Pesto Turkey Meatballs

I feel like I've been cooking and baking a lot recently, and I decided I wanted to share some of my recent successes. I mean, recipes. So I'll probably be posting frequently (as frequently as nap times and other chores will allow). 

I'm also the kind of person who rarely sticks to a single recipe when cooking. I look up two or three (thank you, Pinterest!) for ideas and guidelines and cook times, and then do my own thing. So here's what I ended up with tonight. 

Tonight's recipe came from "Slow Cooker Revolution" from America's Test Kitchen. Or it was inspired by that recipe, anyway. Life happened and I didn't get things done early enough to even use the crock pot. I also used this recipe from Pinterest. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 2/3 cups plain breadcrumbs
- 2/3 (ish) cups pesto (from the refrigerated section of the grocery store - much better than the bottled kind)
- 1/4 (ish) cups grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 Tbsp Mayo (the recipe called for one egg yolk, but I was all out of eggs. This was a suggested substitute I found via Google).  

Mix all ingredients together using your hands,
- 2-3 mozzarella string cheese sticks, cut into 8 pieces.  

Roll a bit of the meat mixture into a ball in your hand, then flatten it slightly. Put a mozzarella piece in the middle and roll it up. Repeat until all the meat is used. I think I ended up with about 22 meatballs. It would be easy to freeze the extra at this point to use for a future meal.
Line a baking tray with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Eat immediately to enjoy the hot cheesy goodness. 

(Mine ended up with the cheese spilling out of the meat balls and sticking everything to the foil. A silicon mat may have been more effective, but then I'd have to wash it.)

Serve with pasta (or spaghetti squash) and pasta sauce.

Spicy Chicken Soup

Yesterday we tried out this spicy soup from allrecipes: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Catherines-Spicy-Chicken-Soup/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=soup&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

It was pretty good. I left out the sour cream since Adam doesn't like it, then put a little dollop on my own serving and it was good with and without. I liked  it a little better with. Also, don't put in the whole canned tomatoes, it's a little ridiculous and I just ended up taking them out anyway. Also, it makes a LOT of soup.

Pistachio Pesto Chicken and Pasta

This is a recipe I found on Pinterest from How Sweet It Is, a great cooking blog. I had basil growing in the garden that I needed to prune a large section off of, so I decided to make pesto. Jeran has said before that he doesn't really like pesto so I normally wouldn't make it but this looked so good, and it uses pistachios which are delicious and easy. We both loved it. I liked the pasta better, Jeran liked the chicken better. Either way, it's a win.

Pistachio Pesto Chicken and Pasta

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound whole wheat spaghetti
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup finely grated pecorino romano cheese

1 cup shelled pistachios
10 large basil leaves, torn
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, torn
1 garlic clove
1/3 cup finely grated pecorino romano cheese
1/3-1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bring water for pasta to a boil.

Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a large oven-safe skillet on medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, add chicken and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes each.

While the chicken is cooking, add pistachios, basil, parsley, garlic and cheese to a food processor. Pulse and blend until the nuts are coarsely chopped, then with the processor on, stream in 1/3 cup of olive oil. Add a little more if necessary, depending on how "spreadable" you want your pesto to be. Finish by adding in salt and blending once more. Spread a thin layer of pesto on top of each chicken breast in the skillet, then place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

While chicken is baking, boil pasta and prepare according to directions. Once finished, drain pasta and toss with remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, about 1/4 cup of pesto, the red pepper flakes and grated pecorino. You just want a very light coating of pesto on the noodles. Once chicken is done, remove and spread a little additional pesto on top. Serve together!

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We found that it makes enough pesto for twice the amount of chicken or pasta or you can use it for something else completely. Or you could do JUST pasta or JUST chicken. Whatever you put it on will be very tasty.

Green Soup

I found this article and recipe in a Reader's Digest when I was home, and when I got back home Kara and I tried it out.  Here's the recipe, then I'll give the review.

2 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
2 yellow onions, chopped
1 tsp salt, divided
1/4 cup arborio rice
1 lb greens: green chard, kale, mustard greens, or beet greens
14 cups gently packed spinach (about 12 oz)
4 cups vegetable broth
Big pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp lemon juice, more to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in large skillet over high heat. Add onion and 1/4 tsp salt; cook, stirring, until onions begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, add 2 tbs. water, and cover. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are greatly reduced and have a caramel color, 25 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, combine 3 cups water, remaining 3/4 tsp salt, and rice in soup pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and cook 15 minutes. Trim ribs and tough stems from the greens and spinach; discard. Coarsely chop greens and spinach.

3. When rice has cooked 15 minutes, stir in greens. Return to a simmer; cover and cook 10 minutes. When onions are caramelized, stir a little greens' simmering liquid into them; immediately add them to rice along with spinach, broth, and cayenne. Return to a simmer, cover, and cook until spinach is tender but still bright green, about 5 minutes more.

4. Puree soup in pot with immersion blender until perfectly smooth, or in a regular blender in batches. Stir in lemon juice and garnish with olive oil.

We also garnished with croutons. And feta cheese.

Review:

It was very...green. Tastes like greens. The lemon juice and cayenne add some nice flavor to it. Kara suggested adding a Parmesan cheese rind into the soup as it's cooking. I liked the feta cheese in it because it's very salty and the creaminess offsets the kind of bitterness from all the greens. If you are feeling like you're getting scurvy or otherwise lacking in vitamins, go ahead and try this recipe and feel free to dress it up with whatever you like.

Cheesy Quinoa Casserole

The magazine we found this recipe in called it "Quinoa Mac and Cheese." After making it once, we decided it's not a mac and cheese dish at all, but does make a very delicious casserole. We've now made it twice, and it's delicious!
(This recipe makes one half the original recipe, good for 4-6 servings)

1 cup whole-grain quinoa

1 ½ cups low-sodium vegetable broth

2 medium leeks (perhaps half an onion?)

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

¾ cup crumbled fat-free feta cheese

¼ cup light garlic and herb cream cheese

1 tablespoon milk

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cooking spray

Panko

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

1. (Quinoa) In a large pot, combine quinoa and vegetable broth, then cover and bring to a simmer over medium-high. Reduce heat to a low and cook for 30 minutes or until broth is absorbed. Remove from heat and let rest for 5 minutes. Fluff resting quinoa with a fork.

2. (Greens) Meanwhile, roughly chop only the white and light green part of the leeks and discard the leaves. Heat the olive oil in a nonstick sauté pan over medium-high. Add leeks and garlic sauté for 2 minutes or until soft. Using a paper towel, squeeze excess water from spinach, add to pan and sauté 3 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in thyme, parsley, pepper, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs and feta together; set aside.

4. (Combine) Place cream cheese and milk in a small microwavable bowl and heat I the microwave on high for 30 seconds, then whisk to combine. Mix in Parmesan, spoon mixture into a zip-top bag, and refrigerate until ready to use.

5. Add cooled quinoa to spinach and leek mixture; toss to combine, then stir in egg mixture until combined. Coat a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray and pile quinoa mixture. Snip a corner of the cream cheese-filled baggie and squeeze evenly over quinoa. Scatter panko and parmesan on top and mist lightly with cooking spray. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden. Serve immediately. 

Root Beer Float Ice Cream Cake

I made a really delicious root beer float cake for Jeran's birthday. I looked for recipes for a root beer float ice cream cake and was surprised that there weren't very many to be found. Maybe two. Luckily, the one I tried is very scrumptious and simple (I would be lying if I said this cake was easy for me to make, but that is only because the cake stuck to the pan big time).

Here's a link to the original recipe post by Keep It Sweet Desserts.

And here's the recipe:

Root Beer Float Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients (Serves 12)

• 1 (18.25) ounce box white cake mix
• 1 (12 ounce) can root beer (I used diet)
• 4-5 cups light vanilla bean ice cream
• 2 (8-ounce) containers fat free cool whip

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray; set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together cake mix and soda until almost all the lumps are gone. Divide cake batter evenly between cake pans and bake for 16 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set cake aside to cool (you can even cool the cake layers in the freezer so the ice cream doesn't melt when you build the cake. )
• When cake is cooling, prepare ice cream layer. Line an 8-inch cake pan with wax paper and press ice cream down into pan. Put this layer in the freezer until firm, about 1 hour. Once the cake and ice cream layers are ready you can build you cake.
• Place first layer down on a cake plate. Top cake with ice cream layer by turning wax papered ice cream upside down over cake and then peeling wax paper. Top ice cream with second layer of cake and press down lightly. Cover cake with saran wrap and re-freeze cake until ice cream is frozen again, about 20 minutes.
• Ice entire cake with cool whip and refreeze for 2 hours or until cool whip is set. Slice and serve. Store leftovers in the freezer covered tightly with saran wrap for two weeks.

I would either really lather the pan in cooking spray or line them with a baking liner. I had such a hard time getting the cake out intact. Maybe freezing it in the pan would help. Not sure, but don't stress over it because between the freezing and the frosting, it is very forgiving of crumbling cake.  Good luck!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Soup

Ever since we got back from vacation I've been on a healthier eating kick. There's nothing like eating snacks and pizza for a week to motivate me to try something new, and this one was super yummy. I found this soup quite a while ago from two peas and their pod, which is a blog that I don't really follow regularly, but where I occasionally find some good recipes to try out. This soup is colorful, flavorful, and relatively easy. I definitely recommend it. I was also surprised at how spicy it was. I guess I had forgotten that there were red pepper flakes and chili powder in there. :)

 

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Soup

1 T olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped (I used one large and one small because I like sweet potato and it definitely didn't seem like too much... I think it was just right)
1 roasted red pepper, chopped (I used jarred because I didn't want to roast a red pepper just for this soup. I had never purchased a jarred roasted red pepper before but it smelled super duper good right when I opened it. bonus. I also used some of the juice from the jar as part of the 2 cups of water below.)
2 cans low sodium vegetable broth (15 oz. size)
2 cups water
3 cans low sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
3 cans diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 T chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
Dash of red pepper flakes
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil. Add in the onion and cook until tender. Add in the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes.
2. Stir in the sweet potato and roasted red pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add in the broth, water, black beans, and tomatoes. Stir well.
4. Add the chili powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Stir and toss in the cilantro. Stir again. Let the soup simmer on medium low for 30 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are soft.
5. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.

I didn't use any of these, but she says you can garnish the soup with cilantro, avocado slices, cheese, tortilla strips, and/or sour cream. 

I had to put the soup on medium-high for part of the 30 minutes because my potatoes just weren't getting soft, and I didn't end up adding any salt and pepper at the end because I thought it tasted great. However, I didn't get the low sodium versions of beans and vegetable broth so you may want to add some salt if you do get the low sodium stuff. I served it with buttered wheat toast which was super good to dip in the soup broth. Yum yum yum. I'm looking forward to lunch leftovers tomorrow. :)