Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2015/10
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Fajita Tacos and Green Beans -- back to top
I made fajita tacos since we wanted something (relatively) quick and not too many calories.
I made the fajita mix with:
I combined everything but the hatch peppers in the cast iron with some oil and cooked them. At a certain point, I added about 1/2 Tbsp of butter. As it was closer to being finished, I peeled the hatch chiles and added them.
We also had about 1/2 lbs of bottom round, grass-fed steak. As you can see in the photos below, I cooked the whole thing on the pan. I really struggled with the steak. First, the pan was way too hot and the oil just burned. Then, despite thinking I had overcooked it, as you can see in the photos, it was super, super rare. I had to cook it a little but more. The net result was an acceptably done but very tough steak. I used McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Chicken Seasoning on the steak.
I served them on two pan-heated corn tortillas (50cal each) with extra filling in a bowl.
Finally, for me, I also roasted green beans. I did them at 450°F in the convection toaster oven. When they were finished, I was distracted and they sat in the oven (off but still warm) for a little while. I do not know if it was due to not adjusting the heat for the convection or if it was the extra time, but they were overcooked. And I forgot to season them going in so the seasoning didn't stick well and they lacked flavor. Not my best showing.....
Light Lasagna Soup and Roasted Squash -- back to top
We wanted something relatively easy so we made the Lighter Lasagna Soup. We made a few changes to the recipe to match what we had and out mood. They were
Overall, we were really happy with it. It is relatively healthy and pretty easy. The only thing is we kind of bulked this up a bunch but didn’t adjust the liquids so it was very thick (but I liked it that way still).
As using the vodka sauce was pretty good. We would use that again
I also roasted half a kabocha squash (30 min at 400°F, flipped half way) as a side for me. Meredith didn't want any but it is one of my favorites and I was more hungry.
2016-05-18 Update: Recipe moved to its own page
Vodka sauce is Meredith's favorite kind but tends to be rather unhealthy. However, we found the one pictured below at only 50 cal a serving (10 fewer than the lightest of the regular ones)
Roasted Broccoli Soup and Grilled Sandwiches -- back to top
Meredith and I made roasted broccoli soup and grilled sandwiches for dinner
We followed the basic recipe for our Roasted Broccoli Soup. We went with the general idea and adjusted to taste (It needed more salt so I used some soy sauce for salt+glutamates). We did it in the immersion blender it batches which made it super smooth. Like, more smooth than I've ever had it!
We used a Parmesan Gouda for the cheese and while I think I used around the amount in the recipe, it was almost too creamy and thick (though we probably should have just added water)1. Overall, it was ok. Not the best showing of this recipe but not bad either
Meredith and I each made our own sandwiches but I used a very special technique to grill them: let Meredith do it! (I tend to go too hot and burn it). She grilled them with butter (but tried not to use an excessive amount)
I made a one and a half reubens. Pretty standard. I used Boars Head Corned beef (~1/4 lbs total for all) and a lite swiss. It was not lite Jarlsberg though I would have preferred that.
Also, since the supermarket didn't have any good Thousand Island Dressing options (full fat or some strange zero calorie), I made this one halved with the following changes
My sandwiches were ok. The dressing is not dead and was a bit strange but the flavors were all there. Also, the insides were not as warm as I would have liked
Meredith made a strange kind of grilled cheese. I say strange because seeded rye is not usually the first choice bread. But anyway, she used brie (of sorts), sliced (extra ripe) pear and Tabasco Hot Chile Jam. I think she liked it.
Though it could also be the blender ↩
Soy Chorizo with Roasted Cauliflower -- back to top
Pretty normal version of Trader Joes Soy Chorizo that was sautéed then tossed with roasted cauliflower and some capers. Not much to it but still a simple and tasty meal.
I also had some roasted kabocha squash done the normal way. It was a bit dry since it sat for a while.
Sweet Potatoes with Home-Made Cannellini Beans -- back to top
This was somewhat of a repeat of what we had on 2015-09-21 except done without the onions and stuff. We had other plans that night so we just wanted fast.
Meredith did the beans like last time with this recipe except she slow cooked it. She did it on low but had to leave it for about 9.5 hours. That was too long. They were overcooked and a bit soggy. But I thought they still tasted fine.
Fall-Toush Salad -- back to top
I made Fall-Toush with the same recipe. I basically followed the recipe except I used butternut squash instead of delicata. And I used half the oil in the dressing. I also put chunks of chopped rotisserie chicken in for protein. Other than, it was pretty much the same.
I liked it a good but. Lots of food for not too many calories. I did think it was a bit lemony this time. But I also didn't closely adhere to the recipe. I kind of winged it on times and just add seasonings.
But, once it was cut and in the oven, the recipe was pretty hands-off.
Huevos Rancheros / Motuleños with Rotisserie Chicken -- back to top
I made Huevos Rancheros / Motuleños which I also made into its own Recipe Book Post. This time I used rotisserie (dark meat) chicken and Pace Salsa plus grated cheese (I forget which one) on top. The salsa had a kick but it was pretty good. And this meal is just so easy!
Also, I was almost successful at taking it off the plate! Though it still looked better in the pan so I am using that image
Salmon Burgers with Roasted Cabbage -- back to top
We made a pretty quick meal. We had salmon burgers served on toast with a home-grown tomato (see photo below. Probably one of if not the last for the season). We also made roasted cabbage (3/4 head) with parmesan using the usual recipe
Meredith Meal: Antipasti Selection Smorgasbord -- back to top
This was quite a meal! In the past, we have called it Antipasti Selection and Smorgasbord (...) but really, we just call it a Meredith meal.
There were lots of parts to this meal. I will try to hit on most of them.
We were at Whole Foods and they had oysters for $1 each. We like the idea of oysters so we bought a dozen with 3 different kinds as you can see in the photo. I shucked them and we served it with lemon and tabasco (forgot to buy cocktail sauce). Well, I return to us like the idea more than actually having them.
The Malpeque were easiest to shuck (Wianno were the hardest) but I was able to get to all of them. However, we each has one good and one awful W ones. Pretty bad.
I think we will hold off on oysters for a while. They just aren't as worth it as we usually think they will be. Again, the idea was a nice start to the meal.
Meredith had made (but overcooked) white beans for this meal but we weren't really eating them. She had the brilliant idea to make white bean dip. We used this recipe (local) for inspiration but she really just did it all to taste with the following:
Before blending:
Overall, it was a great way to use the beans. The end result was a bit smokey but very garlicky. Not really bad but definitely a bit too much.
Meredith had see this Kitchn recipe (local) and used that to make them. We used a combination of black seedless and "Holiday" grapes (that's what the bag said). We tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary.
You can see from the photos below, they were really pretty. They tasted pretty good too. A bit like wet raisins (as one would expect) but it was still a funky thing to do with grapes
The rest of the meal was the cheese and crackers. We had a variety of cheeses and also salami. And sliced baguette (not pictured)
See the photo at the top. The cheeses were:
We liked them all. The Rosso Di Lange was brie-like and I liked it with the salami. The others were good plain, though Meredith didn't love the Lenberg
A picture of the cheese labels and wrappers are below for more information
White Bean Pumpkin Hummus (from Heather Christo)
Local Copy (U: "guest" P: name of my dog, all lower case)
Roasted Grapes (from The Kitchn)
Local Copy (U: "guest" P: name of my dog, all lower case)
"Pumpkin Patch" Dessert -- back to top
We were invited somewhat last-minute to a halloween thing so Meredith came up with this idea for a really quick but themed dessert.
It was essentially "dirt" but with pumpkins. We made instant pudding (full-sugar) with fat-free milk. After that set, we folded in cool whip and some crumbled "Cookies and Cream" flavored oreos1. We then topped it with more crumbled oreos and candy pumpkins.
As you could imagine, it was pretty darn good!
Isn’t that just oreo flavored oreos? Oh well, they were good! ↩