Jen
12-16-2001, 01:37 PM
I love ham, so I was happy to see the leftover ham recipes in this month's CL! We hardly ever eat ham (there's only 2 of us), so instead of waiting for leftovers, I bought a small ham - about $8 worth - and used it for almost a full week's worth of menus! I also used a maple-smoked ham, which gave the dishes a nice extra flavour.
Spaghetti Carbonara (p. 156): this was really easy, and DH loved it. I've always kept away from carbonara dishes because the barely-cooked egg creeps me out, but this one called for cooking the eggs 5 minutes. The result was a really creamy, delicious sauce. I'll definitely be making this again. I served it with salad and whole-wheat brown-and-serve rolls.
Ham and Gruyere-Stuffed Potatoes (p. 158): also delicious! I confess that I used more ham than the recipe called for. I might add a bit more seasoning if I was making the recipe with the right amount of ham. But again, these were very easy and satisfying. As someone else mentioned, the method of putting damp paper towels over the potatoes while microwaving really preventing that wrinkly, dried out potato problem.
Green Bean salad (p. 158): with the potatoes, I made something similar to the green been salad suggested, but even easier! I steamed green beans in the microwave, then added chopped tomatoes (cherry tomatoes are way too expensive this time of year!) and drizzled with store-bought balsamic vinaigrette. I'd never thought of doing beans this way, but it was really fabulous.
Warm Lentil-Ham Salad with Dijon Cream (p. 160): I made this for lunches (DH won't touch lentils!). I thought it was very easy to put together, and made a perfect lunch that carried me through the afternoon. I liked the dijon cream with the lentil-ham combination. I couldn't be bothered waiting for the microwave, so I just ate it cold - but I think it would be good warm too. This is going on my lunch list!
Spaghetti Carbonara (p. 156): this was really easy, and DH loved it. I've always kept away from carbonara dishes because the barely-cooked egg creeps me out, but this one called for cooking the eggs 5 minutes. The result was a really creamy, delicious sauce. I'll definitely be making this again. I served it with salad and whole-wheat brown-and-serve rolls.
Ham and Gruyere-Stuffed Potatoes (p. 158): also delicious! I confess that I used more ham than the recipe called for. I might add a bit more seasoning if I was making the recipe with the right amount of ham. But again, these were very easy and satisfying. As someone else mentioned, the method of putting damp paper towels over the potatoes while microwaving really preventing that wrinkly, dried out potato problem.
Green Bean salad (p. 158): with the potatoes, I made something similar to the green been salad suggested, but even easier! I steamed green beans in the microwave, then added chopped tomatoes (cherry tomatoes are way too expensive this time of year!) and drizzled with store-bought balsamic vinaigrette. I'd never thought of doing beans this way, but it was really fabulous.
Warm Lentil-Ham Salad with Dijon Cream (p. 160): I made this for lunches (DH won't touch lentils!). I thought it was very easy to put together, and made a perfect lunch that carried me through the afternoon. I liked the dijon cream with the lentil-ham combination. I couldn't be bothered waiting for the microwave, so I just ate it cold - but I think it would be good warm too. This is going on my lunch list!