Category: Weeknight Meal

Artichoke and Arugula Pizza with Prosciutto

This weekend, I was looking for a quick meal to feed myself and a bunch of friends. I wanted something that doesn’t really involve a sit-down meal but would fill everyone up. Homemade pizza is perfect for situations like this. You can add whatever toppings you want and can even make a bunch of smaller pizzas to have variety. I found this recipe for Artichoke and Arugula Pizza with Prosciutto from Cooking Light and basically stuck to the recipe. I did substitute in fresh pesto instead of the jarred stuff and I’d suggest doing the same. Fresh pesto is so much tastier and it really doesn’t take long to make.

Ingredients:

  • Cooking spray
  • 1 tablespoon cornmeal
  • 1 (13.8-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
  • 2 tablespoons commercial pesto (or homemade pesto)
  • 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
  • 1 (9-ounce) package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and drained
  • 1 ounce thinly sliced prosciutto
  • 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1 1/2 cups arugula leaves
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

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Wild Mushroom Farro Risotto

I’ve made a couple of farro recipes on this blog before and I just love it. If you haven’t tried it yet, I strongly suggest it. I really like it as a substitute for Arborio rice in risotto dishes; farro adds a nice bite to the creamy risotto that I just love.

So I was super excited when Tuscan Fields, a delicious brand of organic farro, gave me and 49 other bloggers the opportunity to not only try their farro, but to create a recipe using the farro in the hopes of winning a scholarship to the Eat Write Retreat conference this year which is being held in my hometown of Philadelphia!

The nutty flavor of farro would be perfect with the earthiness of mushrooms so I decided to make a wild mushroom farro risotto with Tuscan Fields’ Farro Perlato. I added a bit of bacon to really heighten the flavor of the risotto as well.

Ingredients:

  • 1 package Tuscan Fields Farro Perlato
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 4 slices bacon
  • 2 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 2 large shallots, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • ½ teaspoon dried sage
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 lb assorted wild mushrooms
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
  • Fresh sage and thyme, chopped, for garnish

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Creamy Corn Risotto

I tend to make a lot of mistakes when cooking. I won’t read the directions entirely through or will completely forget to pick up an ingredient and then at the last minute need to improvise. This time around, I actually read through the directions beforehand and had everything I needed, except I waited to long to use the Lobster and it had already gone bad. What an expensive mistake! So this recipe was originally a Lobster Corn Risotto, sigh. Anyways, it was still delicious and worth sharing!

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups water
  • 2 cups chopped onion
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 2 (8-ounce) bottles clam juice
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 1/4 cups Arborio rice
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup frozen corn kernels
  • 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • 1/3 cup chopped green onions
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

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Seafood Risotto

Sorry for the break in posting! I moved into a new apartment and had to get everything up and running before I could go back to cooking. I still don’t have everything set up (which is why my photos are a bit crummy). I now have a gas stove (woo hoo!) and a ton of storage for all my random kitchen gadgets!

On my first night of unpacking some kitchen stuff, I was able to make a favorite of mine for dinner: risotto! I adapted the recipe from a Cooking Light recipe and just fit it to my seafood tastes and what I could find.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 (10.5-ounce) can of white clam  sauce
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/3 cup chopped shallots
  • 1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
  • 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
  • the juice of 1 lemon
  • 2/3 cup grape tomatoes, halved
  • 4 ounces medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1/2 dozen clams
  • 1 cup cooked mussel meat (or you can buy mussels and put in the same time as the clams)
  • Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

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Linguine with Spinach Herb Pesto

I love a fresh pesto, it brightens up any dish and just screams spring. I made Fettuccine with Seared Tomatoes, Spinach, and Burrata earlier this week and had some spinach left over. Cooking Light’s latest issue had a recipe for Linguine with Spinach Herb Pesto which uses spinach, basil, oregano, and time to make a creamy pesto sauce. How great does that sound??

Ingredients:

  • 4 ounces fresh baby spinach
  • 1/4 cup slivered blanched almonds
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 large garlic clove, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons organic vegetable broth
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (~1/2 a lemon), plus zest from 1/2 a lemon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated and divided (about 1/4 cup)
  • 8 ounces uncooked linguine

Continue reading Linguine with Spinach Herb Pesto

Fettuccine with Seared Tomatoes, Spinach, and Burrata

There are few things pasta can’t cure. (I’m not a doctor so don’t hold me to this) Pasta is my ultimate comfort food. Growing up, it was literally the only food my grandma (my mom’s mom) would make for me when I would visit, with the exception of Thanksgiving dinner. If I’m in a bad mood, need a pick me up, or feel a cold coming on, I want pasta. So when Cooking Light’s March issue’s photo was of a beautiful bowl of pasta, I was immediately excited for what deliciousness might be inside. Paging through, the issue didn’t disappoint. I plan on making quite a few of these, so expect a bit of a pasta week coming up! (I’m also about to move so my precious kitchen tools are little by little being packed away.) I naturally had to make the one on the cover first, so here is my take on the Fettuccine with Seared Tomatoes, Spinach and Burrata.

First a little background on Burrata, which means “buttered” in Italian (interest peaked? I thought so). Burrata is basically the best mozzarella cheese ever. Why? Because it is mozzarella cheese with cream. Oh yes. You should be able to find it in the specialty cheese section of your supermarket but if not, mozzarella is obviously a fine substitute (if you can, sub in the mozzarella that is still in a brine to have a super creamy version).

Ingredients:

  • 8 ounces uncooked fettuccine (I used a mixture of spinach fettuccine and regular)
  • Cooking spray
  • 2/3 cup grape tomatoes, halved (about 10 large)
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 ounces fresh baby spinach (about 3 cups)
  • 4 ounces burrata cheese
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Continue reading Fettuccine with Seared Tomatoes, Spinach, and Burrata

Sesame Salmon with Green Onions and Lemon

I’ve been eating pretty crummy lately, a lot of take out and not a lot of thought about what I am eating. So it’s about time I tried a new salmon recipe. The latest Cooking Light has a recipe for Sesame Salmon that caught my eye. I made a few changes to the recipe (some intentional, some not) but kept the overall gist of the recipe in tact. Salmon is one of my favorite weeknight meals and this one is no different. The recipe takes about 20 minutes from start to finish, great for a busy night.

Ingredients:

  • 4 (6-ounce)  salmon fillets
  • Cooking spray
  • 4 tablespoons sesame seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 cups sliced green onions (about 2 bunches)
  • 5 thin lemon slices, halved
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 cup baby arugula

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Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

This may come as a surprise, especially coming from a food blogger, who is about to share a recipe for Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin, but I had my first piece of bacon just a few years back. I’ve never been a big fan of pork products to begin with (I was an awfully picky child… sorry mom!) and swore it off all together after a trip to Switzerland where I couldn’t find anything that didn’t have pork/bacon/ham/sausage in it. But a few years ago, I finally started going back to eating pork, starting with bacon. And I’ve never looked back. Although I’m still not fully into pork yet, I have finally incorporated it slightly into my repertoire.

Hatfield Quality Meats contacted me last week to see if I’d be interested in trying some of their products. At first I was a bit wary but this was my chance to finally work with pork products and perhaps even like it! So I thought I’d jump in head first with a bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin!

Hatfield’s pork products include bacon, tenderloin (marinated and regular), ham steaks and sausage and can be found at your local grocery store. I was sent a boneless pork loin filet, which has no MSG added and is gluten free, as well as thick cut hardwood smoked bacon, both of which I used in this recipe.

Ingredients (get all ingredients here):

Pork:

  • 1 (2-lb.) pork tenderloin
  • 1 tablespoon steak seasoning (recipe below)
  • 6-8 bacon slices
  • Fresh parsley, for garnish

Steak seasoning:

  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon dried sage
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme

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Huevos Rancheros Tacos

There is something so fun about having breakfast for dinner. Not only is it an easy way to whip up a meal with things you probably already have on hand, but it is so nice to have something so familiar and yet out of the ordinary.

Lindsay Landis and Taylor Hackbarth (of Love and Olive Oil) have compiled a cookbook filled with breakfast treats with a spin, making them perfect for  dinner. The cookbook, Breakfast for Dinner: Recipes for Fritatta Florentine, Huevos Rancheros, Sunny-Side-Up Burgers, and More! is plain drool-worthy. The photos are fantastic and each recipe sounds better than the last! It has a little bit of everything in its pages, including main dishes, appetizers, and desserts. Each recipe has an inventive twist on a traditional breakfast dish, which made it so difficult to decide which recipe to try first! When I asked my boyfriend to help choose, he responded, “Mmm… can’t we just make every one of them?”

Photo care of Quirk Books

We were finally able to decide on the Huevos Rancheros Tacos because we are big taco fans (I have 7 listed on this blog as of this post) and I loved the idea of turning Huevos Rancheros into delicious dinner!

Ingredients:

Ranchero Sauce

  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 large jalapeno, seeded and chopped
  • 1 (15 ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
  • 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, seeded and chopped, plus 1/2 tablespoon adobo sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • freshly ground pepper, to taste

For tacos

  • 1 (15 ounce) can refried black beans
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
  • 8 corn tortillas
  • 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 8 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or oregano

Note: this recipe is reproduced from the Breakfast for Dinner cookbok

Continue reading Huevos Rancheros Tacos

Chicken Fricassee With Tarragon

Cold weather always makes me crave comfort food. I tend to really want pasta (and would be perfectly happy eating it every day that drops below 40 degrees) but am always open to healthier comfort food options. BetterEats.com had a lighter recipe for Chicken Fricassee, which is a French stew with chicken, vegetables, white wine, and cream that when paired with some day old bread makes a fantastic comfort food option.

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 pounds chicken pieces (breast halves, thighs, and drumsticks) – bone-in, skin removed (I used 1 chicken breast, 1 thigh, 1 leg, and 1 drumstick)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • pepper, black – to taste
  • 2 tablespoons flour, all-purpose
  • 1 tablespoon oil, olive, extra virgin
  • 1 cup shallots (about 4 large ones)
  • 1 cup wine, dry white
  • 1 1/2 cups broth, chicken, less sodium
  • 1 medium carrot – peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup)
  • 1 pound mushrooms, I used 1/2 lb baby bellas, 1/2 lb button – wiped clean and halved or quartered
  • 4 sprigs tarragon, fresh
  • 4 teaspoons tarragon, fresh – chopped
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1/4 cup sour cream, reduced-fat
  • 2 teaspoons mustard, Dijon

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Chicken Puttanesca with Angel Hair Pasta

I border on having an obsession with seafood. If I could eat it every night I would. (I have over 60 seafood recipes listed on this blog alone!) But I apparently have caused my boyfriend to be “fished out” so I decided to make a chicken dish with another favorite ingredient of his: olives. Pasta Puttanesca normally includes a tomato sauce with olives and capers. This Cooking Light version of Chicken Puttanesca is simplified to make it easy enough for a weeknight dinner.
Ingredients:

  • 8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups tomato-basil pasta sauce
  • 1/4 cup pitted and coarsely chopped kalamata olives
  • 1 tablespoon capers
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1/4 cup (1 ounce) pre-shredded mozzarella cheese
  • Chopped fresh basil

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Sweet Orange Salmon with Browned Butter Orange Couscous

After all the pasta, meat, and desserts I’ve had over the past, oh, month, I think it’s about time to switch back to some seafood recipes.

This is actually two different recipes from Cooking Light but I thought they’d be fantastic together. The Sweet Orange Salmon recipe is so easy and quick to make and the Browned-Butter Orange Couscous can be whipped up in no time as well!

Ingredients

Salmon:

  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • 4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets
  • Cooking spray
  • Orange wedges

 

Couscous:

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup slivered almonds
  • 1 cup uncooked couscous
  • 1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped orange sections
  • 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Orange wedges

Continue reading Sweet Orange Salmon with Browned Butter Orange Couscous

Fish Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Crema

It’s funny how you can go years, even decades, thinking that you don’t like a certain food only to find you can’t get enough of it when you’re older. Fish tacos is one of those foods for me. They pack a ton of flavor but are a healthier option than other proteins (as long as the fish isn’t fried, that is). I also love how quickly you can cook them up, perfect for a weeknight dinner! Cooking Light always has the best taco recipes so I naturally went in search of a fish taco recipe there. I found this recipe in the myrecipes.com new cookbook: Myrecipes’ America’s Favorite Food Cookbook, which you can win by entering below!

 

 

Ingredients

Crema:

  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 3 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
  • 3 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon grated lime rind  (I just used the zest of one lime)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice (I used the juice of one lime)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 garlic clove, minced

Tacos:

  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 1/2 pounds red snapper fillets
  • Cooking spray
  • 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
  • 2 cups shredded cabbage (or romaine lettuce)

Continue reading Fish Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Crema

Halibut with Coconut-Red Curry

I am very vocal about my love of Cooking Light and myrecipes.com in general. I think it is a fantastic resource to find delicious recipes of all kinds and sort them easily and helpfully. I was recently sent a copy of myrecipes’ America’s Favorite Food: 200 Top-Rated Recipes from the Country’s Best Magazines which is a collection of recipes from All You, Coastal Living, Cooking Light, Health, Real Simple, Southern Living, and Sunset magazines.

What makes this cookbook different than any I’ve ever seen, is that it incorporates a Scan-It/Cook-It technology. Once you download the free Digimarc Discover app onto your smartphone, you are able to scan photos and info boxes in the cookbook which opens up how-to videos, shopping lists, and related recipes. Brilliant!

When I scanned the photo of the recipe I was making (Halibut with Coconut-Red Curry Sauce), it opened a how-to video to see how to prepare the dish, which is a wonderful tool for beginner cooks. The recipe also includes a side bar with substitutes and even tips on how to cook fish without smelling up the whole house.

This is the perfect cookbook for all levels of home cooks and I’m happy to be able to giveaway a copy of this cookbook! Check out the widget below to enter…

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
  • 4 (6-ounce) halibut fillets
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1/2 cup chopped green onions
  • 1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger (or a punch of ground ginger)
  • 1 cup light coconut milk
  • 1 tablespoon sugar  (or 1 teaspoon stevia)
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 3/4 teaspoon red curry paste
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice  (about 1 lime)

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Couscous with Dried Cranberries and Pine Nuts

I need more sides in my life. Couscous is a great weekday choice because it’s so quick to make, maybe 20 minutes in total. This recipe is from the Fresh & Healthy DASH Diet Cooking Cookbook which I absolutely love. The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet was developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute a encourages increasing whole grains, nuts, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and lean proteins and minimizing processed gains, high-fat meats and dairy, sugars and sodium… which is basically more just eating healthy versus a diet.

 

This couscous recipe is made with vegetable broth to give it some flavor with bites of pine nuts, dried cranberries, and scallions.

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 teaspoons canola oil
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • 2 cups reduced-sodium vegetable stock
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup couscous (whole wheat if you can find it)
  • 1/3 cup dried cranberries
  • 2 scallions, coarsely chopped

Continue reading Couscous with Dried Cranberries and Pine Nuts

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