Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad

April 10, 2013 by 2 Comments

As I mentioned yesterday, I have been craving tangy dressing a lot lately. I’ve also noticed that I’ve been gravitating towards lighter, springy-er dishes. That could be pregnancy related or could be that I’m just really ready to move on from heavy winter dishes (even if I do live in San Diego). Either way, when a friend on a cooking message board I frequent mentioned a pasta salad including asparagus, I was immediately intrigued. Suddenly vegetable pasta salad combinations were just swirling around in my head and I knew exactly what we were having for dinner.

The plan was for me to make grilled chicken and serve it with a large side of this Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad. The look on Jesse’s face when I told him the plan was kind of comical. He was sure that there should be some other side, or something! Much to his surprise (and my delight!) he loved dinner and he even felt full. It just goes to show that dinner doesn’t have to be heavy to be good. The leftovers also made an awesome lunch!

 

Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad

Ingredients
1 – 1 1/2 cups asparagus, chopped into 2-inch bites
1 bell pepper, chopped (I used yellow)
1 small zucchini, chopped
3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp Italian dressing (You may decide you need more salad dressing, so keep the bottle handy)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
10 oz. dry pasta (I like bowties for pasta salad and this time I used Barilla Plus)
2-3 oz. mozzarella cheese, cut into cubes
Additional salt and pepper as needed, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Toss chopped vegetables in 1 Tbsp Italian dressing (let marinate while the oven is preheating). Spread chopped vegetables out on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Roast for 25-30 minutes, or until vegetables start to soften and turn golden brown. Allow vegetables to cool to room temperature.

While the vegetables are cooling. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the dry pasta and cook to al dente according to the box. Drain, immediately rinse with cold water, and drain some more (you don’t want soggy pasta salad).

Once the pasta has cooled and drained, toss with the vegetables, cubed mozzarella cheese, and Italian dressing. If 1/4 cup of dressing doesn’t seem like enough to lightly coat all of the pasta, add a little more at time. This pasta is best if you let it sit for at least an hour before serving (it can also be made a day ahead of time).

Sunny Side Up

Here are a few more lighter side dish ideas!

Tangy Mustard Coleslaw
Southwest Pasta Salad
Spicy Cold Noodles

Filed Under: Healthier, Pasta, Side Item, Vegetables Tagged With: , , , , ,

Traditional Irish Colcannon

March 14, 2013 by 2 Comments

Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish that combines potatoes, cabbage or kale, onion, basic cream/milk and butter. It is also a dish that at one point in time I might have turned my nose up to. Cabbage or kale? Really? Why would you ruin perfectly good mashed potatoes with cabbage? Oh my how I was wrong and I am so glad that I’ve come around to the wonderful world of cabbage. Truth be told, I’ve been on a bit of cabbage kick lately. I’ve finally realized just how flavorful and delicious it can be. (It’s that same cabbage kick that led me to using it for this colcannon, but it’s also delicious (and packed with nutrients) when you use kale instead.)

The flavor and deliciousness of cabbage really shines through in this colcannon recipe. What I like about this particular recipe is that the cabbage is sautéed with butter and onions instead of boiled like in many other recipes. That really enhances the richness of the entire dish, making this the perfect St. Patrick’s day meal side dish. I served mine alongside Beer Braised Beef with Onions (recipe to come!). The old saying about a perfect Irish meal being a six-pack and a potato was given new meaning with that combo!

Which reminds me, are you excited about St. Patrick’s day yet? Just 4 more days away! Do you have any St. Patrick’s day traditions?

 

Traditional Irish Colcannon

Ingredients
2 pounds red potatoes, cut into large chunks*
1/2-3/4 cup milk
3/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp butter, divided (Kerrygold if you can find it!)
1 cup onion, cut into thin 2-inch strips
6 cups green cabbage, shredded or cut into thin 1-2 inch strips
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Additional butter for topping, optional
Optional – if you have access to a good Irish cheddar cheese, like Kerrygold, try adding 1/2-1 cup (shredded)

*I like some potato skins in my colcannon but not a lot, so I leave the skin on half of the potatoes and peel the other half

Directions
Add the potatoes to a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Boil until fork tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain the potatoes and return to the pot. Mash with 2 tablespoons of butter, milk, and 3/4 tsp salt (start with 1/2 cup of milk and more as needed to get desired consistency).

While the potatoes are boiling, melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a very large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 7 minutes, until very soft. Add the cabbage and continue to cook for about 10 minutes, or until very soft. If you’re using unsalted butter, make sure to season with salt.

Once the cabbage is cooked, add to the mashed potatoes and stir to combine (if using cheddar cheese, add now). Taste and season with additional salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Transfer to serving dish and top with pats of butter.

Adapted from Kerrygold

 

Filed Under: Potatoes, Side Item, St. Patrick's Day Tagged With: , , , ,

Fish and Chips

March 11, 2013 by 5 Comments

There are few foods that bring me right back to St. Patrick’s day and Irish pubs quite like Fish and Chips. The crispy and golden fried fish dipped in delicious tartar sauce. The fries soaked with malt vinegar. Mmm…. A little piece of Irish heaven.

I couldn’t let this year pass with satisfying my craving for this delicious meal. Of course the only way to make it even better is to make it homemade!

I have to admit that deep frying foods at home has always made me really nervous. The huge pot of basically boiling oil was super intimidating to me. But it was time to conquer my fear. Once I got all of my ingredients prepped, I was surprised at how simple it was. To make sure I was able to fully devote my attention to frying the fish, I decided to oven bake the fries. It was nice because I was able to have both things going at once and didn’t have to worry about keeping the fries warm, though I’m sure deep fried fries would be amazing. If you would like to fry your fries, check out Laura’s blog, Tide and Thyme, for those instructions.

Fish and Chips


Ingredients

5 potatoes, washed and scrubbed
Salt and pepper to taste
Warm water
5 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 lb white, flaky fish (I used cod)
1 cup full-flavored beer (I used Stone IPA)
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Kosher salt
Vegetable oil

Directions
Preheat oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet by coating with 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil and sprinkling with salt and pepper.

Peel the sides of the potatoes, leaving some skin on the ends, then cut into 1/2 inch slices lengthwise. Carefully stack the potato slices and cut into 1/4 inch strips. Place cut fries in a large bowl and cover with warm water and a teaspoon of kosher salt for 15 minutes. Drain water and layout fries on a clean dish towel to dry. While the fries are drying, wipe out the bowl they soaked in. Return the fries to the now dry bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon of oil. Spread evenly on prepared baking sheet and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes (rotating pans once or twice), or until bottoms start to turn golden brown. Using tongs or a spatula, flip each of the fries. Bake for another 10-15 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, mix 1 cup of flour with 1 cup of beer and a teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl. Put remaining 1/4 cup of flour in a large ziploc bag. Fill a dutch oven a little less than halfway with vegetable oil. With burner on low-medium, bring oil to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once oil is hot and you’re ready to fry, place fish in Ziploc bag and shake to coat with flour. Take each fish piece and dip in the beer batter, then place in the hot oil. Fry for about 3-4 minutes then use tongs to flip and fry for another 3-4 minutes, or until deep golden brown. Repeat this in as many batches as necessary (I was able to do about 4 pieces per batch without feeling like I was overcrowding the pot).

Serve fish and chips hot with fresh cut lemon wedges, tartar sauce, and malt vinegar. Also goes great with coleslaw!

Tips:

  • Have lots of clean kitchen towels and paper towels ready to dry potatoes, clean up drips, and clean off fingers.
  • Have tongs and spatulas ready for fish and chip turning.
  • A candy thermometer is a must to monitor the temperature of the oil, especially if you have a crappy stove top like I do.
  • I cut my fish into a total of 9 pieces (they were each 3-4 inches long).
  • Have a cooling rack lined with paper towels ready to go for when you take the fish out of the oil.

Source: Fish from Tide and Thyme, Chips (Baked oven fries) from Annie’s Eats originally from The New Best Recipe

Got Fish?
Foil Packet Soy-Lime Salmon with Green Beans
Foil Baked Fish with Black Beans and Corn
Homemade Fish Sticks
Pepper Jack and Cilantro Stuffed Swordfish

Filed Under: Main Course, Potatoes, Seafood, St. Patrick's Day Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Cheddar and Jalapeno Drop Biscuits

January 23, 2013 by 7 Comments


This is another photo taken while we were living in China. But, don’t let that fool you into thinking these biscuits aren’t important. For one reason or another the photos were buried in my computer but I never stopped making this recipe. We have these several times a month, in fact we just had them last night! These are my absolute, last minute, what to have with dinner, go-tos.

Of course, I don’t always make the jalapeno variation of this recipe. The versatility of this recipe is one of the things I love. Sometimes I use white cheddar, sometimes I use chives instead of jalapenos, sometimes I skip the chives and jalapenos, I’ve even swapped a quarter cup of flour for corn meal and made a sort of corn biscuit. No matter how I prepare them, these biscuits always turn out flavorful, light, fluffy, and delicious. Oh, and they’re easy!


Cheddar and Jalapeno Drop Biscuits

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp coarse salt
Pinch cayenne pepper
6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes*
8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
2-3 Tbsp jarred jalapenos, finely diced**
1 1/3 cups buttermilk, well shaken
*I actually like to use a cheese grater and shred the butter. It makes it super easy to incorporate into the flour. Just make sure you’re using very cold butter!
**Alternatively, you can use freshly chopped chives or omit entirely!

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper (or preheat baking stone).

In a glass mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and cayenne pepper. Add the cold butter and use pastry blender or a fork and knife to cut the butter into the flour, until flour and butter make pea size clumps. Mix in the cheddar. Stir in the buttermilk and jalapenos and mix just until incorporated.

Using an ice cream scoop (or 2 forks, making 1/4 cup portions), drop dough 2-inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating baking sheets as needed.

Adapted from Martha Stewart

 

Filed Under: Biscuits, Bread, Side Item Tagged With: , , ,