Recipe(tried): This Weeks Winners - Pasta w/ Goat Cheese & Chiles, Spinach, Onion & Provolone Pizza, Fish Veracruz, Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce, Thai Chicken Curry, Faux Risotto w/ Spinach & Tomato

**** This Weeks Winners ****

# 1 - Pasta with Goat Cheese & Chiles

I came from the Bowers, PA Chile Festival and all that was on my mind were chiles. I came home and made this. Just hot enough for my non-chile-head DH. Great meal with some garlic knots.

Pasta with Goat Cheese, Chives & Chiles
Recipe By : Adapted from Marcella Hazan
Servings : 4

1 6 oz pkg goat cheese -- softened a bit
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh chives -- chopped
1 chile pepper -- chopped to taste
salt -- to taste
1 lb dried pasta of your choice

In a small bowl, combine the cheese, oil, chives, chile and salt and mix well with a fork until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Cook the pasta and drain it, pouring some of the water into a serving bowl. Swirl the water around the bowl to warm it, pour out all but 1 tbsp of water. The water will help the sauce, which is rather dry to coat the pasta more uniformly.

Immediately place the drained pasta in the bowl, add the goat cheese mixture and toss thoroughly to spread the sauce and coat the pasta strands well. Serve at once. No additional cheese is required.

Serving Ideas : garlic knots

---

# 2 - Homemade Pizza

I saw a recipe and thought all the ingredients on that pizza were
my DH's favorite foods - spinach and onions. I already had pizza
crusts in the freezer so I thought it would be a quick dinner to
make. The original recipe had you making the dough and grilling
the pizza crusts on the grill. I adapted it for pizza dough that
was already made and we all loved them. Great combination of
flavors. Yummy.

Spinach, Onion And Provolone Pizza
Recipe by : Adapted from Vegetarian Times, 8/2000, pg 44

4 personal size pizza crusts
1 olive oil -- plus more as needed
2 cups halved thinly sliced onions -- up to 3
8 ounces baby spinach leaves (4-5 packed cups) -- rinsed well
2 medium clove garlic -- minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 cup provolone cheese -- shredded

MAKES 4 PERSONAL PAN PIZZAS EGG-FREE

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Make sure to have pizza stone in oven when preheating. Preheat for 15 minutes.

2. In large, nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 8
minutes. Stir in spinach, sprinkle lightly with salt, cover and cook just until spinach wilts, about 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and vinegar, cover and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. Cover each pizza crust with some of the spinach-onion mixture. Sprinkle with provolone cheese and pine nuts.

4. Put pizza on peel or on back of baking sheet. When oven is ready, slide pizza on stone. Bake for 8 minutes at 400 F.

5. Remove from oven and cut into 4 slices each. Serve immediately.

PER SLICE: 222 CALORIES; 8 G PROTEIN; 9 G TOTAL FAT; (3G SAT. FAT) 27 G
CARBOHYDRATE; 10 MG CHOLESTEROL; 682 MG SODIUM; 2 G FIBER

---

# 3 - Fish Veracruz

The original recipe for this came from Mesa Mexicana by Feniger/Milliken but I got it from Celebrity Dish Magazine (my new favorite). I changed the fish and the chiles (proliferation of picked chiles from Chile Festival this past weekend). Came out terrific. Served it with white rice and some corn on the cob.

Fish Veracruz
Recipe By : RisaG
Servings: 2

1 lb skinned fish fillets -- cut in 4 portions
3 tbsp olive oil
1 sm onion -- finely sliced
2 lg cloves garlic -- minced
2 chile peppers -- stem/cut in strips
1 med-lg seeded tomato -- core/cut in strips
2 tbsp fresh oregano -- coarsely chopped OR
1/2 tsp dried oregano mixed w/2 T fresh parsley
1/2 cup green olives -- pitted & sliced
2 limes
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tsp clam soup base (From Better Than Bouillon) -- mixed with
3/4 cup warm water -- OR
3/4 cup clam juice

Mix together the clam soup base and warm water. Whisk well until completely combined. Set aside.*

Season fish with salt and pepper (on both sides). Heat oil in cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Add fish and saute, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes total. Remove to plate.

Add onion to cast-iron skillet and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, chiles, tomato, oregano, olives and juice of 1 lime. Cook 1 minute longer. Add wine, raise heat to HIGH and boil until liquid is reduced by half. Add clam bouillon mixture (or clam juice) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low.

Return fish to pan, along with any accumulated juices. Cover and simmer 5 minutes or until fish is opaque and firm throughout. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer fish to shallow bowl. Ladle on a generous spoonful of broth and vegetable mixture. Cut remaining lime into wedges. Use to garnish bowl, if you desire. Serve at once.

Per serving: 304 calories, 16g fat.

NOTES : Risa's notes:

* If you can't find Better than Bouillon clam base, use 3/4 cup clam juice from a bottle

Original recipe from Mesa Mexicana by Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken. I got it from Celebrity Dish Magazine, August 2000, p. 66. Original asked for Sea Bass. I used turbot.

---

# 4 - Pasta

This was a terrific and easy pasta sauce. I served the pasta with my now famous garlic knots and it was delicious. Even 5 year old loved it.

Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce
Recipe By : RisaG

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small head garlic -- roasted
1 can diced tomatoes -- (2 oz) undrained (2
to 14)
salt and pepper -- to taste
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 bunch basil -- washed & chiffonade
2 tbsp marjoram -- crumbled

Heat oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Squeeze roasted garlic into oil. Saute for a moment to release fragrance. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper and cayenne. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add herbs to pan. Cook for 2 more minutes. Serve over short pasta - rigatoni, farfalle, penne, or similar.

Served with garlic knots.

---

# 5 - Thai-Style Chicken

This is a quick dish. Once all the food is prepped, it should take
less than 15 minutes to cook. A while before, put up a pot of white
rice and stir-fry a few veggie and you'll have a full meal. This
was pretty good. I didn't have coconut milk so I subbed some
nonfat cream with some coconut extract. It had the same taste.
I also added a bit of cornstarch & water slurry for thickened.
If you do this, just don't let it really boil or the mixture
will curdle.

Thai Chicken Curry
Recipe By : Bon Appetit, August 2000, p. 64
Servings : 4

1 14 oz can unsweetened coconut milk -- NOT Coco Goya
1 1/4 tsp Thai curry paste -- I used less
1 lg red bell pepper -- cut in 1/3" strips
1 med onion -- thinly sliced
1 lb chicken tenders -- crosswise in half
1 tbsp brown sugar (packed)
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 cup tomatoes -- chopped & seeded
1/3 cup fresh basil -- thinly sliced
1 tbsp fresh lime juice

Bring 1/4 cup coconut milk and curry paste to a boil in large skillet over medium-high heat, whisking constantly. Add bell pepper and onion, saute 5 minutes. Stir in chicken, remaining coconut milk, sugar and fish sauce. Cook until chicken is cooked through, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 3 ingredients and simmer 1 minute. Season with salt.

---

# 6 - Faux Risotto w/Spinach and Tomato

I had no plans for tonight's dinner. Had to deal with what was on hand.
I had no arborio rice but wanted risotto. So I did the following and it
was really good. Served it with some soup and garlic knots.

Faux Risotto with Spinach & Tomato
Recipe By : RisaG
Serving Sizes : 3 Preparation Time :0:00

1 cup basmati rice
4 cups vegetable broth -- warmed
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion -- thinly sliced
2 lg cloves garlic -- sliced
2 cups fresh spinach -- chopped
1 cup tomato sauce -- pref tomato & basil
Garnish:
1/2 cup parmesan cheese -- freshly grated

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Heat the broth until simmering. Turn off.

When skillet is hot, add oil and onions. Saute for 1 minute and then add garlic. Saute for 2 minutes until fragrant. Add rice. Stir well so all rice is coated with oil. Add 1/2 cup broth. Let simmer in broth until almost absorbed. Add more broth until rice is covered. Let simmer until absorbed and add more. Do this until rice is almost tender. Add tomato sauce and stir well. Add spinach and cover for a few minutes until it is wilted. You want it to remain bright green so don't cook it to death.

When done, add cheese. Stir well. Turn off heat. Serve.

Garnish with more Parmesan cheese.

RisaG