Delicious Valentines Dinner Recipes: Asparagus Risotto & Chocolate Mousse Pie

[grgann]

Hi folks!
So yesterday for Valentines I decided to make my sweetie dinner (I usually am not the cook in the house). Totally excited by the products that arrived Saturday AND the fact that this girl is a perpetual Weight Watcher, I chose two recipes from the new healthy cookbook.

I made the asparagus risotto and the chocolate mousse pie. Both recipes were a little complicated (expected with words like "risotto" and mousse") but both were fantastically delicious! A major winner!

The crust on the pie as a little thick (perhaps becuase I had the wrong size of cookie, don't know) but I love the crust the best, so no complaints!

For the risotto it talks about how important saffron is... so I went on a search for it. I found it a local foods market (the kind of place where things are just generally pricey) and paid $7 for about 1/2 teaspoon worth. Honestly I would be surprised if it made a big difference....

For the protein I grilled chicken and put the mango salso over it. Also very good and you don't get the calories from the chips!

Today for lunch I brought a salad with the leftover chicken and I put the salsa on it rather than dressing.

Enjoy! I know I am!

 

[abigailhutch]

Oh man that all sounds soooo good! I can't wait to get my stuff in!!!! I can't wait to play with all the new products! hehe!
Have a great lunch! Sounds delicious!

 

[pchockeymom]

I browsed through the healthy cookbook at Spring Launch and it looked like it has a lot of great recipes. I'm not sure why they'd pick an ingredient like saffron which is so pricey esp. when they emphasize "budget friendly". I'm looking forward to trying the new recipes when my things arrive too.

 

[leftymac]

Hi folks!
So yesterday for Valentines I decided to make my sweetie dinner (I usually am not the cook in the house). Totally excited by the products that arrived Saturday AND the fact that this girl is a perpetual Weight Watcher, I chose two recipes from the new healthy cookbook.

I made the asparagus risotto and the chocolate mousse pie. Both recipes were a little complicated (expected with words like "risotto" and mousse") but both were fantastically delicious! A major winner!

The crust on the pie as a little thick (perhaps becuase I had the wrong size of cookie, don't know) but I love the crust the best, so no complaints!

For the risotto it talks about how important saffron is... so I went on a search for it. I found it a local foods market (the kind of place where things are just generally pricey) and paid $7 for about 1/2 teaspoon worth. Honestly I would be surprised if it made a big difference....

For the protein I grilled chicken and put the mango salso over it. Also very good and you don't get the calories from the chips!

Today for lunch I brought a salad with the leftover chicken and I put the salsa on it rather than dressing.

Enjoy! I know I am!

Saffron is literally the most expensive spice in the world. Each little strand is pulled from the stamen of one flower. It only takes a wee little bit to add a lot of flavor (and color) to a dish.

 

[Becca_in_MD]

The chef's note on the side of the recipe suggests substituting turmeric for the saffron. It will give it the same color and a bit of the flavor without busting the budget. I don't think I've ever used saffron.

 

[leftymac]

The chef's note on the side of the recipe suggests substituting turmeric for the saffron. It will give it the same color and a bit of the flavor without busting the budget. I don't think I've ever used saffron.

That's a good idea. I bought a ginormous thing of Turmeric at an Indian Grocery store for like $1.50..much cheaper than the grocery store. It also stained my mix 'n scraper yellow, but it came out in the dishwasher even though I couldn't wash it out by hand.