I (like most people, I’m sure) cook mostly things I want to eat. Every now and then, I will get a special request and will go outside my comfort zone (like this Meatloaf recipe, or this Sriracha Deviled Eggs recipe) but when it comes to a weeknight dinner, I’m really selfish about what I cook. So I thought it might be nice if I finally made something that was up my boyfriend’s alley more so than mine.
Don’t get me wrong, I still like what’s going on in this recipe. I just don’t usually make meals with sausage. But I was reminded of this recipe for Clams with Spicy Sausage as a suggestion to make on World Oceans Day as a Perfect Protein blogger (more information on that in my post on Thai Coconut Mussels), which was June 8. So. Um. I’m a little late. But this recipe is too tasty not to share!
This recipe can be found in the book The Perfect Protein: The Fish Lovers Guide to Saving the Oceans and Feeding the Worldand is from the ultimate seafood chef, Eric Ripert. This man knows his fish; one of his restaurants, Le Bernardin is known as a seafood mecca. But this recipe is really easy to make and cooks quickly, making it perfect for weeknight meals. I altered the recipe slightly but the gist is still the same.
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
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
So, I found myself in the odd position of craving farro. Yes, farro. So after some searching, I came across a Cooking Light recipe that sounded fantastic. The recipe not only has farro, but it also uses apple cider (how autumnal!) AND it’s a risotto! I’ve never thought of using farro in a risotto but, better late than never.
Ingredients:
Risotto:
1 cup farro
1.5 cups fat free, less sodium chicken broth
1.5 cups apple cider
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup chopped fennel bulb (1 small fennel bulb should cover you)
I’ve got turkey on the brain with Thanksgiving fast approaching and I wanted to do a post that used turkey. But if you’re like me, you don’t have 15 people around to help me eat an entire roasted turkey. So instead, why not make an Herb Infused Turkey Breast?
This recipe for Herb Infused Turkey Breast is cooked using the Ninja Cooking System, I thought it was a fantastic alternative for a smaller Thanksgiving. If you don’t have a Ninja Cooking System, you can still make this recipe; you’ll just need a saute pan that is also oven safe.
My CSA share this week came with the most beautiful carrots. I am not the biggest fan of carrots but I don’t mind them mixed into a dish. These were too pretty to not use! Cooking Light had a recipe in its latest issue that sounded really intriguing: Champagne-Browned Butter Chicken. The dish is pretty simple to make, although it takes a good hour and a half so this is not a weeknight meal. But the presentation is definitely snazzy enough for company!
Do you remember the first recipe you learned how to make? One that was probably so simple, but made you so proud when you had completed the dish? Mine (besides grilled cheese) was a chicken recipe my mom referred to as “Chicken a la Simon and Garfunkel” based on the lyrics in their song Scarborough Fair:
Are you goin’ to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there,
she once was a true love of mine.
I knew the song so I was able to help make dinner by seasoning the chicken and keeping my mom company while humming the tune to the song (which I have to assume was more of a distraction than a help.. I’m a truly awful singer and I’m sure that translates into a truly awful hummer as well).
I figured this was as good as any time to learn how to roast a chicken. So I settled on Cornish game hens seasoned and stuffed with parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. I also made a “Scarborough Fair” Risotto to go with the chicken.
Ingredients: (I was making this for a family dinner but lowered the amounts to happily feed 2. Multiply as needed).
2 Cornish game hens
1 tablespoon each of dried parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme (divided)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 lemon
4 sprigs each of fresh parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
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
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.
I figured it was about time I posted another Julia Child recipe. I have to admit, the past two weeks recipes intimidated me quite a bit, so I didn’t even make them. Although I have to say, Coq au Vin is not even close to being a weeknight friendly meal. Vichyssoise, or cold leek and potato soup, is more my speed. I’m pretty “skilled” at throwing things into a pot and letting time do the work. This isn’t a meal you can make and eat within one night, unless you have the luxury of beginning your meal much earlier in the day. I cooked this one night, chilled it overnight, and served it for dinner the next night. The original recipe is quite simple. I added crumbled bacon on top because, well, what isn’t better with bacon?
Ingredients: (I didn’t want a ton of soup sitting around so I scaled the recipe down. This makes about 2 hearty bowls)
4 cups of chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian)
Salmon and couscous were just made for each other, don’t you think? They are also the perfect choices for a weeknight meal, you’re sure to get food on the table in no time. Cooking Light’s latest issue has a recipe for Grilled Salmon and Brown Butter Couscous that sounded just wonderful. The magazine suggested making this with grilled summer squash. But I stink. And forgot to pick up the squash. Sigh. If you try the squash out with this recipe, let me know how it goes!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 cup uncooked couscous
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 (14.5-ounce) can fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt $
4 (6-ounce) skinless salmon fillets
Cooking spray
To make, first preheat your grill to medium-high heat. I live in the city, so I use a grill pan and it works just fine. Add the butter to a small pot over medium heat. Cook for 3 minutes or until browned. Add the pine nuts. Cook for 1 minute stirring occasionally.
So at this stage, I was pretty sure I burnt the pine nuts. Maybe it’ll add a smokiness to the couscous?
Add the couscous and cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally.
While waiting for the couscous to cook, combine the pepper, ground fennel seeds, ground coriander, sugar, and salt in a bowl. As a note, the original recipe called for white pepper, which I do not have. Also, I have fennel seeds that I stuck in my Magic Bullet and blend until powdery.
Sprinkle fillets with the spice mixture and place on grill, skin side up. Grilled for 4 minutes on each side.
Add the wine and broth and bring to a boil. Cover the pot, remove from heat, and let stand for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes have passed, fluff with a fork and stir in the lemon rind, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Yep. Totally burned the pine nuts.
The salmon should be finished slightly after the couscous.
The summer squash would have been a wonderful complement. What was I thinking, making a meal without a vegetable? Oh well.
The flavors were absolutely delicious. The spices on the salmon gave so much flavor, but what I really loved was how great of a sear I got on my salmon. It looks so snazzy!
The couscous was really flavorful, the brown butter and even the pine nuts (which weren’t too burnt to eat, yay!) I love love the hit of citrus with the couscous as well.
To not burn the pine nuts, maybe cook them for about 30 seconds. I also think there’s a chance I never stirred them.. I honestly don’t remember!
Wow. I haven’t used chicken in a recipe in over a month. I think it is time to finally give poultry it’s time in the limelight. I received fennel in my CSA share and thought this recipe for Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Fennel and Rosemary from Food & Wine sounded like a perfect use of the ingredient.
As a plus, I had all of the ingredients already in my kitchen, with the exception of the chicken.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, plus more for garnish
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock. divided
