Roasted Tomato & Goat Cheese Risotto
I was watching a Next Food Network Star rerun the other day and got a good laugh out of Wolfgang Puck bringing one of the contestants back inside the house to show her how to make risotto. I am sure many of you saw this episode too. I was amazed that a person would make it that far on a show like that without knowing how to make risotto! I guess that shows that TV is not always as realistic as we may think. Come to think of it, I also watched a 24 Hour Restaurant Battle where the girl who was going to be the head chef had never even worked in a restaurant before!
Baked Tex-Mex Egg Rolls
I recently saw the idea for Southwestern egg rolls on Mel’s Kitchen Cafe and was instantly interested. For one, I have never made egg rolls; they are still on my list to make. Secondly, I love Mexican food. I was surprised to see that they were inside tortillas instead, but figured that is probably a better idea anyway. I decided to make my own combination of ingredients for the filling, because I wasn’t a huge fan of the black beans in the recipe I saw.
Buffalo Style Chicken Breasts w/ Bleu Cheese Sauce
There are very few things that I would not put Buffalo sauce on. I love the flavor and all the varieties of it. I have made all sorts of buffalo recipes, including one of my favorites the Buffalo Chicken Mac’N’Cheese Casserole. That recipe was some serious comfort food, but this recipe is a bit fancier and not so hard on your arteries. It is a good idea to grill the chicken for this recipe, but you can also bake it if you do not have access to a grill. I baked it when I originally cooked it.
Spicy Cheddar Pecan Dip
I know the title of this post may sound like a handful, but the recipe is actually really simple. My mom recently had a little get together for all of the women she used to work at IBM with. Lucky for me I was crashing at her house this night, which meant all the Sangria and appetizers I could ask for in exchange for playing with an adorable three-month year old puppy all night (rough I know).
Breakfast Pizza
Now that I have my easy flatbread recipe, I have been experimenting with its multiple uses. I am a big fan of breads for breakfast, so I decided to make a breakfast pizza with the flatbread. Beware, these pizzas are very filling, I only ate half and saved the other half for breakfast the next day!
Feta-Basil Bison Burgers
Poolside grilling is always a good time. I like to make burgers when grilling at the pool because they are easy and don’t need a plate. I have made these bison burgers a few times in the last week and they have been a hit each time. Bison has a higher protein and mineral content per calorie than many other meats. I like bison burgers because they are a little bit healthier than regular beef burgers, but still give you a similar flavor.
Sun-Dried Tomato, Flank Steak & White Bean Stew
I feel the need to start this post by saying that this was supposed to be a recipe for Mexican Posole. Of course, I had a bit of trouble with the one ingredient needed to make an actual posole- the hominy. I have heard many people say that they usually used canned hominy, but I decided to use dry hominy since that was what was in the pantry. Recalling my artichoke disaster, I am noticing a trend that apparently canned food works better for a lot of things. Luckily, I had a feeling the dry hominy would take a long time to cook and decided to cook it separately, rather than cooking it in the stew. I must have refilled the pot with water at least four times, but the hominy still wasn’t getting soft. I don’t know what I did wrong, but I had to improvise from there. I decided that white kidney beans would be a good substitute for the hominy, since they kind of have a similar texture.
Throwback Thursday: Green Chile Chicken Corn Chowder
The title of this Throwback Thursday recipe may have some of your running for the door because it is a soup. Also, I know it may be hot where some of you are, but that doesn’t mean you have to cut out hot food! I know you will have a chilly night when you are craving a delicious soup and this recipe is going to hit the spot. It is a spicy, cheesy chicken corn chowder that is just the kind of heat you want in the summer time.
This soup is packed with green chiles, red peppers, onion, cheese, chicken and potatoes. If you are not one for spicy food you can simply just leave out the green chiles and cayenne pepper. This soup goes perfectly with the Ciabatta Bread from last Thursday’s throwback recipe. Dig in!
Artichoke, Celery Root & Potato Gratin
Until about two weeks ago I had always bought canned artichokes. My friend Kelcey and I decided to make a delicious vegetarian dish after planting our new garden and wanted fresh veggies for this recipe, so I decided I would buy fresh organic artichokes. Little did I know that trimming an artichoke is no easy task. We completely butchered two organic artichokes and ended up having to purchase canned ones in order to finish the dish. Another downfall to our dish was that we topped the bread with way too much cheese, which kept it from getting crispy and left us with a soggy bread topping… Not the most appealing. So here’s to round two!
Shrimp & Goat Cheese Quesadillas
I am back at it again with the goat cheese. I recently read that goat cheese has a large amount of tryptophan in it, the same stuff in turkey that makes everybody so sleepy after Thanksgiving dinner, so if you are having trouble sleeping you might just want to try one of these quesadillas before bed, or maybe the Smashed Potatoes with Goat Cheese & Parsley. Tryptophan is not only good for sleeping, but is an essential amino acid that has been shown to boost your mood and help you relax as well. If that isn’t enough to get you eating goat cheese, maybe this recipe will.
