Creamy Polenta with Sauteed Vegetables

From Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook



Ingredients:
8 large shiitake mushrooms (6 oz), stemmed and sliced
1 10oz package frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup dry vermouth
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp + 1/2 tsp salt
4 cups water
1 cup instant polenta
3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Spray a large skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the peas and cook 1 minute. Add the vermouth, bring to a boil, and cook until it reduces slightly, about 1 minute. Stir in the pepper and 1/4 tsp salt. Set aside and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, to prepare the polenta, combine the water and the remaining 1/2 tsp salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, gradually add the polenta in a slow, steady stream; reduce the heat and cook, stirring, until thick but not stiff, 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan.

3. Divide the polenta on each of 4 serving plates and top with the vegetable mixture.

Serves 4. POINTS Value per serving: 5

Comments:
In my opinion, mushrooms and peas do not "sauteed vegetables" make. Boring! So I added a few things to this one. I did use mushrooms (which I picked out of my serving) and used fresh sugar snap peas rather than frozen. I also threw in a small zucchini, a small yellow squash, a red and a green pepper, and some broccoli. Now THAT is a vegetable mixture.

Of course, all this revamping meant I had to cook the veggies longer. I actually pre-cooked the broccoli a little. I also used chicken stock rather than vermouth. All in all, I think it turned out pretty well for my altering the recipe so drastically. And it was all vegetables, so it's not like it could be that much worse for you than the original recipe...

Spring Vegetable Carbonara

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
12 ounces asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
8 ounces uncooked cavatappi pasta
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 slices center-cut bacon, chopped
1 cup chopped seeded red bell pepper

Directions:
1. Cook peas and asparagus in boiling water for 3 minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender; drain. Plunge into ice water; drain. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain pasta in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Combine pasta and vegetables.

2. Combine cheese and the next 3 ingredients (through eggs) in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Gradually add hot cooking liquid to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings in pan. Add bacon to pasta mixture. Cook bell pepper in drippings for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add pasta mixture; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Remove pan from heat, and stir in egg mixture. Return pan to low heat; cook for 2 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly, stirring constantly.

Comments:
Not the clearest directions ever, but I figured it all out. I think. My egg mixture ended up all clumpy, which the picture in the magazine did not show. Oh well. It still tasted good. I did think the proportion of asparagus to all the other vegetables, and even to the pasta, was a little off. Way too much asparagus in my opinion. Other than that, fabulous.

Risotto with Spring Vegetables

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
2 cups shelled fava beans (about 1 1/2 pounds unshelled)
1/2 cup fresh green peas
4 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped shallots
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1 cup uncooked Carnaroli or Arborio rice or other medium-grain rice
1/8 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
1/2 cup white wine
8 ounces thin asparagus, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Cook beans in boiling water 2 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain. Remove tough outer skins from beans; discard skins. Cook peas in boiling water 2 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain well.

2. Bring Homemade Chicken Stock to a simmer in a small saucepan (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat.

3. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add shallots and carrot to pan; cook 4 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add rice and saffron; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine; cook 30 seconds or until the liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add 1 cup stock; cook 4 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add remaining stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of stock is absorbed before adding the next (about 25 minutes total). Stir in fava beans, peas, and asparagus with last addition of stock. Remove from heat; stir in cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Comments:
I omitted the saffron (tends to be prohibitively expensive) and subbed edamame for the fava beans. I halved the recipe since I didn't want a ton of leftovers, but went kind of heavy on the edamame since I just used up the partial bag I had in the freezer.

Anywho, this was very good. Even without the saffron it had a good blend of flavors and textures. We'd definitely try this one again.

Springtime Bows with Asparagus, Ham, and Peas (...or not)

From Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats



Ingredients:
1 pound bow-tie pasta
1/4 cup EVOO
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 pound asparagus
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 pound prosciutto, chopped or shredded
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup fresh basil leaves
salt & pepper

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Cook the bow ties al dente. Drain, reserving a couple ladles of the cooking water.

Halve each stalk of asparagus lengthwise, then cut into 2-inch pieces. Heat a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the EVOO, shallot, and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the asparagus. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the cooking water, drained pasta, and cheese. Add the peas and prosciutto as you toss. The peas will heat through quickly. Season with salt and pepper and serve in shallow bowls with lots of basil on top.

Comments:
Oo-kay. So, I'm thinking I should rename this one Autumn Radiatore with Asparagus, Bacon, and Green Beans. Utter and total FAIL with following the ingredient list.

I thought I had bow ties, but turns out I didn't, so I subbed another cool shaped pasta. It was a lot smaller than the bow ties would have been so not only did it cook faster (and therefore got kinda mushy) but it took up a lot more space that I anticipated. No worries.

Hey I had asparagus! But I didn't halve it. I just cut it into chunks. Worked fine.

Ham? I guess that'd be the prosciutto. What's the difference between prosciutto and pancetta? Are they the same thing? Eh, doesn't really matter since I generally ignore that and sub bacon. Which is what I did here. Mmmmm. Bacon.

I could have SWORN I got at least one bag of peas a few weeks back when they were 10/$10 at the grocery store. But lo and behold - many, MANY bags of corn. No peas. Drat. So I figured beans would work. They're...green. I nuked them for a few minutes to give them a head start since they are bigger than peas.

All in all, disregarded the ingredients, but followed the method. Adam enjoyed it (although he didn't notice the beans until I pointed out that I had swapped them for the peas. That "not paying attention to what he's eating" thing again I guess) and even went back for seconds. Woo!

Penne Chicken

From Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking September 2008. (Subscriber only recipe)



Ingredients:
water
wine or chicken broth (I used the broth)
chicken bouillon (I actually used part of a ramen noodle flavor packet)
chicken breasts
penne
mushrooms (left out)
sun-dried tomatoes (I used a seeded plum tomato)
shallot (I used onion)
cornstarch
milk
tomato paste
salt
Parmesan cheese
peas
basil

Comments:
Aside from all my substitutions or omissions I pretty much followed the recipe. Heh. It turned out really well and tasted great. I ate the leftovers already. All of them. I'd definitely make this again. Although perhaps I'd make sure the chicken wasn't frozen before I tried to poach it. Hmm. It might have gone faster that way...

Quinoa & Vegetable Saute

From Clean Eating Summer 2008. Doesn't look like they post recipes online.



Ingredients:
quinoa
water (used chicken stock)
canola oil
red onion
bell pepper (left out)
green cabbage
herbes de Provence
salt
peas
tofu

Comments:
Adam mentioned quinoa a while back as some kind of miracle food that is a great nutritional staple and we should eat it every day. So I finally got around to finding a recipe to make with it. Adam determined they look like baby fish eyes. How appetizing. The taste is not extraordinary, but I suppose that's not really the point. This recipe as a whole was ok. I think I'd cut the tofu into smaller chunks next time as it seemed to kind of take over the whole dish. Also, the picture in the magazine? Doesn't look like they even cooked it. Kind of misleading.