Weeknight Quickies Archives - Nerds with Knives

One-Pan Roasted Cape Hake with Tomatoes, Zucchini and Olives

May 4, 2022May 4, 2022 by Matt

Tender, flaky hake roasted to perfection over a medley of colorful roast vegetables, with a lemony, savory pan sauce — an easy fish supper all cooked in one pan!

Cheddar, Ham and Homemade Mango Chutney Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

October 6, 2021October 6, 2021 by Emily

We decided to make grilled cheese sandwiches even better by making our own mango chutney, adding ham, and grilling until they turn crisp on the outside and gooey in the middle.

The Most Delicious Garlic-Butter Shrimp Scampi

August 5, 2021 by Emily

A classic recipe full of flavor and with all the details done right; perfectly cooked shrimp in a delicious garlic, butter and white wine sauce.

Blood Orange and Endive Salad with Pickled Red Onions

March 22, 2021 by Emily

A citrus salad on a plate with cut endives on the table

The thing about early spring, at least here in the Hudson Valley, is that it basically looks and feels exactly like winter. For most of March and even into April, it’s cold and damp, and nothing in the garden will grow. During these dog days, a bright and zingy citrus salad feels like a life-saver. And it’s simplicity itself: juicy, sweet blood oranges (and a few mandarins for variety’s sake), tossed with crisp endive and some quick-pickled red onions. Toss over a little peppery mint and pistachios for crunch and that’s it. A drizzle of good olive oil and a sprinkle of flaky salt is all the dressing it needs.

An assortment of whole and sliced blood oranges and mandarins — Does anything taste more like sunshine than citrus?

White Asparagus with Black Garlic Aioli

April 7, 2021March 18, 2021 by Emily

If fresh, local asparagus is in the stores, it must be early Spring. This vegetable is one of the first to beckon in the new season and herald an end to Winter. We simmer the delicate white asparagus spears until they become tender and sweet, then drizzle them with a homemade aioli flavored with black garlic, lemon, and miso. It’s both simple and incredibly delicious.

Note: This recipe will work just as well with green asparagus, if that’s what you have (and the Black Garlic Aioli is delicious on just about anything. It’s crazy good).

White Asparagus — White asparagus, colorful eggs from our backyard chickens and pink lemons. We’re all about color right now.

Gingery Chicken and Rice Noodle Soup with Crispy Garlic

February 23, 2021January 18, 2021 by Emily

Happy New Year, pals! Whoo! Last year did fly by, didn’t it? No, I’m kidding of course, it didn’t fly by, it was grim and interminable and everyone hated it, but at least we’re spinning away from the winter solstice. January 2021 is now upon us, and we can fall back on tried and tested aphorisms such as “it’s darkest before the dawn” and “soup is the best thing to get you through January”. (Sometimes we change that to “whisky is the best way to get through Tuesday” but a lot of you are doing dry January and we don’t want to put you off your game.)

Soup is so essential to maintaining our sanity through the short, cold winter days that we always cook up a big batch of stock from the roast turkeys and rotisserie chickens that we’ve made since November, and then freeze it in large ice cube trays or plastic containers, so we have a store of rich, versatile broth for any soup recipe we need. Often, too, we’ll make a large pot of soup from the broth, and then freeze that so it’ll last several weeks. We’ve already blogged some of our favorites: a thick Nettle (or Spinach) and Potato soup, a Creamy Mushroom Soup with Black Rice, which quickly became a favorite, a classic Tomato Soup (with cheesy toasts that will blow your mind) and a Chicken and Potato Chowder (which we made a batch of last month and thawed this week). There’s a reason why “Chicken Soup for the Soul” is a trademark, and there’s a reason why chicken soup works so well to raise the spirits. We’d like to introduce you to our new favorite variation on the theme: Gingery Chicken and Rice Noodle Soup with Crispy Garlic.