White Bean and Barley Risotto

Little one appears to share my love for barley! I made a batch of Andouille Barley Soup and he happily gobbled it up and asked for it for days. While the soup is snap to make I didn’t want to have it at every meal. I need a little more variety in the barley department so I pulled out my recipe binder and found this yummy side dish. I forgot how much I really like this dish and I’m looking forward to making it much more often.

This little side dish brings a good amount of fiber to your dinner plate. You can change up the flavors by changing the type of stock you use and adding some of your favorite seasonings. Chicken broth or veggie broth will change the depth of flavor. Thyme, sage or rosemary would add a delicious boost of flavor. A little garlic would also be delicious. If you view the below recipe as a starting place you could come up with some truly lovely combinations from your cabinets.

A huge plus to this recipe is that it’s healthy and low cost. I would serve this with meat as my main dish so a low cost side dish is a big plus. And since I keep a large jar of barley in my pantry this is a pantry side dish. Oh how I love pantry meals! While it does take a while to simmer on the stove top it is just as easy to make as anything that would come out of a box.

Enjoy!

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 ½ cups beef broth

½ cup pearl barley

15 oz. white beans

Coarse black pepper

¼ cup parsley, chopped

In a small pot sauté the onions in the olive oil until tender. Stir in broth and barley then bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30-49 minutes. Stir in beans and simmer for five minutes. Season with pepper, stir in parsley and serve.

Adapted from http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/five-ingredient-recipes/white-bean-and-barley-risotto

Two Sauce Lasagna

My grandmother gave me this recipe for lasagna when I was in college. I think she found it in a magazine or on a jar of sauce. It’s not her “secret recipe” lasagna but it is a fun take on this comfort food. I used to make this for friends in disposable casserole dishes. I wouldn’t cook the lasagna, I would piece it together and let them cook the lasagna when it worked best for them. They could cook the lasagna up right away or put it into the freezer for later. I would write the cooking directions on the plastic lid of the casserole dish so there was no way they could lose it.

Over the years I have made a few adjustments to this recipe. I’ve subbed ground beef for the Italian sausage with great success. Mushrooms are always a welcome addition. Bell peppers of any color would be delicious. The original recipe calls for Classico sauces but you could really use any red sauce and Alfredo sauce you enjoy. If you don’t have the time to cook your lasagna noodles don’t be afraid to use the no-boil type. Those noodles work really well in this dish and save tons of time.

Enjoy!

12 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained

15 oz. ricotta

2 cups mozzarella, shredded

¼ cup parmesan, shredded

2 eggs

26 oz. Tomato Basil pasta sauce

10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed

1 lb. Italian sausage, browned and drained

16 oz. Alfredo sauce

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl combine ricotta, mozzarella, two tablespoons parmesan and eggs. In a medium bowl combine the sausage and spinach.

Spread the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with one cup pasta sauce. Layer with four lasagna noodles. Top with half of the cheese mixture and then half of the meat mixture. Repeat the layers. Top with remaining four lasagna noodles. Spread Alfredo sauce on top of the noodles and sprinkle with the remaining parmesan. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until bubbly.

Let stand for ten minutes before serving.

Shepherd's Pie

In many households shepherd’s pie is a way to use up leftovers. You have a huge, leftover pot roast sitting in the fridge and the thought of yet another night of pot roast doesn’t sound appealing. There are a few options in the this scenario: freeze your leftovers for a another night, make beef stew or make shepherd’s pie.  Really, you can’t lose.

I had a good amount of mashed potatoes sitting in the freezer that needed to be used. I knew I could turn them into a side dish again or I could use them as the main part of a meal.  I pulled out my Joy of Cooking recipe book found the one shepherd’s pie recipe listed. The Joy of Cooking is great if you are looking for a good standard recipe. The recipes do show their age but with a little imagination they are easy to update.

The recipe called for hash. Yeah, I normally don’t have hash anywhere in my house. So I checked out the hash with vegetables recipe and I knew I could make it my own. I decided that instead of parboiling my veggies that I would just cook them up with the pound of ground beef. The recipe called for two cups of cold cooked meat but ground beef worked just fine. I left out the pimientos and used frozen hash browns in place of a fresh potato only because they were in my freezer. Use any “Cream of _____ soup” because really it doesn’t add much flavor, just creaminess. The recipe needed garlic so I added a teaspoon of minced garlic. I also added in a splash of red wine (not pictured) because the wine was sitting on my counter. Add the red wine! It adds a wonderful depth of flavor that really made the dish impressive. The mashed potatoes I used were leftover Patrician Potatoes and added another vegetable to the mix – cauliflower!

Enjoy!

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

½ cup diced onions

½ cup diced green peppers

½ cup diced celery

1 lb. ground beef

½ cup diced, cooked potatoes

10 oz. cream of _______ soup

1/3 cup tomato puree

1 Tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon Worcestershire

¼ cup red wine

Mashed potatoes

In a large skillet over medium heat mix together onions, green peppers, celery and ground beef and cook until the beef is no longer pink. Stir in the potatoes, soup, tomato puree butter, Worcestershire and wine.  Bring to a simmer.

Heat oven to 350. Spread beef mixture onto the bottom of a casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes. Bake until the tops of the potatoes are golden, about thirty minutes.

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker

Hot and Sour Soup

We have been eating out A LOT less lately. Little one is just not restaurant friendly. I feel bad for the other people in the restaurant when they have to listen to his frustration but I mostly feel bad that little one is put in a situation that makes him uncomfortable. I’m ok with not going out as much but I start to miss the foods that husband and I used to go out for a few times a week. Enter this awesome recipe.

If you are anything like me you are more than likely boring when it comes to ordering Chinese. I have about five items that I can find on any menu and I always seem to order one of those items. I am a huge fan of hot and sour soup. Husband likes to pick up Chinese when I’m sick (his way of cooking) and hot and sour soup is my go-to soup. The spice is good for the sniffles and the broth is great for a sore throat.

In the past week I’ve heard husband making a few comments about going out for Chinese food. It may be selfish that I’m choosing one of my favorite foods from my menu of five but I feel like he’s still winning. I’m pairing this soup with some frozen eggrolls to add a little more fun to a weeknight meal. The flavor is great and the cost compared to ordering take out is huge. Let’s not forget that this recipe is low in sodium (depending on the broth you use) and it’s a snap to make. You will be amazed at how easy those egg shreds are to make!

I did make a few changes in this recipe. Instead of using raw chicken I keep some frozen rotisserie chicken in the freezer for recipes just like this. I used a can of sliced mushrooms instead of shiitake. I don’t feel that this change impacts the flavor too much but use shiitake if you have them. I omitted the sugar and tofu. I also substituted the white pepper with black. This recipe can be made in a slow cooker if you want to give the flavors extra time to form.

Enjoy!

2 cups beef broth

2 cups chicken broth

4 oz. shredded cooked chicken

1 cup mushrooms

½ cup shredded carrots

3 Tablespoons rice vinegar

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

½ teaspoon black pepper

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

½ cup water

½ cup water chestnuts

½ cup bamboo shoots

1 egg

In a small Dutch oven brig the beef broth and chicken broth to a simmer. Stir in chicken, mushrooms, carrots, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil and black pepper. Return to a simmer and cook for about five minutes.

Put the cornstarch in a small bowl and add water stirring to dissolve. Stir the slurry into the soup and increase the heat stirring occasionally until slightly thickened. Reduce heat and add the water chestnuts and bamboo shoots. Return soup to a simmer.

In a small bowl beat the egg. Slowly drizzle the egg into the soup and stir gently. Cook for about thirty seconds or until the egg shreds look light and fluffy. Serve immediately. 

Adapted from The American Heart Association Low-Cal Cookbook

Deviled Crab Risotto

Husband has been out of town for a few weeks and that means that very few new recipes have been coming out of my kitchen. With just little one and myself at home I don’t do very much cooking and the cooking that I do is simple and familiar. Now that husband is home I’m looking forward to trying out a few new dishes. My menu list for the next two weeks is full of recipes that are new or that I haven’t made in years.

I made this dish the night that husband came home. Sadly, I didn’t think it would take as long for the chicken stock to incorporate into the rice. It may have felt like it took so long because it was just a toddler and me at home. I was constantly watching the clock and wondering how much longer I had until little one was “done” and would have a meltdown about dinner not being ready. I bought myself quite a bit of time with little one by filling up one side of the kitchen sink with cool water and gave him several containers to play with in the water. I let him stand on our step stool and placed a bath towel on the floor to help with clean up. Little one loves to stand on the step stool and “watch mama” so I knew that he would be ok on the step stool for a while.

Our family was very pleased with this dish. It’s very tasty and filling. Best of all, it’s a great dish for a chilly night! Most of the ingredients are pantry items but there are a few ingredients that are out of the box, at least at our house. Thankfully these items aren’t very expensive and are relatively easy to find. I did have a tough time finding real crab meat at my grocery store so I used imitation crab meat. I’m sure real crab meat would taste better than imitation but in a pinch imitation works well. Make this as spicy or as mild as you wish. Ours has a good bite to it but not so much that little one won’t eat it. Little one has been exposed to many spicy dishes so he’s more willing than most toddlers to eat spicy food so proceed with caution if you have a little one of your own.

There is an additional recipe that uses this recipe. I plan on trying it out later this week but halving the recipe since we have eaten half of the recipe below. If you are interested in this additional recipe you can find it here.

Enjoy!

I had a helper!

4 cups chicken stock

1 generous pinch saffron (about 30 threads)

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 slices bacon, finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

1 rib celery, finely chopped

1 fresh fresno chile pepper, seeded and very finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoons thyme

1 ½ cups arborio rice

Salt and pepper

½ cup dry white wine

½ cup grated parmigiano-reggiano

3 tablespoons butter

8 oz. crab meat

Old Bay seasoning –to taste

Hot sauce – to taste

In a small saucepan, bring the stock, saffron and one cup water to a low boil. Lower the heat and keep warm.

In a heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp. Stir in the onion, celery, chile, garlic and thyme and sauté for two minutes. Add the rice and stir for about one minute then season with salt and pepper. Add the wine and cook to evaporate. Begin adding the warm saffron stock a few ladlefuls at a time, allowing it to absorb almost completely before adding more, stirring rapidly and frequently to develop the starch until the risotto is creamy, about 18 minutes. Stir in the cheese and butter.

In a bowl, season the crabmeat with the Old Bay and hot sauce to taste. Remove the risotto from the heat and gently stir in the crab. Serve immediately in shallow bowls.

Adapted from http://www.rachaelraymag.com/Recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/rachael-ray-30-minute-meals/deviled-crab-risotto-milanese