Champagne Risotto

I have never made risotto because I heard it was hard. It is a lot of work but not hard at all. We got a lot of champagne as wedding gifts and we really don't drink it so I found this recipe to use some of it and it was worth the work my arm went through stirring non-stop. I also added shrimp sauteed in olive oil and garlic.

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (I needed 4 cups)
12 asparagus spears, cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 shallot, finely chopped
3/4 cup Arborio rice or medium-grain white rice
3/4 cup Champagne (I used 1 cup)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan (I used 1/2 cup)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Blanch the asparagus in the chicken stock for 2 minutes. Remove the asparagus with a slotted spoon. Set the asparagus aside and keep the chicken stock at a low simmer.

In another medium saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the shallot and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the Arborio rice and stir to coat in the butter. Continue toasting the rice, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes more. Add the Champagne and simmer until the liquid has almost evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes total. Remove from the heat. Gently stir in the asparagus, remaining butter, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Serve immediately.

Cucumber Salad

In my on going quest to get Mike to eat more veggies I made this cucumber salad. It is like a salad we get when we go out to sushi and he likes. I could eat it all day.

1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 cucumber
1/2 carrot (I used a whole carrot)

Mix the white vinegar, black pepper, red pepper flakes and vegetable oil in bowl with sealing lid. Slice cucumber as thin. You can slice or grate the carrot, I grate it. Once everything is in the bowl put the lid on and shake to combined everything. It just gets better the next day. I like to try and make it the day before we are going to eat it.

Vicki's Mom's Pistachio Cake

I stole this recipe from Vicki's blog. Very much worth stealing.

Ingredients for Cake:

1 package yellow cake mix
1 package instant pistachio pudding
3 eggs
1 cup club soda
1 cup oil

Ingredients for Frosting:

1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 package instant pistachio pudding
1 envelope dream whip

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix all cake ingredients together, mixing on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into greased and floured bundt pan (I made them in regular sheet cake form and cupcake form). Bake for 50 minutes (see cake package for baking times on cake or cupcakes). Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Turn onto rack and cool completely. Blend all frosting ingredients with an electric mixer and beat until thickened, about 5 minutes. Cut the cake into 2 layers, frost in between layers, then reassemble the cake and frost the outside. Keep cake refrigerated

Artichoke Chicken

I am trying to get Mike to eat more veggies so I tried this artichoke chicken and he loved it!

1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (I used 1 cup)
2/3 can of artichoke hearts, chopped roughly
1 teaspoon garlic powder (I used 1 tablespoon)
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Mix mayo, parmesan cheese, artichoke hearts and garlic powder in bowl.
Spread over chicken and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until top browns slightly.

Roasted Asparagus

I love asparagus and roasting is it is really easy!

one bundle asparagus
olive oil
salt
pepper

First bend one spear of asparagus until it breaks on it's own toward the bottom. Trim the rest of the spears to match. I also peel the asparagus. Arrange on cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15- 20 minutes.