Fish with Red Pepper Cream Sauce and Asparagus Risotto

This sauce was so easy and delicious to make. The original recipe called for flounder, but I used swai fillets. You could probably use any white fish for this.

Fish with Red Pepper Cream Sauce and Asparagus Risotto-adapted from Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cooking 2 by Sandra Lee
Total Time: 35 Minutes
Serves 4

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 fish fillets
• 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths
• 1 cup aribo rice
• 3 1/3 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon seasoned pepper
• 1/2 cup jarred roasted red peppers
• 1/2 cup light Alfredo pasta sauce

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Pour oil into 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange fish in the dish and sprinkle with the seasoned salt and lemon pepper. Roast in oven for 5 minutes. Add chopped asparagus to the dish and roast for 5-7 more minutes, or until fish flakes easily witha  fork. Remove from oven and keep fish warm.

Meanwhile, cook rice according to package directions with the chicken broth and seasonings. Stir in the roasted asparagus.

In a small blender, puree the red peppers and Alfredo sauce. Transfer mixture to a small saucepan and heat through.

Serve fish with risotto and topped with sauce.

Chicken Coleslaw

I kind of picked up these ingredients without really thinking about the recipe as a whole. As I was making it, I got a little worried because Scott isn't always the greatest fan of cole slaw. In the end, it was a fantastic recipe! It was very refreshing and had a lot of flavor to it.

Normally, I don't have a problem interchanging mayonnaise for Miracle Whip, but from making a cole slaw or two in the past, I knew the Miracle Whip brought some extra flavor that I didn't want to miss out on.

This is definitely a dish I would consider bringing to a party or get together. It's really simple to put together, and stays rather well for an extra day or two.

Update August 20, 2013
Scott made this for a work gathering. In playing around with it, we added two sliced green onions. We also seasoned the chicken with seasonsed salt and pepper, as well as adding additional lemon pepper to the dressing mix after the fact. Keep playing around with it til it tastes like you want it!

May 29, 2014

Chicken Cole Slaw-adapted from Shortcut Recipe Cards by Taste of Home
Serves 4
Total Time: 20 Minutes

• 3 chicken breasts, diced
• Seasoned salt & pepper for the chicken
• 16 ounce bag of cole slaw mix
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 2 hard cooked eggs, diced (here's my favorite website to learn how to make hard boiled eggs)
• 6 tablespoons Miracle Whip
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• Dash celery salt
• Dash or two of lemon pepper

Season chicken with seasoned salt & pepper. Cook over medium heat in a large skillet until no longer pink in the middle. In a large salad bowl, combine the chicken, cole slaw, celery and eggs. In another bowl, combine the remainder of the ingredients. Pour over chicken mixture and toss to coat. Continue to season with lemon pepper and celery salt until desired taste. Refrigerate until serving.

Orange Chicken

So, to be honest, I totally overcooked this chicken. The flavors, however, were fantastic so I'm still marking this as a great recipe because if I make it correctly next time I have no doubt it will be awesome!

Orange Chicken-adapted from The Pursuit of Happiness
Total Time: 5 hours
Serves 4

• 4 chicken breasts, chopped into bite size pieces
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 6 ounces frozen juice concentrate, thawed
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar

Grease the inside of a 5 quart slow cooker. Mix together the salt, vinegar, ketchup, orange juice and brown sugar until combined.

Using a large ziploc bag, toss the chicken pieces in flour until well combined. Place in the orange juice mixture and toss until lightly combined.

Cook on low for 5-6 hours until chicken is cooked through. Serve with rice and egg rolls.

Homemade Dinner Rolls

I was so excited to try these dinner rolls. I'm so unbelievably happy I found this recipe and don't know that I'll ever use refrigerated biscuits again. I mean, just look at the picture! It looks just professionally made dinner rolls! They were absolutely fantastic and super easy to make. My favorite part is that these can be made up to  4 days in advance.

Update 12/1/2013

I made these for Thanksgiving and they were a hit again! I had trouble again with the batch on the bottom getting burnt, so just make sure you're watching them at about 10 minutes of cooking!

Homemade Dinner Rolls-adapted from The MotherHOOD
Total Time: 2 hours-4 days, depending on chill time
Makes 24 dinner rolls

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 packages active dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4-4 1/2 cups flour

Combine water an yeast in a large bowl. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Stir in butter, sugar, eggs and salt until combined. Add in flour one cup at a time until too stiff to continue mixing. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours to up to 4 days!

Grease baking sheets. Make 24 small balls of the dough and place on the baking sheets. Place baking sheets in turned off oven for about an hour to let dough rise. Turn on oven to 375 degrees. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until rolls are golden brown.

Herbed Quinoa Salad

I haven't cooked with the superfood ingredient, quinoa, until NOW! And, let me tell you, it was totally worth it! The flavors in this were greek-inspired and just awesome. This was a huge hit at the Memorial Day party we went to.

Herbed Quinoa Salad-adapted from What's Gaby Cooking
Total Time: 30 Minutes
Serves 6

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cups chopped parsley
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 tablespoons chopped tarragon
• 2 tablespoons chopped mint
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup diced cucumber
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup halved kalamata olives
• 2 ounces crumbled feta cheese

Bring chicken stock and quinoa to a boil in a large pot and then reduce to a simmer. Let it cook for 15 minutes, until all the water evaporates. Remove from pot and set aside.

In a food processor, combine the spices and olive oil until it resembles a pesto. Combine the herb mixture and quinoa. Add in cucumber, tomato, olives and feta cheese. Gently toss to combine.