Ten Shallot and Kale Pasta

Here we are again, made it through another Monday.  Only four more days and the weekend is here again…trust me it can’t come soon enough.
A couple weeks ago I was off work and saw the recipe on Rachael Ray. While her recipes are usually quite yummy looking they aren’t really on the healthy side of the food spectrum. White pasta and lots of cheese make a regular appearance.  I saw this one and thought it had potential so I wanted to give it a try.  It only has a few ingredients and can be ready to eat in 30 minutes.
I changed a few things up so here’s the link to the original recipe Ten Shallot and Kale Spaghetti
The original recipe says it’s 4 servings.  It made a very large batch so I would say it is more than 6 servings especially if you serve it with a large mixed green salad.
Ten Shallot and Kale Pasta

• 10 large shallots halved and thinly sliced
• 10 cloves of garlic thinly sliced (I love garlic so adjust to your taste)
• 2 big pinches of crushed red chilli's
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 lb spaghetti (whole wheat, rice, kamut, spelt)
• 1 bunch (medium) kale, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup walnuts toasted and chopped
• chopped fresh parsley
• fresh grated parmesan
• salt and pepper
• EVOO

Sauté shallots in EVOO approx. 10 minutes.  Add garlic salt, pepper chilli’s and thyme sauté till onions are a light caramel color stirring frequently.  Cook pasta till al dente.  Add the kale in the last 4 minutes of cooking.  Add a cup of cooking water to the shallots, drain pasta and toss with shallots.
Serve topped with fresh grated parmesan, toasted walnuts and fresh parsley.

I was really happy with this recipe.  It had a lot of flavour, is figure friendly and of course the kale adds a lot of nutrition punch. 

Have a great week!  Don’t forget to head on over to Facebook and like my page.

~ Jackie 

Sun Dried Tomato Braised Chicken Thighs

 

Finally the blizzard  has ended, and at 9:00 pm the plow has finally showed up to plow us out.  Good thing, I was beginning to think I wouldn’t be able to park my car in the driveway till July.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had to walk through knee deep snow drifts, and when you’re boots are only ankle high that poses a little bit of a problem. 

I wish I would have gotten out to take some pictures but I was a wimp and didn’t want to brave the cold, snow and blowing snow. Here’s a couple I found though.  As you can see the storm surge caused a lot of damage for those close to the water.

I had no plan for supper last night and of course I was missing ingredients for just about everything I could think of.  I ended up pulling some things out of the fridge/freezer and went with what I had on hand.  It turned out quite good if I do say so myself.  As usual I don’t measure when I’m cooking and go by taste most of the time, so you can use the measurements as guidelines and adjust to your taste. 

Sun Dried Tomato Braised Chicken Thighs

· 8 – 9 boneless skinless chicken thighs

· 1 bulb garlic, roasted

· 1/3 red onion chopped

· 1/3 – ½ cup sun dried tomatoes chopped

· 2 tbsp tomato paste

· 1 tsp Italian seasoning

· 1 tbsp lemon juice

· ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted (walnuts would work too)

· ½ bottle red wine

· 450 ml chicken broth

· EVOO

· Sea Salt & Pepper (I use Himalayan or Celtic Salt)

· ½ package of rotini

· Chopped fresh parsley and fresh grated parmesan

Preheat skillet add EVOO and sauté onions till soft and slightly caramelized. Remove from pan. Salt and pepper the chicken thighs, brown both sides. Add onions, roasted garlic, tomato paste, and sun dried tomatoes to the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Add wine, chicken broth and Italian seasoning,  cover and turn the pan down to simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes. Keep checking on the liquid you want it to reduce some but not evaporate, it will be the sauce for your pasta. If it reduces too much just add in some more wine and or broth.

While the chicken is cooking toast your pine nuts and cook your pasta. When the pasta is cooked drain but save ¼ -1/3 cup of the pasta cooking water and add it along with the pasta to the pan. Add your lemon juice and cook for another 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked thru.

Serve topped with your toasted pine nuts, parsley and parmesan.

(The ingredients I started with and went from there.  The rosemary never made it in the recipe)

Sorry for the poor lighting the feline fur kids decided my light box made a great place for hide and seek so it needs a few repairs.

I served mine with a mixed green salad and grilled polenta.  The polenta needs some work.  It was ok but could be better.

 

Have a good week !

 

~ Jackie

 

 

 

Roasted Pumpkin Sage and Parmesan Pasta

 

It’s a winter wonderland outside today.  Last I checked they are calling for 20 – 40 cm’s of snow and or 20 – 40 mm or rain.  Either way it’s going to be a big mess.  Glad I’m cozied up at home with the fur kids.

I was planning on doing some cooking or baking today but I think it’s going to be mostly a study day.  I do have to make some dog food  so I guess you can count that as cooking.

I was looking through my pictures the other day and realized I hadn’t posted this recipe yet.  This was my second attempt at making my own pasta and my first attempt at Fettuccini.  I did run into a little bit of a problem, as the noodles were coming out of the pasta rollers…where and how was I going to dry the pasta.  I didn’t have anywhere to hang it so I frantically dug out some all of my cookie sheets and spreading the noodles out to dry.  It worked but was less than practical.  That problem has since been remedied.  My honey bought me the KA pasta drying rack for Christmas.  That should save some counter space.

 

Roasted Pumpkin Sage and Parmesan Pasta

• 2 cups fresh fettuccini noodles
• 1 small – med pumpkin roasted
• 1 large shallot finely chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1/3 cup pureed roasted pumpkin
• 1/2 – 1 tsp dried sage
• 1/4 fresh grated parmesan
• 1/4 cup milk or cream
• 2 tbsp pasta water
• 2  - 3 slices pancetta (or bacon), cooked till crispy
• fresh grated nutmeg or a pinch of already ground
• salt and pepper

Cut pumpkin in half.  Scoop out seeds. Sprinkle with a little salt and pumpkin pie spice.  Roast until flesh is tender.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to directions.

Chop pancetta (bacon), and cook till crisp.  Remove from pan and drain off most of the fat.  If you don’t want to use some of the bacon fat you can drain it all off and use EVOO.  Add garlic and shallots to the pan and saute till soft.  Add pureed pumpkin, sage, salt, pepper, milk and 2 tbsp of the pasta cooking water.  Grate some fresh nutmeg in the pan.  Turn heat to low and warm through.

Add cooked pasta to the sauce and a little more pasta water if necessary.  Add parmesan stir till combined.  Top with pancetta/bacon pieces, a bit more fresh grated parmesan and a little ground black pepper.

 

 

    

When I made this I used between 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of sage but I thought it needed more so I increased the measurements.  I would suggest starting off with the smaller amount and go from there.  I’m not sure how this would taste with canned pumpkin.  I find canned pumpkin doesn’t work as well in savoury dishes so if you try it post a comment and let me know how it turned out.

Have a great Sunday!!  Enjoy the Superbowl if that’s your thing.  I’m off to get some studying done.  This weeks topic Optimum Nutrition for the Mind.

~ Jackie

Weekend Plans + Photo Post

It finally arrived... the weekend's here!!  For me as I'm sure for most of you, I can't wait for the work week to get over and the weekend to arrive.  Maybe it's because I'm getting older now, but I'm quite happy to spend the weekend relaxing watching a movie, cooking in the kitchen, reading a good book or going for a stroll.  I don't have that need to be on the go and looking for the next big event or party.  Gone are the days when I was out till all hours of the night every weekend, once in awhile is fine with me.

So my plans for the weekend include most of the above with some studying and probably a glass or two of wine thrown in there.  My kitchen plans include trying out the new pasta roller attachment  for the KitchenAid.  I'm hoping to make some homemade lasagna noodles for some pumpkin lasagna ... wish me luck.  I'm also planning some Roasted Butternut Squash soup, fudge (with a secret ingredient), and I suppose I should throw something in there that Tom likes so probably a steak and some roasted potatoes.

Fingers crossed I'll have some yummy food to share with you after the weekend.  Until then I'll leave you with a photo post.  I've had my new camera for about a year now and have really done nothing with it, so I thought it was about time I start trying to take some more thoughtful pictures and learn how to use the umpteen different settings.  I also need to learn how to take better food pics now that fall / winter are upon us and the lighting in the house leaves a lot to be desired.

Have a great weekend everyone.  Hopefully I have success in the kitchen this weekend and I'll be back with some delicious eats for you.

~ Jackie

Recipe Catch Up

Well hello out there… Hopefully someone’s still out there despite my sporadic posts.  The last long weekend of the summer is over, and all the kiddies are heading back to school.  I have to say though that fall is my favorite time of the year.  The cooler weather, (not that we’ve had a very hot summer), the turning leaves, the annual trek to the Valley to see the Pumpkin People it’s all good.  Well almost all, the one thing I don’t enjoy is the shorter days, but I guess you can’t have everything.
Even though I haven’t been posting I have been taking pictures.  The only problem with that is I can’t remember what recipes go along with what pictures. I thought I would just do a recap of some of the pics that I know.
This first one is for my parents.  They’ve been helping me out a lot looking after my house while it’s for sale. Mowing the lawn, trimming the hedges, turning off the lights when the realtors forget and so on.  They live next door to the house so it saves me tons of time and gas driving in from Porters Lake.  I’ve been doing some cooking and baking for them in return.
I thought this recipe came from Oh She Glows but I can’t seem to find it there at the moment. My next best guess is I found it via Pinterest.  It was a simple no bake dessert, that I knew my dad would LOVE, because it contained peanut butter and my dad is addicted to peanut butter.  The other ingredients were rice syrup, vanilla, Kamut puffs, butter (or earth balance) and melted chocolate to drizzle over the top.

Of course I sampled them before delivering them to the parents…. they almost didn’t make it there.

As soon as I saw Angela’s post over at Oh She glows for the Chocolate Chunk Toffee Bars I knew I had to make them.  It seems I missed taking a picture of these.  Not sure what happened there.  These too were super good, but everything I’ve made from OSG has been, so that wasn’t a shock. 
I also whipped up a batch of these Wheat Free Chocolate Digestive Cookies.  I modified the recipe slightly.  I used Xylitol instead of Stevia, and added a little maple syrup, and a couple tbsp of melted butter.

 

Really I haven’t just been making sweet treats.  I found a recipe I knew hubby would LOVE!!!  I mean how could I go wrong it incorporated all of his favorites, pasta, cheese and beer.  Yup, you heard right beer.  Usually I’m drooling over How Sweet Eats dessert creations but this is equally as good.  I think Easy Beer Mac and Cheese is possibly the best mac and cheese I’ve tasted.  

 

I guess that’s all for now.  I’m going to tuck myself into bed and get my beauty sleep before heading back to work tomorrow.

Cheers

~~Jackie 

Really ……You’re Cooking Supper?

Yup, that's right.... I'm actually posting twice in one week.  Trust me I'm as shocked as you are!!
If you follow me on twitter you may already know that I put my house up for sale.  Something I honestly wish I didn’t have to do but my tenants moved out at the end of May and I know I’ll never find tenants like them again.  Adding to the stress of finding good tenants is the fact that my parents live next door soooo you can imagine how difficult life could become if the tenants from hell moved in.
Another reason for selling is that I am planning on going back to school.  Never thought I’d be saying that at the age of 42, I must be crazy!!  Everyone always says you should do something you love, enjoy, and are passionate about, well I’m here to tell you I don’t love accounting/finances and I certainly am not passionate about it, but it does pay the bills.  So I’ve decided to change things up and start off by studying to become a Holistic Nutritionist.  Fingers crossed my old brain can handle the extra work.
I’ve been struggling lately with preparing meals, again. Hubby is a meat and potatoes kind of guy.  He does NOT like veggies.  I mean he doesn’t even like onions or peppers in a meal unless they are cooked to DEATH and I mean cooked to death.  If he comes home and sees me chopping peppers he has it in his head he won’t like it.  If I chop the veggies up in the food processor so they are pretty much indistinguishable he’s none the wiser and he has always says he like it.  I tell you it’s like cooking for a kid.  I actually bought cookbooks for kids for ideas on how to hide veggies in food. Sad, I know.  Once in a while we have a breakthrough and tonight was one of those nights.  Hubby decided he was cooking supper. It doesn’t happen often and his choices are usually not “healthy” but I am grateful for the break all the same.  Especially with the struggle I’ve been having lately.
I was pleasantly surprised with tonight’s choices.
Cherry Tomato & Pancetta Amatriciana

• 1 box Penne or Fettuccini
• 2 tbsp EVOO
• 150 grams Pancetta1/2 red onion diced
• 7 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine (he used low sodium chicken broth)
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 2/3 cup flat leaf parsley chopped
• 1/2 – 1 cup fresh basil chopped
• 2/3 cup grated parmigiano regiano
• 1 cup pasta water
• salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to directions on package.
In a large skillet sauté pancetta until crisp.  Drain fat.  Add EVOO to pan.  Sauté onion and garlic for 5 min or until soft. Stir in wine (or broth), parsley, tomatoes and pepper.  Cook about 10 mins.  Add pasta water, basil and cheese.  Add pasta and toss.  Serve with fresh grated parmigiano and chopped parsley for garnish.

He also made some Oven Fried chicken.  I don’t have the recipe for that but I have to say it was quite tasty. 
 
Not the best pictures, but technology hates me tonight.  It started with my camera when I went to take pictures of supper.  This is what the screen looked like when I turned it on.  I think it’s safe to say it’s toast :o(


Well that’s all for now…. The big game is about to start, so I’m going to join the rest of Canada and cheer my team on!!  Game 7 !!!!
Cheers…. Jackie

Crockpot Lasagna

I found  this recipe over at The WW Chick  and thought I would give it a try.  I have wanted to try a lasagna in the Crockpot for some time but was afraid it would just turn into Lasagna soup.
No soup here, it stayed intact.  It was a little juicier than what I normally like my lasagna to be but all in all it was tasty, figure friendly and easy!!

As I do with every recipe, I made some changes / additions.

• Used whole wheat regular lasagna noodles.
• Half a package of frozen spinach
• Grated 2 large carrots into the meat mixture
• Used half  lean ground chicken and half extra lean ground beef
• Added 1 spicy Italian Turkey Sausage

I would have added more spice to it but the hubs doesn’t like spicy food :o(
Served up with a large salad for supper.
     
During my 650th    I mean 6th trip to the grocery I picked up some Sea Salt and Vinegar Baked Kettle Chips.  I adore chips especially salt and vinegar.  I have yet to find a semi healthy version that actually tastes like a potato chip.  These came very close.  Nice and crunchy with tons of flavor, they beat Baked Lays hands down!!

The other flavors are:  Salt and Pepper, White Cheddar, BBQ, and Lightly Salted.
As always the weekend flew by and it’s back to work tomorrow..BOO!!