Welcome! This is “Staying In,” a Sunday newsletter with recipe ideas for your week ahead. Every other Thursday I also publish a “Going Out” edition where I review a restaurant, bar, or activity here in Portland. Know someone who might like Riley’s Recs? Get your share link here! And don’t forget to check out pdxrecs.com for even more recommendations and follow RR on Instagram at @rileysrecs. Enjoy!
I’m back from Austin and what a gift to return from a trip and remember that it’s a three-day weekend. I’m personally going to take it easy, go for long walks, and catch up on Traitors. But if you’re looking for something to do with your day off, I recommend a trip to the Oregon Zoo (which I just wrote about here).
Cooking wise, I’m choosing cozy cuisine. Think: quiche, muffins, meatloaf…Yes, meatloaf. For some inexplicable reason, I’m craving it. The best meatloaf I’ve ever had was at Produce Row, but it’s unfortunately no longer on the menu so Ina Garten’s recipe will have to be an acceptable stand-in.
Enjoy!
✨ Inspo ingredients: cornbread, arugula, mushroom, and lime ✨
DINNERS
Mushroom, Kale, & Feta Quiche | Arugula Salad
Pressure Cooker Black Bean Soup With Sausage and Cumin-Lime Sour Cream Recipe | Brown Butter Skillet Cornbread
Meatloaf | Leftover Cornbread | Arugula Salad
Peruvian Roasted Chicken with Spicy Cilantro Sauce | Rice | Asparagus
LUNCH
Leftover Quiche
BREAKFAST
Apple Flax Oat Muffins
Notes:
I’ll make quiche at the beginning of the week so that I can have it as leftovers for lunches.
For the black bean soup, I’ll use Rancho Gordo Black Beans — they’re the best. Also, the recipe calls for mushrooms, which I’ll omit, but could be a great way to use any mushrooms you have leftover from the quiche.
Lime is used in both the chicken recipe and soup.
Mushroom, Kale, & Feta Quiche
Alexander Bakes | Substack
When I was in high school, I thought it was classy and continental to go to Costello’s Travel Cafe on NE Broadway and order a quiche. I no longer see it as classy, just as a great excuse to eat pie for lunch.
This quiche recipe comes from fellow Substacker, , who I recently started following and really enjoy. Most of his recipes are unlocked, which is a bonus. This one calls for mushrooms, green onions, kale, and feta, but feel free to substitute with whatever vegetables you have on hand.
I’m not going to bother making my own pie crust here; I’ll probably pick one up from Grand Central Bakery’s freezer. But here’s a great recipe if you’d like to make from scratch.
I’ll make this on Monday and eat the leftovers for lunch for the next few days.
Pressure Cooker Black Bean Soup With Sausage and Cumin-Lime Sour Cream Recipe
Daniel Gritzer | Serious Eats
AirFryers, SodaStreams, spiralizers...there's always a new appliance fad. But the Instant Pot is one that has stuck with me. It’s basically just a pressure cooker, but I like that it’s electric and isn’t at risk of exploding like the traditional stovetop versions.
My main use case for a pressure cooker is to make beans. Rather than having to soak overnight, a pressure cooker lets you have everything perfectly cooked and ready to serve in under an hour.
I really, really like this black bean soup recipe because it calls for andouille sausage, which adds a nice smoky flavor and a luxurious touch of fat. And the lime and cumin sour cream is a creative topper. The recipe suggests cooking on high for 40 minutes, but I’ll give it a little extra time and do 50 minutes on the soup setting.
Brown Butter Skillet Cornbread
Melissa Clark | New York Times (Gifted Link)
Can you eat soup without a side starch? IDK. I can’t.
Black bean soup begs for cornbread. And after trying many disappointing versions, I think I’ve found my go-to cornbread recipe. Unsurprisingly, it’s from Melissa Clark. It has a crispy, buttery crust and slightly sweet maple and brown butter flavor. Melissa calls for making it in a cast iron pan, but if you don’t have one, you can use a regular loaf pan. She calls for cornmeal, whole wheat, and AP flour, and I wouldn’t mess with those ratios, unless you’re fine making an entirely different recipe altogether.
Meatloaf
Ina Garten
The idea of a truly “American” meal is a fallacy, in my opinion. In a country this diverse, there’s no unifying cuisine. But if I had to choose a meal for middle class white America in the 1950s? It might be meatloaf. It rose to popularity after World War II because it was a dish that required minimal ingredients/effort and allowed families to stretch protein further. In 2024, it just sounds good. Here’s Ina’s recipe.
Peruvian Roasted Chicken with Spicy Cilantro Sauce
Melissa Clark | New York Times (Gifted Link)
I’ve shared this recipe before, and I think it’s the one that I hear about the most from readers. Okay, fine: from my mom, who has made it several times and loves it.
The cilantro, jalapeño, and feta dipping sauce is surprisingly complex for how easy it is to make and it goes with everything: chicken, potatoes, fish, vegetables, etc. The recipe calls for aji amarillo and aji panca, but you can just sub for sriracha and chili powder. It also calls for halving a chicken, which you can totally do at home! Here’s a perplexing but helpful instructional video I found from a guy in a chef’s hat at the Spokane County Library. But if that’s intimidating you can also just buy bone-in chicken pieces like legs and thighs at the grocery store, no problem.
Apple Flax Oat Muffins
Liz Prueitt | Have Your Cake
This is a great way to use up any old carrots or apples you have on hand. It does require buying flax, but everything else can probably be swapped for whatever you have in your pantry. For example, it calls for 2 tablespoons of molasses, but you can just use brown sugar or maple syrup (the real kind. Not Log Cabin). Dump everything in a bowl and have a dozen muffins in under 25 min.
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Thanks for the shout out, Riley! :)