A New Recipe Called Mushroom Agnolotti with Corn, Tomatoes and Arugula Pan Sauce

Ok, so I cook occasionally. I won't tell you how many times I actually cooked dinner at home during the last 3 weeks because it's embarrassing.  But, I've decided to turn over a new leaf.  I've begun meal planning again.  I've decided to get some different, better food back on the table.  Because, I was in a rut.  I preferred Hamburger Mac (no one was complaining though) to something a little more healthy.

So, my first try back to interesting but easy cooking was something with a crazy name but a pretty yummy and fresh looking picture. I have also wanted to know what the hype was about arugula so, I thought this would be perfect.  Especially since Utah corn is at its prime.  Yum.  Here are a few notes:

1.  I used frozen ravioli. Costco kind with the spinach in it.  They said I could.  Agnolotti is basically ravioli.  It just sounds more special.
2.  My ravioli did not have mushroom in it.   So I actually put in some white mushrooms for my husband.  And picked them all out of my bowl at dinner time.
3. Most important discovery:  I hate arugula.  It's gross. If you like it, pardon.  But if you don't like it, you know what I'm talking about.  Andrew took a bite and said, "What tastes so bitter?"  Yeah, so we both ate around the arugula.  If you want the rest of my arugula in the fridge, it's yours.

So if I were to make this again here are the good things:

1.  Great for meatless Monday.
2. Fast
3. My corn was white and awesome and fresh and inexpensive.  Delish.
4.  It was pretty healthy.
5.  We ate it with garlic bread.   Bueno.
6.  Substitute the stinking arugula with spinach.  That would be good.  And don't put a full 5 oz in.  That's a lot.  Maybe half of that?

Theirs (Better Homes and Gardens)

Mine

The Recipe:

2 ears sweet corn on the cob
18 oz wild mushroom agnolotti or ravioli
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion thinly sliced
1 clove garlic thinly sliced (I have the jar of costco minced for ease)
2 medium tomatoes, cored and chopped
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
5 oz baby arugula (6 cups)  *too much!  Sub spinach if you don't like arugula
2 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano finely shredded (I used shredded parm)

1.  Bring large pot of salted water to boil.  Shave corn off the ears with knife and reserve.  Add the cobs and agnolotti to water, set timer for 6 min.
2.  Meanwhile, for pan sauce, heat oil in large skillet over med-high heat.  Add onion and garlic.  Cook until fragrant about2 min.
3.  Add corn kernels to skillet; cook over med-high heat until bright and crisp tender; 1 min.  Add the tomatoes (and mushrooms if adding) and toss until they begin to release some juices, about 2 min more.
4.  Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid.  Discard cobs.  Add pasta back to the pot with the reserved cooking water, corn mixture and butter.  Gently toss over low heat to melt butter.  Stir in arugula and toss until just wilted.  Divide among four bowls and top with finely grated cheese.
4 servings.

566 cal
6g fiber
(in case you were wondering)

veggies and noodles with thai coconut curry sauce

I got the recipe for this on the Our Best Bites website (linked on the left of the blog). You can find it here. It's a knock off of Noodles & Co Bangkok Curry, which I'm now considering ordering on my next visit there. Yum.

I don't like curry. This doesn't taste like "curry". It uses red curry paste, which I actually had lying around in the fridge. I also happened to have coconut milk in my cupboard. This really hit the spot with me tonight. Even Nathaniel ate it up, which really shocked me!

A couple of notes:

1. I used fresh broccoli and fresh carrots instead of the stir fry mix. I didn't blanch them first, I just threw them in the wok the same time as the red peppers and it was fine. With sitting for 5 minutes in the sauce to thicken, they soften even more. If they're soft once you add the sauce, I'd imagine they'd get a little limp.

2. I did half the recipe. Probably a smart idea. But, after I ate my 3 lbs and Thanny ate some, there's probably enough for Andrew to eat for dinner when he gets home and not a whole lot of left overs. So I may actually make the whole thing next time!

3. As a lover of sweet chili sauce- you do not have to go to the Asian market to find it. They have two brands in the Asian section of Smiths. Just so you know. (P.S. If you've never had sweet chili sauce, try it with sour cream and dip potato wedges in it. I ate this all the time in Australia- they even had sour cream and sweet chili potato chips in the store there, America needs to get with the program and get some of those. yum!)

Follow the link (the word "here") for the recipe.

Potato Leek Soup

This is a recipe that my mom makes. Andrew had it the summer we lived out there and has loved it ever since. I guess I was craving it today and it tasted so good. Plus, it was a good meal for meatless monday. I was going to post another recipe I made last week or the week before. But, it didn't settle well with me and the left overs made me nausiated. Needless to say, I'm not posting that one. I found some yummy rosemary olive oil bread on the reduced price rack at Smith's today that was really good with it. I just toasted it and put a little butter on it. I dipped and just ate. I also ate a little too much... my tummy was kind of in a little pain afterwards. But it was so worth it!

Potato Leek Soup

1 1/2 cups minced leeks

1/4 cup minced onion

1 large garlic clove, minced

3 Tbs. minced carrot

4 Tbl. butter

4 cups chicken stock

1 1/2 cups diced potatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper

Sautee leeks, onions, carrot and garlic in butter. Add chicken stock and potatoes to large pot, along with sauteed vegetables. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer until potatoes are cooked. Put the soup into blender to puree, doing a little at a time. Return to pot; add cream. Reheat without boiling. Add seasonings. If too thick, thin with a little half and half or milk.

Meatless Monday: Lentils and Spinach

We wanted Naan bread to go with our Meatless Monday meal tonight. I did a little searching around and found this "Indian" dish on All Recipes. They suggested the Lentils and Spinach recipe be served over rice but I wanted to scoop it up onto Naan. So, I made a few little adjustments to fit my wants plus some of the suggestions left in the comments section. You'll notice the changes if you go visit the recipe and compare it with how I made it. I had fresh spinach in the fridge that I was able to use up too, which was great. It was yummy! We all liked it! I'll definitely be making it again.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, halved and sliced into 1/2 rings
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup lentils
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock/broth
  
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach or 1/2- 3/4 bunch of fresh spinach
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• grated carrot
  
• 1 cup cooked rice (I put 1/2 cup in the rice cooker and then added the cooked rice to the pot)
• garlic powder and garlic salt
  

Directions

1. Heat oil in a heavy pan over medium heat. Saute onion for 10 minutes or so, until it begins to turn golden. Add about 1/2 tsp. of cumin. Add minced garlic and saute for another minute or so.
2. Add lentils and chicken broth to the saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil. Cover, lower heat, and simmer about 35-40 minutes, until lentils are soft ( this may take less time, depending on your water and the lentils).
3. Meanwhile remove long stems from spinach and do a rough chop through (or if using frozen, cook spinach according to package directions). Add spinach, rice, salt and remaining cumin to the saucepan. Cover and simmer until all is heated, about ten minutes. Grind in plenty of pepper. I added some extra salt, garlic salt, garlic powder and cumin at the end to taste.
   

Meatless Monday: Quinoa and Black Beans with Homemade Tortilla Chips

This recipe was another meatless big hit at the Frost home tonight. I cooked the recipe up and decided it needed a little something to make it more exciting. Solution: homemade tortilla chips to scoop it up with. We spooned up the quinoa into a bowl, added some cheese and sour cream and scooped away. Yum. Yum.

P.S. This one got high fives from the hubs again. It seems like I get more high fives from meatless Monday than I do other days of the week- go figure!

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
  
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (I used chicken broth)
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I didn't have any, so I just added parsley at the end)
• Optional: 1/2 green bell pepper chopped ( I added this in)

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic (and pepper if using), and saute until lightly browned.
2. Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable (or chicken) broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes,
3. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

Tortilla Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Quarter corn tortillas.
Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt.
Bake 5 minutes. Flip over. Salt other side. Bake another 5 minutes.
Enjoy!

You could brush some oil on to make the salt stick better if you want. You could also add some other spices to make them a little more flavorful. I didn't think they needed it with this recipe. Delish!

Meatless Monday: Fakes me Ryzi: Brown Lentils and Rice

Andrew and I have recently been trying to eat a little less meat. I realized yesterday that unintentionally I'd been making a meatless meal for the last 2 Mondays. So, I decided why stop now? Meatless Monday is born.

We had Fakes me Ryzi, or Brown Lentils and Rice, which is a Greek dish. In Greek: φακές με ρύζι, pronounced fah-KES meh REE-zee. It sounded interesting and I wanted to use my green, yes green and not brown, lentils in something.

It was really quite good. I love cheese so of course, I topped my bowl off with just a little bit of shredded Monteray cheese. Delish.

We made Naan to go with it (a little Greek-Indian fusion). We ended up scooping spoonfuls of the lentils up onto the flat bread and eating it that way. Well, everyone except my father-in-law. He ate his Naan with butter and strawberry jam and let us eat his portion of the lentils :)

Andrew loved it- he kept giving me high fives all during dinner. It was so rewarding!

P.S. I made half of the recipe and it fed three comfortably with leftovers. Also, I just added a whole can (about a cup) of tomato sauce + a teeny bit of water to give it a little more liquid to soak up.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of dried small brown lentils
• sea salt
• 8 cups of water
• 1 small vegetable bouillon cube
• 1 cup of long grain rice
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups of unseasoned tomato sauce or 3 tablespoons of tomato paste dissolved in 1 1/4 cups of water
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary (or 1 bay leaf, or 1 sprig of fresh oregano)
• 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup of olive oil (optional)

Preparation:

Rinse lentils under running water. Place in a large pot with plenty of cold salted water and boil over high heat for 10 minutes. Drain and discard water.

Add lentils, 8 cups of cold water, and bouillon cube to a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes and add rice. Reduce heat to medium-high and continue to boil, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Add tomato sauce (or tomato paste and water), rosemary (or bay leaf or oregano), grated carrot, chopped onion and garlic, pepper (and optional olive oil). When boil resumes, reduce heat to medium-low and cook uncovered for 10-15 minutes, until liquid reduces and is no longer watery (it will cook down to a thin sauce texture).

Remove pot from heat, cover with a clean dish towel, and let sit for 15-20 minutes until all or most of the remaining liquid is absorbed.

Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Yield: serves 10 as a side or salad; serves 6-7 as a main dish.

Quinoa Chili

I got this picture and recipe from Bloom. I didn't have time to grab my own camera because I was too busy eating. It was de-lish! We picked up some quinoa at the Whole Foods store this weekend. I love it in the Quinoa Butternut Squash dish that we make, but this was super good as well! I didn't have a green bell pepper in the house, so I used part of a zucchini and it was really good! I may do zucchini and pepper next time together. Man, do I love quinoa. Yum!

2 cans kidney beans, rinsed & drained (or whatever beans you like)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoon salt
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup quinoa, rinsed in warm water &
cup frozen corn
1 can tomato sauce, low salt (about 2 cups)
1 cup water
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions, and sauté until tender. Add salt, garlic, pepper and spices; sauté for 5-10 minutes. Add rinsed quinoa and stir in. Add corn, tomato sauce, and water to onion/quinoa mixture. Simmer together 20 minutes. Add beans to the pot and simmer another 15 minutes. Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, sliced avocados or whatever else you like to put on chili. Makes 6-8 (1 Cup) Servings.