Our Daily Contrails

I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July this year. Will and I spent the weekend at the lake w/ family and then on Wednesday we had a cookout w/ a lot of our friends. We lost track of time, and we only caught about 5 minutes of the firework show. All in all, it was a great celebration and we felt blessed to share this holiday w/ both friends and family.

I have some recipes to update that some of you may be interested in trying.

#1 Orzo with Parmesan and Basil



INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in orzo and saute until lightly browned.
Stir in chicken stock and bring to boil. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 15 - 20 minutes.
Mix in Parmesan cheese and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to shallow bowl. Garnish with basil sprigs.

We served this w/ grilled chicken and roasted eggplant.



#2 Spinach, tomato, and mushroom calzones

One of my favorite foods to eat is calzones. There was a local restaurant in Tucson that we ordered from at least once a month and they had the best pizza and calzones. I decided I should try to make them at home since I often get a craving for them. They are a quick and delicious dinner and you can basically use any of your favorite pizza toppings inside. Homemade calzones have become one of my favorite go to dinners.


1 tube refridgerated pizza dough (makes two calzones)
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 tomato, sliced
1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup baby spinach chopped
olive oil for brushing the tops
parmesan cheese

Preheat oven according to directions on pizza dough. In my case, 400 degrees. Open the pizza dough and cut the roll of dough in half. Roll each half into a circle. Layer the tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach on one half of the circle. Fold the other half of the circle over the ingredients and press the edges together to seal. Repeat with the 2nd half of the pizza dough. Brush the tops of each calzone with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake as directed on the pizza dough. It only took 18 min for me. Serve with marinara for dipping.

#3Beef and Rice Enchiladas

Ingredients
8 flour tortillas (medium sized)
1 pound ground beef
2.5 cups seasoned rice (I cheated and used a pack of Lipton Sides "Taco Rice" and it was pretty tasty)
1-2 cups Mexican blend cheese1 can
(10oz) enchilada sauce
2-3 Tbls sour cream (optional)
Directions:
1) Cook and season ground beef and prepare rice.2) Warm the tortillas (I like to place them over the flame on my gas range for about 5-10 seconds on each side).3) If desired, mix the can of enchilada sauce with the sour cream.4) Put enough sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 dish so the tortillas will not stick. And preheat the broiler.5) Assemble the enchiladas; lay out the tortilla and put down a bit of cheese, then some rice, then some ground beef, then a bit more cheese and some of the sauce. Roll up tight and place into the dish seam side down. Repeat this for the rest of the tortillas.6) When they are all in the dish cover them with the sauce (amount to your liking) and top with cheese. Broil for ~10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

I hope that this will keep you busy in your own kitchens for awhile! :-)

I also have a cake recipe that I made for our cookout, but I really don't have time to post it right now. Here is a link to it, it is so good too! The icing could be used as a fruit dip for strawberries too...yummy! http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Soda-Pop-Cake/Detail.aspx