Note to self: asparagus & horseradish do not mix.

I love vegetables and I’m always looking for new, easy ways to prepare them. Especially things that I can remember easily and don’t have to follow an exact recipe.

I tried a variation on an Epicurious recipe last night, and it was so bitter it was rather awful.

Steam 2 lbs. fresh asparagus for about 6 min (until tender crisp).

Mix 2.5 tbsp softened unsalted butter with 1.5 tbsp drained refrigerated horseradish.

Dry asparagus, add to frying pan, toss with horseradish butter, and saute on high heat for about 3 minutes.

Yuck!

Spicy Chicken and Mango Stir-Fry

This looks good. Got it from the same Oprah show as the other recent entries. Haven’t tried it yet…

 

Spicy Chicken and Mango Stir-Fry

Recipe created by Cat Cora

 

Try chef Cat Cora’s recipe for spicy chicken and mango stir-fry, a dinner from her complete seven-day menu.

Ingredients:

Serves 4–6

Marinade and Chicken:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic , minced
• 3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken , sliced into 1/2-inch thick strips

Stir-Fry:

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 medium onions , diced
• 1 cup frozen broccoli
• 1/2 cup frozen snow peas
• 1/2 cup frozen mangoes , sliced
• Soy sauce , if needed
• 1 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbsp. chopped scallions

In a Pyrex dish or bowl, combine the soy sauce and garlic.

Place the chicken into the dish, cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight to marinate.

Heat the oil in a wok or large sauté pan over high heat. Add the chicken, marinade and onion, and sauté quickly until chicken is cooked through. Add in broccoli and turn heat to medium-high. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Toss in snow peas and mangoes with their juices and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Toss in the cilantro and scallions and serve.

Chickpea and roasted pepper soup

I got the following recipe from Cat Cora on Oprah.com. I can’t figure out why it’s almost tasteless. It’s inoffensive, filling, cheap. I like all the ingredients, particularly roasted red peppers.  But it just has almost no flavor.

Update: I had this again for dinner tonight (Joe’s out of town) and was really not a big fan. I will not make this recipe again.

Chickpea and Roasted Pepper Soup

Recipe created by Cat Cora

 

Try chef Cat Cora’s recipe for Chickpea and Roasted Pepper Soup, a dinner from her complete seven-day menu.

Ingredients:

Serves 4–6

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion , finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic , minced
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) chickpeas , drained
• 1 Tbsp. Italian herb seasoning
• 4 cups water or chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 1 jar (12 ounces) roasted peppers , cut into thin strips
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté, stirring constantly until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté just for 1 to 2 minutes to bring out the garlic’s fragrance. Add the chickpeas and Italian seasoning, mixing well.

Pour in the stock, and reduce the heat to medium low.

In a food processor or a blender, puree the contents of the jar of red bell pepper strips (or your own red peppers if you already have some roasted). Add the red pepper puree to the soup and simmer for about an hour. Season with salt and pepper before serving.

Fresh artichokes… ahhhhh, heaven

Little makes make happier than the simplicity of a freshy prepared artichoke with simple lemon butter. Hollandaise sauce is also amazing but takes a lot more effort.

I love recipes that use rotisserie chicken…

I made this yummy summer pasta dish tonight:

Pasta with chicken and sundried tomatoes: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Linguine-with-Chicken-and-Sun-Dried-Tomatoes-102868

Used rotisserie chicken and added it in at the last minute. Fresh basil is essential. Cut oil down to about 1/3 cup.

Mixing salami, capers, and Kalamata olives

I tried a recipe last week that mixed kalamata olives, spicy Italian salami and capers in a pasta dish and it just was not very good. Too many competing strong flavors. The following recipe was from chef Curtis Stone courtesy of Oprah.com. Do NOT repeat!

http://www.oprah.com/recipe/food/recipespasta/20090227-tows-curtis-rigatoni-salami

Lemony Zucchini recipe

Saw this on The Early Show today. Thought it looked good. A lot of butter, though:

Zucchini with Lemony Crumbs

Serves 4
Active time: 20 minutes
Start to finish: 40 minutes

2 lb zucchini, coarsely grated
3/4 stick unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 cups coarse breadcrumbs (from day old baguette)
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp chopped thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced

Toss zucchini with 3/4 tsp salt in a colander set over a bowl and let drain 20 minutes. Squeeze handfuls of zucchini in a kitchen towel to remove excess moisture. Melt 3 Tbsp butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, then cook breadcrumbs, zest, thyme and 1/8 tsp salt, stirring until crumbs are golden, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and wipe out skillet, then cook garlic in remaining 3 Tbsp butter over medium-high heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add zucchini and sauté until softened slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve zucchini topped with breadcrumbs.

Chipotle shrimp tacos and Chipotle deviled eggs tonight

Can you detect a theme in tonight’s dinner? I just love that smoky, hot chipotle flavor.

The deviled eggs are simple and delicious. Here’s a link: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chipotle-Deviled-Eggs-236167

The shrimp taco recipe is courtesy of Chef Curtis Stone on an Oprah show about healthy home cooking on a budget. (Though I have to say, the idea that 2.5 pounds of shrimp is an “economical” meal seems a little off base.) The dish is a little soupy and might be better served with rice than with tortillas. Here’s the recipe (I fear the link may disappear, so I’ll post the whole recipe):

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 small onion , roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 dried chipotle chilis , seeded and chopped
• 3 tomatoes , roughly chopped
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 1/2 pounds shrimp , peeled and deveined
• 1/4 cup lime juice to taste
• Cilantro

Place a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, and sweat onions in 1 tablespoon of oil for 3 to 4 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic and chipotle peppers, and continue to sauté for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, season lightly with salt and cook for 1 minute before removing from heat.

Blend mixture well in small batches until smooth, adding a little water if needed, and reserve. In a large heavy-bottom pot, heat remaining oil over high heat. Add shrimp, season with salt and pepper and sauté for 2 minutes stirring occasionally, allowing the shrimp to lightly color. Remove shrimp from the pan to a plate and add the tomato mixture to the remaining oil in the pan, being careful, as it will splatter slightly.

Cook sauce for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, and add shrimp back to pot. Once shrimp are cooked through and coated with the sauce, remove from heat and season to taste with lime juice, salt and pepper. Finish with the chopped cilantro and serve with corn tortillas.

Salmon with Lentils

Last night I made Salmon with Lentils from the Epicurious website. Here’s a link to the recipe:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Salmon-with-Lentils-and-Mustard-Herb-Butter-em-Saumon-aux-Lentilles-em-241768

Really, really good. Especially the lentils.  There is a LOT of butter in here, though. I use olive oil instead of butter to saute the salmon to at least cut down a little.

A few months ago I made this recipe using yellow lentils. HUGE mistake. I had yucky yellow mush.

This time around, I had no leeks, so I substituted a large, diced onion. It was still excellent.

Hello world!

HEre’s my first post. Don’t know what it will be…