Chicken Ginger Scallion Meatballs and Brown Rice Edamame Risotto

Chicken Ginger Scallion Meatballs and Brown Rice Edamame Risotto

I have made these meatballs a few times and love them. I first saw this recipe in the 2008 December issue of Real Simple. Real Simple always makes me think...remember when life was fake and complicated instead of real and simple? Anyway, these meatballs are really simple to make, with just a few ingredients, but they have some really complex flavors. I usually make them with some brown rice and edamame, but I decided to kick it up a notch and make the rice into a risotto. I thought a simple Parmesan based risotto with edamame mixed in would be a really delightful match for the meatballs. Since I had never made this dish in this way, it took a bit of figuring out to time manage it all. You may have noticed I often have process it all. So, I decided to assemble the meatball first, refrigerate them while I made the risotto. Risotto usually takes about 25 minutes to make, but since I made it with brown rice instead of Arborio rice (which is what is normally used) my cook time was doubled at minimum. Also, risotto usually cooks with out a cover so the liquid can evaporate, but with the brown rice, I needed to cover it for most of the time to allow the rice to absorb the liquid to cook. 

Chicken Ginger Scallion meatballs

Ingredients

• 1 package/1 lb ground chicken
• 2 green onions or scallions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger (frozen)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Sauce

• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Edamame risotto

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large white onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 cups brown rice (arborio rice)
• 1 cup  white wine (I actually had some left over muscatto in the fridge, it added a nice sweetness)
• 4 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable/chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups shelled edamame, thawed
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• kosher salt and pepper

As always, before you start, prep everything. Chop the green onions, the white onion, garlic, and grate the ginger. Again, I freeze the ginger, peeled in small sections. It makes it MUCH easier to grate and it will thaw when you mix it in with other stuff. Also, it doesn’t loose as much “ginger juice.” 

Cook the Book: Fairy Gingerbread Cookies - Hit or Miss?

I love America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country. I subscribe to Cook's Country magazine and really enjoy it, but I rarely make any of the recipes. I love to bake, but it is often super time consuming so I usually only do it on the weekends. Plus, I love taking the results into work, to share and to get them out of my house. So, for the February/March edition, the cover is story is a recipe for Fairy Gingerbread Cookies, an updated and improved version in a 19th century cookbook. I love gingerbread and the recipe pretty doable, and I had everything on hand; a definite plus because I didn't want to leave my house. So, early Sunday morning, I ventured into the kitchen to bake these ginger cookies. My Fairy Gingerbread Cookies didn't come out exactly like the picture, for a few reasons I think, but they were really delicious, light and gingery with a delightful snap that I adore in gingersnaps. 

This image is taken from Cook's Country, where I got the recipe. My version were delicious, but did not look like this!

According to Ericka Bruce in Cook's Country, the recipe was originally found in Jessup Whitehead's 1893 book Cooking for Profit where the Fairy Gingerbread Cookies were described as a popular sweet treat to be served between rounds of Euchre. Since I love Euchre (a game popularized in the 1890's in the midwest and PA that is similar to Spades), I thought these cookies would be just the thing to brighten a cold Chicago winter weekend. Also, I thought it might inspire me to find some Euchre partners...it hasn't yet.

Ingredients
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
9 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
4 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature

Pantry Chicken Chili

I love chili. I think it is one of the perfect foods. I love the fact that it is a one pot meal and it freezes really well. It can be made relatively cheaply and cheese makes it even better. Cheese makes most things better, but especially chili. I decided that I wanted to make a chili for the new year, but I didn't want to go store; I wanted to make a chili with what I had. I usually have black beans on hand (they may be the perfect food). I had a some tomatoes and a pepper and I definitely had some frozen chicken. Again, I don't have exact measurements on things, but I will give you a list of what I scrounged to throw in the chili.

Ingredients:
3 pieces of Grilled Chicken (with no salt magic seasoning blend of spices) cut into squares
4 cans 16oz black beans, rinsed (I really like black beans)
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (chopped)
additional herbs and spices, including smoked paprika, cracked red pepper, black pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, and cumin; couple of teaspoons of hot sauce

Prep everything above. While the chicken is grilling, I usually prep everything else. I separate each food into piles, and put them in the order they are supposed to go into the pot (I may be a little bit ocd...)

Chicken cut up into little pieces

Sausage, White Bean and Kale Soup

Sausage, White Bean, and Kale Soup is one of my favorite soups to make. It is thick and stew-like, healthy and quite filling. It is a perfect soup to take to work for lunch and freezes really well. The soup is based off a recipe from Rachael Ray's magazine a few months back. Although I don't have exact measurements, since I kind of wing it, I will write out approximates for this soup. 

Sausage, White Bean, and Kale Soup

4 cans of low sodium White Beans

1 bunch of Kale

10-15 Baby Bella Mushrooms, diced

1 red onion, diced

5 turkey sausages (I prefer Hot) 

4 cloves of garlic, diced

4 cups low sodium chicken stock (add more water as necessary)

1 cup whole wheat (mini) shells pasta

2 tablespoons of flour (more may be necessary)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon herbes de provence

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cracked red pepper (optional)

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)

I usually start by prepping everything. I like to chop and dice all the things I will need for the soup.