Easy Weeknight Dinners

Thank you all for such sweet comments on my last Easy Weeknight Dinners post ... I want to know who tried the mashed white beans with rosemary!

Today I'm bringing to you today two more recent dinners I made. 

And I'm REALLY excited to share with you a common trait of both of these dinners.
Lean in, girls ... because this is a good one.
Both dinners contain veggie sides that my husband previously disliked.  Broccoli and asparagus.
And I found the secret to make him love them.  AND ask for seconds.

The secret is this: Toss the veggies with just the teeniest amount of olive oil, salt, and pepper, maybe even a light spray of cooking spray -- roast in the oven at 400 degrees.  Once brown and crispy, remove from the oven and (here we go) drizzle with black truffle oil.

Bam.

Now, without further ado... dinnertime, ya'll.

Chicken Piccata with Roasted Broccoli and Mesclun Salad
Chicken Piccata is hands-down my favorite meal.  I like using smaller chicken tenderloins for this.  Just toss them in flour, brown on both sides in a pan with some hot olive oil, remove from the pan and keep warm.  Add in to the hot pan 1 cup of chicken broth, some lemon slices, and a few capers.  Swirl together, reduce, then pour over the browned chicken. 

The broccoli was made using the "make my husband worship my veggies" method above, and the salad was an easy mix of mesclun greens, sliced onion, diced red apple, fat free feta cheese, and a homemade lemon vinaigrette.
 

I'm seriously still in awe remembering how Ian was chowing down that broccoli.  I purchased my black truffle oil at Homegoods, and I swear I could consume it by the spoonful.

This was truly a yummy meal!

Salmon Cakes with Roasted Asparagus and Grapefruit Salad
Salmon cakes are a little retro, no?  I know the thought of canned salmon may not appeal to everyone, but for this recipe I'm totally okay with it.  I just remove the salmon meat from the can, remove any bones, and toss it right into a big mixing bowl.  Into the bowl goes an egg, a sprinkle of Italian breadcrumbs, and then seasonings of your choice.  For these, I used chopped onion, sesame seeds, oregano, salt + pepper, and a little Dijon mustard.  As long as you have the egg and breadcrumbs, you can virtually add anything else you'd like!  Then just bake or pan-fry until done.

Roasted asparagus = "make my husband worship my veggies" method above

The salad was delicious.  So delicious.  In a bowl, I added feta cheese, olive oil, and lemon juice -- whisked it all together until it became a feta vinaigrette.  Then I just tossed in spinach, onion, and walnuts ... tossed it, finished it off with some red grapefruit segments and cracked black pepper.  The grapefruit was from one of those single-serving plastic cups (Dole maybe?) which was an awesome timesaver.

There were several more salmon patties and Ian ate them all.  I often make dipping sauces for them -- a little mayo and dijon mustard is really all you need to make a great sauce.

Simple and healthy ... our favorite way to eat!