Creamy Orzo with Chicken, Mushrooms, and Red Peppers

Creamy Orzo with Chicken, Mushrooms and Red Peppers
click here for picture

Another recipe that I copied? I love the vegetable in it. My advice is to get everything ready to go before you start cooking because if you follow the recipe exactly the all the vegetables will be cooked perfectly. So good.

*Note: this pasta is best served immediately as it tends to get less creamy as it sits at room temperature – so serve warm right as it finishes cooking! (Incidentally, it heated up just fine the next day in the microwave on low power.)
*Serves 4
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 average-sized chicken breasts (about 1 to 1 ½ pounds), cut into chunks
2 red bell peppers, cut into ½-inch pieces
8 ounces white button mushrooms, quartered
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 pound orzo pasta
8 ounces cream cheese, softened (can use 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
1 cup reserved pasta water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the orzo and cook according to package directions until tender. When the orzo is ready, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water (ladling it into a small bowl is my method) and then drain the orzo and set aside.
While the orzo cooks, in a large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the hot oil and brown on all sides. When nicely browned (but not all the way cooked through), add the peppers, mushrooms and thyme. Stir and let cook for about 5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the mushrooms and peppers have softened and browned and most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
In the skillet over medium heat, add the softened cream cheese (if you forgot to let the cream cheese soften at room temperature, no worries! Pop it in the microwave for one minute on 40% power) in bite sized chunks and stir so that the cream cheese melts and coats the chicken and vegetables. Add the reserved pasta water and bring to a simmer. Add ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Stir. Add the orzo, Parmesan, lemon juice and fresh parsley. Stir to combine and heat through. Garnish with additional Parmesan and parsley.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Found this recipe from this cooking blog. I had no idea that cooking this dish could be so easy! And surprisingly yummy. We give it an 8/10. It has just enough spice for me to love it. If you don't like spicy at all, I would leave out the jalapeno.

Servings: 3
Marinade:

1 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoons minced fresh ginger (I used ground Ginger, 2 tsp)
1 teaspoon salt
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper finely chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 cup cream
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Combine all marinade ingredients except chicken. Pour sauce over chicken and refrigerate for one hour {I, Angie, marinated it about 10 hours while I was at work}. Grill or cook chicken in frying pan. Discard marinade.

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for one minute. Season with cumin, paprika and salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken and simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve over hot rice.

Blackened Mahi-Mahi Fish Tacos

Today is my first day without feeling the pressure of studying!  Now that may all change by tomorrow when I start my first real day of work on the floor.  But for now, I feel invigorated.  Today, I revamped my exercise routine and am dedicated to the finishing the SELF Challenge (the fitness part).   I also want to visit every free museum in DC by the end of the summer.  Lastly, I am determined to try new kinds of recipes and start a recipe book. So during my workout today I watched the food network for an hour and found 3 new recipes to try this week.

Here is the first.  Eli and I fell in love with blackened fish and chicken when visiting Barbados and then again just a few weeks ago after going to Puerto Rico.  We rated this recipe an 8 out of 10.  Very yummy.  Just realized that this is kind of long, but I promise it is easy.  Don’t get bogged down.

2 pounds fresh fish-I like mahi mahi or red snapper because it is mild (we used about .7 lb for 5-6 small tacos)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon allepo (or cayenne) flakes
¼ teaspoon ancho powder
1/8 teaspoon coriander
¼ teaspoon sharp paprika powder
¼ teaspoon allspice
Salt and black pepper to taste

So I got to the spice isle and found that it would have cost about $15 for the spices I didn’t have.  Instead I found Phillips Blackening Seasoning for $6 and decided to go with that.  It was probably a lot better actually buying all those spices.  

Cut the fish into small fillets or even smaller for more spice.  Dip in spices and either cook in pan with a little butter or bake in the oven.  Just cook until the middle isn’t clear.  It was about 5 minutes in the pan for us. 

Use whatever toppings you want.  I used the following items
black beans and corn, cabbage
Monterey Jack or sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
10 soft corn tortillas for tacos, or ready-made taco shells

Cafe rio dressing for the sauce (listed below)

Ingredients: MAKE HALF FOR A GROUP OF 4 OR LESS
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix (mix with 1 cup sour cream and 1 cup mayo - milk makes this too runny)
5 fresh tomatillos
1   7 oz. can salsa verde tomatillo salsa
2 cloves fresh garlic (or more)
2 jalapenos (hotter w/ seeds)
cilantro at least a handful or more
juice from a lime
salt/pepper
chili powder (chipotle if you have it)
Directions:
Mix well in your blender.

You sort of have to play around with this recipe since I got this from a person who watched them make it at Cafe Rio.  If you never have had Cafe Rio.  You are missing out .

This is the fun we had buying the fish at the Fish Market.

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pumpkin bread pudding.

julie provided a meal so i will provide a dessert. which is really my favorite part of eating anyway. bread pudding is one of my absolute favorite desserts of all time. and pumpkin anything is my favorite. period. so when i found this recipe, it was a dream come true and comes courtesy of caroline's bake shop.
and if you just want some really delicious and moist pumpkin bread, this is probably my favorite loaf i have ever had. the good news is that the bread recipe makes two loaves and you only need one for the bread pudding so you will get some scrumptious bread to eat for breakfast in the morning from this process too!

PUMPKIN BREAD.
4 cups flour
1/2 t. nutmeg
4 cups sugar
1 29 oz. can pumpkin
4 t. baking soda
1 cup oil
1 t. salt
1 t. cloves
1 t. cinnamon

mix dry ingredients into a large bowl. stir in pumpkin and oil. beat with wooden spoon (or whisk) until well blended. grease and flour 2 large (same size as the pans for wheat bread) or 3 medium loaf pans. pour in batter and bake in 325° oven for 1 1/4 hours to 1 1/2 hours. put toothpick in center to see if bread is done.

BREAD PUDDING.
even though it is my favorite, i had never made it before so i am going to include lots of pictures so you don't get worried about what yours looks like as i did.

8 large eggs
3 ½ cups milk
2 cups sugar
1 ½ cups whipping cream
1 t. vanilla extract
1 1-lb loaf pumpkin bread

butter a 3 quart baking dish. whisk eggs in large bowl to blend. add milk, sugar, cream, and vanilla. whisk to blend well. stir in bread. pour mixture into prepared baking dish, push down the bread crumbs, making sure they have all been coated by mixture. cover and refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours. cook for 1 hour, 45 minutes, or until it is set – 350 degrees (i had to up the tempurature to 375 degrees for the last 40 minutes). before serving, dribble some cinnamon caramel sauce over the top and serve with freshly whipped cream (we didn't use whipped cream but its probably a good addition...)





CINNAMON CARAMEL SAUCE
1 cup (packed ) golden brown sugar
1 cube butter
½ cup whipping cream
¾ t. cinnamon

stir brown sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until melted and smooth, about 2 minutes. add cream and cinnamon and bring to simmer. simmer until sauce thickens and is reduced to 1 ½ cups, about 5 minutes. serve warm.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

So I haven't posted in a while because I have to be honest 1. I haven't tried very many new reicipes since Thanksgiving and 2. the ones I have tried haven't been all that great. But this one was definetly a winner. Eli said it was the best I have made in a while.

Prep Time:10 Min
Cook Time:35 Min
Ready In:45 Min
Yields 4 servings

Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 slices Swiss cheese
4 slices cooked ham

1 egg
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat a 7x11 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pound chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness. (I used a hammer since we are lacking a meat tenderizer). Sprinkle each piece of chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Bath chicken in egg wash. Place 1 cheese slice and 1 ham slice on top of each breast. (I went to the deli and got four slices of each from the deli) Roll up each breast, roll in bread crumbs, and secure with a toothpick. Bake for 20 minutes with foil covering, take off foil and bake until golden brown (about 15 minutes). Remove toothpicks, and serve immediately with rice and sauce (1 can cream of chicken, 1/2 cup sour cream, lemon juice).

*if you need a visual go to youtube and "how to make chicken cordon bleu" and there are some videos on how to wrap it etc.

Spinach salad

Studying for the NCLEX has made me realize that the answer to all nutrition questions is "green leafy vegetables." Therefore, we made a New Year's commitment to eat more spinach. This is my new favorite salad. (who knew making dressing was so easy!)

Serving size 6

1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 bunch spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese(I use feta)
2 tomatoes, chopped (optional)
1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

Dressing

2 tablespoons red raspberry jam (with seeds)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/3 cup walnut oil
freshly ground black pepper to taste
salt to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Arrange walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast in oven for 3-5 minutes, or until nuts begin to brown.
In a large bowl, toss together the spinach, walnuts, cranberries, blue cheese, tomatoes, avocado, and red onion.
In a small bowl, whisk together jam, vinegar, walnut oil, pepper, and salt. Pour over the salad just before serving, and toss to coat.