I made this easy recipe last night and all three of my girls chowed it down. Sometimes I forget how easy it is to make couscous. If you live in Utah, the cheapest place I have found to buy couscous is the bulk section of The Good Earth. Nectarines are in season right now and they are fabulous!!!
6 servings
Cooking Light, June 2000 ( 1 cup)
1 ¼ cups water
1 cup uncooked couscous
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1 ½ cups coarsely chopped nectarines (about 3 medium)
½ cup coarsely chopped spinach
¼ cup thinly sliced green onions
1 (15 ½-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
Nectarine slices (optional)
Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan, gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork; cool. Combine lime juice and next 5 ingredients (juice through coriander0 in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add couscous, chopped nectarines, spinach, onions, and chickpeas; toss well. Garnish with nectarine slices, if desired.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Nectarine-and Chickpea Couscous Salad With Honey-Cumin Dressing
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Tortellini and Ham Salad
I love the double pack of fresh cheese tortellini from Costco. We eat them with just pesto and Parmesan, in a yummy shrimp dish ( I will post the recipe later), with browned butter and fresh sage, and last night my Mom made this recipe with a package I had saved in my freezer. We substituted bottle roasted red pepper for the fresh and sadly she couldn't find marinated mushrooms at Days or Costco.
Tortellini and Ham Salad
Family Fun Magazine, 2006
1 (9-ounce) package fresh cheese tortellini
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups diced ham
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1 (4-ounce) jar marinated mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup chopped black olives
4 scallions (white and pale green parts), chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan (optional)
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the tortellini and cook according to the package directions, or just until tender. Drain the water, rinse the tortellini under cold water, and drain it again.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, rosemary, garlic, and sugar. Add the tortellini, ham, bell pepper, mushrooms, olives, and scallions to the dressing and toss to coat. Season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Cover the bowl and let the salad stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes. Serve with grated Parmesan, if desired. Makes 4 servings
Note: We didn't let it cool longer than it took to throw the ingredients in and it was good without the Parmesan. One package of the tortellini from Costco was enough to roughly double the recipe.
Barbecued Hamburgers
We had these burgers the other night and I remembered how much I like them. They are a good make-ahead meal if you are feeding a lot of people, or if you just have a few to feed you can freeze the leftovers in portions that are right for your family. They are good with just the BBQ sauce you cook them in or you can dress them up with the usual burger toppings. We had cheese, tomato, pickle, caramelized onion, and some chose to put Ketchup on. I like them on squishy wonder bread type buns, but I like them even better on fancy buns (possibly made with artisan bread dough). Whatever sounds good to you.
Barbecued Hamburgers
Managing Your Meals, Winnifred C. Jardine
1/1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 egg, slightly beaten
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs or quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons coarsely grated onion
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup catsup
½ cup water
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
Combine beef, egg, crumbs, milk, salt, pepper, and 3 tablespoons chopped onion. Shape mixture into 12 patties, allowing 1/4 cup mixture per patty. Brown in hot skillet, using a little oil, if necessary. (Or patties may be quickly browned under the broiler; do not overcook, however.) Combine remaining ingredients in large heavy saucepan; simmer 5 minutes. Put in large heavy saucepan; simmer 5 minutes. Put drained patties carefully into barbecue sauce, making sure sauce is spooned over all of them. Simmer for 30 minutes. Serve each patty in a bun with 1 teaspoon sauce over top. Makes 12 patties.
Note: One advantage of these tasty burgers is that they may be prepared ahead of time, refrigerated, then heated slowly just before serving. You can freeze them too!!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Asian Noodle Salad
I had some left over rotisserie chicken in the freezer. I gave it to my Mom and she made Asian Noodle Salad from July 2007 Cooking Light for dinner. It was fresh and good and light tasting. She put in more carrots and water chestnuts than the recipe calls for and used fresh zucchini cut into little squares in place of the green peppers ( I can't eat green peppers when I am pregnant). Since it is a recipe I am planning to make throughout the summer, I thought I would share it with you.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Chicken Quesadillas with Mango Salsa
My belly is so big that it is hard for me to cook. I am in need of a lot of easy dinners because I still have at least 8 weeks until this baby comes. I went grocery shopping at Buy Low last week and found lots of ripe mangos on sale as well as some avocados. Spencer reminded me of this recipe. I change it a bit depending on the ingredients I have. This is the first time I have used avocados in it. I usually put in steamed asparagus. Getting back to easy, I just used what I had. It was good, so I thought I would share it. I would love other easy (summer) dinner ideas from any of you.
Mango Salsa:
2 ripe Mangos cut into medium chunks. If you don't know how to cut a mango check out this clip.
2 ripe avocados cut into medium chunks.
3 T fresh chives--chopped (or any other kind of onion that sounds good to you--red, sweet, green)
Juice from 1/2 lemon or a whole lime
If I don't use chives I put in some chopped cilantro along with the onion.
Salt to taste
Quesadillas:
Cheddar and/or mozerella cheese--as much as you want
Tortillas
Sliced Grilled chicken--I put some KC masterpiece seasoning on two small breasts and cooked them on our BBQ. It was enough for two adults and three kids.
BBQ sauce to taste. I like a medium amount. Too much drowns out the salsa.
Make the quesadillas with the cheese, BBQ sauce and chicken in the middle. Serve with the salsa. We had home-made grape juice with this and that was it.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Baked Ziti
I went to my Grandmas last night for dinner and a fireside with my cousins. She does them every month. She is pretty much the ultimate "home maker". Well educated, mother of eight successful children, fabulous cook, entertainer extroardinaire, gardener, author etc. etc. etc. etc. Sometimes I pretend to be like her. She turns 75 in May and I am positive she gets more done in a day than I do. Anyway, I got in line with my cousins to dish up dinner and I saw a baked pasta dish on the counter. I'm not really a fan of baked pasta, especially with red sauce, so I took a small serving. I went to my seat and had a bite. It was fabulous. I shouldn't have been surprised, after all my Grandma made it. I got the recipe from her and I found it on the internet to share with all of you. Truly it is way good. The diced mozerella was soooo good in it. The only thing she did differently was to use dried basil (to taste) instead of fresh. I am excited to have found such a yummy recipe. It always makes me happy to add another winner to my collection. I might even start subscribing to the magazine.
http://www.recipezaar.com/Baked-Ziti-from-Cooks-Illustrated-354885
One day I will learn how to link the tricky way where you only have to click a highlighted word. For now, you might have to copy and paste it into your browser.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Lemon Caper Chicken
My whole family loves this dish. My girls steal as many capers as possible to go on their chicken. I like it because it is a little fancy, but comes together in 30 minutes or less and it tastes great!! Lately I have been serving the chicken and sauce over whole wheat linguine with broccoli as a side dish. I don't have an exact recipe for this dish. I have adapted it over time from one my sister-in-law Jenny gave to me. I wrote it out the way I make it. I hope it makes sense to you. Feel free to ask questions and I will answer. Also, make sure to read the whole thing through before you start :) I put the ingredients in a different color, so you can quickly scan them when you are making your shopping list.
NOTE: The first thing I do when I am making this dinner is start a big pot of water for the noodles. Then I wash and cut the broccoli. I either cook the broccoli (when everything else is almost done) in the microwave with a little water in a glass pyrex, or steam it on top of my noodles. It turns the pasta water green, but doesn't affect the taste.
Then I start on the chicken:
2 large chicken breasts, pounded as thin as you can
flour--about 1/2 cup--on a plate with shallow sides
2 eggs--beaten--in a wide shallow bowl or plate with adequate sides.
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
Put the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan and start it heating on medium.
I always pound my chicken inside a gallon size ziploc bag to cut down on the mess. I use my marble rolling pin. After I have the chicken pounded I dip it first in the flour and then in the egg and set it directly in the hot frying pan. Cook the chicken until it is golden brown on both sides with no pink in the middle.
While the chicken is cooking make the sauce:
2 C water with 2 chicken bouillon cubes or 1 can chicken broth--divided
1-2 garlic cloves depending on your taste, grated on the microplane or minced
The juice and zest from 1/2 a lemon
Salt to taste
2 T flour
1 bottle of capers--to serve with the chicken and sauce
When the chicken is done, put it on a plate and cover it with foil. Your water will probably be boiling now, so check, and throw the noodles (about 8 oz.) in--if you haven't already. Pour the sauce ingredients into the chicken frying pan--reserving 1/4 C of broth. Scrape off the brown chicken bits at the bottom so they become part of the sauce and let it come to a boil. While you are waiting for it to boil, stir 2 T flour into the 1/4 C of broth until there are no lumps. When the sauce is boiling whisk in the flour/broth mixture and cook for an additional minute or two until it thickens. I always taste it at this point in case it needs salt. If it is too lemony I add more chicken broth. Once you have tasted it etc., take it off the heat. Cook your broccoli until tender crisp. Drain the noodles. Serve the noodles with chicken, sauce, and as many capers as you like. The lemon sauce is good on the broccoli too. Then pat yourself on the back for making your family such a fabulous dinner in 30 minutes.
(Sorry if the punctuation in this recipe is incorrect. I always feel self-concious about punctuation when I know Ann Dee is going to read my stuff. ;))
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Lemon Grass Pork Sandwiches
Spencer and I tried out a new hole in the wall restaurant in Provo named Dew. We really liked it and I was craving the Lemon Grass Pork Sandwiches so much that I decided to make my own. Both Spencer and I decided we liked my version even better than the restaurant. You will have to decide for yourself. I made my own demi-baguettes from the basic artisan dough recipe. We also love the dumplings and the soup at Dew. I would definitely recommend it, but it isn't a fun place for kids.
Lemon Grass Pork Sandwiches
- 6 green onions (white and pale green parts only), chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 3 tablespoons chopped lemongrass*
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon golden brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ginger
- 1 clove garlic--grated on the microplane or minced
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds boneless pork loin chops (each 1/3 to 1/2 ich thick) or bone in if that is what you have.