Risotto with Sea Scallops - Home Cooked Recipe #85

Risotto is a comforting rice dish that warms the heart (and belly!). Once I mastered the technique to make it, I find it a lot easier than a lot of cooking shows make it seem! Hubby and myself LOVE sea scallops, and find they make a perfect topping for risotto. But because they are so expensive, we only have them occasionally as a treat. Also, not that many sea scallops come in a package, so I like to serve them with something hearty like risotto so we feel like we are getting a complete and filling meal. Mushrooms were on sale the week when I grabbed the scallops, so I added them to this dish to round it out. Talk about an umami bomb! But you could also use vegetables such as peas or asparagus; these are other popular veggies served with risotto. If I am working with more of a budget, I will cook up some shrimp as the protein instead of scallops, since shrimp are generally more affordable. If you don't like or can't eat seafood, you can always top the risotto with the protein of your choice - or leave it out altogether! Risotto is very versatile, and only requires a smidgen of patience.

Risotto with Sea Scallops

Ingredients:

• 12-16 ounce package of sea scallops
• 8 ounce package of sliced mushrooms
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 2 cups water
• 4 cups chicken broth (I use 1 carton of low sodium chicken broth - usually Swanson's or Progresso)
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/4 cup heavy cream or half & half
• 6 TBS butter
• salt and pepper
• soy sauce
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Directions:
Heat water and broth in a saucepan over medium/low, keep close to skillet.
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high. Once hot, but not smoking, add 2 TBS butter. Saute mushrooms until brown and cooked, about 5-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and a dash or two of soy sauce. Remove from pan.
Add 2 TBS butter to pan. Season scallops with salt and pepper. Add to skillet and cook for a minute and a half on the first side. Flip over (you should have a nice golden brown crust), and cook an additional 90 seconds. Remove from pan. 
Add remaining butter and diced onion. Cook for 2 minutes. Turn down heat to medium. Add in garlic, saute an additional minute. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in arborio rice. Toast rice with onions and garlic for a minute or two. Begin adding broth mixture, a ladle or two at a time. Once most of the liquid is absorbed, add another ladle or two and repeat until approximately 1/2 the broth mixture is gone. At this point, begin tasting the rice for doneness, adding the broth mixture a ladle at a time until rice is fully cooked. This process usually takes 20 to 25 minutes. Once the rice is al dente, turn off heat. Stir in cream and Parmesan. Serve immediately, topped with mushrooms and scallops. Enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole - CROCK*POT CAFE 15

It's always a bonus when I am searching for recipes and I end up making one that quickly becomes a family favorite. This dish is definitely one of those. Because who doesn't want a creamy, cheesy, comforting dish in winter? Or anytime? Because really, we don't have a whole lot of winter here where I live. But hubs and I always want a creamy, cheesy dinner! And the best part about this one is that your slow cooker will do the majority of the work for you. It is so easy and delicious - and easily adaptable!

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Slow Cooker Casserole

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 can condensed broccoli cheese soup
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 & 1/2 cups long grain white rice (NOT COOKED)
• 1/2 stick butter (4 TBSP) sliced
• 4 oz shredded cheddar

Directions:
Spray your slow cooker with cooking spray of your choice - do NOT skip this step. Mix together all ingredients EXCEPT shredded cheddar in a mixing bowl. Pour in to your greased slow cooker, making sure butter slices, chicken chunks, and rice are evenly distributed. Top with shredded cheddar. Cook on low for 4 hours. I serve it with a salad. ENJOY!

Simply Sides 27 - Better Than a Restaurant Mexican Rice

As promised in my last post for the queso chicken, today's recipe is an easy way to make a delicious rice side dish. In my opinion, this recipe is even better than a lot of the rice I have at Mexican restaurants. Plus you can control the amount of spices you put it in so you can make it as flavorful as you like!

Better Than a Restaurant Mexican Rice

Ingredients:

• 2 cups long grain white rice
• 1 8oz can tomato sauce
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 a small onion, diced
• 1 tsp cumin
• salt & pepper
• 1 tbs olive oil

***optional: 1 clove garlic minced

Directions:
Saute the onion in olive oil for 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and cumin. If you are adding garlic, saute now for 1 minute. Stir in the rice.  Saute for 2 minutes until rice is coated with oil and seasonings and begins to toast. Add in 1/2 the can of tomato sauce; stir well. Pour in chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a very low simmer and place a lid on. Steam rice for 25-30 minutes.  When the rice is cooked through, add the remaining tomato sauce if desired, and fluff with a fork. Serve with your favorite Mexican or Southwestern meal. Enjoy!

Chipotle Barbacoa Copycat - Home Cooked Recipe #73 plus BONUS RECIPE

I have always enjoyed the Barbacoa (a shredded beef) from Chipotle.  I have seen several recipes on the internet of how to make it, but this past week I just took some stew meat, made my own blend of spices, and I kid you not, it tasted almost EXACTLY like Chipotle's.  So I am sharing my own special copycat recipe, just in time for your Cinco De Mayo celebration at the end of the week.  Also, because I LOVE my readers, I am including a BONUS RECIPE for a copycat of Chipotle's cilantro lime rice,  Enjoy!

Chipotle Barbacoa Copycat

Ingredients:

• 1 lb beef stew meat
• 1 tbs onion powder
• 1 tbs garlic powder
• 1 tbs chili powder
• 1 tbs cayenne (start with 1 tsp and work up from there, depending on your tolerance of spice, you can also omit this)
• 1 tbs salt
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 cups water

Directions:
In a slow cooker mix broth, water, and all spices.  Stir in beef.  Cook on high for four hours or low for eight hours.  Serve with rice recipe below.
Enjoy!

BONUS RECIPE!
Chipotle Copycat Cilantro Lime Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 cup long grain white rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 bay leaf
• juice of half a lime
• juice of half a lemon
• fresh cilantro, about 1/4 a bunch, finely chopped
• salt

Directions:
***Note, I cook my rice in a rice cooker.  But you can also convert this to stovetop by cooking rice and bay leaf in water (after water is brought to a boil) over low for 25 minutes.
Cook rice in water with bay leaf in your preferred method of cooking rice.  Remove bay leaf.  Stir in lemon and lime juices, plus cilantro.  Season with salt to taste.  Enjoy!

Garlic Lime Chicken - Pinterest Pick #15

Like a lot of people, I am always looking for new ways to prepare my boneless skinless chicken breasts for dinner.  I was perusing Pinterest as I do, and came across a recipe I had pinned awhile ago for garlic lime chicken.  I had all the ingredients on hand except the jalapeno.  It was quick and cheap to grab one at the store.  You can find the original Pin HERE and the original recipe HERE. The only tweaks I would make to the recipe is next time I would add the whole jalapeno instead of just half and I would add the juice and zest of another lime.  I have included these changes in the recipe below.

Garlic Lime Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
• salt and pepper
• Mrs. Dash original seasoning (my addition)
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 small red onion, finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium jalapeno, de-seeded and diced finely
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 limes, zested and juiced
• 1 tsp dried cilantro (or 1 tbs fresh)
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Heat oil in skillet over medium.  Season chicken with salt, pepper, and Mrs. Dash on both sides.  Cook chicken 5 minutes per side then remove from skillet.  Add onions, garlic and jalapeno, saute for a couple of minutes.  Add chicken broth, lime zest, lime juice, cilantro, and paprika.  Stir well then add chicken back into pan.  Simmer chicken for 8 minutes in sauce, stirring occasionally.  Add in cream, and additional salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer another minute or two then serve.  I served mine with rice.
Enjoy!

Galumpki - Home Cooked Recipe 65

My mom's side of the family is straight Polish, so I ate a lot of Polish dishes growing up such as kielbasa, pierogi, Gulasz (aka goulash), and Golabki (aka galumpki, aka stuffed cabbage).  I have already posted our families goulash recipe and you can find that HERE.  Cabbage is on sale this week as St. Patrick's day is tomorrow, so I thought I would grab an extra head and make some galumpki, otherwise known as stuffed cabbage or cabbage rolls.  My grandmother was always the one who made this dish when I was growing up.  Unfortunately her health is declining and rarely makes it anymore, so I thought I would give it a go.  The filling came out great, as did the sauce.  I think I should have cooked the cabbage longer.  But I don't even usually eat a lot of the cabbage so it was ok for my purpose.  But I recommend that if you make this recipe you peel the leaves from the head of cabbage before boiling them so they cook a little more thoroughly.


Galumpki

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cabbage
• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 cups of cooked rice
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 8 oz cans tomato sauce (store brand is fine, at my Aldi it's only 25 cents a can)
• 1 10 oz can tomato soup (I use Campbells's condensed)
• 1/3 cup ketchup (Heinz is my go to)
• smoked paprika
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
-I use a rice cooker to cook my rice while I am boiling the cabbage-
Place head of cabbage in a pot and cover with 1 inch of cold water.  Bring to a boil, turn heat off, let sit at least 20 minutes until leaves become pliable.  Drain and let cool enough to handle.
Brown ground beef, with onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add a teaspoon each of paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder.  Stir well.  
Mix together tomato soup, tomato sauce, and ketchup.  Season with pepper and a dash of salt.  
Add 2 tablespoons of sauce to meat.  Mix in cooked rice.  Combine well.
Layer a thin layer of the sauce on the bottom of a baking dish.
Take a cabbage leaf and spoon a large spoonful of meat and rice mixture into the leaf.  Fold the leaf around the meat.  Place stuffed cabbage on top of sauce in baking dish.  Repeat until meat mixture is gone. Cover cabbage rolls with remaining sauce.  Bake 30-45 minutes.
Enjoy!

Picture View - Asian Style Beef with Rice

Asian Beef & Rice Ingredients

Thinly sliced beef

Rice with butter on top

Beef marinating

Sirloin in the wok

Finished beef