FTR Foodie Guest Chef!

Adrienne Bossi, FTR member, shares her favorite "Light Italian" recipes with the FTR community

Each month, the Food to Recover kitchen will host an FTR "Foodie" as a Guest Chef to share their personal go-to recipes with the community. Members will learn from the FTR Foodie and be inspired to incorporate their recommendations into their weekly meal planning.

Adrienne guided us with her "Light Italian" heritage, and helped us enjoy delicious Gluten Free Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, Orzo Chicken Salad, and Ricotta Herb Ravioli. All recipes took us about 30 minutes to prepare and we all loved the fresh and light flavors of her delicious and healthy recipes!

Here are the recipes she shared:

GF Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

The recipe makes about 18-20 pancakes with each pancake approx. ¼ cup of batter.

Each pancake is approximately 100 calories, 3g fat, 12 g carbs, 7 g protein, 2g fiber. 

2 2/3 cups oats, blended in a blender to make a flour (or buy oat flour) 

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda 

2 cups part skim ricotta 

12 egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 lemon's worth of zest

2 lemon's worth of juice 

Grind oats into a flour in a blender. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl (oat-flour, cinnamon, baking soda). Combine the “wet” ingredients in another container (ricotta, egg whites, vanilla, zest, juice), working out the lumps from the ricotta. You can use a blender to combine the wet ingredients.

Then, mix the wet ingredients into the bowl of the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Heat a non-stick frying pan or griddle on medium/low temperature. Grease with butter, cooking spray, or coconut oil. The cooking surface is heated when water splashed onto the cooking surface sizzles.

Once heated, use a 1/4 cup measuring scoop to pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the greased pan. When edges begin to darken and bubbles form throughout the pancake (appox 1-2 minute), flip the pancake and cook for another 1-2 minutes until cooked through. 

Pancakes freeze well. Cool thoroughly before placing in the freezer in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. 

Orzo Chicken Salad

One serving is approximately 1⅓  cups of salad. The recipe below is for 2 batches and should make about 12 servings.

Each serving is about 200 calories, 6g fat, 31g carbs, 15g protein, 3g fiber.

Recipe is adapted from:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-orzo-salad-with-goat-cheese

2 ½ cups uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)

6 cups chopped grilled chicken breast, cut into strips strips, 1 small grocery store rotisserie chicken yields about 4 cups of meat

3 cups trimmed arugula

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved, about 2 pint containers

1 cup chopped red bell pepper, about 2 peppers

½ cup chopped red onion, about half an onion

4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, about 2 containers

2 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano, about 1 container

4+ tablespoons red wine vinegar, add as much as you’d like

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

¼ teaspoon salt, if desired

¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

12 tablespoons, about 3 ounces of crumbled feta, or goat cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain well.

Combine pasta, chicken, and the next 6 ingredients (through oregano) in a large bowl; toss well.

Combine vinegar, oil, salt, and black pepper in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Drizzle vinegar mixture over pasta mixture; toss well to coat. Sprinkle with cheese.

Ricotta Herb Raviolis

Recipe makes approximately 48 raviolis using Nasoya wonton wrappers.

Each ravioli is about 40 calories, 2g fat, 4g carbs, 2g protein.

For filling

3/4 cup ricotta cheese, well drained

6 ounces feta or goat cheese, at room temperature

1 cup fresh herbs (basil, oregano, parsley, thyme, marjoram), chopped

1 egg

Salt and pepper, to taste

For raviolis:

1 package of Nasoya wonton wrappers

liquid to seal the wrappers- milk, water, lightly whipped egg white

Olive oil

Mix the filling ingredients in a bowl and chill in the fridge, covered. You make the filling a day in advance.

Lay 4 wonton wrappers at a time onto a cutting board. Keep the wonton wrappers you are not using covered, they tend to dry out quickly.

With the 4 you have laid out, brush the edges with your liquid of choice using your finger or a basting brush. Spoon approximately 1 teaspoon of cheese mixture into the middle of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper to form a triangle and press the moistened edges together with the tines of a fork to seal it shut. Repeat.

Place the finished raviolis on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with foil or plastic wrap while you continue to work on folding more wontons.  This is to prevent them from drying out while you work.

To cook: there are 2 options,

Poach: bring a pot of water to an almost-boil. Add a dollop of olive oil to the pot of water. Swirl the water with a slotted spoon and gently place raviolis in the hot water one-by-one. Poach the raviolis for roughly 4 minutes, keeping the water gently swirling. The raviolis will float to the surface when they are cooked. Remove each ravioli with a slotted spoon, letting the water drip from them, and set aside on a plate. They may stick together, add more oil to them if they seem sticky.

Bake: preheat oven to 425 degrees and bake on parchment-lined baking sheet (remove the plastic wrap first) for approximately 12 minutes, until browned. You can also brush the wontons with olive oil, in which case they will need to be baked for approximately 8 minutes.

Serve with your favorite pasta sauce or or olive oil.