Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Elote Style Quinoa Salad

That’s it! Summer is on its waaaaay! And just in time for this bright, nutty, totally satisfying, creamy dream salad.

Elote quinoa salad in a bowl with cotija cheese and a fork
This post is sponsored by ALDI

It packs a real nutritional punch thanks to the quinoa and black beans, but then OH, DOES IT GET ZAZZED. Velvety peppers confit, piles of fresh juicy sweet corn, and a homemade dressing bringing the best of the best elote (Mexican street corn) flavors together like zippy lime, salty cotija cheese, and chili powder. And as always, we have big love for ALDI for having everything we need for this dream to come true, including all of the fresh (like, “it gets delivered every single day” fresh!) summery produce packed into this salad delight.

Mexican street corn, served either as elote (on the cob) or esquites (kernels in a cup), is a staple snack in Mexico, and rightly so. This beautifully savory grilled corn is either stuck on wooden sticks or shaved from the cob and served in little cups depending, painted in mayo, lime juice, cotija, and chili powder, and joyfully carried around and munched on by many. The very best of grab-and-go!

We’re taking inspiration from all those beautiful delicious flavors, shaving that fresh raw sweet corn right off the cob, and piling and tossing and mixing with some other chompable greats. Warning: highly addictive salad ahead.

In This Post: Everything For Elote Quinoa Salad

Ingredients For This Elote Quinoa Salad

The ingredient list here is simple, don’t need much to deliver big on flavor. And so we’re going to our affordable and high-quality faves over at ALDI for the entirety of this list.

They have such a wide variety of delicious fresh produce, lots of organic options, and you KNOW we love that ALDI cheese section (seriously, it’s amazing), so of course we’re hitting that up here! Here’s what you’ll need:

For the salad:

  • Simply Nature Organic Quinoa
  • fresh sweet corn
  • Simply Nature Organic Black Beans
  • mini sweet peppers (cooked into pepper confit)
  • cilantro

For the dressing:

  • Burman’s Mayo
  • Pueblo Lindo Grated Cotija Cheese
  • Stonemill Chili Powder
  • buttermilk
  • garlic
  • limes
Ingredients for elote quinoa salad

Let’s Make This Fresh Summery Salad

Alright, let’s get this summer star ready.

  1. Quinoa and prep. Use your fave method to cook quinoa and get your sweet corn shaved from the cobs.
  2. Pepper confit. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil in a skillet and add the pepper rings. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until very soft and roasty-looking. For a flavor bonus, you can squeeze a little lime juice in the pan to lift all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan when you’re done!
  3. Homemade dressing! You’ll whisk all the ingredients up and then taste and adjust as necessary. It might taste super salty and that’s okay! It’s going on a bunch of raw, unseasoned ingredients so you’re going to want it to have lots of flavor.
  4. Toss and serve. Throw everything in a bowl (or okay fine, arrange nicely if you are a star) just before serving. Drizzle with all that beautiful creamy dressing. Yum!

That’s it! Pretty easy peasy. Then you can continue to doll it up as you like.

But Raw Corn? In a Salad?

Yes! Raw sweet corn is quite delicious! It’s crunchy, bursty, and has an almost creamy sweet taste. It really is quite a dream!

You’ll just take a sharp knife and run it right down your cob and get all those yummy pale golden gems off and into your salad bowl. Yes and yes.

If you’re not feeling like taking the raw corn adventure (be brave! you can do it!), you can of course totally cook your corn first. Get a nice char on it from the grill to really up those elote flavors or you could sauté it in a hot skillet for a similar effect.

If you’re really in a pinch, you could sear up some frozen corn, but it won’t have quite the same crunch or sweet pop.

Elote quinoa salad in a bowl with a fork

The Best Ways To Cook Quinoa For This Salad

The stovetop method is a good way to go:

  1. Rinse for at least 30 seconds under running water or toast your quinoa first! It helps get rid of the natural bitterness on the outside quinoa (thanks to the naturally-occurring saponin coating).
  2. Use a 2 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa ratio (using broth instead of water can add more flavor!).
  3. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, cover, and let steam for a few minutes until those little curly coils bust out.
  4. Remove lid and fluff with fork. It should smell nutty, fluff easily, and no liquid should be left!

If you’re making larger batches, it can also be done in a rice cooker or Instant Pot! Make sure you still rinse or toast your quinoa first!

  • Rice cooker: Still a 2 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa ratio and it is usually done in about 30 minutes.
  • Pressure cooker: 1.5 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa. Cook on high for 3 mins, natural release for 10 minutes.

Mayo Alternatives

If you don’t want to go the mayo route, even though its salty creaminess can’t be beat, you certainly have other options for your dressing. You could try:

  • Greek yogurt
  • sour cream
  • Mexican crema
  • maybe an avocado?

You may have to adjust your buttermilk and cheese ratios to get the right consistency you’re looking for depending on what you use, but certainly play around with it!

What To Serve with Elote Salad

Between the quinoa and the black beans, this makes a really lovely and satisfying meal. But if you’re looking to bring some friends to the table, some grilled or rotisserie chicken would be delicious. A little bowl of salad and then all the chips and all the salsas and all the guac? Yes, please.

Serve this salad on the side of a taco party? THANK YOU FOR ASKING. Maybe some of these would be nice:

What we’re saying is, summer is coming, this salad is so, so good, and you are never going to want to stop.

Elote Style Quinoa Salad: Frequently Asked Questions

What should I serve with this?

This salad works great by itself and is incredibly filling, but if you wanted, some grilled chicken would be delicious to serve the salad alongside.

I’m out of buttermilk. Any substitution ideas?

Buttermilk is actually very easy to make at home! Read how to make your own here.

Any other kinds of cheeses to sprinkle on top?

Cotija cheese is our #1 pick here, but if you can’t find it, queso fresco can also work. It just crumbles a bit differently and is saltier.

Can this salad be prepped ahead of time for the week?

It sure can! Just save your dressing drizzles and cheese sprinkles for right before serving.

Print
Elote style salad in a bowl with a fork square

Elote Style Quinoa Salad


  • Author: Lindsay
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 8 servings

Description

Elote Quinoa Salad made with velvety peppers confit, juicy sweet corn, homemade dressing, cotija cheese, lime, and spices. Perfect for summer and so, so good! 


Ingredients

Units

Salad:

  • 1 cup Simple Nature Organic Quinoa, uncooked
  • 5 ears sweet corn, cut off the cob
  • 1 can Simply Nature Organic Black Beans, rinsed
  • 1 package mini sweet peppers, sliced into small rings (about 23 cups)
  • olive oil for cooking
  • 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Dressing:

  • 1/3 cup Burman’s Mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1 clove garlic, grated
  • 1 teaspoon Stonemill Chili Powder
  • 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
  • juice and zest of two limes
  • Pueblo Lindo Grated Cotija Cheese for topping

Instructions

  1. Cook quinoa and prep ingredients. 
  2. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil in a skillet and add the pepper rings. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until very soft and roasty-looking. Squeeze a little lime juice in the pan to lift all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan when you’re done! More flavor!
  3. Whisk up the dressing ingredients. Taste and adjust. It’s okay if it’s super salty – it’s going on a bunch of raw, unseasoned ingredients so we want it to have lots of flavor!
  4. Toss ingredients or arrange in a bowl just before serving (quinoa, corn, beans, peppers, cilantro, and topped with dressing and cheese). Serve with grilled chicken, dip with chips, or on its own as a meal!
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Category: Salad
  • Method: Toss
  • Cuisine: Mexican-Inspired

Keywords: elote quinoa salad, elote salad, elote recipe

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Thank you to ALDI for sponsoring this recipe!


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Monday, May 23, 2022

Pesto Shrimp and Parmesan Risotto

Pesto shrimp with risotto and a fork in a bowl
This recipe is sponsored by DeLallo

There are several things we could say and then just stop and you’d of course run to the kitchen with no explanation because YUM. Like, “creamy parmesan risotto” or “tender, juicy, garlic & lemon marinated jumbo shrimp” or “pan-seared and draped in a bright lush pesto.” 

But honestly, what if all of that was part of the same dish and you were already head over heels about it?

It’s true, it’s true. The risotto is tender and rich and feels so special, the subtly sweet perfection of the quick marinated shrimp is sealed in with a golden brown sear. The pesto, oh the pesto…fresh, zippy, full of warm summer basil flavor. This one’s a treat.

Pesto shrimp in a bowl with risotto and a fork and a glass of white wine on the side

Ingredients You’ll Need For This Pesto Shrimp and Parm Risotto

Lots of simple yet strong flavors here to bring this gem together. You just know when you see a list including butter, garlic, Parmesan, and pesto that you are in for a REAL FUN JOURNEY AHEAD. Here’s what you’re grabbing for this:

For the Parmesan Risotto

  • butter
  • garlic or shallot (or both! yes, please)
  • arborio rice (DeLallo’s arborio rice is absolutely perfect for this!)
  • white wine 
  • chicken broth
  • Parmesan cheese

For the Pesto Shrimp

  • jumbo shrimp
  • garlic
  • olive oil
  • salt
  • lemon zest (optional)
  • jarred pesto (we love DeLallo brand with our whole hearts!)
  • fresh juicy tomatoes (Roma or beefsteak are great)
  • fresh herbs for topping

The white wine offers a slight acidic element to balance the richness of your risotto, enhancing the flavor. But if you’re looking to skip it, you can just replace it with more broth plus a little lemon juice.

Sometimes people will also use unsweetened white grape or apple juice with a splash of citrus, a splash of apple cider vinegar, or white/red wine vinegar in place of wine in a recipe like this.

Let’s Get Cooking

There are a few steps to this one and though it is still quite simple, we’re dealing with risotto here, so speed isn’t the name of the game.

  1. Marinate. Place the shrimp, garlic, 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt, and lemon zest in a bowl or plastic bag. Mix it all together so the shrimp is soaking up every bit of that flavor goodness. An hour or more is ideal but if you at least get it going while you cook your risotto, you’re still golden.
  2. Risotto. Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet and then sauté the garlic/shallots until soft and fragrant. Add the arborio rice, and stir to coat with butter. Splash in your white wine for sizzle time and then add your broth and play the stir-simmer-repeat game for a bit until soft and creamy. Finish with Parmesan, salt, and pepp.
  3. Pesto Shrimp: Heat your skillet and olive oil over medium-high heat (if you’re using nonstick). Toss your shrimp and cook for a couple minutes per side, depending on their size. In the last minute or so of cooking, start brushing on that beautiful DeLallo pesto to coat the shrimp (don’t do this too early – we want to preserve that peak pesto yumminess!)

Then you’ll pile those juicy seared pesto shrimp on your bed of risotto. Add some bright pops of chopped fresh tomatoes and herbs, one more lemon squeezer across the top, and you are basically royalty. SO GOOD.

Close up of shrimp pesto

Different Ways To Cook Shrimp For This Recipe

Because we love the little, like, flavor seal™️ that the direct heat creates for the shrimp & pesto situation, our preferred methods for cooking the shrimp here are:

  • pan-fried in a nonstick skillet: That’s what we did here and it’s very, very simple.
  • grilled on a skewer: Grill weather abounds now, so you could also sear these jumbo beauties that way. Maybe you want to poke some cute little cherry tomatoes on there while you’re at it? We can’t imagine that would disappoint! 😍

Poaching is also definitely an option if that is your preferred method! We just can’t get enough of that sear over here though.

Jar of DeLallo pesto

What To Look For When Buying Pesto

Have you met our truest best friend of pastas and jarred sauces, DeLallo? What dreamboats they are. Just, they never disappoint!

Sometimes jarred pestos can be kind of overly creamy and a dullish green, which can feel a little meh when you are hoping for wow. But DeLallo’s jarred pesto is much brighter, fresher, less creamy, and the flavor is definitely very wow.

It uses handpicked basil, olive oil, crunchy pine nuts & cashews, garlic, Pecorino Romano AND Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses, so HELLO FLAVOR PARADE! Def recommend getting a few jars of this on hand for yourself.

And because pesto doesn’t require any kind of cooking/heating, it really, really is best to just use at the very end of cooking to maximize all of its fresh flavors!

Instead, just a hefty swath over that hot seared shrimp and all that olive oil, bright fresh basil, zippy garlic, creamy pine nut, and Parmesan flavor just soars into your hearts and tastebuds.

Things To Serve With This Pesto Shrimp

We really, really recommend the MEGA yummy Parmesan risotto here. We used the authentic Italian arborio rice from DeLallo and it really just makes this dish. There’s nothing like it!

Other options for serving, if you’re wanting to play a game of mix-and-match with this meal, include:

Pesto Shrimp and Parmesan Risotto: Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use something else in place of shrimp?

Pesto-brushed scallops would also be a delicious choice here! You can read more in this recipe about how we like to sear scallops.

What kind of herbs do you recommend for this dish?

Parsley, chives, or basil would be really, really good choices and pair well.

How creamy should the risotto be?

For the risotto, when in doubt I’d recommend erring on the side of more liquid to get a creamier texture!

Print
Pesto shrimp and risotto in a bowl with a fork square

Pesto Shrimp and Parmesan Risotto


  • Author: Lindsay
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings

Description

Tender, juicy, garlic-marinated shrimp brushed with a bright pesto sauce and piled high on creamy Parmesan risotto with fresh tomatoes and herbs sprinkled on it all. Wow wow wow! Diving in now! 


Ingredients

Units

Parmesan Risotto:

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 clove minced garlic or 1 minced shallot (or both)
  • 1 cup DeLallo Risotto Arborio Rice
  • 1/2 cup white wine (sub chicken broth + a little lemon juice)
  • 3-4 cups of chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
  • optional: tiny drizzle of truffle oil

Pesto Shrimp:

  • 12 pounds jumbo shrimp (shells removed and tails on or off, whatever you prefer)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • zest of 1 lemon (optional)
  • 1/4 cup DeLallo jarred pesto
  • 12 roma, beefsteak, or any kind of fresh juicy tomatoes, chopped
  • herbs for topping

Instructions

  1. Marinate the Shrimp: Place the shrimp, garlic, 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt, and lemon zest in a bowl or plastic bag. Mix it all together so the shrimp is coated with all that flavor goodness. Stick it back in the fridge to let it marinate while you make the risotto (for about 1 hour, if you can).
  2. Make the Risotto: In a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic or shallots and saute for a minute or two, until soft and fragrant.
  3. Add the arborio rice, stir to coat with butter. Add the white wine and enjoy the sizzles. Add the broth, 1/2 cup at a time, and simmer/stir after each addition until the rice is soft and creamy.
  4. When the risotto is done, add the Parmesan and stir until incorporated. Add truffle oil if you want (omg it’s so good). Salt + pepp to taste.
  5. Make the Pesto Shrimp: Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat (I use nonstick for this). Add the shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, depending on their size. Brush the cooked shrimp with the pesto for the last 60 seconds or so of cooking.
  6. Serve risotto topped with those juicy pesto shrimp. Speckle some chopped fresh tomatoes around in there and top with herbs or something delicate and green (I used microgreens in the photo). Salt, pepper, a little more lemon juice and you’re in a very happy place.
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Sauté
  • Cuisine: Italian-Inspired

Keywords: pesto shrimp, risotto recipe, parmesan risotto

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Monday, May 16, 2022

Strawberry White Chocolate Cookies

Does one ever say no to a perfectly soft but still chewy, very BUTTER-FORWARD cookie? What about one with chewy bright little bits of strawberry and silky-sweet white chocolate chips? Now that we have your attention…

Strawberry white chocolate cookies on a pink background

OMG WHAAAAAT THESE ARE SO GOOOOOOOD.

Just, so good. They’re (maybe overly) large, they’re melty, and they’re all your favorite cookie textures. The freeze-dried strawberries used for these get so pleasingly chewy as they soak up the butter while baking, putting raisins-in-cookies to absolute shame (depending on your deeply held beliefs about raisins in baked goods, might be too late for that). The white chocolate is the richest and creamiest with its very sweet sweet beautifully balanced with the strawberries’ tart tart.

Have we mentioned how good?

In This Post: Everything You’ll Need For Strawberry White Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients For These Strawberry White Chocolate Cookies

First things first, let’s get your heart and grocery list ready for these buttery disks of joy. Here’s what you’ll need:

  • salted butter (unsalted could work too, but salted is really a treat here!)
  • light brown sugar
  • granulated sugar
  • egg
  • vanilla
  • flour
  • baking soda
  • salt
  • freeze-dried strawberries
  • white chocolate chips (Loved Ghiradelli best! ALDI’s were also good. Nestle wasn’t a fave but they’d work!)

Grab your cookie sheets, your parchment paper, all your hopes and dreams, and get ready for something special.

How To Make These Delicious Cookies

Here’s how they come together. We went all-in for about 9-12 giant cookies for this recipe but, of course, if you want to do sweet dainty little baby cookies instead of our jumbo ones, go for it!

  1. Cookie batter. Combine the butter with the sugar until creamy. Next, egg and vanilla; mix until just combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined then fold in the white chocolate chips.
  2. Crush the strawberries. Gently crush the pieces by hand into small chunks. Careful not to crush all the way into a powder. Fold those strawbs into the dough!
  3. Roll and bake. We rolled them into about 9-12 larger dough balls and placed them on a parchment-lined baking sheet to bake for 9-11 minutes.

We veer on the side of under-baking (about 9ish minutes), so when you pull them out, they will be a little puffed. RESIST EVERY URGE IN YOUR SOUL and let them sit for just a few minutes so they can sink. You will be rewarded with soft, dense, tart-sweet little buttery medallions that will make you cry real tears.

What To Know About Freeze-Dried Strawberries

So here’s the deal on these little freeze-dried babies. They are a dream of a cookie add-in because they soak up moisture (read: all that delicious butter) and turn into buttery chewy little wonder bits. And who are we if not someone who appreciates a good butter vehicle? But because they soak up the moisture, it is important to not use too much flour!

  • A word on the flour. We recommend spooning the flour into the measuring cup to get the amount right so you don’t get cookies that are too puffy! You want them to be able to sink and get dense/soft/chewy/dreamy.
  • Gently crush into chunks, not powder. They will turn the cookies grey if you have too much of a powder (a little powder is unavoidable and totally okay!).
  • Can I use fresh strawberries? We wouldn’t! They’d be too wet. But if you try and get a different outcome, do let us know!
  • Where do I find these magical things? We have often found them at ALDI and Target, usually near all the other dried fruits. You can also order them on Amazon (affiliate link).
Strawberry white chocolate cookies with freeze-dried strawberries in a dish

Other Uses For Freeze-Dried Strawberries

Well, now that you have a bag of these bad boys and are already sitting down enjoying a batch of these cookie greats and thinking, “Where else can I use these little gems?”, might we suggest…

  • plopped into a bowl of warm oatmeal
  • stirred into your yogurt for a different texture berry
  • you an overnight oats champ? we have an idea for you…
  • added to cold and creamy smoothie

Also, please do not underestimate just what weird and wonderful little snackers they are, so eating them by the pinchful is acceptable!

Make-Ahead Instructions

Do you have some people to wow after dinner next week or do you just want to have something ready to go when you inevitably at some point in the future wander into your kitchen at 10pm thinking “Ugh, why aren’t there cookies?!”

Well, here’s the solution:

  • Make the dough, roll it into balls and then freeze! That way they are ready to pop on the pan and bake whenever your heart shall call to them. Just give them a couple extra minutes of bake time from frozen.
  • If you want to bake them and not jump immediately on the bake-and-eat-all train like we do, you can keep them in an airtight container for a few days and they will still wow. (You could also store fully baked in the freezer the same way, and then maybe give them a quick zap in the microwave for your soft, buttery, enjoyment.)
Strawberry white chocolate cookie dough rolled into balls on a sheet pan

Variations On These Cookies

We’d like to take this opportunity now to just cheer you on to run forth into the night and make every variation on these you can! Obviously, you’re already thinking of trying these with freeze-dried raspberries, us too! Would a freeze-dried blueberry with a little zip of lemon zest in there be spectacular? We haven’t tried this yet, but doesn’t it sound like a dream?!

Could you skip the fruit bits altogether and just do a white chocolate chip cookie? Yes, for sure. But then you might find yourself thinking, “You know what these need? Little tart chewy bits of bright buttery strawbs. That sounds amazing!”

And then, well, you know…you’ll find yourself right back here. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Strawberry White Chocolate Cookies: Frequently Asked Questions

My cookies turned out pink! Is this expected?

Yes! The color of the cookies is slightly different from regular cookies because of the color from the strawberries. When you take them out of the oven, they can have a pink or even grey-tinted look to them. That’s normal! The grey color gets more intense as more “strawberry powder” gets mixed into the cookies which is why it’s a good idea to just crush those strawberries gently when you add them in.

Can I make these with fresh strawberries?

Sadly, no. Your cookie dough batter will turn out too wet and the cookies won’t turn out very well.

Can I use other freeze-dried fruit options?

Sure can! Freeze-dried blueberries or freeze-dried raspberries would be delicious!

Print
Strawberry white chocolate cookies on a sheet pan

Strawberry White Chocolate Cookies


  • Author: Lindsay
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 9-12 large cookies

Description

These are HUGE Strawberry White Chocolate Cookies speckled with creamy and rich white chocolate chips and beautifully balanced with tart freeze-dried strawberries. Grab your baking essentials and let’s go! 


Ingredients

Units
  • 1/2 cup butter (I usually use salted), softened
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 + 2 tablespoons flour, measured by spooning flour into the measuring cup
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/23/4 cup freeze-dried strawberries
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Using a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer, combine the butter with the sugars until creamy.
  2. Add the egg and vanilla; mix until just combined.
  3. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt; mix until just combined.
  4. Fold in the white chocolate chips. Crush the strawberry pieces gently by hand, not into powder but just into small chunks. Fold strawberry pieces into the dough.
  5. Roll into balls (9-12 total) and bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 9-11 minutes depending on the size of your cookies. I usually do this in two batches. At 9-10 minutes, the cookies will be puffed up slightly; you’ll want to let them sit out for a few minutes so they can sink back down and firm up into soft, dense, buttery, delicious little miracle cookies.
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: strawberry cookies, white chocolate chip cookies, strawberry white chocolate cookies

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