Awesome Peanut Sauce for Satay

I found this recipe for chicken satays with peanut dipping sauce a while ago and haven't looked back since. Once you make this, you'll never make another peanut sauce again! With a food processor and a reasonably short shopping list, this sauce is a cinch to make and lasts a while in the fridge. Serve with grilled chicken (or any other meat, or tofu - can you grill tofu??) skewers or veggies. When I use chicken, I marinate it first in a simple Asian marinade (either a homemade mix or Makoto Ginger Dressing).

One ingredient this calls for is a shallot, which I use all the time as a more mild onion. Shallots are great for dressings, marinades, and sauces and don't need to be cooked to have a great, mild flavor. Today's shallot is brought to you by Frieda's - it came along with the Meyer lemons and red pearl onions.

this is a shallot, my friends

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Spinach and Goat Cheese Ravioli

Armed with my new pasta maker attachment for the KitchenAid (again, thanks Mom and Dad!!), we set out on a Sunday ravioli-making experience. Making homemade ravioli is very time-consuming, but you get to choose exactly what goes inside and bonus: no preservatives or extra crap you see in store-bought ravioli ingredients! I'm always amazed by the paragraph of unrecognizable ingredients in a lot of store-bought food, so I try to make things at home as much as possible. Of course, it's not always feasible, but I think that every little bit counts. Who knows what all that stuff is doing to us?? A couple easy things to make at home where store-bought is usually filled with high fructose corn syrup or other unappetizing ingredients are dressings and marinades. There are gazillions of awesome and easy dressing and marinade recipes out there. But, I digress... to the ravioli!

We ate the ravioli with brown butter sauce which is delicious, but I probably won't make it again. The ravioli would be just as good in a lighter tomato or olive oil-based sauce without all the extra saturated fat. For a splurge, though, it's great!

You don't need a pasta maker attachment to make ravioli, but it does make it easier.

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Baked Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Artichokes

Now that we have all these preserved lemons, what to do?? How about an awesome Moroccan-themed oven-roasted chicken, served over couscous? Sounds yummy to me. I cooked mine in my new Le Creuset Dutch Oven (thanks Mom and Dad!!), but any ol' baking dish will do!

Once you have the preserved lemons, the rest of the recipe is incredibly simple. Essentially just toss everything together in a baking dish and throw in the oven.

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How to Preserve Lemons

I'm not at all experienced with Meyer lemons, but what I have heard/read about them is that they are perfect for preserving, which is another first for me! I went to the Container Store and bought a singular canning jar (since I don't have plans to make this a habit...yet) that seals via boiling. The actual preserving process was stupidly easy, and I now know that the results are kinda awesome, so if I do come across Meyer lemons again I know what I'm gonna do.

If you have seen these lemons at the store, I recommend trying your hand at canning to preserve them! As mentioned previously, Meyer lemons are slightly sweeter and less tart than regular lemons; preserving them only enhances these attributes. The actual preserving is no more than adding a buttload of salt and sealing them in a jar with their juices. Then waiting, for at least 3 weeks. Read on for the steps!

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Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie)

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had as great a holiday as I did. I know I promised my next post would be on preserving lemons, but you'll have to be patient. They are still sitting in the fridge a'preservin' and I didn't feel like taking them out for photos just yet. So instead I'm posting a recipe for an amazing appetizer I used to buy frozen all the time (...and eat the entire tray myself, but who's counting). I decided a while back that I wanted to try my hand at making spanakopita myself. This particular recipe has three different kinds of onions, but don't fear because the end product is definitely not overwhelming in the onion department. However, the flavors meld deliciously with the spinach and feta cheese. Serve that up in a flaky, crusty phyllo dough and your guests are sure to swoon! I won't lie, working with phyllo dough is time-consuming and can be frustrating at times when the dough breaks apart, but it's totally worth it for special occasions.

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