FIRST KITCHEN BLOGS

Still don’t have a dish to bring to your New Year’s Party? Well look no further because this recipe is SO good! I created it about a year ago using some leftover ingredients in my fridge but since then it’s been a staple to bring to parties, make for a simple dinner or even toss with pasta and ground beef for a hearty meal.  It is one of those dishes where you can be creative and improvise so, if you don’t have one of the ingredients I list, its ok- substitute something else (I will say, garlic, onion and tomato are essential!!)

Using olive oil and an array of veggies makes this dish not only delicious but healthy too!!

Italian Bruchetta

Serves 6-8(more if used as appetizer)

Prep Time: 20 minutes *chop chop chop

Cook Time: 40 minutes

You will need:

2 lbs fresh tomatoes, diced (with juices)

1 lb mushrooms, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

2 medium onions (I use yellow), chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (use more if desired)

½ cup celery, chopped

1 can of artichoke hearts, chopped

¼ cup capers

½ cup green olives (use more if desired)

½ cup olive oil

¼ to ½  cup dry red wine (white is ok if you don’t have red, just make sure dry)

½ to ¾ tsp salt

2 tsp dried oregano

Dash cayenne peppers

2 loaves French bread, sliced

Olive oil for drizzle over bread

Directions:

Sauté the onions, celery, peppers in olive oil over medium heat until soft (about 3 minutes). Add garlic and cook a few minutes (don’t let the garlic burn!) Add in mushrooms and let soften (about 2 minutes). Add tomatoes and artichokes as well as seasonings and let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add wine, capers, olives. Cover and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat and allow simmering for at least ½ hour to let the wine cook down.

Meanwhile, slice French bread into thin (1/4 inch or so) slices. Place on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until golden brown and a little crunchy.

Serve alongside the bruschetta (can use as a dip or pre-make the bruschetta by putting about 1-2 spoonful’s on each piece of bread).

What are y'all making to ring in the New Year? 

ENJOY and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
STAY SAFE

I’m baaaack! It has been a BUSY few weeks here in Minnesota. “Wedding Season” is in full swing as well as vacation season, road construction season and now back to school season!  I was hit by wedding bells (no, not literally) two weekends in a row and one of the weddings I had the honor of being a bridesmaid! Very fun but very busy. We did a lot of quick meals and even resorted to take-out despite my meal planning expertise (ugh, the pressure got to me, I had to give in!). Hey, we’re only human.

Now that this first wave of weddings are past us I can catch my breath and do some cooking before the next wave (3 weddings in September…) hits! After such a busy few weeks and a cold spurt here in Minnesota, I was craving a not-so-healthy-but-sorta-healthy comfort food: Fresh Artichoke and Spinach Dip. Yum.  I had a ton of spinach leftover from one of the many wedding gatherings and instantly thought of my favorite dip. Usually, people use frozen spinach but fresh spinach is excellent to use in this recipe if it’s available. The spinach cooks down quite a bit, so you’ll need a good amount. The not-so-healthy part of this recipe will definitely be the sour cream and mayonnaise. There are no great substitutions that taste the same. Low fat versions of either work fine but please don’t use ‘fat free.’  Fat free tends to use more sugar and non-food ingredients to make it ‘taste’ like fat. Instead, control the amount you consume instead of trying to trick your body (trust me, your body will find out and it won’t be happy..). Ok, here’s the recipe:

Fresh Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Serves 8 (as an appetizer)

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 30-40 minutes

You will need:

1 (16oz) large container of fresh spinach, chopped

2 cans artichoke hearts, chopped

2 cans water chestnuts, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup sour cream

½ lemon, squeezed

8 oz shredded parmesan or Italian cheese blend

Dash of cayenne pepper

Salt to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

Chop spinach, water chestnuts, artichoke and onion and place in large bowl. Add sour cream, mayo and lemon juice and mix well (I used tongs). Make sure all of the spinach is coated. Add seasonings and mix again. Place in a small (9x9) baking pan or glass casserole dish. Cover the top with the shredded cheese.

Bake covered at 375 for 30 minutes. Turn oven up to 425 and bake uncovered for  an additional 10-15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and slightly brown.

Over the weekend I hosted my sister’s “Vintage Circus” themed baby shower. She is having a little boy (Leonardo or “Leo”) at the end of September!  A vintage circus was the perfect theme for a baby named Leo (the Lion!).  Again, the theme guided the party planning but I did not go overboard. I found some vintage clowns at a thrift store; a toy carousal that I spray painted and I used popcorn holders as a vase for flowers. I also set up a tent outside and decorated with draping fabric and ribbons. I spent about $50 on all of the decorations…not bad!  Instead of getting to carnival-y on the food I went for fresh and summery. I also didn’t do anything too heavy because my Aunt Lin made beautiful and decadent circus cupcakes for desert!

Here was the menu:

Caprese Salad and baguette

Fresh Spinach Dip and veggies

Torta di Riso (My grandmother’s Italian recipe)

Fresh Fruit

Pesto Green Beans**

Balsamic Glazed Chicken

The menu was the hit of the party. The combination went well together and left people satisfied but not overly full. I will share the pesto green beans recipe. This was a hit and I used the pesto that I made last week and picked up green beans at the farmer’s market the day before.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures while I was making this dish, but it is very simple so I think just following the recipe you will do just fine!

Pest Green Beans:

Serves 4-6

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 2 minutes

You will need:

2 lb green beans, stemmed

1/2 recipe Presto Pesto

1 cup fresh parmesean cheese, grated

1/4 cup walnuts, toasted

Air conditioning has been the ‘hot’ commodity here for the past few weeks. I have scheduled my day around being in it and if I am unable to be, I make sure I am near a body of water!  That said, this heat wave has made cooking a dwindling priority. I would rather not turn on any appliance that conducts heat, so there has been a lot of eating out ($$) and getting by on cold sandwiches and fruit.

Today, I decided to try my luck in the kitchen but with one exception: no oven, no stove. I was not going to let any heat creep into my perfectly cool 68 degree home. I had some kale left over from the weekend farmer’s market trip and I remembered this amazing salad my sister made a few weeks ago. It was so delicious to actually be kale! So I tried my hand at it and it turned out so good AND my house stayed cool! I even had my fiancé, an extremely finicky eater, try the salad (before I told him it was kale, he though t it was spinach) and he LIKED it. So, it’s that good ;-)

Kool Kale Salad

Serves 4

Prep time: 5-10 minutes

Cook time: NONE

Chill time *: ½ hr (give or take)

You will need:

1 bunch of kale, chopped and stems removed

1 lemon

¼ cup olive oil

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

½ cup bread crumbs

½ cup parmesan cheese, grated

Dash of cayenne pepper

Salt to taste

Directions:

Remove tough stems from the kale. Rip the de-stemmed kale and place in large bowl.

Chop garlic into small pieces (‘mince’), add to kale.

Squeeze the juice of the lemon and pour over kale.

Pour olive oil.

Add bread crumbs, parmesan, salt and cayenne pepper.

Mix well with tongs or fork. Check the bottom of the bowl, which is where all the ingredients will want to hide.

 Make sure all of the kale gets drenched in the oil/lemon juice mixture.

I like to chill my salad for at least ½ hour to allow all of the flavors to mix and for the kale to absorb the juices. You can also serve it immediately. This salad is good in the fridge for 2-3 days (if you can keep it that long!).

Eat alone as a light lunch or snack or serve as a side dish to grilled meat! Enjoy!

No doubt this upcoming holiday weekend will have you running between bbqs, beaches and bonfires! I know that’s what we will be doing. The tricky part with holidays is getting off your normal routine. When I’m off my routine and on the go, that is when I am reaching for fast, convenient and UNHEALTHY foods (take for example, potato chips and dip). Soooo, what to do?

Well, we are in luck because it is BERRY SEASON! Delicious, healthy, anti-oxidant rich berries are abundant and available for a fast, convenient and HEALTHY snack (desert, salad, etc etc).

I was just at the store and picked up a carton each of raspberries, blueberries and strawberries and paid just under $6.00! That is just as much as a bag of chips and dip, if not cheaper! Mostly, I like to have the berries washed and stored in a container in the fridge for convenient snacking but if you want to get a little more creative (and add some protein and more fruit), check out this tasty treat:

Berry Banana Split

(serves 1-2)

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: none!

You will need:

½ carton blueberries

1 whole banana

2 medium-large slices of watermelon

¾ cup vanilla yogurt

1 Tablespoon pecans

Slice the banana length wise and place on plate. Fill the center with blueberries (you can add any kind of berry you want!). Place the watermelon slices (remove from core) on each end of the banana. Top with vanilla yogurt and sprinkle with nuts.

This is a very flexible dish. You can substitute any combination of berries and use different flavors of yogurt and nuts. Make it fun and make it work to suit your tastes and what is around in your kitchen!

Happy weekend!

This past weekend I threw my friends a 'couple's shower' for their upcoming wedding in August.

A couple's shower is a fun alternative to a bridal shower, as it involves both the bride and groom. We still played shower games and had delicious food but it was fun to get the 'men' involved!

Whenever I throw a party, I like to have a theme in mind. I try not to get too crazy or obsessed with the theme but it is a nice way to stay focused throughout the party planning. I decided on a "retro barbque" theme for the party. My friend is having some vintage elements to her wedding,  so I thought it would be a nice tie-in to the big day. Also, since it was a couple's shower and both men and women were attending, it was fun to play with the male/female roles, especially of that time period (let's just say I wore an apron!).

When I went shopping for the party, I hit up a few consignment/thrift stores in the area and that is where the theme exploded! I was able to get all of the prizes for the games (vintage cook books, old schwin bike tire, aprons etc) as well as fun serving dishes and trinkets for decorating from that era. All together, I spent just over $75 for all of the prizes and decorations! There were almost 30 people at the shower, so that was a bargain.

The food was a classic spread from a 1960's back yard barbque. I found a recipe box  (which I later painted and refurbished as my gift to the bride) with classic recipe cards from the 1960's. Jack pot! I was able to use the recipe cards as decoration for the table as well as used some of the recipes to make.

For appetizers:

Bacon wraped waterchestnuts

Deviled eggs

Hawiian meatballs

The spread:

Beer brats and burgers on the grill

Grandma Dot's Potato salad

Colslaw with kiwi

Calico beans

Tuna with noodles

Jello salad suprise

Dessert:

Pineapple upsidedown cake

Classic coconut creme cake

Ice cream

Drinks:

Classic coke and diet coke (in retro bottles with straws)

Fruit punch (served in a punch bowl!)

Iced tea

Coffee

The shower was a success and people really enjoyed the food and their retro gifts! In my next post I will share some of the fun recipes...any in particular you'd like me to share?

Have a great weekend!