Roasted Cauliflower, Pecan, and Sage Risotto

Oh my dear.  I had never tasted risotto before my experience with this recipe from Donna Hay's blog.  I cannot believe how outrageously good it is.  There is something about roasting things that brings out their soul-warming flavor and fills you up with good thoughts.  I broke what my mother described as "The Cardinal Rule of Hostessing" with this risotto: I made a recipe I had never tried before (ok, a food I had never even tried before) and served it to a guest.  Luckily I cater to lovely guests who would tell me my cooking was delicious even if they were choking it down.  But I think this time, it was definitely the real deal!

Rice isn't exactly my friend.  I am surprised how long it takes to reach al dente every single time I cook it.  It boils and simmers and I stir and stir, and the liquid evaporates and I add more and the rice is STILL all stubborn and crunchy.  The recipe I used suggests aborio rice. To be honest, I still don't know what aborio is but I do know that I used brown and, although it was delicious, it took nearly a lifetime to cook.  So if you know what aborio rice is and you have some, for goodness sake, use it!

Besides the rice mystery, this risotto is quick, easy, and - as my grandmother always used to say - scrumpt-diddly-umptious.  I really think she said it best.

What you'll need:

• 1/2 crown of cauliflower
• 2 tbs olive oil
• Sea salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cupped chopped pecans
• 1 bunch sage
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 tbs butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups aborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry sherry (or any red wine you find in the cupboard, really)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan 

What to do: 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss together oil, salt, pepper, and cauliflower until evenly coated and then lie flat on a baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes, and then add the pecans and half of your sage and cook another 5-8 minutes or until everything is golden-brown and crispy. Set aside. 
   
2. Pour chicken stock into a medium sauce pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  In another, large saucepan, melt butter and saute chopped onion until soft. Then, add the rest of the sage, the rice, and the sherry and cook for 1-2 minutes or until the sherry is absorbed.  You'll know it's absorbed when your onions turn red and there is no liquid left in the pan. 
   
3. Next, using a ladle, scoop a cup of chicken stock at a time and gradually stir it into the rice mixture until you have added all of the chicken stock.  Stir continuously - about 25-30 minutes is you have the quick-cooking stuff, and a painstaking lifetime if you are like me with the brown rice - until the stock is absorbed and the rice is soft.  
4. Mix in the Parmesan and top with roasted cauliflower, pecan, and sage mixture. Voila!  A beautiful, gourmet side dish for your weeknight meal!
   

I served my risotto with pork chops roasted in a honey glaze and a crisp Caprese salad to invigorate the taste buds with a fresh snap on top of all that savory yumminess.  Add a little meat to this risotto and you've got yourself a main dish. Enjoy!

Much love,

Deidre

Savory Shrimp with Lemon Garlic Butter and Fresh Mint

I am always writing, "Create something colorful!" and, "Go crazy and make your own flavor pairings!" and, "Spice it up!" This week I decided to take my own advice and, balancing way out on the limb of my comfort zone, not only came up with some flavor pairings of my own but also de-skinned and de-veined some extremely raw shrimp with my bare hands. Yes, I know - it is utterly shocking.

While we are on the subject, let's have a little conversation about shrimp.  When you are given the option of buying shrimp that is all ready to go - cooked, peeled and deveined, I mean - and buying shrimp that looks like it just hopped out of the sea, wisely choose the first option. I chose poorly.  I was under the impression that buying raw shrimp would be fresher and more erm- culinary- than buying the ready-to-rumble shrimp.  It made me feel less guilty about buying it frozen.  After watching a terrifying tutorial on how to peel shrimp and hurriedly trying to pick off the crustacean legs plastered to my arm before my husband walked through the door, however, I concluded that while my experience very well may have made me into more of a woman, it also was not one I ever intend to relive. 

I was hesitant to post my recipe because I have not perfected it. I hemmed and hawed over it all week long.  But then I realized that, much the same as many things in life, if you wait forever for something to be perfect well... you'll be waiting forever.  I expect you'll be seeing a second edition of this recipe on The Gourmet Weekday in the future, but it will likely be a month or so before I recover enough from my shrimping trauma to give it another try. 

P.s. I wanted to use white wine as a base for my sauce, but all I could seem to rustle up was butter. If anyone has a chance to make it with wine, please share how it turns out!

What you'll need:

• 1/2 lb shrimp 
• 2 - 2 1/2 cup milk
• Crushed red pepper 
• 2 garlic cloves
• Juice and zest of an entire lemon
• 1/2 lb asparagus
• 1/4 sugar snap peas
• 4-5 tbs butter
• Black pepper and sea salt to taste
• 3 sage leaves
• Linguine, cooked al dente
• Fresh mint to garnish

What to do:

1.  Melt butter over medium-low heat in dutch oven (reserve 1-2 tbs for later). Cut lemon in half and squeeze the juice from both sides in with the butter. Add shrimp to lemon-butter mixture.  Sprinkle sparingly with crushed red pepper, mix in chopped garlic, then allow shrimp to fully turn pink. 

2.   Add 1 1/2 cups of milk to pot and bring to a boil, being sure to stir regularly.  Turn heat down to low and allow sauce to simmer.

  

3.   Meanwhile, chop your asparagus into thirds.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet and sauté asparagus and sugar snap peas over medium heat until golden and crispy.  Then, set aside.

4.   Keep an eye on your scampi.  As it simmers, you will notice the sauce will thicken and reduce. When this happens, add the remainder of the milk and butter and stir frequently to be sure it does not burn. When your sauce is the consistency you want (shorter cook time if you like it to be thinner, longer cook time if you are looking for creamy), add asparagus, sugar snap peas, and sage.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over low heat for 2-3 minutes.

5.   Add linguine to pot and mix with scampi.  Allow to simmer 2 minutes, then remove from heat. 

6.  Place scampi on plate and garnish with lemon zest, fresh mint, and a twist of lemon. Serve and prepare to awe!

This dish was lighter than I imagined it would be.  I went a little crazy on the red pepper, which left my husband and I panting by the time the meal was over, but the mint and lemon left a refreshing snap on the palette.  This meals takes less than 20 minutes to whip together (if you don't have shrimp to de-leg, that is) and it is rich in protein and veggie-full nutrients! Give it a try and feel free to try to help me perfect it - comments are appreciated! 

Much love,

Deidre

Baked Potato Soup, Skinny Style

Baked potato soup is a beautiful thing.  The flavors of hearty russet potatoes, creamy milk and cheese, and crunchy bacon commingle in perfect harmony on your soup spoon.  But one of the drawbacks of this oh-so-good combinations is that it's, well.... it's super high in calories and fat.  Oh, the tastiest foods always are.

But I have a solution: Cauliflower.  Yep, that white broccoli copycat that you never quite know how to prepare will become the creamy base for your baked potato soup.  And trust me friends, you will love it. And you needn't even feel guilty after indulging.

I thank Skinnytaste for the delightful recipe I am about to share with you.  P.S. it's SO simple!

What you need:

• 2 large russet potatoes
• 1 small cauliflower crown, cut into florets
• 1 1/2 cups fat free chicken broth (low sodium if you're feeling really health-nutty)
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• Sea salt and cracked black pepper
• 1/2 cup fat free sour cream
• 10 tbsp reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese (I used white cheddar, but I think next time I'll try yellow for a more colorful pop!)
• 6 tbsp chopped chives (Scallions for me - shame on me for not knowing the difference)
• 3 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled (Turkey bacon would be healthier, but I used regular old bacon to avoid my husband starting a revolt)

What to do:

1. Bake those potatoes. Pop 'em in the oven at 400 degrees for an hour or so, or if you're in a hurry, you can microwave them by piercing a couple holes in each with a fork, wrapping them in a damp paper towel, and cooking for 7-10 minutes. After the potatoes cool, peel them.
2. While your potatoes cook, steam the cauliflower.  This should take about 15-20 minutes. Drain water out of pot, and then return the cauliflower to it.
   
3. Add the chicken broth, milk, and potatoes to the pot with the cauliflower and bring to a boil over medium heat.  If you have an immersion blender, blend the mixture until it is smooth.  If you don't, you can do what I did and pile it into your blender. It'll get the job done.
   
   
4. Return to the pot.  Add sour cream, half of the chopped chives (or scallions), and salt and pepper and cook on low for another 5-10 minutes.
5. Remove soup from heat and dish it out. Top each bowl with cheese, chives, and bacon, and serve! (Telling your family the soup has cauliflower? Optional.)

Yum, yum, yum.  Let me tell you something unbelievable: my husband knew there was cauliflower in this soup, and he still went back for seconds and THIRDS.  Who needs cream when you can have cauliflower?

Much love,

Deidre

Bold. Hearty. Comforting: French Beef Bourguignon Stew

* If you enjoy this recipe and would like to continue finding more wonderful, weekly recipes at the Gourmet Weekday, please support our local business and pick up your very own veggies4u box, which is stuffed with the fresh vegetable ingredients you need to make the recipes you find here into reality. 

Please, please, PLEASE do not ask me how to pronounce "Bourguignon." While this stew tastes authentic, my French pronunciation is not. Still, something about cooking with a deep red wine makes me want to tie my apron on tight and twirl around the kitchen, speaking in boisterous French (aka gibberish) and slathering goat cheese on a crusty baguette.  On second thought, maybe that's what drinking a deep red wine does to me.  Either way, making this meal was a delight.

There is something I must tell you up front: this Beef Bourguignon has to simmer for about 3 hours.  This fact is both beautiful and a pain in the butt - beautiful in that the long, slow simmer combines the flavors from the beef, broth, and vegetables into one magnificent creation, a pain in the butt in that who has 3 hours to make dinner? To ensure that no one is scared away by the lengthy cook time, I have also included a link to a slow cooker version that is similar to this one. Set it and forget it, if that's your style! 

I found the recipe for this stew on Beyond Wonderful. I adapted it a bit to fit my own kitchen and the ingredients that I rustled up, and also tried to make a healthier version.  I'm trying to ease out of my whole-stick-a-butter syndrome that I mentioned in my last post, and am having some success but haven't quite been able to quit cold turkey.

  Above: These cuts of meat are simple beef
stew meat, which I bought from
Shield's Meat and Produce
 for its great quality.
Plus it doesn't hurt that they cut it up for me!
Below: Instead of Burgundy, I used a Portuguese
 vinho tinto that had a slightly milder flavor.  

  

 What you need to feed 2: 

• 4 strips bacon
• 1 lb stew beef, cut into small pieces
• 2 cups egg noodles
• Ground black pepper and salt to taste
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups Burgundy (or another quality red drinking wine)
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 tbsp tomato paste (or a dash of tomato pasta sauce will do!)
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 carrots, cut in half, and then quartered
• 2 tbs flour
• 1/2 lb brown mushrooms, halved
• 1 cup pearl onions
• 2 tbsp butter
• Fresh thyme
• Fresh parsley, to garnish

What to do:

1. First thing first: fry up that bacon! Use a large skillet so the grease does not splatter everywhere, and be sure to reserve a couple of tablespoons of the grease. Set your bacon aside and break into small pieces when it cools.
2. Sprinkle meat with ground black pepper, and salt if you wish.  I usually try to leave out the salt, especially when cooking with any type of broth, which is high in sodium. Add a little bit of olive oil to the same skillet with the bacon grease in it and brown the beef, making sure it is evenly cooked on all sides.  Then, put the beef aside into a dutch oven.
3. This part is fun: deglaze the greasy skillet with a half cup of the wine.  Scrape the brown bits from the sides and let that yumminess mix together with the wine. Pour the deglaze over the beef in the dutch oven.
4. Then, add bacon, the rest of the wine, broth, tomato paste, and bay leaf to the beef and deglaze liquid and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 2 1/2 hours. 
   
5. Go relax - you have about 2 hours to kick back and enjoy that cheese and French baguette.
6. Now that you are back, it is time to sauté your vegetables.  Heat olive oil on your original skillet and cook carrots until they are golden brown.  I somehow forgot the carrots while shopping for this Gourmet Weekday, so I used fresh green beans instead! Same process, different flavor.  
7. Set carrots aside and do the same for the mushrooms.  Let them soak in a little more red wine, if you like. 
8. Next, sauté your peeled pearl onions in just a tad of butter.  It will give them a nice glow. Sprinkle a little of the flour over the onions and continue cooking until the flour disappears.
   
    
9. Add all of your vegetables to the stew, and let simmer for 30 minutes or until the meat and veggies are nice and tender. * Tip: if your stew is not as thick as you would like it to be, add flour in small measurements and mix until you reach the consistency you are looking for.
10. Meanwhile, cook 2 cups egg noodles and set aside.  
11. Once your stew is finished cooking, add fresh thyme and use it to top the egg noodles.
12. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve!

 Making this recipe may not improve your French skills, but it will give you a warm, contented feeling deep in your belly and impress whoever you're cooking for.  Until next time - 

Much love,

Deidre 

* Link to slow cooker recipe: http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-slow-cooker-boeuf-bourguignon-recipes-from-the-kitchn-196361​

Spinach Lasagna Rolls with Creamy Butternut Squash Sauce

This week has been cold, hasn't it? I don't know about you, but March is a time of chilly frigidness in my life when I can't function properly because all I can do is dream about eating hot, comforting food at home.  The month of March safely falls somewhere between the dead of winter and bikini season, where it's still acceptable to have a repertoire of cheesy pastas and hot, creamy soups on the weekly dinner line-up without an ounce of guilt that you have added a whole stick of butter to that Alfredo sauce or that you just poured cream on your cereal because you ran out of milk.  You won't have to be seen in your skivvies in public for at least 3 more months.
When I knew that I would be making this recipe the other night, I daydreamed about it all day long.  As the icy wind thrashed my hair on my way to my car, I smiled and imagined heavenly ricotta.  As I carried groceries across a sub-arctic parking lot, I pictured warm lasagna noodles ready to be stuffed. And as I shook snow out of my boot that was forming a cold puddle in my sock.... well, then I was just mad.  But the point is, when I got home I took only enough time to change into my yoga pants before I got cooking.
I found this incredible recipe on SkinnyTaste, and oh, what a beautiful thing it is.  As I am writing this, I'm considering the types of words I'm using to describe food and wondering if maybe you think it's a little dramatic, a little "too-much." After careful consideration myself, however, I think not.  Cooking is an art form, and I think it should be treated with all the exclamation as a fine Picasso. Plus, it's edible, which is always a perk.
You'll be happy to know that while I'm suffering from whole-stick-a-butter-and-don't-care syndrome, this recipe is full of nutrients and is indeed health (and thigh) conscious.

Here's what you need:

• 1 lb butternut squash
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup onion
• 2 cloves fresh, minced garlic
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 9 lasagna noodles
• 10 oz fresh chopped spinach
• 15 oz fat free Ricotta cheese 
• 1 egg
• 1 tbs fresh parsley

What to do: 

1. The first matter of business is to get that butternut squash peeled.  Butternut is my frenemy.  I love its rich, almost pumpkin-like smooth flavor, but getting into it is a real feat.  Usually I let my husband whack at it with the big knife, but he wasn't around when I made this.  Don't be scared.  Start by peeling it with a carrot peeler.  Then, use the biggest knife you own and split it down the middle. Watch out for fingers.  Once it's split, scoop out the innards and chop into small cubes. You did it!
2. Get some water boiling for your lasagna while you're chopping the butternut.  Once your lasagna noodles are soft, lay them out on paper towels to make sure they are dry when you need them later.  
3. Boil the butternut until it is very soft.  Drain, being careful to reserve about 1/4 cup of the liquid.  If you have an immersion blender, you can blend the butternut with the liquid in the same pot.  I do not, so I simply put it into the blender.
4. While blending the butternut, heat a large skillet and saute the garlic and onions over medium-low heat until they are a nice golden brown.  Then, add the butternut puree, a healthy dash of Parmesan, and salt and pepper and mix.  Set the sauce aside.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a 9 X 12 baking dish, smooth out about half of the butternut sauce. 
6. Mix Parmesan, ricotta, spinach, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl until evenly combined.  
7. Spoon a thin layer of the cheese and spinach mixture onto the length of one of the lasagna noodles.  Starting at one end, carefully roll it up.  Place the lasagna roll seam-side down in the baking dish.  Do this until you have rolled up all of your noodles. Be sure to reserve a little extra cheese mixture.
8. Top your lasagna rolls each with a dollop of butternut sauce, and then a spoonful of cheese mixture.
9. Cover dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes, or until it is hot and bubbly.  Top with fresh parsley and serve!

 My husband was dubious when I first told him about this recipe.  But when it came out of the oven, he said, "Mmm, smells good." When he took his first bite, he took a contemplative look and said, "Hmm, that's a different flavor." And after about 3 bites, he had decided he loved it and the rolls were scarfed up in the blink of eye. The moral of this story? a.) You can trick your family into meatless Mondays (just don't tell them what you're doing) and b.) Just because something is way different than anything you've ever tried in the kitchen before doesn't mean it isn't devour-worthy.  Spice it up, friends!

Much love,

Deidre

Stuffed-to-the-Brim Spaghetti Squash

* If you enjoy this recipe and would like to continue finding more wonderful, weekly recipes at the Gourmet Weekday, please support our local business and pick up your very own veggies4u box, which is stuffed with the fresh vegetable ingredients you need to make the recipes you find here into reality. 

 Have you noticed how trendy spaghetti squash is these days?  I see it everywhere on Pinterest, other people's blogs, and all over social media.  My first response to this posh squash was that it was a sneaky intruder, trying to be a pasta in a world where, let's be honest, pasta stands unrivaled.

But I finally broke down and decided to give spaghetti squash a shot.  I didn't want to miss out on all the hooplah.  Now this was before veggies4u had gotten started and I wasn't an insider in the produce world, so I went to the grocery store, picked out a small spaghetti squash (just to play it safe), and proceeded to checkout only to have my prized produce ring in at just over $9.00.  NINE DOLLARS, my friends. I stood in shock for a moment, turned to the people behind me in line, who advised me to ditch it and run in quiet, advisory grumbles, and said sorry and walked away, defeated.  I could not justify paying $9.00 for a tiny little old squash - that's the equivalent of two quarts of ice cream, after all.

I said all of that to bring myself to this: You received a lovely golden spaghetti squash in your veggie box this week, and you do not have to choose between it and ice cream because it did not cost you an arm and a leg. Even more importantly, I have a recipe for your squash that you will adore, drool over, and delight in.  And you will only dirty 1 dish. Stuffed-to-the-Brim Spaghetti Squash - what I now consider to be the poshest of produce. 



Here's what you need:

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 1 tbs olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tomato, cubed
• 4 oz tomato sauce - I love Newman's Own: Italian Sausage
• Fresh rosemary
• Crumbled Feta

Now, before you get started, let me add that the best thing about spaghetti squash is that you can stuff it with anything. Mix and match the sauces, the cheeses, the spices, and the veggies you chop up to throw in it.  I was craving a rich tomato dish, and so I went with the more traditional "spaghetti."

How to do it:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Cut your spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds and innards with an ice cream scoop or spoon.
2. Place both halves in a roasting pan or on a cookie sheet face-up and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for 40-50 minutes, or until the flesh is tender when you stick a fork in it.
3. Here's the fun part: Take your fork and shred the squash. Just have at it; there's no special way to go about it.  As you shred, the squash will magically turn into what looks like spaghetti! It's really pretty exciting. 



Here's what it will look like roasted: Shredded on the left, whole on the right.

4. Once you've shredded all that you can shred, add the sauce and tomato and mix right inside the shell of the squash.  Then, top with fresh rosemary and crumbled feta and serve! 

The verdict: I loved making this dish.  It makes the perfect meal for when you have had a long day and do not want to stand in the kitchen chopping, sauteeing, mixing, or whipping. The prep time is about 5 minutes total.  It was entirely delicious and after eating, I didn't even have to unbutton the top of my jeans.  I guess that means I'm pretty much a health nut.

Much love,

Deidre

Husband Approval Rating