Zucchini Risotto

We had this the other night with beer can chicken, which we had on the side instead of adding in to the dish.  Easy way to get my girls to eat something green!  There's enough parmesan cheese and it's creamy enough that the girls think that the stringy-ness is due to all the cheese, instead of from the squash, which you really can't taste at all.  mua ha ha!

Zucchini Risotto

6 C. water

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 T. olive oil

2 C. medium-grain rice or Arborio

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. oregano

Salt and pepper

1 small to medium zucchini, finely grated

½ C. grated parmesan cheese

2 C. cooked, diced chicken

Add bouillon cubes to the water and bring to a boil.  Saute the rice in olive oil, and add the liquid to the rice one ladleful at a time, stirring frequently in between for about 15 minutes.  Add seasonings, and when the rice is fully cooked, add the zucchini, chicken and parmesan.  Bring back to a simmer before serving.

Spiced Pecan Pie Bars

I served these as my "southern" component of our Mexibikentucky party last night (Cinco de Mayo, and a Kentucky Derby-inspired 1.25 mile bike race around the neighborhood).  I originally found this recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook, but I added the spices, based on a nut-mix recipe that I've made, I think from a Food Network website.  I also messed with the nut:goo:crust ratio a bit, since the original was more like pecan pie with a thick, pointless goo layer and not enough pecans.  You can spice these up more than the amount that I have here, because these weren't noticeably spicey, just tasty.  And most people agree - they're better than pecan pie, and a whole lot easier!  You can't really do a half-recipe, but a 1/3 recipe might work well in a 8" square pan.

Spiced Pecan Pie Bars

3 C. flour (can substitute 1 C. whole wheat flour)

½ C. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 C. butter

3 eggs

1 C. sugar

¾ C. dark corn syrup

½ C. light corn syrup

3 T. butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla

3 C. chopped pecans (10 oz.)

1/8 tsp. each cumin, cayenne, and cinnamon

Combine flour, sugar, and salt, then cut in butter until crumbly.  Press onto the bottom of a greased 15 x 10 pan.  Bake at 350° for 20 min.

For filling, combine eggs, sugar, syrups, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl; mix well.  Stir in pecans.  Pour over crust.  Bake 25 – 30 min longer or until edges are firm and center is almost set.  Cool on wire racks.  Cut into bars, and refrigerate until serving.  Yields 3-4 dozen.

Taco-ish meat

Travis has a knack for picking up something random at the store (HyVee in this case), and then it turns out to be awesome and becomes a family favorite.  He did it with the 12-grain bread that he subsists on, and also with this chorizo.  You should look at the link because the distinctive packaging is almost more helpful than the brand name (Purnell's Old Folks).  It really is SO good.  It's not hot-spicy, just a really good balance of flavors.  I believe it's mostly or entirely pork, and not the leanest of meats but not nearly as greasy as some ground beef I've used, which is pretty good considering it IS sausage. It browns up nicely and is easy to add to all kinds of things because the seasoning balance is so nice.  Really - you start frying it and suddenly the kitchen is full of people saying, "It smells good in here! What's for supper??"

Last week, I did this:
1/2 lb. chorizo
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 can of plain diced tomatoes
Brown the meat, add the veggies, and serve over fried potatoes and top with a fried egg.

The other night, I added the peppers and tomatoes in and also a bunch of chopped asparagus, and served it over leftover rice.  I suppose either version would be good topped off with cheese, but I didn't think of it and they were super tasty anyway.

My next plan is to mix it half-and-half with ground beef, adding a can of tomato sauce for a really easy taco meat, maybe to put in enchiladas?  I get tired of the taste of the taco seasoning packets, and annoyed with them being primarily salt and food coloring, so lately I've been just adding my own chili powder, cumin, oregano, S&P, and flour to plain ground beef.  But, relying on this chorizo for flavor is way easier and a nice change of pace.