Mexican Salad

Looking for a salad loaded with veggies and flavor?  Hello Mexican Salad.  I made this up--nothing complicated, but tasty.  You could use a ranch dressing or go crazy and use salsa instead of a dressing like I do.  Figure friendly!  I also added 3 or 4 crushed up doritos on the top for some crunch.  Gotta live a little, right?

Mexican Salad

1-2 hearts of romaine lettuce
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1-2 green onions
1 c. frozen corn, thawed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c. shredded cheese
1 cooked chicken breast, diced

Toss all together and top with a dressing or salsa of your choice.
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Comment:
c = cup

Greek Lemon Roasted Potatoes

Martha Stewart gave this recipe to my neighbor Dawn and she made them when we had one of our Friday Night gatherings.  Okay, that's not entirely true….Dawn doesn't know Martha.  She got it from Martha Stewart Living, May 1999.    If you make these, I know it won't be the only time you do!  This recipe is a keeper.  They really are a good thing.

Greek Lemon Roasted Potatoes

4 large or 8 medium russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 c. olive oil
1 c. water
1/2 c. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 T. dried greek oregano
1 T. salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper

Heat oven to 500 degrees.  Yes, that's right.  500 degrees.  Put potatoes in a metal roasting pan in a single layer.  Add water, olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper.  Toss potatoes until well coated.

Bake uncovered until fork tender and brown on the edges,  about 50 minutes.  Turn the potatoes after 30 minutes for even browning.  Add water if all of the liquid has absorbed before they are fully browned.

Garnish with a shake of oregano and serve.

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Comments:
c = cup
T = tablespoon
t = teaspoon

There really is such a thing as greek oregano!  If you simply cannot find it, you can use regular.

Pasta Sauce

The kitchen smells awesome right now!  A pot of homemade pasta sauce on the stove.  That's gravy for all you italians out there. But we norwegians know the truth.  Gravy is brown or tan and is poured over mashed potatoes (You know who you are...).

Between my sister's house and ours, we had some tomatoes in the garden that needed to be used up.  I'll be honest, they were mostly hers.  My plants are pathetic and they have a magic deck that turns everything into lush green large plants.    Most of these were roma tomatoes with a couple of larger round ones.  Who knows what kind they were.  Anyways--a perfect excuse to make a batch of sauce.

You can vary the amount of ingredients based on the number of tomatoes used or your personal taste, but this is what I used for this particular batch.

Don't have fresh ingredients?  You don't have to settle for a store bought jar sauce.  See the alternate recipe at the end.  It's almost better!

Pasta Sauce

4 T. olive oil
1 small onion
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
About 25 roma tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
3-4 T. fresh parsley, chopped
2 T. fresh oregano, chopped
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. crushed red pepper


Remove the skins of the tomatoes by scoring the top of each tomato with and X.  Add the tomatoes to a pot of simmering water for about 30 seconds.  Transfer them to an ice bath.  The skins should come right off.  Super easy.

Saute the onions in olive oil.  Add garlic.  Add all other ingredients.   Simmer on the stove for at least an hour, stirring occasionally.  The tomatoes will break down as they cook.  If you want it less chunky, you can use a potato masher once the sauce is done cooking.  Another option would be an immersion blender.  That will really blend everything together in a smooth sauce.


Cheaters Recipe:
4 T. olive oil
1 small onion
4 T. jarred chopped garlic
6 28oz. cans of diced tomatoes
2 small cans tomato paste
1 1/2 T. dried parsley
1 T. dried oregano
1 1/2 T. dried basil
1 1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. crushed red pepper
1/2 c. dry red wine, optional, for a nice rich flavor and for..why not?

Saute the onions in olive oil.  Add garlic.  Add all other ingredients, except wine.   Simmer on the stove for at least an hour, more like two, stirring occasionally, to reduce the liquid so it is a thicker sauce.  The tomatoes will break down as they cook.  About 1/2 way through the simmer time, add the wine.  Blend with an immersion blender to desired chunkiness 

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Comments:
T = Tablespoon
t = teaspoon

Frittata

Looking for a reason to pull out that cast iron skillet?  Here is a good one….Frittata.  A few basic ingredients along with a few customized add-ins and the possibilities are endless.  This week I went to a local organic farm and got a dozen farm fresh eggs.  The perfect beginning to this dish.  For add-ins, I included a left over chipotle chicken sausage, grated parm and fresh chives from my herb garden.

Frittata

8 eggs
2 T. bread crumbs
1/2 c grated cheese of your choice
1/2 c fresh herbs of your choice
chopped meat or bacon is an optional add-in
Olive Oil for coating the pan

Mix the eggs, bread crumbs, cheese, herbs and meat if you so choose.  Let it sit for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, turn on the broiler.  Coat the bottom of the cast iron skillet with olive oil and heat on the stovetop on medium for 3 minutes or so to heat up the pan.

Add the egg mixture and cook it until you can peek under the egg to see that the bottom is firm and golden.    Probably about 4-5 minutes.

Stick the whole skillet under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Serve with some lovely fruit like this for a yummy breakfast!

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Comments:
T = tablespoon
c = cup

Broccoli Slaw

Okay, so here is one that is probably not so good for you, but it does taste good and I want to keep it, so there you have it.  It's perfect for summer picnics because there is no mayo!

You could probably add cold diced chicken if you wanted to make it more of a main meal.

Broccoli Slaw

2  3-oz bags of Oriental flavored ramen noodle soup, crushed
6 T. butter
1/4 c. slivered almonds
24 oz. of bagged broccoli slaw
1/4 c. sunflower seeds
chopped green onion for garnish

Dressing:
3/4 c. oil
1/4 c. brown or white sugar
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
1 seasoning packet from the ramen noodles

Melt butter in a skillet.  Add the crushed noodles and almonds and sauté on low-medium heat.

Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.

Put the broccoli slaw in a large bowl and toss with the noodles, almonds and sunflower seeds.  Pour the dressing over all and toss to coat.  Garnish with the green onions.

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Comments:
T = Tablespoon
c = cup

One Pot Pasta

This is the perfect meal if you get home from a long day at work and don't feel like going to too much trouble for a home cooked meal.  It is super easy and like the title says you only dirty one pot so clean up is also super easy.

Add in suggestion from the hubby:  spicy italian sausage cut in thin slices diagonally.  I will do this next time.  Pinky swear.

NEWS UPDATE!  Last time we made this I added 1/2 of a jar of leftover alfredo sauce when the pasta was resting.  We also added the caprese chicken sausage.  SO GOOD!  DO THIS!

One Pot Pasta

16 oz. whole wheat pasta of your choice
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes with liquid
1 medium sweet or mild onion cut in thin strips
1 1/2 to 2 T. minced garlic
1/4 to 1/2 T. red pepper flakes, depending on how hot you like it
1 T. oregano
5 1/2 c. vegetable broth
3 T. olive oil
10 - 12 leaves of basil, julienned
Freshly grated parmesan cheese for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste

In a stock pot, place pasta, tomatoes, onion and garlic.  Add the broth, oregano, pepper flakes, and olive oil.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and keep covered and cook for 10 - 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until most of the liquid has evaporated and the pasta is done.

Season with the salt and pepper.  Add basil and stir.  Garnish with the parmesan cheese.

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T = Tablespoon
c = cup

Chicken Jalapeno Burgers

I got this recipe from OnceAMonthMeals.com when someone posted a link to Facebook.  Jalapeño anything is hard to resist and I have been waiting for the right time to try it.  Hello 4th of July!   Perfectly spiced fireworks of flavor.   I was surprised by the amount of onions and red pepper flakes in the list of ingredients, but I went with it anyway.  These were POP-U-LAR.   After all the ingredients were mixed, I was able to get 14 quarter pound burgers from this recipe.  We polished off 10 of them at our gathering and I stuck the remaining 4 uncooked burgers between wax paper and in a freezer bag so we can enjoy them another time.  Can't wait until that day!

Chicken Jalapeño Burgers

3 lbs. ground chicken
1 1/4 c. white onion, diced
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped ( I didn't have enough in my garden, so I used a combo of cilantro and flat leaf parsley)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, diced ( I used a really good sized one but removed all the seeds and most of the ribs)
2 t. dried cumin
2 t. dried paprika
2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
Guacamole for topping


Using you hands, mix together all (EXCEPT the guacamole) in a bowl.  Divide mixture into the portion size you prefer and form patties.    Grill over medium high grill.  Don't flip until they no longer stick to the grate.  I am sure your grill master will know just how to do them.

Put the patty on a bun and top with a dollop of your favorite guacamole.

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Comments:
lbs = pounds
t = teaspoon