Quinoa Risotto

Clearly not a true risotto, this quick and healthy side dish substitutes the traditional Arborio rice for the fast-cooking grain, Quinoa.  

This small, high protein, high fiber grain cooks quickly in chicken broth flavoured with lemon, thyme and garlic.  To recreate risotto's familiar creamy texture, cheese is stirred in during the final moments of cooking!

I purchase quinoa at my local supermarket - the brand I buy is the President's Choice Organics brand from Super Store.  I find this brand cooks well - with all the liquid absorbed, and the quinoa maintaining an aldente texture - but you can substitute any brand you wish - even the black or red varieties for interest - just adjust the cooking time if needed.

The entire box of quinoa contains roughly 1 1/3 cups dried quinoa but I had used about 1/3 cup in another recipe so I used the remaining 1 cup here.  I used all the liquid required by the instructions however to further replicate risotto's 'looser' texture.  If you have a full package use that and add about 1/2 cup additional cooking liquid.

I've also used coconut oil to start the recipe here.  Coconut oil has many health benefits but you can use olive oil or butter instead if you wish!

Thai Green Curry Soup

 

This Thai inspired soup is flavoured with green curry, coconut milk, and fish sauce.  Simmered gently, chicken then vegetables are added in the last few minutes of cooking to retain freshness and colour. You can easily make a vegetarian version with a few substitutions!  Soft tofu for the chicken and vegetable broth for the chicken.  If you don't want to use the fish sauce, leave it out - it will turn out just fine!

I used the green Thai curry paste in this recipe.  Here is the brand I used.  You can find it at most grocery stores nowadays in the Asian section or at your local grocery stores.  If you like, you can substitute the red curry for the green - there seems to be much debate online over which is the hotter, I'll leave it up to you to decide!

Shaun loves this soup served over warm jasmine or basmati rice - but rice noodles will work just as well.  This soup comes together quickly and easily while the rice cooks, a good option for a weeknight meal! 

Loaded Mashed Potatoes

A quick and easy way to jazz up plain mashed potatoes. There's no limit to what you can add to yours. Pretty much any cheese will work, I've added sharp cheddar here. Then add bacon, diced onion and whatever else you like to your potatoes. These make a great side dish or meal on their own!

Linguini with Tomato and Clams

This is the ultimate in quick and easy dishes, don't let the anchovy paste scare you, you won't even know it's in there!  Using canned clams makes this quick and easy - but you can easily substitute fresh shellfish too - just brush the shells of fresh clams clean with a vegetable brush under running water - add before reducing sauce to simmer and discard any that don't open!

Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin

This is a quick recipe and a different way to serve pork tenderloin.  The loin is butterflied and pounded thin for fast cooking then serves with a sweet and sour sauce.  Serve this over rice or noodles or with added vegetables for a quick and easy meal!

What's For Dinner? Feta and Tomato Orzo, Green Beans and Red Snapper

This whole meal comes together in less than 30 minutes and the orzo is great as leftovers.  If you've never used orzo before, it's a small rice shaped pasta but if you can't find orzo, any small pasta will do!  Salty Feta and Sweet tomato compliment each other well in the pasta - seared snapper and a side of green beans make a complete meal!

Honey Mustard Pork Chops

This is an easy way to jazz up the humble pork chop. The original recipe was a Weight Watchers Recipe that I have adapted to save time (the original recipe called for a 4 hour marinade). Depending on the thickness of your pork chops, this recipe goes straight from the frying pan to the table in about 15 minutes!

Spiced Vegetable Quinoa with Vegetables

Did you know Quinoa, a seudo grain native to South America, is a relative of spinach, beets and the tumbleweed? Its protein content is very high (12%–18%). Unlike wheat or rice, and like oats, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids, making it an unusually complete protein source among plant foods. It is a good source of dietary fiber (7g per serving) and phosphorus and is high inmagnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest. (from Wikipedia).

Quinoa is very easy to cook, it takes only 15 minutes which is basically the same amount of time as white rice, with many more health benefits! It's also very versatile, like rice, and can be served hot or cold!

I served this quick and easy spiced quinoa with broiled salmon, but it would do just as well with pretty much anything or even on its own!

Lemon Caper Fish Filets

This simple, healthy week night meal can be made with chicken, or turkey instead of fish if desired!  I used Basa, but Tilapia or any flaky white fish would work.  Filets are browned then tossed back in the frying pan in a light sauce of capers and chicken broth - subtly tart with lemon - this dish is flavourful and healthy!  Serve fish alongside rice or potatoes and a side salad or vegetable!

Chicken Fingers

Ok, not exactly a very healthy recipe...so put aside your New Years Resolutions for a bit and make some chicken fingers! (If you need some more convincing, Shaun calls these the BEST chicken fingers he's ever had...but maybe he's just buttering me up...make them and decide!)

**Note -- If you really don't want to pan fry these you could likely spritz them with non stick spray and bake them, they won't taste quite the same but I bet they'd still be good!

Chicken with Wine and Mushrooms

A quick and easy week night dinner. Chicken breasts are sauteed in a tangy wine and butter sauce and tossed with sauteed mushrooms. Serve over mashed potatoes with the side veg of your choice!

This recipe will serve two but you can scale it to serve as many as you like!

Thai Coconut Curry Sole

This is a really simple, one pan recipe for a mild, thai curry sole. I obviously used filets of Sole in this recipe but you could just as easily use Tilapia, Basa or any white fish...or even shrimp!

Spaghetti with Lemon and Anchovy

Don't worry, this isn't fishy! The anchovy paste adds a salty richness to the pasta sauce. Anchovy paste is also a great addition to a basic fresh tomato sauce for the same reason.

Shaun Cooks! Penne with Shrimp, Fresh Tomato and Chorizo

A new seller at the St. Norbert Farmers Market is making pasta this year and I found penne flavoured with keylime and chili.  I left it up to Shaun to create a sauce to marry with this unusually flavoured pasta!  He cooked fresh tomato, sweet white onion and chorizo down with a spash of white wine to create a base for shrimp.  The light sauce lets the subtly flavoured pasta shine through!

Catie's Citrus Chicken

 After much anticipation here it is. The recipe you've all been waiting for....CATIE'S Chicken! I'm calling this recipe Catie's Citrus Chicken because it can really adapt to whatever you have in your fridge. The original recipe calls for orange...and Catie used Mango Pineapple Veggie Juice and I used Mango Orange so feel free to experiment...any citrus based juice should work well.

Four Meat Pizza - Pizza for Men!!

Using the pre made fresh pizza dough from De Luca's makes making home made pizza a cinch.  Simply spread out your dough and layer on your toppings.  We found the cutest heart-shaped salami this week and knew just what to do with it.  Pizza!  

I find heating the oven as hot as it will go yields the best results - for me that's 500 degrees (though I have my suspicions it actually gets that hot).  The pizza cooks in about 15 minutes this way with a nice chewy crust, crisp on the bottom and soft and chewy in the middle and the cheese perfectly browned on the top - nothing better!

Peas, Pesto and Pasta

The basil plants on the balcony are going a bit crazy. I've been plucking off their flowers and have been rewarded with an abundance of leaves! I really love pesto in moderation but there is something very strong about the bottled stuff and on a bowl of pasta I find it over whelming so I thought I'd try making my own with basil, lemon, parmesan and of course garlic!

I used substantially less oil than traditional pesto in this recipe.  I have also added a few tbsp of vegetable broth to the mixture to make up for the lack of oil.  If you prefer a more traditional consistency, feel free to up to oil amount as you blend.

This recipe makes enough pesto for one generous plate of pasta for one as a meal, however, you could easily serve this as a side dish with a light protein like fish or chicken if you wish!

Spicy Tomato Rice

Shaun makes this spicy tomato rice as a side dish all on its own or as a filling for chicken enchilada or burritos.  It comes together quickly and is easily adapted to any seasoning you may like to use!  Shaun uses a cajun seasoning blend here but you can use any pre-mixed seasoning mix you like.

Add cooked sausage, chicken, or pork for a complete meal!

Sticky Chili Chicken

I'm on a sweet and spicy kick this week and once again I know exactly what I WANT to eat....crispy, juicy 'nuggets' of chicken tossed in a sweet, spicy sticky sauce...so that the chicken is almost candied! Mmmm...

Orange Ginger Garlic Chicken Stir Fry

Shaun and I wanted something a little lighter for dinner today and after getting a PILE of chicken breasts from a friend that was moving (yay!) I thought a spicy chicken stir fry was in order. My chicken breasts were frozen and defrosted in the marinade which I have a feeling added a bit more liquid to the final product. If you are using fresh chicken you might need to add a bit of water or broth to the final marinade so you have more sauce for your rice.