slow cooker black bean soup with cilantro pesto

a couple weeks ago i made these black bean burritos with cilantro lime pesto for dinner, substituting my own black beans for the relatively flavorless version in the recipe. while the beans were delicious as usual, it was the cilantro lime pesto that really was the star. ever since i've been looking for an excuse to top something else with it. 

at the same time, i've been thinking lately that it's time for us to start going meatless one day a week. i know meatless monday is a thing for a lot of people, but at our house, it could be any day of the week. when this black bean soup showed up in my feedly, i knew it would be delicious topped with the cilantro pesto. and it was. 

creamy mushroom stroganoff

when i first made mushroom stroganoff a mere four years ago, it was good - how can pasta tossed with mushrooms cooked in dry sherry and butter be bad? - it didn't have the creaminess that stroganoff is known for. i tucked the thought of a remake into the back of my mind. where it then sat for years until i was thumbing through cooking light's fresh food fast, a book i picked up in the bargain bin of my local bookstore, thinking it would help reinvigorate my weeknight meals. and that it did. this version did not disappoint - the addition of sour cream added the perfect amount of creaminess i was looking for. the butter and dry sherry didn't hurt either. 

fettucine with seared tomatoes, spinach and mozzarella

i love love love dinners like this one. not only is it really simple to throw together, all the flavors balance really well, and it's something that should a baby or toddler beckon for your attention, another person can jump right into and not need much explanation to know where you are in the recipe. bonus that it's easily ready in 30 minutes - the longest step for me is waiting for the pasta water to boil - and the classic flavors are loved by toddlers and adults alike. this one easily makes it into my weeknight rotation and will taste especially good in the dead of winter, when we're longing for some kind of taste of summer.

skillet gnocchi with ham, peas & mushrooms

want a one skillet meal that pleases everyone, is infinitely adaptable, and can be on the table in 30 minutes? then this skillet gnocchi is for you! want more vegetables? add them. prefer a meatless option? skip the ham. change up leftover chicken breasts or grilled or roasted vegetables by tossing those in. not a fan of swiss? try cheddar or monterrey jack. endless options, all delicious.

polenta with roasted mushrooms

when we were in las vegas a year and a half ago, jason and i had a killer dinner at scarpetta in the cosmopolitan. we started with the famous spaghetti with tomato and basil, and while it was good, it was the creamy polenta with a fricassee of truffled mushrooms that we both dreamed about after the meal was over. the polenta was so rich and creamy, the mushrooms perfectly garlicky, it's a delicious combination. ever since that trip i've been on the lookout for a reasonable substitute. and while this isn't as ethereal as our scarpetta version, it's delicious none the less.

egg & brie sandwich

my favorite kind of meals are those that are good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner; can be made with about five ingredients, and can be on the table in less than 30 minutes. for me, it was a delicious sunday brunch, when i just happened to have leftover bread, lettuce and tomatoes from a salad earlier in the week, and a small hunk of brie. delicious.

pasta with roasted tomatoes and fried eggs

last weekend i had a handful of roasted tomatoes, baby spinach, and a small piece of brie leftover from sandwiches i made for new years eve. i cooked up the remnants of a box of fusilli, tossed the hot pasta with the brie, spinach, and tomatoes, and topped the whole mess with two runny fried eggs. it was the best lunch i've had in a long time.

poached pear & brie salad

while nothing has been able to knock my fall apple chicken salad with maple mustard vinaigrette out of the top spot as my absolute favorite salad, this one isn't far behind. sweet poached pears, brie, and candied walnuts are a delicious combination - try topping sliced baguette with them and toasting, just enough to melt the cheese. with so much flavor, a basic balsamic vinaigrette tops this salad off perfectly. don't let the time throw you off - you can poach the pears a day or two before and keep them in the refrigerator. assembling the salad itself takes all of 10 minutes.

leek and mushroom frittata

i love love love frittatas. they're easy to make, you can use whatever combination of meat, cheese, and vegetables that you like, there are always leftovers that reheat beautifully, and they can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. this version uses two of my favorites - sauteed leeks and mushrooms - paired with fontina cheese. if you absolutely have to have meat, top the frittata with chopped crispy bacon before it goes into the oven. the salty bacon goes great with the creamy vegetables and cheese.

cacio e pepe with lemon

here's the thing: you can't have it all. all those women out there, working full time, raising kids, keeping a marriage afloat, cooking a real dinner for their family every night, finding time for hobbies and themselves, their plan will sooner or later crack. the problem is that as life goes on, we add more and more responsibilities all wedged into the same amount of time and with the same amount of effort and attention span we've always had. so what happens? something gives. in the last year, i've spent more time and focus on health and wellness, spending nights and weekends working out instead of blogging or keeping in touch with far away friends. i spend my evenings playing with my son, so time dedicated to dinner becomes shorter and shorter. not because i no longer enjoy cooking - follow me on pinterest and you'll see my kitchen is still a flurry of activity - but because i would rather spend my time building towers and crashing them with my son than stuffing ravioli. so now, more than ever, i am on the lookout for meals that start to finish are done in less than thirty minutes - bonus if they're toddler friendly. this pasta fits the bill perfectly. although the original recipe calls for a meyer lemon - rightfully so, since they are deliciously sweet and tart - a regular old lemon will do. toss in some cooked peas, like my favorite alfredo, to round this out as a meal.

secret recipe club: enfrijoladas

since i've gone sweet for the last three secret recipe club picks in a row (see cherry sorbet, bacon topped maple french toast cupcakes, and chocolate snack cake), i decided this month was time for something savory. and not just any savory, but my favorite kind: mexican. i spied these enfrijoladas on edesia's notebook, and while they aren't very photogenic, how can homemade refried beans, tortillas, and melty cheese not be a good combination?! they are delicious and toddler approved! thanks lesa, for teaching me how easy it is to make refried beans at home.

secret recipe club: slow cooker beans & mushrooms

how's the weather where you live? our summer started hot and humid for about two weeks in may. then the rain came. and came. and came. and is still coming. sometimes it's obnoxiously hot and humid and other days, it's cool as a crisp fall day. it's really strange. so for this month's secret recipe club, instead of picking a fun and festive fourth of july recipe, i chose something more appropriate for fall apple picking or as a quick dinner before trick or treating.

and i'm really glad i chose this basic recipe from stephanie at sustainable cooking for one. when i came home from work, i wasn't expecting the beans to be so broken down and creamy. after a couple stirs i realized this is the perfect base for a soup. next time i'll add even more mushrooms, carrots, celery, spinach, and any other vegetables i have laying around. some cooked barley would be a great addition also. so even if the weather is hot and humid where you are, bookmark this one for fall, when soup is back on the brain and in heavy rotation.

tomato, bean, and barley soup

i can't believe i'm sitting here in pants and a long sleeved shirt, listening to the pouring rain, and hoping the temperature will reach 60 degrees today. just two weeks ago, we were turning on the air conditioning as the temp hit above 90 for a couple days in a row. the change in weather messes with my meal planning - one week we're eating salads and grilling chicken, the next we're longing for big bowls of pasta and soup. and while i won't be making this bowl of soup tonight - this chicken marsala risotto won out in the end - if this weather holds out, it might end up on the menu sooner than i think.

winter salad with clementine vinaigrette

i've mentioned before that i'm always on the lookout for new salads to try. i jumped on this one since a box of clementines always finds its way into my shopping cart and each week we always end up throwing a few away. i always have good intentions of eating them all. but just as soon as the weekend is over and monday comes, before i can blink it's already thursday. i breeze through the rest of the week and weekend and soon enough, i'm staring down the last three or four clementines that just didn't make it. while this salad isn't my favorite, it's still light and refreshing and a great way to use up those stragglers.

slow cooker creamy tomato artichoke parmesan soup with brie, ham, and apple panini

when i lived in downtown rochester, i ate a lot of lunches and dinners at magnolia's on park avenue. more often than not, my companion and i would share one of their thin crust pizzas and i would always order a bowl of their signature cream of tomato artichoke and cheese soup. i cannot tell you how many people i have turned onto this soup. it's killer.

so good in fact, when i am sick, it's what i crave. in the dead of winter, when it's freezing cold out and we're buried until feet of snow, it's what i crave. so much so there have been a few times since we moved into the burbs that jason has made the 13 mile drive for a bowl of this soup. it's that good.

secret recipe club: pasta with blistered tomatoes & arugula and iced grapefruit cookies

last march, i made this whole wheat grapefruit cake for my secret recipe club selection and fell in love with grapefruit in baked goods. so this march, when i stumbled on these pink grapefruit cookies at life of a modern housewife for this month's secret recipe club, i knew they would be delicious. it just so happened i had absolutely nothing planned for dinner that same saturday night, so lucky for me while browsing her recipes, i also found this fettuccine with blistered tomatoes and arugula. it's one of my favorite kind of meals - meatless, pasta, and ready in less than 30 minutes. i will definitely be making it again.

secret recipe club: mushroom barley soup

i had a hard time choosing my recipe for this month's secret recipe club. jane at the heritage cook has hundreds of sweet and savory recipes, most of which look like something i would make at home. and i can totally get behind her "chocolate monday" feature. (marry that with alison's sweet tooth friday and the start and end of the week is covered!)

i had it narrowed down to three recipes - mexican black bean soup with cilantro lime sauce, triple layer lemon cake with lemon buttercream icing (for hubs, of course), and one of her two mushroom barley soups. i ultimately chose the mushroom barley soup because i didn't have the patience for the black bean soup this month, i had already made two layer cakes in the last four weeks and couldn't justify another, and the first and only time i made mushroom barley soup it came out far too thick. i've had every intention to remake it and as soon as i saw jane's version, i stopped looking for anything else!

pappardelle with mushrooms

as much as i adore mushrooms, i've always steered clear of any recipe that called for dried porcinis. i don't know why, but they've always intimidated me; something about having to reconstitute them made me afraid they would turn into chewy sponges in the end. boy was i wrong! i'm so glad i gave this recipe a try. it's really simple and full of mushroom flavor. don't let the time fool you - 30 minutes of it is spent waiting for the porcinis to reconstitute. no wonder this was one of cooking light's best recipes.

vegetable noodle soup

why yes, that is the may 2012 issue of bon apetit on my coffee table. and yes, my bookmark is on the editor's letter page, so i didn't make it very far. i'm a bit behind on my reading. i have a good 15 or so magazines that have piled up since last june (and apparently earlier) along with a few new cookbooks from christmas and my birthday. same thing goes for some of the posts saved in my google reader. which brings me to this soup: this soup has been sitting in my reader, starred, waiting for me to make it, since it was posted two and a half years ago. week after week it got pushed aside for something flashier. what a shame, considering how delicious, easy, and adaptable this soup is. and now that i have the last four pounds of baby weight to lose, this meatless soup may make it's way into our weekly rotation more often.

pear quinoa salad

in my quest to drop the extra 25 or so pounds i am carrying since i got married and had a baby, i have been on a search for easy and healthy breakfasts and lunches. this quinoa salad is perfect, since it can be both of those or a mid-afternoon snack. i made a batch of this one sunday evening and ate it multiple ways through the next week. i played around with the temperature - some days eating it straight from the refrigerator and others taking the chill off with a quick spin in the microwave - and found i liked it best warm, with a little extra sweetness from a drizzle of real maple syrup. it's both delicious and filling.