Recipe Exploration Weekend= Success

Photo courtesy of Delicious Dishings

Jessica Alpert

I spent most of this past weekend in the kitchen.  My husband, of course, was thrilled.  I tried out a bajillion new recipes and created totally mismatched meals but WHO CARES (!!) when new recipes can be added as new standards.

Here are the best of the best.

Spiced Pumpkin, Lentil, Goat Cheese Salad

Megan of Delicious Dishings adapted this recipe from Bon Appetit. I loved experimenting with smoked paprika (a first for moi) and could not get OVER the delicious earthiness of this salad.  I could probably do with fewer lentils since my favorite element was the pumpkin but all of that can be tweaked along the way.  By the way, does anyone have a secret method for chopping pumpkin? I think my arm is still sore from fighting with my beautiful 2lb find.  Nevertheless, Megan does a wonderful job guiding throughout the recipe.  Give it a go and love every minute.

Salmon with Hoisin, Orange, and Bok Choy

Wow.  This Bon Appetit gem was so easy and so fast.  My big issue with fish is that I tend to dry it out.  No.matter.what.  I felt protected in this recipe: the tin foil packet (in which the fish is cooked) seemed able to lock in any moisture my novice hands might be able to suck away.  Indeed this was the case.   The mixture of fresh orange juice, hoisin sauce, and green onion added just enough intrigue to keep the salmon interesting.  I give this one a big weeknight dinner thumbs up.

Couscous with Clementines, Chickpeas, Olives, and Dates

Another B.A. find.  I love couscous but often run out of ways to keep it spicy and new; sometimes a bouillon cube and a pinch of saffron just doesn’t cut it.  This recipe is simple and innovative.  The combination of clementines (oh-so-seasonal), slightly cooked chickpeas, and medjool dates (I didn’t include the olives since I didn’t have any) was fantastic; I loved the juxtaposition of the sweet and salty.   I decided to mix the chickpeas into the couscous and then layer the light and fluffy grains with the clementine, date, mint mixture; this created a gorgeous presentation and a delightful side.

Do you have any weeknight standards to share? Any experiments-gone-good from the weekend? Share below or tweet me @jessprk and @pubradiokitchen!