Risotto Milanese

Colleen's Take: "Personally I think risotto is an annoying thing to make, but the end result is worth all of the work. I found this recipe in my Weight Watchers cookbook & saw that it had saffron in it. I have never used saffron before so I took the plunge, bought the $12 bottle of spice & added it to this dish. This dish was fantastic! Even though it took 30 minutes to cook it was a great delicate addition to our meal."

Makes 4 servings

3 1/2 cups low-sodium, fat-free chicken broth (I ended up using 5 cups)

Pinch of saffron threads

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 cup Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan Cheese

2 teaspoons butter

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1.  In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer.

2.  In a small bowl, dissolve the saffron in 1 cup of the broth

3.  In a large saucepan, heat the oil.  Saute the onion until softened, about 4 minutes.  Add the rice, stirring to coat, continuing to sauté until the rice is lightly toasted.

4.  Add the wine and 1/2 cup of the broth; cook, stirring until the liquid is absorbed.  Continue adding the broth, alternating between plain broth and saffron broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until the broth is absorbed before adding more.  Cook until the rice is just tender.  The total cooking time should be between 25-30 minutes.  Stir in the cheese, butter, lemon zest and pepper; serve at once.

Per Serving:

294 Calories

9 g Fat, 2 g Saturated Fat

4 mg Cholesterol

216 mg Sodium

43 g Total Carbohydrate, 1 g Fiber

9 g Protein

SOUTHWESTERN SALMON

Colleen's Take: "We try to eat fish once a week in my house and we love salmon but I only have one recipe that we really vibe with so I was trying something different. This Southwestern Salmon was good but not great. I liked the low calorie aspect of it, but I don't think I will use it again, it didn't have much of a pop of flavor."

SOURCE: Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook 

INGREDIENTS: 

1 1/2 C fresh cilantro leaves 

1 TBS fresh Lime juice 

1/2 tsp ground cumin 

1/4 tsp salt 

Dash hot red pepper sauce 

1/2 - 1/4 lb salmon steak 

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded/sliced 

1 red bell pepper, seeded/sliced 

DIRECTIONS: 

In food processor, combine cilantro, lime juice, cumin, salt, pepper sauce & 1/4 C cold 

water - pureè - transfer to gallon-sized sealable plastic bag - add salmon. Seal bag, 

squeezing out any air - turn to coat salmon. Refrigerate 1 hour, turning bag 

occasionally. 

Preheat oven to 400° F - spray 9": square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. 

Arrange peppers in single layer in pan. Bake 20 minutes, turning once. 

Drain salmon - discard marinade. Place salmon atop peppers - bake till fish is just 

opaque in center (5-6 minutes per side). 

Makes 2 servings 

Strawberry Gelato

Colleen's Take: "I just had a birthday and my parents gifted me with an ice cream attachement for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Of course, I couldn't wait to make something and I have a personal true love relationship with gelato so I used this recipe from epicurious.com and it was wonderful!"

Recipe:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 pound strawberries (about 1 pint)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lightly beaten egg white

In a small heavy saucepan heat sugar and water over high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Cool syrup.

Trim strawberries and in a food processor purée until smooth. Transfer 2 cups purée to a bowl, reserving remainder for another use, and stir in syrup and lemon juice. Chill strawberry mixture until cold and up to 1 day.

Stir in egg white and freeze in an ice-cream maker. Serve gelato immediately or transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden no more than 3 hours.

Fried Bok Choy Ravioli with Soy Dipping Sauce

Annah's take: If you are a fan of fried wontons you are going to love this recipe. These were very easy to make and did not take too much time from start to finish. Only issue I had is there was a lot of cleaning up to do since oil splattered out of the frying pan and you have to use a food processor.

These recipes were taken from the April issue of Everyday with Rachel Ray. The ravioli did not have a very strong flavor of bok choy that was a little disappointing. All I could really taste was the Parmesan cheese and the pine nuts, this is not a bad thing but it didn't have that Asian flavor I was expecting. I am a huge have of crab rangoons, with that being said I would try this recipe again, but use soften cream cheese instead of the Parmesan cheese. Overall I really liked these fried ravioli and I think it would be great paired with an Asian stir fry.

The sauce on the other had was a big let down. It was a marinate that was supposed to go with another bok choy recipe in the magazine, but I thought it would be a good dipping sauce for the ravioli. Since it called for it to be brought to a boil I thought it would thicken up, however it did not. It ended up being a bowl of very salty soy sauce with subtle hints of ginger and mustard. I ended up dipping the ravioli in a sweet and sour sauce that I already had in my fridge and it was a great pairing. All in all I will be making the ravioli again the sauce I will not."

Fried Bok Choy Ravioli

Serves 4 ( I got about 6-7)

Ingredients
1 cup oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
8 ounces bok choy, stems chopped and leaves shredded
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
24 wonton wrappers

Directions
In skillet, heat 1 tbsp. oil over medium; cook onion, bok stems and garlic until soft, 7 minutes. Add bok leaves and cook 1 minute; season. Pulse in food processor with cheese and pine nuts. Add heaping tsp. to wrappers, moisten edges and fold to seal. In skillet, heat remaining oil; fry ravioli until golden.

Soy Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

1/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons dijon mustard

Directions

In small saucepan, bring soy sauce, sugar and ginger to boil, stirring; remove from heat and stir in mustard.

Spiced French Toast- Rachael Ray

Annah's Take: "This Recipe is out of the April issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray. I really enjoyed this recipe it is a fancier take on your usual french toast. There are a couple more spices in this version then french toast I generally make, but I enjoyed the stronger spice flavor. What really made this recipe stand out though is the bread. Challah or brioche bread is very sweet and delicious all on it's own, and it stands up even after being soaked in the egg mixture. This called for the french toast to be drizzled with honey, I tried it and didn't love it. I put syrup on it and it was much better. All in all I will be making this again and I would love to serve this for company that is staying with us."

Spiced French Toast

Serves 2

Ingredients4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
pinch salt
4 thick slices brioche
2 tablespoons butter
honey, for serving

DirectionsWhisk eggs, milk, vanilla, spices and salt. In a shallow dish, soak bread on both sides in egg mixture. Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat; cook bread until golden on both sides, 5 minutes. Drizzle with honey.

Chicken Fiesta Soup

Colleen's Take: "I completely loved this dish! It taste like a restaurant tortilla soup. It would be an excellent vegetarian dish if you omit the chicken." 

MAKES 8 SERVINGS
15 MINUTES PREP TIME

4 boneless skinless cooked chicken breasts, shredded
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) stewed tomatoes, drained 
2 cans (4 oz each) chopped green chilies
1 can (28 oz) enchilada sauce 
1 can (14 1/2 oz) chicken broth
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder 
3/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1 yellow squash, diced
1 zucchini, diced
8 tostada shells, crumbled
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese 

1. Combine chicken, tomatoes, chilies, enchilada sauce, broth, onions, garlic, cumin, chili powder, pepper, salt, cilantro, corn, squash and zucchini in Crock Pot slow cooker. 
2. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours. To serve, fill individual bowls with soup. Garnish with crumbled tostada shells and cheese. 

Recipe from Sharoon Smith, Elk Grove, CA

Turkey Suizas Casserole- Rachael Ray

Colleen's Take: "I pulled this out of the Thanksgiving issue of the Rachel Ray Magazine waiting for a time that I would get to use it. Since it calls for an over abundance of Turkey I figured it would be one day.. and one day it is! Everything in this recipe called to me, from the poblanos, to the tomatillos, ingredients that I don't often get to use but jump at the chance when available. I enjoyed making and eating this one. So did the rest of my family. Definitely a KEEPER!" 

Ingredients

• 2 poblano chile peppers peppers
• 3 tablespoons EVOO
• 8 tomatillos, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (about 1/3 palmful)
• 1 tablespoon honey or agave syrup
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 pound chopped or pulled cooked turkey
• 1 cup mexican crema or sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups grated swiss cheese
• 1 cup grated monterey jack cheese
• 12 corn or 8 flour tortillas, warmed
• Sliced red onions, for garnish

Directions

1. Char the poblanos over burners or under a hot broiler until blackened all over. Place in a bowl, cover and let sit until cool enough to handle. Peel, seed and chop the poblanos.
2. Preheat the broiler. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the EVOO, 3 turns of the pan. Add the tomatillos, onion, garlic and bay leaf; season with salt, pepper, the cilantro and cumin. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Add the tomatillo mixture, poblanos, honey (or agave) and lime juice to a food processor and puree.
3. In the same skillet, heat the chicken stock over high heat. Stir in the turkey to reheat, then stir in the tomatillo sauce.
4. In a medium casserole, layer in half of the turkey mixture and dot with the crema (or sour cream). Top with half each of the swiss and monterey jack and half of the tortillas. Spread the rest of the turkey on top and layer with the remaining tortillas and cheese. Broil until the cheese is melted. Top with the red onions.

Skinny Fettuccine Alfredo- Rachael Ray

Annah: "I really enjoyed this recipe because it was really easy and I had most of the ingredients already in my cupboards. I think it is the chicken broth that helps to give this sauce more flavor then other alfredos I have made. I am not sure if I could really taste the sage so I would probably add more of it to the recipe. I was nervous when I made the alfredo because it was not thickening up in the 3 minutes it called for. I left it on the stove a little longer, but realized that by adding the parmesan cheese off the stove was what makes the sauce thicken. All and all it was super easy to throw together, and did not take a lot of time to make. I will for sure be adding this recipe to my list of quick dinners when I am in a hurry."

 Ingredients

• 8 ounces fettuccine
• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, plus small whole leaves for garnish
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup fat-free chicken broth
• 1/2 cup 2% milk
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan, plus more for serving

Directions

1. In a pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat the EVOO over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and chopped sage and cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is golden, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Whisk in the flour until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the chicken broth, milk, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to a low boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring gently, until the mixture thickens, about 3 minutes.
4. Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss. Stir in 3/4 cup parmesan. Top with the sage leaves and more parmesan.

4 Servings; Prep 10 Minutes; Cook 15 Minutes