Herbed Orzo

Posted by Brette in Food

I’m loving the Jan/Feb Everyday Food issue with lots of light dinner ideas. I tried the Herbed Orzo. This is possibly the simplest recipe in the world. Boil a cup of orzo. Add 3 tbsp chopped herbs (any kind) and 2 tsp lemon juice and salt and pepper. That’s it. I did add some olive oil to the cooking water which keeps the orzo from sticking together and gave it a little flavor. We grated a tiny bit of Parmesan cheese on top when we ate it. This was nice and light and fresh and was pasta without being a heavy pasta dish. Orzo cooks so quickly since it’s small that this is perfect for a last minute thrown together dinner. You could dress it up with some sauteed spinach or cherry tomatoes if you wanted some more veggies.

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I’m loving the Jan/Feb Everyday Food issue with lots of light dinner ideas. I tried the Herbed Orzo. This is possibly the simplest recipe in the world. Boil a cup of orzo. Add 3 tbsp chopped herbs (any kind) and 2 tsp lemon juice and salt and pepper. That’s it. I did add some olive … Read more

Hello everyone. I’m back. Or mostly back. I was really thrown for a loop when I pulled all of my stomach muscles on the right side lifting a laundry basket. It was so ridiculous. I couldn’t believe how badly hurt I really was. Almost two weeks later, I am back to normal activities for the most part.

For my first real foray into the kitchen since the injury (Mr. MarthaAndMe did all the Christmas cooking as I sat on a stool and offered instruction), I made a recipe from the Jan/Feb issue of Everyday Food. I am a subscriber, but this issue came to me early from MSLO. There’s an interesting section on parchment paper cooking I wanted to try out. I made Salmon with Green Beans and Lemon Zest. I remember trying parchment paper cooking once when we were first married and it got a little scorched!

This dish was easy to put together – put your salmon fillets on the paper, add green beans, lemon zest, some capers, salt and pepper and  a little olive oil. Fold the paper over and twist the ends. Bake at 400 for about 10-12 minutes. That’s it. I was actually pretty impressed with it. My salmon got a little overcooked (the problem with this is you can’t check it for doneness without ripping the paper), but other than I did enjoy it. We squeezed some lemon juice over it when we ate it since it needed more lemon flavor. I actually liked the capers and enjoyed the green beans with it. I like having most of dinner in a cute little package like this  – it’s very appealing somehow.

I want to try some of the other parchment paper recipes, so check back for those results in the coming days.

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Hello everyone. I’m back. Or mostly back. I was really thrown for a loop when I pulled all of my stomach muscles on the right side lifting a laundry basket. It was so ridiculous. I couldn’t believe how badly hurt I really was. Almost two weeks later, I am back to normal activities for the … Read more

I was intrigued by the recipe for Roasted Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash in December Martha Stewart Everyday Food. I’ve seen recipes like this before, where the idea is that spaghetti squash replaces spaghetti and I’ve always been curious, and skeptical.

This recipe is very simple – too simple. You roast the squash, cut in half, upside down in water. Then scrape the strands out. Meanwhile, you roast your shrimp in the oven (this goes very quickly of course). Serve the shrimp over the squash with lemon and parsley. That’s it.

As soon as I scraped out the squash, I knew I was in trouble. I tasted it and it was very bland and flavorless. Just like you would not serve plain shrimp over plain spaghetti, there’s no way you would serve plain shrimp over plain spaghetti squash, so I tried to add some flavor. First I threw in some herb butter I had hanging around. That did liven it up a bit. Somehow these kinds of squash always seem to need something sweet to me, so I added a little honey. I also added lemon juice and lots of salt and pepper.

I added the shrimp and got it to the table, but I just didn’t like it. Although the squash came out in strands, by the time I mixed ingredients into it, it had become mushy. It didn’t feel like or taste like spaghetti and the only resemblance is that it has strands.

I didn’t care for this dish at all and am marking spaghetti squash off my list! If you have a better way to prepare it, let me know!

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I was intrigued by the recipe for Roasted Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash in December Martha Stewart Everyday Food. I’ve seen recipes like this before, where the idea is that spaghetti squash replaces spaghetti and I’ve always been curious, and skeptical. This recipe is very simple – too simple. You roast the squash, cut in half, … Read more

This family loves biscuits and I always make them from scratch, with my mom’s recipe. I’ve learned over the years that biscuit dough needs to be handled as little as possible to get a nice consistency. I always hand form my biscuits instead of rolling them out.

Martha has a recipe for Cheddar and Sage Biscuits in December Everyday Food. I have added cheddar to biscuits before, but never sage, so I wanted to try them.

This recipe recommends making biscuits in the food processor. I’ve always done mine by hand with a pastry butter, so this was new. I also noticed the recipe contains a lot of baking powder – 2 tbsp. The recipe also contains 2 tbsp fresh chopped sage and buttermilk (a must in biscuits!) as well as 2 cups of cheddar cheese.

Using the food processor was quick, but I was worrying about overworking it. I whizzed it until it just came together then hand formed the biscuits.

They baked quickly at 450 and puffed up. Would they win family approval? The answer is, surprisingly, no one even noticed the cheese or the sage. I’m still surprised. I didn’t really taste it either. It adds a very mild background flavor. I did think these biscuits were a little tough and would not make them in the food processor again. They were good though, but I’m going to stick with my mom’s recipe:

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp soda

1/3 cup butter

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (optional).

Cut butter into dry ingredients then gently mix in buttermilk until just combined. Pat into rounds and bake at 475 degrees for about 10 minutes. Makes 6 large biscuits.

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This family loves biscuits and I always make them from scratch, with my mom’s recipe. I’ve learned over the years that biscuit dough needs to be handled as little as possible to get a nice consistency. I always hand form my biscuits instead of rolling them out. Martha has a recipe for Cheddar and Sage … Read more

Quick week night meals are always welcome here, so I made Martha’s Turkey Cutlets with Shallots and Rosemary from December Everyday Food. I bought my cutlets pre-cut – Martha says to slice them yourself from one turkey breast. I bought two thick cutlets. Martha says to pound them to 1/4 inch thick. I beat those cutlets within an inch of their lives and they hardly flattened at all.

Next you cook your cutlets in a little oil until almost done (I made sure mine were still very pink inside). Take them out and cook 4 quartered shallots with salt and pepper until soft. She says 4 minutes, but it took a lot longer than that – I didn’t want them crunchy. Next add in 5 springs of rosemary (about an inch long each) and 1/2 cup white wine and cook the wine down to a syrup. Add 3/4 cup chicken broth and cook until reduced by half. I did all of this a bit in advance and when it was time to eat, I heated the sauce up, added the butter (1 tbsp) and stuck the turkey back in to warm it and cook it the rest of the way. Unfortunately, at that point only half my turkey remained – one of the dogs had snatched a cutlet from the counter while my back was turned (and then I forgot to take the photo until we started eating, so it really looks like there was nothing left!).

I have not been a fan of turkey cutlets much in the past – they always get overcooked and have no taste. Because these were thick, they didn’t overcook and there was time for them to absorb the flavor. I really liked it. It was very quick, but the sauce had a nice flavor and it actually felt like dinner, not something you threw in a pan and threw together quickly.

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Quick week night meals are always welcome here, so I made Martha’s Turkey Cutlets with Shallots and Rosemary from December Everyday Food. I bought my cutlets pre-cut – Martha says to slice them yourself from one turkey breast. I bought two thick cutlets. Martha says to pound them to 1/4 inch thick. I beat those … Read more

I love French onion soup. I order it in restaurants all the time. I’ve only attempted to make it once before and it was not good at all. I think I didn’t caramelize the onions long enough. Martha has a recipe for it in December Everyday Food and I decided to give it a try. Actually, it’s one of those articles where you make one item then can make several items from it. The main item is caramelized onions. Martha’s instructions are pretty simple and I felt confident making it. I did substitute 2 large Spanish onions for the 15 white onions she calls for because that’s what I had on hand. I cooked the onions with butter until they just started to brown on high. Then I reduced the heat to medium, added 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp salt and cooked the onions about another 45 minutes until they were brown and sort of sticky. This did involve a lot of stirring and required opening the windows since the kids hate the smell of onions.

To make the soup, Martha says to add one cup of the onions to 5 1/2 cups of beef broth. She suggests serving a slice of bread with melted Gruyere on the side. I added the beef broth, but also added some thyme, salt and pepper. I mixed it and brought it to a boil then turned it off and let it sit while I drove children to various places. I think that allowed the flavors to meld a bit.

For the bread, I melted Gruyere on some slices of wheat bread, but then I cut it into cubes and dumped it in the soup. I love the way French onion soup looks when you get it in a restaurant, but I find it very hard to eat – all that stringy cheese and huge clumps of bread. If I do say so myself, handling it this way was sheer genius. It was easy to eat, we got all the flavors in each spoonful, no one was wrapped in a web of cheese, and it went smoothly.

I will definitely make this again! Much easier than I expected and very delicious!

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I love French onion soup. I order it in restaurants all the time. I’ve only attempted to make it once before and it was not good at all. I think I didn’t caramelize the onions long enough. Martha has a recipe for it in December Everyday Food and I decided to give it a try. … Read more

When looking for a quick meal idea, I often turn to Everyday Food. In the December issue, there is a recipe for Chicken with Dates. I have to admit, I haven’t used dates very much at all, so I was a little unsure, but the recipe sounds a lot like another Moroccan chicken dish I have made in the past with dried prunes, so gave it a try. I used skinless boneless chicken breasts for this – the recipe says to use actual whole chicken parts.

You’re supposed to do this in a Dutch oven but I just used a large skillet – you brown the chicken first. I did brown mine, but briefly, since breasts cook so quickly. Next I cooked 1 chopped onion, 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger, 1/4 tsp coriander, and 1/2 tsp sweet paprika and added the chicken (3 breasts) and about a cup and a quarter of chicken stock (Martha says to use water, but I think with the skinless breasts that I needed some flavor). Martha says to cook this for 45 minutes – mine obviously cooked much faster.  Martha says to remove the chicken and make the sauce with the dates separately – I just dumped the chopped dates (1/2 cup) in while the chicken was cooking, so that made this go even faster (I think it’s important to cook the dates long enough for them to soften).  I also added the cilantro (1/4 cup fresh) called for in the recipe at the same time. From start to finish, this cooked in about 15 minutes.I seasoned with salt and pepper at the end.

I served it with brown and wild rice and some lemon wedges which we squeezed over the chicken. It really was delicious. I love the Moroccan flavors. The dates added a sweetness that I liked. It wasn’t too sweet though. The sauce was dark and rich. I ate some of the leftover chicken the next day for lunch in a salad and put in some of the dates and that was delicious too.

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When looking for a quick meal idea, I often turn to Everyday Food. In the December issue, there is a recipe for Chicken with Dates. I have to admit, I haven’t used dates very much at all, so I was a little unsure, but the recipe sounds a lot like another Moroccan chicken dish I … Read more

Martha has a recipe for Roasted Vegetable Lasagna in December Everyday Food. In keeping with my new approach to Martha (see the About page, year 2), I used the recipe as a starting point, but made it to my tastes. Martha wants you to roast tomatoes then stick them in the blender to make a tomato sauce. Sorry Martha. Jarred tomato sauce worked perfectly. I did roast my butternut squash. I used some frozen spinach (Martha calls for fresh) and I substituted broccoli for half of it (still trying to keep my oxalates low). I did use some ricotta cheese, but I substituted sour cream for some of it. And I added some sliced, sauteed mushrooms to beef up the dish a little. And I put cheese in every layer, not just on top.

I loved this. LOVED it. Mr. MarthaAndMe did not. He said he doesn’t like some of the “earthy” things I like. I didn’t find it earthy. It was just delicious. So now I’ve got several containers of one-serving lasagna in the freezer to eat this winter on nights he works late or if I want a big lunch.

Here is my adapted take on Martha’s recipe

half a jar of tomato sauce

3 garlic cloves, chopped

salt and pepper

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and sliced into 2 inch chunks

1/4 of a square frozen block of chopped spinach, thawed and drained

3/4 cup chopped cooked broccoli (frozen is fine if you thaw it)

half a package of white button or Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced

1/2 container ricotta cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

12 lasagna noodles, cooked till al dente

1/2 lb grated mozzarella

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place squash on rimmed baking sheet and toss with 2 tbsp olive oil. Roast until tender, about 40 minutes.

Saute mushrooms and garlic until soft. Mix mushrooms, garlic, spinach, broccoli, ricotta, salt, pepper, sour cream, and nutmeg.

Lightly cover the bottom of a square baking pan with tomato sauce. Top with 3 noodles, then 1/2 spinach mix, 1/2 of squash, 1/3 of remaining tomato sauce, 1/3 of Parmesan and 1/3 of mozzarella. Repeat. Top that with noodles and remaining cheese. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown.

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Martha has a recipe for Roasted Vegetable Lasagna in December Everyday Food. In keeping with my new approach to Martha (see the About page, year 2), I used the recipe as a starting point, but made it to my tastes. Martha wants you to roast tomatoes then stick them in the blender to make a … Read more

On the hunt for a different veggie to make for dinner one night, I came across the recipe in November Everyday Food for Roasted Cauliflower with Herbed Breadcrumbs and gave it a try. You roast your cauliflower pieces at 450 after tossing with olive oil, salt and pepper. I found 450 to be a bit too hot – it was browning but not cooking through, so I reduced the temp to 400 and that worked better.

While that’s roasting, put 2 pieces of bread and 1 garlic clove in the Cuisinart with salt and pepper and chop it up into breadcrumbs. Then toast them in a skillet with some olive oil, adding thyme and parsley (I used dry and added about a tsp of each).  Martha says to add the zest of a lemon. I was too lazy!

When the cauliflower is ready, squeeze half a lemon over it and toss the breadcrumbs with it. I liked this, but I have to admit I would rather have cheese on my cauliflower any day of the week. The garlic gave it a nice flavor and the breadcrumbs really were good, but the whole thing just felt dry to me.

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On the hunt for a different veggie to make for dinner one night, I came across the recipe in November Everyday Food for Roasted Cauliflower with Herbed Breadcrumbs and gave it a try. You roast your cauliflower pieces at 450 after tossing with olive oil, salt and pepper. I found 450 to be a bit … Read more

I am probably in a minority here, but I’ve never had green bean casserole before. My mom was not into traditional Thanksgiving dishes, so this was never served in our house. For years I’ve seen photos of it in magazines, with those canned fried onions on top. I always thought it looked a little gross. But Martha has a recipe for it in November Everyday Food using homemade onions. I decided to try it out.

First, let me say, this dish was kind of a pain in the butt to make since it used a lot of pans and bowls. I cut up the shallots and dredged them in flour and fried them (1 bowl, 1 pan). This took a few batches, even though I cut the recipe in half. Next, I had to blanch the beans, which required another pot and a strainer. Then I made the mushroom cream (quite easy actually – butter, mushrooms, broth, flour and milk, although this was another pan). You could make the dish up to this point and refrigerate for a day or two I think. Next, I baked it (1 casserole dish). When it comes out of the oven, you add the onions to the top (what was left of the onions – ahem – I couldn’t stop sampling them, they were so good!).

This smelled and looked good. It tasted good too. It was a totally new experience for me. I usually steam or blanch green beans and serve with slivered almonds or just plain butter. I don’t think I’ve ever done anything else with them. It was very good. I loved the mushrooms and beans together. The fried onion topping is wicked good. This doesn’t feel like a veggie dish – it feels like a casserole. In fact, it could be a main dish for my family, served with some other veggies and a potato or rice side.

I liked it, but don’t think I would serve it for Thanksgiving. For one thing, there are so many rich things on the table that day that I prefer to serve some simple veggies to kind of cut the decadence. Since it’s not part of my family’s tradition, I don’t feel like it’s missing. I do recommend this recipe though. I’ve never had the one with the canned soup and the canned fried onions, but this has got to be a million times better! I ate the leftovers for lunch the next day and enjoyed them very much.

As you’ve already noticed, I have no photo. I took photos of this with the new camera, but somehow in trying to download them everything on the camera and memory stick got erased, so I can’t show you my results. I can tell you that it looked very much like the photos I’ve seen in magazines of this dish. The beans were a nice bright green. The sauce was creamy with slices of mushrooms. The onions on top were very thinly sliced rings that were golden brown and very crunchy.

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I am probably in a minority here, but I’ve never had green bean casserole before. My mom was not into traditional Thanksgiving dishes, so this was never served in our house. For years I’ve seen photos of it in magazines, with those canned fried onions on top. I always thought it looked a little gross. … Read more

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