Warm food for a cool night

Low temperatures in the 30s and 40s bring cool-weather vegetables to the table:

Roast chicken; baby bok choy sauteed with bacon and scallions; maple-glazed roasted carrots; cranberry sauce.

A couple of dinners

Meals lately have not been very photogenic - here are a couple that weren't too bad.

Stir-fried tofu with carrots, celery, peppers and peanuts:

I often make a sort of salad bar for dinner, where I put out a bunch of vegetables, fruit, meats, etc and all may serve themselves (this cuts down on complaints a bit):

My resulting plate: greens with edamame, peppers, and tomatoes; cottage cheese; watermelon; hard boiled eggs; turkey and salami.

Curry duo

Two kinds of vegetarian curry with brown rice - cauliflower with chick peas, and paneer with beans.

Home Sweet Home

Vacations are always fun, but I'm glad to get back home, and back to humbler and healthier fare.
Baked potato with vegetarian chili, cheese, and sour cream:

What Happens In Vegas

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that those who vacation in Las Vegas inevitably wind up gorging themselves on a buffet. Our last big meal of the trip was the buffet at the Bellagio.

Cured meats, cheese, croissant, sesame roll, fruit and roasted vegetables:

Egg Florentine, sausage, bacon, potatoes:

Oatmeal, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, maple syrup, cinnamon:

Vanilla eclair, pecan tart, chocolate mint cake:

All was quiet on New Year's Day

A quiet breakfast at Morels in the Palazzo:

Poached eggs, bacon, potatoes, and toast

And a quiet dinner at Sage in Aria:

Poached egg with potato puree and black truffle shaved on top

Bacon-wrapped roasted pork loin with fried pork shoulder, greens, and chestnut puree

This meal was definitely the best of the trip.

The chowdown continues

Monday lunch:
Sliders and tater tots at I Love Burgers

Monday dinner:
Duck spring rolls and vegetarian dumplings at Hakkasan

Tuesday lunch:
Crepe with ham, onions, mushrooms, Gruyere, and an egg at Jean-Phillipe

Tuesday dinner:
Beet and burrata salad and fettucine carbonara at Postrio

Vacation, day 2

We had brunch at Max Brenner's in the shopping mall at Caesar's Palace. I had a sandwich of apples, Gruyere cheese, prosciutto, and greens on a savory rosemary waffle.

I didn't make a dinner reservation for tonight because we had to make a 9:00 show, and I figured we'd grab a sandwich or burger on the way. That wasn't what happened. Instead we walked into Sushisamba at the Palazzo.

Vegetable tempura:

Wild mushrooms and croutons in broth with a poached egg:

And then Japanese Wagyu steak we cooked at the table on a hot stone:

Whoa. This was like eating meat-flavored butter.

Vacation!

This week Good for Me is coming to you from Las Vegas! There will be no calorie counts.

Tonight's dinner was at Top of the World, the revolving restaurant on the 106th floor of the Stratosphere. A place that is more about the view than the food, but the food was good too.

Vegetarian platter (apologies for the blurry photo, low light plus no flash):

Left to right: vegetable napoleon - zucchini, portobello mushroom, winter squash, and kale in vinaigrette; quinoa and lentil salad with roasted onion on top; mixed vegetables (carrots, green beans, and turnips).

Celebration Day

One nice thing about celebrating non-traditional holidays is that they're not surrounded by an overwhelming cultural narrative, so you can celebrate them any way you like. Thus, my official Winter Solstice deep-dish pizza:

On the plate:

We concluded the celebration by welcoming the returning sun with some poolside fireworks:

Happy winter holidays to one and all! (Pizza recipe is here.)

Mideast Style

Roast chicken spiced with coriander, cumin, and turmeric;  pita bread; feta cheese; homemade tzatziki sauce; olives; sliced tomatoes and cucumbers.

Night of the Living Eggplant

After an all-too-brief hiatus, it appears that eggplant season is once again upon us.

Eggplant parmesan with whole wheat spaghetti.

Catching up

It's been a busy month, between home renovations, a couple rounds of houseguests, and Thanksgiving - so I've been neglecting the blog. But here are some pictures I got over the past few weeks:

Tacos with shredded beef, homemade tortillas, guacamole, and salsa (the latter two made with farm box veggies):

A poolside mimosa:

Beef tenderloin with horseradish sauce, creamed corn, and tomato salad:

Tomato salad ready for its close-up:

A farm box omelette:

And a pina colada (also meant to be served poolside, but the weather that day turned abruptly threatening, and while I do like pina coladas, I do not especially care for getting caught in the rain):

I'll try to keep a little more current.

More Caprese

For breakfast, on toast:

Italian style

Grilled chicken with caponata and caprese salad:

Caponata:
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 small eggplant, peeled and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup pine nuts
Vinegar and sugar to taste

Heat olive oil on medium, add eggplant and cook for 10 minutes or until eggplant starts to brown. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 20 minutes or until mixture has thickened. Let the mixture cool to room temperature and add a small amount of vinegar and/or sugar to taste. Serve at room temperature. This was good as a condiment for the chicken, but usually is served with bread as an appetizer.

Tomato Tart

Roasted tomato and goat cheese tart with green salad:

Eggplant Parmesan

Meeting the eggplant challenge head-on:

3 medium eggplants, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/2 jar pasta sauce
8 oz. shredded low-fat mozzarella
Bake eggplant slices at 400 for 20 minutes
Layer in pan starting with sauce, then eggplant, sauce, then cheese, ending with cheese
Bake covered at 400 for 45 minutes, then remove cover and bake for 15 more minutes
4 servings, 275 calories each

Still Life With Eggplants

Salad greens, one watermelon, two red bell peppers, assorted cherry tomatoes, two slicing tomatoes, five ears of corn, three bananas, a giant avocado, and two eggplants.

Moving into fall

Turkey breast smoked on the grill, and yellow squash gratin:

That took care of the yellow squash for the week. We also used up a butternut squash in another meal, which I neglected to take pictures of. It was butternut squash soup with green salad and bread.

A Surfeit of Squash

Well, the onslaught of eggplant has dwindled to just one small one for the week, but I now have two weeks' worth of summer squash and three weeks' worth of winter squash that I'd better figure out how to eat.

Five yellow squash, three bananas, one eggplant, one watermelon, one butternut squash, salad mix, six cucumbers and - hooray! - a bag of cherry tomatoes.