Vegetable Orzo

Posted on July 28, 2011 by kitchenbelle

Here is an easy way to use up odd vegetables to create a satisfying dinner. This dish stands well on its own for an easy weeknight meal or can be used as a side served warm or room temperature. I served it along with some grilled white fish.

Vegetable Orzo:

  • 1 lb. box of orzo
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 bunch of fresh asparagus, cut into one-inch segments (tough ends discarded)
  • 1 yellow pepper, diced
  • 2 14.5-oz cans chopped tomatoes
  • 1 14.5-oz can quartered artichoke hearts
  • one handful kalamata olives, sliced
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Boil and drain orzo according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a large pan, warm olive oil over medium-low heat. Add asparagus segments and yellow pepper. Heat until just tender.  Stir in crushed tomatoes.  Cook for few minutes until heated through and then gently stir in artichoke hearts and olive slices.

While orzo is draining in colander, add half of the tomato mixture to the pot the orzo boiled in. Add the orzo and toss quickly in the sauce then add the remaining sauce. Toss to combine. Serve in individual bowls garnished with freshly grated parmesan cheese. May be served warm or at room temperature.

A kitchenbelle.com original.

Filed under: artichoke, asparagus, Main Dish, olives, orzo, peppers, Side, tomato, VEGETARIAN | 2 Comments »

Grilled Shrimp over Greek Salad

Posted on July 25, 2011 by kitchenbelle

Are you running out of dinner ideas that don’t require heating up the kitchen? This is less of a recipe and more of a summer dinner idea. It is adaptable and can be easily made if you are cooking only for yourself or if you are cooking for an entire softball team.

What to do:

  • In Greek salad dressing, marinade shrimp that have been cleaned and deveined (tails removed).
  • Soak wooden skewers in water for at least 15 minutes (or use metal skewers).
  • Chop romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and kalamata olives. Combine in a bowl with crumbled feta cheese.
  • Thread marinated shrimp onto skewers and cook on a preheated grill. They will only take a few minutes on each side.
  • Dress salad with Greek dressing and top with shrimp skewers.*

Looking for some other hot weather dinner ideas?

*Never use leftover marinade. Discard immediately. Dress the salad using fresh dressing.

Filed under: Main Dish, olives, salad | 1 Comment »

Pasta Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Green Olivada

Posted on August 2, 2010 by kitchenbelle

I love the versatility of pasta salads made with olive oil instead of mayonnaise.

They:

  • are delicious both at room temperature or cold
  • are great sides for BBQ fare
  • can be eaten as a main dish
  • make for excellent leftovers

While I was on the prowl for a new olive oil-based pasta salad, I came across this recipe in July’s issue of Bon Appetit magazine. It spoke to me for two reasons:

  • I was intrigued by the Olivada. (I had never heard of that before.) 
  • I love Gemelli. 

It turns out olivada is a Mediterranean version of tapenade–minced olives blended with oil and spices.  (Think olive pesto.) 

Gemelli are chewy little braid-shaped macaroni. They are easily found in most grocery stores.  That said, however, I don’t find them to be commonly used.  Using them adds some visual and textural interest to what might have been a typical pasta dish.

As I read down the ingredient list for this recipe, I noticed a component I don’t frequently use in my kitchen: Anchovy paste. Interesting. While it’s not often that I cook with anchovies, I did happen to have a tin of anchovies in my pantry. I decided I could benefit from the fatty acids and calcium that anchovies pack so I added them in place of the recipe’s anchovy paste. 

The outcome? Truthfully, it was basically like adding salt. They blended into the olivada so smoothly that I would never have known they were there if I hadn’t added them myself!  (In fact, I served this to my sister-in-law, who does not eat fish, and she loved it! That is, until I let out my little secret! 🙂 )

If you are wary of small salty fish but interested in the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet, I definitely recommend this dish as a way to ease in. 

It is a delicious and versatile salad for summer and yet I can see bringing it to an apple picking picnic this fall.       

Pasta Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Green Olivada:

  • 3 garlic cloves peeled
  • 1 jar pitted green olives
  • 3 tablespoons capers, drained
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 1 small tin of anchovies
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 pound of gemelli macaroni
  • 2 pints of fresh cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chives. roughly chopped

Add garlic to food processor and process until finely chopped. Add 1 cup of the chopped olives, capers, red wine vinegar, anchovies, mustard, and crushed red pepper. Turn processor on and off six times or until mixture is coarsely chopped. With machine running, gently and gradually add 1/2 cup of olive oil. Use a rubber spatula to transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Stir in remaining chopped olives. Season to taste using salt and pepper. This is your olivada. Cover and refrigerate.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well. Transfer pasta to a bowl and drizzle with about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add olivada and halved tomatoes. Toss well to coat. Garnish with chopped chives and serve.

Adapted from recipe found in July 2010 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.

Filed under: olives, tomato | 7 Comments »

Rosemary Chicken with White Beans

Posted on November 10, 2009 by kitchenbelle

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This meal is the definition of an easy and quick weeknight meal.  The tomatoes make this almost like a chunky soup/stew.  In fact, I wish we had some fresh bread on hand because this is a perfect dish for dunking!  I served this with a simple arugula salad.  We really enjoyed this dinner and I look forward to enjoying it again for lunch! 

Notes:

  • For the chicken, I used Perdue thinly sliced chicken breast.  I love how they are nice and lean and cook so quickly!
  • For the stewed tomatoes, I like to use Contadina Diced Tomatoes.  They are perfect for quick weeknight meals!  For this recipe I used the “roasted garlic” variety.
  • You can always use fresh herbs in place of dried herbs.  In fact, I suggest you use fresh herbs as often as possible.  However, sometimes you find yourself in a pinch and it’s necessary to rely on your stash of dried herbs.  (Like when you have a hungry husband and you can’t get to the farmer’s market or the grocery store!)  Whenever you substitute dry for fresh always use one teaspoon of dry for every one tablespoon of fresh that the recipe calls for. 

Rosemary Chicken with White Beans:

  • 2  tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary (if you have fresh, use fresh!)
  • ~1/2  teaspoon  salt
  • ~1/2  teaspoon  black pepper
  • 2 pounds of boneless chicken breast, sliced thin 2 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
  • 2  (15 ounce) cans navy beans (or any other white bean like cannellini), drained
  • 1/4  cup  chopped pitted kalamata olives

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Combine rosemary, salt, and pepper and sprinkle over both sides of chicken. Place chicken in pan and cook until brown, turning once.  (Depending on the size of your pan, you may have to cook chicken in batches.  Make sure there is enough space in the pan so that each peace of chicken touches the bottom of the pan.) Once all chicken pieces are brown set aside on a plate.  Deglaze pan by adding tomatoes (with juices) to pan.  Use a spatula to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Reduce heat to medium and add chicken. Add the beans; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Stir in olives.

Adapted from MyRecipes.com.

Filed under: beans, cannellini beans, chicken, Main Dish, olives, tomato | 1 Comment »

Grilled Swordfish with Grilled Caponata

Posted on June 16, 2009 by kitchenbelle

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When the weather is hot and you don’t have central air conditioning, using the oven and the stove are not very appealing.  Even baking something for just a few minutes can turn the kitchen into a sauna.  That is when an outdoor grill can be really handy.  Some people reserve the grill for hot dogs and hamburgers on the weekends only, but there is no reason not to fire up the grill for a quick and healthy weeknight supper.

Unfortunately, the problem of warm weather has not been an issue in Boston.  The last couple of days have been downright cold.  For this dish I stayed in my comfortably warm kitchen and used our grill pan in place of the outdoor grill.  (The grill pan works really well for grilling pretty much everything.)   

Whether prepared indoors or outdoors, this dish is wonderful.  The flavorful chunky vegetables paired so nicely with the firm swordfish steaks.  For not using very many spices, the flavor factor of the caponata was off the charts.   Each bite contained different vegetables—you may get a piece of eggplant and a caper in one bite and then a tomato and olive in the next.  This meal was really satisfying and balanced.  And it is so simple to make!  The caponata is so versatile it could be served on its own as a side or with crackers as an appetizer. 

Grilled Swordfish with Grilled Caponata:

Caponata

  • 1 medium eggplant, sliced lengthwise
  • 1 large red onion, peeled and sliced into rings
  • 4-6 plum or roma tomatoes, halved
  • Olive oil, for brushing vegetables, plus 1/2 cup
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 cup green olives, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons capers, drained
  • 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted (optional)
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • Pinch red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons honey

Heat grill on high.  Brush all vegetables with olive oil (or spray with cooking spray) and season with salt and pepper. Grill both sides of the eggplant slices until cooked through, about 8 minutes per side.  Grill both sides of the onion slices until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.  Grill the tomatoes (seed side down) until charred and soft, about 3 minutes.  Remove all vegetables from heat and cut into 1/2 inch chunks.  Put all vegetables into a bowl.  Add the olives, capers, and pine nuts to the bowl of vegetables and use a wooden spoon to toss to combine. 

In a small bowl combine the vinegar, garlic, red pepper flakes, and honey.  Season with salt and pepper.  Slowly whisk in about 1/2 cup of olive oil.*  Pour this dressing over vegetables and toss so that all are well-coated with dressing.  Let stand at room temperature about 30 minutes before serving.

Swordfish

  • 2-4 swordfish steaks
  • olive oil or cooking spray
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • Caponata (see recipe above)

Heat grill to high.  Brush both sides of swordfish steaks with olive oil or coat with cooking spray.  Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Cook swordfish steaks until done, about 4 minutes per side, depending on the thickness.  Remove from grill and top with grilled caponata. 

j

*I actually didn’t use the 1/2 cup olive oil in the dressing and it was just fine without it.

Adapted from recipe by Bobby Flay on Foodnetwork.com.

Filed under: Appetizer, eggplant, fish, gluten free, Main Dish, olives, pine nuts, Side, tomato | 4 Comments »

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