punch but then use a little less otherwise you may lose a little of the taste subtleties of this salad.

1/2 cup of microgreens* (can easily be replaced by watercress, arugula, endive or any lettuce you might have on hand, broken in small pieces)

I could have added some fresh flat leaf parsley but was too lazy!

Everything goes in a nice bowl, yes presentation counts even when for one! 🙂 Careful when mixing not to crush the avocado, you may want to simply place the pieces on top once everything has been mixed with about 1/4 cup of vinaigrette…

Poppy seeds vinaigrette…

1 cup of mayonnaise (homemade if you have it)

1 tbsp of Dijon mustard

1 tbsp of honey

1 1/2 tbsp of poppy seeds

2 tbsp of white vinegar or to taste

2 tbsp of canola oil

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and depending on taste you may want to add a little sugar but this might not be necessary if you’re using store-bought mayo and there’s already honey. I add about 1 tsp of it when I use home-made mayonnaise.

This vinaigrette is delicious with chicken by the way and even with fries if you add a little more white vinegar.

Another option which I think may be just as delicious and more figure friendly, simply sprinkle the salad with poppy seeds, 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil and the zest (with the Microplane) and juice of half a lemon although in my case I just might use the whole lemon since I love the taste so much. Salt to taste. Honestly I’m not sure I would use freshly grounded pepper but hey, that’s me!

 

What do you think about fruits in savory salads?

 

*Microgreens pack a punch in taste so you don’t need much. Several delicious mixes are more and more easily available in grocery stores. Here I used a Mediterranean mix. 🙂

 

Frittata My Way…

Eggs for supper? Oh yes!

This has been a favorite for years for a quick easy and satisfying mid-week meal. The combinations are endless when you know the basics and even for that the quantities don’t have to be precise.

Frittata for two…

5 large eggs (you would use 8 eggs for 4 portions and increase slightly the quantities of the other ingredients)

1/4 cup of creme, 15% or 35% (10% doesn’t cook really well and milk would make it watery)

1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon of salt and a pinch of nutmeg

Chopped Fresh herbs if you have any my favorites are flat leaf parsley and savory

In a bowl whisk all these together.

Garnish…

Well here’s the tricky part… almost anything goes! For example this past winter last-minute (I was working full-time with crazy schedules) I used a can of quartered artichokes, a can of mushrooms and lots of garlic, warmed up in the pan with hot pepper flakes. I know, cans!!! Well they can be useful and in a frittata, well they did the job good so now I always keep some in my pantry.

With frozen veggies! There are so many beautiful mixes available these days, all you have to do is sauté them before adding the egg mixture. You can mix frozen and fresh like a pack of frozen spinach with lots of onions or a thinly sliced zucchini with garlic…

The combinations are endless I tell you, I could go on and on and on…

I would much more go for fresh of course so here a version we like a lot made with asparagus.

Beautiful asparagus sprinkled with Kalamata olives.

Here I had a bunch of thin asparagus, onions, garlic and hot pepper flakes getting all happy in the skillet* in about three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil for about 4 minutes at medium high (if the asparagus are bigger you can chop in smaller pieces), turned down the heat (4.5 on my stove) and added kalamata olives just before pouring the egg mixture. Put a lid on and let gently cook for about 6 to 7 minutes.

Turn on the oven to broil and place the skillet real close to the element. This will end the cooking of the eggs and give the beautiful golden color. Make sure to keep a close eye on it and to use a skillet that has an oven safe handle. If you don’t have one, wrap the handle with foil to protect it.

Asparagus Frittatta with salad and garlic bread!

Cut and enjoy with a nice salad, a piece of garlic bread or focaccia!

*I use a non stick skillet. Remember I want this to be easy and fast so fast cleaning is part of the deal for me. It will work in a traditional one but make sure to use a little more olive oil. It will stick to the bottom a little and if you don’t play with it once the egg mixture is poured it may not be too bad.

 

Have you ever made a frittatta? What’s your favorite garnish combination?