Fashionably Organic

Personal Pizza’s

Posted by Rachel Ashley on Nov 7, 2012 in Appetizers, Fashionably Organic, Italian | 0 comments

Ingredients:
EVOO
2 Whole Wheat English Muffins, halved
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons of freshly cut basil
1/2 cup smoked mozzarella, cubed
6 pepperonis
Salt and Pepper to taste

Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.Take two English muffins and cut each in half and place face side up on a baking sheet. Drizzle EVOO over the English muffins and place in the oven for 3 minutes to toast. While the English muffins are toasting cube the smoked mozzarella, chop freshly cut basil by chiffonade, which is just a fancy term for thin shredded strips. On two halves of the English muffins place a few cubes of mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, basil and top with more smoked mozzarella and salt and pepper to taste. On the other two halves of English muffins place a few cubes of smoked mozzarella, then place three pepperonis on each half and top with the remaining smoked mozzarella. Drizzle a little more EVOO over each English muffin, this will help caramelize the cheese. Place the baking sheet in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown. You can tell when the pizza is done when the cheese is caramelized and the edges of the English muffins are golden brown. Bon appetit!

No Pasta, Pasta!

Posted by Rachel Ashley on Jul 31, 2012 in Fashionably Organic, Italian, Meat, Pasta, Vegetables | 2 comments

No Pasta, Pasta! What’s that you may ask?!? There are very few people in this world that don’t like pasta, unfortunately, I am not one of them, ha ha, but I felt like creating a no pasta, pasta type dish. Something healthy and not too heavy, but full of traditional Italian flavors! This recipe turned out great and you can experiment with flavors by adding fresh basil, rosemary and garlic too! This feeds a crowd, so be sure to invite some friends over and pop a bottle of bubbly!

Enjoy!
XO,
Rachel Ashley

Ingredients :
4 Chicken Breast
2 cups Parmesan Reggiano
2 jars of Marinara Sauce
4 Zucchini
4 Yellow Squash
Handful of Basil Leaves
Salt and Pepper to Taste
EVOO

Recipe:
Begin by placing four chicken breast on a platter. Drizzle a couple tablespoons of EVOO and add salt and pepper to taste. Place your pan on the stove with enough cooking oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Set the temperature to medium-high. Let the oil heat up. For healthy cooking, I like to use extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). It tastes better as well! Once the oil is hot after a minute or two, place the chicken in the pan, using tongs. The oil may splatter a bit, but no worries. You will want to flip the breasts when the side being cooked turns golden brown; generally this will take four to six minutes, depending on what type of stove you are using. Using tongs flip the chicken breast over and cook on the other side for four to six minutes.

On a chopping block, cut the squash length wise and then horizontally, creating cubes. In a large sauce pan drizzle a couple tablespoons of EVOO and add the squash and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat, until tender. Once the squash is al dente, turn the stove to low heat. When the chicken breast have finished cooking, remove and cut breast into bite size pieces. Add the chicken to the sauce pan of squash. Grab two jars of your favorite marinara sauce and two cups of Parmesan Reggiano and add to the squash and chicken. Stir in the Parmesan Reggiano and marinara sauce making sure the squash and chicken is coated. Cook on medium heat until the cheese melts and the sauce is warmed through, about 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Chop fresh basil and sprinkle on top and serve. Bon Appetit!

Tossed Salad

Posted by Rachel Ashley on Jul 17, 2012 in Fashionably Organic, Salads, Side Dishes | 1 comment

My husbands family is moving out of the country and over the weekend we had a going away party for them. I was in charge of making a salad. I was so busy with work and house work, that I barely had time to make a salad, but I wanted to put my best foot forward. I didn’t want to buy a bag of mixed greens, throw it in one of my pretty bowls with dressing and call it a day. Instead, I wanted to make a hearty and tasty salad. Sometimes making a recipe from inspiration in the grocery store is the best. You can make salads in so many different ways: Caesar, Southwest, Cobb, etc. With each salad it brings its own individuality with different cheeses, vegetables, meats, etc. I was in the grocery store and I decided to pick some of my favorite vegetables and salad add-ins. Food needs to look good and be colorful and the best way is to include different vegetables, cheeses and meats. I love cherry tomatoes, they’re sweetness burst in your mouth. Colby jack cheese is marbled and adds a beautiful yellow spark to the salad. Mushrooms act as sponges and absorb the flavors of the dressing. Carrots add a beautiful orange color, as well as the pretty “trees”, as I called broccoli as a kid.

Ingredients:
8oz of Rotini
8oz of Baby Carrots
3 Broccoli Heads
10.5oz Cherry Tomatoes
8oz of Sliced Portobello Mushrooms
4oz of Colby Jack Cheese
8oz of Spring Salad Mix
8oz of salami
1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon of no slat organic seasoning (my fave is purchased at Costco)

Recipe:
In a medium pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add the Rotini and cook for 8 minutes until al dente. While the pasta is cooking throw the spring mix of greens in a large bowl. Dice the carrots, broccoli, portobello mushrooms and Colby jack cheese and add to the salad. Add the cherry tomatoes. Once the pasta has finished cooking, strain and let it come to room temperature. Once the pasta has cooled add 1 tablespoon of seasoning and fresh diced rosemary to the pasta and toss, making sure each noddle is coated. Add 8oz of diced salami to the salad. Add the pasta to the salad and toss. Serve with your favorite healthy dressing!

Garlic Irish Soda Brea

Posted by Rachel Ashley on Jun 20, 2012 in Appetizers, Bread, Fashionably Organic | 0 comments

The other night I made Italian food for dinner, my favorite! I had leftover Irish soda bread, so I decided to use it for my garlic bread. Even though it had rasins in it, it was a sweet compliment to the savory flavors of typical garlic bread. When making garlic bread, I love to heat the bread through, enough that it is warm to the touch. I then take a garlic clove and rub it against the warm bread, infusing the bread with that great garlic taste. I love garlic and whats even better is it’s great for you!

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 stick of organic butter
12 (1/2-inch thick) slices Irish soda bread
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of fresh dill
2 garlic cloves

Recipe:
To make the garlic bread: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Drizzle the oil over the bread slices. For additional creaminess spread a thin layer of butter on each slice. Arrange the bread on a baking sheet. Heat the bread through, enough that it is warm to the touch. Then take a garlic clove and rub it against the warm bread, infusing the bread with garlic. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and freshly chopped dill. Place the bread back into the oven and bake until the bread is crisp and golden, about 5 minutes.

Shrimp and Fried Rice

Posted by Rachel Ashley on Jun 13, 2012 in Asian Favorites, Fashionably Organic, Seafood, Side Dishes | 0 comments

On Monday night I made my husband brown fired rice and mini shrimp. The recipe was very easy and tasty! I wish I would have had peas and carrots to add to the rice, but I made due with what I had. I had a cup of leftover brown rice, that I wanted to use up from the weekend., shrimp and I always have eggs! He loves fried rice and shrimp, so I thought it would be a quick and easy way to use up a few ingredients I had on hand. This is a healthy dinner filled with protein, healthy carbs and omega-3′s. The recipe takes less than 15 minutes and has five ingredients; how easy is that?

Ingredients:
1 cup of cooked brown rice
1 organic egg
1 cup of mini pre-cooked shrimp (deveined and no tail)
3 drops soy sauce
3 drops sesame oil
1 tablespoon of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Recipe:

In a small pan drizzle a tablespoon of EVOO. Crack one large organic egg and scramble. Add 1 cup of cooked brown rice to the pan and warm through. Add the shrimp, I used pre-cooked shrimp, so I cooked the shrimp for no more than a minute, to heat through. You know the shrimp has been heated through when they start to curl up tighter. You don’t want to cook shrimp too long, otherwise they become tough and rubbery in texture. If you aren’t using pre-cooked shrimp, be sure to devein and remove tails and cook for about a minute in a seperate pan. Once the brown rice and shrimp have been heated through add 3 drops of soy sauce and 3 drops of sesame sauce and freshly cracked black pepper to taste. I am always really careful with how much salt I add to a recipe, that being said, soy sauce and sesame sauce has a lot of sodium so you may or may not need to add salt. If you have peas and carrots they would definitely be a great addition to the rice. Plate and serve with your favorite tarter sauce!

Enjoy!
XO,
Rachel Ashley

Chicken Sausage with Fusilli Pasta

Posted by Rachel Ashley on May 31, 2012 in Chicken, Fashionably Organic, Italian, Meat, Pasta | 0 comments

Ingredients:
1 can of organic tomatoe sause
1 large jar of your favorite marinara sauce
1lb of Fusilli Whole Wheat Pasta
3 or 4 cooked chick sausages
1/2 of a sweet onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
8 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon of fresh dill
2 tablespoons of Parmigiano Reggiano
Salt and pepper taste

Recipe:
Cook the chicken sausages thoroughly (I precooked the chicken sausages the day before). Once cooked, slice the chicken sausages a quarter of an inch thick (similar to thick pepporoni slice). Set the chicken aside. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, once the water is bubbling add fusilli pasta and cook for about 8 minutes, until al dente. Coat a saute pan with olive oil and place over medium heat. When the oil gets hazy, add the onions, garlic and cook until the vegetables are soft, but still translucent, about 8 minutes. Add organic tomato sauce and chicken sausage to the cooked onions and garlic, cook until thickened, about 10 minutes. Add the marinara sauce and warm through. Strain pasta and reserve about of cup of pasta water, in case the sauce is to thick for your liking. Ladle the pasta into the marinara sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste, fresh herbs and stir thoroughly, reserving a tablespoon of fresh basil for garnish. Pour pasta into a large serving dish, garnish with a few basil leaves and the remaining thinly sliced basil. Freshly grate parmigiano reggiano on top and serve!

Enjoy!
XO,
Rachel Ashley

Current Kitchen Obsessions

Posted by Rachel Ashley on May 24, 2012 in Fashionably Organic | 1 comment

Ever since I got back from South Korea I have been itching to make some creative and fun summer dishes. I absolutely love to cook, it is truly an escape for me. Even though South Korea served as an inspiration for new food ideas, a girl could always use a few more kitchen utensils to inspire her even more….wink, wink! I received an email telling me about all these great sales yesterday…Ralph Lauren, Anthropologie, Shopbop and Yoox , and wouldn’t you know it?, I love all of these places! But I absolutely love Anthropologie’s trinkets. I could get lost in that store forever, its full of clothes, jewelry, shiny things, housewares, books and trinkets; all the things I love! Because of my Internet trip over to Anthropologie’s website, I have now added a few more things to my wish list! Those email marketing campaigns sure do get you; I guess they work, because people like me either buy right away (out of impulse) or add to their wish list. I was a good girl today, out of self control, I merely added to my wishlist! Anymore emails like this and they may get lucky, because its so much more fun to be a bad girl.

What’s on your wish list? Any fun trinkets? I would love for you to share, my list just might get longer if you do!

XO,

Rachel Ashley