Browsing all articles tagged with simple

Nov

Five Dollar Risotto (more affectionately called ‘Sweet Tomato And Lemon Risotto’) For A Cause!

Dan

Appetizers & Co., Recipes Tags

calgary, charity, recipes, risotto, simple, uend.org, vegetarian

What you’ll need…

2 yellow onions (finely chopped)

1 cup cream

2 cups water

2 TBSP tomato paste

1 clove garlic (minced)

1 cup arborio rice (uncooked)

1 lemon (zest and juice)

2 TSP dried dill

1 pinch cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

olive oil

I know I already posted a risotto recipe a few weeks ago, but this recipe was for a special occasion. I’ll give you the ’coles notes’ version here, but a great, Calgary-based charity called UEnd:Poverty, asked me to write a guest post to help with their current campaign, U:Powered, where they’re looking for 5000 people to donate only $5/month to support the operational side of their charity. Check out the website here to see the goals they are striving for, it’s pretty amazing.

Keeping with the ‘$5′ portion of U:Powered, I decided to set out to make a five dollar dish. I was scared that all I could come up with would be pancakes, which, don’t get me wrong, are delicious on a Saturday morning, but I thought it would be better to strive for something more. Queue risotto, a flavourful dish that, made here for only five dollars, just goes to show that something good can come from something so little.

Place the chopped onions in a large pan, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with some olive oil and cook on medium-high heat until onions soften, about 5 minutes. Reduce to medium heat, letting onions continue to cook, stirring regularly, until they are caramelised, about 25 minutes (Note: If bits of onion begin to burn in the pan, just add in a splash of water and scrap the crisp bits off. Repeat as necessary). Once the onions are a nice golden colour, place half in a small pot with the water, cream and tomato paste. Bring to a summer.

Add the minced garlic, arborio rice and a bit of olive oil to the remaining onions in the large pan. Turn back to medium-high heat and let cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. When the broth begins to simmer, reduce to low heat to keep hot, but not bubbling. Ladle some broth into the pan with the rice mixture and stir until absorbed. Repeat until all of the broth from the pot has been absorbed. This should take about 20 minutes.

Finally, stir in remaining ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.

Bam! Delicious, right?

Serves 2

Total cook time…55 min

Nov

How I Cooked Your Mother’s Meat Loaf

Dan

Mains, Recipes Tags

carnivorous, cheesy, classic, dinner, home cooked, simple, winter

What you’ll need…

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef (Canadian Beef)

1 yellow onions

1/2 bulb roasted garlic

3 cups baby spinach

2 cups grated romano cheese

1 cup bread crumbs

1 large egg

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes

1 TBSP balsamic vinegar

1TBSP Worcestershire sauce

1 TSP chili powder

1 TBSP dried oregano

olive oil

salt & pepper

One of the top 3 reasons why I could never be a vegetarian (preceded by bacon and, of course, steak), this is not your typical meat loaf. This twist on a simple classic is guaranteed to impress, and definitely deserving of a title inspired by (and slightly borrowed from) a popular television show. Think of it as a little piece on Neil Patrick Harris on your plate. NOT literally though, ok…

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. While that’s heating up, chop the onion and saute with some olive oil and salt & pepper until caramelized. Once they’re looking nice and golden, add-in the chopped spinach. Fold in and wait until the leaves wilt, about a minute. Remove from heat and set aside.

Now for the bulk of the dish…Start by mincing the roasted garlic and sun-dried tomatoes, then place in a large bowl. Add the beef, egg, bread crumbs, dry spices, and wet ingredients. Mix ingredients together by hand until everything is combined.

In a prepared large-sized loaf pan, fill 1/2 way with the meat mixture. Now, spread the spinach & onion mixture evenly across the pan, and sprinkle the romano cheese on top. Lastly, take the remainder of the mixture and finish filling the pan. Pop into your preheated oven for 40 minutes! Wait patiently!

Need a side? Try one of these…

Serves 4

Total cook time…50 min