Weekend Cooking 1/12

Each weekend, Beth Fish Reads hosts Weekend Cooking.  This is perfect for me since I love food and cooking almost as much as I love books!

We had lots of delicious, nutritious meals this week, all using recipes from Cooking Light. I focused mainly on easy dinners this week since my stamina's been poor (just recovering from bronchitis and a flare-up of my chronic illness).

We started the week off with Smothered Chicken and Barley, but unfortunately, that recipe isn't available online (it's from the 1/98 issue) - it starts with spice-rubbed chicken thighs that cook in the skillet with veggies and pearl barley. Very tasty.

We had a couple of weeknight favorites this week. Everyone in our family loves the slightly spicy sauce in Mongolian Beef. I added a head of chopped broccoli to make it a full meal. We served it over 10-minute brown rice this time, but sometimes we have it over noodles.

Another night, we had Tiny French Beans with Smoked Sausage, another family favorite. I love the flavors, but I also love that I throw it in the crockpot in the morning, and we have a hot, comforting meal ready for dinner! I use Navy beans in the recipe and add a chopped red bell pepper and lots of sliced carrots (I always add extra veggies!).

I made another favorite for a potluck dinner last night at a friend's house: Tuscan White Beans. This side dish is super-easy with only a few ingredients, but the flavors are fabulous! Everyone likes it and bonus - my kids will eat it.

And, we tried one new recipe this week, Chicken and Orzo Skillet Dinner. This was a very fast recipe, perfect for weeknights. My son and I are lactose-intolerant, so I subbed a small amount of grated Romano cheese (an aged cheese with very little lactose) for the feta called for in the recipe. It's got a little spice to it, and everyone liked it, though we all agreed it was a bit bland, in spite of the spice. I think next time, I might try adding some sauteed onion and garlic at the beginning for added flavor.

And tonight, we are going out for dinner to celebrate my son's 16th birthday (which is tomorrow, but it's mid-term week) - he chose a Japanese Hibachi restaurant, one of his and his brother's favorites for birthday dinners since they were little kids.

Hope you have enjoyed good food this week!