Lemon-Dill Orzo with Chickpeas and Artichokes

I have a friend who used to say in the summer that she had "broken up" with her oven. It's a mental image I've carried with me for years. I always picture this friend engaged in a painful split from Mr. Kenmore Oven. She tells him she can't take the heat. First he wheedles, then he sends flowers, makes promises--he even bakes cookies. He writes love letters to prove his emotional range. She resists, ignoring him each time she walks through the kitchen, flaunting her new-found relationship with no-cook meals in his shiny metal face. But we know where this cat-and-mouse game ends when fall rolls around. Every year she comes running back to his warmth--how could she stay away when he's SO HOT??--and the sizzling romance resumes. (Are you rolling your eyes at the oven puns yet?) 

Awful oven puns aside, I get what my friend means. The to-oven-or-not-to-oven question is a seesaw many of us who love to cook tend to ride as seasons change. It seems counterintuitive to heat a metal box to 450 degrees in the middle of your house when every other effort you make all day is to stay cool. So while June hasn't started off too terribly here in the Phoenix area (no temps soaring over 110--that's what we call moderate), I still feel the pull to keep the oven off and serve something closer to air-conditioned room temperature.

When we tried this vegetarian orzo salad last night, it hit the non-piping-hot spot. The recipe does, admittedly, use the stovetop to boil the orzo, but 15 minutes on the range beats a lasagna in the oven for an hour, and the end result is a refreshing blend of cool flavors perfect for a warm day. It's packed with:

• Chickpeas for fiber and protein (see my ode to the nutritional value of chickpeas here)

• Feta for a non-fatty cheese indulgence (the Pasta Salad Code of Ethics states that every pasta salad needs a cheese indulgence) 

• Artichokes for veggie goodness including additional fiber and Vitamin C

• Fresh dill, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil to add flavor without overdoing it on calories and fat (in keeping with the ideology of the Mediterranean diet).

Put them all together and you have a quick, light one-dish dinner or a hearty potluck side. So, sorry, Mr. Oven. Like my friend, I'm off for my annual summer fling without you. Or at least a few days' break...you know I still need you for cookies.

Lemon-Dill Orzo with Chickpeas and Artichokes
(Adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 c. uncooked orzo
1/2 c. sliced green onions
3/4 c. crumbled feta cheese
1 14-oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
5 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
2 15-oz. cans chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), drained
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. cold water
scant 3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. minced garlic 

Directions:

1. Cook orzo according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.

2. In a large bowl, combine cooled, rinsed orzo, green onions, feta, artichoke hearts, dill, and chickpeas.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, water, salt, and garlic. Drizzle over pasta mixture and toss gently to coat.

Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Serves 5-6 as a main dish, 8-10 as a side dish.

Pesto Pasta and Bean Salad

Today was a pretty chill, laid-back Sunday for our family. The best kind, if you ask me. My mom generously took our kids overnight last night, so my husband and I got to have dinner at the fabulous Wrigley Mansion, a Phoenix landmark since 1932, and sleep in this morning. It was kind of shocking how late we were able to sleep without the kids running around/arguing/informing us about poopy Pullups. (Anybody have a sure-fire solution for nighttime potty training a 3-year-old?) Anyway, the two of us went out for a late breakfast, which we almost never do--partly because we rarely eat out with kids and partly because I have a thing about brunch. I hate it. Seriously, it ruins my whole day. I'm the kind of person who wants to get up and eat something light and drink my coffee pretty much immediately. Brunch basically flies in the face of these desires. You have to do your hair and get dressed, get in your car and drive somewhere, order and wait until they bring out your food. Then you always, ALWAYS eat way more than you normally would and at lunchtime you still feel full and kinda gross but you want to eat. So you eat lunch and you feel even more over-full and gross. See where this is going? Whole day shot. You're dead to me, brunch.

Still, despite my issue with brunch, our day was a pleasant one. After we picked the kids up from Grandma's we went on a family outing to Ikea, where we got some fun stuff for the house, then went to Guitar Center, where the kids enjoyed jamming on the 95 keyboards they have stacked in one room. But even after skipping out on the meatballs and lingonberry sauce my family had for lunch at Ikea, those lemon ricotta pancakes I had at brunch still hung like dead weight in my stomach. Thankfully, our plans for dinner were the definition of light: this super-simple pesto pasta and bean salad. Yay!

If there was ever a straightforward, what-you-see-is-what-you-get salad, this is it. I love it for its simplicity, its quick prep time, and its healthful vegetarian ingredients. It would make a great side to tote to a summertime potluck--but for our family, served with a side of crusty bread, this is plenty for a modest dinner!

Pesto Pasta and Bean Salad
(Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)

Ingredients:

8 oz. whole wheat penne or other small pasta
1 7-oz. container purchased basil pesto (or make your own)
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 15-oz. cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
3 c. arugula
2 oz. Parmesan/Reggiano cheese, shaved

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water; set aside.

2. Meanwhile, make dressing by combining pesto, red wine vinegar, and salt in a large bowl. Add cooked pasta, beans, and arugula and stir gently to combine. Top with shaved cheese.

Makes about 8 cups.

Soba Salad with Chicken and Cabbage

Can we just raise a collective cheer for weeknight dinners that are fast, easy, tasty, healthy, and relatively inexpensive? My list of meals that fit all those criteria is pretty short. These last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy in my life, so finding healthy dinners I can whip up easily has taken top priority. The beginning of May is always a little extra busy in our family, since two of my kids have early May birthdays, but this year there's been the added crunch of trying to finish up this semester's courses toward my nutrition degree and preparing to head to the Nutrition and Health Conference in Dallas this Sunday (which I'm super excited about and plan to blog about soon!). So basically fast and easy are my best friends right now in all areas of life.

Fortunately, I happened to place this soba chicken salad on the roster of dinners for this week. As a perpetual fan of Real Simple's cookbooks, I've been working my way through this one that I got for Christmas and had been meaning to try this recipe for some time. I'm glad I finally did--it's one of those one-dish meals that's perfect for a weeknight when you're slammed. With chicken for protein, noodles for starch, and cabbage and carrots for vegetables, you're set. The sweet and sour dressing of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and ginger gives it a mild Asian flavor that even my kids enjoyed. 

So sayonara for now--look for a post next week on all the cool stuff I'm expecting to learn at the Nutrition and Health Conference!

Soba Salad with Chicken and Cabbage
(Adapted from Real Simple)

Ingredients:

8 oz. soba noodles
8 small chicken tenderloins
salt and black pepper
6 Tbsp. canola or vegetable oil, divided
3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
3 c. shredded red cabbage
1 large carrot, shredded
6 scallions, sliced

Directions:

1. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and run under cold water to cool.

2. Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt and pepper to your liking.

3. Heat 3 Tbsp. of the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until golden brown and cooked through. Cut into strips.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining 3 Tbsp. of oil, the vinegar, soy sauce, and ginger. Add the noodles, chicken, cabbage, carrot, and scallions and toss.  

Serves 4. 

Chicken Tetrazzini

Here in Mesa, it's been raining. It rained for two days in a row, which by Phoenix-area standards is nothing short of miraculous. We here in the desert tend to get extra excited by rain. We tend to think of it like that old Weather Girls song It's Raining Men, if you take out the word "men," as in: 

"It's raining! Hallelujah, it's raining!" 

The reason, of course, for our unmitigated joy over the mysterious wet stuff that comes out of the sky is that (being in a desert) we don't tend to see a lot of it. I vividly remember the record dry spell of 2006. After 143 days without rain, it was as if the clouds had been saving it up and rained so hard and so much there was SNOW on Superstition Mountain. In March. When it's usually 85 degrees and you're hoping you remembered to take your sunscreen with you to the Renaissance Fair. 

The reason I remember all of this is that I was scheduled to run a 5K at the Phoenix Zoo that day, and since apparently the race planners had not considered rain a possibility, I ended up running wearing one of the black garbage bags they passed out instead of rain ponchos.

That's what I'm talkin' bout. P.S. Friends don't let friends have bangs this awful.

Garbage bag ponchos aside, I really do love the rain. And when it rains, I always crave comfort food, don't you? So last night, after almost an entire day of rain (hallelujah!) it was time for something warm, hearty, and creamy: chicken tetrazzini, one of my favorites. I didn't grow up eating this dish--in fact, I had never heard of it until my husband made it for me on my 23rd birthday. We were living in our ghetto first apartment with a tiny kitchen, irrepressible cockroaches, and the claim to fame that the management gave all new residents The Club car lock as a welcoming gift.

Welcome to your new home! We're freely admitting that thugs will try to steal your car here!

Upon tasting it, I was instantly hooked. Eight years later, this meal is still in my rotation. You might look at the recipe and wonder how it could be at all flavorful, since the only spices it contains are salt and pepper, and the other ingredients wouldn't appear to add much in the flavor department. All I can say is you're gonna have to trust me on this one. The richness of the roux (butter and flour heated to bubbling) combined with cream and chicken broth make this a melt-in-your-mouth dish that needs no additional seasoning. Additionally, it boasts the interesting trivia of being named after the turn-of-the-century opera star Luisa Tetrazzini (who looks like she probably ate quite a bit of it in her time, if you know what I'm saying). All in all, it's a perfect dinner for those rare and wonderful Arizona rainy days...when you have an opera singer on your mind. Or something along those lines.

Chicken Tetrazzini

(Adapted from Betty Crocker's Cookbook: Bridal Edition) 

Ingredients:

7 oz. spaghetti, broken into thirds

1/4 c. butter

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 c. chicken broth

1 c. heavy cream or 1/2 and 1/2

2 Tbsp. dry sherry or water

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook spaghetti as directed on package.

While spaghetti is cooking, melt butter in a 2-quart saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth and cream. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.

Drain spaghetti. Stir spaghetti, sherry or water, and chicken into sauce.

Pour spaghetti mixture into an ungreased 2-quart casserole. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake uncovered about 30 minutes or until bubbly in center.