.gnocchi with shrimp, asparagus, and pesto.

I got this recipe from a friend who made this for her husband and posted a picture of it on facebook. It looked so amazing I had to give it a try. I had never tried gnocchi before and its pretty tasty and super easy to make. The original recipe is from Cooking Light, I changed it a bit and instead of making my own pesto I used already made pesto from my favorite...Trader Joe's. I am posting the original recipe with instructions to make the pesto. If you choose to just buy it, ignore the pesto instructions. Enjoy!



Ingredients
2 quarts plus 1 tablespoon water, divided
1 (16-ounce) package vacuum-packed gnocchi
4 cups (1-inch) slices asparagus (about 1 pound)
1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp, coarsely chopped

PESTO
1 cup basil leaves
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
2 tablespoons preshredded Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
4 teaspoons extravirgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation
Bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Add gnocchi to pot; cook 4 minutes or until done (gnocchi will rise to surface). Remove gnocchi with a slotted spoon; place in a large bowl. Add asparagus and shrimp to pan; cook 5 minutes or until shrimp are done. Drain. Add shrimp mixture to gnocchi. Add ready made pesto or follow directions below to make the pesto.
Pesto:
Combine remaining 1 tablespoon water, basil, and next 4 ingredients (through garlic) in a food processor; process until smooth, scraping sides. Drizzle oil through food chute with food processor on; process until well blended. Add salt and basil mixture to shrimp mixture; toss to coat. Serve immediately.

.grilled zucchini & yellow squash.

These are my new favorite vegetables! The picture does not really do them justice to how completely amazing they tasted, they look a little burned because I like thing extra crispy :) Bobby and I were fortunate enough to work with a family that had a vegetable garden with plenty to spare! We ate these veggies daily with many of our meals and never knew we would love vegetables so much!



Ingredients
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Lemon Pepper
Seasoning Salt
Butter

Preparation
Cut into 1/2 inch slices. Season with Lemon Pepper and Seasoning Salt. Grill on a frying pan until lightly browned. Using butter instead of oil. Serve with your favorite meal and enjoy.

.parmigiano-reggiano crusted chicken piccata.

This recipe was AMAZING!!! I found it in Rachael Ray's magazine. I changed the recipe a bit to make it more practical. Also the original recipe contains capers, with I omitted because I did not have them and it tasted just fine :) The only thing that gave me problems was when I cooked the chicken the oil splashed everywhere, even though I did not even use the full amount, so make sure you have some sort of splash screen to prevent the major ouch! I will make this again soon!



Ingredients
1/4 cup flour
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pounded 1/4 inch thick
salt
1/2 pound angel hair pasta
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon, plus 1 sliced lemon
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
5 oz. baby spinach

Preparation
1. Place the flour on a plate. In a shallow bowl, beat the eggs. Place 1 cup cheese on another plate. Working 1 cutlet at a time, coat the chicken with flour, then egg, then cheese, pressing to adhere. Transfer to plate.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt, then the pasta and cook until al dente, 3 minutes. Drain, reserving a ladleful of water.
3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil, over medium heat. Add the chicken ad cook, turning once, until deeply golden, 10 minutes. Transfer to a platter and cover with foil. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet. Add the sliced lemon, garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the wine and parsley and cook until reduced, 1 minutes. Lower the heat and bring to a simmer.
4. Stir the chicken broth into the sauce for 1 minute. Stir in the butter until melted, then stir in the lemon juice. Spoon a little sauce over the chicken. Add the spinach to the remaining sauce in the skillet and cook until wilted. Add the reserved pasta cooking water. Stir in the pasta and toss to coat; season with salt and pepper. Add the remaining 1/4 cup cheese and toss. Serve the pasta with chicken.

.chili cheese fries.

One of my most favorite guilty pleasures...To save time I bought frozen french fries from Fresh & Easy. (I was really impressed by these, they were super yummy) I also bought two cans of already made chili (one with beans and one without) If you have more time feel free to make the chili from scratch. Hopefully ill be blogging a chili recipe soon. Enjoy!



Ingredients
French fries
Chili of choice
Cheddar cheese

Preparation
Make french fries according to package directions. Top with chili and cheese! YUM!

.salmon fillets over couscous.

The hubby loves salmon, and I have been wanting to try couscous for the longest time! I found this recipe on foodnetwork.com Im not a huge fan of salmon, but this was a great meal and couscous is SO easy to make, and quick too! Enjoy!



Ingredients
Olive oil
2 (4-ounce) pieces salmon
Lime
House Seasoning, recipe follows
Butter
Couscous, recipe follows

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Add a drizzle of olive oil to glass pan and place the salmon. Squeeze the juice of 1 lime over the top of the salmon and sprinkle with the House Seasoning. Top with pads of butter. Wrap in the foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Serve on a bed of couscous.

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Couscous:
2 1/4 cups water or chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons butter
10 ounces couscous
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup green onions

Combine water or chicken stock, salt and butter in a saucepan, over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stir in couscous. Add diced tomatoes, crumbled feta, and green onions. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.

Uncover, fluff with a fork, and serve hot or cold.

.chicken & broccoli with orange sauce.

I saw this on the Rachael Ray Show and it looked SO good! Its so yummy and healthy at the same time. She used Broccolini, but I used regular broccoli, either way would be good. Enjoy!



Ingredients
2 1/4 cups chicken stock, divided
1 cup Texmati rice or white rice
1 small bunch scallions, thinly sliced on an angle
1 large bundle broccoli, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken, white or dark meat
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons high-temperature cooking oil, divided
1 inch ginger root, grated or finely chopped
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup Tamari, soy or low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup orange marmalade

Preparation
Bring 1 3/4 cups stock to a boil. Stir in rice, cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook 15-18 minutes until tender. Add the scallions and fluff with a fork.

Bring a few inches of water to a boil for the broccoli.

Meanwhile, thinly slice thighs or, if using breast meat, butterfly each breast into cutlets, then thinly slice. Season sliced chicken with salt and pepper.

To boiling water, add some salt and broccoli. Parboil the broccoli for 3-4 minutes then drain, run under cool water and reserve.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in large nonstick skillet over high heat. To the very hot pan, add chicken and stir-fry until golden, no more than 5 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate and reserve. Add remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan, along with the ginger and garlic. Stir 30 seconds then add soy, marmalade and remaining 1/2 cup stock. Add chicken and broccoli back to pan to heat until sauce is thickened.

Serve over rice!

.stuffed sausage and peppers with orzo.

This is my current favorite meal! I have made it for so many people already, but have taken forever to blog about it because its a long recipe to type out. I'm lazy, this I already know :) This meal is so simple to make and can even be enjoyed out of the pepper if you wish. The original recipe is out of the "Nordstrom Entertaining at Home Cookbook." I really wanted to put something in bell peppers (because I LOVE them) so I choose this recipe. Its so yummy! Keep in mind that this recipe serves 6...I love leftovers of this so if you only want to make a little you can cut the recipe in half. Enjoy.



Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
green bell peppers with the tops cut off/seeded (optional)
1 pound of Italian sausages, casings removed (trader joe's has an amazing hot italian sausage thats great)
4 large, ripe plum tomatoes, cored and chopped (or one can of diced tomatoes)
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon oregano
1 can low-sodium chicken broth
1 3/4 cups orzo pasta
salt
black pepper
Parmesan cheese

Preparation
In a 6-8 quart saucepan over medium heat, warm the olive oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the onion, garlic, and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion and pepper are tender and the onion is translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the sausage and cook, stirring and breaking up any clumps, until lightly browned and cooked through, about 6 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley, oregano, and broth and bring to a simmer.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the orzo pasta, cover, and continue cooking until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the pasta has a soft and creamy texture, about 12 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Stuff bell peppers with orzo and top with cheese. Bake for 30 minutes and then enjoy!