Chopped Kale w/Penne Pasta

by Irene Lindvall

Sunset often has "4 Fast Dinner Ideas" listed on the side of the recipe pages and I happened to pay attention to this one because I had been saving the recipe on the opposite side of the page. The word kale caught my eye since I still have some in the refrigerator from last week's stew. I'm not a fan of wasting so I decided to give this fast dinner a try even though there are no specifics for the recipe. I hate not being told what to do, but I figured I needed to toast the pine nuts, and that I'd use up whatever kale I had. I wasn't sure how much broth to use, but I'd say I roughly used 2/3 of a cup for the two of us and I probably could've used less, but I wanted to make sure the noodles had taste. I seasoned the dish with salt afterwards and it came out great! 

Things I learned from this recipe:

I've never thought of using vegetable broth for a pasta dish base. I loved it and can see making this dish again when I'm in a hurry and just need to throw something together.

Would I make this recipe again?:

Definitely

The recipe:

Sauté chopped kale with plenty of chopped garlic. Add vegetable broth and serve over penne pasta with grated parmesan and pine nuts.

Green Beans w/Crisp Meyer Lemon Bread Crumbs

by Irene Lindvall

This recipe is completely unnecessary. Green beans + Meyer lemon juice would've been just fine. There really was nothing redeeming about these crumbs. I served them with chicken thighs and leftover mashed potatoes and the rest of the meal was great, but I found myself picking around the crumbs to get to the green beans. Very sad and a waste of my time. I'm glad I didn't save this one for Thanksgiving!

Things I learned from this recipe:

Sometimes vegetables just need to be served as is. 

Would I make this recipe again?:

No

The recipe

Coffee Cake Muffins

by Irene Lindvall

I made that delicious blueberry loaf last week and mentioned that I wanted to try the muffins, and I had been thinking about it so much that I decided to try it tonight. I wanted to try it without blueberries since Eric isn't a fan, so instead I thought of chocolate chips. It turned out I was out of those, and instead used chocolate chunks and peanut butter chips. Such a compromise, I know. I also tried the other modification I wanted to do - chopping up the pecans instead of leaving them as halves and then mixing them with the brown sugar. Everything turned out great! I managed to overcook them - 30 minutes was way too long, but they are still edible. I think I'd prefer them to just have chocolate chips, but really, these are delicious. 

Things I learned from this recipe:

My modifications worked! The muffins were great with the crushed pecans on the bottom. I couldn't imagine eating them with pecan halves.

Would I make this recipe again?:

Yes

The recipe

Three Recipe Night!

by Irene Lindvall

It's been quite some time since I've made three recipes in one night, and I have to say, I pulled it off really well tonight. I made a protein and two side dishes in an effort to try out more dishes before Thanksgiving. I thought tonight was a success and here is a photo of all three, followed by a break-down of each of the recipes.

Chile-Lime Turkey Patties

I didn't have leftover turkey for this recipe (it's supposed to be a post-Thanksgiving dish) so I decided to use raw ground turkey instead and combined it with all the other ingredients to make the patty. It ended up cooking in the same time the recipe called for which was great. Along with the patties, the recipe also had a lime butter sauce to make to accompany the dish. It was quite delicious and although I don't generally care for that much butter, it really did taste great.

Things I learned from this recipe:

This was a really great non-summer "burger". I liked the non-bun aspect and serving it with more traditional fall side dishes.

Would I make this recipe again?:

Yes

The recipe

 

Mashed Potatoes & Parsnips w/Crisp Root Vegetable Strips

I have zero experience making mashed potatoes and zero experience with parsnips. I really need to figure out mashed potatoes before Thanksgiving so I thought this would be a good introduction. This is also another two-part recipe with a really interesting topping of using the peels from both the potatoes and the parsnips to make crispy little pieces of deliciousness on top. There was an interesting part to the recipe of adding vegan coconut spread or vegan margarine to the recipe to bring out the sweetness of the parsnips. I added the margarine because that is what I could find at the store and I definitely think it did its job. The part of the recipe I'm unsure on is the yeast. I have no idea why it was added. I guess for more seasoning/taste? I have no experience with nutritional yeast and clearly will have to delve into its uses.

Things I learned from this recipe:

Using vegetable skin peels make an amazing accompaniment and I look forward to doing this for other dishes.

Would I make this recipe again?:

Yes

The recipe

 

Glazed Carrots w/Pecans

I wanted to make sure we got a vegetable in tonight so I went with an easy carrot dish I knew we'd both enjoy. The prep was done while I was waiting for the patties to cook and I cooked these last so they wouldn't be soggy. I cooked everything for one minute less and thought both the carrots and the pecans were the right firmness. The amount of brown sugar was way too much, but that could be easily rectified the next time I make it.

Things I learned from this recipe:

Brown sugar + vegetables = a very interesting treat.

Would I make this recipe again?:

Yes, but with less brown sugar.

The recipe

Turkey Tetrazzini (dinner)

by Irene Lindvall

A couple of funny things happened with this recipe. First off, the recipe called for cubed or shredded turkey - neither of which I could find. I was not in the mood to cook a gigantic turkey breast I found at the grocery store so I went with cubed chicken tenders instead. It was a fine substitution and did not effect the overall taste of the dish. The oddest thing about the recipe was that in step one it said to melt the butter and add the leeks, mushrooms and nutmeg, but on my piece of ripped out magazine the first item of the recipe is nutmeg. I clearly missed a page of the recipe so I decided to skip step one of the dish entirely. This also had no real impact on the dish. Step two was cooking the pasta and step three was making the sauce. I had no problem with either of those two steps and the dish still tasted greater without the veggies from step one. I've never made a dish where I've been able to completely omit a step and ingredients and still have it turn out. I'll admit, I'm still intrigued to know how the nutmeg would've played out.

Things I learned from this recipe:

I have to say that I'm a little impressed with myself and my ability to trust that the dish was still going to turn out even though I was skipping a whole step. I may be coming a little bit more confident. 

Would I make this recipe again?:

Probably

The recipe