Main Dishes Archives - Page 17 of 57 - De Ma CuisineDe Ma Cuisine

Tuesday

24

June 2014

0

COMMENTS

Aaaand We’re Back… With Squash’n Eggs

Written by Rachel, Posted in Breakfast, Brunch, Cheese, Dinner, Eggs, Gluten Free, Herbs, Kid-Friendly, Lunch, Main Dishes, Quick and Easy, Sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Simple.

So simple.

So simple that I didn’t think about posting this until I’d started chopping the zucchini…

I mean, it’s eggs. It’s squash. It’s cheese.

There is fresh savory. You could use any fresh herb that pairs well with eggs.

It’s so simple.

But, then I thought, you might need simple. Right? For those lunches or dinners when there’s just nothing to make… then you spy the carton of eggs.

Eggs and pasta (sometimes together) have rescued many a meal at my house.

SquashNEggs-2

Squash is gonna be around for a while. I don’t like to eat the same thing, prepared the same way, over and over again.

This is not the same old squash.

These may be the best eggs I’ve had in a long time. Ok, except for the Eggs Benedict that I tried for the first time a few weeks ago. Right. I almost forgot. Those were excellent. Let’s call it a close second.

It all starts with some butter. Many of my favorite meals start with butter. I used salted butter. Unsalted will work fine too, just add a bit more salt to the dish.

A heap of zucchini (or whatever squash you have on hand) is plomped into the hot buttery skillet to cook on its own for a few minutes.

When the eggs join in they don’t need too long to cook, so don’t forget about them.

What really makes this dish is a bit of extra sharp cheddar cheese that’s sprinkled in. But it doesn’t just melt on top, it’s stirred in, so maybe there will be some crispy bits. Those are the best part.

That’s it. Done. Easy as… eggs.

Serve with some fruit, some homemade blueberry jam laden toast, and you’re golden.

Happy Eating!

Squash ‘n Eggs

Recipe Type: Main, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Eggs, Squash, Summer Squash, Zucchini, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, Vegetables, Quick and Easy

Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 11 mins

Total time: 16 mins

Serves: 1

A delicious, quick, and easy way to use summer squash, while making the best eggs.

Ingredients

1 T salted butter
1 C summer squash*, chopped
1/2 t savory (or any fresh herb that compliments eggs: dill, basil, chives, parsley, tarragon, thyme), chopped
pinch salt
1 clove garlic, minced
2 eggs
2 T milk
pinch salt
1/4 C sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Instructions

Heat a skillet over medium. Add butter. When butter is hot, add squash, savory, and a pinch of salt. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Whisk eggs, milk, and salt in a bowl. Add to the skillet. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until eggs are mostly set, stirring occasionally.
Sprinkle with cheese, then stir cheese in. Cook 1 minute more.

Notes

*Depending on what’s in season, other veggies could be added, like: bell peppers, broccoli, greens, tomatoes, radishes…

Wednesday

28

May 2014

0

COMMENTS

Simple Summer Salad

Written by Rachel, Posted in Bread, Cheese, Condiments, Gluten Free, Herbs, Lunch, Main Dishes, Nuts, Quick and Easy, Salads, Toasting, Vegetables, Vegetarian

It. Is. Hot.

Weather like this calls for a celebration of all things summer… even if it is only May.

We’re picnicking in our yard, enjoying fresh veggies dipped in homemade hummus, and barbecuing sausage to savor while we watch the Red Sox game.

I don’t really like hot weather, but this sure is fun.

Don’t remind me that I said that in October when it’s still 100 degrees… Actually, I may be over it already… Oh wait, there’s salad, and stone fruit, and watermelon season is soon. I’ll just have to keep repeating those things to myself.

Salad. Crispy, crunchy, wonderful salad.

My salad spinner just plum rolled off the counter and smashed the other week. I have to wash and dry the lettuce by hand. It has become a chore. But, I get to eat salads like this as a result of my hard work, sooooo yeah.

Can I say “plum rolled off the counter”?

You can totally make your own croutons. It’s so easy. I had the oven on anyways (why did I pick the week when it’s one million degrees outside?!). I was working on some dried tomatoes, for a later post. That’s why the oven temp is low. I thought about changing it, and you can, but these turned out great. If you up the temp, decrease the cooking time. Obvious.

Old bread makes great croutons. Not like moldy bread. Like stale bread. If you freeze it, not only do you get to open the freezer and enjoy a blast of cold air on a hot day, but if you want to rub a clove of garlic over the bread, it’s much easier.

Garlic plus olive oil plus salt equals some darn good croutons.

Raw squash is not Tim’s favorite. But, if it’s sliced thin like this he’s cool with it.

Almonds for crunch and protein.

A beautiful new cutting board makes for an excellent salad making station.

Peas add a delicate reminder of spring to this salad. I used frozen, but fresh would be even better (although then there’s no freezer action, so up to you).

I prefer to make my salad dressing from scratch. This one is a simple vinaigrette. There are also some herbs and garlic, and a bit of dijon mustard to help it emulsify. And salt, always need a bit of salt.

Table for two. (Side note: I totally love the new kitchen island that Tim made for me. Just gotta brag about my sweet man sometimes.)

Happy Eating!

Simple Summer Salad

Recipe Type: Main, Salad, Quick and Easy

Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 2-3

A quick and easy salad that’s perfect for those hot summer days.

Ingredients

1 clove garlic
2-3 slices stale bread (frozen is best, for garlic)
1 T olive oil
salt
pepper
3-4 C lettuce, torn
1/4 C peas (fresh or frozen)
20-30 almonds, chopped
1/2 C squash, thinly sliced
parmesan cheese, grated
dressing: 2 T balsamic vinegar
1/2 t dijon mustard
1 t fresh savory, chopped
1 T fresh or 1/2 t dried basil, chopped or crushed
1 t fresh or 1/4 t dried oregano, chopped or crushed
1 clove garlic, minced
to taste salt
to taste pepper
3 T olive oil

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 250F.
Rub a clove of garlic onto the slices of frozen bread. Cut bread into cubes. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until bread is crispy, turning once or twice. Let stand and cool.
Whisk together balsamic vinegar through pepper. Slowly stream in olive oil, whisking as you do, creating an emulsion. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Assemble lettuce, peas, almonds, squash, cheese, and croutons. Top with dressing.

3.2.1303

Wednesday

16

April 2014

4

COMMENTS

Sweet and Savory Cornmeal Pancakes

Written by Rachel, Posted in Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner, Eggs, Gluten Free, Lunch, Main Dishes, Meat, Pork, Quick and Easy, Vegetables

These pancakes may be my weakness. I mean, there’s just something about the egg dripping down, the savory bacon-mushroom-greens, and the sweet maple syrup that gets me.

After I took pictures, I knelt on the floor in front of the photographing area and inhaled them. I literally couldn’t stop.

This isn’t the first time this has happened. 😉

The day begins with some mushrooms that are all happy and warm in a dry pan. I didn’t add any oil right away because the mushrooms just soak it up. I wait until after they’re cooked to add it. It’s better this way. Trust me.

The oil is added along with some beet greens. Kale, chard, spinach… all acceptable substitutions. Buuuut, if you have beets, try it, it’s goooooood. (Tip: the more red stem you remove the less they will taste like beets, if you’re not as keen on the beet taste as some.)

We’re also adding bacon. So, yeah.

The batter is kinda like a polenta. In fact, in a pinch, if you had some leftover polenta, you could just slice it up, fry it and top it with the greens.

I felt like making these gluten-free, because I had some GF flour. Regular flour would be great too. Use what you have.

The pancakes puff up a bit and get nice and golden brown. They have just a hint of maple syrup in them, so they’re not overly sweet. They also make for a perfect next morning breakfast, toasted and topped with peanut butter, yogurt, fresh fruit, and syrup.

Make a big batch, then freeze a bunch and pop them into the toaster when it’s too early to think. Homemade hot breakfast. Done.

I did this about four days in a row. I ate the entire batch on my own. (I’m not kidding.)

And then, the best part (ok it’s all just the best part, let’s be honest), eggs are fried to a perfectly delicious doneness (a.k.a however you like them cooked, I prefer over-medium), and plomped on top of a big ole stack of pancakes.

Yes.

I’m so ready to eat this meal again.

I’ve been eating chocolate all afternoon and am ready for some sustenance.

Happy Eating!

Sweet and Savory Cornmeal Pancakes

Recipe Type: Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, Pancakes, Vegetables

Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1-8 oz. pkg. mushrooms, sliced
1 t coconut oil
1 bunch (about 2 C) beet greens (or any other greens), chopped
pinch nutmeg
to taste salt
to taste pepper
1 t maple syrup
pancakes: 2 t coconut oil
2 eggs
1/4 T maple syrup
1/2 C buttermilk
1 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
pinch salt
1 C cornmeal
1/4 C all purpose flour (GF is fine)
4 eggs, for frying
maple syrup, for serving

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 200F (or less). Place a baking sheet with a cooling rack set on it in the oven.
Cook bacon. Drain on a paper towel lined plate and set aside. When cool, crumble.
Add mushrooms to a dry, hot skillet. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1 t coconut oil, greens, bacon, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and maple syrup, and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Whisk wet ingredients together (it’s ok if oil clumps a bit when it gets cold – try to break it into small pieces).
Whisk dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Mix wet ingredients with dry. Let stand for about 5 minutes (batter will be fairly thin).
Heat a skillet or griddle over medium-low and add some coconut oil. When the oil is hot, pour about 1/8 C of batter onto the skillet, repeat until skillet has about 3 or 4 (depending on size of skillet and of pancakes), leaving a bit of room around each one. Cook for about 2 minutes on one side, or until bubbles form and do not pop. Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes more. Place on the baking sheet in the warm oven. Repeat until all batter has been used.
Fry eggs.
Top a stack of pancakes with an egg, mushroom and greens mixture, and a drizzle of maple syrup. Serve warm.

Thursday

3

April 2014

13

COMMENTS

Classic Meat and Cheese Lasagna… With Veggies

Written by Rachel, Posted in Baking, Beef, Cheese, Dinner, Herbs, Main Dishes, Meat, Pasta, Vegetables

Tim informed me the other day that he would like more lasagna, meatloaf, and tacos in his life. Cool. I can do that. I had lasagna on the menu before he even asked.

Winner. (Um, both of us.)

I woke up really early this morning to get started, since I had two meals to cook and photograph. Boy was it fun. No really, it was. I’m totally not being sarcastic. I enjoyed a full day of cooking and picture making.

It’s a lot of fun to cook and photograph for you guys to see on here. But, let’s be honest, when I know that Tim is going to love something as much as he loves lasagna, well, not much can beat that.

We just moved and have some friends coming to visit from Germany next week (yippee!). So I made two, and put one in the freezer. That means that if my kitchen isn’t completely unpacked, or if I don’t have the energy after unpacking and working all day, I can pop a lasagna in the oven, and dinner is taken care of… except for the caesar salad and garlic bread that will definitely need to accompany the meal. Other than that, all I have to do is open the wine.

This is my version of a classic meat and cheese lasagna, with lots of veggies. I threw in some radish, kale, celery, and carrot. I’m not really afraid of veggie-ing up a dish. If you don’t heart vegetables, you are not alone (sorrynotsorry). Yesterday, Tim told me that something we had for dinner was “really good, for vegetables”. We may not share the same opinion about the deliciousness of greens. 😉

Thankfully, we do both really enjoy cheese. I know you can use ricotta for lasagna, but I couldn’t find it at the store, so I used cottage cheese. It’s mixed together with Greek yogurt, mozzarella, and parmesan. I’m not sure that you could have too much of this cheesy mixture.

The sauce is simple, it’s almost just tomato sauce and herbs. Like the cheese mixture, too much is a good thing.

The anatomy of the lasagna and the way it all comes together.

Also, the sunlight changes more than I’d noticed in real life.

It bakes up and bubbles and melts and mmmm tastes so good. You should’a seen the huge helping Tim got. And then I looked over and it was gone. So I gave him a bite of mine. He can’t get enough lasagna.

I served this lasagna with some crazy good garlic bread. Done and done.

Happy Eating!

Classic Meat and Cheese Lasagna

Recipe Type: Main Dishes, Dinners, Meat, Beef, Vegetables, Cheese, Hearty, Oven, Baking, Greens

Cuisine: Italian

Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 90 mins

Total time: 1 hour 45 mins

Serves: 8

A classic lasagna with lots of veggies.

Ingredients

meat and veggie filling: 1 lb. ground beef
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 C carrot, diced
1/4 C radish, diced
3/4 C celery, diced
3 C kale, chopped
to taste salt
to taste pepper
pinch nutmeg
cheese filling: 16 oz. cottage cheese
1/2 C Greek yogurt
2 1/2 C mozzarella cheese, grated (1 C reserved)
1/2 C parmesan cheese
to taste salt
to taste pepper
tomato sauce: 4-6 C tomato sauce
to taste salt
to taste pepper
1 t dried oregano, crushed
1 t dried thyme, crushed
1 t dried parsley, crushed
1 t dried basil, crushed
1/2 t dried rosemary, crushed
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 – 9 oz. box (about 12 noodles) lasagna noodles (the kind that don’t need to be cooked first*)

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
Cook beef until partially done, then add garlic through celery, and cook for 5-10 minutes. Add kale and wilt down, about 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
Mix together cheese filling ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Mix together tomato sauce ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Grease two 8×8 pans (or one 9×13). Spoon a bit of sauce into the bottom of the pan and top with two noodles. Top noodles with meat and vegetable filling, then with cheese mixture, and more sauce. Repeat three more times, topping last set of noodles with lots of sauce and reserved mozzarella.
Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 30-40 more.
Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Wednesday

26

March 2014

6

COMMENTS

BLT Salad

Written by Rachel, Posted in Condiments, Fruit, Inspired By, Lunch, Main Dishes, Meat, Pork, Salads, Toasting, Vegetables

You’re welcome. I’ll just say it. I mean, if I were you, I’d be thanking me for this post. Because, when it comes to bacon and croutons, I can’t get enough. 😉

For example, today, after I’d finished taking pictures, I ate the salad right out of the bowl. All of it. Didn’t share. After dumping the bowl in the sink (in hopes that the dishes fairy will come while I’m typing this for you), I stood at fridge with the dressing whisk and serving spoon to make sure I got any remaining dressing off of them, while eating the leftover bacon and croutons (that are meant for something else). I continued to stand there eating bacon and croutons even after the dressing was gone.

I did not give up bacon for Lent. Fact. You might not have been wondering.

I have bacon planned for 3 more meals in the next 7 days. It’s been a while since we’ve had bacon.

I’m so distracted by the photos of croutons and bacon that are on the other screen.

And then there’s that dressing. It’s really just a few things that I think you have in your fridge and pantry right now: mayo, yogurt, lemon juice, mustard, olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic. Oh the garlic… Garlic is good for you.

You will want to choose a sturdy lettuce. It will be less likely to get soggy. If you don’t, that’s cool too. Just dress the salad right before serving and make sure there are no leftovers.

You may want to take a moment, after you consume this salad, to give thanks for bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and bread… seriously. This is good stuff. Also, being thankful is important. Sooooo, yeah.

The dishes fairy has not yet arrived.

Happy Eating!

BLT Salad

Recipe Type: Salad, Main, Meat, Bread

Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 2

It’s like you chopped up your BLT and poured dressing over it.

Ingredients

2 slices bacon
1 C bread, torn into crouton sized pieces
olive oil
to taste salt
to taste pepper
dressing: 1 T mayo
2 T Greek (or plain) yogurt
1 clove garlic (optional), minced
1/4 t dijon mustard
1/2 T lemon juice
1/2 T balsamic vinegar
to taste salt
to taste pepper
1 T olive oil
salad: 2-4 C lettuce, torn
1 tomato, chopped

Instructions

Cook bacon. Drain and let cool on paper towel lined plate. Crumble.
Toss bread with a splash of olive oil, and some salt and pepper. Bake at 350F for about 10-15 minutes, or until crispy.
Whisk mayo through pepper. Whisk while streaming in olive oil. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Top lettuce with tomato, bacon, croutons, and dressing. Toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Notes

If cooking bacon in the oven, heat to 350F, place bacon on a cooling rack on a baking sheet (so it won’t sit in its grease). Bake for about 25-35 minutes, or until cooked to desired crispiness. Baking in the oven increases cooking time.

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Main Dishes Archive

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Aaaand We’re Back… With Squash’n Eggs

Happy Eating!

28

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Simple Summer Salad

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16

4

Sweet and Savory Cornmeal Pancakes

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3

13

Classic Meat and Cheese Lasagna… With Veggies

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26

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BLT Salad

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