VEGETARIAN | Kitchenbelle

Wild Rice Salad

Posted on April 22, 2010 by kitchenbelle

When I made the Mushroom and Wild Rice Casserole I wasn’t thinking straight! The recipe called for about 2 cups of cooked wild rice but I didn’t account for the fact that rice nearly triples its size when cooked. I ended up with quite a bit of extra cooked wild rice in my fridge. Not a problem, though, because I LOVE WILD RICE!

There was no way I was going to waste the extra so I did some online searching for a quick and easy wild rice salad recipe and I was immediately drawn to this recipe on Simply Recipes.

Until Kelly mentioned it, I had no idea that Wild Rice is a “Minnesota thing.” When I served this salad to my family, my brother-in-law, who is also from Minnesota, was quite vocal about how much he loved this salad! He had no idea about my infatuation with wild rice and said if he had known, he would have asked his dad to bring some out with him this weekend. Unfortunately, his dad had already departed Minnesota so I won’t be tasting any authentic Minnesota wild rice any time soon! Next time Ed! 🙂

In my opinion, the quality that makes this salad so great is the texture. There is quite a bit of satisfying crunch.

Remember to chop each component to uniform size so that each bite includes a little bit of each ingredient. You don’t want one bite to contain nothing but a giant chunk of celery and the next bite to contain a giant piece of green onion. (I talk more about the importance of chopping uniformly here.)

Each bite should contain a little bit of everything. Doing so allows for each bite to be a little dance party in your mouth! The peas pop, the pine nuts snap, the celery crunches (and so on) and they are all united by the chewy grains of wild rice. Oh the fun! 🙂

Wild Rice Salad:

2-3 cups cooked wild rice
3/4 cup dried cranberries
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
4-6 green onions (scallions), finely chopped
1 cup frozen peas*
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
salt and pepper
1/4 -1/2 cup olive oil
2-4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1-2 teaspoons sugar

In a medium bowl combine rice, dried cranberries, celery, green onions, frozen peas, and pine nuts. Use a wooden spoon to gently combine.

In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, vinegar, sugar and salt and pepper. Pour over salad and toss gently to evenly distribute dressing. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed.

*If you plan to serve this dish immediately, use thawed peas. If you are storing overnight in the fridge, frozen peas will defrost by the time you serve.

Adapted from this recipe found on Simply Recipes.

Filed under: Appetizer, gluten free, Main Dish, pine nuts, salad, Side, VEGETARIAN | 10 Comments »

Spring Pasta with Fresh Arugula Walnut Pesto

Posted on April 14, 2010 by kitchenbelle

My husband is running the Boston Marathon on Monday and I could not be more proud! He has worked so hard training over the past several months and as great of a runner he was when he started training he has improved quite a bit and shown serious promise for race day.

I know how important diet is for athletic performance so I was sure to stock up on loads of lean proteins, fresh fruits and fresh vegetables at the grocery store this weekend. For this meal I decided to give him his fill of nutrients (as well as a few carbs!) to keep him healthy for race day. He loves red peppers, peas, and mushrooms so I created this meal around those. I LOVE arugula and what could be better or more nutritious than combining it with omega-laden walnuts?!

This meal was very delicious and enjoyable. The freshness of the arugula, vegetables, and chives was what stood out for me. I know it sounds dorky (but I’ll say it anyway): I have been cooking for years, yet still I continue to be amazed by the PUNCH and ZEST of the flavors in fresh vegetables and herbs. Mother Nature is pretty incredible if you ask me. 🙂

Spring Pasta with Fresh Arugula Walnut Pesto:

12 ounces of fresh pasta (I used Capone Foods Fresh Pasta Spinach Linguine from the Whole Foods refrigerated section)
a few tablespoons of olive oil
6 ounces of sliced portabella mushrooms
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 scallions, sliced
1 red pepper, chopped
2 cups frozen peas
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, sliced in half
fresh chives, roughly chopped

Pesto

2-3 cups fresh baby arugula
2 cloves fresh garlic
2/3 cup walnuts
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup shredded cheese (you could use fresh parmesan for a strong flavor, mozzarella for a mild flavor or anything in between)
salt to taste

Make the pesto:

In a food processor combine the arugula, garlic, and walnuts. Pulse until combined. Slowly pour in the oil while continuing to pulse. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula if necessary. Add the cheese and continue to pulse until desired texture is reached. Add salt to taste. Set aside.

Prepare vegetables:

Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a medium pan over medium heat. Add the mushroom and a few pinches of salt. Cook stirring frequently until browned. Add the garlic, scallions, and chopped pepper. Continue to cook until peppers are tender but still crunchy.

Meanwhile boil pasta in salted water according to package directions.

Add peas to sauce pan and cook until warmed through. Then add tomatoes. Stir to combine and let the heat soften the tomatoes, about 30 seconds. Season with salt and pepper.

Drain pasta and return to pot. Add pesto to pasta and toss gently. Then add vegetables and gently toss again to fully disperse vegetables and sauce. Garnish with fresh chives. Serve immediately.

A Kitchenbelle.com original!

Filed under: arugula, chives, Main Dish, mushroom, pasta, peppers, tomato, VEGETARIAN | 10 Comments »

Mushroom and Wild Rice Casserole

Posted on April 12, 2010 by kitchenbelle

I am crazy about wild rice and I always have my eye out for recipes that incorporate it. I was reading this recipe over at 101 Cookbooks where Heidi suggests trying any of your favorite grains in her mushroom casserole recipe. I saw it as great opportunity to use some wild rice!

This recipe calls for three cups of cooked rice–I replaced that with two cups of cooked wild rice plus one cup of cooked brown rice. (For added flavor cook your rice in chicken or vegetable broth instead of water.)

One mistake I made that I will warn you against is this: When I was making the rice to use for this recipe I was not thinking straight and I measured out two cups of DRY wild rice plus one cup of DRY brown rice and then cooked them in two separate pans according to their respective package directions. Well, DUH. Rice expands while cooking and nearly triples its volume! So, unless you want to have lots of leftover rice, only prepare enough dry rice to yield a total of three cups cooked! (I see some new wild rice recipes in my immediate future!)

I intended to serve this as an accompaniment to some flank steaks I purchased from Whole Foods, however, as I was about to put the steak onto the grill pan I realized I wasn’t that hungry. My husband wasn’t that hungry either so we decided to eat this as a main dish. We both really liked it! It is a very lightened-up version of the old school cream of mushroom soup recipes that we all love so much. (Don’t expect that canned-soup level of moistness, though.) The flavors were great and I plan to eat the reheated leftovers for lunch this week!

Mushroom and Wild Rice Casserole:

2 cups of cooked wild rice
1 cup of cooked brown rice
8-10 ounces of mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 large eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup of grated cheese (you could use Parmesan, mozzarella, or a combination of the two)
a few tablespoons of fresh chives, roughly chopped
2 scallions, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Coat a 9 x 13 glass baking dish or casserole with olive oil and set aside.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat saute the mushrooms in a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Sprinkle with some salt. Stir every few minutes and cook until the mushrooms have browned a bit and released their liquid. Add the onions and cook for 4-5 minutes or until they are transluscent. Add the garlic, cook for another minute then remove from the heat.

Add the brown rice and wild rice to the skillet. Stir until combined.

In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream and salt.

Combine in the rice/mushroom mixture with the cottage cheese mixture. Stir until well combined and pour into the prepared 9×13 dish. Sprinkle with 2/3 of the grated cheese. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 20 more minutes or until bubbly and golden around the edges. Sprinkle with chives, scallions, remaining cheese. (Add some chicken or vegetable broth if you’d like some additional moisture.)

Adapted from 101 Cookbooks.

Filed under: cheese, chives, Main Dish, mushroom, rice, Side, VEGETARIAN | 8 Comments »

Fresh Fruit Trifle

Posted on March 24, 2010 by kitchenbelle

The birthdays of my mother and my brother are within just a few days of each other. The members of my family don’t love sweets as much as I do, and when I bake a cake for them I tend to eat the biggest piece of all! Last year I made this orange coconut cake for my mom’s birthday. But this year, rather than make two frosting-laden cakes (one for my brother and one for my mother) I decided to do something a little lighter and fresher. A birthday trifle seemed like a perfect option. It is light because it is made with fluffy angel food cake and it incorporates all fresh fruit. Additionally, it isn’t wrapped in a thick layer of sugary frosting.

This trifle was so creamy and delicious!

Notes/Thoughts:

Everyone agreed that the cinnamon really added the flavor that pulled the entire dish together.
Feel free to “make it yours” by adding fruit you like and omitting those you don’t.
Trifles are just so pretty to look at! Best of all they don’t really require much skill. You can’t really do anything “wrong” because in the end everything mixes together!
For the pudding I used this recipe, the filling for Boston Cream Pie, and I was very happy with it. It is very fresh and creamy. I find boxed puddings to be a little sweet, but by all means, you could definitely substitute store-bought pudding here.
I purchased a round angel food cake from the bakery of my grocery store for $4.99 and I was very happy with it. However, you could absolutely make your own angel food cake and use it in this recipe.

Fresh Fruit Trifle:

Fruit

approximately 1 pint of fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained
approximately 1 pint of fresh strawberries, rinsed, drained, hulled and sliced (save one whole berry for garnish)
2-3 fresh peaches, peeled, cored and diced
2-3 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Pudding

1 tablespoon butter

2 cups milk

2 cups light cream

1/2 cup sugar

3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

6 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Garnish and Assembly

one store bought angel food cake (or you can bake your own)
one small container of Cool Whip or whipped cream

Make the pudding:

In a saucepan bring the butter, milk, and light cream to a boil. While this mixture is cooking, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and eggs in a bowl and whip using a whisk.

When the cream/ milk/butter mixture reaches the boiling point, whisk in the egg mixture and cook to boiling. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to prevent it from burning. As it begins to thicken, clumps may form. Use a whisk to smooth it out. Boil for 1 minute. Use a rubber spatula to press the pastry cream through a strainer into a bowl. Whisk in vanilla extract. Cover the surface with plastic wrap touching the pudding. (This prevents a film from forming.) Chill for about one hour.

Prepare the fruit:

Combine all fruit, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl and use a wooden spoon to toss well to combine. Let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Assemble:

Slice angel food cake into one-inch thick pieces and layer on the bottom of a glass trifle dish, covering the bottom of the dish. Spoon half of the fruit mixture on top of the angel food cake. (Be sure to drizzle any liquid that formed from the fruit and sugar. Don’t waste it!) Spread half of the pudding over the fruit mixture. Repeat these layers until you have used all of your components. Top final layer with Cool Whip (or whipped cream) and garnish with a berry, if desired. Keep refrigerated until just before serving.

Recipe inspired by French Vanilla Summer Trifle on MyRecipes.com.

Filed under: blueberry, cake, Cool Whip, Dessert, pudding, strawberry, vanilla, VEGETARIAN | 5 Comments »

Delicata Squash Stuffed with Kale and White Beans

Posted on February 7, 2010 by kitchenbelle

This may sound odd, however, I am going to say it anyway. There are certain foods that when I look at them my first thought is, “There really is a god.” Now, I wouldn’t exactly categorize myself as super religious, however, when I see little pieces of nature that strike me so intricate I can’t help but be taken back. Blackberries are one of those foods. Each little perfectly plump drupelet can’t be a fluke. And delicata squash is another. Each one is like a little work of art. It looks like someone took a paintbrush and daintily and deliberately stroked each one to perfection. They are just so darn pretty!

This recipe is so bright with the colors of nature and rich in vitamins and nutrients you will feel good eating it. It would nicely accompany most any protein I can think of (I served ours with stuffed pork). Enjoy!

Delicata Squash Stuffed with Kale and White Beans:

2 delicata squashes
a few glugs of olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
1 large bunch of fresh kale, washed, dried and roughly chopped
1-2 cans of white beans (cannellini or navy beans will both work well)
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Use a large knife to carefully cut each squash in half. Scoop out seeds and discard. (Or toast them for munching!) Place squash halves cut side up in a 9×13 glass baking dish. Carefully add water to the baking dish so that it reaches about a quarter of the way up the side of the squash. Cover the dish tightly with foil. (You are creating an environment to steam the squash.) Place the dish in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until the inside of the squash is tender and can be easily scraped with a fork.

Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a large-medium pan. Add the finely chopped onion and cook until very tender. I think it is important not to rush the onion. The longer and slower they cook, the sweeter they will be. Once they are soft and you are happy with their fragrance add the garlic (be careful not to burn it) and cook until tender. Then add your kale. Cover the pan and let the kale steam for about 10 minutes, but keep your eye on it. Uncover occasionally to stir. Once kale has wilted, add the white beans, salt and pepper. Stir and warm until the entire mixture is heated through.

Remove squash from the oven and place each one on your serving dish. Use a fork to gently scrape the squash from the sides of the skin. Fill each squash with kale filling and serve.

A Kitchenbelle Original inspired by Eggs on Sunday.