Category: Fast and Good

Kale, Lemon & Chicken Casserole

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Lovely image of kale by Christina Rumpf on Unsplash.

I’d picked up kale planning to make soup or a lovely massaged kale salad, but somehow it just didn’t feel like a soup or salad night. Instead, I tweaked a Martha Stewart casserole recipe. We loved it – it was fast, easy and perfect for a weeknight supper. Next time – I’ll probably double the kale.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. shells or other pasta (bowtie or rotini)
2 Tbsp butter
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced or one heaping teaspoon garlic powder
1 package chopped kale (5-7 oz – but you could easily double it!)
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup sour cream
Zest and juice of half a large lemon
3/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated (or Parmesan)
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly-grated black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Add pasta to a large pot of boiling salted water, and cook until al dente. Drain and return to the pot off heat.

Meanwhile, in a large frying pan melt butter over medium high heat, add onion and cook 4-5 minutes until onion is softened. Add garlic and cook another minute, stirring frequently.

Add kale, reduce heat and stir to combine. Cover and cook about five minutes, stirring occasionally until kale is tender. Add to pot with pasta.

Then add chicken, sour cream, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper and 1/2 cup of Romano cheese, and blend together gently.

Check seasoning and place in a 9 x 13 baking dish, and top with remaining cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with slices of fresh lemon for squeezing over.

Delish!

Salmon with Creamy Spinach and Tomatoes

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Another delicious salmon recipe – and this one has plenty of veggies, with a delicious, creamy sauce – so it’s just the kind of recipe we love.

I made it last night, and we finished the whole thing – leaving not so much as a drop. It’s even possible that someone went after the skillet with a rubber spatula. So truly, not a drop was left, and yes it was me! Yum!

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil
4 4-oz piece of salmon fillet, skin removed
2 Tbsp butter
1 chopped onion
1 Tbsp flour
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
2 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, or other tomatoes, cut into roughly 1″ chunks
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup half & half
1 tsp lemon zest
4-5 cups baby spinach

Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet on medium-high heat. Cook salmon for 7-8 minutes, gently flipping half way through. Remove salmon from skillet, and keep on a plate.

Add butter, and sauté onion for several minutes until softened. Stir in the flour and spices and stir for another minute or two. Add tomatoes, and cook 3-4 minutes or until softened a bit. Add wine and Dijon mustard. turn heat to low, and cook five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Slowly stir in the half & half and lemon zest, and continue cooking another minute until it starts to thicken. Add spinach and stir until spinach is mostly wilted.

Return salmon fillets to the skillet, and cook two minutes or so until the salmon is heated through. So good!

Roasted Cauliflower with Gremolata Breadcrumbs

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Feeling absolutely starved this afternoon and I remembered I had a big bag of Cauliflower Florets in the fridge. I’ve been wanting to roast Cauliflower and found a truly wonderful recipe on Food52.com.

Cauliflower in all it’s glory by Jennifer Schmidt on Unsplash

Ingredients:

2 large heads cauliflower. broken into florets or 1 large bag cauliflower florets
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 tsp Kosher salt, divided
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
Zest of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 Tbsp roughly chopped fresh parsley

Set oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl mix ¼ cup olive oil, ¼ tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper. Add cauliflower and stir well to coat. Pour into a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until cauliflower is starting to get nice brown bits.

Meanwhile in a frying pan, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil and add panko and ¼ tsp salt. Gently sauté for several minutes until breadcrumbs begin to brown. Reduce heat and add lemon and garlic. Gently sauté a couple more minutes and remove from heat.

Put cauliflower in a serving dish and top with the breadcrumb mixture. Sprinkle parsley over and serve. So good!

Oven-roasted Asparagus

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Beautiful image from Oklahoma Academy Country Store on Unsplash

I planted Asparagus in a back corner of my garden several years ago and always kind of forgot about it, until it was a giant mass of ferns. Yesterday, I checked and there were 7-8 beautiful little stems coming up! So I harvested them and we had them for supper last night, using a recipe from Allrecipes.com. Really fresh asparagus is such a treat!

Ingredients

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1½ Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 bunch thin asparagus spears, trimmed into bite-sized pieces.

Preheat oven to 425. Mix everything in a bowl, and add asparagus. Pour out onto a baking sheet and bake 12-15 minutes (longer if the stems are thicker). Remove from oven, and splash with just a bit more lemon juice.

Mustafa’s Daal (Lentils)

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After visiting Kumy’s Mom at the beginning of last year, we were reminded how incredibly delicious Pakistani food is!  We were also lucky enough to learn how to make Daal from Mummy’s cook, Mustafa, who is an amazing cook.

It’s a fairly easy recipe, and uses a “bagaar” to add flavor.  It was one of the first things we made when we got back.  I’m happy to say it was just about as good as Mustafa’s and a welcome reminder of our visit back “home”.

Ingredients:

1 cup Masoor Daal (small, round, split red lentils)
1/2 cup Moong Daal (small, oval split yellow lentils)

4 cups water
2 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper (add more if you dare – it was originally 1 1/4 tsp – but that was too hot!)
1/4 tsp turmeric
3/4 cup diced onions
3/4 cup diced tomato  (Can also substitute 1 can of Rotel Tomatoes for the tomato and jalapeno.)
1/2 jalapeno, diced, optional
1/4 cup cilantro, rough-chopped, optional

Bagaar:
2 Tbsp oil
1 1/2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 1/4 tsp whole cumin
3 dry red chilis/peppers (small, round ones, but you can use two long red ones instead.)

Wash both daals well, swirling and rinsing until the water is mostly clear. Add to a large pot. Then add water, garlic, salt, cayenne, turmeric, onions and tomatoes. Cook 30-40 minutes.

Whisk well and add water to get a thick gravy consistency, as needed. You can also use an immersion blender to puree the daal, but be careful not to over do it. Add Jalapeno and Cilantro, and cook 10 minutes more.

In a small frying pan, heat the oil and add the rough-chopped garlic, cook for a minute and then add the dry red chilis/peppers and cumin seeds. Cook 30 seconds more and pour oil mixture right into the daal. Stir to combine and serve with basmati rice or Naan. Can also add a squeeze of lemon when serving if you wish.

Pan Seared Salmon with Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce

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My dear friend Tammy came over yesterday and we made dinner together. Fresh asparagus from the garden, roasted butternut squash salad, and this amazing salmon dish, cooked in a cast iron skillet. We ate in the backyard as the sun slowly set and it was truly magical.

Tammy actually made the salmon dish and it was just incredible! Kumy said, “this is it – we don’t need to try any other salmon recipes” and I have to say I agree! We got the recipe from Katerina on Diethood.com, with a few modifications.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil
4 (6 oz. each) skin-on salmon fillets
salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

For the Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce

1 Tbsp butter
1 cup half & half
1/2 Tbsp all purpose flour (or 3/4 tsp cornstarch for a gluten-free version)
1/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano (or Parmesan) cheese
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3 big cloves garlic, roughly minced
1 tsp dried dill
3/4 tsp dried thyme
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Heat a cast iron skillet on medium high heat and add the olive oil. Season the salmon on both sides with salt and pepper and add the salmon fillets, skin side down. Let cook for 6 minutes without moving or lifting the fish.

Gently flip the fish over and let it cook 2 more minutes, then remove to a plate.

While fish is cooking, whisk together the half & half, flour, cheese, lemon juice, garlic, dill and thyme in a small bowl. Add ½ tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp black pepper to start. (You can always add more salt and pepper at the end.)

Remove any skin that has stuck to the skillet, and reduce the temperature to medium. Add the butter, let it melt and then pour in the sauce. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, whisking constantly for a minute or so until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the fish carefully into the sauce, skin side down, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Leave the tops of the salmon uncovered so it looks pretty.

So good!

Fresh Mint & Lemon Iced Tea

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The mint in my garden is already 10″ tall and of course spreading with reckless abandon. I love mint and have decided to let it “own” a patch of ground by the porch, since it’s worth it to step outside and grab some whenever I need it. After all, what other herb grows by the square foot? (If you want to corral it – it also grows well in a low flat pot.)

Mojitos, anyone?

Another great way mint can be the star of the show is with Fresh Mint & Lemon Iced Tea, which is only lightly sweetened, but incredibly refreshing – especially on a hot day. Plus it’s caffeine free.

Ingredients:

4 cups water
2 peppermint tea bags (we like Celestial Seasonings)
1-2 cups of fresh peppermint sprigs (stems and leaves are fine – no need to remove leaves)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the teabags, sugar and fresh mint and remove from heat. Cover and let steep 10 minutes or so. Stir and then strain into a pitcher. Add 2 Tbsp lemon juice and fill the pitcher with ice.

Stir again, then check the taste – adding more sugar or lemon to taste. Pour into glasses half-filled with ice and garnish with a slice of lemon and a sprig of mint if desired.

Brazilian Seafood Stew (Moqueca)

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I made this remarkably delicious stew last night and it’s a keeper. With a coconutty, fresh lime and cilantro focus, it’s light and the fish and shrimp taste wonderful with it. I’ve tweaked a recipe originally from the New York Times, and everything is very easily available except Dende oil. It may be worth ordering some – since I will definitely make this again.

Ingredients

12 oz peeled, deveined shrimp
12 oz cod fillet, cut into 1″ pieces
kosher salt
2 limes (juice of one and the other cut into wedges)
2 Tbsp olive oil (Or Dende oil – traditional but less easily available)
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 large bell peppers, cut into 1/4″ slices, and halved
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes, drained and juice reserved (Or 1 lb. tomatoes, cut in 1″ wedges, and 1 Scotch Bonnet pepper, whole and pricked all over with a a knife.)
1 13.5 oz can of coconut milk
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
steamed rice for serving

Directions

In a bowl, squeeze the juice of one lime and add 1 tsp salt. Place fish chunks in bowl and let marinate.

In a large, deep frying pan, heat olive oil. Add garlic and cook for a minute, then add onions and cook another few minutes. Turn heat up a bit and add the peppers and drained Ro-tel tomatoes. (Save the juice!) Saute for 5 minutes or so, until the peppers are starting to soften.

Reduce heat and add the coconut milk, the Ro-tel juice and simmer about 10 minutes. Add half the chopped cilantro, and the shrimp and cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Gently place fish and marinade into the pan, and cook 2-3 more minutes until fish is cooked through. Taste and add salt if needed.

To serve, place some steamed rice in the bottom of the bowl and ladle stew over. Top with a squeeze of fresh lime and more chopped cilantro. Delish!

Chicken Karahi (Stew)

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I’ve always loved Chicken Karahi from when we lived in Karachi, but really never made it until I snagged a Shan Masala mix for it. It’s a surprisingly easy dish and Kumy and I both loved it with fresh hot Roti (like whole wheat tortillas.) Another good Shan Masala mix – though it’s pretty spicy when made as directed on the box. I might try doing half the mix in the box if you don’t like things too spicy, or using just one chili.

Also – you’ll note that the recipe on the box calls for 1 1/2 cups of oil, and a 1/2 cup of butter, but have mercy – that’s just too oily! The oil and butter are important to this recipe though, so 1/2 cup of oil and the 1/4 cup of butter are about right.

Ingredients

1/2 to 1 box Shan Karahi Seasoning Mix
3 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized chunks
2 Tbsp crushed garlic, or 1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp grated ginger
2 Tbsp ginger, julienned
5 tomatoes, diced
4 little green chillies
(You can also substitute 1 can Rotel and ½ can diced tomatoes for the tomatoes and chillies.)
½ cup olive oil + 1 Tbsp olive oil
½ stick butter
3 Tbsp fresh chopped Cilantro

Mix crushed garlic, grated ginger and shan masala mix in a medium bowl. Add chicken chunks and stir until everything is well coated. Let sit for at least 15 minutes.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan, and add meat mixture. Stir fry 5-6 minutes on high heat. Reduce heat and add juliened ginger, cvoer and cook for 10 minutes on low heat.

In a separate pan, heat a Tbsp of olive oil, and saute tomatoes and peppers for a minute or two stirring frequently. Reduce heat and cook 5-6 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add cooked tomatoes and peppers to the chicken mixture, and increase heat to medium. Cook stirring gently but frequently to prevent burning.

Stir in butter and garnish with Cilantro.

Serve with Naan, roti or tortillas.

New Year’s Day Hoppin’ John

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photo of a white bowl with rice and a blackeyed pea stew, with a spoon in the bowl and a pink napkin folded by it.
Made again today for New Year’s Day 2026, with a cool trick to skip the overnight pea soak!

It’s a Southern tradition to eat Hopping John (Black-eyed Pea Stew) on New Year’s Day for good luck all year, and this year, I’m not taking any chances!

I started with Ree Drummonds recipe. Ree adds a ham hock and says that you can also add a can of diced tomatoes, or a few cups of torn-up Kale. I skipped the ham hock, but may try the tomatoes or kale the next time I make it. If you don’t like black-eyed peas, it’s also good with black beans – it’s a great, comforting dish perfect for a cold Winter’s Day!

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp butter (or 2 Tbsp bacon drippings & 2 Tbsp olive oil) (Or just 4 Tbsp olive oil for a vegan version)
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, any color, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 14-oz cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed (or 1 lb dried, soaked overnight and rinsed*)
1 quart chicken stock (or veggie stock for vegan) I used Better than Bouillon
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Good pinch of red pepper flakes
2 tbsp. white wine or Apple Cider vinegar
White rice

Heat butter or bacon drippings and oil in a cast iron skillet. Add, onions, bell pepper and celery. Sauté for about 5 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add garlic and sauté another 2-3 minutes.

Add black-eyed peas, chicken stock and seasonings. Don’t add the vinegar yet! Bring to a simmer, cover and let cook 30 minutes. Remove lid, stir and let cook another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Take off the heat. There will still be quite a lot of liquid.

Take out about 1/2 the liquid from the beans (I just used a teacup to remove it) and place in a smaller pan. Heat the sauce for about 30 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced down to half or less. That way the sauce gets thickened but the beans don’t turn into mush. Add thickened liquid back into the beans and gently reheat.

Add vinegar and stir. Check seasonings. Serve in a bowl over hot rice.

*If you end up using dry Black-eyed peas, but didn’t soak them over night, I found an easy fast method from onestopchop_ on Instagram.

He says bring a pot of water to the boil and add the dry peas. Let them boil for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat, put the lid on and let them soak for 1 hour. Actually, I strained them out after half an hour and added them to the veggies, along with about 1/2 a cup of the bean water, since I knew I was going to simmer everything for another 60 minutes. Worked like a charm.

Updated 1/01/2025.