I rarely have strong cravings..

...But lately, THIS rice is what I feel like eating 24/7, it's that good! Thanks Menu Maniac for this awesome fried rice recipe!

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Do you know why we have eyebrows?

They were put there to act as miniature umbrellas for our eyes, so when we sweat or it rains, the eyebrow hair catches the moisture and diverts it around our eye so it doesn't interfere with our vision. Interesting? I thought so! Don't ask how I know this, all I will say is it had something to do with me Googling "why do we get goosebumps?" I was in an inquisitive mood yesterday what can I say.

I made a pot of Spaghetti for dinner last night, with store bought sauce, but I spiced it up with fresh basil, tons of freshly smashed garlic, oregano, and Parmesan reggiano. I think B thought it was completely from scratch..oops! There was a ton leftover, so I planned on heating it up for dinner again tonight, but as I ate my toast and egg whites (yes D.D, I'm still on that kick) I started catching up on blogs I follow. Thanks to Kevin the leftover spaghetti is still sitting in the fridge because instead, I made Hungarian Mushroom Soup and pan fried Pemeal Bacon. The soup was very flavourful, although next time I will puree it, as I found the texture of the mushrooms a little disturbing.

What have you readers been cooking up lately? Share some recipes with me, I'm always on the lookout for new ones.

A Taste of Autumn

January is more than half way over and I'm still trying to kick this sore throat! The medication I've been taking is leaving me without an appetite and sluggish, which is never a good thing, but especially not when I have so many new cookbooks and recipes I'm dying to try, yet nothing sounds appetizing. I did, however manage to make a few new dishes this week, one of them being Pumpkin and Feta Risotto from my New Food Fast cookbook. Risotto is quite time consuming to make, but totally worth ever bit of effort. This recipe has the perfect balance of sweet and savoury, it's creamy texture is so comforting and definitely very filling!

Pumpkin and Feta Risotto

1lb Sweet Pumpkin (I used buttercup squash)

oil

sea sat and pepper

5 1/2 cups Chicken Stock

1 tbs Olive Oil

2 cups arborio rice

1/4 cup chopped chives

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

5 oz marinated feta in oil

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the pumpkin on a baking tray and toss with oil, salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes or until soft.

To cook the risotto, place chicken stock in a saucepan over medium heat and allow to simmer. Place oil in a separate sauce pan over medium heat. Add the rice and cook or 1 minute or until rice is translucent. Add the stock, 1 cup at a time, and stir until stock has been absorbed. Continue adding until all the stock has been used, and rice is creamy.

To serve, stir the chives, Parmesan, pepper and pumpkin through risotto. Top with feta and its oil and serve.

note- I toasted the seeds from the squash and sprinkled them on top of the risotto for a garnish and a little crunch.

Happy 2010!

It's snowing. Not big fat flakes, but tiny ones falling at a quick rate and accumulating fast! I hope we get 4 feet, that would be ideal. Unlike Toronto, where I spent some time during the holidays, this is pretty much our first major snowfall. While in the T.Dot, we had a lot of time to spend with my family and made the most of it.

It feels good to be home and back in the kitchen after taking it easy for the past 2+ weeks. The first meal I made when I got home was Chicken Paillards with Clementine Salsa, adapted from the December issue of Bon Appetit (thanks Becky!) It turned out nicely, I made no changes to the recipe, it was perfect just the way it was. I served the chicken with fingerling potatoes, tossed in olive oil, salt & pepper and roasted them for 35 minutes until they were slightly crunchy.


Salsa is one of my favourite things, and as I made this recipe I got to thinking, there are so many different variations of Salsa so I want to try a few different ones. If you love salsa too, and have a great homemade recipe for it, post it in my comments section. I plan on hosting a Salsa & Chips night soon and will have the guests vote on their favourite salsa. If you want me to love your salsa I prefer it extra spicy!

One of our favourite store bought salads, is the Greek Pasta Olympia, it has an odd name, but there is nothing odd about the taste. Despite the fact that it tastes so good, I still cringe every time I see the deli counter person scoop it out from the metal dishes and smoosh it into a plastic container, who makes those pre-made salads anyway and how long do they sit there before someone buys a few scoops of it. Needless to say, my homemade version is a million times better, and I made it last night for dinner. So here it is!

Greek Pasta

1/2 package Rizopia organic brown rice pasta

1 Container of Cherry Tomatoes (halved)

1/4 Red Onion, sliced very thing

Approximately 20 Kalamata Olives (halved)

1/2 Cucumber cut in half moon slices

1/2 Red Pepper, cut into 1 inch squares

A big hunk of good quality Feta (crumbled)

1. Boil noodles to your liking, preferably al dente, drain and toss with olive oil. Let cool.

2. While the noodles are boiling, cut the vegetables and toss together with the feta in a big (pretty) bowl.

3. in a separate bowl mix 1/4 cup olive oil, juice of 1 lime, a few generous shakes of dried oregano flakes, salt and pepper. Finally, toss the Pasta with the veggies and the dressing. If you want to add some protein, throw in a can of tuna or 1/2 a can of beans of your choice. ENJOY!

Readers, get cracking on the salsa recipes, I can't wait to see what you come up with.