When I said I was ready to start using my grill again, I wasn’t kidding. All I can think of lately are new recipes to make specifically for grilling – anything to change things up and get me out of the kitchen at dinner time works for me. I would much rather be in the fresh (hot) air with the kids running wild playing in the yard, sipping on an iced adult bevvy, than in my kitchen over the stove this time of year. (Check back with me in August.)

Even Amber loves it when I’m out grilling. She’s smiling at me, see?

This particular Grilled Broccoli and Vidalia Onion recipe was inspired by my friends at Produce For Kids and their mission to get more fruits and veggies in your shopping cart this spring and summer to benefit Feeding America. A campaign like this can only be a win/win, wouldn’t you agree? (Read more about it and participating brands below.)

You can pretty much always count on sweet Vidalia onions being in my house while they are in season, they are my absolute favorite. And broccoli…well, we are a family of broccoli lovers so I bring some home from the grocery store weekly. I typically like to roast my broccoli, but I think grilling it is the next best thing honestly. I just love that little bit of smoky char the grill gives it. I just picked up an inexpensive wire grill basket at Target, but I have used (and prefer) one like this (affiliate link).

(more…)

The post Grilled Broccoli and Vidalia Onion with Pine Nuts and Parmesan appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Hi guys, guess what? I’m about to have a baby. Yea, you knew that, but can you believe I’m due in just over a week??? Neither can I.

You know what else is happening? Like in the next week?

This.

and this.

Yea, all that happened right after school started. It’s a good thing believe me, though obviously the timing is a bit crazy. I can not tell you how many times I have used the word crazy in the last few weeks. I’m borderline losing my mind, to be honest. But in a strange, weird way handling it calmly at the same time. Make sense? Yea, no.

We’ve had our eyes peeled for a house with a little more room and space since last December. I will admit, I pretty much stopped looking over the summer as I knew that moving right before a baby was just not the thing to do. HA! Our new home popped on the market and caught our eye – I really didn’t want to LOVE it as much as I did, but the minute I walked through the doors I just knew and felt this would be our new home. It’s crazy I tell ya. What’s crazy too is that our current house sold at lightning speed – on the market for less than a day. I’m still trying to process all of this. I’ve also been a little afraid of talking about it too loudly because I didn’t want to jinx anything.

It was truly meant to be.

So, needless to say – my life has been feeling a little CRAZY these days. But crazy in such a good way, I feel so so blessed and I’m so excited for my family and all that will be happening the next couple of weeks. I’m a little emotional leaving the house I’ve lived in with my family for 8 years, the house my babies grew up in, but I know that all the memories are coming with us, and that new memories are waiting for us around the corner (literally like less than 2 miles away around the corner). But it’s still very bittersweet. I’m trying not to disappear from the blog, I have a few recipes already prepared to share with you while all this stuff is happening…but if I do disappear for a week or two, well, now you know why. 🙂 I promise I’ll let you know when baby boy arrives though!!

In the meantime, here’s a quick sauteed kale side dish to hold you over. I’m finally loving kale again (something about my pregnancy and healthy greens just weren’t jiving this time around) and that makes me happy. I’ve been buying those big bags of pre-cut kale to make life easy and aside from baking it up as “kale chips” I’ve also been sauteeing it simply like this with lemon, olive oil and pine nuts. It’s lemony, so if you like lemon then you’ll love the extra lemon flavor – but if you don’t then don’t add it (or add just a tiny bit). I love it so the lemon just makes my mouth siiiiing! I served this healthy kale alongside some really simple baked and breaded cod fish. These are the meals I’ve been missing lately, the meals that my pregnancy kinda said No to. I’m thinking this meal will come in real handy as I’m trying to get the baby weight off in the next few months.

Enjoy and xo!!

(more…)

The post {Life Lately} and… Lemony Sauteed Kale with Pine Nuts appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Let me introduce you to a few of my favorite things – feta cheese, pine nuts and anything that resembles a pizza.

Yea, that pretty much sums up all this goodness right here…meet my favorite skillet tortilla pizza.

If you haven’t noticed, my last few posts – including this one – have been super easy, whipped up concoctions that I’ve been making myself at lunchtime. My life has entered a whole new level of crazy busy recently (upcoming baby, yes, but also there’s more…will fill you in soon) and with it being my last few weeks of pregnancy, I can’t guarantee much energy leftover for cooking up anything too fussy. For the most part our family dinners have been some sort of crockpot, pasta, sandwich or breakfast for dinner type meal – or if I’m lucky it’s something my husband puts together off the grill. We have been resorting to take-out a little more frequently too, which is something I am trying to avoid.

(more…)

The post Skillet Zucchini and Feta Tortilla Pizza appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

I really can’t believe we are in the month of May already. The kids have started their countdown until summer vacation starts, and to be honest so have I. It’s always bittersweet ending another school year and watching your kids grow up right before your eyes – but I truly look forward to not having to set an alarm clock or pack lunches or being on any kind of schedule for a couple of months. Lazy days ahead!!

Warm weather dinners, the kind where most of your food is cooked out on the grill or prepped ahead of time and served chilled, are my favorite. I love the early evenings of summer where the kids are jumping into the pool while I’m getting the grill ready for dinner. We had one of those nights recently, though it was a school night it felt like a carefree summer night. The kids were getting into the pool to swim for the first time this season, and although the water was still a little chilly, they hung in there for a good hour or so going back and forth to the hot tub to warm up every now and then. Seeing them outside having so much fun instantly put me into that summer mood…the one where if I wasn’t pregnant I would have poured myself a glass of chilled white wine or made myself a Captain & (diet) Coke with extra lime and sat in the lounger to watch them play. I settled for a glass of ice water instead. 😉

Grilled chicken (like this Italian Herb Grilled Chicken) and veggies always come into play when that summer mood hits and it just happened to be on the menu that night. That and this unbelievably fresh and delicious Herbed Wild Rice Salad. I actually prepped it earlier in the day while the kids were still at school using leftover rice from the night before’s dinner (glad I made a double batch!) and fresh herbs from my little garden. I swear, I could not stop eating this stuff. It’s dressed very simply with a good drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of coarse salt and pepper. But the toasted pine nuts paired with the fresh herbs put this leftover rice over the top.

(more…)

The post Herbed Wild Rice Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

If you asked me a couple of years ago if I would be creating recipes to enter into cooking contests where I could win trips to Culinary School in Napa Valley, I would have laughed and said … whatever.  I’m a competitive gal, but when it comes to cooking…well, I just love to cook, not necessarily to win anything, but just because I enjoy it.  But here I am…sharing with you my creation for the Everyday Chef Challenge.

Here’s the scoop for the Everyday Chef Challenge:

I am one of 5 Featured Bloggers chosen to part of a cooking challenge where a secret ingredient plus a Pacific Natural Foods staple item are revealed.  We have one week to create, cook and then share a recipe for voting.  There are two Challenges in total, and winner of each Challenge moves on the the Final Round where voting starts over and the competition is really on for the Grand Prize – all expense paid culinary bootcamp at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley.

Now…I don’t have to be the only one having this much fun!  There is a totally separate Challenge going on here too…that includes YOU.  YOU can enter a recipe using those same “secret ingredients” and compete for the same prize!  Don’t you want to go to Cooking School with me???  I’ve already recruited a blogger friend, Merry, to enter…I put the idea in her head and 24 hours later her recipe is entered!

Okay…so do you want to know about my recipe?  Challenge 1’s secret ingredients were Mushrooms and any Pacific Natural Foods broth.  After thinking about it for a couple of days, I was pretty much stuck on the idea of Mushroom Marsala.  But how to serve it was my challenge…

The Mushroom Marsala is definitely where the flavor of this dish is…but the Garlic Herb Quinoa Pilaf is no joke either.  I wanted to keep the dish meatless, so I bulked up the veggies by adding fresh spinach leaves and sundried tomatoes to the baby portobellas.  I seasoned and floured the mushrooms before sauteeing them to add a little more texture too.  The marsala wine and Pacific Mushroom broth combo made an awesome sauce for it.

As for the quinoa…I wanted to kick it up a bit and cook it in a way I hadn’t before.  I looked up the term “pilaf” on Wikipedia (culinary research!) and it says:

Pilaf … is a dish in which a grain, such as rice or cracked wheat is browned in oil, and then cooked in a seasoned broth.

So that’s what I did.  I started the quinoa with a quick saute of minced garlic and onion in a little olive oil, then added the quinoa and toasted it till fragrant and slightly brown.  Instead of water I used vegetable broth and then added toasted pine nuts at the end.  Wow is all I have to say.  If you’ve tried quinoa and haven’t been impressed, give it another try cooked this way.

If you think this sounds delicious (I assure you, it was.) then I would love to have your vote!  You can vote one time a day everyday until next Wednesday so you may get a friendly reminder or two from me!  Thanks so much!

Mushroom Marsala with Garlic Herb Quinoa Pilaf

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

For Quinoa Pilaf:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups Pacific Vegetable Broth
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 shallots, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

For Mushroom Marsala:

• 1 and 1/2 8oz packages of sliced portobella mushrooms (total 12 oz)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1-2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup marsala wine
• 1/2 cup – 3/4 cup Pacific Mushroom Broth
• 1 3oz package of sundried tomato halves (not in oil)
• 2 cups fresh spinach leaves

Additional Toppings

• freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
• Toasted pinenuts, optional

Directions:

1. Pre-rinse quinoa in a fine mesh strainer until water runs clear. Let water drain and let quinoa dry for a few minutes prior to cooking. In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add minced shallots and garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add quinoa to pan and stir frequently for about 5 minutes. This will toast and enhance the flavor of the quinoa. Once quinoa is fragrant and a light golden brown, add vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce down to slow simmer and continue to cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add toasted pine nuts, salt and pepper to quinoa and gently stir to combine. Cover and set aside.
2. In a large shallow dish, combine flour, salt, pepper, garlic, oregano and thyme. Gently toss sliced mushrooms in flour mixture. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sliced shallots and minced garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes. Gently dust excess flour off sliced mushrooms and add to pan. While mushrooms are cooking, add 1 tablespoon butter to pan and continue to saute. Cook mushrooms until browned, about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of Marsala wine to pan and bring to a quick boil.  Add mushroom broth along with sundried tomatoes and spinach leaves and bring to a quick simmer. Gently stir together as spinach leaves and sauce cook down.  Season lightly with a pinch of salt and pepper. Serve over quinoa pilaf and with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and additional toasted pine nuts (optional).

The post Mushroom Marsala with Garlic Herb Quinoa Pilaf {Pacific Natural Foods Everday Chef Challenge Entry} appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Here’s the recipe a lot of you have been asking me for…

After getting back from my trip to Napa, I couldn’t wait to make this chili for my family.  I convinced my children to try it using an idea I got from my new friend Connie Gutterson…she asks her kids to rate some of the recipes she makes for them…my son totally bought into the “rating game” and ate a nice bowl himself.  My daughter, she didn’t care so much about the rating part, she just dove in and gobbled up her share.  I had to restrain myself from showing too much excitement so they wouldn’t get suspicious…

Sammy (age 5) rates this “5 spoons” and “3 thumbs up”!

I added a little quinoa to the chili to make it even more nutritious.  My kids think of quinoa as “rice”…whatever works right?!

Another tip I learned from Connie…Be sure to “fry” your sauce before adding in the liquids.  What that means is cooking down the roasted pepper and tomatillo puree in a little olive oil along with the onions and garlic until it “pulls away from the pan”…doing this enhances the flavor by concentrating and thickening up the sauce a bit.

Enjoy!

(Oh…and to keep things on the up and up here’s a little disclaimer…Bush Beans covered the costs of my trip but does not pay me to say nice things about them.)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews

Bush’s White Bean Chile Verde with Sonoma Pesto

• Author: Aggie's Kitchen
• Category: Chicken
• Method: Oven/Stovetop

Print

Pin

---

Ingredients

• 1 lb tomatillos
• 1/2 lb poblano chiles
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped yellow onion
• 1 TB minced garlic
• 1 tsp Mexican oregano (use regular oregano if you don’t have Mexican)
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 cans (15.5 oz) BUSH’s Cannellini Beans, with liquid
• 2 TB chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 4 cups Swiss chard, stemmed, cut 1 inch wide strips
• salt and pepper, to taste

* Optional Toppings

• Salsa Verde (purchased)
• Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt
• Sonoma Pesto (see recipe below)

Sonoma Pesto

• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 1 serrano chile
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts or peanuts
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 ounces olive oil
• zest and juice from 1 lime
• salt and pepper to taste

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400°F.
2. Place tomatillos and poblano chiles on sheet pan. Roast in oven until peppers have blistered and tomatillos are soft. Remove from oven. Place tomatillos in blender. Once poblanos are cool enough to handle, remove seeds and skins. Add to blender, blend until smooth.
3. Heat olive oil in a sauté pan. Add onions, cook until caramelized, approximately 5 minutes. Add garlic and oregano, cook until aromatic.
4. Add tomatillo mixture, cook for 10 minutes until slightly thickened.
5. Add stock, beans and their liquid. Bring to simmer, cook for 20 minutes.
6. Add cilantro, chicken and chard. Bring to a simmer, cook for 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Sonoma Pesto

1. Combine all pesto ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Drizzle the pesto on top of the chile verde and finish with salsa verde, as desired.

The post Bush’s White Bean Chile Verde with Sonoma Pesto appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Yesterday I found myself in the same situation that I usually am in. A small bunch of whole mushrooms on the verge of getting thrown out. My good friend (who is expecting a little boy next month!) mentioned she was craving stuffed mushrooms the other night and asked me if I had a recipe…I sent a link to these…and then got a craving of my own. I decided this time to make them vegetarian, and instead of beef used leftover toasted pine nuts from my grilled eggplant salad.

They were a perfect little side dish for dinner last night. Marialisa…if we weren’t 2000 miles away from each other these would totally have been for you. 😉

(before going in the oven…)

Spinach and Toasted Pine Nut Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 8 whole mushroom caps (stems removed - save stems for filling)
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, roughly chopped
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• leftover mushroom stems, chopped
• about 2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
• 1/4 cup whole wheat panko
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place mushroom caps in lightly greased baking dish. Sprinkle salt, pepper and drizzle of olive oil over mushrooms.
3. In a hot skillet, saute garlic, onion, chopped mushroom stems and chopped spinach in olive oil for about 8 minutes, till all cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Add toasted pine nuts and combine. Add panko, combine and let cool.
4. Using a tablespoon, spoon stuffing into each cap, carefully pressing down to fill completely. Top with fresh ground pepper.
5. Place in oven and cook for approximately 10 minutes, at this time sprinkle mushrooms with grated parmesan cheese. Place back in oven and cook for another 10 minutes or until golden brown. Spoon wine sauce (optional) over each mushroom and serve.

Additional White Wine Sauce

White Wine Sauce

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• olive oil
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1-2 TB butter

1. Saute garlic in olive oil till golden. Add chicken broth and white wine. Let simmer for 4-5 minutes. Once reduced a bit, add butter. Simmer for another few minutes. Sauce will be thin.

Follow AggiesKitchen on Instagram and show us what recipes you are making from the blog! Use the hashtag #aggieskitchen - I'd love to see what you are cooking up!

The post Spinach and Toasted Pine Nut Stuffed Mushrooms ….another stuffed mushroom appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

I had to make this salad. I’ve been thinking about it all week (there I go again, being obsessive about food…)…but you know what I mean right? I know a lot of you are not in grilling weather right now, and to be honest with you it is cold, dreary and rainy here in FL right now. But that wasn’t going to stop me, I grilled these babies indoors… if you don’t have a grill pan, it is so worth the investment, I use mine all the time.

(Zebra Eggplant from the Lake Mary Farmer’s Market…aren’t they pretty?…)

I have been craving really fresh and healthy food lately…I think having hamburgers and pulled pork in the same week does that to you…I’ll have to plan better next time. This salad definitely hit the spot. The flavor combination could not get any better…grilled eggplant, goat cheese, toasted pine nuts and basil…simply dressed in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. So good.

Thank you Giada.

Giada's Grilled Eggplant and Goat Cheese Salad

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 7 Japanese eggplant, ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch wide slices
• 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
• 3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/3 cup basil, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons chopped mint (I left this out)
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Drizzle the olive oil over the slices of eggplant and toss to coat. Grill the eggplants until tender and grill marks appear, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
2. Place the eggplants side-by-side on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the pine nuts, goat cheese, basil, and mint. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.
3. Cook's note: Plating the eggplant salad this way allowed the cheese to stay bright white. The salt and pepper showed up on it. The herbs remained green and fluffy. The grill marks on the eggplant were distinct.

Recipe from Giada De Laurentiis, Everyday Italian

Follow AggiesKitchen on Instagram and show us what recipes you are making from the blog! Use the hashtag #aggieskitchen - I'd love to see what you are cooking up!

Thank you so much to all of you who shared your favorite Asian recipes with me on my last post. Wow!! I have printed most of them and they are on standby…as a matter of fact I’m trying one of the stir frys tonight! Everything sounds delicious!

If are looking for new Asian recipes to try, go check out the comments in the Mongolian Beef post…you will find several to choose from.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Follow Aggie’s Kitchen’s board Salads on Pinterest.

The post Giada’s Grilled Eggplant and Goat Cheese Salad appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.