Lemon Risotto with Peas and Leeks

The very first risotto I ever made --- plus, I learned what leeks were! 

 

Photo: Cooking Light

When we lived in Baltimore, we used to get a gigantic bag of fresh peas at the farmer's market (under the highway overpass). The peas were only available for a few weeks, and judging by the line, they were the IT veggie. Sometimes, this dish turned out to be more peas with risotto (rather than risotto with peas).

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup fresh green peas (or thawed frozen peas)
• 4 cups Chicken Stock
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 leeks, finely chopped
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 cup (uncooked) Arborio rice
• 3 Tbps dry white wine
• 1/2 cup Parmesan
• 1 tsp grated lemon rind
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon (or 2 tsp dried)
• 1 Tbsp butter

DIRECTIONS

1. To cook (fresh) peas: Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add peas, cook 1 minute. Drain and rinse with cold water (and drain again).
2. Bring chicken stock to a simmer, keep warm over low heat.
3. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
4. Add leeks and shallots, cook ~7min, stirring frequently.
5. Add rice, cook 1 min, stirring constantly.
6. Add wine, cook 30 sec, stirring constantly.
7. Add 1 cup stock, cook 4 minutes (or until the liquid is nearly absorbed), stirring frequently (you'll learn what you can get away in this regard).
8. Continue to add the remaining stock, ~1/2 cup at a time, until each portion is absorbed (~25 min total). 
9. Stir in peas, cook 1 min.
10. Stir in cheese, rind, juice, salt, and pepper.
11. Remove from heat and stir in tarragon & butter.

Recipe via Cooking Light

Peanut Chicken Noodle Bowl

 
When you're combining the ingredients for the sauce, this is not the most visually appetizing dish, but do not be discouraged. It is delicious! Because the veggies are not cooked they are crisp and full of flavor. This dish would work really well with a number of veggies. I meant to throw in some broccoli in my fridge with which I am currently holding a staring contest, but forgot. If I had, I would have thrown it in for the last 45 seconds-1 minute of cooking with the noodles to blanche it. Given the relative intensity of the vegetables the kids were not into it. But, because I had the peanut butter out already I just made them some sandwiches and helped myself to seconds on the noodles.

INGREDIENTS 

• 7 ounces rice noodles
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, optional
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded 1/2”
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook noodles according to package directions and reserve.
2. Combine vinegar, soy sauce, peanut butter, fish sauce, water, honey, and crushed red pepper in a microwave safe bowl.
3. Microwave sauce for 30 seconds to soften peanut butter and stir to combine.
4. Marinate chicken in 1/4 cup of the sauce for about 20 minutes.
5. Grill the chicken 3-4 minutes per side or until juices run clear.
6. Toss reserved noodles, bell pepper, carrot, and green onion with remaining sauce. Top with sliced chicken and garnish with cilantro.

 Photo & recipe courtesy of NoMoreToGo.com
 

Chicken and rosemary lentil traybake

I used the attached recipe as a base for the meal pictured below. 

The dish was enjoyable, but the recipe raised a few questions. Either the liquid volume or the timings seemed way out to me, but I'll make it again with adjustments. Despite giving everything extra time, the chicken skin was pale (which is fine, if you're not going to eat it, but I like it when it's crisp) and there was still a lot of liquid in the dish. This picture is of a re-heat, so the chicken looks a bit more the way I like it.

http://www.morrisonsmag.co.uk/march_2015/chicken_and_rosemary_lentil_traybake

Not having red onions, I cut 2 small leeks into 1in pieces, used dried rosemary, a yellow pepper, and pressed some garlic, as it gives a stronger flavour than sliced. It was accompanied by baby potatoes. (They were Charlottes, Lizzie. I know you like to know :)

8 chicken thighs

• 1 red onion, sliced into wedges
• 2 pointed red peppers, deseeded and sliced into rings
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 4 sprigs rosemary
• 200g green lentils
• 600ml chicken stock, made from cubes
  

1. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/Gas 6. Make slashes in the skin of each chicken thigh, season and arrange in a large roasting dish. Roast for 10 minutes.
2. Scatter the red onion, peppers, garlic and rosemary around the chicken and toss well to mix the different elements together.
   
   Incidentally, I'm going to try using the leftover stock and lentils as the base for a soup. We'll see how that goes.
   

Kerala Prawn (Shrimp) Curry

For Valentine's Day dinner, we fancied a prawn curry.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1326/kerala-prawn-curry

• 2 red chillies split, cut into quarters lengthways and seeded
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 2½ cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
• 1 tsp black mustard seed
• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
• 14 curry leaves, fresh or dried
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp cracked black peppercorns
• 250g jumbo prawns, leave some with their tails on if you like
• 150ml reduced-fat coconut milk

To serve

• a squeeze of lime
• chopped fresh coriander, plus a sprig or two
• freshly boiled basmati rice

We were very excited to find an Indian grocery store in the area that carried curry leaves. This was one of the ingredients and apparently there's no subbing on this so we went for fun to include them. Not to worry, though, it would be fine without it because it's not the flavor of curry that it brings but just a smokiness. We added a tomato to the food processor, just because there was an over-ripe one lying around.

We really enjoyed it. You'll have to ask Amy or Alistair what they thought since we brought them leftovers when we visited the next day.

Very Unrefined Chicken Soup

Here's a version of a soup which I put together fairly regularly. As Liz said, when I roast chicken, I keep the pan juices to "beef"-up the stock.  I Scotland I'd use "neep" (rutabaga) instead of sweet potato, and maybe a small leek, or cabbage, or any other vegetable that was to hand, but the onion and carrots are constants for me.
The soup in the photo was made this week, and it has Savoy cabbage in it. You could add any small pieces of leftover chicken.

Very Unrefined Chicken Soup

1 carton chicken broth
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups diced carrots
1 1/2 cups diced sweet potato
2 cups kale, finely chopped
1 or 2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 tsp dried thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Bring chicken broth to a simmer, adding all ingredients as you do. Simmer for 45mins to 1hr..............ummm.....

that's it.

Mediterranean Cod

I saw a glimpse of this dish in a TV ad for Sainsbury's supermarket, and I thought I'd have a look at it. Fish and seafood would probably be my first choice from any menu, but I don't cook it as often as I'd like.

Onyhoo, here's the original recipe.
https://www.homemadebyyou.co.uk/recipes/main-courses/mediterranean-cod

The fish I used was fresh hake, but any firm white fish would do fine.
 Sainsbury's were promoting their frozen produce, but whether the ingredients are or aren't frozen is neither here nor there.
Not having any of the frozen stuff, I managed to chop an onion and a pepper, mince three cloves of garlic, and open a can of chopped tomatoes. I didn't have any black olives either (Liz says a few chopped Kalamata would do the job) but to lift the sauce a wee bit, I added a small, chopped birds-eye chilli.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 100g frozen chopped onion
• 1 tbsp frozen chopped garlic
• 230g tin Italian chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 200g frozen mixed peppers
• 400g pack frozen responsibly sourced skinless and boneless cod fillets
• 50g pitted black olives
• 1 tbsp frozen chopped parsley
• 800g pack frozen microwaveable white rice  

Baked Quinoa with Spinach and Cheese

I think this was the first recipe I tried after joining the NCC; credit goes to Meredith for discovering it. It is so amazing that even my first attempt --- in which I neglected to cook the quinoa in advance and then had to scrape it out --- did not discourage me from making it again and again and again....

This is also the recipe in which we learned that DAN LIKES SPINACH! Turns out, his formative experience with spinach was a meal his mom made growing up --- where she cooked the spinach in vinegar and combined it with rubbery scallops. I can deal with the mushroom hate, but his refusal to eat spinach was wearing on me. Thankfully, we no longer have to avoid it :-)

Photo Credit: Andrew Scivani for The New York Times

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 oz frozen (chopped) spinach, thawed
• For fresh spinach, see the original recipe.
• 3 cups COOKED quinoa (~1 cup uncooked)
• Cook according to package directions, but make sure to bring the water to a boil :-)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (3/4 cup)
• 1/2 tsp dried sage
• 1 ounce Parmesan, grated (1/4 cup)
• Salt & pepper for seasoning

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook the quinoa according to package directions (~30 minutes).
2. Preheat the oven to 400F. Oil/spray a 2-quart gratin or baking dish (I use an 8x8).
3. Heat the skillet on medium with 1 Tbsp olive oil.
4. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, for ~5 minutes.
5. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for ~1 min
6. Stir in the spinach and season with salt & pepper. Remove from the heat.
7. Beat the eggs in a bowl with 1/2 tsp salt. 
8. Stir in the quinoa, the onion and spinach mixture, the Gruyère, and the sage. Add freshly ground pepper and mix.
9. Scrape into the baking dish and sprinkle Parmesan on top.
10. Bake for 25 minutes and allow to stand 5 minutes before serving.

Recipe via The New York Times