Menu Plan Monday

Monday: KFC Grilled Chicken take-out

Tuesday: CEiMB - Aromatic Noodles with Lime-Peanut Sauce

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: Five Layer Mexican Dip

Friday: Third Friday Durham at Golden Belt

Saturday: Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

Sunday: Salmon Florentine with Rice and Lentil Salad

Sweet Corn and Roasted Red Pepper Risotto

Were going on our second week without our CSA basket and I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t eaten anything green all weekend. I searched the freezer and came up with frozen shelled edamame, so I replaced some of the corn with it :-)  Thankfully the CSA starts back up this Thursday for us!!

Served with one of the best wines we’ve had all summer (purchased at Wine Authorities). It’s light and refreshing and full of lightly sweet zippiness.

• 2 cups  water
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2  teaspoons  olive oil
• 1  cup  uncooked Arborio or other short-grain rice
• 1  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 1  teaspoon  ground coriander (optional)
• 4  garlic cloves, minced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 ounces goat cheese
• 1/4  to 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• 2  cups  frozen whole-kernel corn
• 3/4  cup  chopped bottled roasted red bell peppers
• 3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

Combine water and broth in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer (do not boil). Keep broth mixture warm over low heat.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add rice, cumin, coriander (if desired), and garlic; sauté 1 minute. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir in 1/2 cup broth mixture; cook 2 minutes or until the liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add remaining broth mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of liquid is absorbed before adding the next (about 20 minutes total).

Stir in the onions, cheese, hot sauce, corn, and bell peppers; cook 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light

The veggie garden coming is along.

Our first red tomatoes, ready to pick any day now.

Big green tomatoes, hope they turn red soon!

And the crepe myrtle blooming magnificently.

Banana Soft Serve

This is super simple and all natural! The only ingredient is a whipped frozen banana, served in an ice cream cone! Super cool.

2-3 frozen bananas, broken or chopped into large chunks (freeze at a minimum overnight)

Once frozen, throw them in your food processor. Turn the processor on for about five minutes, stopping every now and then to scrape down the sides. The mixture will get increasingly light, fluffy, and smooth. By the time you’re done, they’ll resemble a creamy bowl of soft serve!

Method viewed on Kath Eats

Rosemary Chicken with Blueberry Sauce and Quick Whole-Wheat Dinner Rolls

The blueberry sauce and dinner rolls where both equally delicious (maybe a slight preference towards the rolls :) The blueberry sauce called for pork tenderloins but in an effort to be frugal I pulled out chicken breasts. Also, to make clean-up super easy, I decided to line the muffin tine with cupcake wrappers. Mentally one may have thought they looked like muffins, but one bite reminded you of their yeasty-goodness.

• 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
• 5 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 pork tenderloins, about 1-pound each
  

In a small bowl, whisk together the Dijon mustard, fresh ground black pepper, chopped rosemary, and minced garlic and mix well. Rub the mustard mixture over the surface of the tenderloins and wrap in plastic wrap. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Remove the plastic wrap from the tenderloins and place in roasting pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer, inserted in the tenderloins, registers 160 degrees F. Remove from oven when desired doneness is reached and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes on a cutting board. Slice and serve with blueberry sauce, below.

Blueberry Sauce

• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tsp chipotle in adobe sauce or minced jalapeño, optional
• 1-1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and drained
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook onion 3 minutes. Add blueberries, peppers, vinegar, sugar, thyme and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper to saucepan; cook for 5 minutes or until thickened.

Recipe adapted from Mare’s Food & Fun

Double-Quick Dinner Rolls

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. sugar (white or brown)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 package regular or quick active yeast (1 pkg yeast = 2 1/4 tsp.)
• 1 cup very warm water
• 2 tbsp. oil
• 1 egg

Mix 1 1/4 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt, and yeast in large bowl. Add water, shortening, and egg; beat with spoon until smooth. Stir in remaining flour until smooth. Scrape batter from side of bowl. Cover and let rest/rise in warm place about 30 minutes. (Mine didn’t rise much, but don’t worry about that.)

Grease 12 regular-size muffin cups. Stir down batter by beating about 25 strokes. Spoon into muffin cups. Let rise 15 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Recipe courtesy of Fun Foods on a Budget

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

An entertaining twist on pizza slices – these were fun, but won’t beat out the traditional version too often in our house. We paired the green olives in these up with a glass of Chardonnay and popped  Pretty in Pink into the dvd player!!

 

• 1 ball of pizza dough
• mozzarella cheese, diced into 24 mini cubes
• toppings of your choice: ham and pineapple, artichokes and olives, etc. (I used green olives, artichokes and fresh basil)
• 2 T grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 T olive oil or melted butter
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 1 t dried Italian seasoning
• marinara sauce, for dipping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface, to about 12" by 8".  Cut it into 24 squares using a pizza cutter to slice. 

Place cheese and desired toppings on each square.  Just eyeball how much.  You just need to be able to enclose the toppings in the dough so keep that in mind.

When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings.  Pinch to make sure each ball is sealed shut and then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie pan (or similar sized dish).

 

Brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil or melted butter and sprinkle with the garlic and Italian seasoning and top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve with warmed marinara sauce on the side for dipping.

Recipe courtesy of Our Best Bites

Shrimp Tacos with Chipotle Cream

I used the general flavors of this dish from an Ellie Krieger recipe, but used shrimp in place of white fish (only because I forgot to pick some up when I was at the grocery). As we were eating Andy had a great suggestion to add some salsa to the tacos, this addition really completed it.

For some reason I’m exhausted tonight…off to relax and be thankful that tomorrow is Friday. :-)

CEiMB: Shrimp Rolls

Triangles Top 50 Food Icons – I’m glad to see so many of my favorite Durham spots listed: Wine Authorities, Watt’s Grocery, Parker & Otis, Scratch Bakery, Rockwood Filling Station, Magnolia Grill, Foster's Market, Palace International, Dolly Mama, Guglhupf, Counter Culture Coffee, and Loco Pops.

Here's a few I'd add to the list: Rue Cler, Local Yogurt, Six Plates Wine Bar, Four Square, Brinkley's Farm, and Revolution.

Hosted by Lonely Sidecar

These were very tasty, the creamy sauce was mainly Greek yogurt based with lime juice which made for a nice light base.

• 1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek-style yogurt
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped scallion greens
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 pound cooked lobster meat or cooked shrimp, cut into 1/3-inch pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 whole-wheat hot dog or hamburger buns
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

If using regular yogurt, place it in a strainer lined with paper towel and set the strainer over a bowl. Let the yogurt drain and thicken for 20 minutes.

In a bowl, stir together the thickened or Greek-style yogurt, mayonnaise, celery, scallion and lemon juice. Fold in the lobster meat and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Chill until ready to use. Just before serving, open the hot dog buns and brush the inside with olive oil. Heat a grill pan over moderately high heat and grill the bread, cut side down, until toasted, about 3 minutes. Fill each with 3/4 cup of the lobster mixture and serve immediately.

Recipe courtesy of Ellie Krieger