Real Simple: Baked Spinach and Pea Risotto

I am still in shock at how good this recipe turned out! I saw it in my Real Simple a couple of months ago and kind of wrote it off as a bad idea, but when I saw that a blogger friend of mine tried it and liked it, I decided to give it a whirl.

Holy, geez was it delicious.

And it couldn't have been more simple. Get it? Simple? Because it's from Real Simple? Not funny? Okay, I'll move on.

I made the recipe almost exactly as indicated, sauteing some shallots (I added a couple of minced garlic cloves and about a tsp. of dried thyme as well during this step) and then adding white wine, broth and rice before popping it in the oven. It took me less than 10 minutes to put it together, and once it's in the oven you get to walk away for 20 minutes. Once it's done baking, you just stir in cheese, peas and spinach, and BOOM - risotto! Sure, maybe it's not exactly authentic risotto, but it's close enough to be super-delicious, and on a week night, I'd rather have that time back to sit on the couch with a glass of wine and watch the Vampire Diaries than stand in front of the stove stirring and adding broth, stirring and adding broth, stirring and adding broth...

It was seriously delicious. I made it as a main course with a salad on the side, but it would be great as a side with rotisserie chicken, or even some sauteed shrimp or scallops, as well.

I think next time I'll throw in some mushrooms with the shallots, as I like any excuse to eat mushrooms, but other than that, I thought it was great!

Real Simple: Sweet and Spicy Asian Pork Shoulder

I made this for Superbowl Sunday this year, and it was a big hit at our house.

For us, it's definitely a weekend recipe, as even though it takes just a few minutes to get it ready for the crock pot (10 minutes), it takes forever to finish cooking. But I guess if we didn't have curious and hungry dogs (a bad combination) to worry about, we could start it in the morning and come home to an almost finished dinner on a weekday.

One recommendation I would make is to add a thinly sliced onion to the crock pot when you start cooking. The onions soaked up all the yummy sauce and tasted amazing. The rest of the recipe I followed verbatim. I chose not to use the five-spice powder as I forgot to get it at the store and I didn't have any on-hand. I didn't miss it, but you might want to try it. It could make a great recipe even better.