Dinners In, Dinners Out and Dinners Cooked By My Dad!

Warning: don’t read if you’re hungry because there is so much good food coming at you. This recent eats round up is all about DINNER! I have a selection of delicious dinners to share – some that I cooked in my own kitchen, some enjoyed out at restaurants and some cooked by my dad when we were in Florida last!

DINNER IN

Steamed brown basmati rice topped with sautéed spinach, balsamic caramelized onion hummus and air roasted salmon and cherry tomatoes. I seasoned the salmon with Dizzy Pig’s Raging River salmon rub, olive oil and sea salt and tossed the cherry tomatoes in olive oil and sea salt. I air roasted it in my Ninja Foodi Oven for about 15 minutes on 400 degrees, until the salmon registered an internal temperature of about 125 degrees using my ThermaPen (which is on sale right now – not an affiliate link – LOVE THIS THING and use it daily!).

My favorite pizza-inspired spaghetti squash casserole bake with roasted broccoli. I skipped the pepperoni on top and sprinkled some cherry tomatoes over it instead this go round.

I sprinkled Trader Joe’s Soffritto seasoning blend on top of everything. This stuff is so good. 100% recommend picking some up!

This was a great throw together pasta skillet. Penne pasta tossed with fresh mozzarella, pesto, sautéed shrimp, sautéed cherry tomatoes, roasted asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes. This was one of those pull a bunch of odds and ends out of the pantry, freezer and fridge and make a pasta dish creations.

Air fried chicken breast seasoned with Dizzy Pig’s Wonder Bird chicken seasoning. Served on top of a salad with hearts of palm, chickpeas, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes and feta cheese with ranch dressing.

Lastly, panko parmesan crusted chicken breast topped with melted provolone and served over orzo mixed with marinara and parmesan cheese and sautéed squash, zucchini and Vidalia onions. Loved this take on chicken parm.

DINNER OUT

I’ve been to Supperland in Charlotte twice now and it’s definitely earned its spot as one of my favorite restaurants in the city. My order the last time I visited was perfection.

• North Carolina roasted oysters – lightly grilled with smoking ember butter. Y’all they literally bring a pot of smoking butter to the table and pour it over your oysters. Pro tip: save the butter to use on the broccoli, carrots or fish if you order them.
• Half roasted poulet rouge -pasture-raised joyce farms semi-boneless chicken with pearl onions, dry-aged bacon lardons, chimichurri. Quite possibly the best restaurant chicken that I’ve ever had. The chimichurri sauce is everything.
• Warm corn salad – local fire-cooked sweet corn, tossed with peppers, red onion, and bacon – topped with garlic aioli, hot sauce, and chivesMushroom risotto – carolina gold rice, cremini, maitake, trumpet, black pepper crème fraîche. Not your traditional risotto but so creamy and packed with a variety of mushrooms.

Charlotte area friends, get thyself to Supperland ASAP! Note: it can seem pricy but everything is super shareable. We shared all of this between two people and it was perfect. One app, one entree and two sides.

(image credit Axios Charlotte)

Supperland is a family-owned restaurant located in a restored church in Plaza Midwood. They did an incredible job with the restoration/renovations and it’s gorgeous and filled with Southern charm. I love sitting at the chef’s counter and watching them cook at the 14-foot wood-fire grill.

My girl’s nights are going strong with Dorie and Bevin. We’ve been on a great streak of going out every two weeks for the last few months and I so look forward to our time together, and get so much out of it. We always share dishes. These are the sliders at our all-time favorite spot, Foxcroft Wine Co.

It’s pretty much a guarantee that we are going to order a charcuterie tray and truffle fries wherever we end up. We unanimously agreed this week that Foxcroft has the best fries (we’ve tried a lot, haha). Any place that serves fries with herb mayo for dipping ranks high in my book. Give me mayo over ketchup any day for fries.

We went to Dilworth Tasting Room another night a few weeks ago for a belated birthday celebration for me. This is their seared pistachio-crusted tuna with wasabi cream, avocado, arugula and tobiko.

This is the prosciutto and brie flatbread. It has apricot jam, sautéed apples, prosciutto, brie and goat cheese and is topped with arugula.

This was a seared scallop dish over cauliflower puree with corn and jalapeños.

Finally, I had an old favorite at Bricktop’s recently, their house made veggie burger! It’s one of my favorite restaurant veggie burgers ever. I hadn’t had one in many years – definitely since pre-Finn. Bricktop’s is such a reliable spot where you can always find something that sounds good. They have great salads, sandwiches and entrees.

DINNER COOKED BY MY DAD

I can’t believe I never shared our dinners from our last Florida trip. Here they are and as tasty as ever.

Grilled chicken thighs, grilled asparagus and the most decadent macaroni and cheese. I ate so much of it that hours later I still didn’t want any ice cream for dessert. It was soooooo good. Also, chicken thighs are my favorite. They have the best flavor and texture.

A seafood extravaganza! Grilled grouper, steamed shrimp, seafood gumbo, hush puppies and salad. Loved this dinner and felt so much like summer at the beach. Finn made a whole meal out of hush puppies.

This is one of my favorite dinners from childhood and my dad was so sweet to make it for me. It’s pork cube steak with white gravy. We had rice, squash casserole and homemade biscuits along with it. While I don’t have my dad’s version of squash casserole, here is a link to my recipe. What I do have is a full tutorial on how my dad makes fluffy buttermilk biscuits. You can find that post here. They are the best…and only have three ingredients!

And with that, I am off to find some lunch because I sure made myself hungry writing this one!

QUESTIONS

Ketchup, mayo or no sauce with your fries? 

What’s your favorite cut of chicken? 

Have you started dining out again? 

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