Risotto with Chicken & Asparagus

Awhile back, I was looking for some great "put-together-and-freeze" meals---much like they make at Let's Dish.  My idea was to have a bunch of mommy friends over and we'd all put together meals for our families.  I ended up finding this blog that is written by a mom with the same ideas as myself.  I ended up printing a few recipes from her site but this is the first that I've tried.  I decided to post this to my blog, too, because I did this a little differently---I didn't freeze it ahead of time.  I just made it fresh.  Okay, here's the recipe that I used: 

(If you want the freezer version, please check out the other blog.)

3 cups cooked chicken breast, cubed
1 cup instant rice (uncooked)
3 T. chicken base (found by the broths in your local store)
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 black pepper
2 tsp. olive oil
1 cup fresh asparagus, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 ounces cream cheese


Combine chicken, rice, chicken base, garlic, pepper and olive oil in large skillet.  Add two cups of water to the skillet, cook on low-to-medium heat for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is cooked.  Stir cream cheese, asparagus, red bell pepper and Parmesan into the rice mixture.  Cook for 5 minutes, or until the cream cheese is melted and the vegetables are crisp tender.  Sprinkle with bacon before serving.

Trying to stick with my resolution of using things I already had in my cupboard, I used frozen asparagus that I already had and the only things I had to buy were red pepper and chicken base (which I have never used before).  I feel like I used a million pans while making this dish, just because I had to cook the bacon beforehand (I was out of the fully-cooked kind that I normally like to use for things like this) and I cooked the chicken in the crock pot during the day to save time.  When everything was cooking, it smelled SO AMAZING.  I couldn't resist taking a little taste test before I put the veggies in the skillet and everything tasted so good.  HOWEVER, the end product was very salty to me.  I have never had a Let's Dish meal before, so I'm not sure if they lean on the salty side of the pallet but this specific dish was quite salty.  So, I suggest cutting the chicken base and the Parmesan by a third, therefore using only 2 T. of chicken base and 1/2 cup of Parmesan.  I hope this makes it less salty so the flavor of the dish stands out  more.  All in all, I'd like to make this again because it has everything in it that I love.  Enjoy!!

Glazed Shrimp & Asparagus (over Angel Hair)

***This recipe was found in Taste of Home magazine***

Prep/Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

8 oz. uncooked angel hair pasta
1 T. cornstarch
3/4 C. water
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. honey
1 lb. uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 tsp. peanut or canola oil, divided
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 lb. fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-3 inch lengths
1 T. minced fresh gingerroot
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 T. sesame seeds

Cook pasta according to package directions. In small bowl, combine cornstarch, water, soy sauce and honey until smooth; set aside.

In a large skillet, stir-fry shrimp in 1 tsp. peanut oil and sesame oil until shrimp turn pink. Remove and keep warm.

Stir-fry asparagus in remaining peanut oil for 2 mintues. Add the ginger, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes and sesame seeds; stir-fry 2 minutes longer or until asparagus is crisp-tender.

Stir cornstarch mixture and add to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add shrimp; heat through. Drain pasta and serve with shrimp mixture.

As far as delicious new recipes go, this one was very easy. The shrimp mixture smelled just amazing so we all couldn't wait to try it. As it turned out, the flavor was awesome but the pasta really made it seem bland when I first put it in my mouth. Then, you could taste the little "kick" from the red pepper flakes as an after-taste and that was actually really good. My husband suggested tossing the pasta with the shrimp mixture to mix all the flavors for a bit instead of serving them separately and letting people put the shrimp over the pasta themselves. I love that idea and I think that's just the ticket to make this an A+ meal.

Family Chef's Grade (as the recipe goes): B+

Asparagus-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

***This recipe was found in Simple & Delicious magazine.***

Prep/Total Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 2 servings

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 oz each)
1 T Dijon mustard
1 green onion, finely chopped
10 asparagus spears, trimmed
3 T crushed, butter-flavored crackers

Hollandaise Sauce:
1/4 C butter, cubed
2 egg yolks
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. water
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 C sliced almonds, toasted

Flatten chicken to 1/4-inch thickness. Spread with mustard; sprinkle with onion. Place asparagus spears down the center of the chicken; fold over and secure with toothpicks if necessary.
Place seam side down in an ungreased 8-inch microwave-safe dish. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs (all over top of chicken). Microwave, uncovered, on high for 6-8 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear. Keep warm.
For sauce, in a small microwave-safe bowl, melt butter. Gradually whisk in egg yolks, lemon juice, water, and salt. Microwave, uncovered, at 30% power for 30 seconds, or until mixture reaches 160 degrees and is thickened, stirring once. Spoon over chicken. Sprinkle with almonds. Remove toothpicks.

I have to say, I was once again surprised to be making a microwave dish, but I guess I've got to get used to that when cooking from this magazine. This was VERY yummy. My husband loved the mustard on the chicken and I loved the hollandaise sauce. HOWEVER, as you can see from the picture above, my hollandaise got a bit TOO thick. I thought I did the instructions exact, but I think our microwave was on too high of power. (We got a new microwave recently and I'm still learning all the ins and outs of it.) It wasn't as smooth as I wanted it to be, but it tasted delicious! Can't wait to try this again!

Family Chef's Grade: A