Creamy Avocado Smoothies {& Saving Recipes!}
| April 25, 2012 | Filled under Beverages, Breakfast, Desserts, Fruit, Light, Vegetarian or Vegan |
I’ve hinted at it here and said it without saying it there, but since the beginning of the year I’ve been working on a lot of fun, recipe related projects. The biggest one is that I’ve been working with General Mills as the newest blogger for their healthy recipe site, Eat Better America. Since January, I’ve been sending them about one new recipe a week. Then I sit back and wait, and wait, and wait fo them to be published. The have a pretty intense editorial calendar and I knew going into it that there would be a long delay before my recipes went up – I was making “spring” themed recipes in February – but it was still hard to be patient.
Well, my first post is finally up – a green smoothie just in time for Earth Week! This isn’t your typical green smoothie though. I left the spinach and kale in my salads where they belong, and added an avocado instead. It makes the smoothie thick and creamy like a milkshake – it’s hard to believe it’s dairy free! The avocado also adds a really subtle, complex flavor (no, it doesn’t taste like guacamole. I promise!)
As much as I love the original recipe, I also love to play around with it to add new flavors. For something sweeter and less green, swap out the banana for frozen mixed berries and add a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder. You’d never even know there was avocado in it – think of it as an avocado smoothie with training wheels.
I’m also working on a new feature here on Healthy. Delicious. that will help you save and organize your favorite recipes. A “save” button will now sit at the top of each recipe I post, right next to the print button. If you create a free account with ZipList, you’ll be able to save any recipe you choose to a virtual recipe box. You’ll be able to tag, sort and search the recipes that you’ve saved and make grocery lists based off of them! I’ve added two new links to my navigation bar that will help get you started – “Recipe Box” will bring you to your personalized recipe box and “Shopping List” will allow you to add and delete recipes and ingredients from your shopping list.
The best part is that lots of other sites I love (Simply Recipes, Bell’alimento, Whats Gaby Cooking, and Savvy Eats, to name a few) use the same service, and the recipes you save from them will go right into the same box (ie. your recipe box isn’t limited to just my recipes). Fun, right? I’m kind of a spaz when it comes to organizing recipes that I see online and want to make so I really love this idea. I hope you do too!
So far, I’ve added the save button to all of the recipes I posted in 2012. I’m working on adding it to the archives too – hopefully within the next few weeks you’ll be able to save any recipe I’ve ever posted.
Baked Risotto with Sausage and Kale
| April 23, 2012 | Filled under Italian, Quick Weeknight Meals, Risotto, Shawn's Favorites, Winter |
The man who works in the parking garage near my office was in a particularly bad mood this morning. I can’t say that I blamed him. Saturday’s warm sun had gone away, and cold rain settled in. The air was heavy and damp and everything looked gloomy. As he watched person after person head into their toasty warm offices filled with friendly colleagues, he was stuck sitting alone in his little booth (that is, until he had to come out in the rain to deal with my permit issues). On top of all that, it was Monday. I wished that had some of this hearty sausage and kale risotto to share with him – with it’s stick-to-your-ribs warmth, it would have been sure to cheer him up. I could have used some myself.
I have a ton of risotto recipes – a quick search shows that I’ve shared well over two dozen variations over the last few years – and I’ve always contended that, while it requires a half hour of near constant stirring, it really isn’t difficult to make. (It isn’t.) Most of the time, I actually enjoy standing over the stove, coaxing the rice into a creamy porridge. But sometimes, well, I just don’t feel like stirring the damn risotto.
I first heard of baked risotto a few years ago, but I never bothered trying it out. Like I said, I actually like stirring risotto. It makes me feel good, like I’m earning my keep in the kitchen. Last week though, a long day at work (in very cute but verrry uncomfortable shoes) made standing over the stove the last thing I wanted to do when I got home. As I transferred the pot of rice from the stove to the oven, I imagined a thousand Italian grandmothers rolling over in their graves.
But you know what? It worked. Really, really well. It wasn’t quite as creamy as risotto made on the stove I don’t think I would have known the difference had someone else served it to me. And the combination of sausage on the risottto and in the risotto, too? Wife of the year award, right there. Not bad, considering it cooked itself while I put my feet up.
Baked Risotto with Sausage and Kale
Yields 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
When risotto is cooked on the stovetop, contant stirring is required to loosen the starches, which thicken the broth and give the dish its texture. In this baked version, bubbles from the boiling liquid knock the starches loose.
Ingredients
- 1 pound reduced fat Italian Sausage (about 6 links)
- 1 small Onion, chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 3/4 cup Arborio Rice
- 1/2 cup White Wine
- 2-1/2 cups Chicken Stock, warmed
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
- 3 cups chopped Kale
- Salt and Pepper
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 425*F. Remove the casing from two sausage links and crumble the meat into an oven save skillet or enameled dutch oven set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is browned. Add the onion and garlic and cook another 2 minutes. Stir in the rice and cook for 1 minute, or until the grains mostly translucent with a small white center.
- Stir in the wine and cook until it is all evaporated. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cover and transfer to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the cheese and kale, allowing the heat of the rice to wilt the kale. Bake an additional 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the remaining sausage links. Sear them over high heat until the skins are deeply browned and begin to blister. Transfer to the oven until cooked through.
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