Spicy Beans and Wilted Greens

Spicy Beans and Wilted Greens

I wish I had been more grateful in my twenties. At the time I thanked my friends and family, but I didn't really think it through. In my thirties I realized just what a big thing little gestures can be. Sometimes we can all forget to be thoroughly grateful when someone goes beyond the usual and does even a small gesture. If I could go back I would take a few minutes and really be grateful for the small things. Many of my favorite memories are the small things that were done for me: my roommate renting my favorite movies after having my wisdom teeth removed, my work friend helping me move at the last minute and my college friend that always have coffee and turbo truffles ready when we studied until 2 in the morning. I remember all of these things and as I get older I cherish the people that helped make the memories. Many of the people attached to the memories are no longer a part of my current life, but they are an integral part of my memories, and for that I am extremely grateful. I just wish that I had been better about being grateful when the memories happened.

With the weather being very cold I have been making a lot of soups and stews. When the temps dip their is something soothing about warm foods. Last week I tried a new recipe for Spicy Beans and Wilted Beans from the February 2014 issue of Bon Appetit Magazine.

Spicy Beans and Wilted Greens

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes 4 and a half hours of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First I used red pepper flakes instead of chiles de arbor, chickpeas for the beans and kale, spinach and arugula for the greens. Using a Parmesan rind adds great flavor and I used it in this recipe. In order for the beans to be soft and tender I allowed the beans to cook for the full 4 hours of time, adding water when needed.

Spicy Beans and Wilted Greens

These beans turned out delicious. My husband and I loved this recipe, it was great on a cold night. It was a little spicy as written for my kids so we added sour cream to their servings. The beans would be great with a loaf of homemade bread for a fall or winter dinner. A great filling meal.

For the recipe go to Spicy Beans and Wilted Greens.

Recipe for Buffalo Style Salmon with Blue Cheese Arugula Salad

Buffalo Style Salmon with Blue Cheese Arugula Salad

My oldest son is obsessed with seafood. From the time he turned 2 and had his first bite of fish he has loved any type of seafood. He is always begging me to buy him salmon or shrimp to eat. My youngest son shares his older brothers love of seafood and it is one of the few foods that he will eat without complaints. Since quality seafood is expensive we only eat it about twice a month. Also my children can eat 2 servings of salmon a piece, so it can cost a small fortune to feed them. I do believe that seafood is an important part of a healthy diet and we eat salmon and shrimp the most frequently. Yesterday I tried a new recipe for Buffalo Style Salmon from the May 2013 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes a total time of 35 minutes, all of which is active and makes 4 servings. I made a few changes to the original recipe. First the easiest type of salmon to find in my area (that isn't farm raised) has skin, finding skinless can be a challenge. Therefore I used skin-on salmon and a slightly thicker fillet than the recipe called for. This increased my grill time by 3-4 minutes. I always use Frank's for my hot sauce and this recipe was no exception. The recipe calls for low-fat yogurt, but I already had full fat yogurt for another recipe so that is what I used. As I have described before I use an indoor electric grill for most of my grilling and it always works well.

I was worried that the buffalo sauce would be too spicy for my kids, but they loved it. They ate their entire servings and tried to eat some of mine. My husband and I really liked the whole dish. The salad made a great side to the salmon and the grill created a nice flavor for the fish. This would definitely be a recipe I would make again.

For the recipe go to Buffalo Style Salmon.

Recipe for Burgers with Mozzarella and Spinach-Arugula Pesto

Burgers with Mozzarella and Spinach-Arugula Pesto and Homemade Buns

The weather was beautiful here today. It finally feels like spring with 80 degree weather and the ability to wear shorts without freezing. The smell of BBQ has been all over my neighborhood as well. I absolutely love the smell of BBQ. There are few smells better than walking outside and smelling someone smoking ribs on a big charcoal side smoker. The weather and the rise of grilling inspired me to make burgers this week. There is something about warm weather and burgers that go hand in hand. My husband bought a huge charcoal grill about 5 years ago. However, this year it needs the rust to be sanded from sitting in our basement and my motivation has been lacking. Therefore I settled for making burgers on my indoor grill this week. Today I tried a new recipe for Burgers with Mozzarella and Spinach-Arugula Pesto from Bon Appetit.

Gluten Free Burgers with Mozzarella and Spinach-Arugula Pesto

This recipe has 15 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First I did two versions, one with homemade hamburger buns and the other with gluten free buns. I had one pound of beef that I had ground with chuck a few months back. I combined the ground beef with 3/4 pound of ground lamb. Since I was short on time I did not wilt the spinach. I often make pesto with spinach and never wilt it, I just puree it in the food processor in batches. For the burgers I ended up with a total of 8 burgers. I like to keep my burgers on the small side, especially since they were blended with ground lamb which can be rich.

For this recipe I used heirloom tomatoes. I love heirloom tomatoes, they are great with burgers. Make sure to salt the pesto and the tomatoes. The salt really helps to bring out the flavor of the tomato and the pesto. Blending the lamb and beef gave the burgers great flavor and my family really enjoyed these burgers. There was also enough pesto leftover to use on turkey burgers later in the week.

For the recipe go to Burgers with Mozzarella and Spinach-Arugula Pesto.

Crispy Chicken Thighs with Pasta and Pesto

My youngest son has decided that he no longer eats cheese. This is the same son that last year would eat an entire box of macaroni and cheese. It really is hard to keep up with the food preferences of everyone in my house (my husband included). It has gotten to the point that it can change on a daily basis, especially with my oldest. If a friend of his decides that they don't like cheese, than he no longer likes it either. I can handle my own children, but it is almost an impossible battle once they start school and begin being influenced by outside forces. However, I am also stubborn and hold my ground, so I still serve cheese. I am a firm believer that my children eat the same meal that we do, if they don't eat they aren't allowed any of the homemade snacks that I make almost daily. That being said I also don't require them to finish their plate. They have to try at least everything that they are served. 99 percent of the time they eat the rest of their serving. The other 1 percent of the time they hate the dish and that is fine also. The one dish that my whole family loves is roasted chicken. Over the years my children have loved and hated almost every food except chicken. This week I tried a new recipe for Crispy Chicken Thighs with Pasta and Pesto from the January 2013 issue of Southern Living magazine.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. Since I eat gluten free I did substitute gluten free rigatoni for the cellentini called for in the recipe. Additionally I used smoked paprika, I love the taste and it is great with chicken. I always use a stainless steel pan to make roasted chicken. It is great to put in the oven and you know when the chicken is browned since it will release (it will stay stuck to the pan until it is browned). It is the best way to get great crispy chicken, just make sure not to flip the chicken before it releases, you can always turn down the heat if you believe that the chicken is starting to brown too quickly. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The pasta under the chicken in this recipe was delicious. The pasta and pesto were my favorite part. The chicken was your average pan roasted chicken, which was very kid friendly and my children loved. The real star of the recipe was definitely the pesto, just make sure to adequately salt, it really will need it I promise. The pesto would also be delicious with chicken (either with or without skin).

For the recipe go to Crispy Chicken Thighs with Pasta and Pesto.

Gnocchi, Sweet Corn and Arugula in Cream Sauce

I love this time of the year. The weather is still mild and the humidity hasn't made life miserable like it does later in the summer. Best of all, there is always ton of inexpensive and abundant produce at the store. Fall and winter are always a little depressing in the fruits and vegetables sections of the grocery stores in my area. I'm lucky if I can find much more than spinach and greens fresh in the middle of the winter and the frozen selection is limited at best. Later in the spring and summer though there are always a ton of fresh vegetables and fruits to select from and I cook with them frequently. The last few years the corn available in my area has been hit or miss. Last summer it was pretty horrible and I only bought it a few times. This year has been the exact opposite, the corn was available early, cheap, and deliciously sweet. So I have been looking around for new corn recipes and  found one for Gnocchi, Sweet Corn and Arugula in Cream Sauce in the May issue of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine.

This recipe has 7 ingredients (8 if you chose to use crushed red pepper). It takes 20 minutes start to finish and makes 4 servings. So I went into this recipe with the intention of buying fresh corn, however, as you can see from the photo I ended up using frozen. Thanks to grocery shopping with a very hyper 3-year-old and a complaining 6-year-old my fresh corn plans were forgotten and I had to rely on the frozen corn in my freezer. I had no problems finding any of the other ingredients. For the dried herbs I used oregano, I love using dried oregano in pasta dishes. Instead of using a dutch oven, I used a stock pot to cook the pasta and then moved the finished pasta and cream sauce to a large saute pan to finish cooking. I have a very large and heavy dutch oven that takes a very long time to boil for pasta, so I prefer to use a pasta or stockpot instead. Additionally, I let my arugula cook until wilted. The recipe just states to stir in the arugula, for me I like my arugula a little more wilted since it has such a strong peppery taste. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

This is a very easy recipe to make. The prep work is very minimal and I was pleased that the amount of salt indicated was perfect. Oftentimes recipes vastly underestimate the required amount of salt, but this recipe was spot-on. My two boys were unsure of the gnocchi since I have only served it to them a few times, but once they tried it they loved it. My husband and I liked that it was different than previous pasta recipes that we had tried and the cream sauce had a nice flavor. We both felt that the arugula is somewhat unnecessary. The flavor of the cream sauce is dominant so the peppery flavor of the arugula doesn't really show through. It's a great way to add greens into your diet, but didn't do much for the flavor of the dish. Since it isn't essential for flavor you could substitute spinach or leave out the arugula completely if you chose. Overall, a very simple pasta recipe.

For the recipe go to Gnocchi, Sweet Corn and Arugula in Cream Sauce. (registration required)

Better Homes and Gardens Roasted Sweets and Greens

As I've stated before I am not a fan of baked potatoes. I have tried for years to bring myself to like them by making numerous recipes and preparation methods and I still can't acquire the taste. However, I absolutely love sweet potatoes. They are a great versatile root vegetable and I use them frequently. Growing up my mother had similar feelings towards baked potatoes and sweet potatoes so I learned from a young age that sweet potatoes can make a delicious addition to numerous recipes and dishes. I love regular baked sweet potatoes, but they can become mundane if eaten too frequently. The October issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine had a recipe for Roasted Sweets and Greens which looked very easy, flavorful and nutritious.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 10 minutes of prep and 35 minutes of roasting and makes 4 servings. I was unable to find hazelnuts at any of my local stores, I never have been except shelled during the holidays. Since I was unable to find hazelnuts I substituted macadamia nuts. I had no problems finding any of the other ingredients and made no further ingredient modifications. Be careful and watch the sweet potatoes or they will burn. I turned mine approximately three times during the roasting to ensure even browning. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The greens in this recipe aren't shown in the above picture. I actually served them on the side instead of on top of the roasted sweet potatoes. This way my boys actually ate both the greens and sweet potatoes without complaints. The best part about this recipe is that it is full of vitamins and has 4 grams of protein per serving. The cider vinegar makes a nice contrast to the peppery arugula and sweetness from the potatoes. Overall, a very simple way to get more nutrition into my family's diet.

For the recipe go to Roasted Sweets and Greens.

Everyday Food Pork Kebabs with Roasted Squash and Sauteed Greens

The last couple of months have been a constant struggle with my two boys over eating their vegetables. There are a few veggies that they will eat a ton of and others that they will pick around at and refuse to eat more than a bite. Luckily, they are great about eating carrots and salad, but I don't want to limit them to only a few vegetables. My food philosophy with my kids is to put the food in front of them and not pressure them to try it until they're ready. A big part of this effort involves only having healthy snacks in the house and including fruit and vegetables at every meal. I was pleased when I was looking through the January/February issue of Everyday Food Magazine and noticed a recipe for Pork Kebabs with Roasted Squash and Sauteed Greens, which looked full of vegetables and promised 31 grams of protein per serving.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active, and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no modifications or substitutions to the ingredients. Make sure to remove all the excess fat and silver skin before preparing the kebabs or the taste will not be as good. Additionally, watch the butternut squash and turn them during the baking time or they will begin to burn. I found that my arugula took slightly longer than the three minutes suggested by the recipe to completely wilt. Also make sure to salt the greens or they will lack flavor.

My two boys loved these kebabs. They were very popular with all members of my household and were very kid friendly. I liked that this recipe included vegetable sides, so there were no other dishes that had to be served along with it. Having everything included in one recipe saved me time and money and the arugula was a nice change of pace from my family's normal vegetable routine. Overall, a recipe that I would make again in the future and a great way to expose kids to a larger variety of foods.

For the recipe go to Pork Kebabs with Roasted Squash and Sauteed Greens.