Quite possibly the best salad I have ever had

What we ate tonight:

Brisket

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/texas-oven-roasted-beef-brisket-recipe/index.html

and

Quite possibly the best salad I have ever had

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-butternut-squash-salad-with-warm-cider-vinaigrette-recipe/index.html

With the leftover brisket, we are making this tomorrow:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/cowboy-nachos/

I made them several months ago, and they were AMAZING!  Can't wait to eat tomorrow's dinner already! 

Chicken, salad and leftover quinoa

Tonight we had leftover quinoa from the other night, our standar greens salad with tomatoes, blue cheese and balsamic vinegar, and this: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chicken-with-paprika-kidney-beans-recipe/index.html It was pretty good chicken! I didn't have kidney beans, so I didn't include them, and it seemed fine without it.

The Best Quinoa

This is a recipe from my friend Kim.  It is soooo yummy!  I can't wait to eat it for lunch tomorrow!

Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa

makes 4 (side dish) servings

time: 45 min total

• 2 tsp grated lime zest
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 (14-15oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 4 scallions, chopped
• 1/4 c. fresh cilantro

Whisk together lime zest, lime juice, butter, oil, sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper in a large bowl.

Wash quinoa in 3 changes of cold water in a bowl, draining in a sieve each time.

Cook Quinoa according to the package, in salted water (1tbsp per 2 quarts of water.  So if you are doing a single batch of this recipe, I guess it should be 1/4 tbsp.)

Add quinoa to dressing and toss until dressing is absorbed, then stir in remaining ingredients and salt and pepper to taste.

Finally, a new post!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dave-lieberman/braised-hoisin-beer-short-ribs-with-creamy-mashed-yukons-and-sesame-snow-peas-recipe/index.html

My excuse for not keeping up the last few weeks?  I am pregnant :) and seeing that I was nauseous and having aversions to pretty much all food, I did not care to think about it or write about it.  Anyway, I'm feeling better now, so I need to get in the habit of posting my dinners again.

Last night we had sushi (not homemade), and tonight we're actually going out again because we have a giftcard and we felt like getting in two dates on Matt's week home off work.  So here's what I made for dinner Tuesday night.  It was pretty good.  The mashed potatoes and snow peas were good, but nothing great.  The short ribs however, were really good.  It was a very easy meal too.  Bon Appetite!

It was divine

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/steakhouse-steaks-recipe/index.html

This was dinner tonight.  It was absolutely amazing and one of the best things I have made in a long time.  I told Matt that when I took a bite I felt like crying it was so good!  The only thing that was different was I used Gorgonzola cheese instead of blue, because that's what I had on hand. I got the filets from Trader Joes.

I also served it with a side of roasted diced red potatoes.  Seasonings were Smoked Sea Salt from Trader Joes, pepper, garlic powder, and olive oil.  Toss it all together, roast them for about 30 min at 400F.

And the other side was a salad of gourmet lettuce greens with the Gorgonzola cheese, pears, and cranberries, and Champagne Pear Vinaigrette also from Trader Joes.

It was divine!

2 meals

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/braciole-recipe/index.html

We had this the other night.  It is absolutely amazing!  It's the third time I've made it.  It can be a very time consuming meal, unless you already have some of her tomato sauce in your freezer, which I happened to have yesterday.  We also had a side salad of red and green leaf lettuce, chopped apples, pecans, blue cheese, and Trader Joes Champagne Pear Vinaigrette.

Tonight, we are having a recipe from my dad: Chile Relleno Casserole
Ingredients:
-2 cans whole mild green chiles (but I just used 1 can of chopped)
-8 corn tortillas torn 1" strips
-1/2 lb each jack and cheddar cheeses
-2-3 tomatoes, sliced - but I used 4 romas
-8-10 eggs
-1 t each salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder
-1/4 t onion salt
-Paprika

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350F.
-Grease 9x13 casserole dish
-Cut chiles in half and lay out flat in bottome of pan **I put my chopped chiles on top of the tortillas, so the tortillas were my bottom layer.**
-Cover chiles with 1/2 tortillas, 1/2 tomatoes, and 1/2 cheese
-Repeat for 2nd layer
-Beat eggs and spices
-Pour on top
-Sprinkle with paprika
-Bake for 40 min uncovered until knife comes out clean.
-Let stand for 10 min.

Tonight's meal

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/bacon-wrapped-chicken-with-blue-cheese-and-pecans-recipe/index.html

I'm behind, I know, but really I haven't made anything most spectacular lately anyway.  The above link is what we had for dinner tonight.  It was pretty good.  It says to brown the chicken in a skillet before putting it in the oven.  I skipped this step, but after cooking it, I realized that it might have made a difference in the done-ness of the bacon.  After baking it for 45 min, the bacon was still not as cooked as I would have liked it.  I think if you were to brown the wrapped chicken in a skillet before baking it, it would help the bacon out a little.

Cheers!