Orzo Chicken Asiago

There are times when the simplest of recipes to prepare end up being some of the best to eat, and this is one of those times.  I could see this becoming a regular in anybody’s household.  It’s far within most people’s comfort zones, simple to make, and has everything most people look for in a meal.  You have your starch, your protein, your dairy, and your veggies all in one colorful dish!

While trying to get my husband’s opinion on the dish for this blog, as I often try to do because I feel like he is a “meat and potatoes” kind of guy and therefore harder to please when it comes to trying new things, I was given a rating of 8 out of 10.  When I asked him to elaborate on that, he simply said “the tomatoes weren’t terrible”.  Not exactly helpful if you ask me… I mentioned such to him and that my readers are not going to want to try a dish that is described as being “not terrible”.  He said that if someone like himself, who hates tomatoes, would say the dish was an 8 and that he liked it in spite of the tomatoes that it must be good.  So there you have it… the tomatoes aren’t terrible.

I, on the other hand, and I might add I also don’t like large pieces of tomato, thought they were not only “not terrible” but that they were a key ingredient in the dish, and part of what makes it so fantastic.  All the freshness added by the tomatoes, onions, peas, and parsley give this a light feeling not typical of most pasta dishes. This is also true because of the orzo, which is a small pasta, but seems a lot like rice in shape and texture.  The orzo is perfect for this because it gives it a risotto feel and leave it so creamy in texture with the Asiago.  The only change I made to this recipe was to pre-cook my chicken.  I did this mostly because it had been in my fridge for a few too many days and I was nervous to leave it in there a couple more until I was ready to cook it.  As often happens, I took my meat out with specific dates in mind, but plans changed, and things got pushed back a couple days.  Rather than waste the meat I just cooked the chicken with a little salt and pepper in the skillet and put it back in the fridge.  I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about boiling the chicken for so little time in this recipe (and especially now because my orzo only took 9 minutes to cook) from a raw state, and it being done properly.  So even when I make this next… and there will be a next time…. I will pre-cook the chicken as I did this time.  For the wine I again used the Moscato I had opened the night before and it worked very well for this….. and was also quite enjoyed straight from the bottle as I was cooking… shhh!  Good thing I was only cooking for my husband and I lol.

Anyway, I highly recommend EVERYONE try this recipe.

 

Serves : 4

Ingredients :

• 1 lb chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces (see above, I pre-cooked mine)
• 1 1/4 cups uncooked Orzo
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. rosemary
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
• 1 cup fresh diced tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes)
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup fresh grated Asiago cheese
• parsley

Directions :

1. Do your prep work ahead of time so you can keep your attention on the pasta, and stirring it.  You also don’t want to over cook your pasta into mush!
2. In a dutch oven combine broth and white wine.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and orzo.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 9-12 minutes or until pasta is done, but still a bit al dente.  Mine took about 9 minutes.  Stir frequently the entire time.  About halfway through cook time add your dry herbs, salt and pepper.
3. In the last minute add the tomatoes and green onions. 
4. Remove from heat, add in the frozen peas and stir around to help cook the pasta.  Add in your cheese and parsley and serve.

Recipe from citronlimette

Chilean Salmon with Avocado Cream Sauce + Island Nectar

As promised last night on my facebook page, here is Chilean Salmon with Avocado Cream Sauce and a drink I made up to use the rest of the coconut water.  If you are following my facebook page (there is a button on the right hand side of this blog) you will know that I had a bit of a fiasco with this recipe last night.  Because I had such a thick piece of salmon, and didn’t want to cut it and take away from the photographic presentation, I ended up with a portion in the middle/bottom that wasn’t quite done.  Having the skin still on the bottom side didn’t help either.  It wasn’t a big deal though, as I just flaked off the parts that were done and then put the rest back in the skillet for a minute more until it was done.  It was quite the mess however since I had already put the sauce on top.  I suggest making sure your pieces are cut more reasonably though if you want to present a beautiful piece of fish on the plate.

The flavor of this salmon was fantastic!  The actual preparation of the salmon is very simple, but allowing the lemon juice to soak in a bit and then covering the top with a generous amount of course sea salt and pepper results in such a beautiful crust that is full of flavor and allows the actual salmon flavor to really be the star.  Topped with the cool, creamy, slightly spicy avocado cream dip this is melt in your mouth good!  As I mentioned, my piece of salmon still had the skin on one side, which can be nice for presentation if you like that sort of thing, but I feel like it kind of messes up the cooking process… at least in a hot skillet since it seems to block some of the heat from reaching that bottom side and making it through to the middle to ensure a fully cooked fillet.  It would also be nice without the skin to have the option to salt and pepper both sides for even more crust.

Note : my piece of salmon was quite wet to start, and I had forgotten to pat dry it a bit before putting the lemon juice on.  As a result when I placed in into the hot oil in my skillet there was a LOT of splash from the moisture which not only caused a disaster on my stove top, but also managed to give me quite a few little burns.  I imagine even if you do dry your fish off well before putting the lemon juice on it’s going to splatter a bit from the lemon juice so beware and consider having a splatter screen handy!  And here is another little tip when cooking fish in a skillet.  Once you set the fish down don’t touch it until you see the bottom is starting to brown and the color will start to change up the side of your fillet.  You want it to be about halfway before you flip it.  If you try to move it before it starts to crust over you chance breaking the fish or having it stick to the skillet.  Also, always use oil or non-stick spray and cook in a quality skillet.

Chilean Salmon w/ Avocado Cream Sauce

Serves : 2+                          Time to make : 15 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 lb fresh salmon fillets (2 good sized fillets or you can opt for smaller pieces to serve more people)
• lemon
• course sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• olive oil (about 2-3 T.)

• 1 Haas avocado, about 2/3 cup
• 2 T. fresh lemon juice
• 1 T. finely chopped shallots
• 1/3 C. coconut water (I used Blue Monkey with pulp)
• pinch cayenne pepper
• pinch chili powder
• pinch smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp. cumin
• 2 tsp. white wine vinegar
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 T. chopped chives

Directions :

1. Pat dry your fillets and then place on a plate and squeeze the juice of one lemon over top and allow to sit for about 5-10 minutes.  Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until hot, but not smoking.  Generously sprinkle your course sea salt and fresh ground black pepper onto the salmon fillets before carefully placing into the hot oil.  Cook on the first side about 3-4 minutes depending on the thickness of your salmon until browned on bottom and the color has turned light pink about halfway up the side of your fillet.  Flip and cook through.
2. Meanwhile for the sauce (It can help to have some of the sauce ingredients ready to go before you start cooking your salmon) cut open your avocado and scoop out the insides.  If you have never cut an avocado before what you do is take a knife and make a cut from top to bottom.  You won’t be able to cut through because of the pit, once you hit that sort of roll the knife around the avocado until you cut all the way around from top to bottom.  Holding both sides twist and pull and you’ll have two perfect halves with the pit in one of them.  I like to use a knife or spoon to pry the pit out at that point and then using a spoon slide it between the peel and the avocado and you can scoop it out in one swipe usually.
3. Place all sauce ingredients together in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.  Spoon over your finished salmon.

Recipe from : domestic fits

Now for the drink… I am calling it Island Nectar because the flavors are very “Island-y” and it has Guava Nectar in it… real creative I know lol.  As I mentioned on the facebook page, I just wanted to use up the rest of the can of coconut milk and figured some sort of cocktail would be the way to go.  I have a rather diverse bar in my pantry from all the various drinks we have tried over the years so I knew I could probably come up with something.  Unfortunately the ones I wanted to use, such as the rum were pretty low, hence the somewhat random amounts listed, but it actually ended up just right for my tastes.  Jeff likes a lot more alcohol in his drinks, whereas I am more about the taste, so if you are more like him you might want to add some straight rum or vodka to it so as not to change the taste too much.

So without a real plan I just started pouring things together and at first it was AWFUL… I mean seriously bad.  This was around the point that it was just coconut water and guava nectar.  I hadn’t really ever tried guava nectar before, but had a few cans lying around for a drink I wanted to try from Guy Fieri.  It is definitely not something I would drink on it’s own… So I knew I needed to sweeten it up and just started grabbing other things I had and voila it was suddenly good!  I don’t know how much this makes, but it about filled a basic pitcher.

Island Nectar

makes : 1 pitcher

Ingredients :

• 1 can Blue Monkey Coconut Water with pulp (or slightly less if you used some on the fish)
• 1 (11.3oz) can guava nectar (I found some called Jumex in the beverage isle at the grocery store)
• 1 can 7-up
• 2 oz. triple sec
• 6 oz. pineapple rum
• 1 oz. vanilla flavored syrup (like for coffee drinks)
• ice
• mint sprigs or lime wedges for garnish (I didn’t have anything on hand)

Directions :

1. Combine everything over a generous amount of ice in a pitcher and stir.

Mango & Banana Salsa with Tilapia

It is my goal to eat more fish this year for it’s health benefits and just for the variety as well.  I have always enjoyed fish, but I am not very experienced with it, so it will be fun to try new ways to prepare it.  Tonight’s recipe instantly grabbed my attention by all the gorgeous colors in the dish.  After all, they way your food looks plays a large role in your enjoyment of it.  I was a bit disappointed to see that the recipe called for mango because I just can’t stand the stuff, but I also knew that I could probably substitute some pineapple with good results since I have had a similar salsa before.  The addition of banana was very new to me however, and intriguing for sure.  I will post it with the original recipe, but my own review is for the pineapple version.

The dish comes together very quickly, and easily.  I suggest making the salsa earlier in the day if you have time and letting it sit in the fridge to really let the flavors marry, but I only had about a half hour for mine and it was still great.  The dish has such a freshness to it, and a great balance of heat, sweet, and sour with the colorful salsa.  With the eye-catching presentation it’s the perfect thing to serve to guests if you want to impress.  It’s also very low calorie/fat which everyone appreciates.  The recipes makes a lot of the salsa, almost more than you need, but it worked out to sort of eat it like a salad with the cut up fish rather than as a topping for it.  I was a bit confused about the part where it called for half of a long red pepper, and then listed jalapeno or thai, so I just got a red jalapeno and put the whole thing in there since they aren’t very big.  I would suggest tasting whatever type of pepper you use first to determine how much you want in there.

 

Serves : 4                         Time to make : 25 minutes (+ time for salsa to sit)

Ingredients :

• 1 large ripe mango, cut into 1/4-inch pieces (a heaping cup) * I subbed the same amount of fresh pineapple
• 1 medium banana, firm ripe, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1/2 long red pepper, ripe jalapeno or Thai
• 1 sweet red bell pepper, cored, seeded, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 2/3 cups cilantro leaves, 1/3 cup minced & 1/3 cup roughly chopped
• 1/2 small red onion, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 2 T. fresh lime juice (I added a little more and some zest)
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt or to taste
• 4 tilapia fillets
• Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• flour (about a 1/4 cup or so
• 2 T. olive oil

Directions :

1. Combine mango, banana, pepper, red pepper, cilantro, onion, lime juice, and salt in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 hours if time allows, otherwise you can move right on to the fish.
2. Pat dry fish fillets, season with salt and pepper on both sides and dredge in flour; shaking off excess.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add fish and cook until medium golden brown and fish easily lifts from bottom of pan.  Turn over and cook until done all the way through.
4. Move to either one serving tray or individual plates before topping with the salsa (about a cup per fillet if individual).  Serve with additional lime wedges if desired.

Day 142 : Creamy Lime Cooler

Since the weather never got better yesterday we rescheduled for tonight which meant a quick recipe for me.  I have lots to do yet tonight so I will just make this brief.

The drink is awesome!  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I really like the creamy, but not thick texture and the lime with the pineapple is perfect.  I added the zest of the entire lime, and I really like the little pieces in there for some added texture and of course color.  I also went ahead and put the juice of the full lime in.  I will list the recipe as I made it below rather than the original.

Creamy Lime Cooler

Serves : 1              Time to make : 5 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 cup pineapple juice
• juice of 1 lime
• zest of 1 lime
• 2 tsp. powder sugar
• 3 large scoops vanilla ice cream

Directions :

1. Combine ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Day 128 : Turkey Hummus Wrap

Just trying to eat a bit healthier…. at least some of the time….. and this fits right in.  I had actually never had hummus before so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I liked it.  I just got original for this because I wanted to keep it simple for my first taste, but I bet some of the flavored varieties out there would be even better.  The recipe calls for turkey, but all I could find was chicken at the store, and didn’t really feel like cooking my own.  The recipe also lists tomatoes, but I’m just not a fan.

Also it seems as if my computer troubles are back.  I have a new hard drive ready to install, but just gotta find a window of time to do it that I don’t need my computer.  So tonight’s picture will just have a simple watermark on it.  Hopefully it won’t get worse and I’ll have to go back to the iphone because that was horrible!  My laptop is the only computer in the house set up to handle my camera files though, and normally I work off my external hard drive which I am not wanting to plug in after I had another blue screen of death tonight and it almost didn’t want to boot back up.  So…. if things get crappy for a few days I apologize now!

Turkey Hummus Wrap

Serves : 1                   Time to make : 5 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 whole wheat wrap (should be between 80-100 calories)
• 3 T.  hummus
• 3 oz. turkey breast, cooked and cut into slices
• 1/4-1/2 avocado, sliced
• 1/4 cup alfalfa sprouts
• 2 slices tomato
• romaine lettuce

Directions :

1. Spread hummus on wrap, then layer with romaine, turkey, tomatoes, avocado, and alfalfa sprouts.
2. Tightly roll up and enjoy!

Day 121 : Italian Sub Pasta Salad

This salad is the perfect thing to make for picnics, potlucks, holiday celebrations, or even for a light dinner like we did tonight.  I have made this many times, and have always gotten rave reviews for it.  It’s definitely simple to make, you just have to set aside a bit of time for the prep-work because there is a lot of chopping to do.

For the meats and cheese, I just ask the deli guy to give me a few slices of each at their thickest cut which is maybe 1/2-3/4 inch.  Then I just cube that up and throw it in.  You can make things simple for yourself by buying pre-cut onions, and whatever else you can find already prepped.  I’ve also thrown in things like green peppers, feta, and I think even pickles in the past with great results.  It’s definitely versatile and the measurements are just for reference and you can judge how much of each thing you want in your salad.  Tonight I didn’t have shredded lettuce so I used some of the salad spring mix I had and I think that worked well.  I also used some organic garden pasta tonight which worked really well, but you can use whatever pasta you want.

Italian Sub Pasta Salad

Serves : 8                 Time to make : 30 minutes

Ingredients :

• 8 oz. rotini pasta, cooked drained and cooled
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in halves
• 1 cup diced cucumber
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
• 2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce, packed
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1/2 cup sliced black olives
• 4 oz. diced cooked ham
• 4 oz. diced hard salami
• 4 oz. cubed provolone cheese

Dressing

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tps. oregano

Directions :

1. Make sure your pasta has cooled completely.  (I usually just rinse it in cold water for a while)
2. In a large bowl, toss together pasta, tomatoes, cucumber, red  pepper, shredded lettuce, chopped onion, sliced black olives, ham, salami, and provolone.
3. In a jar or crouet, pour all the dressing ingredients.  Shake very very well. 
4. Pour over the salad and toss to coat evenly.
5. Serve.

Day 116 : Chocolate Almond Mousse Dipped Strawberries

This is the result of needing to use up a few things I had in the fridge.  I had marscapone left over from a while ago and a whole pint of stawberries from Easter that hadn’t gotten eaten yet.  I immediately thought that some sort of dip would be good, and was thinking of going with a maple syrup type thing, but per Jeff’s request, decided on the chocolate instead.  I was surprised at how similar the taste and texture were to the chocolate mousse I make out of heavy whipping cream!  If it hadn’t been for Jeff too, I might have added a bit of coffee to really make this great, but it was pretty darn good as is too.  I used almond extract to give it a little something extra, but if you prefer vanilla, or maybe coconut, or even orange that is up to you.  I just used what I had left of the marscapone and so we ended up with more dip than we needed for the pint of strawberries, but we put the rest into a little sugar cone which was really good as well.

Chocolate Almond Mousse Dipped Strawberries

Serves : 3-4                        Time to make : 3 minutes

Ingredients :

• 4 oz. marscapone
• 2 large dollops of light cool whip, thawed
• 3 T. chocolate syrup
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 1 pint fresh strawberries, cleaned and hulled

Directions :

1. Combine marscapone, cool whip, chocolate syrup, and almond in a bowl and stir until well combined.
2. Serve with strawberries for dipping.

Day 114 : Tropical Yogurt Swirl

I’ve had this for breakfast/lunch about 4 times now and figured it was time to share!  I came across a recipe that called for mango, and fat free plain yogurt and though the idea was intriguing, the ingredients weren’t so much.  I decided to give it a try though using fat free vanilla greek yogurt and pineapple along with the other ingredients and it is SO good!  The original recipe also calls for protein powder, and I plan to try it that way at some point, but I forgot to pick some up the last time I was at the store.  I’ve been trying to get a bit more lean protein and fruits/veggies in my diet lately so this is a great way to accomplish that.

The recipe calls for shredded coconut, but I first tried it with toasted shredded coconut and really liked it that way.  I ran out of toasted coconut the last time though and it was still really nice with the regular shredded coconut.  I also added about a half of a banana, diced to it the last time and I think that was my favorite yet.  I think this is another one of those great recipes that is versatile and you can add whatever tropical ingredients you like!

Tropical Yogurt Swirl

Serves : 1                     Time to make : 5 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 cup fat free vanilla greek yogurt (or any fat free yogurt will work)
• 1/2 cup fresh pineapple, diced
• half a ripe banana, diced
• 1 1/2-2 T. shredded coconut

Directions :

1. Put yogurt in a bowl, and fold in fruit and coconut.
2. Enjoy!

Day 113 : Ham Steaks with Pineapple Salsa & Chipotle Oven Fries

Happy Easter everyone!  Today was a great day.  Perrin woke us up this morning, super excited because the Easter Bunny had come while he was sleeping.  Then we spent the morning hiding eggs and playing with the kids’ new playhouse (an Easter gift from us).  The weather was FINALLY warm and sunny, and just perfect.  We went for a family walk, played in the yard and even got to fire up the grill!  I’m just sad to see the day end.

Dinner tonight was awesome to say the least.   We’ve had the ham before, and it is so good, especially for how simple it is.  The fries are a method I use often, but today I changed things up a bit and bought some tiny yellow potatoes and used chipotle and smoked paprika on them which was a nice combo and went well with the bit of heat from the pineapple salsa.  Not pictured here, I also made an Angel Lush Pineapple Cake with Strawberries and we had corn on the cob.  It really was a feast lol.  We even got the corn that is part yellow, part white which I think is the best, and it was grilled to perfection tonight.  (We leave it in the husk and just put some butter in that and wrap the entire thing in foil and toss it on the grill)

For the ham, I like to just hit up the deli section and ask them to cut it rather thick.  It’s usually thicker than their largest size based on the little thing they have to choose from, but I find most of them are ok with making it a little bigger upon request.  You could of course buy a ham and slice your own or whatever.  The recipe normally calls for crushed pineapple, but I really think there is a major difference in flavor between canned and fresh pineapple and if I have the option I will always go for fresh!

Ham Steaks with Pineapple Salsa

Serves : 4                 Time to make : 20 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1.5 lbs of ham, sliced thick (you should get 4 slices about 1/2 inch thick or so)
• 1 cup fresh diced pineapple
• 2 tsp. jalapeno, diced (remove seeds if you want to make it less spicy)
• 1 T. fresh cliantro, chopped
• 2 tsp. fresh lime juice
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 T. orange marmalade

Directions :

1. Combine everything but the ham in a small bowl and mix together.  Set aside or make ahead and chill. (The longer it chills the more the flavors will marry together)
2. Grill your ham slices until heated through and you get good grill marks on both sides (about 10-12 minutes).
3. Serve with salsa on top.

Chipotle Oven Fries

Serves : 2-3          Time to make : 35-40 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 lb potatoes, washed and cut into wedges of similar size.   I like to use small reds or yellows because they are easy to prepare and roast well.
• olive oil, enough to drizzle over potatoes
• salt & pepper
• chipotle seasoning
• smoked paprika

Directions :

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees, and line a baking sheet with foil.
2. Arrange wedges on foil in single layer and drizzle olive oil over all of them.  You don’t have to drown them, but it’s ok to be a little generous.  The oil really helps them to brown and roast up.
3. Season with salt and pepper.  I like to use a course salt for this and fresh ground pepper.
4. Season with chipotle seasoning and smoked paprika to taste.  Using your hands mix them all up and spread the oil/seasonings all over them.
5. Roast for 20-30 minutes or until tender and browned.

Day 108 : Fresh Strawberry Cloud Milkshake

This one is a little something for my son.  I already had a mocha today so I needed to NOT make some high calorie recipe for myself lol.  Yesterday Perrin requested a strawberry shake and I told him I would make one today so that is what I did.  I was getting ready to make the shake when I saw the jar of marshmallow creme sitting on the counter and a lightbulb went off in my head…. why not put that in the shake?!

I wasn’t sure how it was going to work out, or if I had the right amount, but it was AWESOME!  I did try it…. just didn’t have a full glass.  I can’t very well rate a recipe afterall without trying it.  Anyway the strawberry flavor was just how I like it, present but not overpoweringly sweet (since it was fresh strawberries) and I really enjoyed the marshmallow flavor and especially the times when a little of it didn’t mix in all the way and you got a small pocket of the marshmallow creme.  Sort of like a swirl effect in spots.  It was the perfect thick consistency too.

I have lots of plans to incorporating marshmallow creme into other drinks now lol.  Oh and Perrin helped me name the drink.

Fresh Strawberry Cloud Milkshake

Serves : 2                    Time to make : 5 minutes

Ingredients :

• 3/4 cup frozen strawberries
• 2 heaping T. marshmallow creme
• 3 scoops french vanilla ice cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• whip cream
• strawberry syrup

Directions :

1. Combine strawberries, marshmallow creme, ice cream, and milk in a blender and blend on high until thick and creamy and smooth.
2. Top with whip cream and a drizzle of strawberry syrup.

Day 100 : Italian Chicken Salad

Woohoo!  I made it to day 100!  Thanks to everyone who continues to read my blog, and I hope you have walked away with many great new recipes, and will continue to check out my stuff!

This is a super simple salad to make, and most of the ingredients are pantry staples.  The person who came up with the recipe did so one night when she found herself with a package of salad about to expire.  I’ve made it a number of times and we always enjoy it.  The one thing I did different tonight, which made it even better, was to add a bit of goat cheese.

I usually season some chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and italian seasoning and grill them up for this.  I also use probably double the amount of kalamata olives because I really like them.  If you make this with the intention if it being a side to your main dish it would easily serve 4, but if you want to make a meal out of just the salad I would say it serves more like 2 or 3.  I usually make some crescent rolls with it or biscuits.  Once I even made some Mediterranean scones that went very well with it.

 

Italian Chicken Salad

Serves : 2-4             Time to make : 20 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 (8 oz) package butter lettuce (I use an italian salad blend)
• 1 (6) oz package pre-cooked chicken breast, chopped (I use two breasts)
• 1/2 cup parmesan, shredded
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, chopped
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder

Directions :

1. To make dressing, whisk together oil and vinegar in a bowl until well combined.  Then whisk in the garlic powder, pepper, and onion powder.  Set aside.  Before serving you may need to whisk again if it has separated.
2. Toss salad with chicken, olives and parmesan.  Add dressing and toss to coat.

Day 99 : Heavenly Filled Strawberries

Though not one for strawberry flavoring, I do enjoy fresh strawberries, whether dipped in chocolate, on a shortcake, or even filled like we did tonight.  It’s such an easy method, and looks great on a plate for a party appetizer or dessert.  The recipe I followed actually called for cream cheese, but I used marscapone because I like it better.

I made it with the listed amounts, and ended up with quite a bit of left over filling.  I either didn’t stuff them as well as I could or the measurements were a bit generous.  Either way is fine because the filling will go great on plenty of other things but you might want to take note if you would rather not have so much left over to possibly decrease it a bit.

 

Heavenly Filled Strawberries

Serves : 4                    Time to make : 10 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 lb fresh strawberries, cleaned and hulled
• 11 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• chocolate for shaving

Directions :

1. Prepare your strawberries by cutting a deep x into them starting at the tip, but be careful not to go too far so they stay together as one piece.
2. In a mixing bowl beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and almond extract until creamy.
3. Carefully pipe or spoon into the strawberries.
4. Top with shaved chocolate

 

Day 83 : Springtime Pasta with Bacon

I watch a lot of food network in my house, and that means so do the kids… they really don’t have much choice lol.  Perrin is actually really into Iron Chef America, and always acts like we are “in kitchen stadium” when I am making dinner.  He loves that when he helps me I call him Iron Chef Perrin.  So anyway, in order to get him to try some new foods I mentioned that chef’s and especially Iron Chefs have to try the foods they make and somehow it worked!

In the last couple of days he has done almost a 180 and tried many new foods, and enjoyed them I might add.  Tonight he tried everything but the goat cheese since Jeff claims to be allergic and Perrin has so many food allergies of his own.  He loved the bacon and the only thing he didn’t care for was the onion which I expected lol.  I am so relieved that he is doing better w/ this issue and I only hope he keeps this new attitude!

Tonight’s dinner was very light and fresh tasting, just like the name implies.  I liked the different textures of the various veggies and the smokey/salty aspect of the bacon.  The lemony sauce really punched up the flavors and IMO the goat cheese was just the right ingredient to tie everything together with it’s tangy creaminess.  It’s too bad for Jeff that he opted out….. I don’t believe that he’s allergic.  He used feta in his which I am sure would be fine but not the same.

For the bacon I baked it which resulted in PERFECT pieces w/ just the right done-ness.  Everything else I prepped ahead of time so that I could just toss it all together and not be scrambling while the pasta cooked.  That worked well, minus the SPIDER that was hanging out on the radishes when I went to add them!  I’m sure my neighbors got an earful from that little surprise lol.  With an extra good rinse of the radishes everything turned out just fine though.  Since I had to leave the cheese off the main bowl of it, I put a bit in a separate dish for the pic.

It may not quite feel like spring all the time in my area, but this pasta was just the thing to put me in the mood.  It was so pretty and fresh and helped me to forget that  the weather is forecasting chances of snow again!

 

Springtime Pasta with Bacon

Serves : 4-6                  Time to make : 25 minutes

Ingredients :

• 16 oz. orecchiette pasta
• 1 cup frozen sweet peas
• 1 1/2 cup fresh snow peas
• 8 radishes, cut into wedges (I sliced mine)
• 2 large carrots, grated
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 thick cut bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
• 4 oz. crumbled goat cheese (optional)

Directions :

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Add sweet peas, and snow peas during the last minute of cooking.  Drain.
2. Toss pasta mixture with radishes and next 5 ingredients.  Season with salt and pepper.
3. Sprinkle with bacon and goat cheese and serve.

 

Day 78 : Feta & Herb Dip with Crudites

Time to start throwing in some healthier recipes again after all the holidays and celebrations lately!  Tonight, after a busy day running errands, we decided to have a simple and light dinner.  Crudites (pronounced Crew-dee-tay) is an assortment of raw vegetables with either a vinaigrette or dipping sauce.  It’s often seen as an appetizer, but like we did tonight it makes a great light meal served with something like a rotisserie chicken.  Neither one of use are big fans of most cooked vegetables, so this is perfect for us.  Crudites are also great for parties and appeal to everyone from kids, to vegetarians, to dieters alike.  They are simple to put together and you can even take a bit of help and get pre-cut veggies from the store if you are pressed for time.  With a little bit of effort crudites can also be a great center piece to any table scape.  You can put them in a basket as I did tonight, or you can do a more of a bouquet type presentation.  With all the different colors it looks so beautiful, and FRESH!

Tonight I used a mixture of broccoli, cauliflower, baby carrots, snow peas, and radishes, but you can also use bell pepper strips, asparagus, celery, green onions, or whatever else you like.  The dip was very nice and I liked the tangy-ness of the feta paired with the freshness of the herbs.  The beans gave it a nice creamy consistency, and a boost of protein of course.  I might add some lemon zest next time, or a bit more of the parsley, but as with everything you can tweak to your tastes.  Just have fun with it!  Oh and the best part… it’s pretty guilt free I’d say!

 

Feta & Herb Dip with Crudites

Serves : makes 2 cups of dip                Time to make : 20 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 (15 oz.) can of white beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup feta, crumbled
• 1 T. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup fresh dill
• 1/4 cup fresh mint
• 1/4 cup fresh chives
• various raw vegetables, washed and cut up in pieces

Directions :

1. Combine the beans, yogurt, feta, lemon juice, garlic salt, and pepper in a food processor until smooth.
2. Add in the fresh herbs and pulse until well combined.
3. Chill until ready to serve.

 

Day 68 : Fresh Orange Muffins

I figured I would continue with my orange theme from yesterday and make some yummy orange muffins.  I have made other recipes for them before, but never have I used an entire orange, peel and all in them before!  I was intrigued if not a bit skeptic.  They turned out WONDERFUL, with such a light and fluffy texture, and such a lovely fresh taste.

Not only were they delicious, but they were so fast and easy to make!  Seriously, just quarter the orange and throw it right in the processor along with a few other things and then stir in your dry ingredients.  It doesn’t get much easier and they did just what they were supposed to in the oven and came out looking beautiful golden brown with just a hint of orange color to them.  I decided to make them even more fun and added about a half cup of chopped pecans to mine and some orange decorating sugar to the tops of 6 of them.  That went over really well with the kids!

They were the perfect ending to a chaotic day, but I can totally see them as the perfect beginning to any day as well.  I am including two pics today because I think they are very different in appearance.  One with the sugar topping and the liners for the kids, and one I made in a ramekin for a larger sized muffin.

Fresh Orange Muffins

Serves : 12                 Time to make : 25 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 orange, quartered and seeds removed (with peel)
• 1/2 cup orange juice (I used Sunny D)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup butter or 1/2 cup margarine (I melted and cooled mine just so it would combine easier)
• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Directions :

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, spray muffin tin (12) with non-stick cooking spray or drop in liners.
2. Put orange quarters in food processor with orange juice and blend until pureed.
3. Add egg and butter and combine well, then pour into a large bowl.
4. In a separate bowl combine your dry ingredients, then dump into your orange mixture all at once.
5. Stir to combine. (Here I added the nuts as well)
6. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full, then bake for 20 minutes.  Let stand for 5 minutes before removing muffins. (I sprinkled a bit of sugar on top before baking)