Violet Sky

As mentioned in the last roundup, I realized that I haven’t been making too many new-to-me non-baking recipes and set out to remedy that this month. It didn’t mean that I didn’t also try new baking recipes, but I was very pleased with the new dinner recipes we tried out this past month.

New Recipes

Pasta carbonara – I’ve made pasta carbonara before, once back in 2018 or so, and thought the recipe I tried at the time was just fine. This was also before we realized that my husband, who has an intolerance to chicken egg whites, can eat duck (and other!) eggs with no problems, so there wasn’t really a time where I was making dinner for me and the kids, but not him, that the carbonara came to mind. This carbonara recipe was much better than the one I used years ago, and was my husband’s first time trying pasta carbonara. He enjoyed it!

Chicken kofta kebabs – These were hugely popular with the family, and especially great for making leftovers, which is always a perk. I grilled yellow squash and zucchini along with the kebabs, and made the yellow rice from a Halal food cart chicken and rice recipe I have saved. Served with tabouleh and tahini, the macros were also great.

Massaman lamb shoulder – This was an unexpected delight – stupidly easy to throw together, and tasted much more luxurious than the prep time implied. I couldn’t find a whole lamb shoulder locally, so I used three lamb shoulder chops and two lamb shanks. The chops had the added benefit of a little osso buco style marrow hole, so I think I would still want to use shoulder chops the next time I make it.

Easy Bagel Recipe – I actually got this one from an Instagram friend, and decided to throw raw quartered cranberries in to use up some of the cranberries I still have from Thanksgiving (those things last forever). It was my first time making bagels and I didn’t have the malt syrup, so I used honey. I thought they turned out pretty well, all things considered.

Revisited Recipes

Coconut curry lentil soup – An old recipe that we haven’t touched in a while, it finally came in handy when my husband had pneumonia and was oddly repulsed by any meat other than that which was highly processed (like Spam) or cured (like prosciutto). I didn’t have quite enough red lentils to match what the recipe was asking for, but it still turned out fine, a nice, sweeter soup, thanks to the sweet potato.

Prosciutto and asparagus gnocchi – This is a recipe I love to make, but retired for a while because the rest of the family complained about how salty the prosciutto is in it. We’ve since figured out that higher quality prosciutto (especially protected origin prosciutto) is less salty and allows the other flavors to come through, so the recipe was better received with that adjustment.

Chorizo fried rice – Ridiculously easy, this recipe also reheats well (as many fried rices do) and had decent macros for what it is. We use the Johnsonville chorizo, as it’s easier to break apart into crumbles and is reliably soy-free.