New Cookbook

One of my hobbies is collecting cookbooks. I bought a new one this weekend, Ellie Krieger's "The Food You Crave." Ellie Krieger hosts a show on Food Network and she is a registered dietician and nutrition. My husband and I have started eating healthier, and this week we found out he has extremely high cholesterol, which is what promted me to buy this cookbook. Now I'll really be watching what we eat. What I love about this cookbook is she takes a lot of classic dishes that we have grown up on, but does them in a more healthful way. If you don't deprive yourself than you won't over indulge. Each recipe has the nutritional information of the dish. She also shares great tips for shopping and snacking and dispels myths about certain foods. There are so many great sounding recipes in this book, I guarantee you'll be seeing them here. Cheers to a healthy life!

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Another Vegetarian Dinner

Here is another great recipe for my vegetarian and meat-eating friends alike. This bean and pasta soup was perfect last night because it was so chilly out. Check out my food styling below in the photo of the finished dish! (I need some more practice.)

Bean and Pasta Soup
1 and 1/2 cups dried pasta (I used pasta ruffles, but you could use any short pasta like macaroni)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp dried basil, thyme or oregano (or combination of any of those)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 (15 ounce) can red beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 ounce) can navy beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 ounce) can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
3 (14 and 1/2 ounce) cans vegetable broth
salt and pepper
fresh parmesan cheese

Bring a pot of water to boil. Salt and add the pasta.

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and dried spices. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients except pasta. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until soup is heated through and flavors blend together, about 15 minutes.

Drain the pasta and add to the soup. Serve the soup topped with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Serves 8.

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To my readers...

My dear followers,
Just a couple of announcements I wanted to share.

First, thank you all for following and reading my blog. It is very exciting for me. I hope I have provided some great recipes and tips for you all. I also hope I have made you laugh at times.

Second, I encourage interaction, so please feel free to comment whenever you feel compelled to do so.

Third, you can also email me at laura.modernhousewife@gmail.com. If you would like to receive an email whenever I publish a new post, send me your email address.

Lastly, starting tomorrow I am going to attempt to upload photos of the recipes I post. This way you can see what the finished product looks like. I'll have to start practicing my food styling.

Thank you to all my readers, and I encourage you to sign up as a follower. If you have a blog, I'll post it on my blogroll (which is a feature I am going to add now).

Best, Laura

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Fresh Vegetables and Fettuccine

This dish was so good, I'm going to add it to my regular rotation. It was very easy, too. I added chicken to it just to add a little protein and to turn it into a main dish, but you could certainly keep it vegetarian. Also, I used this basil garlic fettuccine that I picked up from the St. Pete Saturday market. It was delicious. (See my post about the market to see who makes the pasta.)

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. (roughly half a box) uncooked dried fettuccine, spinach flavor or multi-grain would be great
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 chicken breasts
12 cherry tomatoes
1 and 1/2 cups broccoli flowerets
1 medium carrot, peeled and coarsely shredded
1 Tbsp fresh basil (I omitted this since 1. the store didn't have any, and 2. I used the basil flavored fettuccine)
1-2 cloves fresh garlic
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat add 1 Tbsp. olive oil to the pan. Cook the chicken breasts until no longer pink; about 6 minutes per side. Remove the chicken to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Return the skillet to the stove and reduce heat to medium.

Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and cook the fettuccine according to the package directions.

Add the butter and a little more oil to the skillet. Add the vegetables, garlic and basil; salt and pepper to taste. Cover; continue cooking , stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, but still crisp. They should be bright and vibrant in color. Now drain the pasta and add to the skillet, tossing with the vegetables. Slice the chicken and add to the skillet as well. You may want to drizzle in a bit more oil. Divide the dish between two plates and sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese. Serves 2.

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Grilled Shrimp and Polenta

I meant to make fettuccine with fresh vegetables and chicken tonight, but I forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer this morning. (I do that a lot.) Ever the resourceful modern housewife, I went with plan B. I decided instead to make grilled shrimp and polenta. The shrimp were frozen, but they don't take long to defrost. Place the shrimp in a bag; fill your sink with cold water, and place the bag of shrimp in the sink. You may need to switch out the water a couple of times. They should only take 15 minutes to defrost. Time-saving tip: buy shrimp already peeled and deveined.

Ingredients:
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Grill seasoning, like McCormick's Grillmates
Old Bay seasoning
1 and 1/2 cups milk
1 and 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup quick-cooking polenta
1/4-1/2 cup chedder cheese, shredded
fresh grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the milk and chicken broth.

Meanwile prepare the shrimp. Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels. Remove the tails. Season the shrimp on both sides with the grill seasoning and Old Bay, just a light, even sprinkle. Heat a nonstick grill pan or skillet over medium-medium high heat. Spray the grill with either Pam nonstick spray or drizzle a little of olive oil. Place the shrimp on the grill, and let cook for a few minutes on each side. You can tell the shrimp are done when they turn bright pink, and curl up.

Once the milk and broth come to a bubble, season with salt and pepper. Slowly add the polenta while whisking. Remove from heat and continue to whisk for a couple of minutes. Add a little fresh parmesan, just a couple of tablespoons; and add the chedder cheese.

Serve the polenta on a plate, topped with the shrimp. Serves 2.

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Bolthouse Farms Salad Dressing

I wanted to share a product recommendation to all my readers. I like creamy salad dressings, but sometimes they are just too fattening. Well, I have come across this line of salad dressings from Bolthouse Farms that uses yogurt instead of sour cream or mayonaise. It cuts down on the fat a lot, but it still tastes good. It also uses natural ingredients, so there aren't any preservatives. The varieties I have seen so far are Caesar, blue cheese, ranch, and thousand island. You can find them in the produce section of your grocery store, usually by the bagged and prewashed lettuce.

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For My Vegetarian Readers

Here is a great vegetarian recipe for meatless jambalaya. (You must say Jambalaya like Newman does in the soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld.) This comes from a little Pillsbury Vegetarian cookbook that I picked up a while ago in the check-out line.

Meatless Jambalaya
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 a green pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 an onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups water
1 (15 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained and roughly cut tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice (not instant rice)
1 (15 ounce) can red beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 ounce) can butter beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic; cook and stir 3-5 minutes or until crisp-tender.

Stir in water, tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the rice. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until rice is tender. Stir occasionally.

Stir in beans. Cover; simmer an additional 5-10 minutes to heat through. Serves 5.

If you're aren't a vegetarian, you could certainly add meat to this for more protein, but the beans are quiet filling. Andouille sausage, chicken or shrimp would be excellent in this. If you do add meat, I suggest adding a little more tomatoes or sauce to the mixture, so it isn't too thick. Also, if you like really spicy food, feel free to add more cayenne pepper. You could also add cracked red pepper or hot sauce to increase the heat.

This is a lucky week for my non-carnivorous readers. I have two more non-meat dishes planned for this week: fresh vegetables and basil fettuccine; and pasta and bean soup. Stay tuned.

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