To boldly go without a recipe: Chicken Thighs with Potatoes, Lemon and Capers

Weeknight-quick and one-pan simple, braised chicken thighs and potatoes are brightened with lemon juice and capers. Recipe below.

An impromptu stop on our recent road trip got me thinking about my journey to learning to cook. It was the final day of our trip. The day before, we had driven more than 550 miles, and now we were rocketing across Iowa on I-80, on the last 480-mile leg of our journey. Suddenly, Marion announced that we were not far from the “future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk.” Of course, we were going to stop. Continue reading “To boldly go without a recipe: Chicken Thighs with Potatoes, Lemon and Capers” →

Oregano dials up the savory in one-pot Braised Chicken Thighs with Potatoes and Peas

Dried oregano, garlic and onions create an aromatic base for a weeknight quick one-pot dinner of chicken, potatoes and peas. Recipe (and thoughts on dried herbs) below.

I go through phases with herbs. For a long time, herbes de Provence showed up in everything (I even added it to scrambled eggs for a while). More recently, it was tarragon—fresh from our yard up through the fall, then dried. Now I seem to be cooking with oregano a lot. Continue reading “Oregano dials up the savory in one-pot Braised Chicken Thighs with Potatoes and Peas” →

One versatile spice rub, two recipes, part 2: Tandoori-spiced Pork Tenderloin

Last week’s spice rub of cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric and cayenne flavors a one-pan braised meal: Tandoori-spiced Pork Tenderloin with Chickpeas and Spinach. Recipe below.

Don’t you hate it when a recipe tells you to reserve the rest of some ingredient “for another use?” Usually, I end up with half a jalapeño pepper or something dutifully wrapped in plastic and stowed in the fridge until it rots. But that’s exactly what I did last week—told you to reserve the rest of the tandoori spice rub from the Tandoori-spiced Grilled Salmon recipe “for another use.”

Unlike most times when recipes tell you to do that, though, I’m going to show you what to do with that reserved spice rub right now. This use points up the rub’s versatility. Last week, it was grilling and salmon; this week, it’s stovetop braising and pork. It could as easily be roasting and chicken or stir frying and shrimp or tofu. Continue reading “One versatile spice rub, two recipes, part 2: Tandoori-spiced Pork Tenderloin” →

One-pan impromptu in the key of winter: Pork Chops with Chickpeas, Spinach and Cumin

Chickpeas and spinach bring big health benefits to this hearty one-pan meal. Cumin, chili powder, garlic and onion bring big flavor. Recipe below.

This meal wasn’t going to be a post. It was just meant to be dinner. But suddenly, the kitchen was smelling heavenly (assuming there’s cumin in heaven, and I certainly hope so). And when I served the chops and spooned the chickpea spinach mixture next to them, the plates looked really inviting. So before cutting into my chop, I had Marion taste hers. She smiled and nodded, and here we are.

This particular dish came together because we’ve been eating too much chicken. We love chicken, but even for us, there’s been a lot of it. So when I saw a nice looking pair of pork chops in the grocery store, I grabbed them. My first thought for sides were mashed potatoes and a salad, quick and easy. But we’ve been doing those a lot lately too. Continue reading “One-pan impromptu in the key of winter: Pork Chops with Chickpeas, Spinach and Cumin” →