Help me figure out what to cook for mothers' day!
May 8, 2010 4:25 PM   Subscribe

What should I cook for my mom for mothers' day?

I'd like to make something for my mom for mothers' day. I enjoy cooking, but coming up with recipes is always a challenge for me.

Some backgrouund: my Mother's side of the family is Italian and Sicilian, so the food should have, I feel, some strong Mediterranean influences. She's what I'd call a "meat-eating vegetarian". That is, she'll eat white-meat only, and the meat isn't the main thrust of her culinary existence. When she cooks, there's usually more vegetables than meat on the plate.

Oh, and since I'm basically living paycheck-to-paycheck right now, I'd like to keep the cost to under $30 for the meal, for me, my father, and my mother.

I know this seems like a silly question to ask random strangers on the Internet, but like I said, I've always been good at cooking, but bad on planning *to* cook....

Thanks!
posted by fvox13 to Food & Drink (5 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
If seafood is okay, how about a shrimp risotto with roasted veggies on the side? This recipe looks pretty sound. Risotto is my favorite thing for impressing people. My latest variation was a mushroom risotto that we ended up eating straight from the pot because it was delicious and we're barbarians.

Otherwise, a chicken roulade with basil, prosciutto (optional) and mozzarella or asiago would be pretty tasty, and looks lovely on the plate if you slice the rounds. Here's the basic idea, along with what looks like a pretty good recipe. You could serve a pasta (I've heard really good things about Marcella Hazan's very simple tomato sauce) and salad on the side.

I'm making a brown butter, pecan, and cornbread cake for our mother's day celebration tomorrow; you can find it here. I can tell you that the batter was delicious. I wouldn't try it without a food processor, though.
posted by punchtothehead at 4:43 PM on May 8, 2010


Eggplant parm? Vegetable lasagna? Are those too stereotypically Italian?
posted by amro at 4:56 PM on May 8, 2010


Best answer: Nigella's Slow Roasted Garlic & Lemon Chicken is an option. It's hard to mess up, it's best made with cheap cuts of chicken (we use thighs and un-fresh thyme), and the flavour is incredible.

We serve it with rice tossed with oven roasted pine nuts and either oven roasted vegetables tossed in olive oil and a salad, or steamed and dress broccoli.

I live in Europe where food is more expensive and I can easily do this meal for three for under $30US.
posted by DarlingBri at 5:48 PM on May 8, 2010


What about a Roasted Vegetable Lasagna? Roasting veggies gives them a really delicious depth and sweetness. Perhaps serve this with some crusty garlic bread and a nice salad. Mmmm.
posted by rachaelfaith at 7:24 PM on May 8, 2010


Best answer: I was coming to suggest roast chicken with lemon and thyme, too. Was going to suggest, though, that you make two trays to put in the oven: one of the chicken (the Nigella recipe, above, looks great) and one of veg. Quarter an onion, chunk up some zucchini, throw in some cherry tomatoes, maybe some cauliflower--whatever you have, really. Drizzle it with olive oil and lemon juice, toss in some cloves of garlic, and roast until the veg are soft and delicious. It goes well with chicken, and there's enough variety that the veg can be the primary part of the meal with the chicken as more of a side dish.

We like to do this with polenta, especially if (like today) it's chilly out.
posted by MeghanC at 10:01 PM on May 8, 2010


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