Adam was being inventive awhile back and created this really good recipe. We liked it so much that he hurried to write it all down before he forgot what he did ... which is a good thing, because when I made it tonight for dinner, he'd completely forgotten that he made it at all!
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, diced
1 onion, chopped
spinach - choose your own quantity
sundried tomatoes - choose your own quantity
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp grains of paradise
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1/2 tsp orange extract
1/2 tsp almond extract (you could just leave this out if necessary due to nut allergies)
1 tsp oregano
In skillet with olive oil, saute the chicken, onion, spices and extracts. When the chicken is cooked through, add the sundried tomatoes. Cook until soft. Then add the spinach and stir it around until it's wilted.
You can eat at this stage. OR you can make it into a sauce to put over pasta. We poured straight cream over the whole thing, and added a splash of apple juice. Yum.
I love macaroni and cheese. I've made it lots of times, usually with just those two ingredients: macaroni and shredded cheese melted over top. I know how to make a cheese sauce, and will occasionally, especially when I have some pureed butternut squash to add to it. So I'm happy to try a new recipe - it's pretty difficult to ruin macaroni and cheese (aside from using powdered "cheese").
Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese from recipegirl.com was pretty dang tasty, but I picked the wrong night to try and make it. I had a very hungry and whiny girl at my feet the entire time, and I know that something faster would have made us both happier! I think it was worth the extra time though, and Cupcake enjoyed snacking on some bacon while she waited.
The cracker and bacon topping was nice, and added some good texture. (Next time add more bacon, because you can never have too much bacon.) And adding cream cheese to the cheese sauce was awesome. It didn't take much to add a nice flavor and it really helped to thicken the sauce. Even if I don't make the entire casserole again I would make the cheese sauce. (Instead of the mustard I added a touch of cayenne, garlic, and white pepper.)
EDIT: My husband is not usually a big fan of macaroni and cheese but he had TWO servings of this. Hooray! Totally made my day. Definitely a success.
My sister remembered us making this recipe a couple of years ago and last night asked me for it again. We both did some digging and it was originally found here.
8 oz cooked pasta
2 c. asparagus
2 c. summer squash and/or zucchini
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tbs butter
1/2 c. whipping cream
zest of lemon
salt to taste
Sautee veggies and garlic in butter til they reach your preferred tenderness. Remove veggies with slotted spoon, leaving any juices and garlic. Pour in cream and lemon zest. Cook down cream til 1/3 c. (just when it looks thicker). Then combine all ingredients including pasta and enjoy.
When I made this before, I didn't get the proportions of vegetables to cream sauce correct - I wanted more sauce. So pay attention to that when putting it together. Thanks for bringing this up again, Mindy! I really liked it so maybe we'll have it this week too!
1 lb. cooked, shredded chicken (I usually use can of Costco chicken) 1 lb. cooked rotini noodles (or bow tie) 2 heads broccoli, finely chopped 1 red pepper, chopped 1 green pepper, chopped 1/3 onion, chopped 1 can sliced olives 1 cup shredded cheese (optional) 1/3 - 1/2 cup ranch dressing (don't skip this--it's what holds it all together)
Dressing: 2 envelopes dry Italian dressing mix 6 Tbs. apple cider vinegar 4-1/2 Tbs. water 3/4 cup oil (you can reduce this some)
Combine cooled chicken, chopped vegetables, and olives. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over vegetables and chicken. Mix together. Add ranch dressing and cheese. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving (I usually am not organized enough to do this and it still gets devoured). Serves 8 - 10.
Recipe Shoebox is a great site for easy and tasty meals already tried out by a picky family. Love it! This site has really helped get me motivated to reach my recipe goal. I got kinda burned out after a batch of failures- recipes that sounded better on paper than in reality.
This one is delicious-we love pasta w/garlic anything!
The ingredients:
6 Tbs. olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed Salt and pepper, to taste
1 box (1-lb) penne pasta
5-oz. fresh spinach, chopped
1 Tbs. dried basil (or 1/2 cup fresh)
6 Tbs. lemon juice
1 cup Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Heat olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a small glass bowl in the microwave for about 1 minute to blend flavors. Pour about 1 tablespoon of the flavored oil in a skillet. Salt and pepper chicken and cook in the oil over medium high heat until chicken is browned and juices run clear. Add the chopped and spinach and saute with the cooked chicken for 1 minute (or until just barely wilted) and remove from heat. Meanwhile, cook pasta as directed on package; drain well. Add cooked chicken/spinach to pasta, along with basil, lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese. Then stir in the remainder of the flavored olive oil. Toss lightly until all ingredients are well-combined. Serve immediately. Makes about 6 servings. Enjoy!
I was surfing blogs this week and came across this blogger's link to this this recipe. I made it tonight and it was so yummy! We're not big fans of bell peppers (they taste too acidic for us), so we left it out.
Ingredients
8
ounces penne, whole wheat
16
ounces shrimp, cleaned and peeled
1
red pepper, sliced
1
lb asparagus, cut in one inch pieces
1
tbsp olive oil
1/4
cup parmesan cheese
1/4
tsp red pepper flakes
2
tsp oregano
1
tsp basil
1
clove garlic, chopped
Directions
In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat.
Add garlic and cook for one minute.
Add asparagus and sautee' asparagus for 3 minutes.
Add shrimp, red pepper, oregano and basil.
Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until shrimp are pink and vegetables are tender-crisp; stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, cook pasta as directed on package.
Drain pasta. Add shrimp & vegetables.
Toss with 1/4 tsp red pepper and parmesan cheese. Serve & enjoy!
I cut this recipe in half and still had enough to feed 6 adults! I didn't have any fennel seed, but it still tasted good without it. It wasn't my favorite, but Aaron really liked it. From Recipezaar #286627.
Cut sausage into 1/2 inch chunks. I large skillet, brown sausage over medium-high heat, in batches and adding oil if necessary. Transfer sausage to a bowl.
Pour off any fat from pan. Add onions, garlic and red pepper, cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in pasta sauce, tomato sauce, basil, oregano and fennel seeds; bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pan. Return sausage and any accumulated juices to pan; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until sausage is firm throughout.
Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta for 6 minutes, add spinach;cook for 1 minute. Drain well and return to pot. Add sausage mixture and provolone/mozzarella cheese; stir to combine well.
Transfer to 2 greased 8-inch square baking dishes or 1 13x9-inch dish. Sprinkle with Asiago/parmesan cheese. Cover dish with greased foil, greased side down.
To serve: Bake, covered with foil, in in 375 degree F. oven for 30 minutes or for 1 hour if from the refrigerator. This freezes beautifully (thaw in refrigerator before baking).
This was yummy and a hit tonight with friends. I got the recipe off the back of the box of shells. I ended up using just half the box of shells- I now have some to use for another recipe :) I didn't have any spinach- so I just cooked the ground beef with the onion and garlic for 5 min. and didn't add any water. I didn't have any parmigiano cheese, so I used 1/4 c. of Parmesan and 1/4 mozzarella mixed together for the filling. This is an easy recipe to adjust to what is on hand.
1 box jumbo shells pasta 1 lb. ground beef 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil 1 bag (6oz) baby spinach 1 cup finely diced onion 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 1/8 tsp nutmeg 1 egg 1/4 cup Parmigiano cheese 1 jar sauce 1 cup shredded mozzarella
PREHEAT oven to 350 COOK jumbo shells according to directions: drain, reserving 1/3 cup of the cooking water COOK ground beef in large skillet until meat is no longer pink. Drain grease. ADD oil, spinach, onion, garlic and reserved pasta water. Continue cooking 10min, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. ADD seasonings and blend well. Let mixture cool enough to handle. STIR in egg and Parmigiano cheese. POUR 1 cup of sauce into 13 x 9 baking dish FILL jumbo shells with meat mixture and place in dish. Pour remaining sauce over shells, sprinkle mozzarella over the top, and cover with foil. BAKE for 30 min.
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a large ovenproof skillet, toss the tomatoes with the olive oil and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Roast the tomatoes for about 25 minutes, until starting to brown and their skins split. 2. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the linguine until al dente; drain. 3. Add the cream to the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Cook over moderate heat, gently crushing the tomatoes, until the cream thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Add the shrimp and simmer over moderate heat until cooked through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the linguine to the skillet along with the lemon juice and toss over low heat until the pasta is coated, about 1 minute. Add the lemon zest and parsley and toss. Transfer the pasta to warm bowls and serve at once.
Well, I didn't make it to 50 recipes in 2009 - I got to 42. Oh well. It was a good effort.
I have no idea what the name of this is, but it's a pasta dish with a rather random combination of vegetables. It tastes good, is quick and simple to make, and is great for a cold winter day! It's from the "Chicken Soup for the Soul Cookbook."
8 ounces elbow macaroni (I used mini penne - just something small) 1 tbl. oil to saute 1 cup diced onion 1/2 pound hamburger 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes 1 cup diced celery 3/4 cup diced green pepper Worcestershire sauce salt cayenne pepper sharp or Parmesan cheese - OPTIONAL
1. Make the pasta as normal. 2. Saute the onion and then add the hamburger and cook until browned and crumbly. 3. Add tomatoes, celery, green pepper, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and cayenne. Cook for a few minutes until everything is heated through. 4. Mix with pasta to serve. 5. Put grated cheese over the top if you want.
The Worcestershire sauce, salt, and cayenne all have measurements of 1 tsp or less, but I didn't measure any of them.
If you like it a bit more saucy, you'll want to add more tomatoes. It's pretty loose with not really any SAUCE to it.
The original recipe also called for the vegetables to all be minced. I did a fairly large dice on it all so they were more the same size as the pasta, and I like the combination of the tastes. We've actually made this before (I think Adam did before, and I did it today) - it's quick, easy, and good!
This is #36 - I have no idea where it came from. I just had this list of ingredients stashed in a note on my other blog.
bowtie pasta cooked like usual
chicken breast cut into bite-size pieces and cooked in a skillet, then set aside while the vegetables are being cooked
2 tbl. olive oil to cook the following: 1/2 cup sun-dried tomato 1 zucchini, diced 1 summer squash, diced (not sliced) 1-2 garlic cloves minced or crushed 1-2 tsp rosemary 1-2 tsp basil
Toss all together with pasta and chicken. Add a little more olive oil if it's too dry for you until it's how you like it. There's not a sauce with this.
Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm REALLY behind on this blog ... I'm going to blame my lack of posting on pregnancy exhaustion. I'm finally coming out of it - hooray! I have 5 recipes to post for my 50-challenge, including a couple I did all the way back in July, bringing me up to 40. So I have 10 more to do in the next 6 weeks to get all the way to 50 within the calendar year.
Anyway, so here's #35 - pasta with sausage and fennel. It's from a book we have called "The Working Stiff Cookbook" by Bob Sloan.
1 tbl. olive oil 1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed 1/2 pound hamburger 1 medium onion, finely chopped 1 medium bulb fennel, peeled and diced 4 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup red wine or beef broth (our substitute for red wine is apple juice - we've never had a problem with it) 1 28-0z. can of crushed tomatoes 1 tsp rosemary 1 tsp basil salt and pepper
Heat the oil first, and cook the sausage and hamburger in it. Break up the meat as it cooks so it's in small pieces. When it's done, use a slotted spoon to remove it from the pan, then pour out the excess grease from the pan.
Put skillet on medium heat and cook onion, fennel, and garlic until softened.
Add meat to pan with vegetables, pour in wine/broth, and cook for about a minute until the liquid reduces.
Add tomatoes and herbs, bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until sauce is the thickness you like.
Serve with cooked pasta - regular thickness spaghetti or linguini are best. It's a pretty hearty sauce, so you don't want to use a delicate pasta.
This is a Rachael Ray recipe and it was so yummy that I had to share it. We made it last night and the kids ate it up!
1 butternut squash, halved and seeds removed
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 box of pasta - I used Whole Wheat Shells
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk - I used Rice Milk, could also use Chicken Stock to make it even healthier
A pinch of nutmeg
A pinch of cinnamon
5 to 6 sage leaves, thinly sliced
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
I also sprinkled a bit of Parmesan Cheese on top
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Place squash halves on a baking sheet and drizzle them with 1 tablespoon EVOO, salt and pepper. Place them cut side down and transfer to the oven. Roast until tender, about an hour. Remove from oven and cool.
Once cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh out of the squash and transfer it to a food processor. Process until smooth.
Place a pot of water over high heat for the pasta. Once at a boil, add some salt and the pasta, and cook to al dente according to package directions. Drain the cooked pasta and return it to the pot it was cooked in.
While the pasta water is heating up, place a small skillet over medium-high heat with the butter. Once melted, add the flour and cook about a minute. Whisk in the milk and cook until the liquids come up to a bubble and the sauce thickens, 2-3 minutes. Add the squash puree, nutmeg, cinnamon and sage, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add the sauce to the pot with the reserved cooked pasta and toss to coat. Turn everything out into a baking dish and sprinkle the top with cheeses. Transfer to the oven and bake until the cheese is brown and bubbly, 10-15 minutes.
Cook pasta according to box directions, drain. Heat olive oil in skillet, cook garlic and mushrooms until tender. Season with salt and pepper, then mix in the butter. Toss the pasta (a little at a time) with the mushrooms/garlic. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and parsley.
I used 2 cloves of garlic, crushed. I used dried parsley. I sprinkled in the parm and the parsley until it was the way I wanted it - I didn't measure either thing.
I added a little bit more olive oil when I was tossing it, because I had twice as much pasta as it called for (I made the full 1-pound box of penne). The proportions weren't off with the mushrooms, so it was fine. I also added the pasta only a little at a time to make sure it all went together okay.
I love mushrooms, so I really liked this. We had it with steamed broccoli.
This is a Weight Watchers recipe (5 points per serving) and a huge favorite at our house. I especially like it because it's very flavorful without being full of bad-for-you ingredients; the spices really shine through! Thought I'd share:
Ingredients:
12 oz ziti (although I have used both penne and macaroni; whole-wheat is great in this recipe because it makes it even more filling)
1/2 lean lb ground beef (turkey also works well)
2 Tbps olive oil (I just eyeball it)
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
28 oz. crushed tomatos
1 C shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese
1. Cook the pasta according to package directions and drain. While the pasta cooks, preheat oven to 350.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet; when it's hot, add the garlic and cook until savory-smelling.
3. Add the ground beef and cook until done, then add all spices and cook until savory-smelling.
4. Add tomatos and bring to a boil.
5. Spoon just enough of the tomato-and-meat mixture into a 9x13 pan to cover the bottom.
6. Layer 1/2 the macaroni, 1/2 the remaining sauce, and 1/2 the cheese, then repeat.
7. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.
Cook and drain pasta according to package directions.
Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Add tomatoes and basil; cook 2 minutes. Add chicken; simmer for 5 minutes. Toss with pasta and Mozzarella cheese. Season to taste with salt and cracked black pepper. Serve immediately.
Note: if you do not have fresh basil or garlic, you may substitute 1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil and 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder.
#15 of 50 - I'm moving forward with this goal again! Yay! I got this from a Good Housekeeping magazine that randomly showed up at my house (apparently the person who used to live here subscribed and it didn't get forwarded).
12 ounces pasta - use a small, thin pasta like penne or the macaroni spirals. The sauce is really thin and mostly water, so it doesn't hold up to a heavier, thick pasta 2 scallions cut into small pieces 4 tsp olive oil - used 2 tsp at a time 1 lb chicken breast cut into bite-size chunks salt and pepper 1 clove garlic, crushed 1/2 lb asparagus cut into 1-inch pieces 1 medium sized red bell pepper cut into thin strips 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper Parmesan cheese fresh basil leaves chopped
1. Cook and drain the pasta as usual. When draining the pasta, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Put the pasta in a large serving dish with the water.
2. Heat 2 tsp of olive oil in skillet, cook the chicken and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. When done, put it in a bowl and set it aside.
3. Clean out the skillet, and heat the other 2 tsp of olive oil. First add the green onions and garlic for about a minute. Then add the asparagus and red bell pepper, and cook until tender crisp. Add the cream, crushed red pepper, and a little salt. Bring it to a boil, then add the chicken and remove from the heat.
4. Combine the chicken/veg mixture into the serving dish with the pasta, then add Parm and basil, and eat!
Back to my 50-recipe challenge for myself - here's #13. Adam has made this before, but this was my first shot at it. It's from the "Jamie's Italy" book (the Naked Chef).
ALMOND AND TOMATO PESTO - trapani style spaghetti
5 oz almonds 1 clove garlic 3 handfuls fresh basil grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese extra virgin olive oil 1 lb cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1. Crush the almonds in a food processor (or blender - I use the "pulse" setting) until they have a coarse powder consistency. Put them in a bowl. 2. Remove the basil leaves from the stems, and also crush the basil leaves in the food processor the same way. Add the crushed basil to the bowl with the almonds. 3. Crush the garlic clove into the almonds/basil mix. 4. Add the cheese at a balance with the almonds and basil. 5. The original recipe calls for "a good glug of olive oil." You decide what amounts to a "glug." Basically, you want the pesto to not be runny at all, but start thinning it out a bit. 6. Add the tomatoes, and scrunch the whole mixture in your hands to break up the tomatoes and mix the juices all together. If the pesto mixture is still very thick, add more olive oil a little bit at a time until it can spread a bit onto the pasta. 7. Serve with spaghetti.
Notes - you can freeze pesto for later and use it a little at a time. And we didn't have cherry tomatoes so I used one regular large tomato cut to a fairly small dice. YUM!
Adam and I saw this idea on a cooking show on PBS a few months ago, and we've done it twice. It works great! Manacotti noodles are those big tubes that you're supposed to stuff with the cheese mixture, and it's a pain in the neck. The "new and improved" manacotti is to use lasagna noodles. Boil the noodles first. Put a scoop of the cheese at the end of a noodle, and then roll it up. Voila! A tube without having to manuever the tube!
We don't have a particular recipe that we use for the cheese or the sauce (except for my marinara sauce that I already posted) - I guess just look that up for ideas. When we made this manacotti over the weekend, I think Adam just used ricotta and mozzarella mixed with a few herbs.
