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

 Wait, it’s October??? OMG! Where has the summer…gone? School is in session, leaves are turning and pumpkins are a-plenty. We are almost fully fledged into the fall season and soon we’ll be seeing the Christmas decorations lining the isles at Target...meanwhile I’m still wearing flip flops! 

For now, it is a comfortably warm fall day here and I made a delicious cold Greek wheat berry salad (aka: Greekberry Salad..get it?!!).  Wheat berries, say whaaat? Yes, wheat berries are a wholegrain alternative if you are getting sick of the staples such as brown rice.

What is a wheat berry you ask? Wheat berries are essentially whole wheat kernels, the oval pellet-looking grain that yields flour when processed. It has all three components of a whole grain: The BRAN is the hard outer covering of the wheat kernel, high in fiber & nutrients. The GERM is the nutrient-rich embryo that will sprout and grow into a new wheat plant. The ENDOSPERM is the biggest part, the "insides" of the kernel - mostly starch and the part of the grain that is processed into white flour.

So, now that you have received your nutrition lesson (don’t worry, no quizzes), lets get cookin!  Wheat berries have a nice earthy/nutty flavor. They also have a unique texture, kind of chewy but very mild. They are a good grain to add flavor to.

Since wheat berries take a while to cook, make sure to plan ahead. You can even pre-cook and then mix the ingredients together when you are ready to use.

Greek-berry Salad

Serves: 4-8 (depending on if used for main dish or side dish)

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 2 hrs (wheat berries)

You will need:

3 cups cooked wheat berries (follow package instructions) (1 cup raw makes about 3 cups cooked)

1 cup garbanzo beans

1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1 cucumber, cubed

1 can artichokes, quartered

½-1 cup kalamata (purple greek) olives

½ cup olive oil

½ cup white wine vinegar or similar

4 oz goat or feta cheese, crumbled

1 tsp oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients. Serve immediately if desired or chill in refrigerator for later. Makes a great side dish or a high protein meal/snack.

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.

 I’ve been wanting to get together with friends and do what we do best: eat and gossip.  We’ve been holed up all winter working and trying to stay warm so our socializing had come to a halt.  Since the weather has been cool enough to cook with the oven and I bought a baking stone on sale the other day, I decided to try an all time classic- pizza!  Pizza dough is available at the grocery store pre-made but I think if you give yourself a little extra time the homemade dough gives a more satisfying and tasty crust.  The ingredients for the crust are simple- flour, water, olive oil, yeast….for those of you who have watched the FK DVD, you may even have some of these ingredients on hand!  Any recipe will do but you just need to leave yourself enough time for the dough to rise.

I invited my friends and encouraged them to each bring a topping for the pizza.  This gave them a chance to participate in the meal preparation but also saved me some of the cost of throwing a dinner party.  My recipe made enough to make three medium sized pizzas, so there was plenty of room for different topping preferences.   In between chatting and nibbling on the array of ingredients we managed to get the pizzas baked and enjoyed each of them as they came out of the oven.  There were no empty stomachs or leftovers leaving my house that night.