Two of my favorite people are getting married next year and we celebrated their engagement the weekend before Thanksgiving. The party was so chic and festive and full of love... and very heavy-handed pours. The next day, I was reminded that I'm almost 30 and not actually 22. I forced myself out of bed around 11 am, brewed some coffee, and surveyed the refrigerator.

Earlier that week, I made Naturally Ella's Harissa Lentils & Cauliflower and had tons of leftovers. I heated some up in a skillet with a lid. Once the sauce started to bubble, I poured four eggs into the pan and popped the top on.

We were so extraordinarily hungover and this meal was life-giving. There was protein in the eggs and lentils, solid nutritional value from the cruciferous veg and tomato-filled sauce, and the eye-opening spice of the homemade harissa got the blood flowing. With some nice crunchy toast on the side, this “add an egg to leftovers” breakfast was wholly restorative. I may have to enlist J's expertise the morning after the bachelorette party...

Five On Friday: Lazy Food Write Ups

Happy Friday! Today is a happy one for me as I'm gearing up for a fun weekend celebrating our first year of marriage! It feels like decades and it feels like a week since we said, "I do". A little drink clinking and holding hands around Manhattan will be a nice antidote to a few crazy weeks. How crazy? Well, I have five delicious recipes for you today but could not find the time, energy, or wherewithal to turn them into full posts.

Without further ado, I give you today's Lazy Five On Friday Food Write Ups!

1. Shrimp Quinoa Bowls adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

I planned on making lettuce wraps and using the shrimp marinade from this recipe. Then, New York City spit in my face and all of the lettuce/cabbage/radicchio/etc. at my local store was nasty the day I went to shop. So, I reverted back to the original recipe and made quinoa. I cooked it in chicken stock and a few shakes of cumin - it was so fragrant and a little darker brown than usual. While Kristin's marinade worked on the shrimp, I cooked a diced shallot and corn sliced from two cobs in oil, then added two cans of roasted and chopped green chiles. Once those were heated up, I added in the marinated shrimp PLUS the marinade - it made everything saucier. Once the shrimp turned opaque and slightly pink, I dumped in the quinoa, mixed it all together, and served in bowls. With a bit of sriracha drizzled on top, this was a light yet very filling weeknight dish.

2. Curry Coconut Chicken from Half Baked Harvest

This is freaking awesome. The recipe calls it "butter chicken", but of all of the flavors you taste, butter is not even recognizable. This is spicy, this is tomato-y, this is creamy, and it is perfect. Keep this in your back pocket for when the weather gets cold and you want to heat up from the inside out! My tip? Make it easy on yourself and do the ingredient prep the night before. I had all of my spices mixed, my onion minced in the fridge, and all of my canned goods out on the countertop the morning I made this. This is one of those great slow cooker recipes where you simply pour everything into the hot tub, stir, set it, and forget it. I went a little heavy with the hot spices so used a bit more yogurt to tone it down a bit. I served it with garlic naan bread and a cool, crunchy cucumber salad. I took leftovers to work for lunch and they were super tasty.

3. One Pan Seafood & Chorizo Bake from Real Simple

Mussels take time to prep. You have to soak them and de-beard them and soak them some more. But if you're willing to put in the time and energy, the rest of this dish was really straightforward. I tossed the mussels, some sliced pre-cooked chorizo, and cleaned shrimp in a bit of oil and Old Bay and spread everything across a large sheet pan. I baked it until the mussels opened and the shrimp was opaque and served it with lemon wedges and crusty bread.

4. Savory Citrus Slow Cooker Chicken from Miss In The Kitchen

Another Pour, Mix, Start slow cooker recipe. I poured beer over Dijon mustard and whisked in the bottom of the cooker. Then I dumped in the rest of my Napa seasoning and some herbs de Provence. I added two pounds of bone in skin on chicken thighs (they were $1.97 a pound at Fairway and you better believe I have several packs in my freezer for the future!) to the seasoned liquid, topped with a sliced orange and some fresh rosemary sprigs, and set it to low for 8 hours. The chicken pulled apart with barely any fork pressure and was perfectly juicy. It soaked up all of the herbaciousness of the spice blends and the zing of the orange with a great bitter undertone from the beer. The original recipe calls for honey Dijon - I used regular Dijon and honestly would squeeze in a bit of honey the next time I make this. It was simple and fool-proof and an absolute hit.

5. Buffalo Cauliflower Chili from Kitchen Treaty

I've turned into That Girl who is close to reciting Sonnet 43 to her slow cooker. It's just so easy! This meatless chili is delicious and requires you to open cans, shake spices, and stir. Technically you need to cut up a head of cauliflower into florets, but I took 10 minutes the night before to do so (and dice up an onion). I also had a bunch of radishes sliced in my fridge and threw those in as well. Otherwise, this is spicy, it's hearty, it's comforting, but it's vegetables and beans and will fill you up without making you feel too weighed down. Topped with chopped chives and some blue cheese and you have yourself a fantastic dinner.

Have you made any quick, easy, and awesome recipes recently? I'd love for you to send them my way - I'm always on the hunt for simple and tasty.

Enjoy your weekends!




Oh and yay -- the Five On Friday girls are hosting a giveaway!

Simple Side Dish: Cauliflower Gratin

One of our go-to side vegetables is cauliflower. It is easily transformed into soups, purees, “rice”, and pizza crust and it takes on a variety of flavors beautifully. Recently I made this cauliflower gratin and loved it.

I’m always so terrible about using actual recipe-recommended measurements and started with a full head of cauliflower of an unknown weight. I also had closer to 25 black olives and did not cut them in half. I also skipped parsley. So basically I did it all wrong, but I kept the main three components: cauliflower, olives, and that wonderful blessing called cheese.

All in all, it’s a pretty simple recipe. I started off by quickly blanching the cauliflower florets (boiling for a few minutes and then dunking in ice water). Once cooled, they went into a casserole dish.

I cooked a chopped onion in some oil until it began to soften, then added 2 cloves of chopped garlic and the non-sliced olives to heat up oh-so-briefly.

I tossed the olive/onion mixture onto the cauliflower and attempted to mix it. Do you know what happened? The Small Pieces (O&O) fell to the bottom in the nooks and crannies of the Big Pieces (cauliflower). I would personally recommend that you toss the florets, onion, olives, and some of the cheese in a large bowl, maybe with a bit of oil as well, so everything incorporates more evenly.

Oh right - the cheese! I went with Parmesan and it was not anywhere close to half a cup all in, but I covered the top of the casserole and it looked great.

Bake at 350 degrees for at least 30 minutes until the cheese browns.

It is so, so good. You have the cheesy crust on top, the tender cauliflower, and then the bright salty burst of olives. I served this on appetizer-sized plates next to massive bowls of mussels, but I assure you that I had seconds (and maybe J had thirds). Cauliflower fans, definitely give this one a try!