Vegetable Risotto

A brown rice dish chocked full of veggies.  

Sounds like a healthy dinner to me!  We greatly enjoyed this recipe; using brown rice in place of the traditional Arborio rice used in risotto {because, hey, that's all we had in the pantry}.  

When we make it again, I'll either (a) increase the liquids and cooking time, (b) use Minute brown rice {as I do in my other risotto recipe}, or (c) actually use the recommended Arborio rice.  These simple changes will help to make sure that the rice is gooey and not still crunchy.     

Vegetable Risotto - Inspired by Pioneer Woman

6 C chicken broth*
1 C water*
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 C chopped carrots
1 C chopped broccoli
1 C chopped cauliflower
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 T minced onion flakes
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 C brown rice {Minute or Arborio Rice recommended}
1/2 C dry white cooking wine
1 C frozen peas
1/2 C Parmesan cheese
Sea salt, to taste


Begin by melting the butter in a large skillet. Add olive oil.

Add in the chopped carrots and cook about 5 minutes.

Add to the mix all the other yummy chopped veggies. I chopped these all in my food processor.

Cook for about 5 minutes, until zucchini is crisp-tender. Then, set the veggies aside {cover them to keep warm}.

In the same skillet, add in the risotto.

I used brown rice because that's what we had... and you can use it too, just know the cooking time is much longer than with risotto. *If you use risotto, use 5 C broth. If brown rice, up that to 6 C chicken broth + 1 C water.

Add in the white wine and cook rice over med-low heat until the wine is absorbed.

Meanwhile, bring the broth and water to a simmer in a saucepan.

Using a ladle, add in hot broth to the rice in the skillet and cook until almost all the liquid is absorbed... then add in about 1 more cup of broth.

This is a time consuming process -- taking about 1 hour to fully cook with brown rice -- but it's well worth it. If you wish, speed up the process by using mintue brown rice.

When the rice is just about done, add the veggies back into the pan.
Add in the peas, cooking until warmed throughout.

Mmmm.

Sprinkle on and stir in the Parmesan cheese.

Allow the heat from the dish to melt the cheese. Trust me, it's better that way.

Season with salt and pepper.  Serve warm.

We enjoyed this as a stand-alone dish, but it would accompany grilled chicken wonderfully too.

Macaroni Salad

Do you need a quick and delicious salad for tomorrow's Memorial Day BBQ?

Frog Prince requested his mom's macaroni salad; he listed off the ingredients and I set to work. While the traditional macaroni salad has celery, we used green pepper in its place and I loved that switch.

This salad is easily made in 30 minutes and keeps well in the refrigerator. You might find that you'll need to add a bit more mayo the next day because the noodles will absorb the mayo as the salad sits - but the flavors mix wonderfully!

Macaroni Salad

14.5 oz box of macaroni (we used Ronzoni Smart Taste)
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 C baby carrots, sliced
1 T minced onion
4 oz. frozen peas
1 C mayo (we used mayo made with olive oil)
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 T cider vinegar
paprika
parsley
sea salt
black pepper

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions; be sure not to over cook the pasta so that the noodles become overly soft.

Add the frozen peas in the last minute of cooking. Then, drain.

While the pasta is cooking, chop up the veggies.

Allow the pasta and peas to cool down and then place in a large bowl.  As the pasta cools down, stir every few minutes to prevent the noodles from clumping together as they dry.

Add the chopped up veggies.

Stir to combine.

Add the minced onion, and stir these veggies in too. Alternatively, you can use fresh onion here.

Stir together the mayo, sugar, dry mustard, and cider vinegar until smooth and creamy.

Pour the mayo mixture over the pasta.  Do this in small batches.  Add a little, stir it in well and repeat.  This way, the creamy sauce gets all over the pasta and you can stir it in well.

Stir in the mayo mixture until the pasta and veggies are coated.

Then, season, to taste with parsley, paprika, salt and pepper.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  If desired, you can also add tuna fish or chicken (either canned or grilled chicken breast).

Enjoy!

Linked to: Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Tasty Tuesday, This Week's Craving, URS(2). 

Ham and Broccoli Pockets

Ever since we had success with our pizza pockets, my mind has been swirling.  Breakfast pockets.  And, now -- ham and cheese pockets.

Whole wheat dough, a filling made with ham and green veggies, and a sauce with great flavor from extra sharp cheddar cheese made creamy from flour and milk!  

The original recipes uses a filling that combines mild cheddar cheese and butter.  I've found that you can eliminate the butter and still get a nice thick sauce.  And, if you use extra sharp cheddar cheese, the flavor is much greater and therefore you can use less cheese.  Just a little healthier... but every little bit helps, right?

Ham and Broccoli Pockets - Inspired by Good Life Eats
Makes 8-10 pockets

Dough
1 C really warm water
1 tsp. honey
1 T yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 T olive oil
1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 C white whole wheat flour

Filling
1 1/2 C diced ham
1 1/2 C broccoli florets, chopped
1 C peas
4 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 1/2 C milk*
1/8 C chicken broth
3 T flour
1/4 tsp. pepper


Prepare dough by dissolving the yeast in the warm water.  Allow this mixture to sit for ~1 minute.  Then, add in the honey, salt and olive oil.  Using your mixer, mix in the flour.  Knead about 5 minutes until smooth.  Allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes while you prepare the filling ingredients. 

Place the frozen veggies (or fresh -- I ended up using frozen) in a large bowl.  

Add the diced ham.  

Saute the veggies and ham together until warmed.  Then, set aside.  

Combine the chicken broth and flour in a measuring up.  Stir until flour and broth are smoothly mixed together.  

Add the broth and flour mixture to a saucepan.  Heat over medium heat, stirring until mixture just begins to thicken.  Then, add in the milk.  Season with pepper.  

Stir until mixture thickens.  Then, remove from the heat.  Add in the cheese.  

As the heat from the dish melts the cheese, you may need to add a bit more milk to increase the liquid nature of the sauce.  I ended up adding between 1/8-1/4 C.  

At this point, divide the dough into 8-10 pieces, and roll/press each out into a circle.  

Place ~1- 1 1/2 C filling on half of the dough circle.  

Using a pastry brush, lightly wet the outer edge of the dough.  Then fold the dough over the filling and use a fork to seal.  

Bake in a preheated oven at 400 for 10-12 minutes until pockets are lightly browned.  

Cool for 3-4 minutes before cutting and serving.  Filling will be hot!  

Linked to: Ingredient Spotlight, What's on Your Plate? Your Recipe, My Kitchen, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Mangia Monday, Hunk of Meat Monday  

Honey Mustard Stir Fry

There are just some nights when Frog Prince and I crave a plate full of veggies.  Does that ever happen to you?  

Great.  I knew we were strange.  

We wanted a stir fry of sorts, but didn't have anything good to marinade the veggies with as we were out of soy sauce and every non-cream based sauce recipe calls for, you guessed it, soy sauce.  

Urg.  

So, we went with what we had.  

Frog Prince mixed up a spicier version of the sauce -- mustard, honey, water, cornstarch, pepper... lots and lots of pepper.  

I went with a more dainty and less sweat-producing sauce of simple mustard and honey.  

Drizzled over the sauteed veggies and served with brown rice, it was a delicious {and quick} dinner.  

Honey Mustard Stir Fry - Finding Joy in My Kitchen

1 medium bell pepper (we used half yellow, half orange)

1 large handful of sweet pea pods

1 (14oz) bag of frozen veggies (cauli, broccoli and carrots)

1 T olive oil

2 T spicy brown mustard

2 T honey

Begin by chopping the veggies and sauteeing them in olive oil for about 5 minutes.  

While the veggies cook away, combine the mustard and the honey in a small bowl.  

Mix until blended and then set aside.  

When the veggies are crisp-tender, or done to your liking, serve them atop a bed of brown rice.

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Drizzle the honey mustard sauce over the top of the veggies.  

Then, enjoy your plate full of veggies.

Mmm.

This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Mouthwatering Mondays.