Catch-Up

Sorry for the four day gap in between posts, I assure you i have been keeping up with the program, and today I will post four recipes. I am really starting to like this program more than i thought i would. I used to find it easier to just go through some drive-thru when, it was only ever an unnecessary waste of money. Cooking every night has helped me experiment with different flavors, and textures, and while i am still a slightly picky eater, it has been less of an issue. On with the recipes:

Vegetable Kebabs:

1 yellow, and red pepper.
1 carton of white mushrooms
1 carton of baby bella mushrooms
1 large white onion
1 carton baby tomatoes
**skewers**

Instructions:

While cutting the vegetables, soak the skewers in water. after the vegetables are cut, and the skewers are soaked, put the veg onto the skewers, and grill until all of the vegetables are cooked through.

Serve these with white or brown rice.

We made this recipe at my aunts house, over the grill. the only catch is that the tomatoes were slightly harder to grill, after a few minutes over the heat, they were beginning to fall off. so, if you want tomatoes, i might recommend making a skewer for only tomatoes, and putting it over the heat as the other skewers are getting done.

Mushroom Risotto

1 c. Arborio rice
3 c. Vegetable broth or water
1 package Baby Bella mushrooms
2 Shallots
2 Tbs. oil
1 small container of goat cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Chop and dice the mushrooms and shallots, the shallots are majorly potent, chopping one is like 10x worse than cutting an onion, so you might want to put the shallots in the freezer for 30 min. to an hour because freezing them helps with the bacteria that makes you cry. Saute the shallots and mushrooms in oil until slightly browned and remove from heat.
The rice is very hands on, add one Tbs. oil to a pot over medium/med. high heat, and when the oil starts to boil, add the uncooked rice, stir constantly. let the rice cook in the oil for about a minute, then add one cup of the liquid (broth or water). stir the rice every few seconds until the liquid is absorbed, and then add another cup of the liquid. stir the rice until the water is again, absorbed, and add the final cup of liquid and the cooked mushrooms and shallots. let the water absorb, and when it is nearly finished, add the package of goat cheese and stir until the remaining liquid is absorbed. remove from heat and season to taste. serve hot.

This was delicious!!! I made the rice a bit al dente, but i took some to work the next day, and after re-heating, the rice was perfect. there is not a lot of fat in this recipe, the only thing i would stress is moderation with this, only because it is just so good. :)

The last recipe i made was a Ravioli, and it was A-freaking-mazing!

Chef Boyardee, eat your heart out!
1 12 oz. package of low fat ricotta cheese
1 bunch green onions
mushrooms
1 yellow squash
1/2 onion
1/2 pack of won ton wrappers
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Chop all of the Veg. so that they are small chunks, and saute them. when sauted, set them in the fridge to cool (approx. 30 min.) When the vegetables are cool, mix them with the ricotta, and get ready to make some ravioli!

Place about 1 tlbs. of the mixture in the middle of a wanton wrapper, and wet the edges. place another wrapper on top of the first, and re wet the edges to seal ravioli. do this as many times as you want. when ravioli are all made, place them in a pot of boiling water to cook (they are done when they float to the top). serve with red sauce.

Red Sauce

1 tomato
1 yellow pepper
1 can tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce
salt/pepper to taste

Instructions:
Chop tomato, onion, and pepper up, and saute until onion is translucent. in a separate pot, put tomato sauce, and paste in and mix until smoothe. when sauce starts to boil, add the vegetables. season with salt, pepper, rosemary, basil...really, any herb that smells like it could go in with the sauce, experiament with it!

The ravioli was great, i made the mistake of not making red sauce, and using left over filling, don'y make the same mistake as i made.