My favorite marinade

Our new kitchen is unfortunate. Tiny, no counter space, no fan/exhaust system over the stove. Cooking dinner turns the main living floor into a sauna. And as Kate can attest, it's been oppressively sticky hot in the northeast for the last week so I've been doing a lot of grilling. Here's my favorite, no fail marinade that works for just about everything: chicken, beef, pork and veggies. Our favorite use is for chicken and beef (flank steak) kabobs because kids will eat anything on a stick. Adapted from Creme de Colorado by the Junior League of Colorado (I know, I know.)

1 cup of oil
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup of worsteshire
1/4 cup of dijon mustard
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
A little salt and pepper

Mix it all up and toss in your meat of choice and let marinate for 8 hours to overnight. Grill or broil until desired doneness.

Lentil Vegetable Soup

I saw this on Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics show on the Food Network and it looked so good and so easy to make. I haven't tried it, yet, but I'm hoping maybe to get a certain mom who is visiting in two days to make some and freeze some for leftovers when BBJ arrives. It seems like it might even be good in the summer...we shall see, though. I have majorly escaped the heat of the summer of 2009 with this pregnancy.

This would probably be so good with warm sourdough bread. Or in a sourdough bread bowl. Nom nom nom.

Ingredients
* 1 pound French green lentils
* 4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 large onions)
* 4 cups chopped leeks, white part only (2 leeks)
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
* 1/4 cup good olive oil, plus additional for drizzling on top
* 1 tablespoon kosher salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
* 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 3 cups medium-diced celery (8 stalks)
* 3 cups medium-diced carrots (4 to 6 carrots)
* 3 quarts chicken stock
* 1/4 cup tomato paste
* 2 tablespoons red wine or red wine vinegar
* Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
In a large bowl, cover the lentils with boiling water and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drain.

In a large stockpot on medium heat, saute the onions, leeks, and garlic with the olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme, and cumin for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are translucent and very tender. Add the celery and carrots and saute for 10 more minutes. Add the chicken stock, tomato paste, and lentils. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, until the lentils are cooked through. Check the seasonings. Add the red wine and serve hot, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with grated Parmesan

Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-Fry

I had this crazy momentum yesterday evening at 7pm.  Usually Lars and I will go out to dinner on Saturday night--but I was totally craving a night in so took it upon myself to look up a recipe on my iphone via the epicurious app after impulsively buying Tess of the D'Urbervilles at Borders to try and find something quick and easy to make for dinner.  I think I may have been manic, but the results ended up quite nice!

This was VERY easy to make and had a lot of kick to it.  Lars wished it was a little sweeter.  He likes the SWEET and the SPICY but to me it was just right.  I think, what he was really wishing for, was that I discovered the secret recipe for Chang's Spicy Chicken at PF Chang's and made that.  Yeah, good look with that, honey buns.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups jasmine rice or long-grain white rice (10 to 11 ounces) 3/4 cup orange juice 3 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon cornstarch 2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 small red onion, halved, thinly sliced Large pinch of dried crushed red pepper 1 1/2 pounds chicken cutlets, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips 1 8-ounce package stringless sugar snap peas

Preparation:

• Cook rice according to package directions. Cover to keep warm; set aside.
  
• Meanwhile, whisk juice, soy sauce, and cornstarch in medium bowl until cornstarch dissolves. Mix in orange peel.
  
• Heat oil in large wok or nonstick skillet over high heat. Add onion and crushed red pepper. Stir-fry 30 seconds. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add to wok and stir-fry until onion is crisp-tender and chicken is just cooked through, about 4 minutes. Add sugar snap peas and juice mixture. Toss until sauce thickens and comes to boil and peas are crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with rice.
  

Fake Bakes=My New Best Friend

Sometimes you forget a recipe--and then you remember it--and then you remember that you liked it and so did your husband and that it provided ample leftovers. This is that recipe. We made it this past week and it was sooo good. Its from a Rachael Ray show I saw eons ago (don't be a hater until you've tried it!). I think the first time I made it tried so hard to follow all the directions it took a lot longer than expected (as with most of her recipes). Once I got the hang of it, though, I feel like could make this as a very quick week-night dinner with leftovers for probably 2-3 more days (depending on how hungry Lars is)....

Chicken, Sausage, Pepper & Onion Pasta Fake Bake

Ingredients

• 1 pound rigatoni
• Salt
• 1 pound cooked chicken sausages (we use jalapeno-flavored from Trader Joe's)
  
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
• 1 green or red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1 cubanelle pepper, seeded and sliced (if I can't find this, I just use another bell pepper)
  
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• Ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken stock, a couple of glugs
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, (recommended: San Marzano)
• Handful chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, 10 leaves, torn or shredded (I also just shake in a couple dried herbs if I don't want to go out and get fresh basil)
  
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus some to pass at table

Directions

Place a pot of water on the stove to boil for pasta. When the water boils, salt it and cook pasta to al dente, with a bite to it.

Prick sausages with a fork. Place chicken sausages in a large skillet and add 1 inch of water. Add 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil to the skillet, 1 turn of the pan. Bring water to a boil then reduce heat a little. Allow all the liquid to cook away then brown and crisp the casings, 5 to 6 minutes.

Preheat broiler.

While pasta and sausage cook, heat a deep skillet over medium heat with 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Add the peppers, onions and garlic and season with salt and pepper. When the sausages are cooked through, slice them on an angle and add them to the peppers and onions. Cook together until peppers and onions are tender and sliced sausages are crisp at edges then deglaze the pan with white wine or chicken stock. Stir in crushed tomatoes and bring to a bubble, reduce heat to low.

Drain rigatoni and return to warm pot. Add ricotta cheese, salt and pepper, parsley and basil and half of the Parmigiano, a couple of handfuls, stir to combine.

To assemble the "fake bake," place half the sausage, peppers, onions and sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Top with all of the pasta and then the remaining sausage and sauce. Cover the top of the dish with the grated Parmigiano and place until broiler 2 minutes to brown cheese and set pasta.