Ricotta Gnocchi with Garlicky Cherry Tomato Sauce and Arugula

Good morning!

I made this dinner last night for Patrick and me.  The recipe said it would feed 4 but we only have one serving left and if it hadn't been so late in the evening, we would have only had enough for 2.  The meal was tasty even with the few changes I made.  I did not have fresh basil so added some red pepper flakes and there was no arugula at the farmer's market so I substituted baby kale.  The kale was a little more pungent but I like the stronger flavor.  I used more garlic of course!!  So, would I make it again?  I guess if I had cherry tomatoes that needed eating, maybe.  The gnocchi part was easy and I made them ahead of time, refrigerated until we came home and then popped them in boiling water.
Happy eating! 🙈🙉🙊

Quinoa Taco Salad

For our Sunday dinner after Jarrett and the kids were at the beach all afternoon I made this for a light dinner. It was really good! Took 45 min. See page 46 of Dinner Illustrated. The quinoa makes a really great substitute for ground beef. I didn't use the chile in adobo, just used a generous amount of chili powder. Also, I'm not sure it's really necessary to use the escarole--I used a bag of a cabbage, carrot, lettuce chopped salad from Aldi, just didn't use the dressing in the salad kit. I served the salad with some quick broiled nachos with cheese on top. That's mostly what Gil ate, as you can imagine. Franny liked this quite a bit. Jarrett was in heaven. :) Will definitely make again --- would be perfect to bring to a potluck.

Zucchini Noodles with Roasted Tomatoes and Cream Sauce

Found this on p 348 of Dinner Illustrated. I finally just got a spiralizer so was excited to give this a try! Overall, it was tasty and satisfying, but a lot of work....not sure if I'd make it again. Took every bit of an hour, and probably a little more. I did like the roasting technique with the cherry tomatoes using tomato paste. I think I've done that before in another ATK recipe. Makes them very tasty and flavorful. If you do decide to give this recipe a try, be prepared with lots of zucchini. I think I used five, including two that were quite large. I spiralized them and added to a bowl on top of my kitchen scale to get to 2 1/2 lbs. FYI for parents of young ones: Gil gave this a giant thumbs down and Franny gave it a firm "Eh, it's alright." But she ate it. :)

Shrimp and white bean salad with garlic toasts

To get our blog started, tonight I made the shrimp and white bean salad with garlic toasts from Dinner Illustrated (p.42). Made it because the seafood market in Naperville has Gulf shrimp and I'm trying to use more beans in our meals. (Go ahead, Pete, insert fart joke here.) I used white onion instead of red and skimped a little on the red pepper flakes, but should have used the whole 1/4 t. Also used all the lemon juice from one lemon rather than just 2T and it could have  used even more. The toasted bread was very crunchy. Might be better to make croutons out of the bread. As the recipe says, it did take 45 minutes from start to serving.

If I were to make this again, I would strengthen the seasoning so not so bland. Also, might use 1-1 1/2 cans of beans so the shrimp doesn't get lost in the salad.

Love you all, ME

Let's start cooking and sharing!

Hi Tromp FamilyCooks!

Welcome to our very own cooking blog! 

This is something I have thought about starting for a long time. Many of us get great pleasure out of cooking so why not share the results with other family cooks?

What motivated me at this time is the cookbook above which I recently checked out from the library.  As Joan and I browsed through it, we quickly realized that we wanted to make absolutely everything in it. So, we wondered if there wasn't a family project here.

Our thought was, why don't we all cook from the book and share our results? If you want to cook-along from Dinner Illustrated, here's how I think this might work:
1.  get the book (bought or borrowed)
2.  choose a recipe and make it
3.  post comments and perhaps a photo of your dinner to the blog. Besides telling us whether or not you liked the dish, you could include any changes you made or would make if you were to make it again. Also, did it really take "1 hour or less"?

So that you have a better sense of what is in Dinner Illustrated, here is the table of contents:

Let's also broaden the use of the blog. 

Did you just find a great recipe that you want to share? 

Post it here. 

Did you discover a kitchen hack that has changed your life? (Ok, it doesn't have to be quite that dramatic but it has made your kitchen chores easier.) 

Post it here. 

Did you find a new cookbook or kitchen tool that we should all know about?

Post it here. 

Did you try a new, yummy food product that we should all try? 

Post it here.

Let's use this space to share all things food. And, what a delicious way to stay connected.

Love, Mary Ellen