Cooking
One-Pan Smokey Chicken with Halloumi & Peaches: I had saved this recipe a few months ago waiting for peach season and wow it did not disappoint. I missed the instruction where you should pre-boil the potatoes, so I just sliced them thinly and then removed the chicken before adding in the halloumi so it didn’t overcook. I also didn’t have arugula so I topped mine with fresh basil, and served it with a salad instead. So so easy, and love that it all gets mixed in the pan so no extra dishes!
Other things I cooked:
Alison Roman’s The Stew: hard to believe it was cool enough at the beginning of the week to want soup, but made this pantry staple on Monday for hearty lunch and to use up swiss chard we had in the fridge. One of my favourites!
Cookie & Kate’s Whole Wheat Pancakes: felt like pancakes this week, made these with fresh blueberries! Makes 6, so a good small batch recipe.
Samin Nosrat’s Slow-Roasted Salmon: I read about this method in Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat but this is my first time trying it. So simple and the salmon is so tender this way. I just followed the instructions for the salmon in the link and then made my own herb yogurt sauce (diced shallot, minced fresh dill, and parsley, lemon juice, greek yogurt, touch of mayo, olive oil, salt, and pepper).
Ina Garten’s Couscous: my favourite way to make couscous! Sometimes I don’t have pine nuts or currents but just follow the other steps. It makes a lot of couscous so I recommend halving the recipe if you aren’t cooking for a lot of people.
Corn Dogs: my sister-in-law requested corn dogs for her birthday dinner, so I tried out this recipe - it was so good! My first time frying at home, and it was pretty simple. I didn’t have an oil thermometer so I did the trick of holding a wooden skewer in the oil to see if bubbles form around it - that’s when you know the oil is hot enough!
Broccoli Bolognese: this is one of my fav pastas for a crowd, I added in the zest of a lemon and a squeeze of lemon juice at the end to brighten it up!
Pork Ragu Pappardelle: my other go-to pasta for a crowd, super hands-off but so full of flavour.
My Fennel Kale Salad: the perfect side with pasta, from the archives of my site.
Milk Bar Birthday Cake: a two-day adventure of a birthday cake but so worth it. I love Christina Tosi’s recipes for balancing salt and sweetness in desserts. A crowd-pleaser for sure!
Also, new to the blog this week is my Zucchini Chicken Burger recipe!
Reading
Why Do American Grocery Stores Still Have Ethnic Aisles?
Following
@crispyegg420 I am obsessed with her photos and veggie inspiration.
Listening
Santa Barbara by Angelo de Augustine.
Using
Clear imitation vanilla extract for my Milk Bar cake. You can find it at Bulk Barn or Michaels! Clear is key for getting the “fake” vanilla flavour of a boxed cake.
Thinking
About how nice it’s been to be home for birthdays this year. This is the first year in 7 (!) years I’ve been home to celebrate any of my immediate family’s birthdays and it’s nice to get to celebrate them in person.
Laughing
Have a great week!
Kaleigh