Need an easy, but gussied-up way to fix chicken – easy enough for a family meal, but also special enough to serve to guests? This is a great recipe to fit all those parameters.

Watching a recent Ina Garten program, she prepared a chicken dinner (anybody who follows her shows knows Jeffrey loves chicken, right?). It was an anniversary dinner that they ate out on their patio (don’t you all want to be invited to her house for dinner?). Ina reminisced about when they were first married and lived in France for awhile, and she learned to make chicken somewhat like this recipe. I took liberties with it. In essence it’s her recipe, but she used skin on, bone-in chicken pieces. I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts. It worked. She baked hers, I pan-sautéed mine for a flash of time and dinner was ready. The Brussels sprouts took more time to cook than the chicken, but only by a few minutes.

What was different about this – was – you whiz up the panko crumbs in the food processor. Now, I have to ask the question . . . when Ina and Jeffrey were first married (that was in 1968 – I looked it up) I don’t really think they had panko crumbs in France. You think? But okay, she’s updated the recipe, and I’m glad she did. (I love Ina, don’t get me wrong, and I didn’t save the episode, so maybe she said she had updated the recipe . . .I don’t remember.) So, anyway, into the food processor go the panko crumbs, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme (I didn’t have fresh), lemon zest and once that’s all finely minced, then you add a little tiny jot of olive oil and butter. This is IN the food processor. With the panko crumbs. What this does is slightly moisten the panko crumbs with fat and allows the crumbs to brown to a nice golden brown (see picture below) all over – not just where you might have poured some oil into the pan. Actually, she baked them. I did add a bit of oil to the pan also, but I used a nonstick pan.

And, because the panko crumbs are much finer (from time in the food processor) they give the chicken a less dense coating. But before the chicken goes in the pan you prepare a mixture of Dijon and dry white wine. It’s a kind of a slurry (not exactly thick, but certainly not like water, either) and the chicken is dipped into that, then put into the panko crumb mixture.

As I mentioned, Ina baked her chicken (but they were bone-in pieces, remember). I could have done that too, but it just seemed simpler to pan fry the breasts. I also pounded the chicken breasts before I started – to an even 1/2 inch thickness, so they’d cook evenly. Another of those wonderful Phillis Carey tips that I use for any chicken breast recipe I make.

Do cut into the breasts to make sure they’re cooked through. If you question it, use an instant read thermometer horizontally into the thickest part of the breast meat and cook the breasts to 155°. Serve immediately. Do try to serve it with a bright green veggie of some kind – the chicken is a bit pale on the plate. I did Brussels sprouts, but broccoli, green beans, asparagus would all work. Or a green salad.

What’s GOOD: how easy it was to make – I’d definitely make this again. It was super-tasty, and because I watched the cooking time, they were cooked perfectly – still juicy and not a bit of dryness to them.
What’s NOT: some folks might not want to fuss with making the mustard slurry or the panko mixture (you do dirty up a few dishes in the making of this) but the result is worth the trouble, I think.

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If you’re a convert to the joys of Brussels sprouts (I’ve always been a fan) that are pan sautéed, then you’ll like this recipe a lot. It uses halved Brussels, a whole-grain mustard vinaigrette and some chopped up dried cranberries and almonds for crunch and flavor. Really delish.

With a package of Brussels sprouts in the refrigerator and a dinner to prepare, I hunted through my to-try recipes and came across this one. I adapted it some (didn’t have dried blueberries; opted to pan sauté them rather than cook them in water first; didn’t have Manchego so I subbed Parm). The mustard vinaigrette was first on the list to do – an easy mixture. It was a bit too oily for me, so I added in a little more lemon juice than called for. I also used more garlic. The original recipe comes from a restaurant in Pasadena called La Grande Orange, located adjacent to the main-stop train station there. It’s a great restaurant (have eaten there and enjoyed their signature sangria and salads). Anyway, this is a veggie dish, but can also be dubbed a salad too. I served it hot, but you know Brussels sprouts – they cool quickly, so they were at room temp within a couple of minutes.

In the original recipe the Brussels were simmered in water. I like pan roasted ones, so I added a tablespoon or oil to a huge nonstick frying pan and got them nice and brown-blackened. Meanwhile I made the vinaigrette, chopped up the dried cranberries (very few) and the almonds (raw, only a little bit) and shredded Parm. I did add a bit of water to the Brussels to get them just cooked through, then dumped them out into a serving bowl and drizzled on the tiny bit of dressing and added the garnishes. Done. Easy. Definitely a make again veggie!

What’s GOOD: Well, I love Brussels sprouts almost any way they come. My DH’s good friend Joe was here for dinner and he said he wasn’t much of a fan of Brussels sprouts anytime, but he really, really liked these. He had 3 servings if that tells you anything. I gave myself a very small serving at first, but I dug in for a few more myself. And I’ll be having the last few for tonight’s dinner.

What’s NOT: nothing, unless you don’t like Brussels sprouts!

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If you’ve been a reader of my blog for any length of time you know I don’t usually FRY things. Sauté yes, but really fry in oil, no. My bottle of canola oil gets used mostly for salad dressings. But I just decided to do something different. In the background on the plate above there are the dry-pan roasted green beans that I’ve made 10 times in the last 6 months they’re so good. And easy.

I searched around the ‘net for “pork chop recipes”, and southern fried pork chops were the top 8 or so. Really?  So I clicked over to several (one on epicurious, and two others from blogs, but were almost identical. I kind of made my own way once I got the gist of the main recipe. A flour-based breading mixture is made (flour, cornstarch, herbs, salt, pepper) and set aside. Another is made with an egg and some milk or buttermilk. The pork chops are dipped first into the flour, then egg, then back in the flour, and ever-so gently placed into the 1/4 inch of medium-hot oil.

One thing I learned (and don’t know if it’s true) is that when you fry foods like this, it’s best to raise the heat of the oil in a gentle manner – i.e., use low heat and then raise it over the course of 10 minutes or so. If you turn the flame up to high right from the get-go, you’ll end up with oil that’s too hot. Some of that makes sense, but some of it sounds crazy. Heated oil is heated oil. Isn’t it? Any of you chemistry types out there know?

Anyway, the pork chops were dutifully dipped in the proper pans and lowered into the oil, and they were done in no time flat. One of the bloggers mentioned using a heat test before you start cooking – dropping a pinch of the flour mixture into the oil – if it bubbles, then it’s hot enough. And during the cooking you do only want the oil to bubble around the meat and not burn the coating.

The cornstarch in the flour mixture gives the breading/coating a lighter texture. Not exactly like a tempura batter, but not far from it. It was nice. I liked it. I used seasonings in my flour mixture (other than the usual salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika that was in most of these recipes). I reached for Penzey’s Fox Point Seasoning and added a couple of teaspoons. I don’t really know that I could taste it once it was fried, however. So you could use whatever suits you – like an Italian blend perhaps – or don’t add any at all. In the South I think they’d go for the plain stuff (salt, pepper and garlic powder).

The pork chops bubble around the edges as they’re frying. Be sure the chops aren’t touching – I used a pan that probably could have held more – because several recipes stressed that the chops need lots of space around them. They browned in no time flat, so I turned the heat down just a little bit and turned them over and cooked the 1/2 inch thick chops about 4 minutes per side – my guess. I didn’t time it. It was all by color.

What’s GOOD: how easy it was – only time consuming thing was mixing up the coating mixture. I got everything else finished before I even started the pork chops so I wouldn’t be distracted. They were really good. Not in the “outstanding” category, but it was an easy, quick dinner that was satisfying.
What’s NOT: well, some folks don’t like frying – like deep frying – although these weren’t deep in oil – I used only about 1/4 inch (half way up the chops).

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Are you ever just on overload with information? I get that way sometimes. And I was feeling information overload yesterday when I decided to catch up on reading blogs. I subscribe by RSS to a lot, including America’s Test Kitchen. Oh, I’m so glad I didn’t just skip this particular one.

One of the cooks/chefs at their kitchens had a thought . . . he observed that all over the test kitchen different chefs, when they used a wire whisk would use different motions with the whisk.

If I’d been working at their kitchens  you would have always seen me using a whisk/lift/circular kind of motion. I do that for everything I whisk just because I thought that probably was the right way. Ha, was I ever wrong. He saw people doing (1) back and forth; (2) stirring (with the whisk always in contact with the bottom of the bowl); and (3) my style, the around lift type whisk motion. So, to figure it out, they set up a test of making a vinaigrette, whipped cream and satiny whipped egg whites.

There’s a video about this – if you’re interested go watch it. It’s not long.

I was right in making just one thing – the egg whites. The round, lift motion of whisking IS the proper one for incorporating air into egg whites. You’ll get a lovely mound of satiny egg whites by doing it that way. Well, good. But then, on the other two – the vinaigrette and the whipped cream – no question, a back and forth motion is THE one to use. They give a scientific explanation for it – if you’re a chemist type you might like to read about it. Anyway, back and forth it will be from now on. Cream whips much faster with a back and forth motion. Vinaigrettes stay stable (emulsified) longer when using and back and forth motion. Okay. Learned. Done. Another nugget I need to store in my brain from now on.

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Do you like mahi mahi?  If you can find it, this is a really delicious way to fix it. Lemon pieces (that’s what’s on top there, the scorched part that you don’t eat) give good flavor and the really good feta and yogurt mixture that’s on top. Like a tartar sauce except it’s got mint, dill and lemon zest and juice in it.

I do like mahi, and yet I don’t see it everywhere. More often on restaurant menus than in the fish market. I don’t much like to buy frozen fish – I’m sure it’s available frozen in the regular supermarkets, but I generally don’t buy supermarket fish. Period. It could be that mahi is only available frozen anyway (you know the label: previously frozen). I don’t know.

In any case, this recipe, the last fish recipe from the class with Phillis Carey, which is just loaded with flavor, is easy to make. You need fresh lemons, Greek full-fat yogurt, sheep’s milk Feta, fresh mint and fresh dill.

This fish is cooked in a broiler method, but you put the rack way, way low in your oven. The fish cooks without you having to turn it over mid-way through. While the broiler heats up, mix up the yogurt stuff (Greek yogurt, sheep’s milk Feta, mint, dill, lemon zest and juice). That’s spread all over the mahi fillets (do spread it all the way to the edges), then you top it with the drizzle of olive oil. Then the thinly sliced lemon halves (seeds removed) are gently nestled into the yogurt. Try to make it flat – any unevenness will scorch the lemon unevenly (obviously). It’s also good to have mahi mahi pieces that are about the same thickness – thinner pieces will cook a lot faster.

Serve the fish with the scorched lemon – but most people will probably set it aside. It can be eaten if you want to. But do make this. It’s good! Serve with rice. If you want, make some extra sauce and serve it to dollop on top of the rice for extra flavor. It’s yogurt, remember, not sour cream.

What’s GOOD: it’s EASY for sure. But you do need to have the ingredients on hand – I never have fresh dill (can’t seem to grow it now matter what I do). I always have sheep’s milk Feta because I use it in salads. And lemons, always. Mint from my garden. Yep. Easy. Just find the mahi and buy dill. The flavor is great – love the creamy sauce and the tart thing going on with it.
What’s NOT: just the finding of mahi mahi, maybe. Easy dinner!

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Never let it be said that I passed up trying yet another chocolate chip cookie recipe. And yes, this one is slightly different than most – it uses melted butter in the batter.

There still isn’t all that much cooking going on around my kitchen. This journey of grief just gets in my way. It’s a journey I have to take, though, and I have to learn new routines, learn how to avoid my tough times (evenings mostly – after dark, and weekends in general). I want to find joy in my days, and I do sometimes. I’m so grateful for my friends, who have been very attentive to me, inviting me to go to lunch, to come to their homes for dinner. They’ve all been so understanding. Yesterday I was with some couple friends and I was able to get through the evening without crying even though I did talk about Dave some. We toasted a glass of wine to him. I took a bottle of Cabernet – a really good bottle and shared it with these dear friends. I need to do that as the wine cellar has a LOT of wine in it.

The wine cellar in this house has its own A/C system. A small, little A/C that just cools the 8×10 room that houses the underground cellared wine collection. Dave was the wine connoisseur in our relationship. I enjoyed wine, and liked investigating the nuances of different varietals, and sniffing the glass to pull out the “nose.” But in the last few years I’ve just about stopped drinking wine. No particular reason – I never drank more than about one glass anyway. Dave drank mostly Zinfandel (his favorite), which is a wine that I don’t like much – it’s too zingy, too tart and acidic for me. Only if it was a soft Zin would I share a bottle with him. And when we went out to dinner I’d share wine with him.

In the last couple of months, when I’ve had houseguests or dinner guests I’ve gone down into the cellar to bring out a bottle or two of wine to share. But days go by and I don’t even think about wine. Last month we had a really bad heat wave. Oh my goodness, did we have a heat wave. Temps in the range of 102-105° for 3 days running. And temps in the 90s before and after. It was about a week of really awful heat. On the 2nd day of the over 100° temps, I paused at the stairway that goes down to the wine cellar and thought, “hmmm, I haven’t heard the A/C system running; maybe I’d better check it.” Sure enough, I went into the wine cellar and the temp was 80°. Oh my. Bad news.

The A/C system regulates the temp at 58°. I had no idea how long it hadn’t been working. It had been over a week since I’d been down in the cellar myself to bring up a bottle of wine. Immediately I phoned the guy who has done all the repairs to that wine cellar system. He’s a one-man-band, though. He didn’t call me back. Oh-oh. I phoned him again the next morning. No response. Well, cut to the chase here. He finally answered my call that night, told me that he had received over 100 phone calls from wine cellar customers (because of the heat wave), and the soonest he could come to look at mine was about 5 days off. Not good news, but I really didn’t want to try finding somebody else. Dave trusted this fellow and under normal circumstances he’s able to come within a day. All that wine – there must be 800 or so bottles of wine in the cellar – sitting at 80°. What that does is prematurely age the wine. And it means that I couldn’t possibly sell the contents of the wine cellar because they’re now “damaged goods.” So I’m going to have to seek out the older bottles and drink them – take them to friends – take them along when I join friends for dinner, etc.

At first I beat myself up because I knew how upset Dave would have been about this. I berated myself for not checking the wine cellar more frequently. I tried asking myself, “what would Dave do?” He’d have been frantic. Not just moderately frantic, but major(ly) frantic. Angry. Annoyed because the repair guy wouldn’t call back. But once I had the date set for repair, I just had to accept what had happened. I couldn’t do anything about it. I put a vertical fan down there, left the door open and ran that fan 24/7. I don’t really know that it did much good (the temp in the cellar was 78° once the heat wave abated) but I let it run consistently for the remaining days.

Even when the guy came, he discovered it was the starter on the A/C (not the coolant, which is what I’d suspected). And, of course, he didn’t have one. He came the following day and installed it. At that point it took nearly 48 more hours for the wine cellar to get back down to 58°.

All that said, I’m just finding it difficult to take care of everything. I live in a big house and have no plans to move in the near future, but houses (especially 30+ year old ones) have problems and need repairs. Some days I feel a bit overwhelmed with it all.

So, this particular day I was feeling kind of sorry for myself (not an uncommon grief emotion), so I baked cookies and took some to the dinner with friends. And I went into the wine cellar and brought up a $45 bottle of Cab and took that along too, to their  home to enjoy. And I had a glass – it was gosh darned good, I will say. Full of fruit notes and had a beautiful nose.

This cookie recipe started with one of my cookbooks from America’s Test Kitchen. I made one addition (walnuts added to the batter because I like them). As I mentioned at the top, this recipe is different in that it called for melted butter (melted, then cooled before using it). It makes a different kind of consistency – I stood at the kitchen counter looking at the batter and tried to come up with some way to describe it – it’s more shiny (from the butter) and it looks and feels greasy. That’s not a bad thing – don’t misunderstand – that’s just how I’m describing the batter. Made no never-mind with the results whether it looked greasy or not!

These cookies didn’t turn out as thin as I’d thought they’d be – I doubled the recipe – and I didn’t measure the corn syrup – I just eyeballed it – perhaps I didn’t add as much as I should have. I also guessed at the milk. Actually, I didn’t have any milk, just cream. But that wouldn’t have made any difference. I used my handy-dandy cookie scoop for them – you bake these cookies on parchment paper. It took awhile as the recipe says to bake them just one sheet at a time. I did make some of them without walnuts, then added in the nuts for the second half of the batter. Either way they’re good.

What’s GOOD: I like the texture – they’re definitely crispy. I like that – I prefer crispy anyway. I’ve only eaten one so far, but with that, I liked them just fine. I used Ghiradelli 60% cocoa chips, which provide good, solid dark chocolate flavor. Would I make them again? Maybe. Perhaps the next batch I’ll go back to the one from Silver Moon. Look them up on my index. They’re my favorites, I think.
What’s NOT: nothing really. Liked them just fine.

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Most of the time I have salmon in the freezer, so when I need it, it can be defrosted in a jiffy and dinner can be ready a couple of hours later. This is a one-dish meal, really. It has protein (the salmon), vegetables (the fennel in the slaw), fruit (the tomatoes) and a bit of carbs from the bread crumb crust on top. I served it with sautéed spinach and that was dinner. I could have served it with a carb side like pilaf or a piece of toasted cheese bread perhaps.

When I am out of salmon as a staple in the freezer, I go to Costco and buy one of the big slabs of farm raised salmon. If you’re a Costco member, you probably get the monthly magazine they send out. I’ve learned to read some of the articles in the magazine – because they often give some very definitive information about their products. One time it was about the salmon. I’d gone off of it for awhile because of everything I’d read about farm-raised salmon – about the pens the salmon are raised in, how they are so packed in they can hardly move, eating their own detritus. Yuck. But then I read the article and learned that Costco’s salmon are raised differently – larger pens, the salmon aren’t so stressed, they eat well and they’re healthy. So I was reassured that eating Costco’s farm-raised salmon was not so bad for us. I love their farm-raised salmon – they’re big for one thing, and I think the flavor is delicious.

So, I buy the big slabs, cut them into portions. I used to vacuum seal them into 2-piece servings, but now that I’m a family of one (oh, that is so painful to even write that) I vacuum pack it in single portions. When I’m ready to eat salmon, I merely remove the package(s) and plunge it into a big bowl of cold tap water, put a big bowl on top, add something heavy to the center of the bowl to weight down the salmon below the water level and let it sit that way for about an hour. It might take longer if you have thicker pieces. That’s it. Easy.

So, on to this recipe. It originates from a cookbook called Artichoke to Za’atar: Modern Middle Eastern Food. The unique characteristics of this recipe are: (1) sumac in both the breading and the salad; (2) fennel seeds in the breading; and (3) a fresh fennel salad. If you don’t have sumac in your pantry, it’s worth buying it – it adds a citrusy note to anything you use it with – it’s a dark red color. I like sumac and you’ll find it used throughout the Middle East in their cooking.

This isn’t quite a 30-minute meal, but it won’t take much more than that. The breading is only placed on the top of the salmon. You make the salad – fresh fennel cut thinly into rings and pieces, shallots, fresh mint and parsley, a thinly sliced tomato, dried mint, lemon juice and olive oil plus that special bit of sumac. The bread crumb mixture can be whizzed up in the food processor (that’s what I did): sumac, fennel seeds, lemon zest and a bit of fresh (white) bread. You could use whole wheat bread, but I wouldn’t try using a hearty multi-grain bread – it would confuse the flavors, I think. When you have a leftover piece of baguette or a country loaf, or even sourdough, wrap it in a couple of layers of foil, then in a plastic bag and it would be perfect for this crumb mixture.

The salmon pieces are lightly seasoned with salt and pepper and sautéed for just a short-short time to get the pieces golden brown (but definitely not cooked through). You want to do that part in a skillet, but one that can go into a very hot oven (not all handles can get that hot). You gently mound the crumb mixture on top of the salmon and it goes into the oven for about 3 minutes or so – the crumb topping will get a bit golden and it cooks the salmon through. Do test it to make sure it’s just barely done. Once removed from the oven you tent it with foil and allow it to sit for 3-4 minutes. In that time mix up the salad and place it on the serving plate in about the same shape as the fish pieces, then the salmon is carefully placed on top of the slaw. Serve immediately!

What’s GOOD: I loved the flavors of the sumac, mint and dried mint. Big time. And the fennel seeds too. Fresh fennel bulb is a favorite of mine too – for some it’s a bit out of the ordinary –  it would make a lovely company meal, no doubt. I had a dinner guest that night. We both loved this preparation. The fennel salad is so refreshing, especially with the sliced tomatoes. Loved that combination too.

What’s NOT: there is a bit of preparation – the breading mixture and the salad. None of it is difficult, but it will take a few minutes to do it all.

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In this grief period I’m going through, there’s a word that’s used (learned at my grief class) that we get ambushed by life’s little moments. You never know when it’ll happen, just like in the old-time Western movies when the solitary rider was trotting along on his horse, thinking he’s safe and boom, the enemy found him, ambushed him when he least expected it. Not that grief is an enemy. Grief is a process, but it is something to get through, just like a valley where you never know what’s around the next corner. You understand what I mean, I’m sure.

That’s me. I was looking for something in the refrigerator. And when I moved something else, right there was this bottle of Smucker’s sugar-free strawberry preserves. You’d probably not think much of it. But the last time that bottle was touched was March 10th when my DH took it out to have on his toast. That was the day before he had his stroke. You’ll recall, perhaps, that he was a diabetic. I reached for that jar and I hugged it to me. And I cried. Not for a moment had I expected to open the refrigerator and end up in tears. My house is full of his touch – his handprint – his fingerprints. I can’t see them, of course. I go into his walk-in closet every few days still seeking out his scent and rarely do I find it, unfortunately. The closet is cedar lined and that’s what I smell. The other day I went into a hall closet where Dave kept his jackets. I did find his scent there, in a beautiful leather jacket he bought a few years ago. I wish I could bottle it! Don’t think I’m crazy – this is a commonplace thing for spouses to do. A widow friend of mine told me she’s still unable to dispose of her husband’s clothes, even though it’s been 2 years. I’m not nuts. Honest. Just set back by a little ambush. But I’m getting right back up and going forward. I want to, and I know Dave would want me to.

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What can I tell ya’? These are just delicious. So lemony and very tender. Yet they’re almost like a pound cake (cookie) but with lemon and then the tangy lemon glaze. All good. And easy.

At most of Phillis Carey’s cooking classes she serves dessert. Even though the class may be about fish (like this one) or chicken, she knows her audience – we always like a bite of sweet before we leave. We weren’t disappointed in these really good cookie/cake bars.

They’re pretty simple – you mix up the cake batter, pour it into an 8-inch square pan, bake and cool it completely. That’s important. No pouring of the glaze on hot or even warm bars. Cool the cake fully. Meanwhile, you mix up the glaze (powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest) and when the bars are ready, you pour it on and ideally, use an offset spatula to spread it out to all the edges. The glaze is not thick at all, so you do need to work at working it out to those far corners. But worth it, and it’s not hard – just take the extra few seconds to spread it quickly.

What’s GOOD: loved the lemony flavor. Loved the texture of the cake/bars. Loved the lemon zest. Loved it all. Worth making for sure.

What’s NOT: nothing that I can think of.

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Of the 4 fish recipes I got at the last Phillis Carey class, this was my favorite. It’s something you could make in a jiffy, and as long as your kids like soup and cod, it’ll make them happy too. The garlic toasts just “make” the dish, in my opinion anyway. The broth isn’t a lot – you could make this more into a soup by adding more chicken broth. A nice big chunk of cod with the tomatoes and well, that’s it. Make extra garlic toasts – they’ll disappear.

When Phillis began demonstrating this, someone in the class asked where she’d bought the cod. Like that person, I don’t see cod hardly at all in our markets (California), but they said it came from a local grocery store and she particularly recommended we seek out Alaskan cod. She did say we could substitute mahi mahi, sea bass or halibut (but NOT tilapia or salmon). Sole would work too, but we’d want to roll the sole up into little pinwheels in order to make the whole dish work. I loved it with the cod, and next time I see it I’m buying some. Generally I prefer using fresh fish whenever possible (two exceptions are shrimp and salmon) but I might make another exception here since I think it would work okay.

So here’s the drill: You sauté garlic and red pepper flakes (just a tiny, tiny pinch) in olive oil, then you add canned tomatoes (the good kind, San Marzano brand for sure – Phillis was insistent on that part), then you add white wine, some water – then the aromatics (bay leaves, saffron, salt and pepper) before adding the nice big chunks of cod.

Meanwhile you make the garlic toasts – ideally you’ll allow the oil to sit with the garlic for about an hour so you’ve got some good garlicky flavor – then that’s brushed on the slices of bread, placed on a baking sheet, good Parm is added and it’s baked for 8-10 minutes. Serve the fish with the tomato broth and stand a slice of bread up in the bowl, leaning on the side. You definitely want to dip the bread into the broth. Altogether delicious.

What’s GOOD: the flavors just work – the saffron, the bay leaf, the good San Marzano tomatoes. A very low calorie dish providing you don’t gorge on the bread (which would be easy to do).

What’s NOT: nary a thing. Well, you’re not getting any vegetables in this dinner (remember, tomatoes are a fruit). Serve some quick cooked green beans as an appetizer maybe?

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