Dinner Ideas

The photo quality of this picture is lacking (don't judge me Gina), but I cooked the most deliciousl meal the other day!  Mustard-lime chicken with roasted beets, butternut squash fries (courtesy of the Kansas Funk garden), and sauteed beet greens.

Remember how I was talking about a cookbook I picked up in Plattsburgh?  Well, it was a Rachel Ray 30 minute meal cookbook for 2, 4, 6, or 8 people.  Here is a link to the book.  Well, I'm not going to do a whole review of the book, but her recipes are delicious, but complicated.  They definitely take me more than 30min to make.  But they are unique. 

 Michael and I have never been a couple who really likes to eat out, so we have been choosing recipes out of this book and making them at home together.  And it is like eating at a restaurant.  I made the most amazing chicken the other night!  It had crushed toasted pumpkin seeds on the outside mixed with garlic and other seasonings and then baked in the over.  I served it with sauteed kale an red wine, with both recipes being from this cookbook.  So this is our new thing, cooking together (I was usually the one to cook before).  I'm going to put the beet green recipe on here because it was sooooo good and we have applied it to kale as well.  We had a standard favorite, but this one has trumped it.  And we have been eating so much kale (thanks to our garden) that we needed a change of pace, plus its healthy, so there ya go.  That one slice of bacon is negated by all the green stuff.

Delicious Sauteed Greens

1 pound beet greens, kale, chard, etc.

1 strip of thick cut bacon

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 large clove of garlic minced

3/4 C. water

1Tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/6 C. apple cider vinegar

1) Wash greens in sink and drain, chop and discard heavy stems.  Set aside

2)  In a large skillet, cook the slice of bacon until lightly browned over medium heat.  Remove bacon slice and chop.  Add onions and garlic along with the chopped bacon slice.  Add the water to the pan and try to loosed any particles from the bottom of the pan.  Stir in sugar and red pepper.  Bring to a boil.

3) Add greens and gently toss until greens are well coated.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5-15 minutes, until all liquid is gone and greens are tender. Stir in vinegar and serve!