Delicious Asparagus Penne

 

Tonight I made this delicious asparagus penne side dish with salmon and was reminded how good this pasta is.  It's a perfect side dish to any fish.   Click here for the recipe.

Favorite Fruit Dip

 
Easy to make and goes great with any fruit.

1 large box instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups milk
1 (8 oz) Cool Whip
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1. Mix together pudding and milk.


2. Add Cool Whip and almond extract.


3. Mix until creamy.


Serve with fresh fruit . Strawberries, grapes, melon, pineapple and apples.

Hint:  So apples don't turn brown I place cut up apples in a bowl of water with the juice of 1/2 lemon and then drain.

Grilled Lemon Chicken

I've adapted this recipe from Cooks Illustrated - 7/2007 magazine

The chicken should be marinated no less than 30 minutes and no more than 1 hour. If you like lemon you'll love this grilled chicken. It has a lot of flavor.  The marinade made the chicken very moist and tender, with just the perfect hit of lemony goodness! Yum! Any left over chicken makes a great sandwich the next day.

Serves 4
Sauce: (I like to double this sauce)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoons lemon juice
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves (basil is also as good)
¼ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Marinade
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
3 medium garlic cloves , minced (about 1 tablespoon)
2 Tablespoons water

4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each), trimmed of excess fat
Vegetable oil for grill rack


1. Whisk together 1 teaspoon mustard, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoons parsley, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in small bowl; set aside for sauce to drizzle on cooked chicken.

2. Whisk together 2 tablespoon lemon juice, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, garlic, and water in medium bowl. Place marinade and chicken in gallon-size zipper-lock bag and toss to coat; press out as much air as possible and seal bag. Refrigerate 30 minutes, flipping bag after 15 minutes. No longer than 1 hour.

3. Remove chicken from bag, allowing excess marinade to drip off. Place chicken on grill.  Cook until bottom of chicken just begins to develop light grill marks and is no longer translucent, 6 to 8 minutes.  Turn chicken over and  continue to cook until chicken is opaque and firm to touch, 6 to 9 minutes longer.

4. Transfer chicken to cutting board, let rest, tented with foil, 5 minutes. Slice each breast on bias into 1/4-inch-thick slices and transfer to individual plates. Drizzle with reserved sauce and serve.

Gourmet Mushroom Risotto

This authentic style risotto is cooked slow but it's oh so worth it.  This recipe comes from allrecipes.  It was a perfect side dish.  It's creamy and has a lot of mushroom flavor.  

Ingredients:

3 cups chicken broth, divided (have extra on hand as I used about 5 cups) 2 tablespoon olive oil, divided 1/2 pound  portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced (I used baby portobello mushrooms) 1/2 pound white mushrooms, thinly sliced 1 shallots, diced 3/4 cup Arborio rice

1/4 cup dry white wine   salt & pepper; freshly ground black pepper to taste (I didn't use any salt because I used extra parmesan) 2 tablespoon finely chopped chives (I used 2 tablespoons Italian parsley because that is what I had on hand) 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I used 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese)

Directions:

Serves: 4

1.	In a saucepan, warm the broth over low heat.
2.	Warm 1 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the mushrooms, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Remove mushrooms and their liquid, and set aside.
3.	Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet, and stir in the shallots. Cook 1 minute. Add rice, stirring to coat with oil, about 2 minutes. When the rice has taken on a pale, golden color, pour in wine, stirring constantly until the wine is fully absorbed. Add 1/2 cup broth to the rice (use a soup ladle), and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente (I like my rice soft so I cooked it longer about 30 minutes), about 15 to 20 minutes.
4.	Remove from heat, and stir in mushrooms (I drained the liquid) with their liquid, butter, chives (or parsley), and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste (I didn't add any salt)

The Works Burgers

These burgers are amazing!  They are tender and full of flavor.  Make sure you make the oregano garlic mayo because it took the burger over the top.  The recipe comes from the blog Ungourmet, check it out for some more great recipes. 

1 lb  ground chuck
3-4 pieces bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1/2 cup chopped fresh spinach
1/2 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped black olives or green olives (we like the green olives)
2 oz crumbles feta
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp worcestershire
1/2 tsp salt
cracked pepper

fresh spinach (I used lettuce)
oregano garlic mayo (recipe follows)
whole wheat buns

Combine beef, bacon, mushrooms, feta, garlic, onion, ketchup, worcestershire, salt and pepper. Form into evenly sized patties (4-5 patties). Grill.

Place each patty on a toasted bun and garnish with spinach or (lettuce) and oregano garlic mayo.

Oregano Garlic Mayo

1/2 cup mayo
1 tbsp fresh or 1 tsp dried oregano (I used dried oregano)
1 clove minced garlic (I used 1/8 tsp garlic powder)

Here is a kitchen gadget that I love to use to make burgers. 

First put a layer of plastic wrap down for easy removal.

Perfect size burgers every time.

Really Good Slaw

 What I like about this slaw is it's made with broccoli slaw and not cabbage.  It's extra crunchy and has good flavor.  Also the next day it keep it's crunch.

 

12oz Broccoli Slaw (like coleslaw but made with shredded broccoli, carrot and red cabbage, it is extra crunchy.  

You can find this in the produce section)

1 small golden delicious apple

1/3 cup raisins (or craisins)

3/4 cup mayo (I like Hellmann's)

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Mix all together and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Serves 6