It's funny how events in life bring you back to reality. Dave and I thought we were getting good at cooking and then we have pantry wars. It was a humbling experience. Neither of our dishes impressed us all that much. As such, I will only post some photos and give a couple of side dish recipes.
Dave made a shitake mushroom and chicken wheat pasta. The mushrooms were the one item he bought at the store for under $10. He added lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, peas, capers and Parmesan cheese. The dish turned out okay, but was not something where we wanted to save the leftovers. Any suggestions for how to improve, please feel free to leave a comment. 
My dish started off in one direction and headed another. The initial plan was to grill two pork chops (my less than $10 item) and serve them with a raspberry chipotle sauce accompanied by pinto beans and cauliflower mashed potatoes (my take on a starch). I started to make the raspberry sauce with frozen raspberries and chipotle in adobo sauce added some garlic, vinegar and salt and it just DID NOT taste good, so I opted not to serve it. Anyone have a good recipe, please feel free to add. However, I enjoyed my two sides and did save the leftovers beans and ate the small amount of remaining cauliflower, so that's why it's a draw.
So, my meal became grilled pork chops with pinto beans and cauliflower mash. Here's the easy beans recipe for a nice side if you are preparing Tex-Mex, Mexican or southwest food. It's much lighter than refried beans and may be preferable to rice. I'll also include the cauliflower recipe below the beans.
Pinto Beans w/ Tomatoes
1 15 oz. can pinto beans
1 12 oz. can diced tomatoes*
Combine cans and season with a little salt and pepper. Heat over low to medium heat on stove prior to serving.
*Using diced tomatoes seasoned with chipotles is tasty too.
Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
1 15 oz. bag frozen cauliflower
1 T - 2 T butter
Skim milk
Garlic powder or the real thing
Salt and Pepper
Cheese (match the cheese to the style of meal - Italian, Mexican, etc.)
Cook the cauliflower per the directions on the bag. Place in a bowl and mash as you would potatoes. Incorporate the milk, butter, salt, pepper, garlic and other ingredients. Mash or blend until you reach the consistency that pleases you. Add melted cheese on top for a bonus.
I did not use the garlic powder or cheese in my meal, but added green chili peppers, which I enjoyed. I do think it needed some cheese and a little kick from fresh garlic or garlic powder, so that's why I added it to this recipe. Dave wasn't a big fan, he said he'd rather stick to mashed potatoes. That's no fun!!
1 comment:
Having learned to cook over the last 40 years and being a Weight Watchers lifetime member, I advise you in a friendly way to watch portions and base your cooking on recipes friendly to keeping weight gain at bay over the decades. I suggest 2 cookbooks, Weight Watchers From Pantry to Plate (try chicken piccata page 80) and The South Beach Diet by Agaston (try the Surprise South Beach Mashed "Potatoes" page 171). The latter is a variation on the cauliflower in your post. My mother was not a good cook having been intimidated by my paternal grandmother who was territorial in the kitchen. I lived extended family style until I was 10. Learning to cook is a process. My first inspirations were my grandmother (Busia in Polish), Norm's industrial design professor's wife, Mrs. Lahti, and Clinton Kuopus. Fondly, Susan
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