What's for Dinner?

I'm trying to keep from getting into a rut of what to make for dinner....er....supper... er the evening meal (see manners thread..lol) I like to get inspiration from others. What are you having tonight? Help me out. Give me new ideas.

Frank requested chicken enchiladas tonight. So I'll be making those using whole wheat tortillas, and serving brown rice and a nice salad on the side.

We have a huge amount of spinach dip left over from a party. I am using that instead of a white sauce in a cheesy, chicken, rice, casserole. With Swiss cheese and panko crumbs, it ought to be nice.

This week one of my favorite meals was primarily Thai spring rolls. Fun to make and oh so tasty with various dipping sauces. And one left over sauce was poured over cucumber for a salad last night. Good. I enjoy re-creating leftovers. Last night was left over mushrooms and shrimp and black olives with a garlic alfredo sauce over thin spaghetti. Turned out well. I also took leftover herbed cream cheese, mixed it with butter and garlic, and used it as a topping on broiled toast - most excellent.

Your chicken dish sounds great. I need to learn more about Spanish and Mexican menus ... I can make a Tostada and that is about it. Want more!

One great find of this week was using the jullienne tool (as seen on TV and available at Walgreens) to prepare cucumber for spring rolls. I ended up with cucumber spahetti! LOL It was a quick and easy way to get the cucumber small enough to be good in a spring roll. Nifty gadget, that jullienne tool ... I use it all the time on carrots for salads, etc.

Haddock in Bechamel sauce, green beans, asparagus and Gino spuds.

Spring rolls! Good idea, Richard. We've made those before and always enjoyed them. It may be time to revisit them. I have a recipe for a Phillipino version as well.... can't remember what they're called at the moment. Migrainity I guess.

Pen, what are Gino spuds.... Of course, it's some type of potato, but I've never heard of Gino ones.

This is why I love threads like this. I get some new creative ideas.

Richard, I'd love to claim creativity in the enchiladas. I take the easy route and use the canned red encilada sauce. I'm using left over chicken from the roast chicken we had a few days ago for dinner. I just shread it up, mix in the sauce and some cheddar cheese. I fill the tortillas and place them in a baking dish seam side down, top them with more of the sauce, a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar cheese and bake them at 375 for 20 min. Very easy.

Sorry Brenda.
We have an Italian TV chef here, he is called Gino D'acampo.
He made some potatoes like my dad used to do , but I had forgotten them for years.
They are just so easy. Just salad pots drizzled with olive oil and thrown in the oven.
We really like them and a lot healthier than fries.
I named them Gino's

Ahh ok Penn. Yes, I make those often. We especially like them with olive oil, garlic and rosemary tossed in. Yummy!

Good arent they. My dad knew them as fondant potatoes. I have no idea why??
He was a master baker and chef. So he must have got the name from somewhere...
I like things like that, fast food that isnt bad for you.

Penn, I also make what we call spicy wedges. I cut the potatoes into wedge slices, either toss them with olive oil or spray them with cooking spray if I want them really low fat, then I sprinkle them liberally with a spicy cajun seasoning blend. You could make your own with garlic powder, salt, cayenne, paprika, etc. It's one of hubby's favorite side dishes. Potatoes are so versatile. We have to watch portion sizes because Frank is diabetic, but I'm a country girl. I gotta have my taters.

It's take out Turkish food for me tonight. Late clinic night...we usually get sushi, but decided to "live it up today". yay us. lol

I am reading this at 2:30 in the morning. Woke up with a headache. Now I am also very hungry. Thanks guys . I make those potatoes with Italian seasoning, garlic and olive oil. I can eat a whole bowl full (5 lbs), but would gain 100 lbs of fat! LOL. The potatoes are really good the next morning, fried and served with eggs and bacon.

As for dinner, I like Cajun baked catfish with Asparagas and Spanish Rice with queso drizziled over the top.

Hal

Yes Brenda, we do those too...
And do you do them with sweet potatoes?
They are really good. If you Julienne them they cook in about 15 minutes.
Quicker than sending our for "fast food" and so much better in taste and nutrition.....
and....for the budget.

Tonight my wife works and usually doesn't get home till midnight. I have chef duty tonight. It will be pink salmon, shrimp and smoked mussel pasta with minced garlic. It won't be a big fuss since everything will be out of a can except the garlic. Maybe a couple weeks from now when I have a bit more time I will use the same ingredients but fresh from the seafood store.

I hardly know anyone that actually cooks anymore. They could build cheaper houses by skipping the kitchen and just having a microwave closet.

There are guys I know that think they can BBQ and thus can say "I cook". All they do is burn stuff on the BBQ. I have taken the time to learn the difference in grilling versus slow cooking with gas or charcoal. There is an entire channel about cooking with many BBQing shows. Aside from what I learned from my mom and grandma I love watching all the cooking shows.

Keep it simple and use a tiny bit of creativity. Great stuff can be made with simple cheap ingredients.

IMHO the crock pot is a better invention then the microwave. I throw in a couple ham hocks, water, three or four different types of beans, some minced onion and garlic. Turn it on and in 6-7 hrs dinner is ready and the whole house smells awesome. I do clam chowder the same way except wait a few hours to throw in the potatoes.

Low and slow usually is my kitchen secret.

Ham hock and three bean soup.
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Red clam sauce and shrimp pasta.
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What is a ham hock?

I love my crock pot too, Brent. About the only thing I haven't done in it is dessert. We like steel cut oatmeal and it's better for you because it's not as processed, so it has more fiber, etc. I put that in right before bed and in the morning, it's ready. I use Alton Brown's recipe using whatever add ins we choose.

Tonight was a pretty carby meal, so tomorrow will have to be something better. Sure did taste good. Nothing like a big old plate of comfort food when you're feeling down.

Tonight was spaghetti (whole grain, so not tooooo bad), homemade meatballs, and homemade garlic bread. Went a smidge too heavy with the garlic. Plenty of breath mints will be needed tonight. I cleaned up the dishes and lit a couple of candles. LOL

milo wrote:What is a ham hock?

It's the small knuckle part of the ham that is cured and smoked but trimmed off before the ham is sold. It still has a lot of meat and slow cooking allows it to fall off the bone and skin.

Brent, this sounds delicious, but any smoked or cured product is really one of the very worst M triggers for me.

I do cook everything from fresh - it does not take any longer then processed foods, and I make sure that I know what I am eating avoiding all artificial flavourings, chemicals or colours. I will nto take the risk as many ready prepared products are triggers.

Today I made cous-cous as a hot salad. Cous-cous was mixed with peas, carrots plus parsley, mint and some olive oil. This was served with the crock-pot cooked chunks of lean pork with bell peppers, paprika, mushrooms and lots of onions and garlic.

I had young visitors staying with me this week and they loved this simple dish. WE went out, so the meat cooked itself, and cous-cous takes about 5 minutes in the microwave.

It was a joy to see that even young people also love cooking with natural ingredients.
They cooked for me, and since the young woman was Italian, she cooked some excellent pasta sauces for us, as well. She will fit very well in my family.

We do not eat many deserts, we mostly have fruit for afters. However last Sunday I made an apple crumble as I had my little g-children and they like something sweet to end the meal. I will have to bake a B-day cake next week as well - special occasions are special occasions.
Senna

Lovely thread Brenda! We often have potatoes with olive oil, rosemary and garlic too in the summer but good idea to throw on some cayenne or paprika, thanks. My son would love that. He'll be finishing uni soon and then I'll have to think of 'proper' dinners every night - groan! My daughter's moving back home too as she can't afford to live away so it'll be full on. I love them dearly but have got so used to only cooking for the two of us.

Although we do eat some meat, we like vegetarian food too and this is my favourite recipe of the moment
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4382/veggie-shepherds-pie-with-sweet-potato-mash if the link works. I mix sweet potato with ordinary though as I find it just too sweet.

Off to bed now dreaming of food.

Liz