Food on Friday ~ Weeknights
after a long day at work cooking is probably the last thing on your mind
Even though I am a gentleman of leisure there are times when I’m rushed for time and don’t feel like cooking anything complicated nor time-consuming for dinner. And for most people, I know there is much more pressure on your time. So this Friday I’m concentrating on easy recipes that are perfect for weeknights.
Even tough you might be tired and under time pressure after a hard day at work, please take the time to enjoy cooking and eating your meals. Be mindful of your food.
First up, from Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest we have these weeknight style Crockpot BBQ Beer Chicken Taquitos ~ with Street Corn Salas and Lime Crema.
Crockpot BBQ Beer Chicken Taquitos
From Holly at Spend with Pennies, how about this Easy Tuna Casserole?
Easy Tuna Casserole
This is really easy from Ali at Gimmie Some Oven; Brown Butter Lemon Pasta. And, I agree with Ali here, buy the very best ingredients you can afford, especially for simple dishes such as this.
Brown Butter Lemon Pasta
For a side dish, or just something healthy on its own, from Cookie + kate we have this Easy Tomato Salad ~ how wonderful if you have tomatoes growing in your own garden.
Easy Tomato Salad
This is not the first time I’ve blogged about weeknight dinners. Back in May 2018 there was another post entitled Weeknight Dinners. Among the recipes I covered there is this Prosciutto and Balsamic Greens Flatbread. From Averie Cooks. Looks delicious.
Prosciutto and Balsamic Greens Flatbread
Our collection this Friday is from Delish magazine; 80 Easiest Weeknight Meals Ever, and I’ve chosen to feature this fabulous looking Spinach Lasagna.
Spinach Lasagna
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
the simplest meal ever
just add cheese
Food on Friday ~ Wellness
love yourself enough to live a healthy lifestyle
You might have read here that I made myself so ill through a combination of too much booze and not eating the right things at the right time, (and eating a lot of the wrong things, like processed food), that I had to spend a week in hospital. You know what? I would have gone on in the same old way if I hadn’t turned-up for a routine health check.
What has that got to do with a recipes post? From now on I am mostly going to post recipes that seem healthier and better for us in body, mind and spirit. Less fats, more lean meat and oily fish, and much more fruits and vegetables. It also seems that not all plant-based foods are good for us. That high-fructose corn syrup is very bad for us seems obvious, but corn oil, wheat, legumes…..? They’re bad for us too, generally.
So, I will try to avoid recipes that contain anything that’s generally on the minus side of the wellness equation.
First up this week from Dana The Minimalist Baker is her easy 30 minute Chinese Chicken Salad. I think this fits my healthy eating bill perfectly, especially as it’s soy-free ~ plus, just look at those colours. There are a stack of tasty-looking salad recipes on this site, it may well be that this is one of my new go-to sites.
30 Minute Chinese Chicken Salad
Next, from Heather Christo a vegan white bean sweet potato chili. This also has chunks of avocado, fresno chili, cilantro, and green onions. I need to eat less meat so this dish will be ideal when I really want a smoky chili, but shouldn’t eat any beef for a while.
Vegan White Bean Sweet Potato Chili
Chicken has to be part of my new way of living, but chicken can be bland and boring. Not so this roasted garlic butter chicken with lemon olive dressing, from Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest. I think this dish has got so much going for it…..
Roasted Garlic Butter Chicken with Lemon Olive Dressing
Salmon has to be part of my wellness diet, and I really like the look of this baked teriyaki salmon from Erin Clarke at Well Plated by Erin. I especially like that the salmon fillet is cooked in foil ~ I love cooking in foil. Erin also shows us how to make our own, healthier, Teriyaki sauce ~ brilliant.
Baked Teriyaki Salmon
Not many know that, until the end of WWII, pork was not much eaten in England. We English ate mutton, pork is actually a German staple. However, this recipe for the best baked pork tenderloin is positively part of my healthier eating plan. Tiffany from Creme de la Crumb tells us how to do it.
Best Baked Pork Tenderloin
As my new eating plan is kind of a modified Paleo Diet our collection this week is from Delish magazine; 40 Paleo recipes that will make you forget you’re on a diet ~ well there are diets and there are diets. I have chosen to feature this good-looking baked swordfish steak, and if you have never tried swordfish steak then you’ve missed out on one of the great things in life.
Baked Swordfish Steak
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
poor little Marmaduke can’t have his canned spaghetti any more.
Food on Friday ~ Muffins
I’ve been told some people are obsessed with bran muffins
Now I’m not certain what’s going on, but several of the cooks whose blogs I follow have posts about muffins this week. I looked it up, thinking it was National Muffin Week or something, but no, it’s seems it’s just one of those spooky coincidences that keeps happening for me right now.
National Muffin Day in the USA is actually February 20th.
Two interesting things; #1 here in England we do not eat a lot of English muffins. #2 I didn’t know there was a second meaning for the word muffin, or stud muffin at any rate.
However, be all that as it may, here are some cool muffin recipes, which I may have to reprise on February 20th, or not.
First up this week we have Heather Christo’s delicious looking almond poppyseed muffins, and being from Heather they are allergen free, vegan, and gluten free. All I know is they look very yummy.
Almond Poppyseed Muffins
Andrea at Cooking with a Wallflower has a recipe for ube mochi muffins. I have to admit the only bit of that I understand is muffins, but these little cakes look fantastic and I would be interested to try them.
Ube Mochi Muffins
And I thought I should include a recipe for ‘space muffins’ for those of you who would like to ingest their marijuana. Personally, I cannot see the attraction, but then I have enough of a problem with booze.
Cannabis Muffins
Now for something else completely different we have these pizza muffins from In Dianes Kitchen. Now that is a good idea for a pre-prepared snack or for something to take to work for lunch.
Pizza Muffins
Erin Clarke, at Well Plated by Erin has a cool collection of healthy muffin recipes. I very much like the look of her unique muffin recipes, especially the gingerbread apple muffins. How interesting.
Gingerbread Apple Muffins
Our last collection this week is from delish magazine; 52 muffins to make your morning a little more enjoyable. From this great collection I’ve chosen to feature the chocolate lover’s chocolate chocolate-chip muffins by our friend Averie Sunshine.
Chocolate Lover’s Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Food on Friday ~ Chowder
chowder breathes reassurance, it steams satisfaction
As if you didn’t know, a chowder is a rich soup or stew, often of fish, typically popular in New England and Atlantic Canada ~ usually served with crackers for some insane reason. Chowder does travel; I have had a great clam chowder at a diner on Ghirardelli in San Francisco. Although now thought of as a strictly American / New England dish, chowder probably originates in Normandy and / or Cornwall. At one time England was said to be an island made of coal and surrounded by fish, both perfect for the cooking of a great seafood chowder.
As the year turns, the nights draw in and the weather becomes colder and wetter, a steaming bowl of chowder is a fabulously warming dish to serve to a hungry Englishman.
Something different from well plated by Erin; roasted cauliflower chowder, (very healthy), originally from Two Peas and Their Pod cookbook by Maria Litchy. Erin also has a great recipe for crockpot potato soup, which is pretty damn close to being a chowder.
Roasted Cauliflower Chowder
And from Heidi at Foodie Crush there’s a slow cooker corn chowder; this is made with a blend of almond milk and cashew milk. Interesting.
Slow Cooker Corn Chowder
A while ago I was wondering if one could make a decent salmon soup, it turns out there is a shed-load of brilliant salmon soup recipes around on the internet. From Yummly I can offer you a collection of the 10 best salmon soup recipes, (trust me there are a lot more than 10 salmon soup recipes on this site). Looking through Yummly’s recipes I found a super salmon chowder from Andrea Beaman at Further Food, (which is another cool site).
Super Salmon Chowder
A great collection from delicious magazine. Their winter soup recipes include this fabulous looking and great sounding smoked bacon, leek, and butter bean chowder from Debbie Major. I have tried this recipe, and it’s fantastic.
Smoked Bacon, Leek, and Butter Bean Chowder
Again from Delish magazine we have a collection of 17 chowders to help you transition from summer to fall. I especially like the look of this New England clam chowder recipe by A Family Feast with its added bacon and salt pork ~ very traditional. Personally I would never thicken a chowder with flour or corn starch, I’d use potato instead.
New England Clam Chowder
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
try beer and crusty bread with your chowder
Food on Friday # 49
Brrr, its November. With Autumn well and truly down on us like a wolf at the fold, I thought it was time for some hot, nourishing, easy dishes. The featured ingredient this week is chicken thighs ~ which are not everyone’s favourite thing. To be honest, I have struggled to make a dish I like using chicken thighs.
However, all of these recipes look and sound great, and I can’t wait to try out a couple.
From Elise at Simply Recipes there’s this Sally Vargas one-pan paprika chicken with potatoes and tomatoes. Although it will take an hour to make, (15 minutes preparation, 45 minutes cooking), this is a really simple dish.
One-Pan Paprika Chicken with Potatoes and Tomatoes
Also from Elise at simply recipes we have this great lemon chicken dish. This is really finger food and would go great with a really sharp beer.
Lemon Chicken
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Here’s something I really like the sound of. From Jessica Merchant at how sweet it is we have sticky apple cider bbq chicken. This recipe uses both apple cider and apple cider vinegar ~ what’s not to like.
Sticky Apple Cider BBQ Chicken
This recipe from Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest can use either chicken breast pieces or chicken thighs. Actually I think the Hawaiian bbq skewers with sriracha honey butter will work better with chicken thighs. You know what? This is a 30 minute dish, and it looks fabulous.
Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Skewers with Sriracha Honey Butter
I really, really, like the look of this Thai coconut curry chicken from Chungah at Damn Delicious. This recipe uses whole bone-in chicken thighs, and should be ready to eat in under an hour. How good is that?
Thai Coconut Curry Chicken
This dish from Heather Christo doesn’t just use chicken thighs, (although you could make it like that), it uses a whole jointed chicken; thighs, legs, wings, breasts… But It also uses a lot of my favourite herb, rosemary. So, I’m going to try this recipe for rosemary cherry balsamic roasted chicken. Yummy…
Rosemary Cherry Balsamic Roasted Chicken
I’ve included this recipe for crispy balsamic chicken by Lyndsay Funston for two reasons. Firstly because I am going to cook this tomorrow, and secondly it’s from a site called Delish who have a handy post entitled 20 amazing chicken thigh recipes. Lots of ideas there. Enjoy.
Crispy Balsamic Chicken
Finally for this Food on Friday we have a link to the vegetarian / vegan Cookie + kate. (Cookie is the dog ~ a vegetarian dog? Really?) This is a great, great post, so it’s included even though there isn’t a chicken thigh in site. From Cookie + kate; what to cook in November.
What To Cook This November
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Thank you ever so to all the great cooks featured in this week’s Food on Friday.
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
JackCollier7 
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