Asparagus Couscous

So, the grocery store had some AWESOME looking asparagus. I bought it on impulse. Some veggies are like candy to me, this is one. The cold weather is keeping me and McKinley in today, so I had to throw together some lunch for myself. I whipped out the couscous and had an afterthought to add some of that lovely aspargus, this was so easy...it took only minutes. Here's what I ended up with...all I can say is YUM!!!!!!!

Asparagus couscous

1 box couscous

chicken broth (if you prepare couscous with broth, I used water in this recipe)
parmesan cheese, fresh grated
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

sea salt, fresh ground

5 or 6 asparagus stalks (or as many or as little as you'd like!), woody ends removed, remaining stalks chopped into bite size pieces.

Prepare couscous according to box instructions, add sea salt to taste. When the box calls to remove boiling water from heat, add couscous and cover add asparagus. The steam from the boiling water will cook the asparagus so that it is still crunchy.

After water has absorbed, add parmesan, a drizzle of olive oil and serve.

Enjoy!

Garlic Butter Shrimp, Roasted Veggies & Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I'm very proud of this...I came up with this recipe on my own and my husband LOVES it. The whole meal is so easy!

Garlic Butter Shrimp

1 package of frozen, jumbo shrimp (fresh, if you have it where you live!), deveined and peeled, tail on
2 Tbs butter
1 clove garlic, chopped
bamboo skewers (soaked in water for at least 15 minutes)

Preheat stove top grill or grill pan on medium heat. Skew shrimp, 6 per skewer and set aside. In a small skillet over medium heat, melt butter add garlic and lightly sautee until garlic is golden brown. Remove from heat. Brush the skewed shrimp with garlic butter sauce and place on grill. Cook until shrimp begin to turn opaque, turn. When shrimp are pink and opaque on both sides, remove. Brush with remaining garlic butter sauce. Serve with another batch of garlic butter sauce for dipping, if desired.



Roasted Veggies

2 Cups Roasting veggies (I use zuchinni, squash, red pepper, onions, potatoes-if I'm not making mashed potatoes-eggplant, etc), cut into equal sizes
1/2 Cup or so of extra virgin olive oil (enough so that each piece of vegetable is covered
Generous sprinkling of spice rub (I use Robert Rothschild Farm 'Chophouse Steak & Beef Rub... http://www.robertrothschild.com/)

Preheat broiler on low. In a medium, broil-safe baking dish combine all vegetables, coat with the olive oil and sprinkle on the spice rub. Toss to coat. Broil for about 10 minutes, check on them often. Each broiler is different, so cooking times will vary. You'll know they are done when the vegetables have shrunk in size and are browning nicely. Remove from heat and tent with foil.



Garlic Mashed Potatoes

5 or 6 large yukon gold, or gold skinned potatoes, peeled if desired and chopped into large bite size pieces
salt and pepper
2 Tbs butter, optional
1 or 2 cloves of garlic (depending on how badly you want to stink!), minced
generous dollop of sour cream
splash of cream, half & half or milk
1/2 Cup parmesan cheese, fresh grated

In a large pot, boil potatoes in salted, COLD water over medium-high heat until soft. Drain, reserving about a cup of the cooking liquid.

Place potatoes in a large bowl with butter, garlic, salt and pepper to taste, sour cream and milk. Rice the potatoes to desired consistency. Add more milk or cream as necessary. Stir in parmesan cheese and serve, topped with a little more parmesan.

Enjoy!

Margherita Panini

Yet another Giada recipe...I'm a real fan of her yummy recipes. This is so easy and so good! I did some tweaking again...turned out great!

Margherita Panini

2 slices of rustic bread (I used panini bread, or ciabatta)
fresh mozzerella (I think her recipe said 2 slices...I used 3)
fresh tomato slices
fresh basil (her recipe does not say to slice, I say cut it into strips
salt
extra virgin olive oil



Preheat a stove top grill or grill pan (or panini press, if you have one!) over medium heat.


I drizzle the outside of my bread and LIGHTLY salt it with sea salt before I toast it. I think it gives it a crunchy-er texture that I like. Layer the fresh mozzerella (use the fresh-it is SO worth it!), then tomato slices, then the basil. You can top with an extra slice or two of mozzerella, if you like. Toast the panini, and press the panini while it is toasting on the preheated grill until the bread is golden and the cheese is slightly melted. I used my nifty Paula Deen bacon press on top of the panini, but you can use a heavy pan, brick wrapped in foil, etc.


Serve with a light herb salad, this panini is very filling!


Enjoy!

Berry Smoothie

Again, harkening back to my GD (gestational diabetes) days...my doctor told me I had to eat breakfast. I don't like eating breakfast, so I came up with this. I alternated each day between a berry smoothie and oatmeal that I flavored with various spices. I got a hankering for my smoothie again this week, so here it is! It is so good, don't discount it because it is sugar free.

Berry Smoothie (pictured: blackberry)

1 generous handful of berries of your choice, frozen or fresh (I like strawberries, blackberries and blueberries best)
1 Tbs of Splenda (or more, if you like)
1 Cup plain, non-fat yogurt
splash of skim milk
1 generous handful of ice, if you are using fresh berries

In a blender or food processor, combine berries, splenda, milk and yogurt. Process until smooth, or to desired consistency. If using fresh berries, now add ice and process until there are no ice chunks.


If using a 'seeded' fruit, such as blackberries or strawberries, put the mixture through a strainer to eliminate seeds and ice chunks.


Serve in a pretty milkshake or ice cream glass (to make you feel like you are having a high-calorie, over-the-top-yummy treat), top with a dollop of the yogurt and a fresh berry.


Enjoy!

Chocolate pasta with vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate cabernet wine sauce

This is the dessert I made for Valentine's Day. YUM! My husband was not a big fan of the chocolate pasta, and I'm thinking it is an acquired taste, but it was yummy, all the same. Always worth a shot!

1 lb chocolate pasta

1 pint Hagen Daas light vanilla bean ice cream

1/2 Cup chocolate cabernet wine sauce (such as: chocolate rasberry cabernet Vintage Chocolate Dessert Topping by Chocoholics, http://www.gourmetchocolate.com/)

Fill a large pot 3/4 of the way full with water. Heat until boiling, add pasta. Cook until just under al dente. Drain and place in dessert dishes (I would suggest a balloon wine glass. That's what I was going to use, but the pasta was done so quickly that I didn't have enough time to get them down from the wine cabinet!).

While pasta is cooking, heat chocolate wine sauce over medium heat (or in microwave) just until warm. Fill glass with hot water and place an ice cream scoop in hot water. Scoop ice cream and place it in the center of pasta. Drizzle chocolate sauce across pasta and ice cream as desired. EAT!

Enjoy!

Tuscan White Bean & Garlic Soup

This is a Giada De Laurentiis soup that I saw her make a while back. Its been on my foodnetwork online recipe box for a long time. It was so good and only took a few minutes! Sorry about the picture...I know you can barely see the stinkin' soup!

2 Tbs butter

1 Tbs olive oil

2 shallots, chopped

1 sage leaf

2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans (tuscan white beans) drained and rinsed

4 Cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 C cream

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

ciabatta bread sliced

extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

parmesan for topping

Place a medium, heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add the butter, olive oil and shallot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sage and beans and stir to combine. Add the stock and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the garlic and simmer until the garlic is softened, about 10 minutes. Pour the soup into a large bowl. Carefully ladle 1/2 of the soup into a blender and puree until smooth. Be careful to hold the top of the blender tightly, as hot liquids expand when they are blended. Pour the blended soup back into the soup pot. Puree the remaining soup. Once all the soup is blended and back into the soup pot, add the cream and pepper. Keep warm, covered over very low heat.

Now prepare crostini (see recipe for my crostini). Serve soup topped with parmesan cheese.

I omitted the sage. I made this on a whim for lunch the other day and did not have fresh sage on hand. It was wonderful though...so if you hate sage, make it without! Oh, also...the cream can always be substituted.

Zuppa Toscana-from Olive Garden!

OMG, doesn't everyone love this soup? I sure do. Found this recipe and had to give it a try...awesome. I did some tweaking too, see notes at end of recipe.

1 lb Italian sausage, cut into bite size pieces

2 large russet baking potatoes, diced bite size

1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil (this is my addition, more on that below)

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 can oscar meyer bacon bits

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Cups Kale or swiss chard, chopped

2 can chicken broth

1 quart water

1 Cup heavy whipping cream

parmesan or romano cheese for topping

Cook sausage in 300 degree oven for approx. 30 minutes. Drain sausage on paper towel. Set aside.

Heat large, heavy pot under medium heat, add olive oil, onion and garlic and sautee until onions are translucent (3-5 minutes), add potatoes, chicken broth and water and cook until potatoes are done.

Add sausage and bacon, salt and pepper to taste and simmer for another 10 minutes. Turn heat down to low or simmer, add kale and cream. Heat through and serve. Top with parmesan or romano cheese.

This recipe did not take long at all and it made a HUGE pot. Great for making up to have for lunch through the week. I omitted the bacon bits...not a bacon bit fan. I also used low sodium, organic chicken broth and have used low sodium, organic vegetable broth...both are good. I use low sodium so that I can control the amount of salt. Also, the heavy whipping cream can be substituted with half and half (available FAT FREE now!), or even milk. I will be substituting from here on out, but wanted to try the cream to see if it was the same consistency. It was!

Also, the original recipe I found said to place onions, potatoes, chicken broth, water and garlic all together in a pot. I changed this because I like how a quick sautee changes the flavor of onions and brings out the garlic. Whatever works! I don't think this could be messed up, its too good!

Enjoy!

Penne with ricotta pesto

During my Gestational Diabetes days I discovered that I could still cook homemade dishes and we could still eat the food we love the most without the carbs and sugars that I was banned from. I found the original recipe for the penne on a diabetes website. I tweaked it to our liking and it is definitely one of my faves.

Ingredients:
1 lb whole wheat penne rigate
1 C small curd, low fat cottage cheese (substitute ricotta here, if you choose)
splash of skim milk or fat free half & half
1 C baby spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 C fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled roughly chopped
extra virgin olive oil
1/3 C pine nuts or walnuts
salt & pepper to taste
fresh grated parmesan

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook penne until al dente. Reserve at least 1 Cup of cooking liquid before draining.
Meanwhile, in a small skillet, over low heat toaste nuts - stir frequently and watch carefully. Remove from heat.
Combine spinach, basil, garlic, parmesan (to taste), salt & pepper (to taste) in food processor. Pulse until all ingredients are small and equal in size. Hold down chop button and slowly add olive oil to emulsify, until you have a thickish paste.
Combine cottage cheese and milk. Add pesto, mixing until fully incorporated. Add hot, drained penne and serve, topped with fresh grated parmesan and garlic crostini.

Variations: any kind of pesto can be used, such as parsley pesto, basil pesto, sun dried tomato pesto.

Butternut Squash Soup

MMMMmmm! During the cold months we try to have soup or chili at least once a week. This has quickly become a favorite!

Ingredients:

2 lb + butternut squash (peeled, seeded and cubed into equal sizes)

extra virgin olive oil

salt & pepper

pinch of grated nutmeg (or to taste)

pinch of clove

3 to 4 Cups of heavy cream, half & half or whole milk (lighten it up with fat free half & half)

1 can vegetable broth

fresh grated parmesan

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine cubed squash, olive oil (enough to coat squash well), salt & pepper (seasoned to taste) in a large baking dish. Toss to coat. Bake for 45 minutes or until squash is softened and golden. Cool slightly.

Blend cooled squash with cream (or milk or half and half), and broth. Blend to desired texture.

Transfer squash mixture into a large pot on medium-high heat. Add grated nutmeg as desired, pinch of clove, as desired, stir. Heat through and serve, topped with fresh grated parmesan cheese.

I will include a picture of the finished product next time. We liked the soup so much we ate it all before I could get a picture! Ooops.

Lighter tip: for that creamy taste without the calories and fat use part skim milk, part cream. I made our last batch with fat free half and half. It was delicious!