Roasted Spring Vegetable Risotto

Roasted Spring Vegetable Risotto (from AllRecipes, Servings: 8, Total Time: 1 hour)

Ingredients

·         1 lb. asparagus, cut into 2-inch lengths

·         2 cups whole baby carrots cut in lengthwise quarters

·         6 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

·         3 medium assorted peppers (yellow, red, green), cut into 1-inch strips

·         2 medium zucchini or yellow squash, cut into diagonal slices (I used zucchini)

·         1 cup halved fresh medium mushrooms

·         2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary leaves

·         3 ½ cups vegetable broth

·         1 Tbsp. olive oil

·         1 1/3 cups uncooked Arborio rice

·         ½ cup shredded Italian Five Cheese

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray 17x11-inch roasting pan with cooking spray.

2.       Mix asparagus, carrots, onions, peppers, squash, mushrooms, rosemary and ¼ cup broth in prepared pan.

3.       Roast 20 minutes or until done, stirring once. Prepare risotto while the vegetables are roasting.

4.       Heat oil in saucepot. Add rice. Cook and stir for 2 minutes.

5.       Add ½ cup broth and cook until broth is absorbed. Add remaining broth, ½ cup at a time, stirring until all broth is absorbed before adding more. (Total cooking time: 25 minutes)

6.       Add vegetables and cheese. Heat through. Serve immediately.

First off, I love this dish! Yum, yum, yum! My husband enjoyed it too.  With that said, I think that the recipe needs to be tweaked slightly.  If you use the size of veggies recommended, you need to roast for more than 20 minutes – maybe even up to 30 minutes.  The next time that I make it, I will probably chop all of the veggies smaller, more of a rough chop.  That is just the size that I would prepare in this risotto dish.  There are a lot of veggies, and I actually only put in about half because I knew that my husband would want more of the rice part.  I used the remainder as a “base” for my risotto!  More veggies for me!

Now, for the taste – even though there is only ½ cup of cheese, this was creamy and I could see the stringy cheese each time I brought a forkful to my mouth.  The rice was cooked through with only a slight crunch to it. The veggies were really crunchy (see above recommendation), a little too much for my husband, but I liked them that way.  Overall assessment – I cannot wait to make this again!

Curried Carrot Salad

Curried Carrot Salad (slightly adapted from Kraft Foods, Servings: 6-8, Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 lb. shredded carrots

·         ½ cup raisins

·         1/3 cup sliced green onions (green and white parts)

·         ½ cup Light Mayonnaise

·         1 ½ tsp. curry powder

·         1 Tbsp. white vinegar

·         1 Tbsp. honey

·         ¼ tsp. salt

Directions

1.      Toss carrots with raisins and onions in large bowl; set aside.

2.      Mix all remaining ingredients with wire whisk until well blended. Add to carrot mixture; toss to coat. Cover.

3.      Refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to serve.

My neighborhood is having a Progressive Dinner and I am on the food committee.  We had a tasting of various Asian dishes (our theme) and I was assigned Indian.  I made a few curries, so I picked this out as a potential veggie side dish, even though I am really not a fan of raisins.  I think it is a bit high in calories, even when using Light or Reduced Fat mayo, so you have to be careful with portion size.  For the taste, well, I’m not a fan.  There is no sweetness from the honey – it just kind of tastes like yellow mayo.  Paired with the raisins, it just wasn’t a dish for me.  I will say that the bites I had with green onion were tastier.  They, and the carrots, added a nice crunch factor.  Needless to say, I will not be making this again (I vetoed it from the Dinner).

Zucchini Herb Casserole

Zucchini Herb Casserole (adapted from AllRecipes, 6 servings, 1 hour)

Ingredients

·         1 cup uncooked brown rice

·         2 Tbsp. olive oil

·         1 ½ lbs. zucchini, cubed

·         ½ cup sliced green onions

·         ½ tsp. garlic powder

·         1 ¼ tsp. garlic salt

·         ½ teaspoon basil

·         ½ tsp. paprika

·         ½ tsp. dried oregano

·         1 cup seeded, chopped tomatoes

·         1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided

Directions

1.      Cook the rice according to package directions.

2.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a shallow 2 quart casserole dish.

3.      Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the zucchini, green onions, and garlic 5 minutes, or until tender. Season with garlic salt, basil, paprika, and oregano.

4.      Mix in the cooked rice, tomatoes, and ½ cup cheese. Continue to cook and stir until heated through.

5.      Transfer to the prepared casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

6.      Bake uncovered 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

One word: Delicious!  My husband and I both love this dish!  I cannot wait to make it again.  All of the herbs go so well with vegetables, rice and cheese.  Even though I used about ½ as much cheese as was originally called for, each bite is stringy with cheese.  Overall, the dish is very creamy, with just a hint of crunch from the zucchini.  The brown rice and lower amount of cheese make this dish healthier than the original, but trust me, there is NOTHING missing on the taste.  I am salivating just envisioning the leftovers that I will enjoy tonight :-)

Feta Potato Salad

Feta Potato Salad (slightly adapted from KraftFoods, Servings: 12, Total Time: 3 hours, 25 minutes)

Ingredients

·         3 lb.  small red potatoes, quartered

·         1 cup  Zesty Italian Dressing

·         12 oz. Mediterranean Feta Cheese, crumbled

·         1 medium  red pepper, chopped

·         1 medium  cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped

·         ½ cup  sliced green onions (green and white parts)

Directions

1.)    Cook potatoes in boiling water 15 min. or just until tender; drain. Place in large bowl.

2.)    Add remaining ingredients; mix lightly. Cover.

3.)    Refrigerate several hours or until chilled. Stir before serving.

I made this for a family picnic and everybody loved it!  I wanted to try a no-mayo potato salad option for both the health and taste benefits (I’m not a huge fan of mayo.)  This fit the bill!  The potatoes soaked up some of the Italian dressing, which made for a nice bite.  They were soft and added a nice contrast to the crispy veggies.  I may use regular feta in the future as I don’t know how much taste the Mediterranean actually added.  Either way, this will be a go-to picnic item for me – easy and tasty!

Chicken Enchilada Pasta

Chicken Enchilada Pasta (slightly adapted from Better Homes & Gardens, Total Time: 1 hour, Servings: 8-10)

Ingredients

·         1 12 oz. package dried jumbo shell macaroni

·         2 tsp. olive oil

·         1 large green and 1 large red sweet peppers, chopped

·         1 cup chopped red onion

·         1 fresh jalapeno chile pepper, seeded and chopped

·         2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

·         2 pkg. Trader Joe’s chickenless Chicken Strips, chopped

·         1 16 oz. can refried beans

·         1 package taco seasoning mix

·         2 10 oz. cans enchilada sauce

·         8 oz. shredded Mexican-style four-cheese blend

·         1 cup sliced green onions

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Rinse; drain and set aside.

2.      In skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Cook sweet peppers, onion, jalapeno, and ¼  tsp. salt for 5 minutes or until tender.

3.      Stir in chicken, beans, taco seasoning mix, and ½ cup enchilada sauce. Cook and stir 5 minutes.

4.      Stir in ½ cup each of the cheese and green onions.

5.      Spread 1 cup of the remaining enchilada sauce in 3-quart rectangular baking dish.

6.      Divide filling among shells.  Arrange shells atop sauce. Drizzle with remaining enchilada sauce.

7.      Bake, covered, for 30 minutes.

8.      Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with remaining green onions.

I absolutely love this dish!  My husband thoroughly enjoyed the filling, but not the pasta (apparently, he’s not a fan of shells – never knew that before and I’ll never understand how people can write off one type of pasta, but that’s not for this blog).  They were pretty spicy, but the pasta helped tame that slightly.  The original recipe calls for 3 peppers, but I think that is too many considering the amount of filling that you have.  If you don’t have the Trader Joe’s chickenless Chicken Strips, you could make it without or use some other soy product (i.e. Morning Star Farms Burger Crumbles).  It adds some texture to the dish and some needed protein.  Overall, everything tasted delish and I wouldn’t change a thing to the above recipe.

Tomato Pie

Tomato Pie (adapted from AllRecipes, Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes, 4 servings

Ingredients

7-8 plum tomatoes, sliced

½ cup chopped fresh basil

3 green onions (green and white parts), thinly sliced

1 package Yves vegetarian pepperoni

½ - 2 tsp. garlic powder

½ - 2 tsp. dried oregano

½ - 2 tsp. crushed red pepper

2 cups shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheese

¼ cup reduced fat mayonnaise

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2.      Spray a pie pan with cooking spray.

3.      In alternating layers, fill pan with tomatoes, basil, scallions, pepperoni, garlic powder, oregano, and red pepper.

4.      In a small bowl, mix cheese with mayonnaise. Spread mixture over top of pie. Cover loosely with aluminum foil.

5.      Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil from top of pie and bake an additional 30 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Oh my goodness!  Flavor explosion!  I didn’t measure the garlic, oregano, or red pepper – I just sprinkled some on top of each layer (I ended up with three) and this pie ended up so delicious!  Everything works so well together.  I was a little concerned that the mayo would overpower the cheese, but it didn’t at all.  I didn’t use a pastry shell with this dish because I made a Garlic Basil Bread (courtesy of Betty Crocker and my breadmaker) that served as a great side.  I sprinkled the tomatoes with salt before putting them in the dish, but I should have pressed them between paper towels to draw out the excess liquid.  I had a little on the bottom of the pie pan after cooking.  I couldn’t find one fault with this dish.  The original recipe calls for bacon – so I may try a mixture of Morningstar Farms Bacon Strips and the pepperoni next time.  And there definitely will be a next time.

P.S. – Hubby liked it too, even though he gets slightly overwhelmed by tomatoes.  Win!