Country Kitchen (in the city) healthy delicious meal inspiration for everyone
dinner
asian chilean
Chilean sea bass with beech mushrooms & sugar snap peas in a gingered red miso broth. *This simple dish looks complicated, but only takes about 20 minutes start to finish* Begin by preparing the oven. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and make sure your oven rack is in the correct position for broiling. […]
birdloaf with mashed sweet potatoes
Meal planning, for me, is about balance. I eat everything… but in moderation. My mother had high blood pressure, so I learned early on how to forgo salt for other alternative spices. Heart healthy grains and low in fat are two other lessons that were reinforced throughout youth. If you haven’t noticed by now, I […]
stir it up, steak stir fry
The most time consuming part of making a stir fry is the prep – chop chop chopping the veggies! I always start a stir fry by putting on the rice cooker. Typically, I would have used brown rice, but I was also cooking for the dog this evening and he can only tolerate white, so […]
chicken milanese with arugula
Fresh, light, delicious and fast. Take thinly sliced chicken cutlets, dredged them in whole wheat breadcrumbs (no need to dip in eggs first) and placed them in a hot pan drizzled with olive oil. Depending on the thickness of the cutlet, cook for about 5 minutes on each side. Serve over a bed of baby […]
bowl of spaghetti squash
This meal is straight out of my childhood. My mother was very find of a healthy-eating lifestyle and after I got out of my SpaghettiO’s and mac&cheese phase, I quickly picked up on her style of low-fat, low-sodium, heavy on the fruits and veggies eating habits. But there was NO WAY I was going to […]
pino mustard chicken with brussels sprout hash
This light and tasty dish looks timely and complicated, but a simple hand-held mandolin slicer helps you speed right through the the prep-work for a delicious dinner for two. Aside from a mandolin slicer and 2 large frying pans, you will need: – 10-12 brussels sprouts – 8-10 small red potatoes – 5-6 baby bella […]
pork loin w/ pomegranate balsamic reduction
When the cold weather hits New York, my oven flicks on for hearty roasts (with veggies!!). Start this meal off with a nice sized piece of boneless pork loin. What you don’t eat for dinner will make a fabulous lunch for work tomorrow.. think fall salad: arugula and spinach with leftover roasted potatoes and pork […]
black mission figs with roquefort and bacon
This one’s so easy, I’ll show it in (mostly) pictures… Apple wood smoked thick slab bacon. Scoop out a bit of the fig center before stuffing with cheese. Top it off, and serve.
chilean seabass with lemon heirloom sauce
Preheat oven to 425. Slice the Chilean Seabass into a two inch wide strip and then cut 1/4 inch deep slices into the top side of the fish, about an inch apart. Place a dab of butter and thyme inside of each sliced section, place atop a broiling pan and place on the top rack […]
tagliatelle marinara with burrata & cerinola olives
This Italian specialties dish was inspired by a shopping trip to buonItalia in the Chelsea Market. Quite simply, this meal was whipped together in the time it takes to cook marinara. The components are: fresh tagliatelle pasta, marinara sauce (recipe here), burrata cheese (what it it? read about it), shaved Parmesan and Cerinola olives. Mangia!!
sesame teriyaki chicken with summer veg
So the real title of this meal should be: Sesame Teriyaki Chicken with Fennel Mushroom Peaches – but it was too long for my format! As the only child of a single, working mother, coming of age in the 80’s I ate a lot of meals that started in a box, can or the microwave. […]
15min-din: sesame lemon chicken with asparagus
After a long Monday at work, there’s nothing like a 15 minute dinner to make the night complete. This yummy dish takes about as long to make as a box of supermarket mac & cheese… and not only is it better for you, but it’s tasty! What you will need: a couple of pans, vegetable […]
harissa (turkey) burger
This Moroccan inspired turkey burger is lean, yet still packs a flavor-punch with the secret saute tucked into the patty mixture. For the patties: -1lb ground turkey (or chicken) -1 medium red onion -1 cup mushrooms -3 cloves garlic, peeled -1/2 tsp cumin seed -1/2 tsp allspice In a blender or food processor, mince together […]
chickpea curry with harissa honey cumin bbq chicken
This meal has two intense flavor popping parts: chicken thighs with a harissa honey cumin bbq sauce and a chickpea (plus veggies) curry… and a little Basmati rice on the side to cool off the tongue. Let’s start with the sauce for the chicken: -A few spoonfuls of Harissa sauce (you can make it from […]
country mustard chicken with buttered cumin carrots
The ingredients: – boneless skinless chicken thighs – Greek yogurt – grained Dijon mustard – lemon – ghee (or olive oil) – good quality salted butter (or butter and salt) – small organic carrots – cumin seed Marinating meats in Greek yogurt is a lickity-split way of tenderizing. This marinade consists of a few spoonfuls […]
veggie taco platter
This healthy and colorful Make It Yourself Veggie Taco Platter takes as long to cook as it does to cut (which is not really all that long). I served it with a side of antioxidant-packed Black Bean Soup. You will need: -one sliced green pepper -one medium onion (half julienned for the tacos, half chopped […]
black bean soup
This Black Bean soup, although hearty enough to be a meal in itself, was actually a side dish to my forthcoming veggie taco platter post! Ingredients (pictured above): – 1 1/2 cups of black beans – 1/2 chopped green pepper – 1 small yellow onion, chopped – 2 cloves chopped garlic – 1 teaspoon chili […]
red white and green green green pasta
I had a lovely weekend of hanging with friends, relaxing and cooking. After a quick breakfast and a day full of running around, Sunday’s mid-day meal was an light, fresh and early dinner – spinach fettuccine with fresh mozzarella, zucchini, roasted grape tomatoes and arugula. Here’s a rundown of how it came together: For ingredients: […]
kimchi collards & polenta grits
Pictured above are the ingredients for the collard greens: a turnip, carrots, collard greens, vegetable base, garlic and kimchi. Oh… and if you have some red wine in the house, that helps too!! As a side note, Astor Wines has definitely dropped their prices since Trader Joe’s planted themselves up the street. This medium bodied […]
green-power dandelion soup
Being a one woman household either means sharing meals with good company, or eating the same ingredients (in different ways) for a few days in a row. The Mediterranean Chicken with Dandelion Greens Pastina I made the other day, became the Pastina and Asparagus work lunch (shown below), AND this healthy nutritious soup. Remember when […]
mediterranean chicken with dandelion green pastina
You might be familiar with dandelions growing rampant in your back yard, but did you know that those greens are packed with vitamins (A,C,E & more beta carotene that a carrot, just to name a few). They are also very bitter!! To cut some of the flavor-punch I blanched them briefly. Most sites will tell […]
cheese stuffed rigatoni with broccilini
This dinner is pretty much all in pictures. If you need some sauce help check out a past post here.
roasted beet, carrot, and tomato soup
I whipped up this jazzberry colored soup with ingredients I had in the house: -3 large beets -2 vine tomatoes -one carrot -one medium yellow onion -cumin (seeds and ground) -celery seeds -lemon thyme –vegetable base I started by roasting the beets. I cut off the tops of the beets, washed them, and them wrapped […]
polenta perfect dinner
Last night I turned simple pheasant-fare ingredients into a mouth-watering, upscale delight. Here’s a quick rundown of the meal. The sauce: olive oil, dried crushed red pepper flakes, 3 cloves crushed garlic, a large pinch of fresh rosemary & basil coarsely chopped, medium yellow onion half-chopped half-sliced into slivers, 28oz can organic chopped tomatoes. In […]
