Grilled Vegetable and Orzo Salad

This is quite possibly one of the easiest BBQ sides I have ever put together.  I knew a few things: I wanted grilled vegetables, and I didn’t want them on a salad, and I didn’t want them plain. While I love grilled vegetables plain I wanted to spice it up. When you put grilled vegetables on a big salad they all sink to the bottom and end up making the lettuce soggy. While a grilled vegetable salad can be plated nicely individually, it’s not as successful as a big dish.

This salad was also met with rave reviews; it’s been awhile since I had such a rush of requests for a recipe. A few other great things about this recipe: it can be made ahead, and I can attest to this because I ate every last bit of the leftovers. It can also be eaten warm or cold (versatility at its finest). It’s a GREAT summer salad because there is no mayo in it or anything to get all nasty when you leave it out in the sun while you are distracted playing bags (I know I’m not the only one). You can feel completely safe about eating round two hours after this salad has been sitting out. Feta cheese is one of those great cheeses that never really melts and never gets the greasy sweat that other cheeses sometimes do. Perfect for something like this.

By far- the best part of this recipe is how damn easy it is. Cook some orzo, skewer some vegetables, and crumble some feta…delicious amazing salad complete.

Grilled Vegetable and Orzo salad

Ingredients:

1 cup orzo pasta, cooked and drained

¾ to 1 cup block feta cheese, crumbled

1 zucchini, cubed

1 yellow squash, cubed

10 asparagus spears

15 (or so) cherry tomatoes

1 medium Vidalia (or sweet) onion chopped in large pieces.

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method:

Skewer the zucchini, squash, cherry tomatoes, and onion. Skewer only one kind of vegetable together. The onions will take a little longer, and the tomatoes will take the least amount of time which is why I keep like vegetables together. For the asparagus, prepare a foil packet for the grill and toss the asparagus with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper before sealing up. Drizzle the skewers with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and a healthy grind of pepper. Over medium heat grill each of the skewers until each of the vegetables has a nice light char. Onions first; asparagus, zucchini, and squash at the same time, and tomatoes a quick turn last. While the vegetables cook (or before) cook the orzo according the the directions on the box.

In a large bowl top the orzo with the vegetables and the feta cheese and toss.

Add a drizzle of olive oil and a few grinds of pepper (no salt is necessary, the cheese has plenty) and serve.

A few notes:

You could use any kind of vegetable here. Bell peppers would be lovely (if I liked them) along with eggplant, or any other vegetable (I can’t think of any other vegetables you grill, but maybe you can).

I love grilled (or roasted) tomatoes, but this salad could also be served with them fresh.

I highly recommend trying this as is first, but a bit of fresh basil, or other fresh herbs, would be wonderful.

-Sue

Spring Vegetable Risotto

Classifying risotto as a quick and easy dish would be a lie. Here is the silver lining though: yes, risotto takes a full 30 minutes of standing over the stove, but it’s not actually a lot of effort, and the end result looks like you slaved in the kitchen for hours- not a measly 30 minutes. So put all your fears aside and just do it, tackle the risotto! Risotto is the chameleon of the kitchen, you can add practically anything to it, you can add any spices, any type of cheese, any kind of broth- it is endlessly adaptable.

My very lovely boyfriend, whom I adore, does not dig on the veggies as much as I would like, so in the past when I have made risotto I have tried to accommodate that. Well, he was out of town, so I went veggie crazy. In fact, while talking to Cat I had to cut down my list of vegetables I intended to put in this. However, that’s the point- you could add pretty much anything, especially the way I prepare it. In this version I made a basic risotto, roasted a few of the veggies and sautéed a few of them; at the end I mixed them all into the creamy risotto and the result was divine. The vegetables each held their own distinct flavor while the silky cheesy risotto brought everything together. Absolutely to die for.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of asparagus

1 medium yellow squash

1 small head broccoli

½ lb (about 10) mushrooms of your choice

1 jar quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained

½ large yellow onion, diced

3 Tbs olive oil, divided

1 Tbs butter

Salt/pepper/spice blend to taste

1 ½ cups Arborio rice

6-8 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)

¾ cup grated parmesan cheese

Method:

Preheat oven to 350. Chop the broccoli into small florets. Slice and cube the squash. Cut off the bottom of the asparagus and discard, slice the remaining stalks into 1 inch pieces. In a large roasting pan (or glass baking dish) add the broccoli, squash, and asparagus. Toss with 1 Tbs olive oil, salt, pepper, or spice blend of choice*. Set aside.

Slice mushrooms and drain artichokes. Place in a medium skillet with 1 Tbs (about) olive oil and set on a back burner.

In a medium sauce pan, warm the stock to a simmer. In a cast iron enameled dutch oven (or pot of similar size) add 1 Tbs olive oil, sauté the diced onion until soft. Add 1 Tbs butter, when the butter is melted, add the rice. Lightly toast the rice while stirring for about 1 minute. Adjust the heat to medium, and add ¾ cup wine and stir until all the liquid has been absorbed.

Put the vegetables into the oven, and begin to sauté the mushrooms and artichokes over medium heat. The vegetables will take about 30 minutes to roast while you make the risotto. Once the mushrooms and artichokes are done, keep them warm until the risotto is done.

Over the next 20 to 30 minutes, add the warm broth one cup at a time, allowing each cup to be fully absorbed by the rice before the next addition. It will take approximately 6-8 cups; you will know it’s done when the rice is cooked. Remove from heat and stir in ¾ cup parmesan cheese.

Stir in all the vegetables and serve immediately.

A few notes:

-You could make this with almost any vegetable. Some other suggestions would be: peas, butternut squash, zucchini, roasted cauliflower, carrots or any other vegetables you like.

-This would also be delightful with a bit of goat cheese. You could use ½ cup parmesan and ½ cup goat cheese, or you could prepare as above and add crumbled goat cheese as a topping.

- To make this vegetarian you can absolutely use vegetable broth. I think chicken broth adds more depth of flavor, but whatever you prefer is fine.

- I used my go to spice blend, garlic and herb blend from Frontier Spices. You can use whatever spices you like, or just salt and pepper.

- The wine is optional, it adds a nice additional flavor, but if don’t have wine, or don’t drink wine, you can omit this and still have a delicious risotto.

Vegetable Frittata

So this boyfriend of mine, he really loves meat. Most often when he comes home from the supermarket he has things like a block of cheese, bacon, tater tots, steaks, meat lovers pizza….well…you get the picture. SO his girlfriend (that’s me) is trying not to be 300 lbs, and so when he’s out of town, I eat vegetables, and lots of them. I found this recipe a few months ago on one of the many many food blogs I read obsessively. I had been dying to try it, and I finally made it the other night. Of course, I modified it slightly, and it turned out to be everything I hoped for and then some. One of the things I love about this recipe is her use of eggs and egg whites, it’s a great way to lose some of the fat, but keep the flavor.

Vegetable Frittata modified from iowagirleats.com

Ingredients:

3 whole eggs

4 egg whites

1/4 parmesan cheese (or asiago)

1 sweet potato peeled and cubed

1 small yellow squash cubed

1 cup of broccoli chopped

1 handful of cherry tomatoes

1 Tbs olive oil

2 tsp of seasoning (any blend will do, I used this, spicing is optional of course)

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup of water (+ or minus depending on your cooking methods)

1 small bunch of scallions, chopped

3 oz goat cheese

Method:

Preheat broiler to 400

Peel and cube the sweet potato, cook until fork tender but still slightly firm (since it will cook more in the frittata). You can boil them, cook them in the microwave, whatever you like; I boiled them for about 8 mins. Meanwhile, chop the other vegetables, set the scallions aside. Add the cooked sweet potatoes to the other vegetables in a large bowl and toss with olive oil and spices.

 

notice the yummy orange tomatoes

 

Toss the vegetables into a 10 inch oven safe skillet (size is important). Turn the heat to medium and lightly sauté the vegetables for about 3 mins, then add 1/4 cup water, cover and turn the heat to low. Steam the vegetables for another 3 mins or until slightly softened. Meanwhile whisk the eggs, egg whites, and parmesan cheese.

Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables; turn the heat up to medium low. Cook until the bottom is set and the top is still slightly runny. Crumble the goat cheese over the top and sprinkle the scallions over the top.

Bake under the broiler for 3-4 mins until the frittata puffs up, the cheese is melted, and the egg is lightly browned.

Slice and serve immediately.

One small note- be sure to use a 10 inch skillet, or increase your number of eggs (by at least 2) If you use a bigger skillet you will end up with a thin frittata…no one wants that!

Ok so seriously, I think even my meat loving boyfriend would enjoy this. This is an excellent way to turn vegetables into complete meal. This really would be delicious any time of day. You could also do this with pretty much any vegetable you have laying around…and if you really wanted to, I’m sure you could toss in some ham or bacon.

-Sue