I thought this would be a fun topic, tell us what you had for dinner. My ulterior motive is to get fresh new menu ideas from everyone!!

I will start,
We had chicken parmesian with gemelli pasta. I am not a fan of red sauce so it was just OK to me.

We had NY strip steaks, salad, and wine - you are not going to learn much from us (recipes I mean) -

Freshly grilled steak kabobs with a side of seasoned rice! Thank GOD for my excellent chef husband, some good weather, our grill and Cowboy charcoal! Now enjoying a Hennessy vsop after a very emotional "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"...praying that Morgan Nick somehow comes home safely.

Kristin: sounds wonderful - SW Fla where???

I am probably the world's worst cook, so I like anything that's quick and easy. The following serves two.

Break half a cooked (skinned and boned) chicken into bite sized pieces and place on the bottom of a lightly sprayed shallow oven (or microwave) dish. Cook pieces of broccoli (enough for two) for one minute and arrange on top of chicken. Place the contents of a tin of chicken and vegetable soup (do you have Campbell's?? - a thick tinned soup is needed) in a bowl and add 1/4 cup mayonnaise, teaspoon of curry powder and squeeze of lemon (the bottle type will do if you're desperate) - mix and spoon over chicken and broccoli. Cover with breadcrumbs and grated cheese.

Bake in moderate oven about 30 minutes or about 6 minutes in a microwave. Serve with boiled rice.

I think the oven cooked tastes better but the broccoli loses its colour.

This is done from memory so if, when I get home, I realise I've left something out, I'll let you know!! If this is a world-wide recipe and all of you know it, please tell me!!

Predinner: Pastis to drink, olives, bread with cheese spread, black taco chips with cilantro salsa.

Dinner: We had tomatoes with basil olive oil and balsamic vinegar, corn on the cob, baked potato, prime rib, red wine and apple pie for dessert.

last night: Doug made boiled lobsta.

OMG - Tony is still happy with the basics - peanut butter & jelly, tuna casserole, mac and cheese, Bubba burgers with onion. (he has had them all for dinner) ..dessert is....your imagination - dreaming about it after you have gone to bed -

Joanna...you are too modest! strip steaks, salad and wine...doesn't sound like PB&J to me!! Can't get better than your menu. When I was in Switzerland, I would have killed for a good strip steak!!!!!!!!!!!!Now Doug and I have them often during the week...a great summer meal.

Hi - We had chicken fennel & couscous. Chicken was baked with cut up fennel (4 pieces of chicken plus 1 large fennel), 2 tbsp.olive oil, 1 red onion, 5 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp.oregano, pinch of red pepper flakes, l/2 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped kalamata olives. Saute mixture 7-8 minutes.

Place this mixture with the chicken ON TOP into the oven and bake approx. 20 to 30 minutes at 450 degrees.....

While that is baking, here's the Couscous: Put 3 cups of chicken broth, bit of freshly grated nutmeg, some fresh black pepper, 3/4 cup pine nuts, zest of 1 navel orange, l/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley. Bring everything in this mixture to a boil. Then pour over couscous & place plastic wrap over couscous mixture.

Place chicken & veggie mixture over couscous for a great dinner. Took me a little less than an hour. This was EASY, I promise. Great aromatic scent throughout the house. Buon appetito! - michele

Karen, this is a great topic!
Tonight, we had reservations for dinner - we tend to eat out about 5 nights a week lately.
Last night we had home made grilled Hamburgers with egg sesame buns, and grilled Corn (in foil -wiht real butter in the foil), tomatoes grilled on skewers, grilled sliced purple onions and for dessert - grilled pineapple slices. Yum. Tomorrow - grilled garlic chicken with grilled eggplant, zuchinni, corn and tomatoes. Rub the chicken with a garlic paste and throw on grill. (Um, we have a new BBQ, so grilled stuff is what we'll be cooking for at least the next week while it's new)

Oh I love everyones menu last night! I also appreciate the recipes you are giving with the meals. The fennel chicken sounds deeeliscious!!

We had homemade pizza, with sausage, shallots, green pepper, mushrooms and olives.

I think tonight we will have grilled polish sausage with something - and a salad with homegrown tomatos and cuccumbers and other stuff.

Kathy - glad you finally got the new grill!!

We had Sundried tomato alfredo sauce (with chucks of tomato!!!) over whole wheat fettucine wwith grilled chicken on the side. Of course, this was accompanied by wine.

Anthony

Everyone's dinners sound just scrumptious! We're among gourmet chefs here!! Joanna, we're from Cape Coral, city of a million canals, growing too fast for its own good. Where is Ponte Vedra Beach? (Even though we've lived here 4+ years, I'm still not too familiar with Florida...shame on me!)

Kristin: We are outside of Jacksonville 30 minutes north of St. Augustine - really sleepy place when we arrived in '77 - not the case any longer!!!

Saturday we had grilled lamb chops marinated in lemon, rosemary and garlic; red bell peppers stuffed with yellow pear tomatoes, feta, thyme and basil and sauteed spinach with pine nuts.

Last night I made Vietnamese lemongrass grilled beef served in lettuce wraps with rice noodles, Thai basil and mint and peanut sauce for dipping. Also made sweet potato salad with sugar snap peas and spicy peanut dressing.

I love to cook and spend way too much time reading cooking magazines and watching Food TV!!

Last night we ate out.

Of late, I'm interested in any recipe that calls for apple cider vinegar, cilantro, jalapeno or some combination of the above. One of my favorites is grilled halibut with jalapeno vinaigrette - easy to make and tasty! (serves 4 to 6)

1. Roast one medium jalapeno until the skin is charred (can do it with a little oil on the stove; I just do it directly on the grill with a barbeque fork). Cool and peel off skin, cut open and get rid of seeds. If you want it spicier, you can leave a few of the seeds in.

2. Chop up pulp and put in a blender or food processor with the following: 1/4 cup each apple cider vinegar, finely chopped red onion, and olive oil; 1/2 tsp Kosher salt, 2 tbsp each honey and chopped cilantro, 1 tsp each Dijon mustard and finely chopped garlic (I used the dehydrated version in this recipe). Process together until it's in small pieces but not entirely smooth. Do this ahead of time & refrigerate. Add freshly ground pepper and extra salt to taste.

3. Season halibut filets (5 to 6 oz per person) with salt & peper. Grill, turning once, until opaque on both sides over medium heat. Grill time is about 4 minutes a side. Drizzle vinaigrette on the side. If you like, serve with avocado or watercress on the side. Rice, sweet potatoes or couscous is a good side dish. Enjoy!

Cheers, Anne

Great thread, Karen! Our dinners tend to be seriously simple...or easy take out. Tonight I'm 'cooking' one of our favorite dinners. Grilled wild salmon with fresh dill...and a huge salad. Done. Just add a bottle of wine!!

ps...Anne, do you provide 'take out'??? I'm coming over!!!!!!

By the way, Kristin...what's Cowboy Charcoal????

Todays menu is BLTs and once again.....corn! I may turn into a corn cob pretty soon.

Karen,

Corn is a limited seasonal item. Eat it while you can! Yesterday we drove through rural Ventura County on the way to Santa Barbara and drove right through several miles of farms. Lots of lemons, flowers, and of course, Corn fields!

Our summer "cooking" usually consists of drowning something in Italian salad dressing for a day or two, and then Mark throwing it on the grill. But since we have this fish in the freezer (long story, not nearly as much fish as we were supposed to get; they switched shipments and Rich has to bring us the fish we were supposed to get, this week), I pulled this recipe out of an old San Diego newpaper, online. We did most everything wrong, and it was still absolutely delicious. We'll do it again soon, and do it right. BTW, we used Hellman's Dijonnaise instead of mixing mayo and mustard.

Crispy Dijon-Glazed Fillets

Serves 4.

Note: If you can't get your hands on panko crumbs immediately, you can substitute an equal amount of regular bread crumbs. Finely minced fresh cilantro, basil, thyme or tarragon can also be used instead of parsley.

• 2 tbsp. reduced-fat mayonnaise

• 2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil

• 3/4c. panko crumbs, Japanese bread crumbs (see Note)

• 1/4tsp. salt

• 1/4tsp. black pepper

• 1 tbsp. finely minced fresh parsley, optional (see Note)

• 4 tilapia fillets (each 6 to 8 oz.), or similar mild white fish fillets

• 4 lemon slices, optional garnish

In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise and mustard. Set aside. Begin heating the oil in an extra-deep, 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Place the panko crumbs, salt, pepper and parsley (if using) on a large plate, and stir to mix well. Spread a thin coating of the mayonnaise mixture over both sides of each fish fillet, using about 1 tablespoon total for each fillet. Place the fillets on the plate one at a time, pressing the fillets into the crumb mixture and turning over to coat the fish well on both sides. (Press additional crumbs into any bare areas.) Discard any crumbs that may be left over.

Place the coated fillets in the hot oil. Cook until the fish is lightly browned on the first side, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn and cook until the fish is light brown on the second side and opaque throughout, about 3 to 4 minutes more.

Place the fillets on serving plates, and garnish each with a lemon slice, if desired. Serve immediately.

Bonnie - come on over any time! I go in streaks with cooking. I found "Food and Wine" magazine has a great selection of recipes we like and that I can manage (along with a few that will not look anything like the pictures if I attempt them!). I'll get bored with this someday but in the meantime I'm enjoying adding some variety to the menu.

Cheers, Anne

Bonnie, I probably should have said Cowboy "brand" charcoal - it's good stuff - we will never buy run-of-the-mill Kingsford, etc., ever again! It's hardwood and gives a great smoky taste to the food. Greg gets it from Lowe's, I think. He is most definitely the chef in this house - the only things I make are lasagna and homemade pizza!

Well, I have been gone all day, and we had a house full of company for the last three days :) and a refrigerator full of leftovers :( ,so we're re-using the ham and only making a ham and noodle casserole tonight :o

Trish

JoAnn: homemade pizza is so easy & can be wonderful! (now that you can buy the dough at the supermarket)!

Ok, here is Doug's super easy chicken wing dish:

Cut the wings into the regular wing pieces. All 3 pieces. Keep the little piece!
Get a large pot. Fill it with about 1/2 water & 1/2 soy sauce....if you can't be exact (& who can?), better to have a bit more water than soy sauce.
Make sure that you have enough liquid to cover the wing pieces.
Buy some fresh ginger. Slice off the 'skin'. Cut it up into little pieces, but not so little that you can't fish them out later. But the more surface area, the better. About 1/3 cup or so should be enough depending on how many wings you are making.
(can you tell that I didn't get this from a cook book & don't get hung up on exact measurements?)

bring the pot of water & soy & ginger to a boil.
While the heat is doing it's thing, wash the wings. Then wash them again. This is raw chicken after all.
Then wash your hands!

Pot is bubblin'? Turn off the heat & introduce the wings into the liquid. (Hello, Chicken)
Cover and walk away for 30 minutes or so.

after 30 minutes (or so), take off the cover, stir the wings & fire up the heat until you have a boil.
Once you have a boil, turn off the heat, cover & walk away for about 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes.... drain & serve
or chill & have them the next day (which I prefer!)

Doug

Well Doug - I know that, I was just commenting on what we had for dinner last night. However, we often make our own pizza dough - but since its just the two of us, we do use fresh dough from Wegmans, these days - so how many of you are familar with Wegmans? It may be the most amazing market I have ever come across ever!!!

your chicken wings sound wonderful and i think we may just try them one of these days.

Pam - those fish fillets also sound wonderful and we get really good fresh, not fresh forzen, but fresh fish from our local Wholefoods/Fresh Fields, so that sounds like a great recipe to try.

Tonight, we had fresh made, from the market, grilled polish sausages, brussel sprouts a'grautin and salad with home grown tomatoes, cucs, and lots of other stuff!

I was grilling onions tonight for our Bubba Burgers when Anne called - she wondered if we were having dinner??? - "yes" but a simple old dinner -

Pam-I made the fish fillets after talking to Joanna. They are very good and fast to make. Thanks for the recipe.

Editing to add Gary decided to toss in watermelon for the vegetable. It was great with the mustard flavor. Cheers, Anne

Bubba burgers, pickles, chips, wine ...gourmet no delicious yes

OH, you guys are making me look bad. My former MIL once told me that I was the fastest cook she had ever seen. Is that good or bad?

Our usual summer dinner is a meat cooked on the grill (not a barbecue, but we've talked about that on another thread), salad and a sherbet dish filled with fresh fruit. This time of year, I like to combine strawberries, blueberries, peaches and if I can find good ones, blackberries or rasberries.

From the looks of all these wonderful menus, I need to get my act together!

Tonight, we just returned from 7 hours driving (Irvine to Tucson). It's Lean Cuisine for us!

Donna: My MIL told me I was the fastest pot and pan cleaner she'd ever seen - once over lightly and put them away ...

No sense to go to any other effort, Joanna. You'll just use them again tomorrow night, right?

Last night our dinner menu consisted of ribeye steaks cooked to medium rare in a cast-iron skillet, seasoned with kosher salt and pepper. Then after they rested, they were sliced into thin strips and plated. Dipping sauce consisted of Japanese aji-pon sauce (mixture of shoyu (soy sauce) and ponzu (Japanese citron mixed with rice vinegar)) drenched over grated daikon (Japanese radish). You take a strip of the steak and wrap it around the grated daikon with the sauce - yummo. Accompanied by Japanese steamed rice and some leftover baby bok choy.

Dessert was decidedly non ethnic - Dreyer's Cookies and Cream. :)

Masaki

Masaki....yummmmmmm! Sounds really good.

I hate to cook - anything. Now eating, that is a whole other topic!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm with you, Betty. A few years ago, I was invited to a bridal shower, and in the invitation, the hostess included a 3X5 card and asked that everyone write on the card, for the bride, a recipe for something they liked to make. I wrote RESERVATIONS!

Betty

I am taking a break from cooking today to go to our local tavern called the Nittany. (decorated in blue and white for the Penn State Nittany Lions)

I am craving hot Buffalo wings, which are about as low fat as Alfredo sauce. Throw in some french fries and cold beer and I will be a happy camper.

Doug ~ LOVE your wing wecipe!!! ;)

Betty K - love the reservations story!!!!!!!!!!!