Menu Review: Week of 4/11

From the past week, three good recipes went into the "make again" binder...

The Chicken Pizza was fast and easy for a weeknight dinner. I put my pizza crust in the oven for a few minutes prior to adding the toppings to help prevent a sogging middle (it was still a bit on the soft side), but otherwise made the recipe as written.

The Roasted Pepper and Potato Tarts were very good, albeit slightly labor-intensive. I think if I were going to make this again (and I probably will since it's a yummy meatless meal) I'd just make it as one tart instead of the individual little tarts. I didn't want to waste money buying pricey sun-dried tomato tapenade, so I just chopped up some oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes that I had in the fridge already (still about 1/4 cup). We also didn't use the olives or basil since it seemed like a good-enough flavor combination without them (and again, they seemed like pricey extras). Instead of slicing the potatoes for layering in the pastry cups, I just mushed up the heated potatoes and put a spoonful in the bottom of each, topped with the cheese mixture, and then added the egg. I don't know who Women's Health is kidding though... one of these does not a meal make. I had three. :) I made a quick salad with romaine lettuce, red grapes, and walnuts with a simple balsamic dressing to round out the meal.

Finally, the Food & Wine Southern Fried-Chicken Supper was really delicious. My parents made a surprise visit yesterday, arms loaded with bags of adorable summer clothes for Phee from the Wrentham Factory Outlets, and I made this chicken with the green beans and potatoes. The only things I did differently were that I used thick-sliced yukon gold potatoes instead of fingerlings since we already had some on-hand for a different recipe and only two jalapenos for the potatoes (and they were plenty spicy with just two!). The chicken was perfectly crispy and I loved the sweet-vinegary coating on the green beans. It was a hit with all four of us.

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What we're eating this week:
Sesame Chicken Fingers
Chili-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin
Cilantro Chicken with Peanuts
Chipotle-Rubbed Salmon Tacos