Creamy Herb and Garlic Orzo Salad

Posted by CK in basil, cheese, easy, olives, orzo, pasta salad, recipe, sun-dried tomatoes

0 comments

As mentioned in my previous post, we spent the beautiful Canada Day week end at our friend's cottage. We had quite the relaxing time, so we came back extremely rested, our ears ringing from all the fireworks and surely, our bellies full!

Before we left to part-take in the shenanigans, I had asked one of A's co-workers for an amazing salad recipe she whipped up for a BBQ we attended. With a few adjustments (the original recipe called for Feta cheese and capers, which I'm not a big fan of), I came up with a warm, yet refreshing salad that everybody enjoyed! 

Prep time: 15 minutes. BOOM!

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups Orzo
• 1 cup diced black olives
• 1.5 tbsp diced sun-dried tomatoes (make sure to keep the oil it's dipped in)
• 1 tbsp herbs and garlic Boursin cheese
• lime juice to taste
• 1 extra tsp sun-dried tomatoes oil
• 1/2 tbsp basil

Do it up:

1. Cook the Orzo according to the package (it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to cook)
2. Once your Orzo is ready, place it in a salad bowl and add the olives, the sun-dried tomatoes, the extra oil, and the basil. Mix well.
3. Then add the Boursin cheese. The orzo will still be warm enough that the cheese will melt when mixed, creating a creamy looking salad.
4. Finally, add the lime juice to taste, just to give it the kick it needs.

Pair this with spicy lime and chicken skewers, and you've got yourself a full meal! :) 

Enjoy!

- CK 

Light and Tangy Pasta Salad

Posted by amanda in budget, parsley, pasta salad, recipe, vegetarian, yogurt

0 comments

There are some things in my fridge that I never finish before they go bad: low fat plain yogurt, whole carrots, cucumbers, and parsley. It's really sad to see these things wilt or mold or do whatever yogurt does (ick) when they were perfectly delicious a few days ago. With that in mind (and with not wanting to venture outside into the -40 with-the-wind-chill out of doors, I set to a little pasta salad experiment. To be fair, this was also motivated by being a bit grossed out by how much mayonnaise we use to make things creamy (feeling a little guilty about my own mayonnaise habit I guess), so I wanted to do it without.



The results were pretty tasty actually, and this dressing would probably be good on roast potatoes or coleslaw.


In a bowl mix together:

½ cup plain yogurt (I used 1% astro brand that went a little watery on me - perfect for this!)

1.5 tbsp whole grain mustard

1.5 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp minced fresh parsley

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp red pepper flakes

A high protein variation for my workweek! One can
of rinsed black beans, one can of tuna in water, 3 carrots,
6 cups of cooked penne, 3 stalks of celery, 1/2 cup chopped
parsley, and 1/2 cup dressing! Delicious :)

Add about 1.5 tbsp of this dressing to roughly:

3/4 cup cooked cold penne pasta (ideally whole wheat)

1 large carrot, sliced

1/4 cucumber, quartered

optional: 2 tbsp parley, minced (I had some left over from making the dressing, and love parsley...plus it offsets the raw garlic in the dressing, breath-wise)

Season your salad with salt and pepper to taste.

You could easily add any kind of bell pepper, celery, onion, black beans (I suspect this would be delicious), and/or black olives or anything else that's left in your fridge and needs eating. Any other suggestions are very welcome!

xox

-A

Cottage Component 1: Picnic-Perfect Summer Salad

Posted by amanda in budget, celery, cucumber, dill, dressing, easy, feta, healthy, onion, pasta, pasta salad, pepper, quick, recipe, salad, spinach, tomato, vegetarian, yellow pepper

0 comments

It's summer tiiiimmmme and the cooking is eeeeaasy here at Stute-kitchen :) Team Stute has returned from a fantastic weekend away at a cottage with good friends, gorgeous weather, and GREAT food. Combining our forces we came up with a delicious cottage-time lunch: pasta salad and barbecued skewers. Fresh ingredients and a new spin on these old classics takes traditional summer food to a new level of goodness.

You're gonna need:

• Roughly 2 generous cups of uncooked shell (conchiglie) pasta
• One yellow pepper, seeded and cut into slim chunks (or however you like your pepper in a salad), if you go really chunky, use 2 peppers
• Half a cucumber, sliced into half circles
• 2-3 stalks of celery, diced roughly
• 1 pint (usually a container) of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 of a sweet onion (though any kind would likely do, this salad gets more onion-y the longer it exists, so choose wisely), finely chopped
• 3 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
• 3-5 generous handfuls of baby spinach (mixed greens will do in a pinch, but they don't keep as long once the dressing is mixed in).

Dressing: Whisk together...

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 heaping  tbsps Red Wine Vinegar
1 clove of garlic, minced
Ground Black Pepper to taste

Topper:

Roughly 1.5 cups of light feta cheese -though really, add as much or a little as you like - , rinsed, dried, and crumbled (my new technique is to rinse the block from the brine, and then squeeze the liquid out in my fist, over the sink - this dries and crumbles simultaneously, then you can just brush your hands off in the salad)

To assemble:

1. Cook the pasta (roughly 8-10 minutes to get it al dente), rinse in cold water, and set aside.

2. Combine all your veggies, except the spinach, in a large bowl, using your hands to mix gently, being
sure to distribute the dill.

3. Add pasta to veggies, again, stirring with hands.

4. Add spinach by handful, assessing how much or how little you will want personally. Mix with hands (this avoids breaking the pasta shells)

5. Pour dressing over pasta and veggies (if you don't like getting oily, use a utensil here, but I swear, hands is the way to go)

6. Chill.
7. Crumble feta into salad before serving. Mix.

This makes roughly 10 servings, depending on the appetites in the room. Be sure to wait 20 minutes or so before hitting the lake!!!
-A