15 posts tagged “rice and grains”
Or, a fancy schmancy Greek way of saying spinach-'n-rice. In Greek, "spanaki" is spinach and "rizi" is rice. I hope you're paying attention to some of the Greek tidbits you're learning from my blog because you never know when you may need them. Maybe your next Cranium question is going to ask what a spanakophobe is, and of course you're going to know right away that, obviously, it's someone who fears spinach.
[Okay, I just did about 20 seconds of googling and was not able to confirm that a person who is scared of spinach is called a spanakophobe or anything remotely close to that. So let's not use that example, but it could come into play somewhere, I promise. Maybe not with spanakophobe or rizophile, but some time.]
At any rate, spanakorizo is a very common Greek side dish. The flavors are very typical of other Greek dishes and they taste great when combined. The bonus is that this can double as your vegetable and your starch side. Normally, I am not one to do that (veggies are important and most veggies incorporated into starches tend to be in very small quantities), but here I am giving you the go ahead. About 1.5-2 lbs. of spinach are put into this rice, and the amount of rice you eat is actually less than the serving (how often can you say that about a starch?) but don't worry, the portion is still plenty.
Traditionally, spanakorizo has quite a bit more olive oil to start, but I like to make a healthier version. I suppose using brown rice would make it even healthier but for some things, even I just say no to brown rice. Some Greeks add tomato paste or fresh tomatoes to their spanakorizo but I am not one of them. I don't believe that there's anything wrong with that, but I like the combo of the dill, spinach and lemon as it stands.
In case you're wondering, we had this with a very Greek-flavored pork tenderloin that I quick marinated in fresh lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and oregano and then seared and roasted.
Spanakorizo
Serves 4
1.5 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2/3 cup long grain white rice
1-1/3 cup water
Juice of 1 large lemon
2 bunches or about 1.5-2 lbs. fresh spinach, chopped (and remove any stems that don't seem very tender)
1/3 cup fresh dill, chopped (or about 1 T dried)
salt and pepper
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil. Once heated, add the onions and saute until tender. Add the rice and stir to coat it in the olive oil, "toasting" it for a minute or two. Add the water and lemon juice and bring to a boil.
Add the spinach, dill and some salt and pepper to taste. Bring the mixture down to a simmer. Cover tightly and simmer about 15 minutes or until rice is cooked.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 205 / Fat: 6g / Carbs: 33g / Fiber: 4.5g / Protein: 7.3g
I'm a bit of a Kashi fanatic. At about 10:50 nearly every weekday morning, I eat a Kashi granola bar. I love the TLC crackers and I especially love the party crackers. Go Lean Crunch with fruit and Greek yogurt is a fantasic snack. Even the frozen dinners are good, and I hate most frozen dinners (though it's rare for me to buy a Kashi dinner because they are really expensive). The only thing I haven't really been enamored with are the cookies, but then, who wants a healthy cookie? If I am going to eat a packaged cookie, sign me up for Oreos or Girl Scout cookies.
I'm sure you already know, but Kashi products all contain their 7 whole grain blend, plus sesame seeds. One of my favorite Kashi products is the pilaf--the 7 grains in their simplest form. "Pilaf" is a little misleading because you'd think it had some sort of flavoring in it, but it doesn't. It's just the grains. I love it but for some reason, I have a really hard time finding it. It's been ages since we've had it and when I finally saw it in the store the other day, I knew I had to pick up a box.
Like rice or any other grain, you can jazz Kashi pilaf up any way you want, of course. I will say that I increase both the cooking time and the amount of liquid slightly from the box instructions. I don't think brown rice can cook in 25 minutes. At any rate, this application of the pilaf was basically just to use up some swiss chard and mushrooms that were on the verge of going bad. Combined with the sage and the nuttiness of the pilaf, this is a really earthy, yummy side.
Kashi Pilaf
Serves 4
1 Tbsp. butter
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 envelope (1 cup) Kashi pilaf
2.5 cups (scant) chicken broth
2 cups swiss chard, coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Stir in the garlic and mushrooms and cook an aditional 2 minutes or so, so they mushrooms begin to lose their moisture. Stir in the pilaf and coat it with the butter.
Add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes or until the grains are just about cooked. Stir in the swiss chard and finish cooking, uncovered, an additional couple minutes until the grains are tender and the chard has wilted. Stir in the sage and salt & pepper to taste, if necessary.
I love risotto but I don't make it too often because I try to limit my intake of "whites" and, well, I'm pretty sure that whole wheat risotto doesn't exist. Even if it did, it would be an abomination! I've been wanting to try Giada's dirty risotto for a while now because it's a very hearty risotto, fit for a main course serving. Since it has a protein, veggies and a starch it's pretty much a meal in itself...but I did pair our dinner tonight with a baby spinach salad.
I did adapt the recipe (of course). I bulked up the veggies and the sausage a little bit, but used chicken sausage to lighten it up. I'm pretty certain you can find leaner chicken sausage but the spicy Italian from Trader Joe's I had on hand (which is SO good) was 190 calories a link. I added garlic, too (a Giada recipe without garlic? Almost as preposterous as an Elly recipe without it!). I was a little nervous about adding this into SparkPeople. Even with my modifications I thought it was going to be a calorie bomb. But, it's really not that bad at around 450 calories. It is slightly high in fat, but you can modify that by using leaner sausage, something in place of the pancetta, etc.
Tom and I both really liked this dish. I mean, what's not to like about a creamy, comforting meal like this? Definitely one to make again.
Dirty Risotto
adapted from Giada De Laurentiis
Serves 2
2 cups chicken broth
2 tsp. butter
1 link (4 oz.) spicy Italian chicken sausage, casing removed
1 oz. pancetta, chopped
1 small onion, diced
1 red pepper, chopped
4 oz. mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup arborio rice
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup pecorino romano
Add the chicken broth to a small saucepan and bring to a light simmer. Keep it on the stove, simmering, as you prepare the risotto.
Over medium heat, melt the butter in a large pan. Add the chicken sausage, crumbling it as you stir it in, and the pancetta and cook for a few minutes until browned. Add the onions, red pepper and mushrooms. Saute for a few minutes before adding the minced garlic. Continue cooking until the vegetables are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add the rice and stir to coat, "toasting" it a little. Add the wine and cook it off until it's almost completely evaporated.
Add a ladel of the simmering chicken broth to the pan and stir continiously until almost absorbed. Continue adding chicken broth by the ladel, every time the rice has nearly absorbed it, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite. Remove from heat and stir in the romano.
Nutritional Information, Per Serving, using Trader Joe's Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage: Calories: 451.5 / Fat: 19.5g / Carbs: 39.5g / Dietary Fiber: 2g / Protein: 24.8g
Tonight's dinner came together in no time. In fact, if I hadn't marinated the chicken (which honestly isn't really necessary, but does help), dinner would have been on the table in well under 20 minutes.
A while back I made some za'atar mix, a popular Lebanese spice mixture made of thyme, sumac and sesame seeds. I decided to use the leftovers on some chicken thighs. I always have chicken thighs in my freezer. I LOVE dark meat chicken. It is so much more moist and flavorful than white meat and it holds up so well in braising and in broiling. And, if you skin the chicken, it's really not a whole lot worse for you than chicken breasts, just a little higher in fat.
I was planning on serving this with couscous until I realized right before dinner that we were out of couscous. D'oh! Luckily, I did have some quinoa on hand so I used that instead. Quinoa is a very healthy seed, though it's treated as a grain in cooking. It's a little larger than couscous in size with a nutty flavor somewhat similar to brown rice. Thankfully, it takes a lot less time to cook than brown rice, too, so I wasn't scrambling TOO much when I realized we were out of couscous. Plus, Tom prefers quinoa to couscous, so that's a bonus.
In addition to the quinoa, I served these with a simple cucumber and feta salad. This was a really simple, easy meal that turned out great. The chicken was so moist and flavorful, especially considering the extremely short list of ingredients.
Broiled Za'atar Chicken Thighs
Serves 2
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 lemon, juiced
1 heaping Tbsp. za'atar
salt and pepper (optional)
Mix lemon juice with za'atar mix. Rub the mixture onto the chicken thighs and refrigerate for half an hour.
Preheat the broiler and spray the broiler pan with some cooking spray. Sprinkle the chicken with a little salt and pepper if desired. Broil for approximately 6 minutes per side, or until done.
Nutritional Information per serving (2 thighs); note: I found a few different calorie counts for boneless/skinless chicken thighs. I went with the higher amount, just to be on the safe side. Calories: 233 / Fat: 11g / Carbs: 2g / Protein: 27.5g
Simple Quinoa with Pine Nuts
Serves 2
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
1 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp. pine nuts, toasted
Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until tender. Stir in the garlic and cook for about one minute. Add the quinoa and the broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed and the couscous is cooked, about 12-15 minutes. Top with toasted pine nuts.
You can make this with couscous the same way but of course couscous only takes a couple minutes to cook.
Nicole at For the Love of Food hosts this really great blogging event called Taste&Create. She pairs up bloggers and then they each make a recipe from the other's blog and...what else? Blog about it!
I was paired with Abby over at Eat the Right Stuff. This was great for many reasons, including the fact that I had never visited Abby's blog before and now I have a great new blog to add to my reader. As a bonus, Abby tends to eat pretty healthfully as I also (try to) do. Not that I picked an overly healthy recipe, because I didn't :)
I had a lot of fun poring over all of Abby's great recipes and while it was tough to pick just one, I landed on her courgette and lemon risotto. I definitely enjoyed this dish. I love the combination of lemon and basil so I knew I would like this. I would probably add more lemon next time around (the zest from the whole lemon, perhaps) as I tend to like things pretty lemony. I admit I don't use zucchini IN things terribly often and tend to have them as a veggie side, instead. It was nice to put them in something so hearty. In summary: a fresh, light take on a comfort classic!
Courgette and Lemon Risotto
serves 2
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
1 onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, crushed/minced
1/2 cup arborio rice
1/3 cup white wine (I used pinot grigio)
2 cups hot vegetable stock (I used chicken stock since that's what I had)
juice and zest of half a lemon
2-3 courgettes/zucchinis, grated
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
handful of shredded basil
salt and pepper
Wrap the grated zucchini in a clean towel and squeeze out all the extra liquid. A lot will come out and that's important so don't skip this step!
Heat the oil and butter in a medium pan. Add the onion and cook until it has softened. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute. Stir in the rice and make sure it is coated with the butter/oil. "Toast" it for a bit. Increase the heat and add the wine, stirring while it reduces.
Add a ladle of the vegetable (or chicken) stock to the rice and stir continuously until the liquid has almost all been absorbed. Continue adding the stock by the ladle until the rice is cooked (risotto should still have a little bite to it, just like al dente pasta).
When the rice is done, add the zucchini, basil, lemon, lemon zest, parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let stand 5 minutes before serving.
I get truly, dorkishly excited about coming home from the butcher. I get almost as excited opening that thick, white paper as I do opening gifts on Christmas morning.
And plus, I love this particular meat market. The staff is so knowledgeable, and in addition to all the great meat, they have lots of different cheeses (I picked up some grana padano today, in fact), fresh pastas and sauces, some produce. It's great (though I do wish they sold veal & lamb stock--that would be tops).
I always see no less than a dozen things I want when I'm there. I was really eyeing the veal shanks today, big time. But I figured those could wait for another day.
Today, I went for the lamb. I asked for some stew meat, and 10 minutes later I was home, tearing open the white paper. Mmmmm.
As much as I love lamb, I've never made a lamb stew (unless you count manestra--which is lamb and orzo cooked on the stovetop). I debated what kind to make. Do I use white wine and chicken broth for liquids or red wine and beef broth? Do I make an Irish stew or a Moroccan one? Should I stick with the Greek flavors I know and love so well?
In the end, I went for a really simplistic lamb stew with barley, made with white wine and chicken broth. It was so hearty and comforting. And now I am stuffed to the gills (OK, you got me, I *did* still have room for those 2 fun sized Almond Joys. Stupid Halloween).
1 lb. lamb (shoulder or leg, cut into 1-2" pieces)
flour, for dredging
olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
5 cups chicken broth
8 oz. crimini mushrooms, halved or quartered
1/4 lb. green beans or haricots vertes
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. ground marjoram
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 cup pearl barley
salt and pepper.
Season lamb with salt and pepper and then dredge in flour, shaking off excess.
Heat olive oil in a dutch oven. Add the lamb in batches, if necessary, and brown on all sides (not cooking through). Remove.
To the dutch oven, add the onion (and more oil if necessary) and saute until just tender. Add the carrots, celery and garlic and saute for another minute or so.
Add the chicken broth and deglaze the pan, scraping up all the browned bits. Reduce slightly before adding the broth, bay leaf, marjoram, green beans and mushrooms. Bring to a boil and then add the lamb and the barley. Cover, cooking for about 45 minutes until barley is cooked and lamb is tender. (I took the lid off for about 5 additional minutes at the end to thicken the stew slightly). Season to taste.
When I first started a blog, I didn't really understand the importance of tags or making each dish its own entry (and thus making it easy to find via a tag). I used to not tag my entries at all, or I would not update the blog for a week and suddenly have an entry with about 30 tags. In an effort to make my tags (and blog) a little more user-friendly, when I make something from "the olden days" that is combined with another old entry, I am going to just add it anew and delete it from the old entry.
So if you couldn't guess by that long introduction, this soup has definitely made an appearance in the blog before. If you've already seen it, feel free to move along :)
Unfortunately, after blogging nearly a year, I have still not gotten the hang of photographing soup.
Tom and I both really enjoy this soup. It's flavorful and really filling. One of my favorites!
Beef Mushroom Barley Soup
1 lb. beef, cut into bite sized pieces (I typically use stew meat or top round, as lean as possible)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1 cup water
1 cup red wine
2 tbsp butter
1 small-medium onion, diced
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups beef broth
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1/2 cup barley
8 oz. fresh sliced mushrooms
Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add meat and brown.
Pour in water and red wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer while you are cutting up the vegetables or longer (usually, I let it simmer about an hour).
Remove beef and cut into small bite sized chunks or shred if desired. Skim fat and reserve 1/2 cup of cooking liquid.
In a large stockpot, melt butter. Add celery, carrots, onion, and saute until tender. Stir in garlic until fragrant.
Pour in beef broth and add thyme, basil, bay leaf, beef, and reserved cooking liquid. Simmer 20-30 minutes. Season to taste.
Add barley and mushrooms and simmer until done, about 40 minutes.
Tonight we had pork chops stuffed with goat cheese and spinach, and couscous pilaf with carrots/celery/mushrooms/onions/garlic.
Notice anything similar to last night's meal? Oh, right...pretty much the same ingredients. Originally the reason I bought carrots and celery was to make a beef stew. Well, then I realized we were going out of town this weekend and the leftovers would go to waste. Besides, the weather was MUCH hotter than I thought it would be this week, so not really weather for soup or stew.
Stuffed tenderloin, chicken, flank steak, chops, etc. are always my "go to" when I need a dinner idea because you can fill them with whatever you have sitting in your fridge. And as you know, there is always goat cheese sitting in my fridge :)
Pork chops stuffed with goat cheese and spinach
2 boneless pork chops
1 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1/4 cup diced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped or torn
Italian seasoning
salt and pepper
1-2 oz. goat cheese
Preheat oven to 350.
Heat a skillet over medium heat and add .1 tsp. olive oil. Cook onion until translucent. Stir in garlic until fragrant, and then add spinach to wilt. Take off heat.
Stir in goat cheese, salt and pepper and Italian seasoning to taste.
Pound chops slightly and slit a pocket in the side of each chop. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stuff with equal parts of the spinach mixture.
Heat the remaining 2 tsp. olive oil in a skillet. When hot, brown the pork chops for about 2 minutes per side.
Move skillet to oven and finish cooking, until internal temperature is about 150, around 15 minutes.
1 tsp olive oil Heat olive oil and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, celery, carrots and mushrooms and saute until tender. Add garlic, stirring until fragrant. Pour in chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Add couscous and stir to combine. Cover, and turn off the heat. Let stand about five mintues. Fluff with a fork and serve.
Veggie Couscous Pilaf
1 tsp butter
1/4 cup onion, diced
2 oz. mushrooms, sliced or diced
1 small carrot, peeled and diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup chicken stock (or amount required by your box of couscous)
1/2 cup couscous
I made Canarygirl's arroz con pollo tonight (again), with some skinned drumsticks. This time I got a picture. Not a great picture, but a picture :)
It was just as delicious the second time around. I should have let it sit a couple minutes longer to thicken but I was too excited to eat it.
I plugged this into Sparkpeople and with using 2 skinned drumsticks and a half tablespoon of olive oil per serving, it comes out as follows:
Calories: 415 / Fat: 13g / Saturated Fat: 2g / Carbs: 39g / Protein: 33g
(I'm going to try to do nutritional information when I remember :)
So....yeah. My camera batteries died on me. Again. This has been happening a lot lately, despite charging them everyday. I think I need new batteries.
I'm pretty sad about it because for dinner I made Canarygirl's arroz con pollo, which was delicious! It was so simple but so tasty. Tom loved it, too. He was going on and on about how flavorful and creamy the rice was. Really!
I made it with our last 4 chicken drumsticks. We are drumstick free since 7:43.
Sorry I don't have a picture of it but let's be honest, Nikki's would be 10 times better anyway! :)
