Argentine Rice-Veggie Salad

Colleen: "I think this recipe is perfect for these summer months where so much is in season. Just the other day I made way too much corn on the cob for my kids and was thinking what I was going to do with the leftovers. Sure enough this recipe came to mind, the last time I made it was years ago, but I remembered it being a filling tasty side dish. This time I was not disappointed!" 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white rice (I used left over brown rice)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 carrot, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 ear corn, kernels scraped off
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 stalks celery, cut into 1/4-inch cubes, plus 2 tablespoons chopped celery leaves
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced 

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, bring the rice, 1 cup water and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer until the water is absorbed, about 17 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool.
2. Meanwhile, fill another saucepan with salted water. Add the carrot, bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a bowl; toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil, the vinegar and oregano. Season with salt and pepper.
3. In the same saucepan, blanch the corn in the boiling water for 3 minutes; transfer to the bowl with the carrot. Add the peas to the boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to the bowl.
4. Add the rice, cubed celery, chopped celery leaves and onion to the bowl, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and toss.

Recipe sourced from Rachael Ray Magazine

Curried Chickpeas and Quinoa {Annah}

Annah's Take: I found this recipe on the famous Pinterest and I enjoy curry, but I don't have many recipes with it. This recipe was a little bland, but that could have been my fault. We will start with the things that went wrong with the recipe. First I stepped away from the stove and burned my onions so I substituted with scallions. Then there didn't seem to be enough liquid from the one can of tomatoes so I added about another 2/3's of a can of tomatoes, and threw in a pinch more of curry powder. I probably diluted out some of the flavors by adding more tomatoes, I just thought the mixture might burn without it.

Overall the recipe is easy to make. I had to make my quinoa, but if I would have had some already cooked it would have cut off 25 minutes from my cook time. The cooking of the dry chickpeas was not factored into the amount of time it took me to make this. I put my mixture into tortillas because that is what I had in the fridge, and I added cheddar cheese to pump up the flavor.

I have had better quinoa and curry recipes... Basically if I am in a hurry and have the ingredients I need I might make this again. However, it wasn't good enough to add to the monthly cooking calendar.

Makes 4 servings (I got like 6-8)

15 minutes to Prep

15 minutes to cook (50 minutes for me)

Ingredients: 

1 medium onion, chopped (I used scallions)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp minced ginger

1 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

(I used dry re-hydrated beans and used 2 1/2 cups)

1 1/2 tsp curry powder

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 15oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes

1 cup cooked quinoa

Instructions:
Heat medium sauce pan to medium-high heat. Add onions and a little EVOO and cook, stirring, until onions soften. Add garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.

Add the chickpeas, curry powder, and cayenne pepper, and stir briefly. Add the tomatoes and cooked quinoa, reduce heat to low, and cover. Simmer for about 10 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

Serve in wraps, pita bread, or lettuce leaves

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