Pumpkin chocolate-chip muffins

I hadn't gone grocery shopping over the weekend and was in need of something muffin-like for the kids' breakfast on Monday morning.

I was paging through cookbooks and three-ring binders when I discovered a pumpkin muffin recipe that I had printed out somewhere circa the turn of the century when I was a member of several food listservs (Eat Low Fat, KitMailbox, and Fatfree, just to name a few). There were some pretty tasty recipes shared among the participants of those listservs. (Perhaps you were among us?)

Even 11 years later I still remembered how good these Publick House Pumpkin Muffins were, so I made them (with the addition of chocolate chips). 

Ingredients:
1 cup Sugar
1/4 cup light vegetable oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg (I didn't have any nutmeg, so I omitted)
1/2 teaspoon salt (whoops! totally forgot this)
3/4 cup Raisins (omitted)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts; *opt'l (omitted)

(I added approximately 3/4 cups of chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 400F. Generously grease a 12 cup muffin tin (even nonstick tins including the flat spaces between the muffins). Mix sugar, oil, eggs and pumpkin. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Quickly stir together both mixtures. (Don't overmix.)

Fold in raisins and walnuts. (This is where I added the chocolate chips.) Fill prepared muffin cups two-thirds full and bake 18 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. If you prefer large, crusty muffin tops, fill the cups to the top. As they bake, the tops will run together. To test for doneness, use a sharp knife or broom straw. When the knife or straw comes out clean, muffins are done. Remove from oven and let them cool a few moments in the pan before removing. Serve warm with butter or honey butter.

Creamed spinach in the crockpot

Truth be told, I'm usually more fond of the Thanksgiving side dishes than the actual bird itself.  I am all about the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the vegetables. 

Yesterday, my mom made an incredible creamed spinach dish that I just had to share, especially since I've been woefully delinquent on posting any recipes here.   (I don't have a photo of it, unfortunately.  It disappeared too fast, and my family doesn't understand the rationale or importance of photographing one's food.)

Even better, this creamed spinach is a side dish that can be made in the crockpot, making it an easy addition to your holiday table.  And even though Thanksgiving has come and gone, there's still post-Thanksgiving meals and Christmas for those who celebrate such, and New Years festivities.  This side dish would be a great addition to any of these holidays or your regular everyday meals.

Mom says she got it from one of her friends in the active-adult community in which she lives, so I apologize for not being able to give any more attribution than that.

2 packages of 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
2 cups of cream style cottage cheese (Mom used small curd)
1/2 cup of butter, cut up
1 1/2 cup of American cheese, cubed (Mom used only approximately a cup)
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup flour (Mom used slightly less)
1 tsp. salt

Grease crock pot and combine all ingredients.  Cook on low 4-5 hrs. Stir occasionally, put in attractive bowl and serve warn.

Mom says she added a little whole milk and a little piece (about a quarter) of onion, and removed the onion before serving.

There were 6 adults and 3 children at our table and this was enough for all.

Southwestern baked dip

Fall doesn't officially start until tomorrow, but let's kick off autumn a day early, shall we?

This is my favorite season of the year, for so many reasons.  I love how the temperature outside becomes cooler, I love the colors that I often take for granted as a lifelong resident of the Mid-Atlantic states, and I love the soups and casseroles and pot pies (and the baked goods) that this season has in abundance.

When I think of fall recipes, I almost always think of this warm southwestern baked dip.  It has been a favorite of ours since one of my husband's co-workers gave me the recipe in 1991. "For Melissa's Recipe Collection" the co-worker had written. It's a great warm dip to indulge in while watching football or getting together with friends.  I've served this as an appetizer for parties I've hosted and it always gets rave reviews.

The only downside? It's not exactly low-fat. I suppose you could tweak it to be such, just as you could alter the heat of it.

Southwestern Baked Dip

1/4 cup hot or mild salsa
1/2 cup sour cream
1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 pkg. 8 oz. softened cream cheese

Mix salsa, sour cream, and cream cheese with beater and fold in cheddar cheese. Pour in casserole with top or foil and bake covered for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Serve warm with white corn chips. Serves 4-6. (I've doubled and tripled this, with lovely results).

Enjoy ... and happy fall!

Farewell to summer dinner (with grilled veggie kebobs and garlic bread with fresh tomato and mozzarella)

My in-laws visited us this weekend and I wanted to make a "farewell to summer" dinner using some local produce.  So on Saturday, Betty and I took my mother-in-law to a nearby farm where I bought corn on the cob, zucchini, yellow squash, an onion, mushrooms, red potatoes, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella.  All would find their way into that evening's dinner.

I wanted to make veggie kebobs on the grill and submitting this recipe seems like cheating here because my friend and fellow cook Kristen already posted a similar dish back in May.  (See her post Grilled chicken shish kebob.)

Grilled Vegetable Kebobs

I didn't really measure anything with this one.  Basically, I used two zucchini and two yellow squash, approximately a pound of small red potatoes, half of an Empire sweet onion, and approximately a dozen (maybe less) white mushrooms. 

I boiled the potatoes for 10 minutes while cutting the onion, squash, zucchini and mushrooms into chunks and marinating it for about 20 minutes with Italian dressing.  (I threw the potatoes - some of which I kept whole, others which I halved or quartered - in during the last 10 minutes of marination.)

I didn't measure the amount of dressing either, but if I had to do this again, which is very possible, I would cut down the amount of dressing I used. (Nobody said anything, but I thought the kebobs were slighty too tangy.)

Then I threaded the vegetables onto metal skewers.  (Even when I soak the bamboo skewers, they tend to catch on fire.  I spent most of my summer looking for metal skewers and finally found them at a different farm, also nearby.)

The Husband grilled the kebobs for about 10 minutes, turning once.  This made 8 kebobs.

Along with this, we grilled hot dogs (for the kids and in-laws) and veggie burgers for us. I also boiled corn on the cob. Finally, I changed my mind from preparing a caprese salad and instead enhanced some store-bought garlic bread by adding slices of fresh mozzarella and fresh tomato.

I left one side of the garlic bread plain because several folks at our table aren't fans of tomatoes.  Cooked it in the oven for 7 minutes and then let it cool, cutting each of the sides into smaller pieces and arranging on a serving platter.  (No pictures of that ... they disappeared too quickly.)

Dessert was a selection of homemade ice creams from another nearby farm - vanilla, chocolate, peach, and coffee. 

All in all, a delicious ending to a wonderful summer.

Blackberry pie

Two years ago, my then 6 year old daughter and I went to a then-nearby farm where we walked up and down row after row of blackberries.

We each had our own basket and we had a friendly competition to see who would get the most blackberries.

Of course, she won.

As I said, that was two years ago.  She still talks about picking blackberries, how stained our shirts and shorts were, how we licked the blackberry juice off our fingers, and how we snuck one or two right from the vines into our mouths.  And whenever she does bring this up, she always mentions the blackberry pie we made with our loot.

Having never made a blackberry pie before and not having a family recipe of sorts, I turned to my online recipe book, allrecipes.com, where I found this recipe for Blackberry Pie I.   It's incredibly easy and amazingly delicious.  The Husband isn't a big fan of blackberries  - he doesn't like the seeds, and I could do without them as well, but I'm willing to do a little extra brushing and flossing of my teeth (which I should be doing anyway) in exchange.

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh blackberries

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup white sugar

Directions:

1. Combine 3 1/2 cups berries with the sugar and flour. Spoon the mixture into an unbaked pie shell. Spread the remaining 1/2 cup berries on top of the sweetened berries, and cover with the top crust. Seal and crimp the edges. Brush the top crust with milk, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar.

2. Bake at 425 degree F (220 degrees C) for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes.

Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. 

And savor the goodness.

Ratatouille (in the crockpot)

I had a bit of an eggplant dilemma over the weekend.  You see, I have a bit of a habit of buying unknown-to-me-produce at the farmer's market.  The cuter the name and the cuter the item, the chances are great that it is coming home with me, even if I have no idea what I am going to make with it. 

That was the situation last weekend, when I purchased these at the farm:

The purple and white globe is apparently a Graffiti Eggplant, the long and narrow ones are Green Goddesses, and the short round ones are the adorably named Kermits. 

(C'mon, would you have been able to leave a Kermit at the farm?  Especially with the meat case just a few dangerous feet away?)

So they came home with me and there they sat, awaiting some decision from me as to what I would make. 

Over the weekend, I had ratatouille on my mind so I turned to Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook  by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann. Sure enough, on pages 133-134, there's a slow cooker recipe for ratatouille, described as a regional vegetable stew from Provence.

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, 1.5 lbs., peeled and cut into 1" cubes (I used the graffiti eggplant, one Kermit, and one Green Goddess because the graffiti wasn't what I would have considered large)

salt
1 medium sized yellow onion, coarsely chopped
2 medium-size or large bell peppers (green, red, orange, or yellow), seeded and cut into big squares
10 plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or one 14.5 oz. can diced plum tomatoes, drained
2-3 cloves garlic, to your taste, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
5 zucchini or summer squash , ends trimmed and cut into thick rounds
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, to your taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Put the cubed eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with salt.  Let stand 1 hour to drain.  Press out the excess moisture with the back of a spatula and pat dry with paper towels.

2. Combine the eggplant, onion, bell peppers, tomatoes, and garlic in the slow cooker. Pour over the olive oil and toss to coat.  Cover and cook on HIGH for 1-1.5 hours or on LOW for 2-3 hours.

3. Stir in the zucchini.  Cover and continue to cook for HIGH for another 1.5 hrs. or on LOW for 2-2.5 hours. The last hour, add the basil and season with salt and black pepper.  The vegetables will be cooked but will still hold their shape.

Some serving ideas mentioned in the book include serving hot with crumbled goat cheese sprinkled on top (this is what I did, especially since I can't resist any opportunity for goat cheese), at room temperature with lemon wedges and freshly grated parmesan cheese, or cold drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Serves 4-6.

"Fried" chicken (in the crockpot)

Summer isn't usually synonymous with crockpot cooking, but there's no reason for your slow cooker to collect dust when the temperature soars past the edges of the thermometer.  (Here on the hot and humid East Coast, there have been some days when it's even too hot to consider firing up the grill.) 

That's when the crockpot can be pressed into service, even for traditional summertime food like fried chicken.

In her cookbook Make It Fast, Cook It Slow, Stephanie O'Dea has a great recipe for "fried chicken" (her quotes) made in the crockpot.  It's a great recipe for these summer months for when you don't want to turn on the oven and don't want to step outside. 

Ingredients
cooking spray
1 tbsp. seasoned salt
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
2 tsps. onion powder
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 c. flour (Stephanie used a gluten-free baking mix)
18 thawed drumsticks (or however many will fit into your slow cooker) *
4 tbsps. (1/2 stick) butter, melted

* When I made this, I was able to fit approximately 10-12 drumsticks in my crockpot. 

Use a 6-quart slow cooker.  Spray the stoneware with cooking spray.  Combine all the seasonings and flour in a ziplock freezer bag.

Add the chicken and tightly seal the bag.  Shake until the chicken is nicely coated.  Dump chicken into the stoneware. Add the melted butter.  Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for about 6 hours.

In her notes, Stephanie mentions that she likes to munch on these cold.  So do I.  That's an extra added bonus of making extra - one less summertime meal to cook on a hot day!

Stuffed pattypan squash

Down the road from us is a farm with a store that's larger than a farmer's market but smaller than a grocery store. I love shopping there (and usually do so once a week, on average) because they have incredibly fresh fruits and vegetables along with a great selection of gluten-free and organic foods, a homemade baked goods section, and a deli. It's a great place to pick up a gallon of milk or a last-minute something without making the trip to the supermarket.

So the other day they had a basket of patty pan squash, with a sign saying, "OUR OWN!" I couldn't resist them - they're so cute - but especially because you can't get any more local than five minutes away.

Truth be told, I purchased some of these last year, but they went to waste before I could find a recipe to use them in.  That wasn't going to happen this year, so I searched for (and found, on allrecipes.com) this recipe for stuffed pattypan squash.

Since I only had 4 pattypans, I scaled this down a little bit.  You may want and need to do the same, depending on the size of your squash.

Ingredients
6 pattypan squash, stem and blossom removed
6 slices bacon
1/2 cup diced onion
1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Bring one inch of water to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add squash, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, or until a fork can pierce the stem with little resistance. Drain, and slice off the top stem of the squash. Use a melon baller to carefully scoop out the centers of the squash. (I used a regular teaspoon.  Worked fine.) Reserve all of the bits of squash.

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove bacon to paper towels, and set aside. Saute onion in bacon drippings. Chop the reserved squash pieces, and saute them with the onion for one minute. (My note: I used vegetarian bacon.)

Remove the skillet from heat, and stir in the breadcrumbs. Crumble the bacon, and stir into the stuffing along with the Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stuff each squash to overflowing with the mixture, and place them in a baking dish. Cover the dish loosely with aluminum foil.

Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until squash are heated through.

I served this with vegetarian chicken and macaroni and cheese.  Since this was a new dish to try (and I'm happy to report that everyone at the table tried it), I needed something else for us as a backup.  These were pretty tasty!

Crustless spinach quiche

I was in the mood for quiche, but as these things go, I didn't have any crust - nor was I in the mood to make any. So, a quick search on allrecipes.com led me to this recipe for Crustless Spinach Quiche, which turned out pretty tasty.  It was also incredibly simple to make.

Chances are you have most (if not all) of the ingredients on hand.

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

1 10 oz. box frozen spinach, thawed and drained

5 eggs, beaten

3 cups muenster cheese (I used mozzarella)

 1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease pan.  Add oil to skillet, then onions. Stir in spinach.

You'll recall that the directions specified that the spinach be thawed and drained.  Mine obviously wasn't, but you'll want to make sure yours is, because otherwise this takes a lot of time in the skillet for it to defrost.

In a bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt, and pepper.  Add spinach mixture from skillet and stir to blend. Scoop mixture into pan. 

Bake until eggs are set or 30 minutes.  Let cool 10 minutes.

My kids weren't too pleased with this, but that was to be expected.  The Husband and I thought it was delicious and a dish that might make it into the regular rotation.  There were leftovers, which were pretty good heated up the next day for lunch, which I had with some chopped tomatoes.  

Next time I might try this with reduced fat cheese (not sure how that will work) and perhaps some vegetarian bacon.

Simple summer sandwich

I've taken leave of my kitchen temporarily, thanks to the air-conditioning unit in our house being uncooperative for the last few days, just as the outside temperatures are soaring into the 80s and 90s. (Isn't that always the way?)  Apparently, there's a big ol' chunk of ice in the air conditioner that is causing us to feel like we've become Mr. and Mrs. Heat Miser from "A Year Without a Santa Claus." (Yeah, I know ... you're welcome for putting that song in your head.)

So as of last night, I'm not cooking anything that requires much of anything. I've put the family on notice not to expect too much this week as the chef is busy fanning herself on the sofa  juggling repairmen schedules with work projects, ramped-up therapy schedules, and orthodontist appointments.  Truly, the only food I'm thinking about are cool ones.

Like my favorite summertime sandwich, which I had for lunch today. It's such a simple sandwich, but oh so good. 

(The lopsidedness of this sandwich is apropos for how I feel right now.)

All there is to it is some thick whole wheat bread, hummus, cucumbers and tomatoes. I might add a pinch of kosher salt.  This would also work well in a wrap, of course.

It's the simplest thing. And when life gets a little too chaotic, and you're too hot that you can't be bothered, sometimes that's just what you need.

Quick braised chicken with rosemary and new potatoes

I love borrowing cookbooks from the library. (I've been known to read them like novels, especially as some light bedtime reading.) One of the books I currently have out is The Deen Bros. Take It Easy: Quick and Affordable Meals the Whole Family Will Love by Jamie and Bobby Deen, sons of Paula. 

Like their mom, the Deen brothers are food celebrities in their own right. The premise of their cookbook is that, while their mother's food is delicious and the centerpiece of their family life and livelihoods, their schedules don't often allow for the slow Southern way of cooking. Jamie and Bobby Deen strive to give their readers - and their mama's fans - the same down home goodness in less than 45 minutes of preparation.

Jamie and Bobby live up to expectations in Take It Easy. There's something for everyone in this book - yes, even the vegetarian! - although many of the recipes draw (or should that be drawl? :) on their Southern heritage. Recipes abound for meat, poultry, fish, pasta dishes, crockpot meals, main-course salads, kid-friendly foods (Jamie has a 3 year old, so he knows toddlers' picky tastebuds) and of course, desserts.  All the photographs are beautiful and written in such a style that you just want to sit down at the table with the Deen family for dinner and listen to them talk.

Here's one of the recipes from the book that the kids and I enjoyed on a night that The Husband was working late (he doesn't eat meat, so I usually make a chicken dish on those evenings).

Quick Braised Chicken with Rosemary and New Potatoes

Ingredients:
3 pounds chicken legs, cut into thighs and drumsticks (or just use one or the other)
2 Teaspoons salt, plus additional for seasoning
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus additional for seasoning
1 pound small new red potatoes, cut into eighths
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and rosemary.

3. Place the chicken in a large broiler-proof baking pan and season with additional salt and pepper. Add the potatoes to the pan. Pour the rosemary mixture over the chicken and potatoes and toss to coat.

(My note: you will notice that I forgot the potatoes, and didn't have any new potatoes on hand.  Fortunately, I had some canned potatoes in the pantry. Not ideal, but better than nothing.)

4. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover the pan and transfer to the broiler. Broil, 4 inches from the heat, for about 10 minutes, or until the juices run clear when the chicken is pricked with a fork. Serve hot, with pan juices spooned on top. (my note: this needed a little more cooking time in my oven ... at the 45 minute mark, it seemed more done).

The chicken in the other pan was used as my lunch and the kids' dinner the next day. It was easier to cook the entire package of chicken legs instead of freezing the ones I didn't use.

The kids and I enjoyed this very much. It was really simple and will be a good dinner to make whenever chicken legs happen to be on sale.

Tomato-basil panzanella

Here on this part of the East Coast, this weekend ushered in a burst of summertime weather typically more conducive to early August instead of early May.  It was downright HOT outside and I had zero interest in turning on the oven (or doing much cooking, truth be told).

I did, however, have a craving for one of my absolute favorite summertime dishes, a simple panzanella salad. That's a fancy way of saying "bread salad."  I could eat this as a meal and on Saturday night when everyone else in the family had leftover pizza, that's exactly what I did. 

My go-to-panzanella recipe comes from page 42 of Veggie Meals, by Rachael Ray. For Saturday's salad, I halved the ingredients since it was just me having the salad.  (The Husband and Boo sampled some of it.)  According to Rach, this serves 2 as a supper and 4 as a starter.



3 medium vine-ripe tomatoes, diced
20 leaves fresh basil, stacked, rolled into logs, then thinly sliced
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, cubed into bite-size pieces (optional)
2 crusty, chewy rolls, cubed (day-old Italian is fine)
3 tbsps. extra-virgin olive oil (3 turns around the bowl)
1.5 tbsps red wine vinegar (a couple splashes)
coarse salt and black pepper, to taste

(My notes: on Thursday, I purchased some delicious breadsticks from the farmer's market.  They were already seasoned with basil and oregano, so I just added a little dried basil - didn't have fresh - to the salad.  The three breadsticks that I used were perfect, as they were the perfect amount of staleness for this.  I substituted some shredded mozzarella for the fresh.  Not quite the same, but in my book, any mozzarella is better than no mozzarella. Finally, I added in some diced cucumber.)

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Let stand for 10 minutes to allow bread to absorb juices, then serve.

Seriously, could this be any easier? (No, it really couldn't.) Plus, it is especially delicious the next day, after the flavors have had time to blend overnight ... and you can make this in advance for any summertime get-togethers or when you need a simple dinner.

No-cream pasta primavera

Back in the day when people had such a thing known as "discretionary income," several coworkers and I would regularly go out to lunch. By regularly, I mean this was a near-daily occurance, and among my most favorite lunches was the Chicken Giardino at the Olive Garden. (Which I always ordered sans-chicken, as I was a definite vegetarian in that era.)

Fast forward a recession (or two), a baby (or two), and those days are long gone.

Now it's a decade later and I'm wondering what to make for dinner. I have some straight from-the-farm-fresh veggies. It's springtime; I want pasta primavera but I don't want the heavy creaminess associated with such a dish. I log onto allrecipes.com.

And find this: No-Cream Pasta Primavera, as submitted by amanda1432. As I substitute farfalle pasta for penne, I realize that this looks pretty similar to my beloved Chicken Giardino.

I think this is the type of recipe where the list of veggies lends itself well to substituting whatever you have on hand. Yellow squash, zucchini, red bell pepper, and fresh green beans were not in my fridge, but baby carrots, asparagus, and tomatoes (vine-ripened) were. (Don't let the long list of ingredients scare you. This is much easier than it looks.)

Ingredients:
1 (12 ounce) package penne pasta
1 yellow squash, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 carrot, julienned
1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
5 spears asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black
pepper
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add penne pasta and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until al dente; drain.

3. In a bowl, toss squash, zucchini, carrot, red bell pepper, tomatoes, green beans, and asparagus with 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and Italian seasoning. Arrange vegetables on the baking sheet, and roast 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until tender.

4. Heat remaining olive oil and butter in a large skillet. Stir in the onion and garlic, and cook until tender. Mix in cooked pasta, lemon zest, basil, parsley, and balsamic vinegar. Gently toss and cook until heated through. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl. Toss with roasted vegetables and sprinkle with Romano cheese to serve.

Knowing that my kids wouldn't look at this if the vegetables were included, I dished out some plain pasta before adding the vegetables. (I also forgot the last few herbs and the balsamic vinegar.)

I loved this, and so did The Husband. Boo ate a decent amount of it, and Betty was only interested in the carrots and peas (which I'd added at the very last minute). It could lend itself well to the addition of chicken or shrimp. I'll definitely be making this again - in some variety - as the bounty from the farm continues to arrive with the nice weather.

Manhattan clam chowder

Every so often, I stay overnight at my mother and stepfather's house after work.  These are usually evenings when I have a late meeting or, as the case was recently, an early morning presentation.  I have a really long commute to work - on average it is 2 hours each way - and my mom's house is within 30 minutes of my office. 

I love these evenings for so many reasons (they'll be ending soon, because next month I'm starting a new job much closer to my house).  Call me selfish, but one of the reasons I love staying overnight at my mom's is that I don't have to make dinner.  Or jump up every two minutes to refill someone's juice, or hear complaints about how disgusting the menu is.  Instead, these dinners are usually me and my mom in the kitchen, catching up on family and friends, me elaborating on something the kids did or the funny things they said. 

That was the case two weeks ago when I arrived into the kitchen, tired from a long meeting and damp from a rainy night. My mom had a simmering pot of Manhattan clam chowder on the stove, with fluffy biscuits on the counter.  I couldn't recall her ever making clam chowder in my life.

"It's the best soup," she enthused.  "Aunt Etta gave me the recipe years ago." 

My mom produced the recipe - "so you can write about it on your blog" - and she wasn't kidding when she said she had the recipe for years. The date on the magazine clipping: February 1976.  I was in the first grade then.

I took a spoonful of the chowder, and it was indeed every bit as good as she promised it was.  Comfort food in every sense of the word ... at its very best.

Bill Johnson's Manhattan Clam Chowder
from Family Circle, Feb. 1976

36 large chowder clams (quahogs) OR:
2 cans (7-8 oz. ea.) minced clams  (my mom used the canned clams)

1/2 stick sweet butter (I know, I know ....)
1 cup diced onion
1-1/2 cups diced potatoes
1 cup diced celery
3/4 cup diced carrots
3/4 cup diced green pepper (my mom may have left this out)
1 can (2 lb. 3 oz) Italian-style plum tomatoes, drained
1-1/2 tsp. leaf thyme (crumbled)
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/8 tsp. curry powder
(I know my mom's version omitted the white pepper and curry powder.)

Directions:

Shuck fresh clams; reserve broth; chop clams coarsely. If using canned clams, drain and reserve broth. Broth from clams should measure 2 cups. If not, add water or bottled clam broth.

Melt sweet butter in a large saucepan. Saute onions until lightly browned.

Add remaining ingredients and extra water, if needed, to cover vegetables. Bring to boil; lower heat; cover and simmer 30 minutes or just until vegetables are tender.

Add fresh (or canned) clams; turn off heat; cover and let stand 2 minutes or just until clams are thoroughly hot. Serve with warm buttered pilot crackers if you wish.

(Sorry about the terrible photo.  It was taken with my BlackBerry, and I was nearly finished with my second bowl of chowder when I remembered to take a picture.)

Chicken with chickpeas and couscous

This seat taken?  No? Great! Thanks so much for letting me join you for dinner tonight. It's really nice to meet all of you too.  I'm Melissa, and I was invited to this party by my friend Niksmom.

I'm one of the new contributors here and have been a reader since (Never) Too Many Cooks was launched. When I'm not here, chances are you'll find me at my blog, The Betty and Boo Chronicles where I'm generally talking about books, current events, my 8 year old twins, life on the autism spectrum (my son has Asperger's), my novel-in-(ahem ...) progress, or sharing a recipe.

Speaking of which, I happened to bring a dish for you to try. I wanted to bring something impressive for my debut, but instead this is pretty basic and simple.  

I had 3 boneless chicken breasts to use up last week. (The kids are generally the only ones who eat poultry in our house. The Husband is a vegetarian  - well, technically a pescetarian - and I would be considered a semi-vegetarian or flexitarian. The kids are carnivores.  All this, plus a smorgasbord of other dietary quirks and preferences, usually make for challenging interesting mealtimes at our house.)

Anyway, my kids are always much more receptive to a new dish if I I call it by a creative name. So instead of telling them this was chicken with chickpeas and couscous (which would have prompted a chorus of borrrr-rrring!) I referred to this dinner as Chick, Chick, Cous - as in Duck, Duck, Goose. They got a big kick out of that.  And devoured this. Hey, a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do.

I started by making a basic marinade for the chicken that I borrowed from a Rachael Ray recipe ("No Mystery: Marinated Beef, Chicken, Pork, or Portobello Mushrooms") as found in her cookbook, Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals 2.

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tbsps red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, chopped (I used jarred minced garlic)
1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme (I used a generous pinch of dried)
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (same as above)

(Rachael's marinade also calls for 1/4-1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, but that would not have been popular in my house, so I omitted.)

Combine marinade ingredients in the bottom of a shallow dish. Season [chicken] with salt and pepper and set into marinade and turn to coat. Allow meat to hang out 10 minutes, turning occasionally. (I like the quick marinading time for times like this when you get inspired for dinner at the last minute.)

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add marinated meat and cook 5-6 minutes on each side. Remove to a warm platter.

I had a craving for couscous so I simply opened up a box and cooked that while the chicken was doing its thing. I also thought chickpeas would add a healthy boost to the meal (my kids and I love them) so I added a can to the couscous.

That's it. The kids and I liked this. (The Husband was working late.) Yeah, it isn't the most colorful dinner or something that is going to knock your socks off, but it's easy, simple, and healthy which my modus operandi in our kitchen. (For additional color, you could perhaps add some veggies to the couscous. I might try that next time.)

There were also plenty of leftovers for me to take for lunch the next day.

Thanks so much for inviting me to dinner! See you again in two weeks, if not sooner.