Mushroom with Orzo

Over the weekend I went to H&R block (not the tax preparation business) for a small gathering. It's been too long since I've seen Obi and I was excited to spend some time with them. H requested a mushroom and orzo salad, so I thought I would jazz it up a bit and add some more veggies to it. I recently bought The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook for healthy eating and I saw a quinoa with mushroom dish I thought I could twist with orzo. This recipe took 10 minutes to prep and 15 minutes to cook. This is the easiest recipe I've ever cooked!

 Photo courtesy of Angry Asian Creations

Mushroom with Orzo

Serves 8

3 cups of orzo pasta
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 of broccoli slaw (can be found in the produce section. Contains broccoli, carrots and red cabbage)
2-3 cups of diced mushrooms (any kind, I used button, shitake, and portobello)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Directions:
Boil water and cook orzo to desired texture. While the water is boiling, put oil in a saute pan and saute onions and garlic for a minute. Add in mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes until tender. Add broccoli slaw and cook for another 2 minutes. When pasta is done rinse with cold water to stop from cooking. Add orzo to the vegetables and mix together. To serve you can sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Lamb & Mint Meatballs

I randomly browse through Food Gawker and Tastespotting when I need a little food inspiration. To be honest, if the picture looks good that's when I click on it. I noticed a picture that caught my eye and it was lamb and mint meatballs over farro risotto. I've never cooked with ground lamb before so I thought I'd give it a shot. The aroma of the mint while cooking the meatballs was incredible. I opted not to use risotto because KStead and I usually eat our meatballs like kabobs. We ate them with rice and naan. I am a huge fan of Greek food and especially tzatziki sauce. Below is my homemade version. I eat this with pita bread, veggies, and now with lamb meatballs.

Lamb & Mint Meatballs
Ingredients:

1 pound ground lamb
2 handfuls mint (chopped)
1/4 cup red onion (diced)
1 egg
1/4 cup breads crumbs

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon coriander (toasted and ground)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil for pan

Directions:
1. Mix the lamb, mint, onion, egg, bread crumbs, cinnamon, coriander, salt and pepper.
2. Form the mixture into balls.
3. Heat the oil in a pan.
4. Add the balls a few at a time, without crowding the pan, and brown on all sides until the middle is cooked, about 10 minutes.

Adapted from Closet Cooking

Homemade Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients:
Greek yogurt (any brand, any %)
Handful of dry or fresh dill
3/4 cup diced cucumbers
Pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined. Add more salt or pepper to taste.

Goat Vindaloo

So last week I flew home to Canada (Ottawa to be exact) to take care of some business and spend some family time with the cousin and her family. Well, my cousin, being as cute as  she is, insisted on cooking everyday in attempts to make me eat (let first say, I DO eat. I eat a lot, just not large amounts in one sitting). Anyway, so we had all this goat in the fridge (how much does it suck here that I've to drive two hours away to get fresh goat and they can go like 10 minutes?!) So yes, we had all this goat so we decided to make some vindaloo. How accurate our dish was to what you find in the restaurant, well that'll be for you to decide, but this is what we came up with.


Goat Vindaloo

• Make a paste in a food processor of a small/med onion, garlic, and ginger
• Make a powder w/ cumin seeds, black pepper, salt, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, two dried chilies, tumeric, coriander, and paprika (I used about 1 tsp of each)- stir in about 2 tbsp of rice wine vinegar (if you want, use distilled) and make a paste
• 2 lbs goat chopped in pieces
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 1.25 cups of water

Brown the goat in olive oil in batches and drain on a paper towel
Cook the onion paste to get the rawness out and then add the spice paste and mix well. 
Add the goat, tomato paste and water and stir well
Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer, cover, and cook ~ 45 minutes