Orzo with Cilantro, Shrimp and Feta - Adapted from Bon Appetit

Start by chopping 4 garlic cloves, 3 C loosely packed cilantro and 1 seeded jalapeno in a food processor.  Add 1C whipping cream with the processor running and then add 1 1/2 T fresh lemon juice.  Meanwhile, cook the orzo according to the package directions and, in a seperate pan, boil the shrimp until they are pink.  Don't over cook either; the shrimp get tough and the pasta mushy.  Drain the pasta.  Saute some sliced squash (the recipe called for acorn squash but we prefer yellow summer squash)  and when it is tender add the shrimp and the cilantro mixture.  Heat until bubbly and pour over the pasta.  Add some sliced kalamata olives and crumbled feta cheese and toss.  Serve with a crusty bread and chilled white wine. 

5-Hour Beef Stew

This is a very tasty and easy beef stew; we have had the recipe for years.  In an oven proof dish mix 1 lb. beef stew meat, 1 large carrot chunked, 1 large onion, quartered, 1 rib of celery, sliced, 2-4 large redskin potatoes, diced, 1-14 oz. can of tomatoes, 1/4C tapioca and 1/4C red wine.  Cover and bake at 275 F for 5 hrs, stirring occationally.  Serve with a crusty bread, and, if you wish, the beet salad below.

Beet Salad with Citrus Dressing

We had this salad along with the beef stew posted above.  Bake 3-4 medium sized beets at 350 degrees until tender but not soft.  After the beets have cooled, carefully peal them and cut them into bite-sized pieces.  Make a dressing by whisking together 6T olive oil, 3T orange juice, 1T lemon juice, 1/2t dijon mustard.  Add 1T minced shallot.  Pour over the beets and serve on a lettuce bed with the zest of some orange as a garnish.

Chicken Parmesan, Pasta with Arrabiata Sauce

One of our favorite rest-aurants in our town is Arra-biata's.  They specialize in the sauce by the same name.  Literally, it means "angry" sauce bacause of its "heat"....It lives up to its name.  The recipes we found weren't the same so we set about to duplicate the sauce ourselves.  Start by peeling and quartering an onion and then seperating it into its layers.  Saute the pieces in 3T olive oil until just tender.  Add 2 cloves crushed garlic, 1T dried Thyme, 1T dried Oregano, and 1T chopped Basil.  Deglaze the pan with 1/4C red wine and then add 14 oz. canned diced tomatoes (you could use frest tomatoes if you wished).  Add some red "cherry bomb" peppers for the heat; we used 3; use more or less depending on your taste.  Finish with 1T lemon juice and 1t sugar.  Simmer the sauce while you prepare the pasta.  The chicken was dredged in flour and egg and then in a mix of 1/2 bread crumbs and 1/2 grated parmesan cheese.  The chicken was sauted in olive oil until golden brown.  We served the meal with a green salad and red wine.