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Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Eggplant, Fresh Zucchini, Capers & Italian Tuna

October 24, 2016 by Mary 24 Comments

Spaghetti squash with roasted eggplant, fresh zucchini, capers, and Italian Tuna - finished dish in white soup bowls.

With an over abundance of vegetables in my fridge, and being banned from using acids, peppers and garlic, due to my husband having a bout with acid reflux again, take a look at this Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Eggplant, Fresh Zucchini, Capers & Italian Tuna dish that I created. My husband was smirking while I was making it. “Whaaat are you doing?” he asked.

No matter – I pressed on with my roasting, chopping and draining.

Well he had seconds, the last little bit for lunch the next day and woke up the next morning saying how good it was.

So there!

It is always so satisfying if they’re still talking about your dinner from the night before as the first words out of their mouth in the morning. My good friend Linda agrees. She is a self-proclaimed “ok cook”. Then she made a coconut shrimp dish with Blue Apron and experienced that type of compliment. She loved it!

It gives me such pleasure to make people happy. To know that know that my guests really enjoy my cooking – that is what I aim for and it is so appreciated when they tell me.

I’ll admit I often do something that drives my boys nuts and that is, after everyone is sitting down, has their plates full and has taken a few bites, I say, “Ok, are we happy?”

I recognize now that they hate it, so I have refrained, but I really just want to know if they’re happy and like the food! 

For instance, a few weeks ago, I made a huge dish of paella – for the first time, and I did not do a good job of getting the rice crispy. And then I noticed that our new daughter-in-law, was not digging in with her usual gusto, so I asked what was wrong and she said she really didn’t like paella. Ahhh!

Had I known, I never would have made it, because my husband is not a fan either!

So there you go – I did a lot of work to create a mediocre dish that didn’t make people happy…

However, if you make this dish, you will make people happy!

Cook with love and enjoy!!

SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH ROASTED EGGPLANT, FRESH ZUCCHINI, CAPERS & ITALIAN TUNA – serves 2 – 3

3 Tbs. olive oil plus more for drizzling
1 smallish spaghetti squash
1 smallish eggplant
2 heaping Tbs. of drained capers, chopped
½ of a zucchini, julienned
1 jar of Italian tuna, drained of olive oil
2 cups of mixed greens – baby kale, arugula and radicchio, washed, air dried and coarsely chopped

Oven raosted eggplant on white parchment paper just out of the oven.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut eggplant into good-sized chunks and toss with 2 Tbs. olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Roast for about 30 – 40 minutes until lightly browned and fork tender.

At the same time, cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scrap out seeds and pulp and discard. Take 1 Tbs. of olive oil and coat the edges and inside of each squash half, spreading it around with your fingers. Put 1/4” of water in a baking pan and place squash cut side down in the pan of water. Roast for 40 minutes in this position, then turn the squash over and roast for 10 – 15 minutes more, until squash is very tender, testing with a fork.

Hunk of Parmigiano cheese, chopped hearty greens, drained and chopped capers, and julienned zucchini on a wooden board, handwritten recipe in background.

While eggplant and squash are roasting, drain and chop the capers. Drain the tuna and flake. Wash, air dry and coarsely chop the greens.

Spaghetti squash, flaked Italian tuna, roasted eggplant. chopped hearty greens in a bowl ready to be tossed together.

When squash is done, remove from the shell, using a fork to create the “spaghetti” and toss with the eggplant, the zucchini, capers, tuna and greens. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle on some drops of sherry vinegar.

Serve with LOVE and enjoy!!

I liked the contrast of the crunch of the raw zucchini and raw sturdy greens with the warm squash and eggplant. This is a very nice combination and the sherry vinegar drops at the end add the necessary acid to make it all “work” so nicely. I thought it might need a grating of Parmigiano cheese, which is why you see it in the photos, but no, it did not need it.

Filed Under: Dinner, Fish, Vegetables Tagged With: Italian tuna, julienned raw zucchini, mixed vegetables with tuna, roasted eggplant, spaghetti squash

Chicken Breasts with Shiitake Mushrooms

February 28, 2013 by Mary Frances 19 Comments

As I think I’ve told you, I shop once a week and I buy whatever looks beautiful. Well, the shiitake mushrooms last Friday were so gorgeous, I almost cried. Really. They were so white underneath, so fresh, so beautiful. I didn’t have mushrooms on my mind, but I could not pass these up.

So on Monday evening, I came home and decided to combine them with some boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I had some spaghetti squash that was begging to be eaten and some beet greens. Here’s what I threw together and it was scrumptious, if I dare say so myself!

And now…a little drum roll please… watch the very first video from my kitchen! I share tips for preparing and cooking the spaghetti squash and mushrooms. Let me know what you think of it!

CHICKEN BREASTS WITH SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS
-serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt
Pepper
2 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. unsalted butter
12 – 15 large shiitake mushrooms, wiped clean, stems removed and minced, caps thickly sliced
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 dry white vermouth
1/2 cup homemade chicken stock or low salt, packaged
1 large stalk of fresh rosemary, leaves removed and chopped
Parsley for garnish

Wash the chicken breasts, pat dry, season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil and butter on medium – medium high heat and when the butter stops sizzling, add the shallots and minced mushroom stems, lower heat to low, and cover for 8 – 10 minutes. Stir frequently during this time. Raise heat and brown chicken breasts for 4-5 minutes on each side. After 3 minutes on the second side, add mushroom caps and continue cooking, lowering and adjusting the heat. After 2 more minutes, add the vermouth and chicken broth, shake your pan to combine and sprinkle the rosemary leaves on top. Continue cooking, covered if you need to, until done, 155 degrees. Top with chopped parsley leaves before serving.

Serve on a bed of spaghetti squash or with squash on the side, with some sautéed beet greens and a little savoy cabbage, sauteed in olive oil and garlic, garnished with cilantro.

finaledit2 copy

finaledit1 copy

Filed Under: Dinner, Poultry Tagged With: beet greens, boneless skinless chicken breasts, cilantro, dry vermouth, homemade chicken stock, savoy cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, spaghetti squash

A very special day.

November 27, 2011 by Mary Frances Leave a Comment

Yesterday was my birthday and as has become a tradition from my husband and sons, I am to stay out of the kitchen the whole day and only do what I want. Pretty special! So I slept late, went for long bike ride, chatted with an old friend (actually my second employee who never forgets my birthday after all these years) from San Francisco and then some of us went to the movies to see J. Edgar.

Zach and his Polish girlfriend, Agata, made breakfast and lunch, while my husband and my eldest son made dinner. Breakfast and lunch were surprises to me while the dinner menu was my request. All were amazing!!

Homemade Polish bread on a wooden cutting board.

Polish homemade bread

We have a bread recipe in our family from my grandmother that I usually make on each holiday. Since we were all spending Thanksgiving at my brother, Steve’s house in CT, Agata volunteered to make the bread. Yipee!! This is a yeast number with 2 risings and takes about 6 hours. So it was a treat to have someone else offer to make it! The most interesting thing is that her family has a really similar recipe to ours and she made a few modifications to match ours exactly, as she had tasted my bread last Christmas. Nowhere else have we ever run into this! Most people think of babka or some form of that when you say Polish bread but this is a slightly cakey, eggy version and she said we do it a little sweeter than her family.

Polish vegetable and cheese salad in a blue and white bowl.

Polish vegetable/cheese salad

She did a beautiful job!! See the photo – light, airy and just the right texture. So for breakfast she made us all a breakfast her grandmother used to make for her! Egg salad (with Tom and Ethel’s delicious farm fresh eggs) and another dish that is a mixture of fresh peeled cucumbers, Farmer’s cheese, creme fraiche, tomatoes, garlic and chives. For each bite, we put a spoonful of either one on a piece of toasted homemade bread, and it was yummy! Creamy, light, refreshing and different! All things I LOVE!

Creamy egg salad in a tan bowl.

Creamy egg salad

Right after breakfast, Agata got to work on lunch. From scratch, she made nearly 70 pierogis! They were delicious. They were stuffed with a mixture of sautéed onion, mashed potatoes and Farmers cheese and then topped with a light sauce of onions and bacon. Served with a chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc and we were all happy campers!! Just delicious!

Perogies on a brown plate.

A pierogi lunch!

So for dinner, our oldest son made me a terrific Rob Roy straight up. It is one of my favorite cocktails, right up there with a Tanqueray 10 straight up martini. A Rob Roy is essentially a slightly sweet Manhattan made with either Scotch or better yet, choose a single malt, like Oban. Add a lemon twist and I am set!

This drink, besides being delicious, always brings back fond memories of the first time I had it. It was at the Windows on the World restaurant at a special event for World Trade Club Members. This was the storied restaurant on top of the World Trade Center. We were doing marketing work for the private club, dealing with the legendary Joe Baum, and they were holding this single malt scotch tasting for club members and we were invited. It was like an accelerated wine tasting. You can get pretty loopy pretty fast and our host was from Scotland, enjoying every moment and Jules, our client, insisted I try this Rob Roy. It was a match for me! You should try it.

Zach, Agata and I played Bananagrams in front of the fire while dinner was being prepared. Because it was my birthday, they let me get away with “luvv” (I kept on getting those darn v’s) and “eazy”. It’s good to be the birthday girl!

I still didn’t win!

But I digress – on to dinner. We started with fresh shrimp sautéed in hot pepper, parsley, garlic, and olive oil, served with warm crusty French bread for dipping in and scooping up every last drop of the delicious olive oil, served with a ’97 San Marco from Tuscany – a beautiful Tuscan red.

Dinner was Chicken Scarpariello served with sides of spaghetti squash with a fresh tomato garlic sauce and oven roasted Brussels sprouts tossed with blue cheese. It was fantastic!! Wine was a Portuguese 2007 red from this wine store we recently found on the Upper East side. Check out Park East Wines and Spirits on York Avenue at 87th St. Tom Anderer is the Manager and very helpful. He is a certified sommelier.

Dessert was a lovely cheese plate complete with Medjool dates, Golden Delicious apple wedges and toasted walnuts.

Quite a feast! All so wonderful!

Tonight we’re having homemade tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches – a break from the richness of the past 3 days. I hope your holiday weekend was also filled with wonderful family times and scrumptious food!

Filed Under: Breakfast, Dinner, First Course, Fish, Lunch, Poultry, Sides, Vegetables Tagged With: bacon, blue cheese, bread, breakfast, Brussel sprouts, chicken scarpariello, egg salad, onion, Park East Wines and Spirits, pierogis, Polish, potatoes, Rob Roy, spaghetti squash

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Mary Frances

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