grilled skewers

I love vegetables. My husband loves meat. I had been wanting to do skewers since, well, last summer when I bought some metal skewers.

We called these shish-ka-bobs growing up. It was a super easy very flavorful and flexible summer meal. Surprisingly, this was my first meal to ever grill myself. I was really proud of myself. Next up: grilled pizza.

Summer Skewers on the grill
makes eight skewers {or five skewers plus about 4 cups side veggies in a grill basket}
INGREDIENTS
1 squash
1 zucchini
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 onion
2 heads garlic
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 chicken breast (or more if you don't want to have just veggie skewers. Next I want do shrimp.mmmm.)
1/4 c. olive oil
2 t. pepper
Old Bay Seasoning
seasoning salt
DIRECTIONS
Heat grill to medium, somewhere between 300 and 350. Slice all vegetables. See pic above. Peel garlic into individual cloves. Toss vegetables and garlic cloves with olive oil, pepper, a few dashes of seasoning salt and generous amounts of Old Bay Seasoning, maybe 1-2 tablespoons. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and sprinkle with Old Bay. I'd allow this to marinate in something if I'd had the forethought.

Skewer everything in a fun alternating pattern. Be sure each skewer gets a clove of garlic or two. Be sure that you hog the mushrooms for yourself. I made sure as many cloves, onions and peppers were touching the chicken pieces as possible.

Grill for about 35 minutes, depending on the heat of your grill.

I tossed some corn with old bay and olive oil and put that on the grill as well along with the extra veggies in a basket. It was awesome and great the next day too!


yay!

Pan Roasted Pork Tenderloin + Veggies

 My husband is the master of last minute dinner decisions. My freezer and I have become fast friends. I use my cast iron skillet to cook a variety of frozen vegetables often. For our anniversary, I did a one skillet pork tenderloin and vegetables. Marinating for a long time, searing well on all sides and removing when it was @ 145 degrees made for a great, tender piece of meat with a yummy, shreadable, well seared outside. Plus, can't beat that one pot clean up business. Especially when it's a cast iron skillet, I literally rinse it and wipe it clean.

ONE Pan Roasted Pork Tenderloin and Veggies

INGREDIENTS

1 medium sized pork tenderloin {I'm sorry, I truly have no clue how many pounds ours was...}

a thick Asian dressing or marinade of choice. I used Cookwell & Company Asian Ginger Vinaigrette.
3 cups frozen vegetables such as brussels sprouts, broccoli florets, or green beans
2 tablespoons olive oil {learned that extra virgin is not ideal for skillet cooking because it burns at a lower temperature. find just olive oil for skillet cooking. HEB makes some that’s labelled for sautéing.}
Cracked pepper
Coarse kosher salt
balsamic vinegar

DIRECTIONS

Trim ends off of tenderloin so it is uniform thickness. Cut in half. Marinate in the fridge overnight, well coated. Remove from fridge 30 minutes prior to cooking and pat dry.
 

Thaw vegetables by running warm water over them in a colander or allowing them to sit about 5 minutes in warm water. Cut the brussels sprouts in half. 

Preaheat oven to 425 degrees. Film an ovenproof skillet with oil and sear the tenderloin over medium high heat to brown all sides, about 5 minutes in all.

At the same time meat is browning, add vegetables and generously sprinkle with pepper and salt. Lower heat if things get splattery. Stir to coat and allow to sit undisturbed as meat browns, only stirring once or twice. Sprinkle balsamic vinegar over the vegetables and toss to coat.

Place skillet in the oven and roast 15-20 minutes until internal temp is 145 degrees. Tent skillet with foil and let rest about 5 minutes. Use more of your marinade as a glaze or make a pan sauce by deglazing the skillet with chicken broth, wine or something like orange juice.

Here's the basic recipe I use to cook vegetables @ the last minute.

Just Freezer Skillet Veggies

INGREDIENTS
3 cups frozen vegetables such as brussels sprouts, broccoli florets, or green beans
2 tablespoons olive oil {learned that extra virgin is not ideal for skillet cooking because it burns at a lower temperature. find just olive oil for skillet cooking. HEB makes some that’s labelled for sautéing.}
Cracked pepper
Coarse kosher salt
balsamic vinegar

DIRECTIONS
Thaw vegetables by running warm water over them in a colander or allowing them to sit about 5 minutes in warm water. Cut the brussels sprouts in half. Heat oil in metal or cast iron skillet on medium high. Add vegetables and generously sprinkle with pepper and salt. Lower heat if things get splattery. Stir to coat and allow to sit undisturbed about 2-3 minutes. Stir again and leave alone for a few more minutes. Once they are looking cooked, sprinkle with balsamic vinegar, stir to coat and cook about 2 -3 minutes more, stirring infrequently to allow maximum, flavorful browning.

Remove from heat. Cool. Plate. Sprinkle with a bit more salt and pepper.

roasted shrimp

Umb. I'm dumb. Where has this been? I'm sure I own the Ina Garten cookbook that it's in. As in, for the last three years this recipe {or rather this simple 8 minute interaction between a hot oven and four household staples} has been sitting in my kitchen, in painfully close proximity to the freezer which houses an old, colossal and overly ambitions, never ending bag of frozen shrimp.

Le Sigh. Despite the time it took, I'm so glad cute Little Kitchen could bring it to the forefront of my Google Reader so that at least, albeit feeling like an idiot, I could at least come out of the cave I've been living in, begin to enjoy this and make some more room in my freezer. Or maybe not since I'll probably go to Costco for an elephant sized bag later today.

This. Is. So. Good. So versatile. So stinkingfrikinannoyingly simple. Be generous with your oil, salt and pepper and use good olive oil. Eat these babies alone, chopped up on salads, thrown into summer pastas, make little ceviches.

Roasted Shrimp

via The Little Kitchen that Could {to whom the pic belongs} from Ina Garten

{Ingredients}
2 lbs. large shrimp (15-20 count), peeled and deveined with tails left on

3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon coarse kosher or sea salt
1-2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon Old Bay blackening seasoning is also good if you have it
{Directions}

If your shrimp were frozen, as mine were, easily thaw them by running them under lukewarm water in a colander or setting them in a bowl of lukewarm water for 5 minutes or so. They are then easy to peel if they aren't already.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil. Toss shrimp with olive oil, salt and pepper and spread in one layer.  Roast for 8 minutes or just until pink and cooked through.  Set aside to cool.  Serve warm or at room temperature, on top of salads, mixed in pasta, or even in warmed corn tortillas with some fresh pico de gallo, cilantro, maybe some chopped mango, cabbage, and a little chipotle mayo.

sliders

After a long and undoubtedly reader-mourned hiatus, I return to you with a versatile, well loved dish in our house.

The base of these sliders is Sister Shubert's rolls. Discovering that my husband loved these was further affirmation of my theory that I'd married the male version of my best friend, but that's beside the point. All that matters is T. loves the rolls and thus has loved whatever I'm able to fit in them. I've made steak sliders with leftover sliced steak meat, I've made turkey burger sliders with leftover turkey meat {and a really cute 2 inch biscuit cutter} and I've made fajita sliders. You could use black bean veggie burger patties, chicken breast sliders {cue that cute biscuit cutter} or even thickly sliced roast beef or turkey deli meat. The possibilities are endless, but the steak is is the one I make the most often. The pictures are of the turkey burger sliders.

{Steak sliders}

INGREDIENTS

Sister Shubert's Parker House Rolls

sliced steak or other meat of choice

spicy mustard

pesto

provolone cheese

baby spinach leaves

sliced Roma tomatoes

oven or toaster oven with a broiler

pepper

DIRECTIONS

Yield note: {I think there are about 16 rolls in each package. When I make these just for T, I break the frozen biscuit 'disk' in half and only use half at a time. One package should feed two for a main course comfortably and be great for appetizers for 4}

Cook frozen rolls according to package directions. Then turn broiler on. 

Time spend under the broiler will only melt the cheese not warm the meat sufficiently, so if you're using leftover or chilled meat, warm meat separately @ this point.

Half each roll and generously spread pesto on one side and spicy mustard {to your level of spiciness preference} on the other. I put pesto on the top and mustard on the bottom because I like the idea of the meat touching the spicy mustard...

Cover each bottom half with as much meat as you please and top with cheese. Place open faced halves on a cookie sheet under the broiler until the cheese melts. Remove. Sprinkle pepper on melted cheese. Top cheese with a few baby spinach leaves and a slice of Roma tomato {and whatever else you've got going on in the fridge that you think sounds good}

Smash top {pesto covered} half on. I served my turkey "burgers" with roasted new potato "fries."

Happy sliding!

cheesy tomato penne bake

This was a combination of a few recipes from my new The Complete Vegetarian cookbook I found for half off at B&N yesterday. It has TONS of great sauce recipes, pasta recipes, appetizer, stuffed vegetable recipes and a billion different ways of incorporating nuts and beans into recipes. Not that I'm a vegetarian per say, but I like eating nuts, vegetables and beans more than meat, typically, and the typical meat portions are hard to cook for just the two of us.

Anyway, I added ground turkey I had frozen from another dish to this recipe, used a tomato sauce recipe from the book and made a really easy cheese sauce to hold it all together. The cookbook's author, Rose Elliot, used the cheese sauce in a couple of her lasagna dishes, but called for egg to hold her penne bake together. (However, I buy good, expensive eggs to eat for breakfast and quite honestly didn't want to use up my good eggs on a baked pasta dish) I had tons of cheddar cheese I was ready to use up and had been wanting to make my own tomato sauce for a while. Also, as I think about moving, I get frustrated with the crazy assortment of pastas I have stuffed in the back of the pantry. Two separate bags of, half used orzo, two versions of penne and enough spaghetti to feed a village. So this allowed me to get rid of the remainders of a penne bag as well!

cheesy penne pasta bake

{ingredients}

1 cup penne pasta, cooked according to package directions

1/2 c. reserved pasta water

1/4 to 1/2 lb ground turkey, cooked and finely crumbled

tomato sauce:

1 14oz can crushed tomatoes

2 T. olive oil

2 bay leaves

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

cheese sauce:

1 T. butter

1 T. flour

5 - 6 oz milk

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

1/2 t. pepper

3/4 c. cheddar cheese or other sharp cheese

1/4 c. bread crumbs

{directions}

Heat olive oil in large skillet or saucepan with lid. Cook onions covered with one bay leaf, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and stir briefly. Add tomatoes, seasonings and reserved pasta water. Allow to simmer about 25 minutes until visibly reduced. Add salt, pepper and italian seasonings to taste. Remove bay leaf.

Make the cheese sauce. I found a rubber whisk worked better than a metal one had. In pot that you made the pasta in, melt butter on medium heat with second bay leaf until bubbly. Add flour and whisk until smooth and slightly darkened in color. Remove bay leaf. Add about 1/3 of the milk and whisk until smooth. Slowly add the rest of the milk and whisk. Whisk until thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and gradually whisk in all but 1/4 cup of the cheese, allowing each addition to melt. Add spices.

In a small baking dish (I used what I think was about a 9 X 5 pyrex) combine pasta, ground turkey, half of the bread crumbs, and all but about a 1/4 of the cheese sauce. Spread the rest of the cheese sauce on top, sprinkle with remaining cheese, remaining bread crumbs and some cracked black pepper. Bake on 350 for about 25 minutes.

{photo belongs to kraft as i'm too lazy to upload mine!}

fall stuffed squash

how cute is that round "8 ball zucchini"??? kinda reminds me of cinderella's carriage. 

goal: reproduce stuffed bell pepper and make more fallish.

why i hesitate to share this recipe:

there are not many measurements or times. i just threw a bunch of stuff together that i thought sounded and looked good at Central Market today. it’s very adaptable to your preferences, cravings and current kitchen stock.

but. what is essential here:

1. a zucchini squash vessel. a lighter crispier squash was a good light flavor and crisp to go with the creamier, heartier filling. i don’t think a more dense, hearty, almost nearer potatoey butternut squash or pumpkin vessel would have worked as well. plus i found perfect little ball shaped zucchinis! they were more “seedy” (heh. pun) than long zucchini, which you could certainly use, so not as much of their pulp was as usable. in my opinion. but the cooked outside and layer of flesh left was perfect with the filling.
2. butternut squash, though next time i want to try pumpkin!
3. toasted pecan pieces: crunch and flavor. i just toasted them on pan in same 400 degree oven til crispy and fragrant, about 4 minutes
4. a good cheese that can hold its own. parmigiano reggiano has done wonders to my stuffed bell peppers and i liked the manchego cheese i tried today.
5. pumpkin pie spice and brown sugar (partially cuz it’s fun. partially cuz it’s good)

{fall stuffed squash}

place 3 “8 ball zucchini squash,” with tops cut off * and 1/2 butternut squash face down in baking dish with a bit of water in the bottom.

bake in a 400 degree oven, covered with foil for 30 min, or until tender. i finished the squash in the microwave. 

while the squash are baking:

saute diced onions until tender in olive oil on medium heat

season with kosher salt and cracked pepper

add chopped cremini mushrooms and a bit of butter

saute til tender, but not all the way wilty

reduce heat to low and add

roughly chopped roma tomatoes

more kosher salt and cracked pepper

cover and simmer for about 10 minutes

uncover, increase heat a bit and stir, breaking up tomatoes and allowing liquids to reduce significantly

mix in about a fourth a cup good bread crumbs or cooked brown rice**

stir in pulp {flesh?} from zucchini and butternut squash

and a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice, pepper and brown sugar to taste

stir to combine for a few minutes and season to taste

remove from heat and stir in:

grated Manchego cheese

generous amounts of toasted pecan pieces***

a bit of parsley

fill hollowed zucchini squash with mixture, top with more cheese, 

cover in foil and bake for 10-15 minutes in 375 degree oven, removing foil about half way through.

top with more cheese and parsley if desired

*or large zucchini, halved, lengthwise (will need less cooking time)

**did brown rice, will try bread next time, not even sure if it’s necessary but the rice was nice for texture

  excuse my phone pics!

{taco mania}

just acquired a puppy? too crunched for time and slammed at work to conjure up new and exciting dinners much less update your food blog? biding your time for summer?

sorry, i can't relate.

check out taco mania  for pretty pictures and easy ways to zest up many meats. perfect for fast summer dinners. just be sure you get yourself some epic tortillas and life is good.

::spicy vegetarian chili::

taylor said he wanted chili. so this is what i was able to throw together. it was really good, in my opinion, especially for being essentially an experiment in rummaging through the fridge and pantry!

{spicy vegetarian chili}
INGREDIENTS
1 can pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can rotel
1 can black beans
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/3 cup tomato paste
2 tsp. adobo sauce {from canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce}
2 tbsp. chili powder
dash of cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. cumin
2 tsp. coriander
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/2 - 1c. beer, or other liquid like broth, water or wine
2 tbsp. olive oil
DIRECTIONS
In large pot or dutch oven, saute onions and peppers in olive oil until well softened. Add spices and adobo sauce and stir. Add beans, rotel and tomato paste. Add liquid until desired thickness. Stir uncovered for a few minutes on medium heat until bubbly. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Serve with cornbread and cheese.

I did not drain or rinse the beans very carefully. Meaning, I allowed the beans and rotel liquid to serve as some of the soup liquid. This is SO flexible, good and easy!

vegetable pasta toss

wondering what to do with all those great vegetables from the stuffed peppers?? here's a yummy, fresh, flexible pasta sauce and you don't even have to turn on the oven. next time i try this, i might put a little white wine in there with the tomatoes.

{vegetable pasta toss}
serves 4
a few drizzles of olive oil

2 small, diced

1 T minced garlic

1 slender zucchini, small dice
1 slender yellow summer squash, small dice

1 sweet bell pepper, small dice
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed {or 1 c cooked ground beef}

1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes halved {or 1 15 oz can of chopped tomatoes}
1 T ground cumin

1 T ground coriander

1 t cinnamon

1/2 lb whole wheat penne pasta or pasta of choice
juice of one lemon, divided

salt and pepper to taste

chopped parsley
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
::directions::


Bring a large pot of water to boil.

 Cook pasta according to package directions. Heat up a large skillet with a lid on medium high heat. Depending on whether it is nonstick or stainless steel, drizzle a very little oil or a tablespoon or 2 into the pan, and heat it up. When it is shimmering, add the garlic and let it toast briefly, 15-30 seconds. Do not let it burn. Add the onions and cook until caramelized, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with salt.



Add veggies {and chickpeas if you're using them}. When the onion has totally caramelized and the zucchini is a little tender, add the spices and stir. Do not allow the spices to stick and burn. Add the juice of half of the lemon to the pan to deglaze it. Then add the tomatoes. Stir the mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Let it cook for 10 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper.

Uncover and stir to allow tomatoes to break up and liquids to evaporate. Add breadcrumbs if you want it thicker. Remove from heat and add meat if you're using it, 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley and cheese. Toss the cooked noodles with the juice from the remaining half of the lemon. Serve combined or separately.

{image belongs to themarmot}

stuffed red bell peppers

Turns out I was inspired after my sad farewell for a bit and decided to cook dinner. I'm on a bell pepper kick now that I've decided I like them after 23 years of marked repulsion to even the smell of them sharing space in a salad with similarly colored tomatoes.

This came from smitten kitchen who had it as a vegetarian dish. I added meat based upon some other recipes. You're just going to have to guestimate the vegetable quantities based upon the size of the veggies you end up with and what you like more. Don't skip on the spices though and save yourself some time by just throwing all your parsley leaves in a food processor. I've decided I hate washing, drying, pulling leaves off and cutting herbs like parsley and cilantro. So I just lightly washed them, barely dried them and threw them in the food processor. Now have a parsley pesto foundation for later and am not picking herb leaves out of my nails.

These were good and very flexible.

roasted vegetable stuffed peppers
inspired by smittenkitchen.com

5 bell peppers halved and seeded {see note}
2 bell peppers - small dice {see note}
1 zucchini - small dice
1 summer squash - small dice
1 onion - small dice
6 cloves garlic - minced
1 c frozen corn
1 c grape tomatoes halved or quartered
4 tbs chopped fresh parsley
3/4 c panko breadcrumbs
salt
pepper
1 tbs essence {i used a dash of paprika and cayenne pepper}
3 tbs olive oil
2 tbs butter
1/4 c parmesean plus more for sprinkling {or whatever cheese you have... but i strongly recommend using GOOD freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and this will change your life.}
1/2 lb ground beef or turkey

cumin

coriander

oven to 375. cook meat in a skillet with a few dashes of coriander and cumin and a bit of salt and pepper. set aside. saute onion in butter and olive oil over med high heat until translucent. add garlic and cook til fragrant. add vegetables and saute until just softened. add salt, pepper and essence. {don't be shy with your spices! taste it!} add parsley and breadcrumbs. you may need to add more breadcrumbs if the liquid is not absorbed. add parm and meat and take off heat. combine.

stuff the peppers with the vegetable stuffing mix. place in baking dish with a little olive oil in bottom. put in oven and bake until peppers are softened (about 20-25 minutes). just before they are done (5 minutes early) take out and sprinkle top with parm.
{note} I cut the top off of my peppers, then diced the de-stemmed, de-cored top as the “diced” pepper. I then stuffed into the topless peppers.
{post note} BUT I think this recipe was designed so that each pepper would equate two halves for stuffing if you cut each lengthwise. Since I made them stuffable by cut the tops off, one pepper only equaled one pepper, rather than one turning into two, if that makes any sense. I halved all the quantities shown here, didn't add corn and added only a few cherry tomatoes and it filled three peppers perfectly. We each ate one as a meal.


Taylor said these were good because the "bell pepper tasted fresh" I think the yummy, gooey innards were a good contrast with the cooked but still crisp bell pepper on the outside.

{image belongs to tdfl}

baked bbq chicken

My dad makes his dad's excellent bbq sauce from scratch. The first time I made this dish it was because my dad gave me nearly a gallon of leftover sauce. If you don't have a stellar family recipe sauce to use, pick out your favorite, quality bbq sauce.


baked bbq chicken
INGREDIENTS (serves 4-6)
4 chicken drum sticks, bone in
4 chicken thighs, bone in
2 - 3 cups good barbecue sauce

{spice rub slash marinade}
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon seasoning salt
2 teaspoons cracked pepper
1/4 cup olive oil or melted butter
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, or red wine

DIRECTIONS
{spice rub option} combine all seasonings without liquids (vinegar, butter or oil) and rub into meat and under skin immediately prior to cooking
{spice marinade option} combine seasonings with oils and rub into meat, allow meat to marinate in seasonings 2 - 6 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 and in large baking dish arrange chicken pieces in a single layer and cover completely and generously with sauce. It may be necessary to flip pieces to ensure the tops are coated in sauce. Bake uncovered 30 to 45 minutes.

Serve with rosemary roasted potatoes, twice baked potatoes, or baked macaroni and cheese

{image belongs to judithsweet}

orzo pasta with chicken, peppers and arugula

I'd never had, much less made anything with orzo pasta. I really liked it, and a little bit goes a long way. One serving size is 1/2 of a cup dry and I found that, once cooked very satisfying. I also liked that I could buy exactly the amount I wanted in HEB's bulk section and only pay a dollar and some change. That section is great when I need a little special ingredient but don't want to buy a large portion of it; or if I want to try something new --like orzo!
This is a great base for any veggies you have sitting around. I've been into arugula and have been finding tons of places in which to throw it. Definitely toast the pine nuts.

orzo pasta with chicken and arugula
{serves 4}
INGREDIENTS
2 T. olive oil
1 small shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 of a red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
2 cups arugula
1 1/2 cups orzo pasta
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted*
1/8 to 1/4 cup lemon vinaigrette dressing**
DIRECTIONS
*{toasting pine nuts: add to dry pot on medium heat, stirring occasionally until slightly browned and fragrant}

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add orzo pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain. Add to large bowl with toasted pine nuts and set aside. I toasted the nuts in the same pot, once the pasta was finished.

While pasta is cooking, pour 2 tablespoons olive oil into non-stick or cast iron skillet. Stir in onion, peppers and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent, add garlic and cook 2 more minutes, stirring often. Increase heat to medium high, pour in white wine; cook about 3 minutes. Liquid should simmer and reduce significantly.
Reduce heat to low, stir in chicken and arugula. Cover, and cook to warm through, about 3 minutes. Uncover and stir until arugula is wilted. Add mixture to orzo and pine nuts and toss with dressing.

You may need a little less pasta than that and perhaps a bit more dressing. I plated ours and added the chicken, pepper, arugula mixture and dressing separately to each plate to be sure the proportions were right. Then tossed.

**{if you don't want to make my lemon vinaigrette, you can also toss this with about 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil and a squirt of dijon mustard, or go a different route and do balsamic vinaigrette}

chicken salad

Taylor prefers his chicken salad done pretty plain. He likes Kitchen Door's Austin award winning chicken salad. I, on the other hand, prefer my chicken salad to have much more action-packed chunkiness going on than just chicken and mayo. Plus that wouldn't be exciting food blog fodder. "Shred chicken, mix with mayo. Eat on white bread." So here's my type of chicken salad.


Chunky Chicken Salad
{serves 4}
INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken
2/3 cup grapes, cut into eighths
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1/3 cup diced onions, cooked
1/4 cup celery, diced
1/2 tablespoon honey
3 teaspoons cracked pepper
3 teaspoons seasoning salt
2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, chopped
1/3 to 1/2 cup mayonnaise. I used Kraft's new kind made with olive oil.
DIRECTIONS
Combine first four ingredients. Add the honey and then remaining ingredients to taste. Serve stuffed in a big, ripe, yummy tomato or on a bed of lettuce with avocado slices. Or on your favorite toasted bread. The options are limitless, really.
{notes and modifications}
I used a combination of leftover grilled chicken breast and rotisserie chicken meat. Whole Foods makes theirs by adding a little bit of apple cider vinegar. Try that if you like, it sounds good but I make no endorsements since I didn't do it myself. I diced my onions, then zapped them in the microwave for about 2 minutes. You can toast the pecans by placing in dry skillet on medium low and stirring for about 3-5 minutes.


Oh, and please do not get the impression that I'm knocking Kitchen Door. They have good ice.
And oatmeal cookies and frosted cookies and brownies. But I'm sad they left Lake Austin Blvd. Moment of silence...

{image belongs to scottishcow}

green pizza

Pizzas are such a great leftovers meal. Especially since I'm overcoming my fear of yeast. Since we've been frequenting The Grove, it's inspired me to throw just about anything on there. Too bad I didn't have any mushrooms, then it'd be heavenly. But then I probably couldn't call this Green Pizza.


I realize I'm using spaghetti sauce on this but I sort of like how it's sweeter and plus this jar is much more versatile if I use it for more than just spaghetti. I also like how these come in flavors. The tomato & basil has chunks of tomato that add to pizzas. In my honest opinion. Obviously you could just use marinara sauce or even tomato paste with some garlic but that wouldn't be as random....
Note the feta placement in the bottom picture. Taylor claims to not like strong cheeses, but I really do. And they make pizzas and a lot of other dishes much more fun. So I thought I start him out on feta {since blue cheese would probably be a criminal starting place....but we'll work up to that}. I put a little cluster to see what would happen, and he ate it! I informed him later, at The Grove actually, that he likes feta. Was that mean? I'm not sure but it makes it easier to cook for both of us if I can work on cheese diversification.


green pizza
INGREDIENTS
this pizza dough, or prepared dough {some hebs sell raw dough near their deli section}
1/4 cup thinly sliced and then quartered zucchini
1 cup uncooked baby spinach leaves
4 tablespoons of this pesto, or basil pesto
1/3 cup cooked chicken, diced
1/3 cup shredded colby jack cheese
1/4 cup shredded parmesean cheese
3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup of your favorite, well seasoned tomato sauce {or omit and increase the pesto!}
DIRECTIONS
Lightly saute zucchini and spinach {or zap in the microwave} until just beginning to look and feel cooked. I cooked the spinach just about all the way and then squeezed out the moisture and diced it. I cooked the cut zucchini till it was tender but not completely cooked. {see note}

Oven to 550. Cover pizza stone or baking sheet with parchment paper if you have some. {I'm never consistent about using parchment paper}. Roll out pizza dough to desired thickness, will {or should} rise some. Spread pesto then tomato sauce. Sprinkle with about 2/3 of the cheeses. Add zucchini, spinach and chicken evenly. Sprinkle the rest of the cheeses. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

{note} I'd never tried these veggies on a pizza and wasn't sure if they'd cook all the way, being put on the pizza raw. So I gave them a head start. I have no idea if it was necessary but they turned out great.


{recommended variations for your green pizza} asparagus, green peppers, green tomatoes, arugula. ooooo arugula...

drunk spicy shrimp

drunk spicy shrimp
INGREDIENTS
1 dozen peeled and devined shrimp
1 cup beer (I used Shiner)
2 tsp paprika
1 tablespoon minced cilantro
juice from one lemon
1 to 2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
dash of cracked pepper
dash of salt
butter
DIRECTIONS
Combine all ingredients except butter in shallow bowl with lid or a ziploc bag and marinate refrigerated for 30 minutes to and hour. I imagine longer wouldn't hurt but I did not have time for that business. Heat 2 tablespoons butter on medium high heat and begin to add shrimp from the outside in. Each side only needs about 1 to 2 minutes so begin to flip the outer ring of shrimp almost as soon as you've placed the middle ones.

Try this on kebabs on the grill too!

{image belongs to tommywilliams}

vegetable latkes

My friends are going to look at this and roll their eyes. Oh, Erin and her self-inflicted, heath freakish oddities. I thought these were good. They're really healthy and feel like a heartier way to eat vegetables. The recipe I found originally used peas, which I omitted, but substituted for soy beans in this recipe to add some protein. I think you could eat these for a main dish. My husband, on the other hand, would disagree. To his credit, these are a little on the strange side for his preferences.


It's pretty flexible too. I think you could use just about any vegetable that meets your fancy. You probably have some articles in your vegetable drawer right now that would be happy to offer their services.
My super cool mesh colanders enjoyed participating. That bottom one suspends itself over the sink. I know you're j.

Mmm carrots. I hadn't peeled a carrot in a looooong while. It was a job given to me once upon a time. Probably since my mom succumbed to the convenience of those bagged baby carrots. This picture reminds me of making carrot cake cupcakes.... go ahead. Check them out, I'll wait for you.
I stored half the grated vegetables and spice mixture for later in the week, then mixed them together with 2 eggs when I made them again.

Indian-Spiced Vegetable Latkes
adapted from smitten kitchen
Makes about 24 pancakes.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup frozen soy beans, shelled*
1 medium onion, peeled
1 medium sized russet or Idaho potato, peeled
1 yam or sweet potato, peeled (I used half an eggplant)
1 large carrot, peeled
1 zucchini
4 large eggs
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
A pinch of cayenne
1/2 teaspoon ginger
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 200°F. Place two nonstick baking sheets in oven.

In small saucepan, bring salted water to boil. Add soy beans and cook, uncovered, until heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain, then rinse in colander under cool, running water. Set aside in colander to drain completely. (Or, you could do this step in the microwave, and save yourself a good bit of effort.) Mash or add to food processor in step below.

Using box grater or food processor fitted with grating disc, coarsely grate onion, potatoes, carrot and zucchini and place in colander set in sink, setting aside to drain.

In large mixing bowl, lightly beat eggs. Whisk in flour and spices. Mix in cilantro.

Press vegetables to extract as much liquid as possible, then add to bowl. Season mixture with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Using wooden spoon or hands, mix well, but do not overwork.

In heavy-bottomed, 12-inch non-stick skillet over moderately high heat, heat 1-2 tablespoons oil (I used an extra-virgin olive oil spray to lightly coat the pan); until hot but not smoking. Drop 4 scant 1/4-cup portions of potato mixture into pan and flatten with spatula to form four 3-inch pancakes.

Fry until bottoms are golden-brown (the color really counts on this; the darker you let it go, the more the pancake holds together - this goes for both sides.), 4 to 5 minutes, then turn over and fry until golden-brown and crisp, an additional 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain; season immediately with salt and pepper. Keep warm on baking sheets in oven while making remaining pancakes.

Using paper towels, carefully wipe out pan. And 1 tablespoon oil to the pan and fry 4 more pancakes. Repeat with remaining batter, wiping out pan and adding 1 to 2 tablespoons oil before each batch.

*Found in the frozen food section likely called edamame

Now, eat your veggies!

parsley pesto

I've been making a few recipes recently that call for parsley. Please tell me I'm not the only one to have noticed this issue. A recipe calls for, oh maybe a couple tablespoons chopped parsley so I head to the store (NOT out my backdoor....which is another lamentation all together) and buy a formidable BUSHEL of parsley. Granted, it's like 65 cents. But still. I mean, if I put three tablespoons of parsley in three meals a day for a week, I still wouldn't use it all. Good thing it's biodegradable because surely 1 in 3 households across the nation are chunkin' out loads of parsley like it's going out of style.

Then to add insult to injury. I went to the store and utterly forgot that I already had a bale of perfectly good parsley pining away its fate in my vegetable drawer. Oh boy.

So I get home and begin to struggle with two issues: 1. I have parsley coming out my ears. 2. I have tortellini (good and SO easy, by the way) that lacks a sauce. Now granted, tortellini is sometimes eaten without a sauce, or just with an olive oil drizzlish thing, but I thought my skeptic of a husband would be more inclined to try a new pasta if it wasn't just sitting there staring him in the face without some savory looking sauce.

Enter parsley pesto. Taylor likes basil pesto (though he doesn't know it's made with basil) and it's good on everything from sandwiches to pizza to obviously pasta. I thought, well, if there's a pesto looking substance on there, he will probably eat it. AND parsley is an herb so surely I can make pesto out of it. Really, more people should do this because, golly, parsley at your local grocery is very cheap and very .....ominous in quantity.

parsley pesto
{special equippment alert: food processor needed}
INGREDIENTS
5 cups parsley leaves
1 cup to 1 and 1/4 cup finely grated parmesean cheese
1/3 cup pine nuts {see note}
1 garlic clove {see note}
2 T. cracked pepper
1 T. salt
2/3 to 3/4 cup olive oil
DIRECTlONS
Mix it all up in your food processor. Add more olive oil if needed. Will yield about one and fourth cup pesto. I have a small food processor and just added everything incrementally, pulsing in between addtions.

{note}
I do not care for the taste of raw garlic. Also pine nuts are MUCH better toasted. If you want to invest a little extra time, I think this will be worth your while. Mince the garlic. Heat skillet on medium heat and add the pine nuts. Cover if your skillet has a lid. Stir every two or three minutes until toasted and delicious smelling. Remove nuts, though I don't think it matters if they stay, and add 1 -2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the garlic and stir often until slighly changed in color and fragrant, about 4 minutes. ...And then start pesto instuctions. If you cook the garlic first, I bet it would be good with two or even three cloves. Raw, I'd say one, or even a dash of garlic powder instead.

So ingenious. Put it on this pizza or make this penne pasta or even this stuffed chicken or cook it on this salmon!

{image belongs to sweetfineday}

fettuccine with light white sauce

This could be called fettuccine alfredo. Except that a real alfredo sauce, I think, based upon minimal online research, is made mostly with cream and much more Parmesan. I made a sauce base, similar to my Mac & Cheese and my
Pot Pie, used 2 % milk then added some cheese and a little bit of lemon. It was a bit lighter than alfredo sauce.

I think the lemon and fresh parsley really set this sauce apart. I was honestly surprised at how good it was, and I was amazed at how easy the sauce was to whip up with basic kitchen ingredients. It was even be better the second day, after all the flavors became better acquainted. I imagine that baking it is not a necessity but I think it helps the noodles soak up some of the sauce flavor....I'm not sure. Try it both ways!

image belongs to chowdownphoenix

fettuccine with light white sauce
inspired by PioneerWoman
8- 10 oz wheat fettuccine pasta (3-4 cups cooked)
2 cups grilled or roasted chicken, diced

1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
generous dash of nutmeg
2 t. cracked pepper
1 t. salt
3/4 to 1 c. milk (room temperature recommended)
3/4 c. low sodium chicken broth
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese divided
3 t. lemon juice
3 t. chopped, fresh parsley

Heat oven to 375. Cook fettuccine according to package directions, drain and place in oven safe dish. In small pot, warm chicken broth. Melt butter in saucepan on medium heat, add garlic and lemon juice and whisk occasionally until butter is bubbly, about 3 minutes. Add flour slowly with pepper, salt and nutmeg and whisk until combined, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and slowly whisk in broth and milk, alternating. Add more milk if it seems too thick. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup cheese. Pour over noodles. Add chicken. Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. (Don’t bake too long or the pasta will dry out.) Top with remaining cheese and parsley. Yield: 4 servings.

chicken pot pie

Thanks for letting me take about a week hiatus. With school wrapping up, graduations, Memorial Day weekend, there was just not enough time in the day to keep you updated on my culinary adventures. Or perhaps I was just too lazy to upload my pictures. ...you may never know...While this dish may not seem summer appropriate, allow me to posit that it can be spring appropriate. We had some drizzly, dreary spring weather early last week and I thought it would be perfectly apt to attempt homemade pot pie. Now I did not make the pie crust. So, to be candid and true to you loyal readers, I made homemade pot and store bought pie.

I had fun making them individually, the smaller one was taken out about ten minutes early. The big one is in about a 16 oz dish and the small one, about 10 oz. Here you can see the filling station.

My sloppy pie crust job resulted in some excess dough that inspired my artistic sensibilities, but you'll have to glaze over the recipe to reach the finale. I think the next time I make this, I'm going to grate about a 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese into the filling. You know, for the added calcium.

Chicken Pot Pie
INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1.5 whole chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on (I used 2 cups diced rotisserie chicken meat)

1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teasp nutmeg
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk (room temperature recommended)

1/2 (10-ounce) package frozen peas (or approx 1 cup)
1 cup diced carrot
1 cup diced potato
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
1 egg beaten
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. white wine
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
1 egg beaten
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
{chicken}
Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice. You will have 2 to 3 cups of cubed chicken. (Can be done in advance)
{veggies}
Heat large non-stick saucepan with lid on medium. Add potatoes, 1/2 c. chicken broth, wine, lemon juice and garlic. Bring to boil and cook covered 5 minutes, add carrots and cook 5 min more, stir uncovered for 3 minutes to allow liquids to reduce. {see note}
{filling}
Add any remaining liquid from vegetables to small pot. Add the rest of the broth to the small pot and heat on low. In large saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper. Slowly stir in milk and warmed chicken broth Simmer over medium-low heat until thick, stirring often. Add the cubed chicken, potatoes, carrots, peas and parsley. Mix well.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Sprinkle bottom of deep pie plate lightly with flour, spread into a thin layer with your fingers. Press crust into bottom of dish and repeat with flour. Pour the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Bake 45 min. Allow to cool for 5 - 10 minutes before serving.
{note}
I did not have carrots. Also, an alternative to cooking the vegetables is to just blanch them: Add diced potatoes to 2 quarts water and boil for about 10 minutes. Add diced carrots to boiling water for about 2 minutes. Remove together and submerge in ice water. Drain and set aside. This is the truly British (though arguably less inspiring) way of cooking the vegetables.
Ah yes, and there's what I did with the excess dough. Who doesn't want a personalized pot pie? Now you're certainly realizing that is what your soul has been missing.
That's a cursive T. In case you're having trouble.

the simple but scrumptious saturday sandwich

Yes. I'm devoting an entire post to a sandwich. Will you write this off? Or will you open your mind to all that this sandwich holds for you? For you, loyal readers, I am divulging my secrets.

The key here, the ticket to greatness, the road straight to the heart of your eagerly awaiting recipient, is an overripe avocado.

Cut that avocado in half, twist the halves apart, stab the seed, yank it out and throw it away. Whew. Using one of the halves, cut a few thin slices lengthwise. I recommend four slices. You want these four slices to be about a half inch wide at their widest part. Since your avocado is just slightly overripe, the skin will peel right off. Place one slice at a time onto your favorite, toasted bread and cut into it, spreading the thin slivers onto the bread as you move the sliver of avocado across the bread.

Repeat with remaining slices, spreading gently and generously.Now avocado is the key, but this, dear readers, is your secret ingredient....
Now that you're intrigued by that bottle and lusting after that avocado, let's just cut to the chase...

the simple but scrumptious saturday sandwich
INGREDIENTS
1/2 boneless grilled chicken breast, cut thinly lengthwise (or meat of choice)
2 slices good bread
2 thin slices provolone cheese
4 thin roma tomato slices
1 leaf Romaine lettuce or spinach
1/4 to 1/6 overripe avocado
1 - 2 tbs. Newman's Family Recipe Italian dressing
yellow mustard
DIRECTIONS
Heat broiler to low. Place bread slices on baking sheet and toast one side to desired crispness, perhaps about 2 minutes. Remove and flip to non-toasted side. Drizzle slices (slowly!) with dressing and spread with knife. Return slices, dressing side up, and continue toasting, but remove one slice after about a minute, once you can barely see it's starting to toast. Allow the second slice to finish toasting and remove.

Spread avocado onto the dressing side of both slices of bread, as demonstrated in above tutorial. Onto fully toasted slice, spread yellow mustard. Avocado and mustard? Yes. Trust me. Onto partially toasted slice, place chicken and top with provolone cheese. Return to broiler until cheese gets sweaty and droopy, about 2 minutes. Top with tomatoes, leafy greens and pickles. Top with the other slice of bread.
This picture shows the sandwich done with turkey lunch meat and uninspiring bread. I have plans to make a wheat bread soon, so stay tuned.

This is a technicality but nevertheless: If you like your sandwiches cut in half, so you can bite into the non-crust side, I've found it's easier to cut the bread in half before beginning with the broiler et cetera and deal with four halves, rather than trying to cut it in half later. But that wasn't worth explaining in the directions. It probably wasn't worth explaining at all....except that then I would be withholding an element of this Simple but Scrumptious Saturday Sandwich, and I promised to divulge my secrets.

Serve with Zapps and fruit and a chocolate chip cookie.