wild rice salad with pecans and cranberries

I made this salad (yet another cranberry-containing salad...) for a friend's dinner party that ended up being cancelled.  I had absolutely no problem polishing off the whole bowl for lunch over the past few days.  I did let Kory have a little bit and he also liked it, so it's a keeper!  The recipe is based on one I found at foodess.com.

To toast pecans, cook in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until aromatic, about 5 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry brown/wild rice mix
• 4 cups water or chicken broth
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/3 cup chopped green onion
• 1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 3 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine wild rice, water, 1 tbsp olive oil, and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 50 minutes, or until tender. Drain in a fine meshed sieve, and run under cold water to cool completely. Let stand in sieve for 5 minutes to fully drain.
2. In a medium bowl, combine wild rice, green onion, pecans and cranberries.
3. In a liquid measuring cup, combine oil, soy sauce, vinegar and parsley. Pour over salad and stir well to combine. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature.
4. May be made up 24 hours in advance and refrigerated until serving.

spinach, almond, and orzo salad with cranberries

I found this recipe on Family Kitchen and it is my new favorite salad.  The flavor combination of the tangy gorgonzola cheese and the sweet cranberries is amazing.  Throw in the toasty almonds for texture and the salad is officially perfect.

(photo from Family Kitchen blog)


Spinach and Orzo Salad with Cranberries and Almonds
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com


1 cup whole wheat orzo, uncooked
3/4 cup toasted sliced almonds
about 3/4 of a 6 oz bag of baby spinach, thinly sliced
3/4 cup dried cranberries
4 oz gorgonzola, crumbled

For the dressing:
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (I toast in a nonstick skillet over med heat for about 5 minutes)
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1-2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons minced onion
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3cup light flavored oil
salt and pepper to taste

Cook orzo according to instructions on package, set aside to cool completely.

To prepare dressing,  whisk together in a small bowl (or shake in a jar) sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, onion, paprika, vinegar, oil and pinches of salt and pepper.

In a large salad bowl combine orzo, almonds, spinach and cranberries. Gently toss ingredients with 1/3-1/2 amount of dressing, add more or less to your liking.

Add crumbled gorgonzola and gently toss again.

Serve immediately at room temperature or slightly chilled.

California Veggie Sandwiches

http://www.ezrapoundcake.com/archives/16580

We love this recipe found on pinterest!

California Sandwich To Go

Rebecca Crump (EzraPoundCake.com)

Makes 2 large sandwiches or 4 small wraps

Chive Spread:
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt or mayonnaise (OR 2 tablespoons of each)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Avocado Salad:
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
• 1 tomato, cored and chopped
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced (optional)
• Squeeze of lime juice
•  2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or cilantro
• Salt and pepper, to taste

• 4 slices bread (preferably whole grain) or 4 small tortillas (flour or multigrain)
• 1/4 cup alfalfa sprouts
• 2 to 4 slices pepper jack cheese

1. To Make the Chive Spread: In a small bowl, mix the Greek yogurt and chives. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. To Make the Avocado Salad: In a medium bowl, gently toss together the avocado, tomato, cucumber, lime juice and basil or cilantro. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
3. To Assemble: Spread the chive-yogurt mixture on all four bread slices. Divide the sprouts between two slices of bread, and top with avocado salad and cheese. Cover with the remaining slices of bread. (If using tortillas, spread the chive-yogurt mixture on the tortillas, and top with cheese, avocado salad and sprouts. Roll, and eat.)

chocolate eclair cake

I made this Cook's Country recipe to celebrate Kory and his sister's birthdays.  His mom always made a version of this for him growing up, but I am not a fan of either cool whip or instant pudding, so I wanted to try this homemade version.  It was delicious!  The only change Kory requested for next time was to use milk chocolate chips in the topping.

I wish I had gotten a picture, but the cake didn't last long and the slices were slightly messy coming out of the pan.

strawberry cheesecake bites

These tasty little treats were so incredibly easy and everyone loved them and requested seconds (and thirds...).  The recipe is from Family Kitchen and was just perfect for Valentine's Day.  I didn't get to keep them in my hands long enough to take a picture, so the picture is courtesy of the Family Kitchen site.

chewy chocolate chip cookies

 Kory insisted that I bake simple cookies for an exchange party the kids and I were invited to.  We found this recipe for chocolate chip cookies that got rave reviews, but changed out the chips for half butterscotch, half white chocolate.  The cookies were so yummy that we have baked at least four or five batches over the holidays.  They were even good enough for Santa :)

  

tangerine beef stir-fry

This recipe from Everyday Food might well be one of our new family favorites.  All of us just loved the flavor of the beef.  The glaze was sticky and rich, with just a hint of citrus at the end.  Because it's so hard to find various cuts of organic beef here, I used NY strip instead of the sirloin and served the meat with brown rice. I prepped the meat mixture and the sauce during naptime and could just put everything together quickly in time for dinner. 

pumpkin pie

This is the recipe that I'm sure 90% of the pumpkin pies are made with, but we always have good luck with it!

tater tots

Kory and I both thought that these turned out really well and liked having control of the (very few) ingredients instead of buying prepackaged and frozen tots.  I only made half the recipe, pressing them into a loaf pan instead of an 8x8" baking dish.  Sadly, our anti-potato children had no interest in them.  The recipe was from Cook's Country.

sweet potato dinner rolls

The Thanksgiving baking has begun!  I saw this recipe on The Kitchn blog and thought they looked perfect for a make-ahead roll for Thanksgiving.  Cael thought they were fun to make (our whole family loves sweet potatoes) and they were easy enough for him to help with the whole process.  They were delicious fresh-- crispy and browned, but soft and moist on the inside.  Now I just have to hope that they reheat well after being frozen!

marshmallows

Our good friends and neighbors, also natural food junkies, were having a fondue dinner party and asked me to try making homemade marshmallows.  Cael and I had a great time making them, they were incredibly easy to make, and were a big hit, especially with the kids.  I have a feeling this recipe from Our Family Eats will become a family favorite!

strawberry rhubarb freezer jam

A neighbor gave us some of their extra rhubarb, so we headed out to buy some organic strawberries to try this result from kitchenlane.com and the result is delicious!

freezer jam

I had just received the September 2011 issue of Everyday Food and thought this recipe looked simple.  Kory told me it wasn't worth the effort and I should just buy organic jam.  Well, kudos to our neighbors for giving us about forty small peaches from their tree so that I could have an excuse to try this.  Everyone loves it, even naysayer, Kory!

vegetable lasagna

In an attempt to add more vegetarian meals to our routine, I just had to try this recipe from Cook's Illustrated.  I loved that it was full of veggies, not just spinach like so many other recipes.  The timing was perfect too, because all of the ingredients are in perfect season right now.  Kory was quite impressed (yay!) with this recipe and Elle and I both loved it.  Cael, well, not so much, but he'll get over it...  I did make two mistakes when grocery shopping-- I bought diced instead of crushed tomatoes and the pack of lasagna noodles I bought only had 8 noodles, not 12, but it still turned out really well!

boneless buffalo chicken

GF update: The recipe I use is still based on the original recipe below, but I have found that marinating isn't necessary. 

• Cut ~ 1lb. chicken breast into ~1 inch pieces s
• Dip chicken pieces in whisked egg white (whole egg is ok too) 
• Dredge chicken in a mixture of 1/3 cup Cup4Cup flour, 2/3 cup cornstarch, and about a Tablespoon of buffalo sauce (we've used Frank's-- even though it isn't certified GF, the ingredients seem to be OK)
• Fry ~4-5 minutes in 350 degree oil
• Toss in additional buffalo sauce

Kory and I love this Cook's Illustrated (I think...) recipe.  I don't know how I didn't post it earlier, but we eat it regularly.  We give the kids the chicken nuggets before we sauce them and they don't seem to notice the hot sauce in the batter at all.  We used to use the Whole Foods buffalo sauce, but seeing we have no Whole Foods anymore, Kory found a new favorite, Uncle Dougie's Chicago style chicken wing marinade.  It is HOT though, so I use 1/2 a cup of it with 1/2 cup of water and add a bit of extra sugar and butter to balance it out.  We serve these with Marzetti's Blue Cheese Dressing, but I want to start making my own someday soon.