Good Eats

The Grilled Chicken Salad on Tuesday was very good although I wouldn't marinate the chicken that way again. It didn't add that much flavor to the chicken and was more trouble than it was worth, causing the chicken to stick to the grill and making turning the chicken difficult. Any grilled, or pre-cooked, chicken will do as all the flavor is in the dressing. (I might try rubbing the chicken with garlic, ginger, and olive oil rather than trying to marinate it in a yogurt dressing next time.) I used a cup and a half of raisins instead of grapes, soaking them in warm water for about 10-15 minutes. This recipe will go into my "boat recipes" file because it can easily be made ahead of time and can be used as a side salad or served on top of a bed of lettuce for a main meal which how we ate it. Plus, it makes enough to enjoy more than once.

Wednesday's Mediterranean Supper Omelet was marvelous although I made several modifications to the recipe. I got olives from the "olive bar" at the local grocery where I could buy only the amount I needed rather than a whole jar of something. Unfortunately, there were very few green olives left in the tub and some of them looked a little past their prime. I also purchased some tapenade to be used as an appetizer along the way and as a possible backup to the somewhat sketchy green olives. I couldn't find crumbled goat cheese Provencal so I just used plain crumbled goat cheese and that worked out fine.

The green olives were very salty. So salty, there was no olive taste. I chopped them up anyway but didn't dare use more than the quarter cup the recipe called for. We had eaten some of the  tapenade earlier in the week but I tossed what remained into the mix. I also had two cooked sausages leftover from an earlier breakfast so I chopped them up and tossed them in as well.

Once the filling was mixed, Hubby was in charge of the eggs. He was extremely patient and took nearly a half hour to get the eggs to set before we added the filling. I am not nearly that patient and would have either scrambled the whole mess or made a frittata by popping it in the oven to bake the upside. But it was worth the wait. It came out picture perfect.

Picture, perfect.

We had some hash browns leftover from the weekend and served those on the side. We shared this, by the way, and it was very filling.

I switched things up last night and made the Orzo Salad with Spicy Buttermilk Dressing instead of the Rösti Casserole with Baked Eggs which I will make tonight.  I didn't deviate from the recipe this time, except that I made my own buttermilk. This vegetarian dish will also go into my "boat" folder. This one took a lot of time only because it has lots of ingredients to clean and chop. I always get my ingredients ready to go before I start but one time saver would have been to make the dressing while the orzo was boiling. The only thing I might add to this dish might be raisins (again, soaked beforehand) as a little sweetness against the spices but it was fine without them. We at this for dinner and it was plenty with plenty leftover.

I might have used the Kindle Fire in the kitchen to display last night's recipe while I was cooking but I didn't think of it until this morning. As it was, I had the recipe on my second monitor in my office which is really a makeshift setup atop the dining table just outside the kitchen door. I went back and forth between kitchen and "office" as I made my way through the instructions. Hardly convenient.

Here, again, my phone would have been more convenient as this kitchen is so small that it cannot afford to give up any counter space when more than five ingredients are involved in preparing dinner. I might have managed with the phone. Better still would have been paper which I could have hung from the magnetic closures on my cabinet doors.

Tonight, I'll make the Rösti Casserole with Baked Eggs which I've made before and may have already mentioned here.

Meanwhile, the Kindle and I are still struggling to find common ground.