recipe

Leftover Lunch Salad

/ Jodi / 31 Comments

leftover lunch salad

One of the best things about having a job where you can work from home most days, besides being able to roll out of bed and be at your desk in about 17 seconds, not needing to comb your hair or put makeup on, working in yoga pants and t-shirts, having a furry co-worker by your side, getting to take walks at lunch time….

Ok – there are A LOT of things I like about my job and being able to work from home…

But, one really nice benefit is being able to make healthy and easy leftover lunches instead of going out and eating fast food or having to pack a sack!

Like this salad I made the other day – a small piece of leftover grilled Delmonico steak on top of leftover salad.  Voila!  Veggies and protein and nourishment that tastes good and is good for me!

And after yesterday’s DECADENCE of those Fudgy Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Chip Brownies, I thought it best to show I don’t always eat like that!

QUICK TIPS:

  • Always make more salad than you need for dinner and throw it in a Ziploc bag to keep fresh for a day or two.
  • Don’t add tomatoes to your salad until serving.  Tomatoes completely lose their taste when refrigerated (so never refrigerate them – you don’t – right?!!?!!).  Tomatoes also make leftover salad SOGGY.  Yuk!
  • Make an extra piece or two of your protein – chicken, steak, pork, fish – and throw it in a Ziploc bag too.  It can be sliced on a salad, added to a wrap, thrown on a bun, or even just eaten as is – hot or cold – depending on your work day and stress level.
  • Keep seeds and nuts on hand to toss in and on things.
  • Hard boil some eggs in the beginning of the week, and you always have a quick protein ready.
  • Canned beans area also great additions to salads and wraps.  Open a can of black beans or any kind you like, drain and put in a plastic container in the fridge.  This way you can easily toss on your lunch or pop in your mouth in a jiffy.
  • Keep fresh fruit around so you can grab a handful of berries or snack on a clementine or banana or crunchy apple when your tummy gets to grumbling.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Bacon-Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Blue Cheese

/ Jodi / 27 Comments

bacon wrapped blue cheese stuffed dates

Are you looking for the ULTIMATE easy and amazingly delicious party appetizer?

bacon wrapped blue cheese stuffed dates 2

Well – look no further!  This might sound unusual, but do not doubt that EVERY guest will love this recipe!

bacon wrapped blue cheese stuffed dates 3

Not only do these taste AMAZING… they are actually SUPER SIMPLE too.

And even people that THINK they don’t like dates or blue cheese….

(because EVERYbody loves bacon – right?!)

will LOVE these.

bacon wrapped blue cheese stuffed dates 4

I took these to our “best ever book club” party this weekend, and I can tell you they didn’t last long.

Give this YUMmy recipe a try.  (And I will accept your “thank you’s” later!)   🙂

Bacon Wrapped Dates stuffed with Blue Cheese

Ingredients:

Pitted Dates
Danish Blue Cheese
Bacon

Directions:
Slit date. Stuff as much high quality blue cheese into the date as you can fit. Squeeze together. Wrap with a half of a slice of bacon. Secure with a toothpick. Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes.

With party season upon us, add this to your file of must-do gotta-love recipes!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Jack & Coke Chocolate Cupcakes

/ Jodi / 29 Comments
jack daniels and coke cupcakes 1

Jack & Coke Cupcake

Imagine…  moist chocolate cupcakes flavored with Coca-Cola… then filled with fudgy Jack Daniels whiskey flavored ganache… top that with sweet Jack Daniel’s flavored buttercream frosting… and add a gummy cola candy for good measure…
jack daniels and coke cupcakes 2

Jack & Coke Cupcakes

Yep – this is what I made last night for a special buddy we’ll be seeing today.
jack daniels and coke cupcakes 3

Jack & Coke Cupcakes

These Jack & Coke cupcakes are from a recipe I found a while back on stressbaking.com and modified a bit to my liking.

Jack & Coke Chocolate Cupcakes

Cupcakes:
  • 1 12 oz can Coke (Not Diet Coke – you need the sugar in the original)
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
Ganache Filling:
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1 Tbsp Jack Daniels whiskey
Frosting:
  • 6 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 sticks butter
  • 8 Tbsp Jack Daniels whiskey
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 18 gummy cola bottles (only if you want them to be extra cute)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line 18 cupcake cups with paper or aluminum liners.

Combine Coke and butter in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add cocoa powder, sugar, brown sugar and whisk until sugars are dissolved and mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add cooled cocoa mixture.  Stir to combine. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Pour batter into cupcake liners to 3/4 cup full.  Bake 15 mins. until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Transfer cupcakes to wire rack to cool completely.

While cupcakes are cooling, prepare ganache by melting chocolate chips, cream, butter and Jack Daniels in a small saucepan on low-medium heat.  Stir until smooth.  Remove from heat, and let cool completely (you can even stick in the freezer to quick cool it).
Cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes with an apple corer, and pipe ganache into the holes in each cupcake.

Prepare frosting in electric mixer by combining butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and Jack Daniels.  Pipe onto cupcakes as simple or fancy as you like and top with a gummy cola bottle to make it extra cute.

Enjoy!  And remember don’t eat Jack & Coke Cupcakes and drive!  🙂

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Thanks Leslie @ stressbaking.com for a great idea and recipe!

Old-Fashioned Homemade Butter Mints

/ Jodi / 22 Comments

old fashioned homemade butter mints

I have always loved these soft smooth buttery mints. Not those hard so-called “party” mints that crack your teeth (and like Grandma sometimes had in her candy dish), but the butter mints in soft yellow or pastel shades that were often put out as “after dinner” mints at special occasions or for parties when I was growing up.

I had pinned a recipe for homemade butter mints some time ago on my Pinterest page, not knowing when I’d get around to making them, and/or deciding on an occasion to make them so I wouldn’t eat them ALL myself! Then a friend recently asked me about them for a special party she is working on, and it was the perfect opportunity to give the recipe a whirl.

And whirl I did indeed! Woohoo! Are these ever EASY peasy and even better than I remember.

old fashioned homemade buttermints 2

Did your Grandma always have a candy dish full of these little treats at her house like mine?

Grandma kept hers in a special candy dish atop the server in her dining room.

I can still picture it vividly. It sat on the far left back corner of the server, and it was amber glass with a pointed dome lid on a pedestal. We always tried to carefully lift the lid when we were sneaking taking a piece so as not to “clink” the glass and make it ring throughout the entire house (at least that is what it felt like!)   Because if you did happen to just tap it ever so lightly to make a tiny tingy noise, Grandma’s little dog, Felix, would come a running! Felix loved those mints, and you always had to throw him one if you wanted to prevent the entire house from knowing you were in the candy jar again!

My brother was often known for purposely rattling the jar just to get Felix all worked up.  The poor little thing did practiccandy dishally have a heart attack when he heard that dish a ringing!

When I was trying to describe the candy dish, I thought I’d google it using the descriptive words I came up with, and to my surprise, I found what I believe would be the EXACT match (at least as far as my memory serves)!  It is actually for sale on Etsy.  I saw several.  I guess they are considered somewhat prized antiques at this point.  I’m kinda tempted to get it, but I think I’ll just keep the memory.

Here is the recipe I found on Barefeet in the Kitchen.  (Mary even made a cocoa mint version if you want to check that out too, and her recipe is slightly adapted from Averie Cooks)

Homemade Old-Fashioned Butter Mints

  • Servings: Approx. 200 mints or 3 cups
  • Print

Ingredients:old fashioned homemade buttermints

1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
3 1/4 – 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
Optional: Food coloring for the desired shade you would like

Using an electric stand mixer, combine the soft butter and salt, and beat to combine. Add the condensed milk and beat again to combine. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating to combine thoroughly. Add the peppermint extract and food coloring if you are adding. The dough will be mostly crumbs, but should stick together when squeezed into a ball.  If it is sticky, add a little more powdered sugar.

Remove the dough from the mixer and pull off golf ball size pieces. Roll each ball with the palm of your hand into a long skinny log about 1/2″ in diameter – just as if you were making a snake with play dough.  Slice the strips into tiny mint-size pieces. A pizza cutter works great for this, and you can cut several strips at a time quick and easily.

Spread the soft pieces across a baking sheet and allow them to sit at room temperature overnight. You could speed up the process and put them in the refrigerator uncovered.  When they have hardened enough to store, transfer the mints to an airtight container.   Enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Chicken Caprese Lasagna

/ Jodi / 20 Comments

Chicken Caprese Lasagna

Are you like me?  Always looking for new ways to prepare chicken?  I could eat it every night!  It is so versatile.  There are so many different ways you can prepare it.

And this one……. A HUGE WINNER!

I have to admit… I kinda moaned when I ate this.

Chicken Caprese Lasagna pan

And I’m so glad it turned out good, because I made it for dinner the other night when my McSister came to stay.

After allowing Kelly to munch down a Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookie,

Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies Plated

settle into her room, and get into some comfies, we enjoyed an extra dry dirty martini, and then settled in for a fresh salad and this YUMMY creamy white chicken caprese lasagna.

Chicken Caprese Lasagna 2

Thumbs up all around on this amazing recipe that I originally discovered and tweaked a bit from Becky at TheCookieRookie.

Becky used sun dried tomatoes, but I decided to go with thinly sliced fresh tomatoes.  Then there is this issue I have with MORE cheese and MORE garlic…

I definitely recommend trying this awesome recipe for a special occasion (and when calories don’t matter!)

Chicken Caprese Lasagne

INGREDIENTSChicken Caprese Lasagna
  • 3 cups cooked and chopped chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken)
  • 1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained, chopped
  • 1 1/2 lbs. fresh mozzarella cheese
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan Cheese
  • 3 ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced
  • 1-1/2 pkg. low fat cream cheese
  • 1 cup Half & Half
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped
  • 1 box lasagna noodles, cooked
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  2. Combine chicken, artichokes, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese shredded, the grated Parmesan, and half of the basil in a bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and garlic until well combined.  Add Half and Half, and beat until creamy. Gently stir in half the basil. Set half of the cream cheese mixture aside and stir the remaining half into the chicken mixture.
  4. Spread half of the cream cheese mixture in the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish.
  5. Layer 4 noodles on top.
  6. Top with one third of the chicken mixture.
  7. Place one layer of thinly sliced tomatoes.
  8. Repeat the noodles, chicken  mixture and tomatoes two more times, ending with a noodle layer.
  9. Top with the other half of the cream cheese mixture.
  10. Place slices of fresh mozzarella slices on top.
  11. Top with a little more fresh basil if desired.
  12. Bake 45 min. or until heated through and bubbly on top.
  13. Get ready to moan!

 

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

/ Jodi / 36 Comments

Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

O – M – G !  Fresh raspberries meet freshly baked homemade chocolate chip cookies – Can you even imagine the yumminess?!?!

Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookie

I was a little skeptical about trying this, but I wanted to do something a little different…

something a little extra special…

You see I have a very special house guest arriving tonight.  My sweet McSister, Kelly.

And what kind of hostess would I be if I had no fresh cookies on hand??!!  (And besides – last week’s batch of chewy oatmeal raisin cookies has vanished, so we needed a fresh stash for my hungry guys.)  🙂

Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookie 2

All I did was take my standard chocolate chip cookies recipe and fold in some fresh raspberries.

In order to avoid making a big pink, smooshy mess of the dough, I simply added a fresh raspberry to each ball of cookie dough as I formed it assuring that some of the berry remained in tact and the rest spread around to flavor more of the cookie.

If you love red raspberries, you are going to go crazy for these!

I hope my McSis likes them.

In case you are wondering why Kelly is so special…

Well – besides being an incredibly amazing woman, hospice advocate, and the best dirty martini maker east of the Mississippi, Kelly saved my life…

At least that’s the way I see it.

Several years ago, I was on a business trip to our Northeast PA office in Wilkes-Barre, PA.  It was a newly acquired entity to our business, and I didn’t know many of our new employees.  I don’t remember a lot of the details of the trip, with the exception of one biggie – the town decided to flood during my trip.

It was scary!  People were being evacuated, businesses were closed, and I was very anxious to get home.

Problem was – every road that led back home was flooded – even the major interstate.  Try as I might to drive home, I kept getting turned around and blocked by rushing water.

Giving up, I found the first hotel in the town I was in when I got stuck, but alas no room at the inn…  At every place I tried….

Kelly was one person in this area that I had talked to at least a couple of times.  I had her number in my cell phone, and I called her, practically in tears, seeking direction.

Kelly calmly informed me that she lived on “high ground” near the Pocono Mountains, and didn’t even hesitate to guide me, road by road, turn by turn, to her home, welcome me in with a hug as if we’d been friends for life, provide me with a soft, warm bed, some simple delicious food, and the best dang dirty martinis I have ever ever ever had (and I’ve had my share!)

Another co-worker had been evacuated from her home, so Kelly invited her to join our “party.”

That night, three ladies – all with last names that start with Mc – became “sisters.”

We laughed, we cried, we drank, we ate, we hugged, and we formed a bond that I will never ever ever forget.

My sweet Kelly has moved away from that area to a warm southern climate where her hubby got a new job, but she is still a valuable member of our company’s hospice team and a lifelong friend.  So when she informed me she was heading to Mars to visit our HQ office, there was no questions where she would be staying.  Her room is waiting.  Cookies are baked.  Olives are ready to be stuffed with blue cheese to float in martinis.

And my hubby will finally get to meet my McSister, Kelly.

Love you buddy!

Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookie 2

4 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
5 cups all purpose flour
3 cups Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks (1 1/2 bags)
2 cups fresh red raspberries

Directions:

With electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until completely incorporated. Add vanilla and eggs, and beat until light and fluffy. Add baking soda and salt, and mix another minute. Gradually add flour and beat until well incorporated, but do not overbeat.

Fold in chocolate chunks. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. With your hands, form a cookie dough ball about 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Make an indentation with your thumb and place a fresh raspberry in the indentation. Squeeze together, shape and flatten slightly. Place on baking stone. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake. Allow to cool on baking stone for 2-3 minutes, then remove to cooling rack to cool completely.

To make eating these even more special, enjoy with a nice glass of Port wine. Oooooo Laaaa Laaa!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

/ Jodi / 11 Comments

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Oatmeal cookies are one of my hubby’s faves, and I was surprised to notice I had not posted my recipe here yet.

When I make oatmeal cookies, I like to make them ginormous – – – typically about 3 inches in diameter.

It just seems to be the right way to make them….  Do you think I subconsciously consider them healthier in the cookie category?  There are oats.  There is fruit.  Sometimes there are nuts….   (no worries about that little ole’ bit of butter and sugar!)  😉

I also tend to flatten them a bit before baking, which I do not do with my chocolate chips and others.  I think because they are so full of HEALTHY oats, they don’t tend to spread and flatten as much on their own.

oatmeal raisin cookies 3

To me, the best oatmeal cookies are not puffy or fluffy, but crispy on the outside edges and chewy on the inside.

I change up the fruit or nuts for however the wind is blowing for me that day, so sometimes I add just golden raisins (which I always buy over the standard “brown” ones), other times I use raisins and dried cranberries (like this time).  Sometimes I add chopped walnuts… and sometimes not.  I’ve been known to add dried cherries or dried blueberries (and even candy orange slices once!).

oatmeal raisin cookies 2

So for you oatmeal cookies lovers, here’s my favorite tweaked from the Quaker Oats canister lid called “Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies:”

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

  • Servings: 2 dozen ginormous or 4 dozen regular sized cookies
  • Print

Ingredients:oatmeal raisin cookies 3

14 Tbsp softened butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups uncooked oats
1 cup golden raisins (or fruit/nuts of your choice)

With electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat for two more minutes. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add oats and raisins and mix well.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll dough into large 2 inch balls (or smaller 1 inch if you prefer), place on baking stone, and flatten with the palm of your hand.

Bake 8 minutes for small, 10 minutes for large.

Jodi’s Best Cookie Baking Tips: Electric oven provides most even, consistent baking. I always bake on stones as opposed to aluminum or glass or metal.  I always refrigerate my cookie dough for several hours before baking. I always under bake as the cookies continue to cook slightly while cooling on the baking stone for 2-3 minutes before removing to cooling rack. Cookies freeze well if stored in airtight freezer bags after completely cooled.

Enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Zucchini Lasagna

/ Jodi / 25 Comments

z
The Challenge:  Take a classic recipe, and make a healthier version.

That was the assignment my son, Nick’s girlfriend, Liz, had for her final assignment in a cooking class she is taking as part of her Master’s Degree Program in Nutrition.

We were excited to help her out and have her cook dinner for us last evening.

And she rocked it!  This Zucchini Lasagna recipe is a KEEPER!  I do believe I like it even better than the classic version.

Liz was sweet enough to allow me to photograph her and share the adventure and recipe here with all of you.

z1

One of the joys of cooking is appreciating and embracing the fresh ingredients that make a recipe so wonderful – like the smell of fresh basil.

z2

And the only thing better than smelling fresh basil is the smell of sauteed onions and garlic in olive oil!

z5

For the meat sauce, Liz used lean ground turkey instead of beef or sausage, and when mixed with crushed tomatoes, fresh basil, onions and garlic, you would never know you are “missing” anything – except you get the bonus of less fat and calories!

Z3

This adorable amateur in the kitchen totally mastered using a mandolin (which she formerly only knew as a musical instrument 🙂 ) to perfectly slice the zucchini to replace the pasta noodles.

Z4

And of course Mikey was on his steadfast “clean the floor” duty making sure no crumb is left behind (and yes – he even likes raw zucchini).

z6

This recipe even includes mastering the grill, so Nick was in charge of instructions here, and the zucchini strips were char-grilled beautifully.

z7

Yummy ricotta and Parmesan cheeses are mixed with some parsley, salt, pepper, and an egg for the traditional filling.

z8

Everything was layered, using the zucchini strips as “noodles” and topped with fresh slices of mozzarella for that extra yumminess.

z9

And who can’t resist an extra sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan on top before diving in?!

Here is the recipe Liz used as adapted from Skinnytaste.com:

Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients:  z

  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 4 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
  • 4 medium zucchini, sliced thin
  • 24 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
  • 1 Tbsp fresh or dried parsley
  • 1 1/2 lbs. part-skim fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
  • 1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano Reggiano
  • 1 large egg

Directions:

In a medium sauce pan, brown ground turkey.   Season with salt.  Remove from pan to bowl, and add olive oil to the pan.   Saute garlic and onions about 2 minutes.  Return the meat to the pan, add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. 

Simmer for 30-40 minutes, covered.

While sauce is simmering, slice zucchini into 1/8″ thin slices.  Salt lightly, and set aside for 10 minutes. Zucchini has a lot of water when cooked, salting it takes out some of the moisture. After about 10 minutes, aggressively blot excess moisture with a paper towel.

On a gas grill or grill pan, grill zucchini on each side, until cooked, about 1-2 minutes per side. Place on paper towels to soak any excess moisture.

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Stir together ricotta and Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, pepper and egg in a medium bowl.

With zucchini, sauce, and cheese mixture complete, you are ready to begin assembling the lasagna.

In a 9×12 inch casserole, spread half the sauce on the bottom and layer the zucchini to cover. Then place the ricotta cheese mixture topped with half  of the mozzarella cheese.

Repeat with remaining sauce, another layer of zucchini, mozzarella and a bit of extra Parmesan.

Cover with foil, and bake for 45 minutes.

Uncover, and bake an additional 15 minutes.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving to “set.”

ENJOY!

Thanks, Liz, for being such a good sport and for being such a bright spot in our lives.  We love you!  🙂

And you all are going to love this recipe!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

 

Lemon Basil Shrimp Risotto

/ Jodi / 14 Comments

lemon basil shrimp risotto 1

When trying to decide what to make with a beautiful bag of shrimp I had, I came across this recipe from one of my kitchenista heroes, Ree Drummond aka The Pioneer Woman.

lemon basil shrimp risotto ingred

Risotto gets a bad rap for being difficult, but it really isn’t, and it doesn’t even take that long.

And oh how the fresh lemon juice and zest in this recipe combined with the fresh basil gives this recipe such a light, Springy, refreshing twist.

lemon basil shrimp risotto

Here is the recipe as I slightly adapted from Ree:

Lemon Basil Shrimp Risotto


Ingredients:lemon basil shrimp risotto
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1-1/2 pound Large Shrimp
1 Onion,  Diced
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
2 cups Arborio Rice
2 cups Dry White Wine
4-5 cups Chicken (or Vegetable) Broth
1 Lemon
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Black Pepper
2 Tbsp Half & Half Cream
1/2 – 3/4 cup chopped fresh Basil Leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and cook for 3-5 minutes until opaque in the middle.

Remove shrimp to a cutting board, chop into bite-sized chunks, and set aside.

Add the onion and garlic to the skillet that still has the butter and olive oil in, and cook for 2 – 3 minutes over medium-high heat or until onion starts to turn translucent.

Add dry Arborio rice to the pan and stir for a couple minutes.

Pour in 1 cup of wine and stir gently, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid. Add second cup of wine and do same.  After the wine is absorbed, begin adding broth 1/2 cup to 1 cup at a time, allowing the rice to cook and absorb the liquid each time. Stir occasionally as you go, and add the salt and pepper during one of the broth additions. After 4 cups of broth have been absorbed, taste the rice. It should have a slight bite, but if it seems undercooked, add additional broth and cook it until it absorbs until the risotto is the perfect doneness.

Zest and juice the lemon and add both the zest and the juice to the risotto toward the end of cooking. Stir in the half and half cream, the chopped basil, and serve immediately with extra lemon zest and Parmesan cheese on top.

This recipe would also taste delicious with chicken breast substituted for the shrimp.  I think it could also be great adapted as a vegetarian dish using your favorite vegetables.  I could imagine it with some broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, or maybe even some yummy roasted butternut squash.

This is a very versatile recipe that could become a staple in your dinner repertoire. Hope you’ll give it a try.

Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi

Black Bean & Edamame Salad

/ Jodi / 18 Comments

Black Bean and Edamame Salad 1

I love legumes!

Unfortunately – the two guys I live with – do not…

So when I had some girls over last week, it was my chance to make this black bean and edamame salad as a nice accompaniment to our chicken fajitas.

Black Bean and Edamame Salad

This is one of those things I will sometimes make for myself as a high protein, high fiber, nutrient rich lunch to have on hand for a few days.  It holds up nicely, and the fresh cilantro really kicks it up!

You can really play with this recipe and use whatever you have or whatever you like.  Mix up the beans.  Marinade with YOUR favorite vinaigrette.  Add YOUR favorite veggies.  I daresay it is a smidge different every time I make it according to my mood or what I have on hand.

If you are a legume lover like me, I hope you will give it a try.  And… share your ideas and combos too!

Black Bean & Edamame Salad

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup edamame beans
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup chopped red, orange, and/or yellow pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 lime, juiced
Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mix and refrigerate for a few hours to marinade.  Serve cold.

Enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs

Jodi