The Pioneer Woman's Beef with Snow Peas

Tonight, called for a fast wok dinner that could be thrown together very quickly. I thought The Pioneer Woman might not know a good Asian dish since she is usually all about meat and potatoes type food, which I of course love! But, her photos for this recipe made my mouth water profusely so I knew I had to give it a go and put my faith in her. I felt the prep time was more like 10 minutes and I used sugar snap peas instead of snow peas so I threw them in at the beginning as in step 1 but never took them back out. I just let them cook the whole time. I also sliced up half a small red chili (Seeded first!) and threw that in when I added the snap peas at the beginning as well. The flank steak cooked in under 3 minutes and it came out seriously tender. Slicing it very thin must have been the trick--Ree (The Pioneer Woman) was right. I served it on top of a heap of fresh jasmine rice. This recipe made dinner for both of us tonight as well as enough leftovers for both of us to have a small lunch of it tomorrow. The quality and look of this dish was restaurant worthy, we both felt and I will definitely make it again. Here's my beef and snap peas:

Sauteeing the snap peas, chili pepper, onion©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

Martha Stewart's Butternut Squash with Brown Butter

I know, I know, this side dish belongs in a fall or winter dinner menu not when it's almost summer. But,  this delicious and filling vegetable recipe is so good you will want it anytime you can get your hands on some butternut squash. Luckily for me, organic butternut squash was available at my grocery store from a local farmer. I used salted butter and an extra dash of brown sugar but otherwise stuck to Martha's recipe. It was such a simple recipe with just two steps and minimal prep. I was able to get it prepped and cooked in about 30 minutes, which was perfect since my already butcher-prepared goat cheese stuffed chicken breasts were cooking in the oven for only 30 minutes as well. I served my chicken and butternut squash with a basic handful of arugula dressed in a few drops of good-quality cold-pressed olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I also added some fresh ground black pepper and a dash of salt to the squash and the salad. All in all, this was a very simple meal (especially since my chicken dish was already prepped by my grocery store butcher and only needed to be thrown in the oven). However, it was also so scrumptious and looked pretty too if I do say so myself. Finally, to make it vegetarian you could simply switch the chicken broth to vegetable broth and instead of butter use olive oil. Here's my squash:

©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

My Newlywed Cooking Adventures' Ravioli with Shrimp & Asparagus in Cream Sauce

I bought a whole pound of shrimp yesterday and when I went to make last night's dinner of Bon Appetit's Shrimp with Bok Choy, I realized I bought about 1/2 lb. too much for just two people. However, that meant that today I had another 1/2 lb. to find a yummy recipe for. I decided since yesterday had some typically Asian ingredients, tonight would be more Italian influenced. I came up with this recipe wanting to use some fresh, organic goat cheese ravioli I bought this weekend. I really like the mixture of asparagus and shrimp, just like in my Mom's Shrimp & Asparagus Stir-Fry. The prep time is 10 minutes and cooking time is about 15 minutes. If you use fresh pasta like I did, the cook time is minimal, about 5 minutes or less so you have to make sure you don't add fresh pasta to the water until you're almost done with the veggies and sauce. I hope you'll enjoy this pasta dish as much as we both did tonight! Here's my ravioli with shrimp:

©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013 

©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

Bon Appetit's Spicy Shrimp with Pineapple & Bok Choy

Tonight, I made this colorful stir-fry dish for dinner. The prep time was about 15 minutes and the cooking time was about 10 minutes. So in just under 30 minutes I had dinner ready and on the table. It was very pretty to look at and tasted equally pleasing. I loved the sweet tang of the pineapples alongside the spicy pepper flakes, garlic, and onion. It made for a meal that was fun for the taste buds! The one and only change in the recipe I made was to use canned pineapple instead of fresh. I actually bought and cut up a whole, fresh pineapple last week but alas it was all gobbled up by the time I found this recipe.The proportions were perfect for two people but you could easily double it to make enough for four. I definitely recommend this easy wok meal. Here's my shrimp stir-fry:

©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

Better Homes & Gardens' Onion-Soup Roasted Potatoes

I'm always looking for new and different roasted potato or sweet potato recipes because I love them for dinner side dishes. I came upon this one from BHG that only needed 3 ingredients--I'm in! I used 1 large sweet potato (washed but not peeled) and subbed in olive oil for the veggie oil. The prep was definitely less than 10 minutes, about 3 minutes I'd say. I prepared it in an 8x8 glass pyrex dish that I lightly sprayed with PAM first. 35 minutes was the perfect time and those potatoes were extremely hot! I had to let them cool down about 5 minutes before eating them. They were crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. The onion soup mix was a really great complement to the sweet potato. I was a very fast, very simple, and very tasty side. Here's my potatoes:

©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

My Newlywed Cooking Adventures' Grilled Onion Burgers

I am sharing with the world tonight our favorite burger recipe. It is a combination of my husband's and my ideas and has been carefully perfected. It is a great summertime meal and you really barely need any other sides although I've been known to serve it with tater tots or a side salad now and again. Tonight, we simply had potato chips alongside and it was heavenly. I've used both ground beef and ground turkey but for all you vegetarians out there I'm pretty darn sure this would be delicious with whatever tofu or quinoa type burger you substitute in. The onions get nicely cooked in the foil and only the edges get slightly browned. The garlic and jalapeno in the burger meat add a nice addition of heat and unexpected flavor boosts. I hope you'll enjoy our burger creation as much as we do! Oh, and even though it has been raining nonstop all day, this grilled burger was still enjoyed greatly--rain or shine! Here's my grilled onion burger:

Onions in the foil boat pre-grill ©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013 

©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

Real Simple's Fennel-Crusted Pork Loin with Roasted Potatoes

Even though the weather outside is finally looking like springtime, I made this hearty fall/winter style meal tonight. I wanted to make something that would have a good amount of leftovers and this recipe did just that. I substituted 2 Fuji apples for the pears and left out the potatoes because it was going to be too much food for just us. The directions were perfectly straightforward so hands-on time was minimal. This would be a gem for dinner parties or the holidays because you prep for only a few minutes, throw it in the oven and then can relax for an hour. 10 minutes before my pork loin was ready, I checked the internal temperature with a meat thermometer and it was just at 160ºF so I turned off the oven at 1 hour exactly and let it sit in the warm oven for those last minutes.

During this time, I made my Creamed Swiss Chard, my own creation that was inspired by a recipe passed on from my family friend Liesl P. In a saute pan, warm 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp butter, add in a few leaves of Swiss chard that have been torn or cut into strips, salt and pepper it and cook over medium heat for 4 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons heavy cream, stir and cook for another 2 minutes and serve.

The pork was moist but thoroughly cooked through and the roasted fruit and onions were a wonderful addition of flavors and color. I served organic applesauce from the jar on the side. The only change I would suggest is to add the fruit, onion, and potatoes about 30 minutes into the cooking time so they only bake for just over half the time as the meat because some pieces did get a bit burnt around the edges. Otherwise, the fennel and garlic crust was very tasty and I would most definitely make this meal again. Here's my fennel-crusted pork loin:

Into the oven it goes ©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013 

©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013 

©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

Martha Stewart's Stir-Fried Chicken with Bok Choy

Inspired by my old friend, A Lady in London's, incredible foodie experiences while traveling in the Philippines and Malaysia this past week, I wanted to make something stir-fried tonight for dinner. This recipe was fast and simple! I prepped everything before heating up the wok so that I could just keep the cooking flow moving. I'd say prep was about 10 minutes and cooking time was another 10. Not too shabby! I started my rice before I prepped all the veggies and chicken so that it would be done on time. The timing worked out very well. I followed each step precisely and didn't add or subtract anything tonight. This stir-fry came out fantastic! The only addition I'd make now looking back is to add an extra tablespoon of soy sauce...but I like things more on the salty side so take this advice with a grain of salt, pun intended! If you want a quick and flavorful dinner that is also colorful to look at, I recommend this recipe. Here's my chicken with bok choy:

©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013 

©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

Cooking Classy's Lemon Chicken Romano

Tonight was a good old-fashioned feeling dinnertime. We had some lovely breaded, cheesy chicken with steamed broccoli and buttery egg noodles on the side. I have been holding onto this recipe for months now so there was a lot of anticipation tonight in making it. It is like a basic breaded chicken recipe except add a lot of cheese and lemon, yum yum! I decided to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of a breast because it's what I had on hand and I saw that you could pound the chicken thighs between saran wrap to flatten them out if needed in order to make a breaded chicken thigh recipe. My Organic chicken thighs were actually already quite flattened so I didn't have to add any extra steps. I also omitted step 2 and just rinsed the thighs, let them dry on paper towels and then dredged them. This saved time and energy and I think it was just fine. Also, a tip: use a spatula instead of tongs to turn the chicken or else you risk loosing some of the breading. The chicken came out with a lovely crisp breaded layer but I felt it was a little too lemony. Next time, I will lessen the amount of lemon zest I use in the breading. The chicken was tender and the cheese added great depth to the dish. Here's my lemon chicken romano:

©My Newlywed Cooking Adventures 2013

©My Newlywed Cooking Adventures 2013

My Newlywed Cooking Adventures' Cinco de Mayo Chicken Tacos with Guacamole

Feliz Cinco de Mayo! For festivity sake, I made these shredded chicken tacos, with the idea thanks to Heather H.! This is my normal taco recipe that I make with ground beef but instead I needed to use up the rest of my rotisserie chicken. So I looked online for ideas and found the idea of sauteing the shredded chicken in salsa from Real Simple Magazine. Otherwise, this is my normal routine. I love the guacamole I make and it would be just as good as a dip for chips. The jalapeño is rinsed and seeded so that it doesn't add heat just a nice extra zesty flavor. The cilantro actually seems to add the most "heat" although it's mostly just a nice spicy flavor. These tacos however are not spicy so if you're like me and fear the heat you don't have to worry! Of course you can add on more heat as you wish to your own liking. Prep time for the guac is about 5-10 minutes but otherwise this recipe is very speedy and you can have dinner in under 30 minutes. Here's my Shredded Chicken Tacos with Guacamole:

Making the Guac ©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

Southern Greens with Cream & Ham Hock

I decided to go Southern tonight and make some roasted sweet potatoes, grilled steak with Tony's Creole seasoning (thanks to my husband!) and as the piece de resistance these Southern Greens. I had a bunch of swiss chard still in my fridge and a recipe from my friend Liesl to work with. I also randomly had bought a small ham hock from the butcher because I saw it, had never used one, and decided to bring it home and figure out what one uses it for. Adventure is out there! So, I combined the recipe Liesl recommended with one from the Porcini Chronicles' blog and came up with this stupendous creation. There was some prep for it, but not too much, so it made for a nice Saturday night dinner. I also liked how it basically cooked itself for about 40 minutes during which time I prepped the roasted sweet potatoes (sprinkled with olive oil, salt, fresh ground pepper, a little cinnamon, paprika, and a dash of brown sugar). I didn't feel rushed or like everything had to be done at the same moment and was also able to chop the swiss chard while the sauce with the ham hock was simmering. The result was a creamy, salty, and completely non-bitter concoction. It was really good but rich thanks to the added slices of ham so not too much per person is needed. We enjoyed the decadent side dish and I would make it again especially for a holiday meal. Here's my Southern greens:

The leek, garlic, bell pepper, pancetta ©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

Adding the greens with the ham hock ©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

Adding the cream ©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013

Dinner time! ©MyNewlywedCookingAdventures 2013