Food, Style, and Travel
On Father’s Day, we went to my in-laws house and Paul’s dad barbecued. It was so good, as always. We had some leftover corn the next day, and I was inspired to add it to a bowl meal, which turned into this new recipe. I wanted to make something special out of our leftovers, without too much effort or having to turn on the oven.
Continue reading “Shrimp and coconut lime rice bowl”
One of my favorite easy dinners, especially in the summer, is barbecue chicken sandwiches. They’re easy to make and perfect for when you’re having company over.
Continue reading “Barbecue chicken sandwiches”
I had this half-written recipe post saved in my drafts titled “BJ’s inspired sauteed shrimp quinoa bowl.” It all started with a date night out to BJ’s Brewery about a year and a half ago when I was pregnant and craving both shrimp and lots of vegetables.
Continue reading “Skillet shrimp with orzo pasta”
One of my favorite comfort meals is macaroni and cheese, especially when it’s cold. It’s one of my favorite winter meals, right up there with chili and broccoli soup. Although it’s not winter yet, it’s starting to feel like it. Today it rained fairly hard and it was windy too. That doesn’t happen too much around Southern California, so when it does it’s a big deal. We’re wimps, I know.
My mom used to make this skillet chicken with orzo pasta when I was growing up. I loved it and started making it myself when I moved in with Paul a few years ago. It’s pretty easy and very satisfying. She got it from a newspaper column that I think was in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
This meal is good for weeknights, especially because there are very few dishes involved. The fewer dishes, the better, as far as I’m concerned.
It’s great for lunches the next day too. I can’t remember for sure, but I think my mom packed this in my lunchbox when I was in junior high or high school. It’s funny to me that I can’t remember high school as well as I used to. It was 10 years ago now, so of course.
This recipe is based off a recipe on The Kitchn called 30-minute chicken pozole. Let me just tell you, it used to take me about 30 minutes back in the pre-kid days but this time it took longer. I have made this several times and it has always been easy and turned out amazing.
It’s a great weeknight meal. I used to make this when I would come home from work sometimes. I also like that it makes a lot of servings, so for some families there would be leftovers the next day.
For this short rib recipe, jalapeño, onion, garlic, beer, and rosemary all come together to make a savory and slightly spicy braise. I love that the liquid imparts a lot of flavor on the short ribs in the long cooking process.
I should probably mention that you should plan on getting started on this about 3 hours before you would like to eat dinner. It takes about 1/2 an hour to prep and sear the meat and then it cooks in the oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. It is so worth all that time in the oven though. The meat becomes very tender and pulls completely away from the bone.
Continue reading “Beer braised beef short ribs in a Dutch oven”
As promised, I’m sharing my mom’s fried rice recipe with you. It goes great with the orange chicken I posted on Monday.
Fried rice is a great way to use up leftover white rice. This recipe is one that my mom used when I was growing up.
I made this for my husband Paul and me for dinner and he said, “This tastes like takeout. Better than takeout!”
Modern Notebook 