Chicken Primavera Pasta

My 100th blog post! Woooo! Last night I was feeling so fickle about what I wanted for dinner. All I knew was I wanted veggies. Lots of veggies. Grilled veggies. My sister and I headed to the grocery store and wandered around the vegetable section picking out a few things and discussing our dinner options. We decided we'd make our own version of Chicken Primavera Pasta, but with grilled veggies.

Now you can put any vegetables you'd like in a primavera pasta, but here is what we decided on: red peppers, yellow peppers, orange peppers, zucchini, purple cauliflower, corn, onions, spinach, kale and garlic. It was pretty veggie-tastic.

First we cut the vegetables into grill-able pieces and then we coated them in some olive oil and salt/pepper. Grilled them until they were ready, but with a slight crunch still remaining. We marinated chicken in olive oil, thyme, salt/pepper and garlic. Grilled that after the veggies were done. The chicken and peppers were cut into long strips, the zucchini into half moons, the cauliflower into bite size pieces and the corn shaved off. The vegetables were put into a bowl and tossed with some garlic.

We cooked spaghetti and before draining reserved 1/2 cup of pasta water. We drizzled a little lemon infused olive oil on the pasta, a big splash of white wine, the pasta water and chicken stock. Added the grilled vegetables, then the fresh spinach and kale, the chicken strips and mixed it around. Then we added some goat's cheese and mixed that in allowing it to melt and coat the pasta along with the liquid in the pot.

Lightly coated and packed full of yummy grilled vegetables and chicken, this was delicious. And a good change from our pastas full of heavy cream! The purple cauliflower and the corn were my favourite additions to this!

Thai Coconut Curry Soup

My friend Zsófi found this recipe and asked if we could cook together. Good find because it was very yummy!

It wasn't as "broth-y" as expected (from the picture on the original blog), but I think that was better. It was more of a pasta sauce consistency. We even added some extra chicken broth when we added the noodles because we couldn't get them all underneath the liquid. I added some extra thai curry paste because I like the curry flavour. Make sure you buy red thai curry paste (which can be found in a different section than the Indian curry paste). The soup is rather lime-y, but in a good way!

We didn't use lime leaves because we couldn't find them. I'm not really sure if they would have changed the flavour at all, but the soup was excellent without it. I omitted the "cilantro roots" because we didn't buy them and also they're only in the list, not in the actual directions. We found lemon grass stocks, to my surprise, at Metro in the vegetable section.

We didn't add any salt or soya sauce at the end because we didn't think it needed it. The soup is very mild, so if you want it hot i'd suggest tossing in some hot pepper flakes for an added kick, but again the soup is good without it!

This is my second attempt at Thai food. The first time I made Thai chicken wraps. Both Thai dishes are very good and I recommend both! They were both relatively easy.

Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes and Italian Sausage Risotto

So this risotto was supposed to be made with soft chorizo, but my dad couldn't find any when he went grocery shopping so we used hot italian sausage. Because of the change in sausage, the risotto turned out a little different than would have been expected, but still very delicious.

I'm not even a big fan of tomatoes, but balsamic roasted tomatoes are one of the tastiest things I've ever had! I wish I'd put twice the amount in than I did!

The key to cooking risotto is patience, medium heat and the right amount of liquid. Really let the arborio rice absorb the liquid. Give it a good stir every time you put more liquid in.

My dad really liked it and since chorizo sausage is about the only kind of sausage you can find in Mexico City, he's asked for the recipe so he can make it the 'proper' way! Lucky!

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese with Bacon, Caramelized Onions and Apple

Mmmmm. Dinner last night was so good. Conor brought over some deliciously marinated pork chops and I made a side of Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese with Bacon Caramelized Onions and Apple.

For the butternut squash purée that the recipe asks for, I made my own using this recipe. I used 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and add no salt because I used salted butter. I could have ate it by itself with a spoon.

For the macaroni, I used the chicken broth option, grated the apple instead of chopping, and 1 cup of cheddar cheese because I love cheese. It was so creamy and delicious tasting.

Good for eating as a side to some meat or as the main course!

BBQ Potatoes

It's BBQ season! Here is a recipe that my family uses a lot. To my knowledge, one of my parents made it up; however, it's quite possible it is from somewhere.

Ingredients:
serves 3-4 people
- 4-5 medium-large potatoes
- 1 medium-large white onion
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- salt and pepper
- thyme
- olive oil

Instructions:
Preheat the BBQ to medium-high heat.

Slice potatoes into thin rounds, approximately 2 mm thick, place aside in a bowl. Slice onion into rounds, add to bowl. Chop garlic cloves, add to bowl. Sprinkle thyme, salt and pepper onto the potatoes. Cover potatoes lightly with olive oil. Mix all together.

The amount of potatoes above will be put into two foil pouches. To assemble: lay flat a piece of aluminum foil, approximately the size for a piece of paper. Put half the potatoes on top. Fold edges inwards. It is quite possible that there will still be an opening. Take another piece of aluminum goil and cover the top and fold edges over. Repeat for remaining potatoes.

Cook potatoes for 45 minutes to an hour, carefully flipping the foil packet every 10 minutes or so.

Pork Tenderloin Cordon Bleu with Mushroom-Mustard Cream Sauce and Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Smokey Bacon

Team effort by my sister and I last night. Jess was in charge of the pork tenderloin and I made the brussel sprouts. So much pork involved in this dinner. It was delicious.

For the pork tenderloin, recipe was followed pretty much exactly; however, we used plain dijon mustard instead of coarse-ground mustard. I would have liked to use the coarse-ground mustard as I've had a roast marinated with it before and it was to die for, but we didn't want to add to our grocery list. We also just used normal deli ham - I'm not sure if 'tavern ham' is a specific kind or not. Nonetheless, the pork tenderloin was delicious! There was 4 of us, we ate it all. Every last bit.

For the brussel sprouts, I just used normal bacon, salt, dijon mustard and honey instead of the 'special' kinds mentioned in the recipe. I also added in 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper for a little added kick. I lined the baking sheet with aluminium foil instead of parchment paper. I forgot to turn them until the last 10 minutes, but that turned out to be okay. They are cooked until golden brown and slightly charred. It doesn't explicitly say it in the recipe, so I'll just mention it here: the bacon gets mixed in raw and cooks in the oven. These brussel sprouts were so so so so good. I've only had brussel sprouts a few times and I've never been particularly crazy about them, but I wanted to eat them all too myself.

Chicken Tikka Masala - Round 2

My sister and I made Chicken Tikka Masala. I'll admit, she did more of the cooking, I did more of the stirring and taste testing. It was a different recipe from what I used last time I made it. The recipe used this time was more authentic with lots more random spices in it, which we conveniently had at our house because we have a whole wack of spices. Cardamon pods... I'm going to be honest. Had never heard of them before... but we had them. Perks of living with a family that likes to cook! It was also a little more 'difficult' than the first recipe. We followed the recipe completely, don't think we did one thing different! Very delicious. Very very delicious. Not as spicy as the last one I made, but I was okay with that.