Mushroom, Kale, & Sausage Risotto

A few nights ago I made Coriander Chicken with Chickpeas & Kale from the latest Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine.  It was part of 3 “Express Lane Suppers” (meals that could be made with only 10 ingredients from the grocery store).  Tonight I tried out the 2^nd one of those meals.

The original recipe from the magazine was just Mushroom-Kale Risotto, but part way through making dinner, Lance got home from work and suggested adding sausage to the mix (which is why the sausage isn't pictured in the ingredients photo).  If you’re looking for a vegetarian version of the recipe, just use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock & omit the sausage. 

Mushroom, Kale, & Sausage Risotto (adapted from Every Day with Rachael Ray Magazine, October 2014 issue)

Ingredients:

• 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 5 T butter
• 2 cups rice (I used Jasmine rice, but the original recipe called for Arborio rice)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large bunch kale, stemmed and chopped (the original said to use half a bunch, but I wanted to make it a bit healthier with more greens)
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan
• 1½ tsp white wine vinegar
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 16 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 14 ounces smoked sausage, sliced (I used Eckrich brand)

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, simmer the chicken stock.

2. In a larger pan, stir onion and 3 T butter over medium heat until onion softens, about 3 minutes. 

3. Add the rice and garlic, stir 3 minutes.

4. Reduce heat to low and stir 1 cup stock into the rice.  Cook, stirring regularly, until nearly absorbed.  Repeat with 3 more cups stock, adding 1 cup of stock at a time.

5. Stir in kale a handful at a time, thinning with extra stock as needed.

6. Take off heat and stir in ¾ cup of the Parmesan, the white wine vinegar, and the remaining butter; season with salt and pepper.

7. In the now empty pan from the chicken stock, heat 1 T olive oil over medium-high.  Add the mushrooms and cook until browned.  At the same time, heat the smoked sausage in a skillet over medium heat until slightly charred.

8. Stir the sausage and half the mushrooms into the rice mixture. 

9. Divide among plates, drizzle with olive oil, and top with extra mushroom and the remaining Parmesan cheese. 

We paired our dinner with Cigar City’s Cucumber Saison farmhouse ale.  Our friends had recommended it when we were at Cigar City Brewpub.  Personally, I wasn’t a big fan – it had a bit of a pickle aftertaste.  I’m not sure if that’s just because we had it for a few weeks, but it wasn’t expired and stayed in the fridge that whole time.  Lance really liked it though, so he ended up finishing mine.  It was worth trying though – definitely not a typical beer.  

Coriander Chicken with Chickpeas & Kale

Before Pinterest, I used to collect Rachael Ray cookbooks and subscribe to Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine to get dinner inspiration.  I should get a subscription again – even though I have thousands of recipes saved online, I still really enjoy flipping through pages of something I can hold. 

I bought the October issue the other day because I wanted to try out the “Express Lane Suppers.” It outlined 3 easy recipes that could be made with just a 10 ingredient shopping list (it excludes basics you should already have at home like garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper).

We made one of the recipes for dinner tonight and it was amazing!  It took just over 30 minutes and turned out to be a pretty impressive dish.  We have ingredients for the other two dishes as well, so I'll post those later this week when we try them out.

Coriander Chicken with Chickpeas & Kale (adapted from Every Day with Rachael Ray Magazine, October 2014 issue)

Ingredients:

• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 1½ pounds)
• 1¼ tsp ground coriander
• 1 T olive oil plus more for drizzling
• 2 cans (15 oz. each) chickpeas, rinsed (aka garbanzo beans)
• 1/3 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• Zest and juice of one small orange
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ large bunch curly-leaf kale, stemmed and chopped   
• Salt
• Pepper
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a bowl, mix 1 tsp of the coriander, ¾ tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper; rub all over the chicken.

3. In a cast iron or ovenproof skillet, heat 1 T olive oil on the stovetop over medium heat.  Cook the chicken, skin side down, until browned, about 8 minutes. Turn and cook 8 more minutes.

4. Transfer the chicken to a plate.  Pour off all but 2 T fat from the skillet.

5. In the same skillet, cook the chickpeas, stock, orange juice, garlic, half the orange zest, and the remaining ¼ tsp coriander over medium heat, stirring, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Nestle the chicken, skin side up, in the chickpeas.  Roast in the oven until juices run clear when pierced with a knife, about 8 minutes.

7. Transfer the chicken to a plate again.  Toss the kale in with the chickpeas and return to the oven for 2 minutes until kale starts to cook down slightly. 

8. Return the chicken to the skillet again, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the rest of the orange zest. 

Roast Beef Sandwiches with Caramelized Onions

This post could really be an advertisement for how much we love Trader Joe’s…we really do.  Although it was just thrown together with random ingredients we found in our fridge, it turned out to be an excellent meal. 

Roast Beef Sandwiches with Caramelized Onions

  

Ingredients:

·         Whole wheat bread

·         Sliced roast beef (ours was Applegate brand from Trader Joe’s)

·         Smoked Gouda cheese, sliced (also from Trader Joe’s)

·         ½ onion, sliced

·         Handful of kale, stems removed

·         Pesto

·         2 T butter

·         1 T extra virgin olive oil

·         1 tsp brown sugar

·         Salt

·         Pepper

Directions:

1. In a small skillet, melt the olive oil and 1 T butter over medium-high heat.  Add onions and a dash of salt & pepper.  Stir constantly until onions begin to brown (about 5 minutes). 

2. Stir in the brown sugar and continue to cook, stirring constantly until onions are golden brown, about 20 minutes (we probably only did it for 10 so ours were only slightly caramelized...) In the last few minutes, add the kale to wilt. Remove from heat.

3. In a larger skillet, melt the remaining butter on medium heat.  Add slices of bread. 

4. When one side of the bread is toasted, flip to the other side and rub the toasted sides with pesto.  Add the cheese, roast beef, and the onion/kale mixture, and then cover with a lid.

5. Continue cooking until cheese has melted and the other side of the bread is toasted.  Put together your two halve of the sandwich & serve! 

We enjoyed ours with Charles Shaw Blend Shiraz from Trader Joe’s (aka “Two Buck Chuck).  We aren’t wine experts, but this $2 wine is actually very good in my opinion.  In this blind taste test, a sommelier tried several wines from Trader Joe’s and said a comparable wine could easily be sold for $9 to $11 dollars.  We usually grab a bottle or two whenever we shop there.