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)
One of the best parts of Thanksgiving doesn’t even take place on Thursday. I (and I’m assuming many others) look forward to the leftovers as much as the original meal. Friday always includes a Thanksgiving sandwich (which you can actually get a version of in Delaware all year long at Capriotti‘s called the “Bobby” mmm). Saturday tends to be my own version of the Wawa Turkey Bowl. By Sunday, I’m starting to run out of creative ways to mush my leftovers into a new meal.
The makers of Clos de los Siete came to my rescue! Clos de los Siete is an Argentine red wine that is made from seven vineyards in the foothills of the Andes. The wine is a mixture of 57% malbec, 15% merlot, 15% cabernet sauvignon, 10% syrah and 3% petit verdot that is a really nice complement to turkey. Azul Argentine Bistro in New York created a recipe that uses Thanksgiving leftovers along with some spices to create Wine Infused Thanksgiving leftover Empanadas, how fantastic does that sound?
Ingredients:
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 sweet potato, peeled and finely diced (about 1 cup)
1 pound turkey breast, shredded (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup Clos de los Siete wine
1-2 packages store-bought empanada discs (note: mine have annatto in them which is why they are orange)
Oh pasta, how I love you. Pasta, or any Italian food for that matter, is my ultimate comfort food choice. I was sent Lidia Bastianich’s newest cookbook: Lidia’s Favorite Recipes– 100 Foolproof Italian Dishes, from Basic Sauces to Irresistible Entrees, which after my first page through, I already knew would be one of my favorite cookbooks. Lidia Bastianich obviously knows her Italian dishes, she’s been in the cooking industry for most of her life; she has a number of best-selling cookbooks, owns 6 restaurants, and is basically the face of Italian cooking on PBS. I’m also happy to let you all know that I will be giving away one copy of this awesome cookbook! More on that after the recipe…
The cookbook makes Italian recipes approachable. A lot of the recipes include childhood favorites of mine, Chicken Parmigiana, Spaghetti and Meatballs, and Italian Wedding Soup. There are recipes that the photos look so fantastic I can’t wait to try them (I’m specifically talking about the rice balls. Oh. My. Goodness.)
But I had to test out the cookbook with my favorite Italian staple: a pasta dish. The Tagliatelle with Wild Mushroom Sauce sounded just wonderful. But something didn’t want me to make this recipe. My supermarket didn’t have wild mushrooms or tagliatelle! Well, the show must go on. This is my somewhat adapted version of the recipe, Pasta with Wild Mushroom Sauce.
Salmon and salad are a great healthy go-to on a weeknight. You can have your meal on the table in under 20 minutes! This salad is a nice alternative to your traditional salads. Made with four different herbs and spicy arugula, the salad adds a ton of flavor to the crispy salmon. The lemon dressing is fantastic as well! This recipe is from Cooking Light’s cookbook: The New Way to Cook Light.
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
There is a good chance I have a rice problem, I love all things rice. My go-to meal in a pinch is always risotto. So when DailyBuzz Food had an opportunity to work with RiceSelect through their Tastemaker program, I jumped at the chance. RiceSelect is one of my favorite rice brands. You may notice their nifty containers popping out of a bunch of my posts so I was really excited to work with their rice. The catch was that they sent me one of RiceSelect’s rice randomly, I didn’t get to choose it. When I opened up the package, I discovered brown rice. Hum. I’ve never worked with brown rice before, but I was up for the challenge!
I decided to make a stir fry teriyaki dish using my favorite protein, salmon. Normally stir fry is a quick dinner choice but brown rice takes quite a bit of time to cook. But it gives you plenty of time to prep your veggies and hang out with your dinner guests!
Ingredients: (I cut this recipe for Salmon Teriyaki Stir Fry down to two servings to make it easier. Multiply as needed)
As soon as the weather begins to move into fall, I begin to think of all the hearty meals I will be making in the upcoming months. A slow cooker is such a helpful tool during colder months, it allows you to make a bunch of servings all by dropping them in a pot and just waiting. Slow cooking tough cuts of meat also turns them into the most tender fall-off-the-bone protein. I’ve never tried osso buco before, but a slow cooker version sounds basically idiot proof, so I decided to make it. I actually put this together Sunday night and when I woke up the next morning, spooned out a portion for lunch that day and froze the rest. What a great way to start the week!
I had a heck of a time finding some ingredients despite them being pretty common. So I kind of fudged some of the ingredients. For the original recipe, check it out here.
Ingredients:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
½ teaspoon kosher salt, divided
About 5 pounds veal (go for the cheaper cuts—its usually made with veal shank but they were all out at my market – I used cubed veal and one veal loin chop so that there was some bone)
2 teaspoons butter, divided
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 cups coarsely chopped red onion
1 ½ cups chopped celery
6 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups beef broth
2 cups dry white wine
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon minced anchovy fillets (the original recipe calls for 1 tablespoon anchovy paste)
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
I am on a butter kick. Darn you, Julia Child, and your deliciously simple but butter-filled recipes. There are few things that change the taste of a meal as easily as really good butter. I’m talking full-fat, salted, hand-churned butter. Keep in mind, meals like this should not be a weekly staple. But my goodness are they fantastic as a treat. This recipe for Scallops Gratineed with Wine Garlic and Herbs is no different. I am obviously on a bit of a Julia Child kick at the moment as well which is well timed because her 100th birthday is coming up on August 15. Might I suggest making this lovely (but amazingly easy) recipe to celebrate? I made this as a meal for two, with a salad on the side. It would also make a wonderful appetizer, or just multiply as you see fit.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup minced yellow onions
1 tablespoon butter (I’m talking good butter, no substitutions here!)
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 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.
Cucumbers are everywhere right now, and as much as I love just eating them raw, I thought it might be a nice change to try to use them cooked. Cucumber soup, chilled, sounds oh so refreshing doesn’t it? I found this recipe for Chilled Creamy Cucumber Soup from Eating Well. It uses an avocado and some plain yogurt, making a really creamy delicious soup. Plus, it only takes 35 minutes to make (it is additional time to chill).
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 cups peeled, seeded and thinly sliced cucumbers, divided
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth, or reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 avocado, diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup low-fat plain Greek yogurt
Begin by prepping all your ingredients. Mince the garlic, dice the onion, peel, seed, and slice the cucumber, and dice your avocado. (I added a squeeze of lemon juice over the avocado to keep it from browning).
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add your onion and garlic to the pot, stirring occasionally. Cook for 4 minutes.
Add the lemon juice and cook for another minute. Add the cucumber, broth, salt, pepper, and cayenne (optional) and bring to a simmer.
Reduce heat and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the cucumbers are soft.
Add thesoupto a blender (be careful), removing the center of the top of the blender. Add the avocado and parsley.
Place a paper towel over the open hole before blending. Blend on low until smooth. (I just do all of this in the pot using an immersion blender, I find it less hazardous hehe).
If you want to eat the soup hot, pour into a serving bowl and stir in the yogurt. Top with cucumber slices and garnish with parsley. If chilling the soup, refrigerate for at least one hour, then stir in the yogurt and garnish before serving.
The soup is smooth, a little tangy from the Greek yogurt, and ends with a slight hint of spice. I like mixing in the parsley and chopped cucumbers into the soup to give it some texture.
I love what I call “after work recipes.” I can make this when I get home and can eat before 8 pm. For an even more refreshing soup, try substituting mint or dill for the parsley.
I was recently sent a clay pot from Romertopf to try out and review. Cooking in a clay pot is something I never really thought about, or even considered. You just cook your meal in a clay pot which has been soaking in water. This releases steam while it cooks and keeps the food moist. Clay pots have been used for cooking dating back to Roman times and are still used around the world. The clay pots are perfect for making roast chicken, paella, ratatouille, or even dessert!
I honestly had no idea how to go about finding a recipe to try out my new spiffy clay pot. So I just used a recipe from the Romertopf website as my first attempt. The Curry Clay Pot Chicken sounded right up my alley. (https://www.romertopfonline.com/chicken-recipes.htm)
Ingredients:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon cornstarch
6 small new red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch slices (I forgot to cut mine! Make sure you do though!)
6 baby carrots
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 medium tomato, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1 tablespoon soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
