Portabella Mushroom Risotto

In an effort to use the chives from our CSA box, and the portabella mushrooms in our fridge, I made this recipe tonight.  I wasn't brave enough to try it with mushrooms because I really dislike mushrooms, but Chris cannot stop raving about it.  If I remember correctly, he used the words sublime and divine to describe it.

The only modification I made to the recipe is that I used only 8oz of portabella mushrooms, and no white mushrooms.  I also found that I didn't need all the broth that was called for.

When I buy dry white wine for a risotto recipe, I always buy the cheapest wine possible.  If the remainder is drinkable, that's a bonus :)  I'm happy to say that tonight's chardonnay was more than just drinkable, it was quite good!  Especially when paired with my mushroom-less risotto.

Raspberry Streusel Bars

This recipe comes via the Brown Eyed Baker, who got the recipe from Cook's Illustrated All-Time Best Recipes.  I also found the recipe on cooksillustrated.com, but accessed with my membership, so here's my printer-friendly link.  

 

These bars are very, very good!  So good, in fact, that I brought the pan into work today to avoid eating them all myself.  My co-workers told me they approve of this method of portion control :)

 

Although there are quite a few steps in this recipe, it is overall fairly easy to make.  Just be sure to allow the full 1 to 2 hours for cooling before moving the foil from the pan to a cutting board.

 

Asian Quinoa Bowl

Holly recently blogged about Make-Your-Own Quinoa Bowls, and as soon as I saw bok choy listed as an ingredient, I knew I had found the final recipe needed to use the remainder of our CSA vegetables this week.

Both Chris and I really liked this recipe, and will definitely make it again.  His version with an over-easy egg is shown below. 

The total calories for this recipe is 2,281, so 570 calories per serving.  One element I really like about this recipe is the high protein count of quinoa, edamame and eggs.  The total protein is 110 grams, which is 28 grams per serving.

1 cup quinoa (626 calories, 24g protein)
1 tablespoon canola oil (120 calories)
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes (67 calories)
1 head bok choy (109 calories)
2 cups edamame (753 calories, 66g protein)
3 tablespoons sesame oil (360 calories)
2 tablespoons soy sauce (30 calories)
4 eggs (216 calories, 20g protein)

Asian Quinoa Bowl

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

Quinoa Mixture:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 head bok choy, torn
• 2 cups edamame

Sauce:

• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• drizzle of honey

To Serve:

• 4 fried eggs
• Sriracha, to taste
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

• In a medium pan, heat quinoa and water over medium-high heat. Once water comes to a rolling boil, reduce heat to medium-low and cover with a lid. Cook approximately 15 minutes, until the water is completely absorbed.
• Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil, garlic and ginger in a large saute pan over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add halved tomatoes, bok choy and edamame, stirring occasionally, cooking for 10 minutes.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the sauce ingredients. Then add the quinoa and sauce to the vegetable mixture, and toss until mixture is completely coated.
• Meanwhile, add cooking spray to another saute pan and fry four eggs. To serve, add one quarter of the quinoa mixture and top with a fried egg. Add Sriracha, salt and pepper as desired.

Recipe adapted from: The Healthy Everythingtarian

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Kale Soup with Wheat Berries

We're still making progress on our CSA box.  Tonight, I subbed kale for spinach in our favorite farro soup recipe.  I also ended up subbing wheat berries for farro after realizing that the farro supply in my pantry had dwindled.  Chris and I both really loved this kale and wheat berries version.

The total calories for this soup is 1,097.  It serves 4 as a main meal, so that is 274 calories per serving.  I recommend having crusty bread for your remaining dinner calories :)

 

1 cup onion (48 calories)
2 cups carrots (105 calories)
1 1/2 cups celery (21 calories)
2 tablespoons olive oil (240 calories)
15oz diced tomatoes (88 calories)
5 cups vegetable stock (75 calories)
1 1/2 cups wheat berries (453 calories)
3 cups kale  (67 calories)

 

Kale Soup with Wheat Berries

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 2 cups carrots, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups celery, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 15oz can diced tomatoes
• 5 cups vegetable stock
• 1 1/2 cups wheat berries
• 3 cups kale

Instructions

• Soak wheat berries overnight in cold water, then drain the next day. Or you can boil the wheatberries for approximately 30 minutes to soften them, just before you make the soup.
• In a 6- to 8 qt pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrots and celery. Saute for 5 minutes.
• Add tomatoes, vegetable stock and pre-soaked wheat berries. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Stir in the kale, and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

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Artichoke Spinach Lasagna & Kiwi Strawberry Parfaits

I am really enjoying having my friend Tracy here this weekend!  We spent a couple hours shopping at Kohl's tonight after having this awesome artichoke spinach lasagna recipe.  I like this recipe because the prep is fairly easy, but you do need to allow an hour or so for baking and cooling.

Post-shopping, we had kiwi & strawberry sorbet parfaits, which were a delicious dessert!  We ate outside by the light of the tiki torches, entertained by Chris who was performing Shakespeare...it was quite the night :)  

You can't see the sorbet in the parfait photo below, but four small scoops were in there and it was amazing.  There are several steps to the sorbet recipe, which require wait time in between (first to chill the mixture, and then to freeze after processing in an ice cream maker), however I definitely think it is worth making!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crunch

In just over 24 hours, I've made a decent dent in my CSA box.  We've eaten all the lettuce (in 4 salads), planted the tomato plant, and late last night, I made strawberry-rhubarb crunch.  I scaled down the original recipe and made an 8x8 version.

When I was searching for a strawberry-rhubarb recipe, I didn't realize that crisp, crunch and crumble seem to be used interchangeably.  Supposedly, crumble is the British term, crisp is the American term.  I had this type of dessert quite often growing up, and I'm fairly certain we called it crunch, but now I can't remember for certain.

With the leftover strawberries, I made strawberry bruschetta tonight, and it was ok but not great.  I think it just made Chris want traditional bruschetta that much more.  He really liked this bruschetta recipe which I'll be making as soon as tomatoes are in season!

Rhubarb Cake

The one aspect of farmers' markets that I don't like is the ticking time clock on all the wonderful newly acquired produce in my fridge.  Last night I made asparagus for dinner, and then decided I should make something with the rhubarb too.  After checking five cookbooks, I realized that rhubarb is almost always associated with desserts, so I made rhubarb cake.

It was so freaking good, I was worried that Chris and I would eat the entire 9x13 pan, so I brought it into work today where it was promptly devoured.  So this recipe not only gets the stamp of approval by Chris and I, but also by several of my co-workers :)

One of my co-workers said it reminder her of her grandmother's recipe, which is quite appropriate actually considering the All Recipes version I followed is called Oma's Rhubarb Cake.  The only change I made to the recipe was to sub greek yogurt for sour cream. 

This recipe has A LOT of sugar in it, so the next time I make it I'd like to try one reviewer's suggestion of using 3/4 cup sugar in the cake, and making only half of the topping.  Another reviewer suggests mixing the cinnamon with the topping instead of trying to shake it over the cake, which I agree would be much easier, as I ended up with big patches of cinnamon.

Pear Tart

I had some very ripe pears that were begging to be made into a dessert, but I didn't have much time tonight (only 30 minutes while the stuffed peppers cooked), so I combined my favorite dutch apple cake recipe with a recipe for pear pie.  The result was fantastic and was even better with vanilla ice cream :)

As you can see from the photos on the bottom right, the pears will not look much different after being baked.  It's important not to over bake, in an attempt to brown the pears, because the tart crust will become dry.  Here's the recipe I came up with for my pear tart creation; highly recommend making it!

Black Bean Stuffed Peppers

I had a really enjoyable day!  After getting home from the farmers' market, I read Something Blue and took a nap.  I like reading chick lit every now and then, because it's entertaining and I can finish a book in an afternoon. 

I woke up just in time to make dinner, which was stuffed peppers and a salad, with a pear tart for dessert.  Everything was fabulous.  I made the peppers that I saw demonstrated at the Taste of Home cooking show I recently attended, and I think it's a great recipe!

I made a couple minor changes to the recipe because I prefer fresh onion to dried, and we already had co-jack cheese, so I didn't buy Mexican-style as called for in the original recipe.  Next time I'd like to try quinoa in place of brown rice to make it even healthier.

Black Bean Stuffed Peppers

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients (6 servings)

• 3 oz cream cheeese, softened
• 1 can (15oz) diced tomatoes
• 1 can (4oz) diced green chiles
• 1 can (15oz) no salt added black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups cooked brown rice or quinoa
• 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach leaves
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 3 large (10oz each) bell peppers, any color
• 1/4 cup co-jack cheese, shredded

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour 1 1/4 cups water into the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan.
• In a large bowl, stir cream cheese until smooth. Then stir in tomatoes, beans, rice, spinach, onion, cumin and oregano.
• Cut peppers in half, remove seeds and membranes. Fill each with 3/4 cup rice mixture.
• Place in prepared pan and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 35 minutes, adding water to the pan if necessary.
• Serve immediately, as they cool quickly.

Source: Taste of Home Cooking School magazine, Spring 2011

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Crescent Veggie Pizza

This is such a great appetizer or light meal, especially in the summer.  Although, the temp dropped nearly 50 degrees here today, so it no longer feels like summer in Wisconsin.

I'm a big fan of garlic, so I initially tried this recipe with fresh garlic, but it was overpowering, so I now use garlic powder instead.  In order to get broccoli and cauliflower into small enough pieces, I use my Pampered Chef food chopper.

Crescent Veggie Pizza

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 13 minutes

Ingredients (serves 8)

• 8 oz package crescent roll dough
• 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 cups assorted vegetables (any combination), chopped into small pieces, such as: zucchini, broccoli, mushrooms, cucumber, cauliflower, tomato or grated carrots 

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Unroll dough (I prefer the seamless sheet version) and place on an ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake 11-13 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, mayonnaise, dill and garlic powder until smooth. Spread over crust, then top with vegetables.
• Cut with a pizza cutter, and serve.

Recipe adapted from: Pillsbury.com

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