You Can Cook in a White Kitchen?

Oh, that’s not a question, that should be a statement. You can cook in a white kitchen.

I wanted a white kitchen for as long as I can remember and when we remodeled, that dream came true. But a white kitchen for cooking. I never really wanted to do that. I wanted to serve chardonnay and cheese and crackers and crudites.

But.

Cook. Every meal. Every day. For months and months? Who would have ever thought that here we would be?

The truth is that we prefer to eat at home over going out, but it’s really nice to have options other than what the lock down provided us.

You know I like to share a “What I’m Eating” page with a picture and a recipe, but it’s really a struggle to find something new and creative every week and make it seem at all appetizing because cooking isn’t really my specialty.

With that said, here are some of our tried and true dishes we have served up the past couple of weeks.

Lightened Up Salisbury Steak

I have shared this recipe before – the last time I made it about seven months ago. I made it again recently and froze half for later.

Rice with Green Chilies

My sister Monique encouraged me to make some recipes from different cookbooks.  I have a very old (like 40 year old) Colorado Cache Cookbook.  At the time, and probably still, this Junior League of Denver cookbook was considered one of the best collections of recipes out there. Goodreads rates it over 4 stars.

I cannot even remember how many years (decades) ago I ate this recipe but I never forgot it. It’s not something I would normally put together, but it’s so GOOD.

I dug out the old cookbook and lightened this up quite a bit. Here’s what I did:

Rice with Green Chilies

Adapted from Colorado Cache Cookbook

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 4-ounce can chopped, mild green Chilies
• 3 cups cooked rice (I used pre-cooked Jasmine from Trader Joe’s)
• 2 cups mixed cheese (I used 1/2 cheddar and 1/2 mozzarella)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together sour cream and chilies and set aside.  Toss cheese together.  Put rice in casserole dish, spread with sour cream mixture and top with cheeses.  Spring with salt and pepper.  Cover casserole and bake 30 minutes at 375.  Remove cover and bake an additional 10 minutes or until bubbly.

Turns out it was still pretty rich with a lot of dairy for someone my age and I didn’t finish the leftovers. Nonetheless it was good and I recommend it.

Taco Tuesday

Well, of course, everyone knows how to make tacos, but when I want to lighten up, I eat my ingredients on a bed of arugula. FYI, the cerveza was just for looks.

This is how we make tacos:

• 3/4 pound ground beef
• 2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix (or to taste)
• 2 cups water
• Favorite toppings: Cheese, sour cream, green onions, tomatoes, lettuce
• Refried Beans (optional)
• Taco shells or tortilla chips

Brown beef in a skillet, sprinkle seasoning mix and add water. Still until thickened and water is gone – about 10-15 minutes.

Lay a bed of arugula in a shallow bowl, spread with meat and beans. Top with your favorite toppings and a few tortilla chips.

Meatless Monday

I shared the scalloped potatoes recipe we use from Skinnytaste.com. Because this is a heavier dish, I love serving it with fresh, steamed vegetables and sliced tomatoes as a Meatless Monday meal. I call it a Farmer’s Dinner.

We always at least double this recipe and John eats for the next few meals.

Yes, this is all proof we’ve been using our white kitchen. I hope these recipes inspire you to keep cooking and enjoy some new new recipes or dig out some oldies but goodies.

Now excuse me while I go clean the kitchen. Again.