quick | What's Annie Making?

Lemon Chicken Orzo Salad

28 March, 2013 Leave a Comment

You guys, I have no words today. I think it’s some combination of the hours spent working on papers for school and my allergies which have me in a complete fog. The past few days I’ve felt like I had a terrible cold coming on. I was bummed out because I don’t have time to get sick. Then I checked trusty weather.com one day and saw that tree pollen is surprisingly very high right now. Who would have thought with all of the snow we keep getting and freezing temps that tree pollen would be high?…

Anyhow, I started taking my Allegra yesterday and that seems to be helping, but it usually takes a few days for it to fully kick in.

Fact – I’ve never had allergies this bad before moving to Iowa. Last year I didn’t even know what was going on, my eyes were so swollen they were practically swollen shut. Yikes!

Anyhow, back to food.

I made this salad as a light dinner the other night. We had a rotisserie chicken in the fridge that I wanted to use so I combined it with sundried tomatoes, orzo, and lemon for a tasty dish. I love the brightness of the lemon and the zippiness of the sundried tomatoes.

I also love that this meal was on the table in less than 30 minutes. I served it hot, but it was just as good cold, leftover the next day.

I definitely can see making this again and again this spring and summer.

Lemon Chicken Orzo Salad

by Annie S

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Keywords: saute entree salad side

Ingredients

1 c uncooked orzo
1 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
3 T sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 zucchini, chopped
10 kalamata olives, roughly chopped
1 c cooked, shredded chicken breast
1/3 c lemon juice
1 T dijon mustard
1/2 t sea salt
1/2 c spinach, chiffonaded
2 T shredded parmesan cheese
2 T fresh parsley

Instructions

Boil water, cook orzo according to package directions

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat

Add olive oil and garlic, cook 1-2 minutes until garlic is fragrant

Add shallots, sundried tomatoes, zucchini, and olives, cook 5 minutes until zucchini is soft

Stir in shredded chicken

Drain orzo and add to saute pan

Add in lemon juice and dijon mustard, cook 1-2 minutes, stirring until everything is combined

Add spinach and parmesan, cook 30 seconds until spinach is bright green

Remove from heat, garnish with parsley and serve

Filed Under: dinner, lunch, quick, salad, side dish

Cooking Light and a few wise words

20 March, 2013 2 Comments

Last night I sat down to post about my Cooking Light adventures only to find that my blog was down due to an emergency hosting outage. I thought about typing the post on my phone… Then I decided I didn’t want my thumbs to bleed.

So instead I gave myself a manicure, watched Dancing With The Stars and played fetch with Charlie.

PS – isn’t he just a stunner in his new bandana?

All that as an explanation as to why I’m currently typing about dinner last night with my morning cup of coffee in my hand…

This week I’m going to be cooking through a bunch of the recipes from the newest Cooking Light magazine. The whole premise is to be able to get a healthy meal on the table in under 40 minutes. As someone who has been known to rely on frozen pizzas in a pinch [guilty] I was excited for some new fast recipe ideas.

Last night I made grilled chicken with quick green salsa

herbed cornbread muffins

and grapefruit walnut feta salad.

The whole meal took 40 minutes! They were right.

The verdict – it was good!

The tomatillo salsa on the chicken was amazing. If I made it again I would probably pound my chicken thin, and grill it outside on the real grill. I would have liked more salsa with each bite of chicken. I would definitely make it again though.

The salad is wonderful. I didn’t have butter lettuce so I used spinach and it was super tasty. The supremed grapefruit with feta combo was really light and refreshing.

I feel like I can’t fairly rate the cornbread muffins because I didn’t follow the recipe very carefully. I used whole wheat flour instead of regular. I didn’t have buttermilk so I used greek yogurt with milk. And I didn’t have green onions to mix in. The muffins were just okay. They were a little dry and the whole wheat flour overwhelmed the cornmeal flavor [my fault]. I will try to make them again soon, actually following the recipe before I really rate them.

If you don’t get Cooking Light magazine, all of their recipes are available for anyone online.

And here’s a few wise words for your Wednesday. I want to print this and frame it as a reminder in my house. So pretty!

Filed Under: chicken, daily sprinkle, dinner, grilled, man friendly, puppy, quick, salad

Shamrock Monster Shake

14 March, 2013 1 Comment

Oh hello March. Can you please explain to me how you are already half way done? Can you also explain to me how this month is supposed to be all about green things but everything is still completely snow covered and frigid?

Seriously. I mean I love wearing tall boots as much as the next girl, but I’m itching for cute dresses and sandals in a major way.

Good thing I fixed that for us. At least the green part…

When I was growing up I couldn’t wait for March to come around because that meant it was Shamrock Shake season at McDonalds. As a mint lover at heart, I could not get enough of those bright green concoctions. I used to know when they started serving them in the year, and when they would stop. Yes friends, it was bad.

Now I know [a little] better. While the shakes are still cool, creamy and delicious, my skinny jeans don’t appreciate them quite as much as my mouth does.

Enter the natural green power of spinach, protein powder, frozen bananas and just a touch of mint. Aka – shamrock monster shake. Aka – you can have a shamrock shake for breakfast and not even blink an eye. That’s a win in my book for sure.

I used just a touch of peppermint extract to give the green monster that nostalgic minty flavor. You have to be careful with this, as too much mint will make you feel like you’re drinking mouthwash. Also mint extract is not the same as peppermint extract. Trust me, I’ve made this mistake.

The mint also covers the flavor of the banana very well. The frozen banana just acts as a wonderful base that is rich and creamy. Very reminiscent of Mickey D’s.

Make these for breakfast, a snack or dessert. Whatever floats your boat. Just make them. PS – they taste best in a fancy glass

Now, if we could only figure out where spring was…

Shamrock Monster Shake

by Annie S

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Keywords: blender beverage breakfast dessert snack high protein

Ingredients (1 smoothie)

1 c milk
2 scoops vanilla protein powder (about 2 T)
1/8 t peppermint extract
1 frozen banana
2 c fresh spinach
vanilla stevia drops (or sugar) to taste

Instructions

Blend all ingredients together on high until smooth

Pour into a fancy glass

Enjoy!

Filed Under: breakfast, dessert, drinks, green monster, quick

Double Berry White Chocolate Whole Grain Muffins

14 February, 2013 3 Comments

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! I hope you all have a special someone (spouse, significant other, friend, family, dog, cat, hamster…) to celebrate with. I’ve never really made Valentine’s Day into a huge deal, but I love doing a few little things to let people know that I care about them.

Josh and I are actually planning on celebrating this weekend so we have more time to enjoy each other without homework looming in the background. I want to be able to prepare a nice meal and not be rushed. I’m not 100% sure what it’s going to include yet. I made salmon last year so I want to do something a little different. I do know that I’m going to attempt creme brûlée. Josh had it for the first time on our honeymoon and fell in love. We had to go back and get it a few more nights when we were in Mexico.

Anyhow, I still want to celebrate a little bit today. Starting with some tasty muffins.

Not just any muffins, but double berry white chocolate whole grain muffins. Side note: I’m super tired of typing that whole title already. Why do the muffins have to be called something so long?!?!?

Yes, muffins. The long title is very deserved. These little babies are made with whole wheat and spelt flour, tons of berries and greek yogurt. And the best part, they are just as good as their refined sugar, white flour, butter laden cousins. There is a time and a place for those things, but not for breakfast in a month that celebrates hearts.

The mashed strawberries in these turn the muffins a pretty pink color and the fresh chopped berries burst in your mouth. The yogurt and spelt flour also amp up the protein!