Cooking With Molly!

In December I came across a holiday recipe contest for the local news station, Fox 45. All you had to do was submit an original recipe that was either an appetizer, side dish, entree or dessert. I decided to submit my Pumpkin Cranberry Soup that I had created for a pumpkin recipe showdown party. Once all the entries were in the station would choose 4 winners- one for each categories. and guess who was one of the winners!! ME! I got to go to the station and do a quick demo for my Pumpkin Cranberry Soup. Here is the clip for your viewing pleasure!

After taping I was able to have my own private/impromptu photo shoot while the station was in the newsroom filming live- I enjoy how legit they look! These could be my first "official" Cooking with Molly promo pictures! Well, a girl can dream! 

  

Lemon Pesto Pasta Salad

I have a potluck happy hour that I'm going to this week and instead of a dessert, dip or typical appetizer I decided to make my lemon pesto pasta salad. I made this dish as a picnic item for a wine event that I went to with a friend of mine and it was a big hit. We even shared our plethora of food with a guy next to us and a week later I received a thank you card in the mail at work! It's great for the summer and I'll make it a lot for an easy lunch. 

Lemon Pesto Chicken
1 LB Pasta- I like farfalle
1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
1/3 Cup Pesto
Zest of 2 Lemons
Juice of 1 Lemon
16 oz Mozzarella Cheese, diced

Cook pasta per directions on the box. While pasta is cooking combine mayonnaise, pesto, lemon zest and juice. Whisk all ingredients together. Once pasta is done cooking, drain and rinse in cold water. Combine pasta with pesto sauce and diced mozzarella cheese. Stir until all ingredients are combined. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving. 

I have also added diced chicken and diced raw zucchini to this dish to bulk it up for an easy dinner. It's such a basic recipe you can really experiment with it.

Green Smoothie

I recently saw a recipe for a green smoothie with kale in Prevention magazine. Not only did it have kale but celery and parsley. I was pretty intrigued and have been looking for a quick energizer for the morning aside from my daily cup of joe so I figured I'd give it a try. I tweaked the original recipe to include more green fruits and I've been enjoying it most mornings. I was surprised that the flavor of the parsley and mint were my favorite flavor notes of the smoothie. Drink on!!

Green Smoothie
1 Cup Chopped Kale Leaves
 The Prevention Magazine recipe reccomended Lacinato Kale and that's what I've been using.
1 Rib Celery Chopped
1/3 Cup Frozen Pineapple- Slightly Thawed
1/3 Cup Frozen Mango- Slightly Thawed
1/3 Cup Green Grapes
1/3 Cup Chopped Granny Smith Apple- skin on
1 Cup Orange Juice
1/4 Cup Fresh Parsley
1/4 Cup Fresh Mint

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. I have an immersion blender that came with a smoothie cup so I use that for my smoothies. This recipe makes two servings. 

Because you have to buy larger quantities of the fresh ingredients I will make enough smoothies to use up the kale and freeze 1 cup portions in bags. I just thaw them a day a head of time in my fridge or take them to work for a snack for later. 

Beef Stew

I haven’t had the best of luck with my Crockpot since purchasing it, but it’s such a useful kitchen accessory I didn't want to ditch it completely. With the weather getting colder and colder I wanted to try my hand at making some hearty beef stew and boy am I glad that I did! It turned out quite tasty and I’m already looking forward to eating it this week for my lunches. It’s filled with a lot of veggies and the addition of red wine adds great depth of flavor. It's a great Sunday Crockpot meal that keeps very well throughout the week. It pairs very nicely with some homemade cornbread muffins. I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.

Beef Stew
1.5-2 lbs of stewing beef cut into 1 inch cubes

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Large Onion, largely chopped

1 Heart of Celery, chopped (about 4-5 stalks)

5 Carrots, chopped

1-2 Cups Yukon Gold or Red Potatoes, chopped into bite size pieces

1 14 oz Can Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Green Chile's
2 14 oz Cans Beef Stock
2 Teaspoons Italian Seasoning
¼ Teaspoon Pepper
2 Bay Leaves
1 Cup Peas
1-2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup French Cut Green Beans

Start by heating the olive oil in a pan. Next season the beef with salt and pepper and brown it on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside.

Fill your Crockpot shell with all ingredients from onion to bay leaves.  Stir in beef to combine. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. About 30 minutes before the stew is done stir in the peas and green beans. Take 1 cup of the juices and whisk in corn starch.  Pour the mixture into the Crockpot and then complete cooking.