Creamed Spinach

We love creamed spinach but I usually only make it on special occasions. This version is actually not super-heavy though since I use milk (no cream) and not a ton of butter. It would make a great Thanksgiving side dish if you still haven't finalized your menu yet! The recipe comes from Smitten Kitchen.

Turkey Meatballs, Updated

I think my Turkey Meatballs recipe is one of the most popular on the blog. It's one of our favorites too! Lately, I've been cooking them a little differently and wanted to share my new method with you. I think it's a little easier, requires less dishes and is just as tasty. Hope you enjoy.

Roasted Tomato Soup

Mmmm... tomato soup and grilled cheese! This is a great fall dinner or even a lunch. I've made many a tomato soup recipe and have finally found one that we really love from the Barefoot Contessa. The key is roasting the tomatoes so they caramelize a little bit before you blend the soup together. This soup freezes really nicely too so be sure to make a full batch.

Leftover Brisket Ragu

After I made the giant brisket and we had tacos for dinner (and maybe lunch too?) we had a little left in the casserole that I decided to turn into a pasta sauce. It was great and so quick and easy. I found this Rachael Ray recipe that I used as a guide for this one. If you make that brisket, this is a great way to transform your leftovers into something totally new and different.

Oven-Barbecued Brisket

Fall is here! I made this a couple of weeks ago for a friend who just had a baby. I used an 8 pound brisket so I was able to give the family a giant portion, eat some for dinner (tacos!), make a second meal (pasta!) and also freeze about 5 portions for meals later. If you can find a smaller brisket, definitely make this - just half the sauce. Then the leftovers will be a little more manageable. We are stockpiling leftovers around here though because we are expecting a baby in February! So, if our portions are looking a little larger on here, it's because of the leftovers and maybe a little bit because of my growing belly. This recipe came from my Gourmet Today cookbook. The sauce makes it a little sweet and keeps it really juicy. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Updated Eggplant Parmesan

I've already shared an Eggplant Parmesan recipe with you that I really enjoy eating. I don't, however, really enjoy making that recipe. Have you tried it? It's kind of a pain. The worst part is breading all of the super thin slices of eggplant. You have to soak them in water, coat them in egg, and then coat them in breadcrumbs - what a chore!

Well, I recently saw Mario Batali's eggplant parmesan recipe and had to try it. Instead of coating each of the eggplant slices, you just roast them. And then, so you don't lose the yummy crispy breadcrumb aspect of eggplant parmesan, you just toast some breadcrumbs and sprinkle them on top of the whole dish. The process is WAY easier and probably even makes for a lighter dish, which means you can eat more. I served this at a dinner party recently and got rave reviews - even from some guys that "didn't like eggplant". I think you'll enjoy it too.

Cheese Grits

This is a great quick side that I always have the ingredients on-hand for. Grits will keep in your pantry for a long while and I think everyone has cheese in the fridge. It's quick cooking and a good change up from potatoes. The tricky thing about grits is that you can't really make them ahead of time and keep them warm. You want to wait till you're just about ready to eat before you cook them b/c they're best right off the stove. This recipe is one of my own. Enjoy!

Nannie's Potato Salad

This is a family recipe from my great-grandmother for the only potato salad I really love. Most potato salads are too gloppy and mayonnaise-laden for my taste. I love mayonnaise but just in moderation - hence the tiny amount used in my Egg Salad and Pimiento Cheese recipes. I also love the addition of hard boiled eggs to the potato salad. I used to think it had mustard in it but it's really just the egg yolks. As with any potato salad, this is a great make-ahead dish. Hope you enjoy!

Shrimp Pad Thai

This is a really easy weeknight meal. I don't think it's an "authentic" Pad Thai but it is pretty darn good. I use frozen shrimp for this, which I always have on hand but I've also done it with chicken and it is great too. This recipe comes from Emeril. Hope you enjoy as much as we do!

Chicken-Fried Steak

This is one of Chris's favorite meals that I rarely make. Frying is such a chore to me but this is a great splurge to have every once in a while. I'm honestly still trying to perfect my CFS too. This one was good but the meat wasn't tender enough for me. The best one I ever made was using some venison backstrap. I soaked the venison in buttermilk for a day before I made it so I'd suggest trying that with beef too - it may have helped with the tenderness factor. I also like to do the tenderizing myself with CFS. You can buy those cubed steaks at the store that are already tenderized but I've had better luck with my tenderizing torture device. If you have any tips for me, please do share in the comments. Oh, and this recipe is based on Alton Brown's.

Vegetable Tian

Woops! Sorry for the unplanned hiatus. This early summer heat has me in a bit of a rut, cooking the same-old things over and over. I do have a decent stockpile of photos though so there are more recipes to come!

To make up for my break, I'm sharing this great side-dish from Ina. (I like to think the Barefoot Contessa and I are on a first-name basis) This is probably one of my very favorite side dishes, actually. It is time consuming but it is totally worth it and also relatively healthy. Great dish for when you're grilling your meat since you can prepare this, get it in the oven, then turn your attention to the grill. All of these veggies are in season during the summer too which makes it even tastier. Hope you enjoy!

Chili-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

Pork Tenderloin is a nice break from chicken while still being a healthy protein. I've tried various marinades and sauces but this one seemed to be a big hit with Chris. There is no marinating either which makes it super fast and easy. I got the recipe from The Bitten Word blog. I love to do leftover sandwiches with the tenderloin sliced thin and either bbq sauce and cheddar cheese, or cilantro mayo and jack cheese. Hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I've tried to make baked sweet potato fries several times with bad results. It's difficult to get them crispy in the oven. On my quest, I found a few recipes calling for cornstarch, which I thought was odd but gave it a shot. The first time I made this recipe, they were great. The second time, I used too much cornstarch and they were not good. ("Chalky" is not a good adjective to describe food) The third time, I measured out only 1 TBSP of cornstarch and they were great again. Chris hates sweet potatoes and actually enjoyed these. I served them with some Sriacha mayo (like the recipe) but they are good with ketchup too. Hope you enjoy!

Green Chile Rice

This is another one of my most-requested recipes from my Mom. It is such a yummy side dish but I don't make it often because it is not the healthiest. Lucky for you (and me), I swapped out the sour cream for Greek yogurt  last time I made it and it worked! Not only did it work, I think it might almost be better than the sour cream version. The rice seemed fluffier and lighter with the yogurt. Which ever route you choose to go, I definitely recommend trying this dish. It's great to make-ahead too - you can just assemble the whole thing and refrigerate until you're ready to bake. I don't know the source of this recipe - I have it written down in my recipe book from one of my Mom's cookbooks.

Spicy Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Kabobs

I found out through my Chicken Tikka Masala recipe that yogurt is a great marinade for chicken. It sounds gross, right? Cooking dairy? It's actually not gross at all - quite the opposite. The enzymes in the yogurt really tenderize the chicken and the tang adds a lot of flavor. Of course, you need to add way more flavor to the yogurt to season the chicken and this recipe does just that. The recipe comes from Bon Appetit and is a great reason to fire up the grill. You might chop of some veggies, toss them around with olive oil, salt and pepper, skewer them and grill alongside this chicken.

Chocolate Lava Cakes

This is a super easy recipe for an impressive dessert. They only take a few minutes to prep and can sit in the fridge until you're ready to cook them. They'd be great for a dinner party since you could pop them in the oven when you sit down to eat so they'll be ready when you are. The recipe comes from Simply Recipes but I replaced the mint with vanilla. Let me know if you try the mint though - I bet it is yummy too.

Green Beans with Tomatoes

Green beans are not one of Chris's favorite vegetables but if I cook them this way, he really likes them. I think he'd like any vegetable if I smothered it with tomatoes. The fresh green beans are beautiful this time of year so keep an eye out for them. When you bring them home though, cook them within a couple of days - they don't last very long! I always snap the ends off the beans one-by-one too because that's how my Nannie used to do it but you could save a bit of time by lining them up on your cutting board and trimming them off. This recipe is really easy but it does take a bit of time to make so start on it first thing when you start making dinner. The recipe comes from Everyday Food but I've made some changes after making it so many times. I hope this is worthy of your regular veggie rotation too.

Beef Taquitos

This is a great way to use up leftover taco meat. You can use just a little leftover meat to make a meal! These are much tastier (and probably healthier) than frozen taquitos too. Also, now that I'm thinking about it, these are also probably healthier than quesadillas which is what I usually make with leftover taco meat. The corn tortillas are better for you than flour and there is no cheese (unless you decide to dip them in queso, of course). You could also make these vegetarian by replacing the taco meat with mashed black beans - yum! We served these with homemade salsa, guacamole and queso. Oh, and this "recipe" is my own.

Kale and Parmesan Casserole

Kale is really in season in the winter so this recipe is a little late but we really enjoyed it. It's not the healthiest preparation with the bacon, cream and the parmesan cheese but since kale is a super food, I let it slide. This would be a great side dish for a dinner party too since it's quite pretty and can be served in individual dishes. I got the recipe from the Eating Richly blog and there you can see a pic of it in the individual dishes. Hope you enjoy this!

Chicken Curry in a Hurry

This is not, by any means, an authentic curry recipe. I do love Thai and Indian curries but have been unsuccessful making them at home. If you have any tried-and-true recipes for those, please share them with me in the comments! Until then, we really like this version and it's super easy to make. It comes from Simply Recipes and she got it from Mark Bittman. He is a food writer for the New York Times (The Minimalist) and also wrote "How To Cook Everything". He is a little arrogant but I happen to like his no-nonsense approach to cooking. He keeps his recipes really simple. I added a couple of steps and ingredients so I hope you enjoy my version.

All Day Chili

I mentioned our annual chili cook-off in my Quick Chili post and am finally getting around to sharing that recipe. We actually had a tie this year which was a first in Kruger v. Kruger history! Going into it, we both thought each other's chili was really good so I was glad it turned out a tie. I'm sharing my "recipe" here but in all honesty, I didn't write it down so this is probably not very precise. Hopefully you can get an idea though of what makes an all-day chili truly worth the effort. Hope you enjoy!

Sauteed Broccolini

I've cooked broccolini a few times in the past and haven't been crazy about it. I realized that you have to make sure the stems cook all the way through or else they'll be tough. This method, which I also use for regular broccoli, works really well. I think broccolini has just a touch more bitterness than broccoli so it's nice for a change.

Oven Barbecue Chicken Drumsticks

I love barbecue chicken. My favorite recipe is this one I cook on the grill with homemade BBQ sauce but there is not always time for a recipe that takes an hour and a half. Enter the recipe I'm sharing today, which is one I pulled from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine a few years ago and I've made many times since. There's still a homemade BBQ sauce but it's really quick to make while the chicken cooks. Hope you enjoy!

Baked Swiss Chard

Swiss Chard is a relatively new veggie for me and I love it! It has looked beautiful at the grocery store lately too so it must be in season in the winter. My favorite is the red chard but you could probably do this same recipe with green or rainbow chard. As with all greens, the leftovers are yummy for lunch with a fried egg on top. I got this recipe from the Beyond Salmon blog. Hope you enjoy!

Mini Turkey Meatloaf

My mom texted me with a question about this recipe the other day and I was kind of shocked I hadn't blogged about it yet! This is one of our favorite recipes and has been in the rotation probably since we first got married. The original recipe is from Barefoot Contessa, who is one of my favorite Food Network chefs. Her recipe is for a giant meatloaf though so I've pared it down to make it easier. I also added the glaze on top which isn't totally necessary but is really yummy I think. Sometimes turkey meatloaf can be a little dry or tough but Ina has solved that by sauteing the veggies first and adding a little bit of chicken broth. You might consider this "healthy" meatloaf but we actually prefer this version over the traditional veal, beef, pork mix. Hope you enjoy as much as we do.

Potato Casserole

This is a super-simple recipe that I found in Gourmet magazine a few years ago. I was surprised how great it was with so few ingredients and no cheese or heavy cream but it's really a winner. It's much easier than a potato gratin and possibly a little bit healthier (though butter is involved). It's a really flavorful and decadent way to cook potatoes so I usually serve it with a lean protein like chicken breasts or pork tenderloin. I always use a mandoline to slice my potatoes for this but you could also use a food processor. The dish takes a while to cook but once you have it in the oven it doesn't need much attention so it's great to make when you've got a lot going on the stove with your main dish and/or veggies. Enjoy!

Pan-Seared Lamb Chops

Lamb chops were one of my favorite meals growing up. We don't eat them very often because they can be hard to find and sometimes are pretty expensive. I saw some great looking ones at Kroger the other day though and had to splurge. When I was little, I always ate lamb chops with mint jelly. Some people may think that's gross but I still like a little on the side. If you had a sweet pepper jelly, a little of that would be great too. This recipe is from Epicurious.

Saltine Cracker Toffee

As I've mentioned, I'm not big on baking so this recipe is right up my alley. You don't have to measure much and it takes about 15 minutes. This is a great dessert to put out at a party or take to a friend. It makes great Christmas gifts too. My mom shared this recipe with me and I'm not sure what the original source is but I do hope you enjoy!

Baked Penne with Eggplant

This is really more of a method than a strict recipe. I do baked pastas sometimes with just tomato sauce and sometimes with any veggies I have on hand. This is really similar to my Pasta with Roasted Veggies with the added step of topping it all with cheese and baking it. When you bake it, the edges get a little crispy and let's face it - melted cheese makes anything better. Hope you enjoy this!

Chile Verde

This is one of those all-day dishes that I have to make when the weather is cold. Chris and I first experienced Chile Verde at Z'Tejas in Austin as a special but I think it's permanently on their menu now. They serve this yummy, spicy, green pork stew in a small cast-iron skillet with cheese melted on top and fresh tortillas on the side. I may not have the small cast-iron skillets but my chile verde is pretty darn good. I started out with this recipe from Simply Recipes but I've changed so much about it over time that I think it's safe to claim it as my own recipe. Another good version of chile verde can be found in the Tacos de Puerco en Salsa Verde at Benito's restaurant in Fort Worth. I think this is one of Chris's favorite meals. Luckily, this recipe makes a ton and freezes well so we can enjoy it several times.