Pasta with Spicy Red Clam Sauce

I continue my series on tomatoes today with a spicy red clam sauce.

I heard a discussion the other day about getting kids to eat better. On theory offered was the one bite rule. If I remember right, that was my mom's point of view -- mostly. And she wasn't a short order cook. We ate what was there, or we didn't eat at all.

On the other hand, I remember my mom forcing me to eat just one more bite of broccoli when I was maybe three or four. I gagged. And didn't eat broccoli for nearly 20 years. I've now learned to tolerate it, but if given a choice between broccoli and another green veggie.. I'll most likely skip on the broccoli.

I guess being asked to try new things is one reason I've become an adventerous eater. And this recipe is an example of how I'm willing to try anything once. I've actually never had clams. Ever.
I'm fairly sure canned clams aren't the best way to enjoy them. But they didn't taste like much, really.

If you're not as adventurous or know you don't like clams you could probably leave them out. Although maybe clams have some kind of antioxidant power that makes them worth including them. I haven't brushed up on my super foods lately, so I can't really say either way.

What I did taste were the fresh herbs, garlic and onion. You can't go wrong there. I might make this again. I like the basic idea of the sauce and can see myself adapting this in many different ways.

Grilled Chicken Thighs with Roasted Grape Tomatoes

I apparently love tomatoes. I was looking back at some of my posts the other day and I realize many if not most of them from the past few weeks have tomatoes as an ingredient -- including this one.

This particular recipe for chicken thighs called for grilled chicken. And although I don't have a grill, that hasn't stopped me. Instead, I used my cast iron skillet to get a nice crust on the chicken. It almost doesn't even look skinless.

Alongside the chicken was roasted grape tomatoes with capers. If you haven't roasted tomatoes, you should definitely give them a try. They're tangy and pair well with chicken, fish, and beef dishes.

Definitely a make again.

American BBQ Tacos

These tacos were bizarre. That's really the only way to describe them. They were like a bbq sloppy joe with pickle relish on a soft taco shell.

Don't ask me why I decided to try them.. especially since I had to spend points on them. BBQ sauce isn't Core and neither were the shells, so I felt the need to count for the whole recipe.

The tacos came from Vegetarian Times orginially, but I used lean ground beef instead of crumbles because I don't really like fake meat crumbles. They don't taste all that great and last time I made them, it actually stunk while it cooked. I'm all about my food smelling good and the fake meat certainly didn't.

Overall, the combination wasn't awful, but I can think of better taco recipes out there worth spending points on.