Light pasta dinner and strawberry turnover dessert

Last night I made a pasta dish I saw in Real Simple magazine. It was real simple. And tasty too. I already had toasted pine nuts in the freezer so I just added them to the pasta when everything was done cooking.

Ingredients:
3/4 box of linguine
4 cloves garlic
1 bunch of asparagus
1/4 cup of pine nuts
parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
salt, pepper

Directions:
Bring water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions. Meanwhile, clean and cut asparagus into 1 inch pieces and slice garlic. Heat olive oil in medium pan over medium heat. Add pine nuts and garlic and toast for 2-3 minutes or until brown. Add asparagus pieces and cook another 2-3 minutes. Drain pasta, return to pot, and add panful of ingredients to the pasta. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and a half teaspoon of pepper. Sprinkle with parmesan before serving. Serves 4.

For dessert I decided to make a concoction based on a picture and recipe I looked at on foodgawker. I saw it yesterday and decided it was too hard for me but I guess I was still thinking of it because I ended up making my own version. I used some leftover puff pastry I had in the freezer, 6 hershey's kisses and 3 large strawberries to feed Blake and me.

Ingredients:
puff pastry
strawberries
hershey's kisses
sugar

Directions:
Defrost the puff pastry. Preheat the oven to 400. You need about 1 6 inch square for each of these. Cut several slices in 2 opposite sides. The slices should be about 1/3 of the length of the puff pastry so that both edges are frayed but the center is solid. Cut some hershey's kisses in half and lay them down in the center of the puff pastry. Then slice some strawberries and layer those on top of the kisses. Stretch the slices of puff pastry over the strawberries until they touch their pair over the top. Press down so they will not come apart while baking. Sprinkle the top with sugar and bake about 20 minutes until golden. Serve with ice cream.

Steamed Chicken Dumplings

Last night I made these dumplings that I saw on another blog. I thought dumplings would be difficult to make, but really they were just time consuming. I was impressed with myself because they came out looking just right and were very flavorful too. I put a sprinkle of corn starch in the water I used to stick them together with, so that it would hold better. I made some rice in the steamer first and then some steamed broccoli in the microwave while the dumplings were cooking in the steamer. While they were cooking I made a dipping sauce.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground chicken
6 shitake mushrooms, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
1/4 tsp pepper
1 package wonton wrappers
napa chinese cabbage
For dipping sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
scallions
2 tbsp sugar

Mix all ingredients for chicken together. Add a small amount to the center of a wonton wrapper. Wet the edge of the wonton wrapper and fold over, pinching closed. lay seam side down. Afterwards, go back and crimp edges. Steam on pieces of cabbage about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix ingredients for dipping sauce and stir well.

Greek Chicken Souvlaki and Tsasiki

Last night I made a healthy dinner for us inspired by this recipe I saw on foodgawker. I marinated the chicken for about an hour and a half, and then broiled it on skewers. I served it with tsasiki sauce and some easy side dishes. I made a little Greek salad in the mini cocottes and some minute orzo. We also had some warmed pita bread.

Ingredients:
1 cucumber, about 1/4 chopped fine dice, and 1/2 cup small chunks
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
feta cheese chunks
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 tsp dried oregano
1 cup low fat greek yogurt
1 lemon
olive oil
salt, pepper
skewers

Directions:
For the chicken: Mix 2 tbsp of the yogurt with the lemon juice, oregano, 2 chopped garlic cloves, salt, pepper, and a little olive oil with the chicken chunks. Let marinate as long as possible. Soak skewers to prevent burning in oven. Preheat broiler then put chicken on skewers and broil for about 10 minutes on each side or until brown.
For the tsasiki: Use the rest of the yogurt and mix with the finely diced cucumber, 2 more finely chopped garlic cloves, salt and pepper.
For the salad: Mix together small chunks of cucumbers, quartered tomatoes, and feta cheese chunks. Toss together with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.