Valentine's Dinner for One

      Happy Valentine's Day to You!

Here's a menu you can make just for you with great leftovers.  This post features big double lamb chops that are grilled first and then finished in the oven;  a piquant tapenade tops them at the table.  Meantime, you'll oven-roast large, whole carrots laced with ground cumin.  There's a make-ahead green bean salad you'll fix again and again and I also give suggestions for wine and tiny, light desserts.  Don't want leftovers?  Cut the amounts in half for a one-time dinner.  Don't want to eat alone?  Invite a friend or neighbor; there's plenty.

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Start with a beautiful sparkler that needn't cost much.  I heartily recommend a New Mexico sparkling wine such as  Gruet rather than splurging on French champagne.  Despite all, I've found sparklers do keep a day two. Or, if you'd like, choose a half-bottle of a very special sparkling wine from the wine shop.  Add some of the tapenade with baguette or crackers or a bowl of great potato chips--my favorite sparkler pairing.  Stay away from cheese; fresh vegetables would work wonderfully.  Just stick with something light; lamb is loving, but filling.

If you're cooking for just you, open the wine, turn on the music, set the table, and enjoy a beautiful night.  Afterward, get out that novel you've been meaning to read and take it to bed with you along with the last glass of wine.   You could write letters or cards to a few people you adore; make yourself post them in the morning.   Whatever you do,  have fun cooking and taking care of yourself!

Bacon-Granola Pancakes with Fried Egg or Your Very Own Broncos' Breakfast!

A cold and snowy morning at home.  Kept looking at my granola and wondering what I could do with it that would turn it into something warm.  Pancakes came to mind.  Eggs popped up right after that.   What came to be was a short stack of pancakes that had granola and minced, cooked bacon in them --all topped off with a fried egg and a swizzle of real maple syrup, garnished with a bit more granola. Heaven as I know it.

Years ago, I used to make Marion Cunningham's granola pancakes (just add granola), but I now make my own….She has always been a great breakfast inspiration and her Breakfast Book is one of my favorite cookbooks.

Alyce's granola--recipe below in blue  make my own granola link

Hot Baby Kale and Cherry Tomato Tacos with Red Onions and Salsa

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If you have tortillas, salsa, and perhaps a little cheese in your fridge, you can nearly always find something for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  If you have baby kale, the sky's the limit.  After the long siege of football games yesterday -- complete with potato skins, (recipe coming from son Sean…)

I was more than ready for something on the lighter side for lunch.  Like you probably do, I opened that fridge and couldn't seem to find anything.  (My mother would have said, "There's nothing new in there since the last time you opened that door.")  I considered running out and picking something up since I had to go to the post office anyway.  And then I saw the package of whole wheat tortillas on the counter and remembered that big bag of baby kale that needed to be eaten.  Hearty and heart-healthy -- and I might say really good -- kale tacos ended up on the table.  While we're used to tacos with meat or fish, I don't think you'll miss the meat.   Delicious food needn't be fancy, contain meat, nor must it come from a long recipe or clean out your wallet.  It can be just as simple and expedient as a few sautéed greens served up with a few prime additions.

Braised Chicken with Garlic-Ginger Broccoli and Lemon Rice or No Chicken-in-a-Box Tonight

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The number of chickens-in-a-box (think wine in a box, but these are also often called rotisserie chickens) I see in shopping carts makes me sad.  It can't mean people don't know how to roast a chicken, can it?  A little oil, some salt and pepper, stick it in the oven or even in the slow cooker.  No.  Mostly,  I think it's the time factor, fatigue, or simplicity.  Maybe the inability to think any more that day.  The chicken-in-a-box is often cheaper, too.  That just shouldn't be so.

Pot of Beans for New Year's--Good Luck for 2014!

Pintos garnished with plain Greek yogurt and Frontera salsa

This is a favorite pot of "good luck" beans I'm reposting for New Year's.  Invite a friend, put on a movie, and enjoy a wonderful pot of healthy, inexpensive goodness.  If you have a slow-cooker, all the better!  Nobody available?  Cook them anyway.   Enjoy the movie and freeze a few containers for lunches.

When I was a kid, a pot of beans sounded nasty to me.  It smacked of nothing to do out in the country (except make a pot of beans) and I didn't particularly like the taste of beans--particularly pintos.  My parents grew all kinds of vegetables and they were fond of many sorts of beans and peas; our neighbors were of a similar ilk.  Married during the depression, but first raised on or near the farm, they all knew every trick for saving money on food.  Moving to the big city, they searched for a piece of land out a ways in order to plant that garden every year.  (Weed, can, water, repeat.)

Christmas Breakfast for One

Merry Christmas!

I'm blessed.  This is the view from my front door.  The mountain isn't fake; I didn't photoshop it; it's Pike's Peak and I live in Colorado Springs.   I really took this photo.

Merry Christmas to you!  If you're cooking for just your wonderful self this Christmas morning, you're blessed to be up and about and turning on the stove.  I hope you already made your coffee, fed the cat, brought in the paper, and maybe turned on some Christmas music.

Three Tenors' Christmas Concert

A lovely quick and filling breakfast can be had in one sweet little skillet.   If you'd like some scones to go with the eggs, I give a recipe at the bottom.  Do make the scones first!  Share the rest with a neighbor or wrap them well, store in the fridge, and have with your tea or a finger or two of scotch over the next few days.

Try this:

Nutcracker Granola --- Gorgeous Homemade Gluten-Free Gift

I'm up early this morning making a big batch of nutty granola.     It's way below freezing in Colorado Springs today and the temperatures are doing nothing but dropping through tomorrow.  A warm oven blowing the spicy aromas of cinnamon and cloves through the house, snow flying, coffee brewing; there's something sort of homey and comforting about it.  I do not have to go out in it, so I probably feel a bit differently than those who are out starting their cars.

My plan for the day--after the granola, that is--  is to stay inside so I can make two big pots of beef vegetable soup.  One for today that I'll share with a couple of neighbors and one for the freezer for over the holidays.  One pot may get a little barley thrown in or a couple of cans of chopped chiles for fun.  I have zucchini, Parmesan, and tiny pasta; the other could move toward minestrone. We'll see in what direction these cauldrons of goodness feel like moving.  One could even be stew.  So many soups, so little time.

Out the back door this morning, north toward Denver:














If I'm honest, I also know I need to do a little housework. I'm having neighbors in for a holiday meal Friday night --one leaves early for a  long December trip -- and it would make sense to do a thing or two ahead of time. Right? While that's so, more likely I'll do a last minute Windex-clean in the bathroom, blow dust off the coffee table, and light plenty of candles so no one can see much except one another.  My house isn't decorated either.We were gone all weekend and I've been running the roads the past couple of days with errands, early shopping, and grocery stock-up.The tree is up with lights; is that enough?

                                Miss Gab and Tucker keeping warm.

No-Fuss Thanksgiving for Two or Four

BUTTER-BASIL CHICKEN WITH WINTER SQUASH

                  Not everyone, every time, wants to make a huge Thanksgiving dinner.  This fully-satisfying but simple menu is for the year when there are, thank goodness, just two of you--or maybe four.  Or for the year when you escaped the family and borrowed a friend's cabin on the lake or condo at the shore.  You'd like something tasty, but it's just not the year to spend two days in the kitchen.

                 This little menu begins with a sparkler (a sparkling wine)--an inexpensive Spanish cava or  New Mexico Gruet (not sweet and very reasonable)--and a bit of cheese.  No need to get full before dinner.  Next comes a magnificent, golden brown chicken* roasted with lemons, basil, and huge shards of winter squash.  Just to show off, there are nearly instant--but incredibly luscious--green beans graced with lots of bright lemon zest and a splashy note of crushed red pepper. A very fast, cooked stove top, spicy cranberry sauce made with apples and lemons is an optional side and truly a contrast.  Drink a good bottle of Pinot Noir with the chicken.  (I like an Oregon Pinot Noir, which comes at several different price points:  A-Z at the lower end, Ken Wright or Adelsheim further up.  Can't find one you like or can afford?  Ask the wine shop for a middle-ground French red Côtes du Rhône. Want white?  Choose an off-dry Riesling--German or Washington state. ) Tiny individual microwaved pumpkin "pies" bring up the rear--so to speak-- with no crust necessary, though you can add a small ginger thin at the bottom of each ramekin if you'd like. Coffee  you flavor yourself with cinnamon (a sprinkle in the grounds works wonders) and a nice piece of dark chocolate--or two-- end the day in happiness.




*You might consider a slow cooker roasted chicken if that would be simpler.

One-Pan Salmon and Kale on Brown Rice

     Confused about which fish you should buy?  Download a Monterey Bay Aquarium guide...

When Dave's gone (he's my dishwasher), I lean toward one-pan meals.  I like hearty, healthy, and satisfying potfuls that will feed me a few times.  I admit to laziness.  Evenings spent on the couch reading.  Kitchens that stay clean.

I also adore fish cooked with or in vegetables; it's one of my favorite meals for experimenting.  As long as there's enough liquid in the vegetables and pan and the vegetables are done (or nearly done) when the well-seasoned fish goes on top, the meal is usually successful.  Fish salads are next on my list; I love them, too!

Apple Pie for You and Someone Special--Just in Time for Thanksgiving When Someone Says, "Bring the Pie!"

10-inch pie for dessert ("A" is for apple) and a coffee cup pie for someone who needs one, like my grandson, Rhyan.

I'm not a big pie eater.  Well, if I'm in Santa Fe I eat coconut cream pie.  If I'm in Florida, I make cherry pie for my family and, well, I eat some. But if I'm home, I bake, but I don't eat much.  A bit of crostata.  A bit more of pumpkin once a year. Honestly, one piece at Thanksgiving and one piece the next morning for breakfast.   I make tarts for gifts and have a bite.  (Especially lemon.)   Overall, I'm a chocolate person.  And while I don't EAT a lot of pie, I certainly bake it and do taste it.

Chicken-Apple Panini with Cheddar and a Little Salad to Go With It

Cooking dinner for one or two people isn't a challenge in most ways.  Think of it:  that's what restaurants do and do so well.  They cook one chicken breast at a time,  or one piece of fish, or one chop.  Of course they may also cook all of these individual meals at once, which is why your food may occasionally take so very long.  I think what gets interesting is doing it for three meals a day--in your very own kitchen.

If I'm home and not involved in some big project, I often cook lunch for Dave for lots of reasons.  It's a kind thing to do for someone who works 60 hours a week and pays the mortgages.  Otherwise he eats peanut butter on saltines over the kitchen sink.  If I cook, he takes a break, chats with me...maybe reads the paper or plays with Tucker and Gabby.  And while sometimes I'm just cooking a big pot of something anyway, I also like the test of making quick, on-the-spot meals.  Every meal needn't be a masterpiece, but it should satisfy.

While I'm not a big sandwich eater, Dave adores them.  Sandwiches are filling, use leftovers admirably, and make a decent-sized meal without a lot of time and work.  The other day I was going out to lunch with a friend, knew there was chicken left to eat, and threw together a tasty hot sandwich and salad for him in about 10 minutes.  Try this:

Israeli Couscous Salad

In the heat of the summer when tomatoes are lush and warm and cucumbers are cheap and numerous, I make a lot of Greek salads.  Sometimes there are lovely smoky hot peppers  and other times a few clean, green bell peppers suffice.  Feta makes an appearance if I have it.  Leftover salmon or chicken might get thrown in.  It's no longer summer, but...

The other day I saw something somewhere about Israeli salad and, while it's similar to traditional "Greek" salad, it has lots of lemon and often includes mint and/or other fresh herbs.  When I read the words, "Israeli salad," I just had to have some.  I like mine with cheese, but many people also add nuts or seeds. Some never add cheese so that the salad is pareve--doesn't contain dairy or meat-- or so that it's vegan.   Whichever way you choose, I think you'll be happy and full.

My favorite little bit about Israeli salad (which is served at many meals in Israel including breakfast) comes from legendary blogger David Lebovitz, who had Israeli food writer Maya Marom write a guest post about the salad after his return to Paris from a trip to Israel.  Maya tells us there just aren't any rules about making the salad as far as ingredients go:

"Fried" Egg Skillet with Zucchini and Salsa

There are moments when there is definitely loveliness to sell. Sara Teasdale, right?*
As when you're moving and a neighbor shows up with great flowers and eggs from the nearby farmer-chef.

And you've just blogged eggs on spinach (again, but not the same).  And still, you go on and make yourself a breakfast/lunch/dinner incomparable that you'd like to share.  In fact, you do it two days running.

"Fried" Egg Skillet with Spinach and Salsa or Moving Needs a Great Breakfast.

 There are mornings when nothing but eggs will do and those mornings come around often at my house. Typically an egg white omelet or scramble are my choices, but lately -- in the middle of a move -- two big "fried" eggs aren't an unusual meal with a very large cup of coffee. Or three.

A week out in the move from Saint Paul back to a house we've owned for years in Colorado, I'm still emotionally up in the air and looking for comfort wherever I can find it.  "Fried" eggs are it.  ARGHHHH:/

Mushroom Ragù on Gruyère Toast

Slip some baguette with Gruyère under a broiler.  Saute some mushrooms with garlic, shallots, herbs, broth and wine.  Spoon the mushrooms over the cheese toast.  Dinner is served.

After this post, Dinner Place will be on vacation while we move house....

I grew up in a house that revered mushrooms. In any form, but mostly on their own--just cooked up in a big cast-iron skillet with some garlic or onions.  Eating them on their own was his favorite, but my Dad also loved them with some rice, eggs, or chicken.  He'd have mushrooms any old way.  As a little kid, I wasn't buying.   It didn't take long, however, for me to jump on his bandwagon.

My first mushroom love was the famous mushroom stuffed with sausage.  That gave way to (Lord) the deep-fried variety with sauce.  All the while, regular old mushrooms slowly began to take part in my kitchen pageant.  One day I saw that I was buying mushrooms pretty much every time I went to the store.  Talking with my oldest son the other day, I woke up and realized he was talking about cooking up a big pot of mushrooms.  Never know what you'll pass on.

Steak Pappardelle

Maybe you've been to a wedding and brought home half a filet or you might have splurged and cooked a big steak or chop to last a few days.  The things you can do with that gorgeous hunk wrapped up in the fridge are precious and myriad.  Of course you could make one of these...

Steak Cobb Salad

• steak and fried eggs with toast and jelly
• steak sandwich with cheddar and sour cream horseradish sauce
• steak-filled omelet
• Philly steak sandwich
• hash 
• pepper steak
• steak and mushrooms on toast
• stir fry and rice
• steak and blue cheese grits, or
• Alyce's Steak Cobb Salad
• Alyce's Homemade Potato Chip-Steak Salad
• your favorite

Alyce's Homemade Potato Chip-Steak Salad with Blue Cheese

In fact, there are those that feel the things you later make out of that leftover jewel are most likely the best thing of all. (Maybe we should call them something besides leftovers.) My friend Chris' husband, Dave, is like that.  Leftovers are treasures, gold in the fridge.  For instance, I adore pork tenderloin. But I think I'm most happy to make it just knowing I'll have lean pork fajitas or a dish I make where I sauté onions, garlic, and mushrooms with rosemary and then add some broth and cream for a sauce to serve over rice. That dish needs a name.

On Sunday nights, we don't truly cook.  Not from scratch. I work Sundays and by Sunday night....you get it.




 Dinner is wine and cheese.  Leftovers thrown in a pan. Frozen chili heated. A quick one-pan wonder.  It's our night to watch a movie with tv trays or "Downton Abbey" (when in season) or, like now, "The Newsroom."

Grilled Oregano Shrimp-Caesar Salad with Tomatoes and Crostini

Honest is the best policy:  I was too hungry to take much time with a photo.

It seems when I'm out with friends on some version of the protein and vegetable diet, they often end up with a Caesar Salad and Grilled Chicken or Grilled Salmon, if they're lucky.  I don't eat Caesar salad in restaurants a lot because they're often goopy-- soft and unappetizing.  And, truly, I love my own salads. Even more, I love homemade vinaigrette.

Yesterday Dave and I were at the grocery looking at fish for supper and I saw a great buy on large, gorgeous uncooked shrimp.  (Since shrimp takes two minutes to cook, why is there so much pre-cooked shrimp for sale?)  I remembered I had a bag of cleaned romaine at home in the frig, and asked for a pound of that shrimp for $9.99.  When the shrimp are large, there aren't that many in a pound; I figured whatever was leftover, we'd have the next day for a snack.

Breakfast Zucchini-Basil Boat

One big, scooped out zucchini filled with scrambled eggs, onions, basil, tomatoes+cheese.  Breakfast on the porch Just add newspaper + coffee.

Just for fun, take at look at the LA Times, who published the above photo on #weekendeats  !!!

These little boats are good for a fast summer supper, as well as for Saturday breakfast.  The "boat" is totally edible; make sure the skin is tender and eat it with a bite of salsa.  I served  this with sliced peaches and blueberries and a piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and jam.

The best part of the meal was sitting and eating it on the porch with Dave.  I'm grateful for the moments.  Here's our porch...not at breakfast, but you'll get the idea:

Salmon Fillet en Papillote with Shallots and Tomatoes: Celebrating Julia Child's 101st Birthday One Day Late!!

(Note to readers:  this is actually a repeat post from MORE TIME AT THE TABLE...written and posted last year for Julia's 100th birthday.... This year, I'm already back from our Colorado house and enjoying a gorgeous end of the summer in Minnesota. Have fun. This is FAST FOOD.)


Not spending the summer in St. Paul, I don't have any of my Julia books on the shelf....And it's Julia's 100th birthday!  I shipped all of the ones I needed to work on the soup cookbook and I brought my own personal cookbook, but the whole library cannot come to Colorado.  Julia's books sit in Minnesota:

Rice and Vegetable Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette--Favorite Salad of the Summer or It's Good to be Home?

If I had to pick one thing to live off of this summer, this would be it.

 Dave and I are blessed to live in two places or at least to own houses in two places. I have to admit it doesn't always feel like a blessing; the economy has done such things to a lot of people.  Job one place and house in another.  One making money and the other spending it all.  But the beauty of a double life is that you, if you can manage it, maintain relationships in more than one place--unlike an out-and-out final, never going back move.  Then it's emails or Christmas cards and the rare visit.  As we have lot of friends in both places and even family, we're pretty much at home in both Minnesota and Colorado.  When we say, "It'll be good to get home," we could be on our way to either spot and are perfectly honest.  It makes the concept of home confusing sometimes.  Is home really one place?  Is it a place at all?