Happy Labor Day, y'all! I just wanted to pop in and share with you some really fun news…someone I love and respect so much, Ree Drummond from The Pioneer Woman, recently relaunched her site (it's beautiful!) and added a wonderful section called Food & Friends and she asked me to be a founding contributor to the section.

My first recipe is live on the site: One-Pot Pasta with Mushrooms and Asparagus…it's a lovely recipe that's so easy to make. I know you'll love it!

You just put most of the ingredients into the pot with water and olive oil and let it boil away. Definitely, though you want to mix while it's cooking to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and to keep the pasta from sticking.

For the full list of ingredients and instructions, visit Ree's site to see the recipe for One-Pot Pasta with Mushrooms and Asparagus!

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One Pot Pasta with Mushroom & Asparagus Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound white or baby bella mushrooms sliced
• 12 ounces bowtie pasta
• 4 garlic cloves smashed and peeled and then thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1 pound asparagus ends trimmed and cut into six or eight even pieces
• 2 Tablespoons salted butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for serving
• cooked bacon crumbled, for serving (optional)

Instructions

• For the full instructions, be sure to visit Ree's site for the recipe for 

  One-Pot Pasta with Mushrooms and Asparagus!

The post One-Pot Pasta with Mushrooms and Asparagus appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I'm so excited to be partnering with Land O Lakes for the third year in a row, as a Kitchen Conversations panelist. And even more excited to share with you their annual Pin a Meal. Give a Meal. program. The goal is to pin this recipe or other Land O'Lakes recipes from here. Each pin means 10 meals will be donated to Feeding America®. Their goal is to donate 3.5 million meals this year!

Be sure to check out the other Kitchen Conversations panelists recipes and pin theirs as well!

• Make Ahead Cheesy Hash Brown Cups with Bacon and Chives from a farmgirl's dabbles
• Sugar Cookie Bars with Strawberry Glaze and Sugared Flowers from Bake at 350
• Spring Panzanella Salad from Two Peas and Their Pod
• Leek Gratin from Fifteen Spatulas
• White Chocolate Truffle Citrus “Chick” Cookies from A Spicy Perspective
• Chicken Broccolini with Mustard Cream Sauce from The Pioneer Woman

Last year, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Land O'Lakes headquarters and wrote about my experience. I learned that Land O'Lakes employees are passionate about what they do. I love working with them and am even more thrilled that they support Feeding America (helping to bring awareness to hunger in America and helping by donating meals). Please take one minute to pin this recipe on pinterest using the button below. If you don't have an account, you can sign up for a free account, it takes just a minute!

This year, Land O’Lakes is offering another fun way to support Pin A Meal. Give a Meal. — A live online cooking event with Ree, The Pioneer Woman, and Becky from the Land O’Lakes Test Kitchen. The event takes place on Wednesday, April 1 at 12pm, Eastern Time. Ree and Becky will be cooking their signature Feeding America® recipes live through an online video stream from Ree’s ranch and answering your spring cooking and baking questions.

The best part? All day on April 1, for each recipe pinned from the Land O’Lakes Pin A Meal. Give A Meal board Land O’Lakes will double their Feeding America® donation from 10 meals per pin to 20 meals per pin. That's amazing!

Participating in the event is simple!

• RSVP by clicking the link here: landolakes.com/livecookingevent. A reminder will be automatically added to your calendar and you’ll be sent a confirmation email recapping all the event details.
• At noon on April 1, return to the same link where you RSVP’d and tune in for the live cooking event.
• Share your questions for Ree and Becky on Twitter using #PinAMeal and they may answer them live during the event.
• All day on April 1, pin recipes included in the Land O’Lakes Pin A Meal. Give a Meal program to help double the amount of meal donations.

I’ll be participating along with my fellow Kitchen Conversation panelists! We hope you will join us!

For this recipe, I was coming up with a fun spring side dish…and who doesn't love pasta right? And brown butter? I'm totally obsessed. Seriously. With asparagus and green onions, this feels like spring! You can sub out any vegetables too. To make this a complete meal, serve this pasta with some grilled chicken.

The bacon is totally optional. Of course to make this dish vegetarian, just omit the bacon.

The first thing I do for this recipe is cook the bacon in the microwave and start a pot of salted water and bring it to a boil.

Prep the garlic, green onions and asparagus.

Melt one Land O Lakes® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt in a nonstick skillet. Once it melts, set your timer for 5 minutes. That's about the amount of time it takes to brown the butter.

Once you see brown particles of butter in your pan, you have brown butter! Turn the heat off and add garlic and mix. Cook for about 30 seconds (you don't want to burn the garlic!).

There's the garlic brown butter all done.

Add back 1 Tablespoon of brown butter to the pan and cook the asparagus for 2 minutes.

Add back the rest of the brown butter and add heavy cream. You need just a little bit for this recipe.

All ready to go into the pasta.

Mix really well. And serve with green onions and bacon.

It's such a simple side dish and tastes amazing! I can't wait to make this for my Bunko friends soon. I hope you'll try this recipe soon and take a moment to help us below…

Pin a Meal. Give a Meal.
Every hungry family has a story to share. You can help change how those stories turn out.

Help us reach our goal of donating 3.5 million meals to Feeding America. You can pin this Brown Butter Pasta recipe or select your own to contribute 10 meals to Feeding America. You can pin this recipe or other recipes from Land O’Lakes to contribute even more meals. To learn more visit, www.landolakes.com/Pinameal.

Don't forget to pin! You have until April 30, 2015. Help us reach the goal of 3.5 million meals.

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Brown Butter Pasta with Asparagus & Bacon Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 4 slices cooked bacon chopped (optional)
• 12 ounces uncooked bowtie pasta
• 1  Land O Lakes® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt   1/4 cup
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 pound asparagus washed, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 Tablespoon heavy cream
• 2 green onions sliced

Instructions

• Cook bacon and chop up, if using.
• Bring a pot of water with plenty of salt to a boil. Cook pasta according to instructions on the package. Drain pasta and add back to pot.
• While the water is boiling, add butter to a nonstick skillet and cook on medium heat until browned, about 5 to 6 minutes. Once the butter is brown, working quickly, turn heat off and add garlic. Cook for 30 seconds. Remove butter and garlic and place in a clean bowl. Set aside.
• Add 1 Tablespoon browned butter back to the skillet and turn heat to medium. Add asparagus and cook for 2 minutes. Add heavy cream to pan along with remaining brown butter. Cook for 2 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour asparagus and butter mixture over pasta in large pot.
• Mix pasta together. Serve with green onions and bacon (optional).

The Land O’Lakes Foundation will donate $1 to Feeding America® for every recipe pinned or repinned between March 2, 2015 and April 30, 2015. (Pin any Land O’Lakes recipe or submit any recipe pin at LandOLakes.com/pinameal). $1 helps provide 10 meals secured by Feeding America® on behalf of local member food banks. Land O’Lakes guarantees a minimum of 3.5 million meals (monetary equivalent of $350,000).

Disclosure: The Little Kitchen has partnered with Land O’Lakes for an exclusive endorsement of Land O Lakes® Butter for their Kitchen Conversation blogger program. This blog post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.

The post Brown Butter Pasta with Asparagus & Bacon appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

Summer’s here and I’m so happy! I love the long nights and the bright days. It can get a little hot down here in Florida, but I try not to complain too much.

Here’s another recipe for Land O'Lakes Kitchen Conversations Panel. We’re making summery recipes that highlight the simple goodness of fresh, seasonal ingredients. It’s the perfect time of year to start using ingredients from your garden, local farmer’s market or grocery store. Cooking your favorite seasonal veggies (squash, tomatoes, asparagus!!!) with Land O Lakes® Butter takes those fresh summer flavors to a whole other level.

I’m making a summery vegetable pasta. What’s awesome about this recipe? It’s super easy and you can use whatever vegetables you want in your dish. Just make sure you have Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt Half Sticks, white wine and a fresh lemon on hand.

It’s basically summer in a bowl—it’s flavorful with the butter sauce, but light enough for a summer lunch or dinner. And even better, it takes only 30 minutes to put together!

Last week, I flew to Minneapolis to visit a dairy farm and the Land O'Lakes headquarters! What a fun trip it was filled with eating, learning, eating and baking!

First thing we did was go to dinner at Pizzeria Lola. This place was amazing…seriously super inventive pizza pies that are baked in a wood fired oven. We had potato pizza, Korean short rib pizza (pictured above and my favorite!) and Kimchi pizza! Seriously, it was amazing. Next time I'm in Minneapolis, I will have to stop by and see Ann and her crew again! By the way, Lola is their dog's name. What's not to love?

The next day, we visited Sadie and her family on their dairy farm. Sadie is a wife, mother, blogger and a dairy farmer! Her and her husband run their farm and work long hours but hearing them speak about the cows and their farm, you can hear the passion in their voice. It was truly an honor to visit her farm and meet her family!

And there's Ree photographing one of Sadie and Glen's cows…she's a cow whisperer! She sat down in the cow pasture and mooed and Misty the cow walked right up to her!

The following day, we headed over the Land O'Lakes headquarters. This was so fun! Every. single. employee we met was so excited about their job, what they do and where they work. It was completely inspiring.

You know what I'm talking about, we all have worked jobs where our heart isn't all there. That's not true for the employees I met at LOL HQ. It was beautiful! And the amount of quality control and work they put into developing and testing products, it's awesome. They have 22 full-time taste testers that are fully trained…umm, raise your hand if you want that job?

And once again, we got to taste the Kitchen Conversation recipes! And they were amazing! You need to check them out!!

Above is Bridget's Stone Fruit and Raspberry Cobbler and we also had Joanne's Grilled Peaches with Bourbon Brown Butter Sauce, Jenny's Cheesy Mediterranean Bacon Quesadilla, Brenda's Miso-Butter Grilled Veggies with Basil-Mint Pesto, Maria's Cheese Ravioli with Lemon Basil Butter Sauce, Sommer's Pink Lemonade Cupcakes and Jessica's Pineapple Coconut Bundt Cake.

Check them out and print them and make them!!

We then went into the Land O'Lakes test kitchen! This was so exciting! They have a commercial kitchen that is certified by the Department of Health. Land O'Lakes has a lot of foodservice (think restaurants, hotels, school cafeterias) customers and they wanted to make sure they set up their kitchens just like their customers' set ups and also follow the same protocols their customers have to with the Health Department.

We got to try chocolate chip cookies made with margarine, spreads and butter. My favorite of course were the ones made with butter (in the middle).

And then they told us we were going to bake pie pops in the kitchens set up like home cooks' kitchens. Kitchens like you and I would cook in. And they gave us tons of fun supplies!

I got to bake with these pretty ladies: Maria and Brenda!

And there's me rolling out the pie crust. Seriously, I'm smiling so big because I was in heaven. That silicone baking mat and the rolling pin made it so easy to roll out the pie crust! Someone made a comment, Julie has made pie crust before! And honestly, it was the best pie crust I had rolled out. I can't wait for these goodies to arrive, I will be a pie making fool this summer and during the holidays!

Working it! That's Maria and I putting together these fun pie pops!

We chose strawberries and rhubarb for our pie filling with a little bit of lemon zest. So so good! I can't believe this is my first time trying rhubarb!

Such a fun trip, thrilled I got to experience it and I feel so lucky to get to work with a wonderful company and their people! Back to the recipe…

Bring a big pot of water (with salt) to a boil and start prepping your veggies.

Besides lemons, nothing else says summer like tomatoes. Dice them up and we'll top our pasta with fresh tomatoes.

My mise en place, get all of your ingredients prepped and ready.

Melt the Land O Lakes® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt in a pan on medium heat.

Cook the squash and asparagus for 3 to 4 minutes in the butter.

Add spinach, cook for almost 2 minutes, the spinach won't be all the way wilted. Add white wine and cook for longer. Squeeze in the lemon and add pasta and mix.

You can use whatever pasta shape you want, you can use angel hair or spaghetti too! Sub out your favorite vegetables or whatever you can find fresh and you have this easy-peasy pasta dish that has a wonderful flavor from the Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt, the white wine and a hint of lemon!

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Summer Vegetable Pasta Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 1 pound pasta your choice
• 1 Land O Lakes® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt Half Stick 4 Tablespoons
• 1/2 pound asparagus trimmed and cut into quarters
• 2 yellow squash chopped
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 cups packed fresh spinach rinsed
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 to mato diced
• grated Parmesan cheese
• Italian parsley chopped

Instructions

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Prep the vegetables. Make the pasta and drain it while cooking the rest.
• In a stainless steel pan, add Land O Lakes® butter with olive oil & sea salt. Melt on medium heat. Add asparagus and squash and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Season with pepper. Add spinach and cook for 90 seconds, until partially wilted. Add the white wine, increase heat to medium high and allow to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off heat and remove pan from heat. Squeeze the half lemon and mix. Add pasta and mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper.
• Serve on plates topped with chopped tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and parsley.

Disclosure: The Little Kitchen has partnered with Land O’Lakes for an exclusive endorsement of Land O Lakes® Butter for their Kitchen Conversation blogger program. This blog post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes. There's an affiliate link in this post.

The post Summer Vegetable Pasta appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

Looking for an easy peasy recipe? I have something to share, I'm so excited to be guest posting over on the Better Home and Gardens Delish Dish blog today! Hop on over for the recipe.

Please also, if you plan on pinning this recipe on Pinterest, please hop over and pin from the guest post. Thanks!

I'm completely obsessed with this recipe, I have been since May when I first saw it on the BHG website. It packs so much flavor, the colors and the textures are what I would call an ultimate salad!

Have I convinced you enough to try it? Hop on over for the full recipe on the BHG site. Leave a comment and tell me what you think.

By the way, have you ever made an Asian noodle salad before? I'm beginning to think I need to make more of these!

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Tangerine Tare-Glazed Grilled Chicken Slaad

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Grill Time 12 minutes minutes

Total Time 57 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

Tangerine Tare- Glazed Grilled Chicken Salad:

• 1 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 recipe Tangerine Tare Glaze and Dressing
• 10 cups shredded napa cabbage
• 6 oz udon (broad white noodles)
• 1 cup fresh snow pea pods, trimmed and halved
• 4 miniature sweet peppers, sliced into rings
• 2 tangerines or clementines, peeled and sliced crosswise
• 8 wonton wrappers
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp sesame seeds

Tangerine Tare Glaze and Dressing

• 1/2 tsp finely shredded tangerine peel or clementine peel
• 1/2 cup tangerine juice or clementine juice
• 1/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped green onions (2)
• 1/4 cup sweet rice wine (mirin)
• 2 tbsps sake or dry white wine
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 3 tbsps canola oil
• 3 tbsps rice vinegar

Instructions

Tangerine- Tare Glazed Grilled Chicken Salad:

• Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. For a charcoal or gas grill, place chicken on the rack of a covered grill directly over medium heat. Grill for 12 to 15 minutes or until no longer pink (170 degrees F), turning once halfway through grilling and brushing with Tangerine Tare Glaze during the last 5 minutes of grilling.
• Spread cabbage on a large serving platter. Cook udon according to package directions; drain. Rinse with cold water to cool; drain again. In a large bowl combine udon, pea pods, sweet peppers, and tangerines. Add Tangerine Tare Dressing; toss to coat. Spoon udon mixture on top of cabbage.
• For wonton crisps, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut wonton wrappers into 1/2-inch-wide strips. In a small bowl combine wonton strips, sesame oil, and sesame seeds; toss to coat. Spread strips on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 5 to 6 minutes or until golden and crisp.
• Slice chicken crosswise. Arrange chicken slices and wonton crisps on top of salad.

Tangerine Tare Glaze and Dressing

• In a small saucepan combine tangerine peel, tangerine juice, soy sauce, green onions, rice wine, sake, sugar, and garlic. Bring to boiling, stirring to dissolve sugar; reduce heat.
• Simmer, uncovered, about 15 minutes or until reduced by half (about 2/3 cup). Strain mixture; discard solids.
• Remove half of the mixture for glaze. Whisk oil and rice vinegar into the remaining mixture for dressing.

Notes

From the Test Kitchen

To Make Ahead:

Prepare as directed through Step 2, except do not spoon udon mixture on top of cabbage. Cover and chill chicken, cabbage, and udon mixture separately for up to 24 hours. Prepare wonton crisps as directed in Step 3; cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 24 hours. To serve, spoon udon mixture on top of cabbage and continue as directed in Step 4.

Shortcut:

Instead of making Tangerine Tare Glaze and Dressing, use 1/3 cup bottled teriyaki glaze for the glaze and 2/3 cup bottled Asian ginger sesame salad dressing for the dressing. Substitute 1/3 cup toasted sliced almonds for the wonton crisps.

The post Orange Tare-Glazed Grilled Chicken Salad appeared first on The Little Kitchen.