Turkey and Feta Flatbread

The problem with having a pound of pizza dough in the fridge is forcing myself to not make a traditional pizza. But knowing I had bought ingredients especially for this "flatbread" was enough to overcome the traditional pizza urges!

Unfortunately, we were slightly underwhelmed by this recipe which is from the February 2012 issue of Real Simple. The first problem was the pizza dough, which we bought from Trader Joe's and which I usually like. This time around it was dry and tough - not chewy like pizza dough should be. Second, I didn't read the helpful hint on the side of the page that suggests buying 93% lean turkey and I had bought ground turkey breast, which ended up pretty dry. MM and I agreed that a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt would do wonders for this "flatbread" and when we reheated the leftovers for lunch the following day, that is exactly what we did.

Baked Barley Risotto with Butternut Squash

Luckily, cooking attempt number 2 was wildly successful!

This recipe is from Real Simple's December 2011 issue and it is a keeper. I love barley and I love one-pot meals that don't require a lot of fussing. This is an excellent simple, but hearty dinner that is savory and fulfilling.

Ravioli with Caramelized Fennel and Onions

We all know the fennel lover in me can't stay away for long!

This is a super simple, make on a weeknight recipe from Real Simple.  The fennel fronds add a lot of great fresh fennel flavor, so don't throw them away!

Baked Spinach and Pea Risotto

Let me start by saying that I am a risotto purist. I have been incredibly skeptical of recipes that claim you can bake risotto and it will turn out the same as if you stood at the stove stirring and gradually adding broth for 20 minutes. So, I decided that it was time I stopped judging and actually try a baked risotto recipe.

Real Simple's April 2011 issue just happened to have a recipe for Baked Spinach and Pea Risotto, which fits nicely into my current self-imposed mandate to eat more vegetables and use recipes from my food magazines (see here).

The verdict? It was fine. It tasted like how I expect risotto to taste because the flavor of the arborio rice still came through, but the texture was kind of like glue. Or that paste you use in kindergarten that inevitably some boy ends up eating. Now, I did overcook the risotto - the recipe says to bake for 20-25 minutes and I meant to check it at 20 minutes, but got sidetracked, so when I pulled it out at 24 minutes, it was overdone. The rice most certainly did not have that al dente crunch that I like. But, on the positive side, it was nice to pop the pot into the oven and sit down and read the paper. And I guess it is a way for me to use up my arborio rice (see here and here for my obsession with vialone nano rice). I may be tempted to try it again with the intention of not overcooking it, but we'll see.

Has anyone had success with baked risotto?

Baked Ravioli with Chicken Sausage

Cheesy goodness!

So this is certainly not a dish you would want to eat every night (or more than once a month), but it hits the spot every now and then. The recipe is from Real Simple and comes together pretty quickly. I only veered slightly from the recipe: I used a whole jar of marinara because I felt that 2 cups wasn't enough; and I grated some Pecorino Romano on top of the mozzarella, mainly because I had it in the fridge and need to use it up.

Balsamic-Glazed Pork with Lentils

Yum!

I love lentils, so was excited to try this recipe, which is in Real Simple's October 2010 issue. It came together really quickly and was very flavorful. 

The pork just melted in your mouth - it was so tender and the balsamic glaze enhanced its flavor beautifully.

Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli

Cat dish!

This is another Real Simple recipe (I like my magazines! Sometimes I think I am single-handedly keeping print magazines in business.), from September 2009. It is labeled "kid-friendly," which I think is kind of hilarious. MM and I have tried this before, but it was BB (before blog), so I have no clue how we felt about it. This time around we agreed that it needs more sausage (perhaps 9oz instead of 6oz) and I had already doubled the broccoli (two small heads instead of one), so I will certainly do that next time as well. The best part about this dish is that it comes together really quickly (it says 20 minutes in the recipe, but I can't get anything done in 20 minutes, so it probably took me 30 minutes).

Spiced Chicken with Couscous Salad

My brother is in town and commented that last night's dinner had no starch, so tonight's has a little bit of everything.

This recipe is from Real Simple's June 2010 issue. The couscous salad is really delicious. I used edamame because the snap peas at the grocery looked awful. Unfortunately I over-salted the couscous, but it was still yummy. I couldn't really taste the spices on the chicken, so I would probably add more next time.

"Fancy" Hot Dogs

Apologies for the blurry picture...

So I was very intrigued by this dish and excited to try it. I found it on Simply Recipes, which is a popular food blog (I think the woman who runs it, Elise, is also working on a cookbook right now). She describes it as beef stroganoff with hot dogs in the place of the beef. Um, yum! But, after making the recipe, I would not describe the dish that way. Although, if you look at her picture, the sauce is much thicker than mine. (What's that you say, you can't even see the sauce in my picture? Exactly! It was very thin and just fell to the bottom of the pile o' food.) 

My other problem was that I used almost an entire onion and her recipe calls for only 1 cup, so it ended up being an onion dish with a side of hot dogs. (When Marshal Mike was finished, all that remained on his plate was a pile of onions. Woops! Sorry, babe!) I also used 7 hot dogs because the package I bought had 7 hot dogs in it. (Why oh why would a company sell hot dogs in a pack of 7? What a bizarre number.) But it looks like my hot dogs were skinner than the ones Elise used, so maybe that all evened out. 

Anyway, the dish tasted good (salty, beefy hot dogs, buttery noodles, fresh, crisp parsley - what's not to love? On a side note, I really love parsley. I could just eat it by itself right off the stem.). (Another side note to my friend Nicole: When MM saw the parsley on top of the food he said, "Oh, the parsley makes it look so fancy." And all I could think of was Sunny Anderson on her ridiculous show exclaiming how fancy parsley makes a dish!) But it was definitely missing something. We agreed that the addition of some vegetable would have made it taste better (and better for us). And maybe the use of mascarpone instead of sour cream. Or even Greek yogurt. (Side note alert! I love this Real Simple recipe for Beef Stroganoff with Yogurt and Dill. Maybe I should go work for Real Simple, I certainly hawk their recipes often enough.)

Anyway, I will try this recipe again with some adjustments. Best thing about it was that it came really quickly. And was a good excuse to eat hot dogs for dinner, of course!