Week 84: Buffalo Chicken Risotto

You know what one of the classiest foods you can make is? Risotto. It just SOUNDS fancy, doesn’t it? Especially if you kind of trill the “r” at the beginning. I also think it’s fancy because it takes so much work (in the form of constant stirring for about 45 minutes) to make. It’s a food that’s only for those who have the luxury of standing at the stove for ridiculous amounts of time. That being said, it wasn’t difficult work, just time-consuming.

The beauty of this dish lies in its irony. Risotto is fancy, and buffalo chicken is the quintessential “bar” food. Combine the two, and you have a elegantly hip, delicious lunch.

Year of Yum Rating: 4 ½ STARS

INGREDIENTS
4 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
¾ cup hot sauce (such as Frank’s)
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ cup minced celery
½ cup minced onion
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup dry Arborio rice
½ cup lager beer, hot
2 cups chopped cooked chicken (we used a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken)
Chopped celery for garnish
Blue cheese crumbles for garnish (I used feta because I’m not a big blue cheese fan)

DIRECTIONS
For the brodo, simmer broth, hot sauce, honey, and Worcestershire in a saucepan over medium heat.

For the risotto, sweat minced celery and onion in butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat until slightly softened, 3-5 minutes. Stir in rice and sauté until each grain is coated in butter.

Deglaze the pan with beer and stir until completely absorbed, 1-2 minutes. Add brodo to the pan in ½ cup increments; simmer and stir frequently until each addition is almost completely absorbed before adding the next, about 45 minutes total. Stir in chicken and heat through.

Garnish each serving of risotto with chopped celery and blue cheese crumbles.

Week 83: Spinach Feta Turkey Burgers

My dear Meester sent me this recipe. Said that they looked like my style. Nobody knows you like your sisters!

These were both healthy and flavorful. I concluded that they wouldn't suffice if I were having a serious BURGER craving, but for those times when I don't absolutely NEED red meat, these would do the job. We ate them on sandwich-thin buns with red onion, fresh spinach, and dijon mustard. We doubled the recipe so we could have plenty leftover for lunches this week, and we even froze a few each for later.

I really liked how these were pretty easy to make, as there were few ingredients, and you simply mix them all together. The most difficult part would be going back and forth between making the patties and cooking them since your hands get really gunky. I was glad to have Abby there so she could do all the patty-flipping.

Would you judge me if I told you that the brown crispies on the bottom of the cooking pan and on the spatula were one of the best parts of this meal? Yes? Then I totally didn't scavenge every single last one before I did the dishes. Nope...

Year of Yum Rating: 4 1/2 STARS


INGREDIENTS
1 lb ground turkey
1 egg, slightly beaten
5 oz frozen spinach (about half of a box), defrosted
3/4 cup feta cheese
1 tsp salt + pinch of pepper

DIRECTIONS
Heat a small amount of olive oil in a skillet at medium to medium-high. Mix together all ingredients with your hands and form four medium sized patties. Cook patties in a skillet for about 6 minutes per side, or until meat is completely cooked. Serve on toasted buns with extra feta, hot sauce, sliced onion, lettuce, and mustard.

Week 82: Power Frittata

I don't know if I'm the way my pants have been fitting me lately is just very motivating, or if it's the warmer weather we've been getting glimpses of that has put me in the mood, but I have been wanting to eat all of the veggies that I can lately. I was excited when Abby told me she had chosen for us to make this week, because a frittata is a GREAT and YUMMY way to get more veggies into a meal. We adapted the recipe we found on a blog by adding/nixing/replacing some of the add-in ingredients to fit our likes and dislikes. The original recipe calls for asparagus. Abs says she doesn't like asparagus, but it is now on my to-do list to prepare some asparagus on the GRILL for her and see if she can still resist it...

I was also excited to have a great use for my iron skillet, as we could use it on the stovetop, and then put it directly into the oven to finish cooking the frittata.

I expected this to taste good, but honestly I was surprised at just how flavorful it was since we didn't add ANY seasonings, spices, or additional salt. We ate our frittatas topped with a healthy dollop of light sour cream. Leftovers were just as delicious!

Year of Yum Rating: 4 STARS




INGREDIENTS
5 whole eggs, beaten
2 oz feta cheese
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
5 large kalamata olives, sliced
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 leek, sliced and rinsed well

DIRECTIONS
Saute chopped broccoli and onion in olive oil in an iron skillet until slightly soft. Add the remaining ingredients. Cover with a plate, and cook on medium-low for about 8 minutes. Remove from the stove, and broil on low for 2-3 minutes until the top of the frittata looks set and slightly golden-brown. Allow to cool before slicing and serving.

Week 81: Spinach-Feta Hummus and Naan Bread

Both of these are recipes that I found at separate times on different cooking blogs. I just thought that hot, carb-y naan bread would be delicious dipped in cool, salty hummus.

Were those adjectives enticing enough? How about I tell you that you just need to make both of these things. Trust me. You won't be sorry.

The hummus was hands-down the best that I've ever made. I don't doubt that the feta had everything to do with it, but I convinced myself that it was healthy because of the spinach. I could eat this stuff with a spoon.

The naan bread was one of those recipes that I will definitely make again, but will be exploring how to make it better. I really liked the minced garlic in the bread, but in the future might incorporate some in to the dough rather than just putting it on top before I cook it. Also, the recipe tells you to cook the other side of the bread over an open flame (like a gas stove), which I didn't have, so I cooked both sides in the pan. Abby and I talked about how this might be yummy cooked on the grill. This easy dough would also be good for making individual pizzas.

Year of Yum Rating: 5 STARS (for the hummus) and 3 1/2 STARS (for the naan bread)

HUMMUS INGREDIENTS
•30 ounces, weight garbanzo beans drained
•1-½ cup fresh spinach
•8 ounces, weight feta cheese
•⅓ cups olive oil
•5 tablespoons lemon juice
•4 tablespoons tahini
•2 tablespoons red pepper flakes (We thought that SURELY this must be a mistake because it seemed like so much. We ended up only adding about ONE tablespoon. In retrospect, two tablespoons might not have been too much because our finished product wasn't spicy at all.)
•2 cloves garlic, peeled
•2 teaspoons salt

HUMMUS DIRECTIONS
Combine the garbanzo beans, spinach, olive oil, lemon juice and tahini in a large food processor. Pulse until combined. Add the feta, red pepper flakes, garlic and salt. Pulse until combined. Taste and add salt or more red pepper flakes if desired.

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NAAN INGREDIENTS
•2 cups all-purpose flour or wheat flour
•¾ teaspoons baking powder
•½ teaspoons baking soda
•½ teaspoons sugar
•¼ teaspoons salt
•½ cups warm milk
•½ cups Yogurt
•½ tablespoons oil, as needed
•Additional optional herbs and seasonings to flavor the naan (see note below)

NAAN DIRECTIONS
Note: The ingredient list includes the ingredients for the dough. You can flavor your naan with all kinds of herbs. I made cumin naan, garlic naan, butter naan, and some topped with cilantro.

Mix all the dry ingredients together and make a well of flour.

Mix milk and yogurt together and pour half of it into the well and slowly combine it together.

I don’t think there’s an exact amount of liquid that should be added to the exact amount of flour to make a perfect dough. So what I do is continue adding liquid slowly and combining it all together slowly until a soft dough is made. The dough should be soft enough for you to be able to dig your finger into it without applying any pressure. If dough sticks to your hand too much, then use little bit of oil on your hands and then punch into the dough.

Cover with a damp cloth and let it sit in a warm place for at least 2 hours.

After a few hours, dust your working board, take out the dough and knead it for about 2-3 minutes. Divide the dough into smaller balls (in this case you should get about 8 balls to make naans).

Dust the board again and flatten the balls to make bread that is a little thick and elongated.

Now sprinkle one side of the bread with your desired flavor. I made cumin, minced garlic, chopped cilantro and some simple butter naans.

Brush the other side with water.

Heat a thick-bottomed skillet or a wok or any heavy-bottomed pan with a lid. Once it is nicely hot, place the naan wet side down (it will stick) and cover it with a lid.

Let it cook for about 30 seconds or until you see bubbles on it. Now cook the other side of the naan over a direct flame on the burner with the help of tongs. When you see some charred brown spots then you know that the naan is done.

Week 80: Pesto Gnocchi Salad

When Abby showed up at my house this afternoon claiming that she was hungry, so we were making something easy and fast, I was on board. Because, really, when do I not want to eat RIGHTTHISMINUTE? Never. Or always. However you look at it.

Anyway, this was a yummy spin on a pasta salad. I always love the chewiness of gnocchi, and the way the pesto/ricotta mixture coated everything was delicious. Abby had printed off a recipe, but we pretty much just did things our own way.

Year of Yum Rating: 4 1/2 STARS

INGREDIENTS

Gnocchi from the refrigerated section of the grocery store (we used some yummy whole-wheat sweet potato variety)
Cherry tomatoes
Fresh baby spinach
1 cup pesto
Part-skim ricotta cheese

DIRECTIONS

Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions. You could, of course, make your own gnocchi from scratch. But then you would probably be showing off. And this is not a task you should attempt when you are already hungry before you even start cooking. Let the gnocchi drain and cool while you work on the rest of the salad.

Quarter the cherry tomatoes.

Cut the spinach into pieces that will fit into a nice bite. I cut ours roughly in half.

In a bowl, mix the pesto with a couple of spoonfuls of ricotta. Toss the gnocchi, tomatoes, and spinach in the pesto mixture. Salt and pepper to taste, and top with a dollop of ricotta.

Week 79: Red Lentil Soup and Oat Soda Bread

I made this soup because:

-The blog I found it on made it sound like it was one of the greatest soups to ever be slurped.
-It's stinkin' cold outside. Can you say Blizzard 2011?
-Red lentils intrigue me. (Even though they were hard to find. Thanks, Whole Foods.)
-It was an excuse to use my immersion blender. What a fun tool that is.

I made the bread because:

-I love carbs.
-Sorry if you thought I had more reasons than that.

The soup was delicious. I ended up pureeing more than the recipe said to simply because I wasn't in the mood for a very chunky soup. I loved how pureeing the beans and veggies gave the soup a creamy, thick texture, but was still so healthy. It inspired me to try playing around my immersion blender with other combinations of beans and veggies. I'll let you know if I find anything great.

The bread was good for what it was. I loved that it was easy since it was a soda bread, and didn't require any yeast. Yeast intimidates me. The seeds on top of the bread were a good addition, and my favorite was the flavor of the caraway seeds. The bread was pretty dense, but was yummy warm with melted butter, or with honey. I may also be a little bitter because of the fact that I sawed into my finger when trying to slice the bread, so I may or may not be holding on to that grudge as I write this review...

SOUP Year of Yum Rating: 4 1/2 STARS

SOUP INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of ground chili powder, more to taste
1 quart chicken stock
1 cup red lentils
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
Juice of 1/2 lemon, more to taste

SOUP DIRECTIONS

In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons oil over high heat until hot and shimmering. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until golden, about 4 minutes.

Stir in tomato paste, cumin, salt, black pepper and chili powder or cayenne, and sauté for another 2 minutes.

Add broth, lentils and carrots. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover pot and turn heat to low. Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste and season with salt if necessary.

Using an immersion or regular blender or a food processor, purée half the soup then add it back to pot. Soup should be somewhat chunky.

Reheat soup if necessary, then stir in lemon juice.

BREAD Year of Yum Rating: 3 STARS

BREAD INGREDIENTS

2 cups (minus about 2 tablespoons) oat flour
~2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and kneading
1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons fine-grain sea salt
1 3/4 cups buttermilk, plus more if needed, and 2T. for brushing
mixed seeds - sesame, caraway, poppy

BREAD DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the middle of the oven. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray and set aside.

Sift the flours, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the flour and pour in the buttermilk. Stir just until everything comes together into a dough.

Turn out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead for 30 seconds or so, just long enough for the dough to come together into a cohesive, slightly flattened ball without many cracks or fissures. If your dough is on the dry side, add more buttermilk a small splash at a time. Now ease the dough evenly into the prepared baking pan.

Brush all over the top and sides with buttermilk and sprinkle generously with mixed seeds or flour, 2 tablespoons or so. Slice a few deep slashes across the top of the dough. Bake for about 30 minutes, then quickly (without letting all the hot air out of the oven), move the rack and the bread up a level, so the top of the bread gets nice and toasted. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until a hard crust forms and the bread is baked through. It will feel very solid and sound hollow when you knock on it.

Carefully lift it out of the pan, in a timely fashion, and allow to cool on a wire rack. Enjoy with a good slathering of salted butter.

Week 78: Chicken Fried Quinoa

This week Abby read my mind. Just days before we got together to cook, I had expressed my desire to try to make chicken fried rice. When Abby showed up at my house telling me that we were making that, ONLY BETTER because we would be using quinoa instead of rice, I was so excited. I do love my quinoa.

This recipe was easy, and was yummy both right away and for lunch for the next couple of days. Especially drenched in soy sauce. Mmmm...salt...

I think next time I'd like to add more vegetables. Maybe some broccoli and sugar snap peas would be good.

Year of Yum Rating: 4 STARS

INGREDIENTS

2 cups cooked quinoa
½ lb chicken cut into cubes
1/3 cup pre-cooked fresh corn cut from the cob
1/3 cup pre-cooked fresh peas
1/3 cup cut diced carrots
2 eggs
2-3 tbsp green onions diced (use as much as you prefer)
1 tbsp soy sauce (plus more to taste after cooking)
1 can sliced water chestnuts (we used about 3/4 of the can)
Olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

• Cook the quinoa first and let it stand and cool down. It’s important to let the quinoa sit in its water for at least ½ an hour before you start cooking it so you get no bitter taste.

• In a saucepan big enough to hold all the Quinoa Fried Rice, heat some oil and then stir fry the chicken until it’s mostly cooked. Add salt & pepper to taste.

• Add in the carrots, and sautee about a minute with the chicken to start softening the carrots up a bit.

• Add in the peas and corn and sautee with the chicken and carrots for about a minute.

• Scramble the eggs in a cup and then pour in with the chicken, carrots, peas, and corn. It is important to cook the scramble eggs before adding in the quinoa. If you pour the raw egg onto the quinoa, the quinoa will get soggy.

• When the eggs are scrambled, pour in the quinoa, water chestnuts, and the green onions along with the soy sauce. Mix all ingredients together well. Let cook in pan, stirring continually for about 1-2 minutes.