Creamy Orzo With Pancetta

Jan 30, 2012 by lovelypantry

I had an opportunity to try a pasta called orzo. It’s a small pasta shaped like a grain of rice quite suitable for salads, soups, risotto or creamy pasta dishes. It’s a wonderful addition to my Pantry. This is a very quick and easy week night meal that I hope you’ll enjoy as much as I did. I made quite a few changes to the original recipe but I was more than happy with the result. Sometimes, all you need is an idea to get your creative juices flowing. The texture of this recipe reminds me of a risotto since the pasta has to absorb the liquid that it is cooked in.

I enjoyed making this dish and I can actually think of a few variations that I would love to try – like meatless, or with chicken instead of the pancetta. I love that there are so many options. The first time I made this dish… I forgot the cheese. I’ll just call that the “reduced calorie” version 🙂 It looked pretty though, and tasted great too.

 

 

Here’s how I made it. So easy. I bet you’ll be making this meal this week 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I remembered to add the cheese this time 🙂

 

 

 

This recipe was adapted from Everyday Food

 

Happy Monday!!! ~Lyn

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Hoisin Salmon with Quinoa & Zucchini

Jan 25, 2012 by lovelypantry

Salmon and Quinoa were first paired together by me about 4 years ago when I started to make serious changes to my diet. My chiropractor at the time, taught me about the benefits of whole grains and consuming less sugar. I was determined to learn more about how food can help heal the body. It took me a while to get used to eating certain vegetables that were fairly new to me. Zucchini was one of them. With benefits like – being a great source of vitamins A & C, folate, fibre and potassium, I had to find a way to LOVE this green goodness. Combining it with Quinoa, a grain I fell in love with immediately, seemed pretty practical 🙂

Simple. Healthy. Delicious.

 

 

 

 

I always say that eating healthy doesn’t have to be hard. Perhaps I say it often to remind myself. At the same time, I hope I am reminding others. I think this recipe is a perfect example. I started making this dish a few years ago and now I make so many variations of it, I can hardly keep track. Adding various vegetables in the quinoa mix is always a great idea. Diced Carrots, Sweet Peas, Sweet Corn, Sweet Potato, Butternut Squash, to name a few. All these things go nicely with quinoa.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far. Take good care 🙂

 

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Roasted Curried Chicken

Jan 23, 2012 by lovelypantry

I love curry. I think if I could curry everything, I probably would – just to try it. Ok well, not EVERYTHING. I’ve  curried Tofu a few times. That turned out super!

In Jamaica, it is traditional to stew curried chicken. And for the most part, that is how I’ve always prepared curried chicken. Its great. But I wanted to do it a bit differently. You know, just because. I figured it would be ok to roast chicken that has been seasoned with curry. Especially since I’ve found a new appreciation for roasting chicken. It’s so easy! And the skin is so crispy and yummy.

When stewing curried chicken, carrots and potatoes are the usual suspects in the dish, so I kept them. I couldn’t leave them out. Besides, they taste amazing when roasted!

 

 

 

Prep time!

 

 

I just love my oven. It works wonders!

 

 

And here you have it. Serve with rice, or like me – just like this.

Have a splendid week, my friends! ~Lyn

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Family Dining During The Holidays

Jan 4, 2012 by lovelypantry

For a holiday meal for my family, I generally don’t go overboard. There’s no need since there’s only 2 adults and 2 little picky eaters. Larger families may prepare turkey or ham or a whole chicken, but this does not work for my household at the moment. I did however, prepare some things for the first time. As always, I cook with faith, hoping that the meal will turn out great.

Success strikes again! I made Lamb Loin Chops – freestyle. Plus Buttermilk Chicken and my husbands favourite lasagna. I’m sharing the recipe for the Lamb today because it is so simple and the lamb chops were so elegant.

 

 

 

 

 

The lamb smelled wonderful as I browned them. I’m not sure how often I’ll be cooking lamb, but these pieces were very tender and flavourful.

 

And here was our holiday family dinner. Just for us 🙂 Small. Simple. Made with love.

 

 

 

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Happy New Year 2012!

Jan 3, 2012 by lovelypantry

I just wanted to start the year off by thanking everyone for all their support and encouragement since I created The Lovely Pantry. I have so many ideas for recipes and concepts for photographs. I’ve grown so much and met so many wonderful people along my journey so far. I’m excited and grateful to be able to continue my passion through this medium. The holiday season has been quite busy for me, to say the least. But it was wonderful to be around friends and relatives and to share meals and watch the children play together. I miss my own family immensely (parents, brother, cousins etc) but hopefully I will get to see them later this year. There’s nothing like having your own family with you during the holidays! I’m still very thankful and blessed for those that I have around me that make me feel “at home”.

Now that things are slowing down a little bit, I have a lot of posts to catch up on! I have a few goals for myself which includes posting more often, improving my photography, meeting more foodies and making bread! Those are just a few things I have on my list. Below are some photographs of a meal I prepared for an informal gathering at my home during the holidays. No recipes today. 🙂 I still have to show you what I cooked for my own family after Christmas. I found a new love for cookies! My husband says he thinks he’s found his new favourite cookie – this may mean trouble for me! 🙂

The menu is as follows, served with Jamaican style Rice and Peas:

Lemon Herbed Salmon. I’ve made this before – here’s the recipe. Underneath that herbed crispy topping, is moist salmon. It was lovely.

 

 

Veal Pastitsio – a definite crowd pleaser. I really love it, especially because my children enjoy it.

 

 

My guests specifically requested Oxtail! I aim to please! I don’t have oxtail very often but I definitely indulge the few times for the year that I actually make it. It brings back memories of Jamaica.

 

 

Perhaps I went a little overboard, but you have to know that I enjoy feeding people. I also love getting feedback from my experiments! So basically I used the Ginger Carrot Bread recipe and modified it. I split the batter in 2 and used smaller loaf pans to bake them in. I made a plain Ginger Carrot Bread, and another with raisins. I modified the same recipe and used Vanilla Chai Soy beverage instead of carrot juice. I made it before so I knew what it would taste like however, this time (again, I split the batter) I made one with dark chocolate chips and the other with dried cherries. Then of course I made a cake that I had not tried before – Orange cake made with orange rind and freshly squeezed orange juice. Heavenly! I will be posting that recipe very soon!

 

 

After a night of entertaining, I decided to make cookies. I don’t usually make cookies but I realized if I’m going to be a kitchen Goddess, I need to be able to make everything! 🙂 They turned out to be a success and I was even able to give them as gifts during the holiday season. Well, not the one’s my hubby loved the most.

 

 

And finally, this is the reason my husband adores me. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. No flour required. I was even able to use low-fat peanut butter, clearly for my own satisfaction. I plan to use organic peanut butter next time to see if there’s any major difference in the taste. That’s our secret though. He doesn’t have to know.

 

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed ringing in the New Year. I wish everyone the utmost success in everything they hope to achieve and accomplish this year and beyond. 2012 is going to be an awesome year filled with personal growth and wonderful friendships! I believe this, so I know it will become reality!

Join me on Facebook as I will be sharing some more photographs there too. I share my own recipes and photographs, as well as beautiful recipes by culinary artists all over the world on Twitter. Follow me!

Say hello to me anytime.

Take care.

 

Lyn

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