Ficken and Rice with Cilantro-Poblano Sauce

This was offered in Cooking Light June 2008 as a reader recipe. The woman that developed it said it is easy to prepare and can be made any night of the week. Hmmm, I am not so sure about the easy description. While there was nothing complicated, there were many different steps and pans involved, which made it longer to prepare and clean up than an "easy" meal should. But, it was yummy and I consolidated some of the steps to cut down on after dinner dishes.

The grocery store was sold out of Poblano peppers, so I ended up using two different kinds - a red one and light green one- in place of the Poblano. It worked out nicely, so if you can't find that particular pepper, just choose some other moderate/mild temperature pepper instead.

I did not have enough wild rice, so I ended up using wild rice, forbidden rice and brown rice. Worked great, although the deep color of the forbidden rice turned the mushrooms purple!

Chicken and Rice with Cilantro-Poblano Sauce

3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1/2 tsp salt, divided

1/4 tsp black pepper, divided

14 oz veggie broth, divided

1 poblano chili, seeded and chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

olive oil

1 large package white mushrooms, sliced

1 cup uncooked long grain rice

1/2 cup water

1 tsp ground cumin

2 TBS fresh parsley, chopped

1 TBS butter

1 pkg of quorn naked patties, slightly thawed and cut into strips

3/4 cups grape or cherry tomatoes

1 avocado, chopped

1. Combine 1/4 cup green onions, cilantro, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper, 1/2 cup broth, chili and 1 garlic clove in a food processor. Process until smooth.

2. Heat 1 TBS oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms to pan and saute until softened. Add garlic clove to pan and cook another couple minutes. Add cilantro mixture, remaining 1 1/4 cup broth, rice, 1/2 cup water and cumin to skillet. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 25 minutes. Add parsley, remove from heat.

3. Heat small amount of olive oil in different skillet over med-high heat. Sprinkle small amount of salt/pepper and 1/2 tsp cumin in the pan. Add ficken. Cook until browned and heated through. Remove from the skillet.

4. Add small amount of olive oil to the same skillet the ficken was just cooked in. Add 1/4 cup green onions and tomatoes. Saute 2 minutes. Add ficken back to skillet.

5. Finally-arrange rice on a plate, top with ficken and tomatoes, then some avocado. Yummy!!!

Ficken and Feta Tabbouleh

This is a nice dish for a warm spring evening, exactly like the one last week when I served this for dinner. I was lucky to have tomatoes, cucumbers, mint and green onions from the farmers market to use in this recipe which made it even better. I served it with a side of toasted pita bread.

Ficken and Feta Tabbouleh (modified from April 2009 Cooking Light)

3/4 cup uncooked bulgur

1 cup boiling broth

1 pkg (4 patties) naked quorn patties

lemon pepper seasoning

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 cucumber, chopped

3/4 cup chopped fresh parsely

1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled

1/3 cup finely chopped green onions

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

2 TBS lemon juice

1 TBS extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp black pepper

1. Place bulgar in a medium bowl. Cover with 1 cup boiling broth and let stand 15 minutes until liquid is absorbed.

2. Heat small amount of oil in a skillet over med-high heat. Add 1/2 tsp of lemon-pepper seasoning and garlic. Add quorn patties and cook until brown on both sides. Cut into cubes.

3. Combine ficken and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add bulgur to ficken mixture. Toss gently to combine.

Asparagus, Green Onion and Goat Cheese Quiche

Alright, if you like asparagus this is the quiche for you. Jason and I visited the farmers market last weekend and found delicious local produce and goat cheese perfect for this dish. There was no local asparagus, but we did find green onions and goat cheese which were used for this dish. I can not say enough about how fabulous this quiche is. Really, this is the best quiche yet!!!

I did make a couple minor changes from the printed recipe - I used a pre-made pie crust rather than fixin' up my own and I added a small amount of white cheddar cheese.

I served this with a side of temphe and corn.

Asparagus, Green Onion and Goat Cheese Quiche (modified from April 2009 Cooking Light)

1 pre-made roll out style pie crust

2 TBS butter

1 bunch fresh asparagus, chopped into 1 inch chunks (hard base stem removed)

1/4 tsp salt, divided

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 cup sliced green onions

4 oz. soft goat cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup white cheddar cheese (Cabot brand is tasty)

4 large eggs

3/4 cup 2 % milk

dash of ground nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 425

2. Press the pie crust into a glass pie dish.

3. Melt the butter in a skillet over med-high heat. Add asparagus, 1/8 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. Saute about 5 - 8 minutes until crisp-tender. Do not over cook!!

4. Add onions and saute 2 more minutes until asparagus just begins to brown. Remove from heat.

3. Spoon asparagus into the pie dish in an even layer. Arrange goat cheese and cheddar in an even layer over asparagus.

4. Combine eggs and milk and remaining salt/pepper and nutmeg. Stir with whisk. Pour into the pie dish.

5. Bake 30 minutes until set in the center.

Penne Pasta with Tomatoes and Olives

This is an all time favorite of ours, tested and eaten now for about 10 years. It delights our taste buds each time. Great dish to take to a party or picnic too.

I made Greek style ficken using quorn patties as a protein to go along with the pasta.. Just heat olive oil and salt/ pepper in a skillet. Add some minced garlic and sun dried tomatoes. Cook ficken until browned. Yummy!

Penne Pasta with Tomatoes and Olives

12 oz penne pasta

1 pint cherry tomatoes OR 2-3 large tomatoes chopped

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/4 - 1/2 cup halved black olives

1 clove garlic, minced

3 TBS olive oil

2 TBS balsamic vinegar (or more if you like vinegar like me!)

salt and pepper

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1. Cook pasta and drain, run under cool water

2. Combined tomatoes through salt/pepper, cover and let stand for 15 minutes.

3. Combine tomato mixture with pasta, sprinkle with feta.

Ficken Cashew and Red Pepper Stir-fry

The newest Cooking Light arrived in the mail a week or so ago and I eagerly scanned the pages for new dishes to try. It has been awhile since I've made any kind of asian inspired dish, so I gave "Ficken" Cashew and Red Pepper Stir-fry and shot, and it was very tasty. Easy and pretty quick too. This dish would be nice with a side or Edamame, which I did not think of until just now. Bummer.

"Ficken" Cashew and Red Pepper Stir-fry modified from April 2009 Cooking Light

3 3/4 teaspoon cornstarch, divided

2 TBS low-sodium soy sauce, divided

2 tsp cooking sherry

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

3/4 tsp sugar (I think I omitted this)

1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce (like Tabasco)

1 pkg Veggie Delight patties, cut into strips

1/2 cup coarsely chopped cashews

2 TBS olive oil

1 large red bell pepper, cut into strips

1 clove minced garlic

1/2 tsp fresh minced peeled ginger

3 TBS thinly sliced green onion

1. Combine 1 tsp cornstarch, 1 TBS soy sauce and next 4 ingredients through hot sauce, into a small bowl and stir with a whisk.

2. Combine remaining 2 3/4 tsp cornstarch, 1 TBS soysauce and ficken in a medium bowl. Toss to coat.

3. Heat large non-stick skillet over med-high heat and add cashews to pan. Cook 3 minutes or until lightly toasted. Remove from pan.

4. Add oil to the hot skillet and swirl to coat. Add ficken to pan and saute 2 minutes. Add bell pepper and cook another couple minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and ginger, cook 30 seconds. Add green onions and cornstarch mixture. Cook until sauce in slightly thickened. Sprinkle with cashews.

Rice

1 cup white Jasmine or Basmati rice

1 1/2 cups water

2 TBS drained, chopped water chestnuts

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

salt and pepper

Cook rice and add the water chestnuts and seasoning at the end, allowing about 5 minutes to before serving.

Santa Fe Meatless Meatloaf

Yes, I am a vegetarian that misses meals like meatloaf and shepherds pie. I do not crave or want to eat red meat, but I do miss those home-style dishes. Luckily for people like myself there is a pretty decent product that lends well to making fake meatloaf or burgers. This veggie ground beef is called "Gimmie-Lean" and is wrapped in a "Jimmy-Dean" style case and can be found in the refrigerated section of Whole Foods or stores like that. There are two flavors of Gimmie-Lean: Hamburger and Sausage. Use the burger flavor for making meatloaf.

Santa Fe Meatless Meatloaf

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/3 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

3 - 4 cloves garlic, minced

1 TBS (2 peppers) canned minced chipolte chili's in adobe sauce

2 pkg Gimmie-Lean

3/4 cup dried bread crumbs

2/3 cup bottled salsa, divided

1 tsp dried oregano

2 lg eggs

3/4 cups Pepper-Jack cheese, shredded (or more if you like!)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350

2. Saute onion, bell pepper, chili powder, cumin and garlic about 5 minutes.

3. Stir in chipolte chilies and saute another minute or so.

4. Combine with Gimmie-Lean in a large bowl. (TAKE OFF YOUR RINGS!!!) Add breadcrumbs, 1/3 cup salsa, oregano and eggs. Mush and mix with your hands.

5. Place 1/2 the mixture in an 8 X 4 inch loaf pan coated with oil. Arrange the cheese over the top, leaving a slight boarder around the outside edge. Arrange the remaining mixture over the top, pressing edges to pack.

6. Spread remaining 1/3 cup salsa on top and bake 45 minutes.

This was dinner last Tuesday and I served this with homemade mac and cheese which was awesome! That recipe will be a later post, sorry. Frozen peas for a veggie. Delicious!

Linguini with Mushroom Cheese Sauce

I am making up for lost time and posting two dinners from last week. They are totally out of order, I apologize. I really need to start posting on time again!

This is a creamy pasta dish that is really yummy and totally unhealthy! Lots of butter, cheese and pasta, so make this dish one for occasional eating rather than regular dinner time fare. I served an arugula salad with this for some greens and it was pretty tasty too. That recipe may come another time though.

Linguini with Mushroom Cheese Sauce

1/4 cup butter

2 TBS olive oil

1 lg package white mushrooms, sliced

2 TBS flour

3/4 cup light cream

1 cup 2 % milk

1/4 cup white wine or sherry (cooking wine or cooking sherry would be fine to use)

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

12 oz linguine

1. Heat butter and oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and saute about 5 minutes or longer until tender.

2. Sprinkle flour into skillet and stir with a whisk until a thick paste forms.

3. Slowly stir in mile and cream, stirring constantly.

4. Reduce heat and simmer about 3 minutes.

5. Stir in wine and cheese. Serve over cooked pasta.