Melissa's Cooking!

Another risotto recipe!!! We sure do love the risotto!!! How can I top the Tomato Risotto? I can’t, I don’t think ever, but since I have my awesome risotto pan, I’m going to keep trying new recipes

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil
• 6-8 cups reduced sodium vegetable broth
• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided into 4 Tbsp and 1 Tbsp
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups of chopped crimini mushrooms
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 1 cup dry white wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese + more to liking
• salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice the top off the head of garlic. Put it on a large square of aluminum foil and drizzle 1 teaspoon of the extra-virgin olive oil over the exposed cloves. Wrap the foil around and over the garlic. Roast until it is soft, about 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let cool. (For more information on how to Roast Garlic, I found this web page: http://whatscookingamerica.net/rstgarlic.htm.)

For the RISOTTO portion of the dish. Heat broth in medium sized saucepan and keep warm over low heat. Melt 4 Tbsp of butter in a large saucepan; add onion. Cook over medium heat until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook until the mushrooms release their juices, about 5 minutes.

Add the Arborio rice to the onion-butter mixture and mix well, so all the rice grains are coated, about 1 minute. Add the white wine to the rice mixture and continue stirring constantly to ensure that none of the rice sticks, until the wine has been completely absorbed and the rice is soft but not sticky, about 1 minute.

Add a few ladles of broth, just enough to barely cover rice. Cook over medium heat until broth has been absorbed. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite, about 15 to 20 minutes. I use all 8 cups of the veggie broth.

During the last minutes of cooking, once the rice has absorbed all the liquid and is nice and creamy, stir in the butter, Parmesan and the garlic pulp. Serve immediately. Add salt, pepper and more Parmesan cheese to your liking.

Enjoy!!!! (Oh, when you get a garlic pulp bite during eating, it tastes amazing! Next time, I will probably figure out a way to be able to stir up the garlic a little better, whether it is to mash the garlic or add more when stirring in the risotto, but the garlic really makes it taste great.)

Creamy Mac & Cheese

I had a hankering for Mac & Cheese the other day. But how many times have we all resorted to the stuff in the box??! Um, not anymore!!! I looked for recipes online, but most of what I found had too many ingredients. Too much to it. All I wanted was simple. I wanted to use pasta, some butter and gourmet cheese…so I decided to just wing it and do it how I think I know how to and it turned out exactly what I had in mind!

Mac & Cheese Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
(I cooked enough for 2-3 servings, but make enough for what you need and wing the amount of ingredients like I did…)
• pasta
• 2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 TBS of butter
• 2 TBS of milk
• Sea salt and pepper

Prepare pasta as directed. Once pasta is drained, return to pot on warm burner. Add butter, milk, cheese, salt and pepper and stir until all is melted…and perfect and creamy!

Steamed Green Beans & Carrots

So in addition to Mac & Cheese, I needed a couple other parts to this meal. Dave suggested Salmon, so he prepared the Salmon (which how to make is described here: http://www.melissascooking.com/2009/09/01/broiledsalmondish/)

Veggies were also needed to round out this meal, so I healthy steamed fresh green beans and carrots. I’ve described how to healthy steam before, but I’ll describe again…

Steamed Green Beans & Carrots Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
• Fresh Green Beans (about 20-25 beans)
• Fresh carrots (about 4-5)

(Mediterranean dressing which includes…)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Healthy steam your veggies! (This is a gentle way to prepare your veggies to enhance their flavor, bring out their color, make them tender and preserves most of its ingredients.) Chop off the ends to your fresh picked green beans. Peel and chop your carrots up to about .5-1 inch chunks. Bring steaming water to a boil in your steamer pot. Add your beans and carrots. Cover and steam for 5 minutes…adding the garlic to veggies for the last 2 minutes of steaming. Transfer to a bowl and toss with the remaining Mediterranean dressing ingredients while veggies are still hot. They give you the amounts for the dressing, but I wing it….do what you want to what you like!

Enjoy!

Fairly easy dinner tonight…Bruschetta! So yummy…and until I got my food processor, I used to not mind paying the $6-10 that you do at restaurants for this, cause chopping up all the ingredients yourself is a huge pain…BUT with the food processor…easy.

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
• pint of cherry tomatoes
• about 1/2 cups of fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil & enough to brush on the bread
• 4 slices of gourmet bread
• slices of cheese (we used sharp cheddar, but mozzarella would work too!)
• salt and pepper

Turn the oven on to 350 degrees.

Throw the tomatoes, basil leaves, garlic, olive oil and a bit of salt into the food processor. (Or if you don’t have a processor…chop those babies up…and combine!) Get the consistency of the tomatoes being about 1/8 inches thick…gets a bit watery too and that’s ok.

Brush some olive oil onto your bread on both sides. Spoon some bruschetta to cover the bread. Place some sliced cheese on top. Grind some salt and pepper on top and stick in the oven for about 10-13 minutes (or until cheese is melted and bread is toasted).

Enjoy!!!

This soup is very tasty and light. It’s pretty quick to make and has lots of nutrients in it.

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup diced yellow onion
• 4 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 (32-ounce) box reduced-sodium vegetable broth
• 4 cups packed chopped kale***
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can Italian-Style Diced Tomatoes
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• two large carrots, peeled and sliced

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes longer. Add broth, kale and tomatoes and fresh carrots and cover. Cook 5 minutes or until kale is tender. Add beans and heat thoroughly. Serve hot.

Add fresh Parmesan cheese and extra salt if wanted. Enjoy!

***I’d like to add a note after having the leftover soup sit overnight in the fridge. You might want to add only enough Kale that you will be eating the evening that you cook up the soup. If you have leftover Kale, it will turn brown on you and then it’s just gross to look at, not to mention, I’m sure all the nutrients are probably gone.

My suggestion: Add only the amount of Kale that you will need for your first batch, and then if you have leftovers for the next night, cook up new Kale for that next batch.

Now these veggie burgers, I have made quite a few times because they are good and good for you, filled with protein, fiber and nutrients. Each time we have them, we love them, however, a few times, they’ve been bland. So to try to make them tastier, I decided to try a few things different. It used to have celery, which I didn’t use this time…and I added a lot more seasoning/spices than I did previously.

Along with the burgers, I made the quick-boiled spinach which you can find under the Yummy Veggie Wrap here, as well as some roasted some sweet potatoes (described below).

Lentil Veggie Burger ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)

• 1 cup canned lentil beans
• 1 cup carrots, shredded or finely diced
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
  
• small zucchini, finely diced
• 2 cups quick oats
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup tomato paste (1 6 oz. can)
• 1 TBS Italian seasoning
• 1 TBS Basil
• 1 TBS Oregano
  
• 2 tsp to 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• Ketchup (optional)
• Guacamole (optional)
• Cheese of your liking (optional)
• Sliced tomatoes (optional)
• Sliced whole wheat bread (optional)
  

Turn on the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your vegetables. (For the dicing of the vegetables, I used a food processor. This totally saves a lot of preparation time.) I mixed all the ingredients together and formed into patties. Place the patties on an oiled baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes on each side until a golden brown.

Place your burger on your bread and serve with ketchup, guacamole, cheese and/or sliced tomatoes. This will make about 8-10 patties.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)

• 1 very large or 2 large sweet potatoes
• Extra Virgin Olive oil
• Rosemary
• Pepper

Cut up the potatoes into about 1 inch cubes. Mix together the potatoes with the olive oil, rosemary and pepper. Spread out on an oiled baking sheet. Pretty much the amount of time the burgers are baking at 350 degrees, the potatoes can take just as long to roast. I like my potatoes a bit crispy, but definitely take yours out sooner when you see that they are done to your liking.

Serve with the burger and spinach and ENJOY!

This is a favorite and easy recipe to make during this awesome season of Fall. (I love Fall! I couldn’t imagine being anywhere that doesn’t get to enjoy the colorful leaves and crisp cool days…)

Anyway, in addition to random days making this, I made this dish last year for my family’s Thanksgiving dinner and for a Fall Harvest potluck we just went to over the weekend.

Ingredients include:
(Make sure you try to use all organic!)
• 1 (2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/2 cups couscous
• 1 1/3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries (I used Eden Organic Dried Cranberries.)
• 1/2 cup pecans, toasted (I didn’t use in case people would be allergic to nuts.)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley (I used dried organic parsley.)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine butternut squash, onion, olive oil, nutmeg, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until squash and onion brown slightly, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool.

Combine squash and onion mixture, veggie broth, butter and cranberries in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add couscous and cover. Take from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in pecans and parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. Fluff with a fork and serve.

There will be plenty for a family gathering or expect to have leftovers if it’s just a couple people eating.

This is a favorite of ours…I found the recipe at Whole Foods’ web site and have made it several times. Takes a little prep time, then time in the oven (to bake the pie crust). It’s very filling and nutritious with all the veggies used!

Ingredients include:
(Make sure you buy organic!!!)
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup canned soybeans
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup sweet corn (from about 1 large ear)
• 1 cup chopped broccoli
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper (which I didn’t use because they didn’t have an organic one at the store…)
• 1 pound baby spinach
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
• 2 frozen prepared pie crusts, thawed (I used an organic whole wheat crust.)
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese (I used shredded mild chedder cheese for this pie.)
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add soybeans, carrots, onions, corn, broccoli, bell peppers, and spinach and cook until tender-crisp. Add garlic, nutmeg, salt, pepper and pecans and cook for 5 minutes, or until the flavors blend. Set vegetable mixture aside.

Line a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan with one of the prepared crusts. Layer the vegetables with the cheese in the pan, beginning with the cheese and ending with the vegetables. Top with remaining crust, seal edges with a fork and trim off excess pie dough. With a sharp knife, poke vent holes in the top of the crust. Sprinkle top with sesame seeds. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the crust turns golden brown. Set aside for 5 minutes, then slice and serve.

This lasts us each for 2 dinner nights and lunch the next day.

ALSO…although there were plenty of vegetables served within this dish, I still had a hankering for a side of…

Steamed Kale

I used (for 2 servings):
• 2 stems of kale (chopped)
• Mediterranean dressing
— Extra virgin olive oil
— lemon juice
— 1 clove of garlic minced
— salt and pepper

Prepare your steamer pot. Steam the kale for no more than 5 minutes. (Do not overcook!)
Toss with the Mediterranean dressing and enjoy!

This evening, I made this really delicious dish that I found, again, using the The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook. I have yet to go wrong with this cookbook. This book was recommended by my sister (the one studying in Seattle at Bastyr University), where the authors also attended this school. Definitely worth getting this cookbook, if you don’t buy any other cookbook.

Anyway, this dish has a great flavor and texture with the raw kale, red bell pepper, green onions and cooked wild rice all combined at the end. I typically don’t do seconds with meals, and I totally did with this one. Nice and light and very nutritious!

Wild Rice and Kale Salad ingredients include:
• 1-1/2 cups wild rice
• 3-3/4 cups water
• pinch of sea salt
• 5 curly green kale leaves, washed and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, diced small
• 1 bunch of green onions, cut into thin rounds
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (or I just squeezed a half of lemon)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and ground pepper to taste

First place the rice, water and sea salt into a pot. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 55 minutes, remove from heat and let stand at least 30 minutes to cool. (Or I just started the next step after the rice was done simmering and that’s how long I let my rice cool.)

Prepare your veggies, and place the chopped kale, diced red bell pepper, sliced green onions, lemon juice, and olive oil into a large bowl and gently toss. It says to add rice and sea salt & pepper and toss again, but I preferred to keep the rice and veggies separate (as pictured). I still combined as I was eating and it tasted amazing, but just wanted the ingredients to be separate on the plate. But totally combine before serving if you so choose.

You can store the extra rice salad in a glass container in the fridge for up to 5 days. (good to know, right?)

Enjoy! I definitely did!

Wednesday, September 9, for dinner, I prepared a breakfast-for-dinner meal and it turned out quite delicious. It was a little different tasting than what we are used to, but definitely a good different taste. Typically I prefer my potatoes roasted and I think the ingredients that I prepared totally could have been roasted, but I followed the cookbook, The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook where you pretty much sauté everything.

Zucchini and Potato Hash ingredients included:
• 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, cut into half moons
• 2 or 3 medium (or 5 small) red or yellow potatoes, sliced into thin rounds
• 1 large zucchini, sliced also into thin rounds
• 1/2 bunch green kale, chopped small (although, if I were to make again, I’d chop it larger than I did)
• 1 to 2 tsp of dried thyme
• 1 garlic clove minced
• sea salt to taste
(says it serves 4, but it could be more or less depending on how much you eat, obviously)

Scrambled Eggs ingredients:
• 3 organic, cage-free eggs (or as many as you want)
• I used Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to season my eggs, but definitely use the seasonings that you prefer

First, I prepared all the vegetables to be used. For the potatoes and zucchini, I used my mandolin slicer (DEFINITELY using the hand guard at all times…), but if you don’t have one, thinly slice the vegetables using your veggie knife. Once I had all the veggies ready to go, in a large stainless steel skillet (11-inch works well), I heated the olive oil over medium heat.

Add onions and sauté for 3 minutes. Add potatoes and stir into the onions. Put a cover on the skillet and let cook for about 6 minutes. I noticed that my potatoes wanted to stick to the bottom of my skillet, so keep stirring them as much as you need to so that they don’t. They say to add any necessary water to prevent burning, which I did, and I think that helped a little.

(See below to get your eggs cooking.)

Then add the zucchini slices, kale, thyme, garlic and salt and gently mix. Put the cover back on and cook a few minutes more until the zucchini and kale are tender, stirring occasionally. Add salt as you like.

As for the eggs, you may want to start them going after you have the potatoes in the skillet. Heat up some butter or extra virgin olive oil in your stainless steel skillet. Crack open your eggs into your skillet (watch out for broken shells!), add your seasonings and mix. As they begin cooking, stir as needed to get them good and scrambled. I prefer my eggs really cooked, but you can keep them cooking as long as needed to get them to your liking.

I also toasted up some rosemary bread because I LOVE eggs and buttered toast. So after everything was done cooking, I dished out everything onto the plate and enjoyed! Again, very very yummy. Definitely worth cooking again. (Oh, and we had plenty of leftovers, enough for lunch the next day )

On Sunday, August 30, for dinner, my husband and I cooked up some broiled salmon with a side of mashed garlic potatoes and a Mediterranean Medley of Veggies. This was my first time EVER making mashed potatoes, and they turned out to be SO GOOD.

I shall start with the sides…

(Note: We used a lot of garlic in this meal, so I should tell you a little tidbit about garlic. After you slice, chop, mince or press your garlic, you should let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes before eating or cooking. Click here to see how to Bring Out the Health Benefits of Garlic.)

Mediterranean Medley
• 2 cups of Broccoli florets cut into quarters
• 2 cups chopped curly kale
• 1 medium carrot
(Mediterranean dressing which includes…)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Healthy steam your veggies! (This is a gentle way to prepare your veggies to enhance their flavor, bring out their color, make them tender and preserves most of its ingredients.) Bring steaming water to a boil in your steamer pot. Add Broccoli, kale and carrots, cover and steam for 5 minutes…adding the garlic to veggies for the last 2 minutes of steaming. Transfer to a bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients while veggies are still hot. They give you the amounts for the dressing, but I wing it….do what you want to what you like!

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• 2 medium-sized potatoes
• 3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves of pressed garlic
• 3 TBS soy or low-fat milk
• sea salt and pepper to taste

First you want to ‘Healthy Steam” your potatoes. (While most will want to boil their potatoes, you probably shouldn’t as that will make them become watery and lose some of their flavor. Healthy steaming will enhance their flavor and preserve most of the nutrients.) Cut potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes using peeled potatoes. (For non-mashed potatoes, you can leave the skin on though ) Once the steamer pot is ready, steam the potatoes for 10 minutes. (Potatoes are done when you can easily penetrate with a fork.) Mash together with the rest of the ingredients.

What made these interesting, is that we have been using vanilla soy milk with our cereal in the morning, and that’s all we had…so we had hints of vanilla flavoring in these potatoes. Pretty darn good!!! Especially for my first mashed potatoes!

And finally…

The  “Quick Broiled” Salmon
• 1 lb Salmon fillet, cut in half
• 2 tsp + 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
• Sea salt and pepper to taste
• 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium clove garlic

Preheat the broiler on high and place an all stainless steel skillet (handle stainless steel too!) under the heat for about 10 minutes until it gets very hot. The pan should be 5 to 7 inches from the heat source. While pan is heating chop up your garlic and let it sit. Rub your salmon with the 2 tsp of fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper. (Note: you can leave the skin on, as after you broil it, the skin should peep right off.) Using a hot pad, pull pan from heat source and place Salmon on hot pan, skin side down. Return to broiler. Should take about 7 minutes, depending on thickness. Test with a fork for done-ness, as it will flake easily when it is cooked. Tis best with it’s still pink inside. Dress with the olive oil, 1 TBS lemon juice, garlic and salt/pepper to taste.