Orzo and Wild Rice

I'm behind on blogging but recently we tried a new recipe for Orzo and Wild Rice from the blog of a MN food writer.
It was a tasty and colorful dish so I served in on some colorful new dishes :)


Orzo & Wild Rice
from Sue Doeden's blog, All About Food
Orzo and Wild Rice

* 1 cup wild rice, uncooked
* 1/2 cup orzo, uncooked
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1/2 of a red bell pepper, chopped
* 1/2 of a yellow bell pepper, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 2 tablespoons honey
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
* 2 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
* 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Cook orzo according to package directions. Rinse wild rice and put in saucepan with 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered until rice is done. Kernels of will be split open, revealing the white inside. It should be tender, but still a bit chewy. Drain and set aside.

Saute onion and bell peppers in 2 tablespoons butter in large pan. When tender, add garlic and saute another minute. Stir in honey. Add wild rice, parsley, orzo, soy sauce and lemon juice. Stir in cooked wild rice and orzo, continuing to stir until heated through. Serve immediately. Makes 6 very generous servings

This was a good side dish. We had it the first time with baked fish and fresh bread and the leftovers were frozen. We had it the second time as the rice base for orange chicken and it was wonderful then as well.

Marsha - Thumbs UP
Jeff - Thumbs UP

sweet potatoes and a sweet's birthday...

The Christmas dishes are put away but I am still using my "Frosty Friends" by Oneida plates that I bought at a garage sale this summer. They came as a box of 4 dessert plates but these days I am using them as my dinner plate as a mind trick to think I am eating more than I am since I am trying to lose a few lbs with portion control. Jeff on the other hand appreciates a man-sized dinner plate :)
Tonight we had pork for supper so I tried a new side dish recipe with sweet potatoes and apple slices.
My little plate was full but my portions were the right size - so I felt I was getting more food than a few spoonfuls scattered on a large plate.
Scalloped Sweet Potatoes
from the Pine to Prairie cookbook, Vol III

1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3 raw, medium sweet potatoes, peeled, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 medium apples, sliced
3 TBSP butter

Mix sugar and cinnamon together. Place a layer of sweet potatoes in a lightly buttered casserole. Add a layer of apples, sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture and dot with butter. Repeat layers. Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. Makes 6 servings.

Marsha - Thumbs UP
Jeff - Thumbs UP

and now the "sweet's birthday"...
A couple of years ago I met a group of women on a food forum and over time our core group has become great friends. Suzy is the youngest one of the eight whom I call my sweet and savory friends but with us age doesn't matter. You may know her from Kitchen Bouquet, she's a great cook and a wonderful gardener. When I think of Suzy I always think of tulips (she sometimes tip toes through them, no really she does!) and the fun day trips she shares with us online. She is our resident "nurse" and we all trust her advice. She is a true southern belle full of grits and grace. No one but her could have gotten a MN girl to celebrate Madri Gras Louisiana style. Happy Birthday Suzy! I hope your celebrated in true southern style!

Honey Grilled Sweet Potatoes...

A second night of grilling for us - this time simple and easy. One of our favorite ways to have chicken is the beer can method. Pop open a can of beer, pour out about 1/4 of it and put the 3/4 can of beer in a chicken can holder or you can balance the chicken on the can directly on the grill. Grill on indirect heat for 1 1/2 hrs for and extremely moist and tender chicken. We like several versions of it - sometimes I push fresh rosemary springs under the skin and put lemon slices in the chicken cavity and sometimes I use a spice rub, other times we take the super easy route and buy a preseasoned chicken. Our favorite is a MN brand Gold n' Plump Mesquite. It is sold in a bag you can bake it in but I have never tried that - the can & the grill is the only way to go on this one.

Tonight it is the real life tablesetting, no placemats or nice arranged setting - carry out the dishes and fill with good food ;) I grill...J carves, no desserts or wine...simple good food.
Grilled sweet potatoes are made often here. Usually cut in large chunks and tossed with olive oil, minced garlic, pepper and seasoned salt and then grilled for a sweet & savory taste. This time I tried a new recipe from about.com and it was good for change of taste. I'd definitely make them again but still prefer the old method.

Honey Grilled Sweet Potatoes from about.com
Ingredients:
1 pound sweet potatoes
1/4 cup honey
1/4 butter
Preparation:
Preheat grill. Clean sweet potatoes, cutting off any bad spots. Cut into 1/2 inch slices. Place on medium hot grill and cook for about 8-10 minutes on one side. Soften butter and mix with honey. Spread mixture over slices and turn. Continue grilling about 6-8 minutes. Turn and spread on more honey butter. Continue grilling until honey butter gets all bubbly.

Marsha - Thumbs Up
Jeff - Thumbs Up

Happy St. Patrick's Day...

It is a beautiful spring morning...the blackbirds are singing, the air smells fresh and clean...oh wait...that's me after my Irish Spring shower :) I hope you are all taking time to live, love and laugh this St. Patrick's Day as I join my Irish friend, Kathleen in a food & fun event. Click HERE to Hop on over to her blog to see all the others joining in.

There's a dear little plant that grows in our isle,
'Twas St. Patrick himself, sure, that sets it;
And the sun of his labor with pleasure did smile,
And with dew from his eye often wet it.
It grows through the bog, through the brake, through the mireland,
And they call it the dear little Shamrock of Ireland

Today is not only St. Patrick's Day but our son-in-law, Scott's birthday. In our family it is tradition that I make cinnamon rolls to celebrate birthdays, so even though Scott wasn't here...Jeff & I had shamrock cinnamon buns for breakfast.

When, Kathleen announced the blog party, she said anything goes...even Lucky Charms! Lo and behold, I "won" a box of LC in church on Sunday so I couldn't resist bringing it to her party. Our pastor had shamrocks taped on the church pews and whoever sat at the pew with a number 3 written on the back of the shamrock won a prize and it was a magically delicious box of cereal. Actually it will be going back to church next week along with other non-perishable foods as March is food share month in MN and our congregation is collecting bags of food. Are you asking "Why" we had shamrocks in church yet. Our pastor gave a children's sermon on St. Patrick and then told the children what a wonderful reminder of God a shamrock is. When you look at a shamrock it has three leaves...like God's presence in our lives...Father, Son and Holy Spirit. From now on I'll always think a little more of all the shamrocks around at this time of year now.
Is it just me or is the leprechaun looking a lot more scary these days?
Soon it was time to think of lunch and for Kathleen's party, I bought some "pasta with personality" and...
I set our table with black, white & GREEN.
We started our meal with a simple spinach salad.
The main course needed light sour cream and I always enjoy the advice inside the lid on each fresh container (though it didn't mention using Irish Spring).
Our main course was Cabbage and Potatoes with Noodles because it sounded Irish to me. Of course, I substituted shamrock pasta for the noodles...after all it is an Irish party.

Time is precious these days as we are spending all of our time building a garden barn (you can read about that on my main blog, listed on the sidebar), so dessert was spring green wrapped Lindt truffles in my shamrock bowl.
You can't say "Irish Spring" any better than this photo does...


This recipe was published in my local paper by Sue Doeden, a MN food writer who writes a weekly column. She also has a food blog that you can check out here.

Cabbage and Potatoes with Noodles
2 medium-sized red potatoes (about 14 to 16 ounces), skins on, chopped into small chunks
1 1/2 cups uncooked medium egg noodles
4 slices of bacon
3 cups finely chopped cabbage
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon, at least, of freshly ground black pepper
Reduced-fat sour cream for garnish

Boil chopped potatoes in a pot of salted water until just tender. Drain and set aside. In a separate pot, boil noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Arrange bacon slices flat in a large, heavy skillet. Fry until crispy. Transfer bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.

Add cabbage to hot bacon drippings in pan. Sauté for a couple of minutes. Add sugar and continue to cook and stir until cabbage begins to caramelize and turn golden. Cover pan. Continue to cook the cabbage over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it is tender. It will take about 5 minutes.

Remove cover from pan. Stir in potatoes and cook until heated through. Add salt and lots of ground black pepper. Stir in cooked noodles and heat through. Crumble bacon and sprinkle over the top.

Serve immediately, offering sour cream on the side. Makes 4 to 6 side servings.

Thumbs Up - Marsha
Thumbs Down - Jeff