Chard Noodle Bowls with Fried Eggs

Chard has become my new favorite homegrown veggie. This late in the summer it's the only thing still happily growing. Last week was the first time swiss chard was cooked with stems. Oh, the lovely crunch. Another recipe had to be found with stems asap. Ocecchiette with Rainbow Chard, Parmesan and Lemon was the lucky winner.

Modifications Made:

Times to cook swiss chard stems was longer than the stated 1-2 minutes as the recipe stated but this was expected as stems were cooked last week. Total cook time for stems was 5-7 minutes.

Once the swiss chard had started to soften, one tablespoon of pre-chopped garlic was added. If added sooner, it burns.

Lemon juice along with the zest of one lemon was added as I had already added the juice when the instructions were fully read. Pasta water was omitted as it is heavily salted. Extra hot water added to create the saucy consistency desired on the chard mixture.

Pasta and chard were not mixed together. Instead each component was layered on the plate separately: pasta, chard, Parmesan cheese, two fried eggs.

Scaled for Likeness: Great

This whole meal can be summed up with this statement from the teen counterpart: "is their enough for seconds?" Really, what else needs to be said?

In case you don't have teens, the dish was the perfect amount of garlic and lemon for chard sauce to cover the noodles. Shredded Parmesan, instead of grated added another nice texture element. Red pepper was hit and miss but the piece de resistance was the two fried eggs. It has to be said, this might just be added to the T&T list.

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green be

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Can't believe the Month of the Potato is over. There are so many more potato recipes saved. Guess I will have to work them into another month. Last week's scalloped potatoes were one of the best new recipes during the month of potatoes. With today being the last day in the Month of Potatoes, I decided to go out with a bang by cooking another batch of scalloped potatoes but this time sour cream and chive. The Best Scalloped Potatoes , or so they said. Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half. Mayo was omitted and one entire package of chives were chopped and added to sauce before pouring onto layers. Scaled for Likability: Good Betty Crocker Sour Cream and Chive Box Scalloped Potatoes were the standard for this recipe. These were a family favorite for years but have long since been discounted. Bummer. Trying to replicate this seemed easy enough. Alas, it was not. These had a nice texture but were too oily from the cheese and did not contain enough onion, garlic,

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add potatoes. Cover and reduc

Eating Waffles

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