Vegetable and Feta Orzo Pasta Salad

A dear friend of mine asked me to provide dinner to a leadership meeting she is hosting at the end of the month - woop woop!  I'm honored and excited to do this for her.  She came over yesterday to help me prepare for a baby shower, and of course, I had to start testing recipes.  I made this yesterday for lunch and we LOVED IT!  We decided that for the meeting, we would add black olives - but it sure was great as is :-)

Actually, a few weeks ago, I was at a cooking class and we made something similar but I adjusted the recipe according to my friend's specifications.  At some point later, I'd love to post the original recipe as that was delicious, too!

Vegetable and Feta Orzo Pasta Salad
Original Recipe by Lucia
Adapted recipe by Kitchen Groovy

Kosher Salt

1 lb. orzo

½ C freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons)

Extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

1 lb. asparagus

1 pkg. grape tomatoes

1 cucumber, seeded and medium diced

¾ lb. feta cheese, crumbled

Parsley, or any other favorite fresh herb!

1.       Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2.       Place asparagus on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and kosher salt – roast for 10 minutes.

3.       Fill large pot with water, add 1 T salt and bring water to boil. 

4.       Add the orzo, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking.  Simmer for 9-11 minutes.  Cook until it’s al dente. 

5.       Drain and pour into a large bowl.  Whisk together the lemon juice, ½ C olive oil, 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper.  Pour over the hot pasta and stir well.

6.       Add asparagus to the pasta, toss in the remaining ingredients, adding the feta last.  Set aside at room temp for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend, or refrigerate overnight.  If refrigerated, taste again for seasoning and bring back to room temp before serving.

 Note: more salt is needed when serving dishes cold.



Doesn't it look absolutely refreshing??

Please click here for a printable version of this recipe - Kitchen Groovy

Enjoy and live with gusto!

Perfect Turkey Burgers

I love turkey burgers, but my hubby despises grilling them at home (he says they fall apart alot easier than grilling beef).  I am not the master griller of the home, and I don't know a thing about grilling.  I don't even know how to turn our grill on.  So, whatever hubby says, goes. 

But, I've been on the hunt for a really delicious turkey burger that passes hubby's strict guidelines for grilling.  This one passed with flying colors - FINALLY!  I found it in my most recent Food Network magazine and I was glad I did.  It was loved by all, even Miss Sunshine.

I modified the recipe slightly, and I will post what I made :-) 

Perfect Turkey Burgers
Original Recipe by Food Network
Makes 8 burgers

6-8 oz. baby portobella mushrooms, coarsely chopped into 1" pieces
1 shallot, coarsely chopped
3 T lightly packed fresh parsley, or 1 T dried
1 1/4 lb. lean ground turkey
2 T extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Kosher Salt and Pepper
8 slices of Swiss Cheese
8 English muffins, split
Dijon mustard, mayonnaise and sliced avocado, for topping

1. Place chopped mushrooms, shallots and parsley into food processor and pulse until chopped.
2. Transfer the mushroom mixture to a large bowl.  Add the turkey, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp. salt, and pepper to taste; gently mix with your hands until just combined.  Divide into 8 burgers.  Put on a large plate, cover and refridgerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
3. Preheat a grill to medium.  Brush the grates with olive oil.  Grill the patties, undisturbed, until marked on the bottom, 4-5 minutes.  Give the patties a quarter turn and cook until marked again, 4-5 more minutes.  Flip the patties and grill until cooked through, 6-7 more minutes; top each with 2 slices cheese during the last 3 minutes of cooking and cover with a disposable aluminum pan to melt. 
4. Toast the English muffins on the grill, then spread with mustard and mayonnaise.   Serve the patties on the English muffins; top with avocado.

Chef Note: according to my hubby, it is very important to follow the grilling instructions.  It will make a difference in the end result.

It was really hard for both hubby and I to eat just one turkey burger!

Please click here for a printable version of this recipe - Kitchen Groovy

Enjoy and live with gusto!

Quick Apple Sausage Quesadillas

Happy post 4th of July!  I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday enjoying our independance ;-)

A very good friend of mine, Liz, sent me this cookbook quite some time ago and I've been meaning to post a great recipe I found from it.  Liz: so sorry it took me so long to brag about this awesome cookbook!  Everyone else: it's called "No Whine with Dinner" and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!  It's written by 2 dieticians, who are also moms, who also have a hard time finding healthy options for their kids to eat.  This cookbook is the answer if you have kids who are hard to feed.

This is one of our favorites from this cookbook so far:

Quick Apple Sausage Quesadillas
Original recipe by "No Whine with Dinner" cookbook, pg. 81

2 T canola oil, divided
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1/4" dice (1 1/2 C)
2 fully cooked apple chicken sausages, casings removed and meat coarsely chopped
1 C reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 C frozen corn, thawed
2 T BBQ sauce
5 8" flour tortillas, preferably whole wheat

1. Heat 1 T of the oil in a large nonstick skillet of medium-high heat.  Add the bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 7 minutes.  Stir in the sausage, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until heated through, 2-3 minutes.
2. In a bowl, stir together the cooked bell pepper and sausage, cheese, corn and BBQ sauce.  Spread the mixture evenly over half of each tortilla.  Fold over, press down gently, and set aside.
3. Heat 1 tsp. of the oil in the skillet over medium-high heat (you may want to wipe out the skillet first).  Add 2 of the prepared quesadillas and cook, pressing down occasionally with a spatula, until the bottoms are crisp and golden, about 3 minutes.  Flip them and cook until the other sids are golden, about 2 minutes.
4. Repeat with the remaining oil and quesadillas.  Cut into halves or quarters and serve.

We wrapped these up and took them to a softball game.  They travelled nicely and were delicious!

Please click here for a printable version of this recipe - Kitchen Groovy

Enjoy and live with gusto!

White Bean and Chicken Chili

Man, where have I been?  I'll tell you . . . maybe like yourselves, I've been in the car most of the day running my kids from one  sports camp to another, to friends' houses, to the mall, to the park, to the beach or where ever their sweet hearts are wanting or needing to go.  That's during the day.  At night, we live on softball fields, baseball fields and basketball courts. 

However, this week - it's VBS!  I'll tell ya, if you thought the above sounded tiring, try working at VBS.  I am dog tired every day and am ready to fall face first into anything that looks relatively soft.  But, it is quite the sight when you get to see 750+ kids learning, growing and having fun.  Quite rewarding!

So, I feel like I haven't cooked much these days.  Whaatttt???  Yes, we have fallen into the frozen tundra of pizzas, brats, and pizza rolls - all pulled from the freezer, tossed into the oven and off we go for dinner. 

But, last night - it was literally 55 degrees here and my ragged, tired, cold bones was craving something comforting and warm.  This was the perfect answer.  A friend of mine made this one night for us during football season and it was perfect football type food.  Even in the middle of June, as the wind blustered outside, it seemed perfect again. 

The recipe is originally a Giada de Laurentis recipe, and I changed it up a bit based on what I had in my house.  To find the original recipe, please click here.  But, I am posting my adapted recipe for you, and it was really good.  The biggest change - I cut the broth in half and I put in half the amount of chicken (I just didn't have enough on hand) but I kept the seasonings the same.  I LOVE my chili really chunky and flavorful with not a lot of liquid. 

White Bean and Chicken Chili
Original recipe by Giada de Laurentis
Adapted recipe by Kitchen Groovy

2 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 pound ground chicken
1 tsp. salt, plus more for seasoning
2 T ground cumin
1 T fennel seeds
1 T dried oregano
2 tsp. chili powder
3 T flour
1 15oz. can cannellini beans, or other white beans, rinsed and drained
1 pkg. frozen spinach, thawed (I threw mine in frozen, and it was just fine)
1 1/2 C frozen corn, preferably sweet corn
1 15 oz. can chicken broth or stock
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
Freshly ground pepper for seasoning
1/2 C shredded mozzarella cheese

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium high heat.  Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add ground chicken, 1 tsp. salt, cumin, fennel seeds, oregano, and chili powder.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes.  Stir the flour into the chicken mixture.  Add the beans, spinach, corn and chicken stock.  Bringg the mixture to a simmer, scraping up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.  Simmer roughly 30 minutes on low.  Add red pepper flakes and simmer.  Season with salt and pepper.  Stir in mozzarella cheese.

Ladle into bowls, spinkle with cheese and chili powder. 

I think next time, I'll use 2 lbs. of ground chicken.  My family loved this dish - even Miss Sunshine.  Hubby is never a fan of spinach in any dish, but he actually gobbled this up.  I could not believe it!  With that said, I think by adding in more chicken, it will be a bit more proportioned and not feel like there is so much spinach in it. 

Please click here for a printable version of this amazing recipe - Kitchen Groovy

Enjoy and live with gusto!!