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dinner

Fancy Side Dish: Sparkling Wine Risotto

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Remember that part in Wayne’s World when Rob Lowe is explaining that Champagne is only from the Champagne region of France? That movie is funny and informative! Well, today recipe is called Sparkling Wine Risotto as I didn’t use real champagne but sparkling wine. I wouldn’t want to make Rob Lowe upset.

 

Thank you, Rob Lowe.

 

With the holidays fast approaching, it is time to start thinking menu. There are many recipes for champagne risotto. Two of my favorites are Rachael Ray’s recipe from her Big Orange Cook Book, and Giada DiLaurentis’s recipe with prosciutto. Both are fancy enough for a holiday dinner or fun for a weeknight dinner. Also, the fact that you have to stay nearby the stove is the perfect reason to pour a little bubbly for yourself relax a little.
In my version I add frozen peas at the end, but all risotto is made very similarly in order to get the creamy consistency. So here is my version of champagne sparkling wine risotto.
Sparkling Wine Risotto
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion diced
1 clove of garlic minced
1 cup white arborio rice
1 cup sparkling wine (save the rest for toasting at dinner)
32 oz low sodium chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp fresh thyme
3/4 cup frozen peas
Salt and Pepper to taste
In a small sauce pan over medium low heat pour the chicken stock and leave it to simmer.
In a large deep skillet over medium heat add olive oil. When oil is hot add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soften about 3 minutes. Next, add garlic and arborio rice. Stir constantly until the rice starts to toast up a little bit. This should take about one minute.
Add sparkling wine to the mixture, stirring occasionally until evaporated.
Next, add one or two ladles of chicken stock, and stir the mixture occasionally until the stock has been absorbed. Then, add one or two more ladles of stock stirring occasionally. Keep doing this until you have used all the stock.
Turn off heat and stir in thyme, parmesan, peas, salt and pepper.
Serve immediately.
Keep reading this week and next for the Home Everyday Holiday MiniSeries for more ideas on holiday decor, holiday recipes, and last minute gift ideas.

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Super Easy Dinner: Deconstructed Greek Salad with Roasted Salmon and Yogurt Sauce

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Yesterday, I shared my goals for 2013. Like most people, eating healthier is at the top of the list. I think it is hard to not want to eat healthier after a season of indulging in home made treats and butter laden food.

When I think healthy food, two things that always come to mind are fish and salads. With both of these things I am kind of a novice, but I was able to adapt a recipe I saw on Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa D’Arabian. She made a Greek Salad with roasted salmon. While I was watching her I couldn’t help but think that she just paired my two favorite healthy things.

 

My version turned into a Deconstructed Greek Salad with Roasted Salmon and some Yogurt Sauce, and here’s why. Everyone in my family is so picky when it comes to their salads. My husband doesn’t like tomatoes, the boys don’t like peppers, Coco doesn’t like olives, and none of the kids like are that crazy about a lot of lettuce. So I cut everything up that I normally would, but displayed it in a way that everyone could just take what they wanted for their salad. I have decided that this is how we are going to do salads from now on. The kids loved all the veggies and feta cheese, and spent a lot of time dipping pita chips in the yogurt sauce.
The best part of this dish is it is a “throw together meal” as it doesn’t require a lot of actual cooking and it takes about 15 minutes to prepare. By the time you put the salmon in the oven, you can mix up the sauce and cut the veggies. Then dinner is served. No more excuses for an unhealthy meal due to lack of time around here.
Deconstructed Greek Salad, Roasted Salmon and Yogurt Sauce
12 oz of fresh Salmon sliced into 3 oz pieces
1 lemon zested and cut into wedges
1 head romaine lettuce washed and cut into bite sized pieces
1 package of grape tomatoes cut in half
1 cucumber seeded and chopped
2 bell peppers cut into strips
1 14 oz can black or Kalmata olives
1 very small red onion cut into thin slices
1 6 oz package of feta cheese crumbles
1 bag of plain pita chips
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Yogurt Sauce
1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt
1 lemon zested and juiced
1 clove of garlic finely minced
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In small baking dish sprayed with cooking spray place salmon. On top of each salmon filet put a pinch of salt, black pepper, and some lemon zest. Put in the oven and roast for 15 minutes.
While the salmon cooks, place vegetables and feta cheese on a large platter. Then, make the yogurt sauce by mixing together the yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Put in a small serving bowl.
Remove the salmon from oven and squeeze a little lemon juice on top. Then serve with vegetable platter, yogurt sauce and pita chips and let everyone construct their own salads.
*Side note. I also had some balsamic vingegrette on the table in case no one likes the yogurt sauce.
I hope you enjoy this dinner as much as we did. Brian is still talking about it.
Linking up at Serenity Now for Weekend Bloggy Reading.

Sunday Dinners: Autumn Decor

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When my Mom was growing up, my Grandma Nano hosted Sunday Dinner every single Sunday for whoever wanted to come. Most of the time it was family, but often the parish priest or friends were known to stop by for my Grandma’s cooking. My Dad used to talk about coming over for Sunday Dinner while him and my Mom were dating. Over the years, Grandma Nano kept the tradition alive. I even remember helping her set the table for Sunday Dinner at her house, and my sister helping her clean up in her kitchen after dinner.

Recently, I have picked up the Sunday Dinner tradition, and while we don’t do it every single week (seriously I don’t know how Grandma cooked for that many people every week), I host my family once a month.

This past weekend, I hosted Sunday dinner, and wanted to dress up the table with some autumn decor, but wasn’t really keen on spending any money to do it as I already have tons of fall decor (it is my favorite season after all). Since, Brian and I built and finished the plank table, I have been having some trouble coming up with tablescapes that aren’t dwarfed by the size of the table.

So, I called in some reinforcements. My niece, Allison, just graduated from college with a degree in Film, and she has had some experience with set design. I asked her if she would help me decorate the table.

 

She started with a red table cloth and folded it to make it a runner. Then added the beaded runner for some texture. Then she filled two simple glass vases with some river rock, a branch (which we found outside), and wrapped a little twine around the vase for some extra texture. She placed them on each end of the table.

 

Then, for the centerpiece, she placed some candles at different heights, filled a shallow glass bowl with apples and wicker balls, and placed a faux hypericum wreath around the container.

 

Finally, for each place setting she used some cloth napkins that I found on clearance awhile ago (I originally planned to use them for Christmas, but she thought they were perfect for autumn, and now I agree).

 

Voila! Simple, elegant, and inexpensive. What do you have around your house to create a tablescape? Anyone go outside and grab a few sticks? How about using twine to make something a little more rustic?

 

 

Linking up at The Lettered Cottage for their Autumn Tablescape link party.





Also sharing at DIY By Design for the Fall into Fall Link Party.