Cooking with Fresh Herbs: The Triumverate

If there's one thing I miss about Russian cuisine while away, it's the fresh dill sprinkled on everything.

Sure, I get tired of opening the refrigerator 2-3 times a day, taking out the herbs, washing, and chopping.

But I've come to love the flavor they add to soups, salads, omelets, baked goods, etc. etc. etc.

The three we most commonly use here are green onion, dill, and parsley.

Sometimes they are even sold in a bunch together. Often there's a little stand out on the street and I catch a whiff of dill as I walk by...mmmm.

-sprinkle some on soup...mmmmm
-mix into your scrambled eggs
-add pizzazz to biscuits or rolls
-blend with butter to make a nice spread
-make boiled potatoes go from boring to instant yumminess (a pat of butter helps, too)
-mix into sauces
-garnish an egg, potato, or fresh salad-it's pretty AND tasty!
-add to pretty much any dish! :)

P.S. We even save the stems and use them later to flavor soup stock and water for boiling pasta, rice, etc.

Meals we had, April 22-28

New series! I don’t always have time to edit and post recipes, but I’m going to do a little retroactive menu “planning” and just type up what we ate all week, to use for meal ideas in the future.

Note: My in-laws generally deliver groceries and some cooked meals to us regularly. I organize the week’s meals around those ingredients, along with using up leftovers. If we are having a repeat combination then I try to change the presentation. If I want to use a particular recipe then I start with something we already have and buy the rest of the needed ingredients. But I try not to buy a lot of additional groceries if we already have something in the refrigerator that needs to be used.

Breakfasts: Eggs
Lunches: Homemade soups with sour cream and fresh herbs; bread with cheese or a slice of meat

-Monday dinner: Fried potatoes (Russian-style) with sliced pork and steamed broccoli
-Tuesday dinner: Scalloped potatoes with cubes of pork
-Wednesday dinner: Boiled pelmeni with sauteed green beans
-Thursday dinner: Eggless meatballs (we ran out of eggs) and boiled potatoes
-Friday dinner: Homemade popcorn chicken with angel hair pasta (we just make plain and garnish with cheese/butter)
-Saturday dinner: Pizza made with this crust and using leftover meatballs/popcorn chicken as toppings
-Sunday dinner: Chicken-bacon-cheese bake with boiled buckwheat and sauteed bell pepper

Looks like we need to add more veggies to the menu. Got any recipes to recommend?

How to Make 10-minute "Roasted" Potatoes

I usually turn up my nose at microwave recipes, but I needed to cook just one potato fairly quickly, and it seemed like a waste to boil a whole pot of water or turn the oven on.

These were a great alternative to add to the soup I was heating up, and could even be used for a quick side dish. Okay, it's not the same as oven-roasted, but I was surprised by how tasty they are!

What you need: potatoes, cooking oil, your favorite seasoning

Directions:

1) Peel potatoes and cut into desired size.

2) Drizzle with olive oil and add preferred spices (I did salt, pepper, and garlic powder).

3) Cover with plastic wrap, but leave a little corner open for hot air to escape.

4) Microwave on high for about 10 minutes, checking after 5.

They even got browned a bit from the olive oil-yum!

A Food Decor Flashback

This is what I was talking about in this post. I posted a summer photo in the fall, so it's only appropriate that I post a New Year's photo in April, right? :)

I love creative presentations like this, but as a new mother, I often have to rein in the creativity.

So here's a contribution from my mother-in-law: a penguin-shaped salad for New Year's Eve. She used a seafood salad here, but you could use a chicken or potato salad or any kind of cheese/veggie spread that is somewhat sculpt-able.

-black olives for the wings/eyes
-red bell pepper for the feet/beak
-grated boiled egg white for the belly and egg yolk for the chest

I wonder what summer scenes would be cute, using a similar concept?