One of the highlights of the Kennett Square Mushroom Festival was catching a cooking demonstration by Antonia Lofaso of Top Chef. She made this wonderful mushroom and green bean salad with a poached egg and bacon vinaigrette. How fantastic does that sound? I didn’t have any arugula on hand, which was in Chef Antonia’s recipe, so I decided to sub in farro instead. (Farro is a grain that you cook like rice). I also kinda sorta forgot how she made most of the stuff, but it still turned out great. This is also the first time I’ve ever poached an egg because I’ve been terrified to do so but it was much more simple than expected!
Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 cup farro
1 garlic clove, minced
1 shallot, minced
8 ounces mushrooms, chopped (if you can, go for some wild mushrooms)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed, and cut into bite sized pieces
3 strips bacon, finely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, plus 1 teaspoon, divided
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 eggs
Begin by cooking your farro. Bring the 2 cups water and 1 cup farro to a boil in a pot. Cover, reduce the heat, and cook for 20 minutes or until the water has evaporated.
Also bring another pot of water to a boil. Liberally salt the boiling water (Chef Antonia says that your water should “taste like the ocean”). While waiting for the water to boil, prepare your green beans and mushrooms. Add the green beans to the water for 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve. Keep the water at a simmer (you’ll use it again soon).
Finely chop the bacon and add to a saute pan over medium high heat.
Cook until the bacon begins to brown and crisp. Remove from heat, reserve the pan.
Add the olive oil, 3 tablespoons cider vinegar and Dijon mustard to the bacon and whisk to combine. Set aside.
Return the saute pan to the stove and heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms give off some water and it evaporates. Remove from heat.
Combine the green beans, farro, and mushrooms.
To poach the eggs, add 1 teaspoon of the cider vinegar to the simmering water. Drop the eggs in one at a time.
Cook for 3 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon.
Top the green beans, farro, and mushroom mixture with the poached egg. Drizzle with the bacon vinaigrette.
The textures of this dish are fantastic. Farro has the texture of a more al dente rice, which was really nice with the crunchy green beans and the meaty mushrooms.
My poached egg, was a success! Look at that egg!
The bacon vinaigrette set this dish right over the top. Little bites of smokiness were an awesome touch. This is definitely a winning dish!
I’m excited to share with you this recipe for Quinoa Chicken Curry, but before I do, I wanted to share a bit about quinoa.
Although quinoa seems to be a bit of a “new” super food, it has actually been around for thousands of years and was considered one of the most important crops of the Incas. This grain-like seed is really easy to cook (you cook it like rice) but is chock full of nutritional benefits. Quinoa’s high protein content makes it a great choice for vegans and vegetarians. It is also a complete protein which means it contains all the essential amino acids. Quinoa is also rich in vitamins and minerals, including magnesium, phosphorous, zinc, iron, potassium, calcium, vitamin B, folate, and riboflavin. Quinoa is also naturally gluten free, and can be ground into a flour that allows for gluten free baking. Whew.
I really didn’t know much about quinoa, or how to use it. So I was excited to be given the chance to review The Complete Idiot’s Guide Quinoa Cookbook to learn more about it. The book is full of quinoa recipes, including breakfast, dinner, and even dessert recipes. I wanted to try one of the more traditional preparations of quinoa, but can’t wait to delve into the more interesting uses for it in future posts (Lemon Poppy Seed Quinoa Cupcakes, anyone?) The book had a recipe for Quinoa Indian Chicken Curry that sounded absolutely fantastic!
Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained
4 cups chicken broth, divided
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
6 teaspoons curry powder, divided
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup frozen peas
1 medium head cauliflower, chopped into 1 inch pieces
I have never made a taco recipe from Cooking Light that I didn’t love. Honestly, how do they manage to deliver fantastic recipe after fantastic recipe? This one for Chilean Sea Bass Tacos with Chipotle Cream is no different, although the original recipe was made with red snapper. I’ve been having really bad luck recently coming across the fish I want when I go to the market, so I had to sub in Chilean sea bass instead.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, seeded and minced
As I hear rumblings of all things pumpkin just around the corner (yay!), I realized that my days of beautiful, fresh vegetables are numbered (boo). Which means I needed a recipe that used some of summer’s best. This risotto recipe from Cooking Light fit the bill: Asparagus, Sugar Snap Peas, Zucchini, Yellow Squash.. mmm.
Ingredients:
8 ounces asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
8 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed and cut in half
5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 (8-ounce) zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 (8-ounce) yellow squash, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
.With Julia Child’s 100th birthday fast approaching, the food blog world has been celebrating in the best way we know how: honoring Julia Child through her recipes. I am currently reading a book about her life called Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz. (I will have a review of this book when I’m finished reading). I just got to the chapter which describes Julia’s first encounter with French food. Her first meal in France was Sole Meuniere, a simple but absolutely delicious dish. I couldn’t get it out of my mind, so I made a slightly altered version of Julia’s version over spaghetti. I wanted to make it with sole, but my market was all out. Hake is a similar fish, so I substituted it for the sole, so I bring you Hake Meuniere over Spaghetti.
Ingredients:
1 pound fresh spaghetti
3 skinless and boneless hake or sole fillets, 4 to 6 ounces
This week is my favorite week of the summer: I received my first batch of tomatoes from my CSA. I love tomatoes oh so much (if you haven’t figured that out with all my posts including tomatoes as an ingredient). As a kid, I used to eat them whole, dipping them in ranch dressing. Not much has changed, except now I choose to dip them in hummus instead. Although I do love a good fresh, juicy tomato, there is something wonderful about a cooked tomato. Cooking Light‘s latest issue was (as usual) on point with a lovely, simple pasta recipe that includes tomatoes, garlic, basil … and not much else.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon kosher salt
8 ounces uncooked fettuccine
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 pints multicolored tomatoes (I used cherry/grape tomatoes)
I love the taste of beets, but preparing them is so time consuming that I tend to avoid buying them. Most recipes involving beets require you to roast the beets and then peel them. I came across a recipe for beet risotto in Food and Wine that just cooked the beets on the stove top in significantly less time. This risotto recipe is supposed to turn a beautiful red color from the beets. I didn’t get the same bright red color but I still love how it looks!
Ingredients:
3 cups chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped
2 large beets peeled and finely chopped, plus thinly sliced beets for garnish
My CSA this year allows me to choose 6 items each week to be in my share. Every single time so far, I’ve chosen zucchini as one of the six. I just love it. But with 3-4 pieces of zucchini a week, I am absolutely in search of as many different recipes as I can find. Cooking Light’s latest issue had this wonderful recipe for Snapper with Zucchini and Tomato that I just had to try. They also suggest pairing it with some Parsley Orzo. Note: this recipe makes 2 servings. Multiply as needed.
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you might have picked up on my obsession with pumpkin and butternut squash. I attempt to limit my gourd intake to the September and October months, but every now and then I still need my fix outside of those months. Butternut squash seems to be more socially acceptable, especially in pasta form. Buitoni’s Butternut Squash Agnolotti is the perfect way for me to have this delicious ingredient year-round.
Agnolotti is just a type of ravioli. This specific agnolotti is a “half-moon pasta filled with oven-roasted butternut squash, Impastata Ricotta, aged Parmesan and Grana Padano cheeses, accented with amoretti cookie crumbs. I traditionally use a brown butter sage sauce with butternut squash ravioli because they are a perfect pair. I wanted to try something a little different with this agnolotti, so I instead made a cold pasta salad. It has been so unbearably hot in Philadelphia that I thought this would be a perfect (and timely) twist.Also, don’t forget to enter my giveaway to win a bunch of Buitoni goodies and free Buitoni pasta!
Ingredients:
1 package of Buitoni’s Butternut Squash Agnolotti
½ cup butter
1 shallot, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped
½ cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
A handful of golden raisins, or to taste
I am a pasta addict. I love it. I will never ever be carb free because I don’t want to know what life is like without pasta. I am a huge fan of fresh pasta because 1. I personally think it tastes better and 2. takes about half the time to cook. When Buitoni contacted me about a new ravioli they were introducing (it should be available in early July), I was already sold. But then they told me what kind of ravioli it is: Chicken Marsala Ravioli. Chicken Marsala is one of my ultimate favorite recipes so I was beyond excited to work with this ravioli!
The Ravioli, “generously filled with all natural white meat chicken, roasted portobello mushrooms and caramelized onions with impastata ricotto, aged parmesan, and asiago cheeses accented with marsala wine”, is one of Buitoni’s new Riserva line of pastas. Other pastas include: Butternut Squash Agnolotti (which I will have a post on soon!), Chicken and Four Cheese Ravioli, Spicy Beef and Sausage Ravioli, Quattro Formaggi Agnolotti, and Wild Mushroom Agnolotti. How fantastic do they all sound?? The Butternut Squash Agnolotti and the Chicken Marsala Ravioli are only available in the Northeast, but the rest are available in grocery stores nationwide. Look for them in the refrigeration section, you can see if your store carries Buitoni products here.
This pasta would probably be fantastic just with a light butter sauce, but I decided to highlight the flavors of the ravioli that were already present in the pasta through a marsala sauce with mushrooms. Caramelized onions and marsala can both be pretty sweet, so I added some spinach to the mix to counteract that. Buitoni was also generous enough to send me a Buitoni apron, a Buitoni cutting board, and a few free coupons so one lucky winner can try these new pastas themselves! More information is below…
Ingredients:
1 package of Buitoni Chicken Marsala Ravioli
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
1 shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves (or 1 garlic scape), minced
1 package of baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 package of shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
1/4 lb pancetta, cubed (or prosciutto, that was actually my original plan!)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup baby spinach leaves
1 cup Marsala wine
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1/4 tsp or less of truffle oil (optional)
Parmesan cheese, grated, as garnish
Parsley, chopped, as garnish
Begin by bringing a large pot of water to a boil.
While waiting for the pot of water to boil, mince your shallot and garlic. I used a garlic scape from my CSA share, it’s perfectly fine to use garlic cloves. Slice your mushrooms. Be sure to remove the stems of the shiitake mushrooms, they can be really woody tasting.
In a large saute pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. (You’re adding pancetta or prosciutto to this dish so have a light hand with the salt. You just need some to draw the water out of the mushrooms).
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms cook down and the liquid has evaporated.
While waiting for the mushrooms to cook down, cube the pancetta and add to a small saute pan over medium high heat. Cook for 4 minutes.
Your pot of water should hopefully be boiling. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil to the pot of boiling water and add the ravioli. Cook for 6 minutes and drain.
Add the Marsala and the broth to the mushrooms. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add the pancetta to the mixture when it is finished cooking.
Don’t wipe down the saute pan that had the pancetta. Just add the 1 cup of spinach leaves and cover. Cook until wilted, about 1 minute.
Add the ravioli to the mushroom mixture and toss. Remove from heat, add a very slight amount of truffle oil if using, and mix in the wilted spinach.
To serve, add the ravioli to a plate. Spoon the sauce, mushrooms, spinach and pancetta over the pasta. Top with parsley and Parmesan cheese.
The pancetta adds the perfect amount of saltiness to the dish to bring out the other flavors. The spinach works to counteract the sweetness of the Marsala. Mushrooms add an earthy flavor to the whole dish.
I loved the ravioli by the way. It has a ton of flavor and really did a great job of capturing the flavor of chicken marsala into a pasta! My boyfriend absolutely loved this recipe. In fact, he ate a good three servings of this in one sitting!
What kind of sauce would you serve with your Chicken Marsala Ravioli?
Now on to the giveaway. Please be sure to use the widget below to enter. Each person can enter up to 7 times, but only the first entry (writing in the comment section what Buitoni pasta you want to try and how you’d prepare it) is mandatory. Good luck!!
Chicken Marsala Ravioli with Spinach and Mushrooms
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 package of Buitoni Chicken Marsala Ravioli
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
1 shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves (or 1 garlic scape), minced
1 package of baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 package of shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
1/4 lb pancetta, cubed (or used prosciutto, that was actually my original plan!)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup baby spinach leaves
1 cup Marsala wine
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1/4 tsp or less of truffle oil (optional)
Parmesan cheese, grated, as garnish
Parsley, chopped, as garnish
Instructions
Begin by bringing a large pot of water to a boil.
While waiting for the pot of water to boil, mince your shallot and garlic. I used a garlic scape from my CSA share, it’s perfectly fine to use garlic cloves. Slice your mushrooms. Be sure to remove the stems of the shiitake mushrooms, they can be really woody tasting.
In a large saute pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. (You’re adding pancetta or prosciutto to this dish so have a light hand with the salt. You just need some to draw the water out of the mushrooms).
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms cook down and the liquid has evaporated.
While waiting for the mushrooms to cook down, cube the pancetta and add to a small saute pan over medium high heat. Cook for 4 minutes.
Your pot of water should hopefully be boiling. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil to the pot of boiling water and add the ravioli. Cook for 6 minutes and drain.
Add the Marsala and the broth to the mushrooms. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add the pancetta to the mixture when it is finished cooking.
Don’t wipe down the saute pan that had the pancetta. Just add the 1 cup of spinach leaves and cover. Cook until wilted, about 1 minute.
Add the ravioli to the mushroom mixture and toss. Remove from heat, add a very slight amount of truffle oil if using, and mix in the wilted spinach.
To serve, add the ravioli to a plate. Spoon the sauce, mushrooms, spinach and pancetta over the pasta. Top with parsley and Parmesan cheese.
Tuesday I received one of my most anticipated ingredients (aside from tomatoes, can’t wait!!) from my CSA share: Fuyo Shumi, or Baby Bok Choy. I am absolutely in love with this vegetable. It’s just a mini version of bok choy which has a cabbage flavor and is very popular in Asian cooking. I personally am not a fan of cabbage (sorry to my Irish roots), but love the subtle taste and crunchy texture of these little guys. I’m always looking for new methods to cook salmon so this recipe from Cooking Light was the perfect opportunity. This recipe slow cooks the salmon to keep it really moist. Keep in mind you’ll need a good 30-40 minutes to make this dish.
Ingredients:
Salmon:
8 (6-ounce) salmon fillets
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
Rice:
2 cups uncooked basmati rice
1 1/2 cups light coconut milk
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
Bok choy:
2 teaspoons canola oil
16 cups bok choy, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces (about 4 pounds)
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1/2 cup sake (rice wine)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Sauce:
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon red curry paste (such as Thai Kitchen)
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Place the salmon on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray, skin side down.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the fish flakes easily. Cut off all the drippings.
While the salmon is cooking, rinse the rice in cold water and drain. Combine the rice, coconut milk, 1.5 cups water and ¼ teaspoon salt in a sauté pan. Bring to a boil over high heat and stir. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes.
Cut the baby bok choy pieces in half
While the rice is standing, heat the canola oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the bok choy and ginger and sauté for 1 minute.
Add the sake and ¼ teaspoon salt, cover, and cook for 2 minutes until the bok choy wilts. Remove from heat and keep warm.
Add the lime juice, rice vinegar, cilantro, brown sugar, fish sauce, and red curry paste to a bowl. Whisk to combine.
Serve over the salmon, rice, and bok choy.
Um. Yum. What an awesome dinner! The flavors go so well together. The sauce has a little tanginess that I really liked with all of the parts of this dish, but especially the rice. The salmon, because it was cooked at a low temperature, came out really moist. And the baby bok choy was crunchy, wilty, and flavorful all at the same time.
One of my favorite parts of the CSA share is having a plethora of zucchini and summer squash at my disposal. I love these ingredients with a simple pasta, so I was happy to come across a Martha Stewart recipe fthat incorporated these ingredients. I thought I still had some snap peas left over and was going to throw those in, but I unfortunately was all out. Plus, I didn’t have any frozen peas in my freezer. If you have those, be sure to include them. I threw in a zucchini also because I had one on hand.
Ingredients:
Coarse salt and ground pepper
8 ounces gemelli or other short pasta
3 medium yellow squash, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
Torn fresh basil leaves, as garnish
Cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water. Cook 2 minutes less than required for al dente (my pasta had to cook for 6 minutes).
While waiting for the pasta to cook, slice your squash and zucchini.
Add the squash and zucchini to the pasta and water, and cook for 2 minutes.
Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water. Return the pasta to the pot.
Add the butter, lemon juice, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and 1/2 cup pasta water. Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine.
Spoon into individual bowls and top with basil and sprinkle with Parmesan.
At first bite, I thought this might be missing something. But all it really needed was another seasoning of pepper and an extra squeeze of lemon. After that, it was quite yummy.
To really up the flavor, a few red pepper flakes would go a long way.
The flavor of this was nice and fresh. It was a solid vegetarian dish, but I think it works best as a base. I feel like you could really turn this into something special with some additional flavors included.
I have inexplicably been picking up an avocado each and every time I buy groceries. I didn’t have a recipe for the avocados, I just kept buying them. I guess my subconscious really wanted one. So I finally sat down and found a recipe highlighting them: Seared Chicken with Avocado. I added some tomato to give it a bit more freshness but the rest of the recipe is pretty intact.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 teaspoons blackened seasoning
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 diced peeled avocado
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1 lime), plus the zest of the lime
My boyfriend is allergic to shrimp. And I swear knowledge of this allergy makes me inexplicably crave shrimp. All. The. Time. So I wait for weekdays to make shrimp as much as my little heart desires. Another plus is that shrimp is a super quick meal. This Cooking Light recipe took a whopping 30 minutes from start to finish. And who doesn’t like shrimp, pasta, lemon, and spinach?
Ingredients:
8 ounces uncooked fettuccine (I used fresh pasta so it would cook faster)
2 tablespoons Melt buttery spread (or other margarine)
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
the juice and zest of 2 lemons
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
Cook pasta according to package directions. If using fresh pasta, it will be done in 2-3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Add Melt to a saute pan over medium heat. When melted, add the shrimp, garlic, and red pepper flakes to the pan. Cook for 4 minutes, or until shrimp are cooked. (It’s easiest to use tongs so that you can flip the shrimp after 2 minutes).
Add the cooked pasta, lemon juice and zest, black pepper, and spinach. The spinach will wilt significantly, so don’t worry if it seems like there is too much.
Cook for 3 minutes, or until the spinach begins to wilt. Serve immediately with a lemon wedge on the side.
I was not prepared for how strong the red pepper would be. If I made this again, I’d cut the red pepper in half. I actually ended up adding a tablespoon of whipped cream just to cut some of the heat.
I also wanted a bit more of lemon. I ended up adding lemon to the pasta throughout eating the dish. But the base flavors here were good! I just need to adjust the amount of ingredients and it would be a keeper! So, to recap: more lemon, less red pepper = perfect.
Tacos are one of my go-to’s for a quick weeknight meal. However, there’s only so many nights you can make traditional tacos before you start craving some new flavors. Cooking Light’s Korean-Style Beef Tacos sounded like the best of both worlds: a quick meal with new spices. I ended up changing the method of cooking, but the ingredients remained the same. Cooking Light suggested topping the tacos with a Quick Pickled Cabbage as well, so I’ve included that below. This recipe does require you to marinate the beef for an hour, so plan accordingly. To make it a quick meal, you could also just marinate the meat overnight.
Ingredients for the tacos:
1/3 cup sugar
5 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons chile paste (such as sambal oelek)
the juice of 2 limes
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
12 ounces flank steak, sliced against the grain into thin strips
