Green Bean, Orzo and Tomato Salad

Easy alert! This is a great make ahead salad to serve with sandwiches (we had it with grilled cheese!) If you make the orzo just a bit al dente, it'll be the perfect texture the next day.

Green Bean, Orzo and Tomato Salad
1 cup orzo
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup parmigiano reggiano, shredded
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Place a large pot of water to boil, add orzo. Cook 5 minutes then add green beans to pot, cooking additional 4-5 minutes; drain. Add orzo and green beans to a large bowl and toss in tomatoes, parmigiano reggiano, olive oil, lemon juice and thyme. Season to state with salt and pepper.

Julia's Beef Bourguignon

I loved reading Julie Powell's Julie/Julia in my rhetoric of food bloggling class back in college at UT (yes, get jealous). When the movie came out, I was just tickled! It may not be 100% accurate, but very entertaining and reminded me of why I love cooking and blogging.

Anyway, my lovely sister got me Mastering the Art of French Cooking, so like any Julie/Julia fan, the first thing I made was Beef Bourguignon. Never fear, hestitant cooks. While this meal takes time (about 4 hours from start to finish), there's plenty of down time. We even went to fly kites!

Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon: recipe link here. This was the perfect meal for 6 people, my great friends Meg and Matt came over to enjoy, it was such a treat!

Ok and now for the "big news" - after two years of working with an incredibly horrible laptop with an increasingly cracked screen, and lately broken hinges that I had to prop it up, a new laptop has come into my life and I LOVE it. See the pretty new toy below :) Now that I've got a decent machine, you can expect more posts from this happy blogger!

Parmesan Tortellini Salad with Pancetta

Apologies for the long absence. I have an exciting announcement that I'll post about shortly which held explains my month off.

So Whole Foods was holding a recipe contest for Parmigiano Reggiano on their blog the Whole Story, so I figured why not try and participate? I was a finalist in their budget recipe challenge back in 2008, so it can't hurt right? My fellow Austin foodblogger MisoHungry made a Bacon & Parmigiano Reggiano Wassail Apple Turnover that sounds DELICIOUS. Check it out :)

This recipe is great because it's simple with really big flavors - a really fabulous weeknight meal.

Parmesan Tortellini Salad with Pancetta

1 (20 ounce) package refrigerated cheese tortellini (I used Buitoni)

1/3 pound pancetta, cut into 1/3-inch cubes

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

8 ounces spring mix greens

6 sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano, plus more for serving

Cook tortellini to package instructions, drain and set aside. While tortellini cooks, heat a large nonstick skillet on medium heat and saute pancetta, about 6 to 8 minutes, until crisp. Add balsamic vinegar to pan and stir to combine; set aside.

In a large bowl, toss spring mix, sun dried tomatoes, salt and pepper, tortellini and pancetta. Add 1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano and toss. Serve with additional parmiagiano reggiano and enjoy!

Fig and Goat Cheese Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Despite appearances, this recipe was fairly simple and easy to make, not to mention everything just kind of flowed. My mom gave me an oven-safe digital meat thermometer for Christmas, so I was anxious to get home and try it. It was so simple and I didn't have to worry about overcooking the pork!

Fig and Goat Cheese Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

1 pork tenderloin (1 - 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup fig jam
3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
5 fresh basil leaves, torn
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice pork tenderloin lengthwise almost the whole way through (stopping just before the edge, like you would a sandwich). Place the tenderloin between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound it until it's about 1/2 inches thin. Spread the fig jam over one side of the pork, then top with crumbled goat cheese, torn basil leaves and salt and pepper to taste.

Now, roll up the pork and fasten with kitchen twine or toothpicks. Now brush the outside with the oil and season with additional salt and pepper.

Insert your meat thermometer if you have it and let it bake about 30 minutes or so until it reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees.

Remove and let set for about 10 minutes, then slice and serve! I served with simple sides including roasted potatoes seasoned with dried rosemary, salt and pepper tossed in olive oil and green beans with a smidge of butter, salt and pepper and more torn basil.

Chicken, Mango and Grapefruit Salad with Almonds and Goat Cheese

Like many, I've resolved to lean more towards my healthy habits with the start of the new year. One way I'm doing that is with a bento box my sister gave me for Christmas so I can better plan out my lunches and work snacks to make sure I'm getting all my fruits and veggies :) It's been a blast so far!

Another resolution is to get back to trying new foods. I recently discovered I actually DO like grapefruit, so I decided to not only eat it on its own, but incorporate into a fun salad!

Chicken, Mango and Grapefruit Salad with Almonds and Goat Cheese

6 ounces arugula (or other greens of your choice)
2 cups grilled chicken, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (mine was seasoned with salt and pepper)
2 ripe mangos, peeled, pitted and cubed
2 grapefruit, peeled, sectioned and cut into large pieces
2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons basalmic vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Toss the arugula, chicken, mango, grapefruit, goat cheese crumbles and almonds in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, sugar and salt and pepper. Toss the dressing with the salad and serve!

Note, while I do enjoy grapefruit, I need a little sugar which is why I added it to the dressing. Feel free to exclude that from the recipe :)

Tis the Season

Hello! Now that we're in full-swing holiday party mode, I want to know, what are your favorite holiday entertaining dishes? Appetizers? Desserts? I'll be posting some soon, but would love some feedback on what you love, or what you want to see!

Pork Stew

What do you do when you buy an 8 pound pork butt for (delicious) pulled pork, but you can only fit 5 pounds in your crock pot? Why, you save 3 pounds and make pork stew another day! This recipe was SO simple since I chopped all the veggies the night before. Threw it in the crock pot Monday morning and came home to a delicious Monday night meal!

Pork Stew

3-4 pounds pork butt

1 onion, chopped into large pieces

1 bell pepper, chopped

4 large carrots, chopped

3 cups mushrooms, cleaned and roughly chopped

1 cup red wine

1 cup beef or chicken broth

1 cup water

1 tablespoon dried oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low 8-10 hours. Remove pork to a large platter, shred with two forks, then put it back in the crock pot with juices. I served over white rice, although it'd be great with pasta, crusty bread, or nothing at all!