Cheesy Orzo with Sauteed Spinach

Tonight was the perfect excuse to make a pasta dish. After all, it’s Meatless Monday.

This recipe is a fusion of two of my favorites: mac n cheese and creamed spinach. It’s a bit heavy for a Spring meal, but it was incredibly delicious nonetheless.

Cheesy Orzo with Sauteed Spinach
Ingredients
3/4 small cereal bowl of dry orzo
5-6 large handfuls of fresh spinach
1/4 white onion, chopped
1 handful of shredded Colby Jack
1/2 can of Cheddar Cheese soup
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
1/4 cup half n half
Salt n pepper
Red pepper flakes
Olive oil

Directions

1. Cook your orzo according to package instructions.
2. Meanwhile, sautee your onion. Once it becomes transparent, add the spinach and mix until thoroughly wilted.
3. Once the orzo is ready, drain the water. Mix in all ingredients and heat for 3-4 more minutes.

Although I enjoyed this as a main course, I think it would also be great served as a side with a steak.

Good thing I got a solid hour in at the gym! 😉

Roasted Vegetables

Last weekend I went to a really great Argentinian restaurant. Strangely enough, one of the highlights of my meal was the roasted vegetables I took from my boyfriend’s plate. Ever since, I’ve had roasted veggies on the brain. So after a good workout at the gym, I jumped into the kitchen.

Roasted Vegetables
Inspired by The Wednesday Chef

Ingredients

1/2 tomato, peeled and chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
4 baby gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 small crown of broccoli, chopped
1 Japanese eggplant, peeled and chopped
6 white mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
Sage, rosemary, salt, and pepper
Olive oil

Directions

1. Place veggies, seasonings, and a few drizzles of olive oil in a casserole dish. Roast at 375 degrees F for approximately 45 minutes. Mix every 15 minutes.

Cheesy Zucchini

I wanted to dress up my rice, so I created a tasty topper of ooey gooey goodness.

I just cut the ends off of one zucchini and then grated it with the smaller holes of my cheese grater. Then I put the grated zucchini in a small sauce pan and melted 1/2 Tbsp of butter over it. Then I mixed in a large handful of medium cheddar cheese and a splash of milk. Once the cheese was completely melted, I poured it ontop of my rice.

Easy. Yummy. A new way to enjoy zucchini. Gotta love cheese. It makes everything better. Almost. 🙂

I also had the pleasure of finally trying a grilled cheese from the famous Grilled Cheese Truck this weekend.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. I know I did!

Meatless Monday – Simply Salad

I never ate a lot of salad when I was growing up. If it wasn’t smothered in ranch dressing, you might as well forget about it! Glad I grew up and got over that.

This salad that I put together tonight is not exactly a novel idea, but it was the perfect thing to make for Meatless Monday, along side some börek leftover from my Turkish feast.

Kerry Kitchen Salad

Chopped lettuce
Carrot sticks
Finely chopped onion
Flax seed
Goat/feta cheese

For tonight’s dressing, I mixed olive oil, balsalmic vinegar, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning in a small bowl.

When I’m not in the mood for balsalmic, I use apple cider vinegar and fresh squeezed lemon juice instead. It’s sour, but in a way that I like.

Obviously, I could use some help coming up with more dinner ideas for Meatless Monday. Got any ideas, fellow bloggers?

Veggie Night

Vegetables galore! That’s right, this is a meatless, carbless post. Almost.

Tonight’s Menu:

-Bacon-cream cheese stuffed mushrooms
-Sauteed bell peppers
-Boiled baby potatoes
-Roasted broccoli

So Pinterest came to the rescue again with this stuffed mushroom recipe although I altered it quite a bit. You can read the original recipe here.

Here is my altered version:

Ingredients:
10 white mushrooms
4 oz cream cheese
4 strips of cooked bacon, finely chopped
1/2 of a small shallot, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup Parmasen cheese
Salt and pepper

Instructions:
1. Wash mushrooms, gently remove stems, finely chop, and put to the side.
2. Cook bacon using my amazing cooking technique.
3. Saute shallot, garlic, and mushroom stems in the drained bacon fat and a little olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Mix cheeses, bacon, sauteed vegetables on a pan just long enough to melt together.
5. Brush mushrooms cap with olive oil and bake at 400 degrees F for 4-5 minutes with the gills down.
5. Flip the mushrooms over, stuff each with a little cheese mixture and cook at 400 degrees F for another 5-10 minutes.
6. Optional: add a French’s fried onion or two onto each mushroom 2 minutes before taking out of the oven. 🙂

The aroma of the shallots and garlic was incredible. The taste was rich and devine. I will absolutely make these again!

Sauteed Bell Peppers

Instructions

1. Saute finely chopped onions, thinly sliced bell peppers
2. Season with cumin, salt pepper, garlic powder, a few squeezes of fresh lemon

Boiled baby potatoes

Instructions:

1. Boil until soft
2. Serve with lemon cream sauce

Roasted Broccoli

So I wouldn’t call the broccoli a fail because it was edible, but I wasn’t impressed with the recipe. So no recipe here.

I love veggies nights!