Recipes

Lemony White Bean, Tuna, and Arugula Salad

Ingredients
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon maple syrup
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces arugula
1 (15 ounces) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
¹⁄₂ small red onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed
12 ounces tuna in olive oil, flaked into small pieces

Instructions
1. In large salad bowl, stir together lemon zest, juice, and maple syrup.  Stir or whisk until oil is incorporated.  Season with ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt and ¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper. 

2. Add arugula, beans, red onion, capers, and tuna, tossing well to combine. Check for seasoning and add extra salt and pepper to taste. 

Comments
This recipe is from Weeknights with Giada.  I made it to have for lunches one week, since I tend to prefer lighter, salad-type meals for lunches.  I didn’t take this picture right away, and the arugula wilted significantly due to the acid in the dressing by that point.  If this bothers you, I’d wait to add the arugula just before serving each portion to preserve its structure. 

I thought this salad was great.  The lemony dressing was delicious and I loved the flavors and textures from all the ingredients.  Another win from Giada.

Weeknights with Giada

Risotto with Currants, Pine Nuts, and Feta Cheese

Ingredients
¹⁄₄ cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large shallots, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ¹⁄₂ cups arborio rice
¹⁄₂ cup white wine
5 cups chicken broth
¹⁄₃ cup dried currants (or raisins)
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 350*F.  Arrange pine nuts in single layer on baking sheet and bake 6 to 8 minutes, or until lightly toasted.  Remove to bowl. 

2. In large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat oil and 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat until butter melts.  Add shallots and season with ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt and ¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper.  Cook 2 minutes, or until softened.  Add rice and cook, stirring often, until toasted, about 3 minutes.  Add wine and simmer, stirring occasionally, until evaporated, about 2 minutes. 

3. Add ¹⁄₂ cup broth and cook, stirring, until completely absorbed.  Continue adding remaining broth, ¹⁄₂ cup at a time, cooking and stirring often until rice is creamy and tender, about 20 minutes. 

4. Remove pan from heat and stir in remaining tablespoon butter, currants, pine nuts, feta cheese, and parsley.  Season with extra salt and pepper if desired. 

Comments
This recipe is from Weeknights with Giada and, wow, it’s great!  I enjoyed it so much that I’m actually planning on making it again right away!  This is a pretty rare event in my household.  I did make the mistake of claiming it was vegetarian in the meal plan and, due to the chicken broth, it’s not.  However, you could easily make it vegetarian by using a different liquid. 

This risotto is really great.  Every bite has a flavor burst thanks to the currants, pine nuts, and feta.  I served it as a complete meal the first time I made it and I’ll have it as a side dish for the second time.  I’ll also be making a double batch because this really does just serve four as a meal.  We didn’t have a single bit leftover and I’d love to have more around for lunches next time.

Weeknights with Giada

Simple Roasted Prime Rib

Ingredients
1 prime rib roast, any size will do, plan 1-2 people per pound
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
1. Remove roast from refrigerator and place on counter, loosely wrapped, for about 2 hours prior to cooking. 

2. Heat oven to 500*F, or as high as your oven will go. 

3. If bones are attached to roast, carefully remove before cooking to make cutting easier after roasting.  Season meat well with salt and pepper.  Place, or tie, meat on bones and place in roasting pan. 

4. Place roast in oven and cook for 15 minutes.  Then reduce heat to 325*F and continue roasting until instant read or probe thermometer reads 115*F for rare.  Remove from oven, wrap in foil, and let rest 20 to 30 minutes before carving. 

Comments
This is a very basic and straightforward recipe.  I’m not sure why roasts seem intimidating to people, since they really could not be easier.  This turned out phenomenally well, I just wish that I’d used two roasts instead of just the one!  (Ours are all cut into 3-5 pound pieces, which means we should double up when feeding company as well.) 

For my first time making prime rib, I’ve really quite pleased.  The meat was delicious, tender, and all around perfect. 

Shown here with Horseradish Cream Sauce, roasted asparagus, and Mini Yorkshire Puddings.

Person - Gwen

Mongolian Beef

Ingredients
2 pounds flank steak, thinly sliced
¹⁄₂ cup cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup soy sauce
¹⁄₂ cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 bunch green onions, sliced

Instructions
1. Pat steak dry.  Place cornstarch in container, add steak, and shake well to coat evenly. 

2. Whisk water, soy sauce, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes together in medium bowl for sauce and set aside. 

3. Heat oil in large skillet over high heat.  Add steak to oil and cook until just browned.  Add ginger and garlic, continuing stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add sauce to pan and cook until thickened and reduced.  Add green onions and stir to combine before serving. 

Comments
This recipe is from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures.  I don’t think I’ve ever actually had Mongolian beef in a restaurant, but both Art and Lance have and they thought this dish was great.  I also thought it was great, I just didn’t have anything to compare it to.  I sautéed fresh broccoli in the skillet after the meat was done and that went very well with the beef, sauce, and rice. 

I did feel that this was a bit on the salty side, which is a result of the soy sauce, so I’ll probably reduce the amount of soy to ¹⁄₂-³⁄₄ cup next time.  Very tasty regardless!

Internet - Tracey’s Culinary Adventures

Chicken with Lots of Garlic

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon butter
40 cloves garlic, peeled and stemmed
1 cup chicken broth
¹⁄₂ cup sherry
¹⁄₂ teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 375*F. 

2. Heat oil in large ovensafe skillet or Dutch oven over medium high heat.  Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook chicken in skillet until browned, about 2 minutes per side.  Remove from pan and set aside. 

3. Add butter to pan and melt.  Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add chicken broth, sherry, thyme, and bay leaves.  Stir well, increase heat to high, and bring to boil.  Return chicken to pan, cover, and transfer to oven.  Cook 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. 

4. Remove pan from oven and remove chicken and bay leaves.  Blend sauce with immersion blender until smooth.  Return chicken to pan, coat with sauce, and serve. 

Comments
This recipe is from Kitchen Trial and Error.  I know the amount of garlic seems a bit overwhelming, but you can cheat like I did and buy the pre-peeled stuff that you can find in the produce section.  So much easier than peeling 40 cloves of garlic!  I do wish the sauce was thicker, so I might do something about that next time.  A tablespoon of cornstarch mixed into a cup of water and then simmer the sauce before returning the chicken – that would help thicken things up a bit.  For all the garlic this has, the garlic flavor in the finished product is actually quite mild.

Internet - Kitchen Trial and Error

Mini Yorkshire Puddings

Ingredients
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 ¹⁄₂ cups milk, at room temperature
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons kosher salt
1 ¹⁄₂ cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons beef fat drippings, leftover from Prime Rib (if you need more, use olive oil to make up the difference)

Instructions
1. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and salt.  Stir in flour ¹⁄₂ cup at a time, making sure flour is completely incorporated before adding more.  Rest at room temperature for 30 minutes or up to 3 hours. 

2. Heat oven to 450*F. 

3. Stir 1 tablespoon beef fat into batter. 

4. Put ¹⁄₂ teaspoon beef fat into each cup of a 12-cup muffin pan.  Place pan in oven and heat 3 minutes, or until fat is smoking. 

5. Carefully remove pan from oven and separate batter between cups.  Return to oven and bake 20 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350*F and bake 10 more minutes until golden brown and puffy. 

6. Remove from oven and pierce each pudding with a toothpick (or chopstick, or whatever) to prevent collapse. 

Comments
This recipe is from Steamy Kitchen.  I basically did everything wrong.  I forgot to read the recipe ahead of time and didn’t bring anything to room temperature.  Nor did I wait the 30 minutes for the batter to rest after mixing.  You know what?  They were still delicious!  I wished I had made more of them.  This were nice and crispy on the outside and perfect in the middle.  They were even dipped into the Horseradish Cream Sauce.  Very nice addition to a prime rib dinner. 

I actually cooked the asparagus at the same time and just tossed them with olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper.  Then I spread them out on a baking sheet and popped them on the shelf underneath the muffin tin.  This worked out quite well!

Shown here with Prime Rib, Horseradish Cream Sauce, and roasted asparagus.

Internet - Steamy Kitchen

Spinach and Orzo Salad

Ingredients
1 pound orzo
10 ounces baby spinach, chopped
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
¹⁄₂ red onion, finely chopped
³⁄₄ cup pine nuts
¹⁄₂ teaspoon dried basil
¹⁄₄ teaspoon ground white pepper
¹⁄₂ cup olive oil
¹⁄₂ cup balsamic vinegar

Instructions
1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil over high heat.  Cook pasta as directed on packaging. Drain well and rinse with cold water.  Drain again then transfer to large bowl. 

2. Add remaining ingredients to bowl and toss well to combine.  Serve any at any temperature – chilled, room temperature, warm, or hot. 

Comments
This recipe is from [all(recipes.com](http://all(recipes.com/recipe/spinach-and-orzo-salad/).  When Art and I were in Williamsburg, we had a great orzo and spinach salad as a side dish with our Carrot Tree Kitchens lunch.  I was thinking about it while meal planning and found this recipe.  While it’s not the same as the CTK recipe, I’m glad I tried it since it was very delicious in its own right!  It’s a very simple dish that can be served at any temperature.  I liked mine cool or cold, but Lance enjoyed his nuked with other leftovers the following day. 

Shown here with Grilled Salmon with Creamy Horseradish Sauce.

Internet - all(recipes

Tilapia Piccata

Ingredients
8 ounces orzo
³⁄₄ cup grape tomatoes, halved
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
¹⁄₄ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 (6 ounces each) tilapia fillets
3 tablespoons butter
¹⁄₄ cup white wine
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained

Instructions
1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil over high heat.  Cook pasta as directed on packaging. Drain well.  Return to pot and stir in tomatoes, ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt, parsley, and ¹⁄₈ teaspoon pepper.  Set aside and keep warm. 

2. Combine flour and remaining salt and pepper in shallow dish.  Dredge fish in flour mixture. 

3. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add fish to pan and cook 2 minutes on each side, or until fish flakes easily when tested with fork.  Remove fish from pan and keep warm. 

4. Add wine, lemon juice, and capers to pan; cook 30 seconds.  Remove pan from heat.  Add remaining butter and stir until melted.  Serve fish with sauce and pasta. 

Note: If you’re feeling a bit lazy, you can just mix the sauce into the rice at the end instead.  Yum.  

Comments
This recipe is from the 2007 Cooking Light Annual or myrecipes.com.  It’s nice that these recipes are online so that I don’t need to type them up!  This recipe was so good that I emailed my mom the night I made it to tell her that she should make it too.  Normally I wait to share recipes until I have them posted to my blog but, since I didn’t change a thing, it seemed safe enough this time.  She made it about 4 days later and loved it as well! 

Many of the reviews suggested doubling the sauce, but Lance and I both felt it was perfect.  It’s pretty flavorful stuff, so a little goes a long way.  The pasta really makes the dish thanks to the bursts of sweetness from the tomatoes.  Everything just goes very well together. 

This recipe took fewer than 30 minutes from the moment I got into the kitchen until it was on the table making it a perfect weekday meal.  Leftovers were great too!

Cooking Light 2007

Grilled Salmon Fillets with Creamy Horseradish Sauce

Ingredients
For the sauce
³⁄₄ cup sour cream
¹⁄₄ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon soy sauce

For the salmon
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₄ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 (6 ounces each) salmon fillets

Instructions
1. Mix all sauce ingredients together in small bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste then refrigerate until ready to use. 

2. Prepare grill for grilling. 

3. Mix oil, horseradish, soy sauce, garlic, salt, and pepper together in small bowl.  Brush mixture over both sides of salmon then grill until done, about 4 to 5 minutes per side.  Serve grilled fish with sauce. 

Comments
This recipe is from 1 Big Bite.  I actually made this when Art was home for dinner and swapped out 2 of the salmon fillets for chicken breasts for a total of 4 pieces of salmon and 3 pieces of chicken.  Art then grilled them all and we had a lovely meal that we could all enjoy together.  The quick marinade for the fish added lots of lovely flavor and no sugar to cause a caramelized mess on the grill or fish.  The sauce was also nice, although it probably could have used more horseradish since it lacked any sort of bite.  I need to find more (recipes for the future that are fish and chicken compatible so that we can grill them together since this worked very well! 

Shown here with Spinach and Orzo Salad.

Internet - 1 Big Bite

Punjabi Garam Masala

Ingredients
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon whole cloves
¹⁄₂ teaspoon black peppercorns
¹⁄₂ teaspoon cardamom seeds from black pods
3 cinnamon sticks each about 3 inches long and broken into smaller pieces
3 fresh or dried bay leaves

Instructions
1. Preheat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add all ingredients, and toast, shaking the skillet every few seconds, until the coriander and cumin turn reddish brown, the cloves, peppercorns, and cardamom turn ash-black, the cinnamon and bay leaves appear brittle and crinkly, and the mixture is highly fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.

2. Immediately transfer spices to a plate to cool. Once they are cool to the touch, place them in a spice grinder and grind until the mixture resembles that of finely ground black pepper. The ground blend will be reddish brown and the aroma will be sweet and complex.

Note: This makes about ¹⁄₄ cup of spice blend. 

No photo

Comments
This recipe is from 660 Curries.  I used it in Makhani Dal.

660 Curries