Sunday, June 13th, 2010 - Stuffed Shells

Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Stuffed-Shells-I/Detail.aspx?prop31=2

INGREDIENTS:

1 (16 ounce) package jumbo pasta shells 4 cups large curd cottage cheese 12 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 pinch garlic powder 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon dried parsley 1 (26 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Cook shells according to package directions. Place in cold water to stop cooking. Drain.
2.	Mix together cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, eggs, and garlic powder. Rub the dried herbs in the palms of your hands to pulverize them, and stir into the cheese mixture. Stuff mixture into the shells.
3.	Spread 1/3 of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 15 x 10 inch pan. Place shells open side up, and close together in pan. Spread remaining sauce over top, and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
4.	Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 35 minutes, or until bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Changes: added ground beef, small curd cottage cheese

Verdict: We liked this recipe, Darren wants to add peppers and onions.

Avocado Asian Black Bean Salad

Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Avocado-Asian-Black-Bean-Salad/Detail.aspx

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar 1/4 cup soy sauce, low sodium 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 tablespoon sesame oil 1 teaspoon hot chile oil 2 Chilean Hass avocados

2 (16 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed 4 green onions, sliced 1 sweet red pepper, seeded and diced 1/2 cup cilantro or Italian parsley, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In large bowl, stir together vinegar, soy sauce, lemon juice, sesame and chile oil. Cut avocado in half, remove pit and peel. Cut into chunks. Add to vinegar/soy sauce mixture in bowl and gently toss to coat. Stir in beans, green onions, red pepper and cilantro. Cover and chill until serving time.

Changes: didn't use hot chile oil, and sweet red pepper, put in yellow bell pepper, used regular vinegar instead of rice wine vinegar.

Verdict: Didn't really like it, even if I had the original ingredients, so probably won't make it again.

Chicken with Apricots

Recipe: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2010/02/slow-cooker-chicken-with-apricots-and.html

1 1/2 pounds chicken meat (boneless, skinless thighs are the best. If you're going to use chicken with bones, fish them out about halfway through cooking)
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup dried pitted dates, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup orange juice

The Directions.

Put the chicken into the bottom of a 4 to 6-quart slow cooker. My chicken was frozen solid. If you are using fresh chicken, shave off about 90 minutes or so of cooking time.

Add diced onion, and spices. Sprinkle on the apricots and dates. Pour the broth and orange juice evenly over the top. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 3-5. The chicken should be quite tender and shred easily with a fork. If your chicken isn't tender enough, stir well and cook for a bit longer on low.

Serve with quinoa or brown rice with the juices----the broth is delicious!

Changes: No dates.

Verdict: We thought this was just okay.

Friday, June 4th, 2010 - Vegetarian Quesadillas

Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Farmers-Market-Vegetarian-Quesadillas/Detail.aspx?prop31=3

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper 1/2 cup chopped zucchini 1/2 cup chopped yellow squash 1/2 cup chopped red onion 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms

1 tablespoon olive oil cooking spray 6 (9 inch) whole wheat tortillas 1 1/4 cups shredded reduced-fat sharp Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1.

In a large nonstick pan, cook red pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, onion, and mushrooms in olive oil over medium to medium-high heat for about 7 minutes, or until just tender. Remove vegetables from pan.

2.

Coat the same pan with cooking spray, and place one tortilla in pan. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese evenly over tortilla, and layer 3/4 cup of the vegetable mixture over the cheese. Sprinkle another 1/8 cup of cheese on the vegetables, and top with a second tortilla. Cook until golden on both sides, for approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove quesadilla from pan, and repeat with remaining ingredients. Cut each quesadilla into 8 triangles with a pizza cutter. Serve hot.

Changes: I sautéed mushrooms, yellow bell pepper and yellow squash, then added black beans the last second to warm them up. I moved that to a bowl, cleaned the pan, and put one tortilla in with cooking spray underneath. I added cheese, the vegetable mixture, and lots of cilantro, then more cheese, put another tortilla on top and cooked both sides.

Taste: Served them with salsa and sour cream and they were delicious. So happy I'm finding some vegetarian meals.

Thoughts: Could have added onions. The tortillas were not browning or stiffening, so should probably use butter next time.

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 - Chicken Curry Salad

Recipe: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chicken_curry_salad/

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 lb skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes
• Salt
• 1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 2 heaping Tbsp yellow curry powder
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 apple (tart or sweet, your preference), peeled, cored, and diced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (just lightly packed)
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 Tbsp mayonnaise optional

METHOD

1 Heat olive oil on medium/medium-high heat in a thick-bottomed sauté pan. Add chicken pieces and cook, stirring frequently until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle some salt on the chicken pieces while cooking. Check doneness by removing the thickest piece and cutting it in half. If it is still pink in the middle, keep cooking. Try not to overcook the chicken or it will be dry. Remove chicken pieces with a slotted spoon, set aside in a bowl.

2 Add yellow onion and cook. After a few minutes, when the onions are beginning to get translucent, add 2 heaping tablespoons of yellow curry powder. Cook a few minutes more, stirring frequently. If the curry sticks to the bottom or the mixture gets dry, add a bit more olive oil to the pan. As you stir, scrape up the stuck curry bits. Add raisins, and cook, stirring another minute. (If adding optional mayonnaise, remove curry from heat and mix in mayo.) Add raisin and onion mixture to chicken and mix well, coating the chicken pieces with the curry infused olive oil. Refrigerate until cool. At this point you can make the salad a day a head of time.

3 When you are ready to serve the salad, mix in the apple, green onions, and cilantro.

Serves 4.

Changes: I used two chicken breasts, less than half of some onion, 1/2 cup of raisins, 3/4 of an apple, no green onions, and full amount of mayonnaise. I just put in as much cilantro as it looked like it needed.

Taste: I served it lukewarm, not cold or hot, over rice because we are weird and we don't like to eat cold things for dinner. I guess the big difference is this is supposed to be a side dish and I turned it into a main dish.

Verdict: We both liked it and it was super simple to make. It was just the right amount for two people with some rice.

Pasta Primavera

Recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/08/pioneer_womans_/

Ingredients

• 1 cup Bite-sized Broccoli Pieces (up To 1 1/2 Cups)
• ½ whole Onion Diced Finely
• 3 cloves To 4 Cloves Garlic, Chopped Finely
• 2 whole Medium To Large Carrots, Sliced On The Bias (diagonally)
• 2 whole Medium Zucchini, Sliced On The Bias (diagonally)
• 1 whole Medium Yellow Squash (optional)
• 1 container (about 5 Oz.) White Button Or Baby Porcini Mushrooms, Roughly Sliced
• 1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Sliced Into Strips
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 pound Pasta (I Like Penne)
• FOR THE SAUCE:
• ¼ cups Dry White Wine (up To 1/2 Cup), Optional (replace With Additional Broth If Not Using)
• ½ cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 1 cup Whipping (heavy) Cream
• 1 cup Half-and-half
• ½ cups Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 5 leaves Basil (or More To Taste), Plus Extra For Garnish
• ½ cups Frozen Peas

Preparation Instructions

First, prep the vegetables. Chop the broccoli into bite-sized pieces, about 1 to 1 ½ cups worth. Dice half a yellow onion. Chop 3 to 4 cloves of garlic. Slice carrots on the bias (diagonally), and do the same for the zucchini and yellow squash. Roughly slice the mushrooms and slice the red pepper (seeded) into strips.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and garlic together and cook for a minute or two, until they start to turn translucent. Then throw in the broccoli. Stir, and add in the carrots.

Stir it around, and PLEASE, PLEASE cook it for only a minute, tops. Transfer the mixture to a plate. Add in the red pepper strips to the skillet. Stir them around for a minute or so, then transfer them to the plate.

Add pasta to slightly salted boiling water and cook to al dente.

Add a tablespoon of butter to the skillet. Add squash and zucchini, cook for less than a minute, then transfer to plate. Cook mushrooms for a minute or two (add salt to taste), and again transfer to the plate.

FOR THE SAUCE

To make the sauce, pour ¼ to ½ cup dry white wine into the skillet (see note below). Add ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth, a tablespoon of butter and scrape the bottom of the skillet to pull up the flavor left behind by the veggie cooking. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the liquid starts to thicken.

Add 1 cup whipping cream and 1 cup half-and-half. Measure out ½ cup grated Parmesan; add to the skillet. Add salt and pepper to taste. Chiffonade 5 to 6 fresh basil leaves and add that to the sauce; stir.

Dump veggies and mushrooms into the sauce along with ½ cup frozen peas right out of the freezer. Add pasta al dente and stir. If the sauce seems a little thick, or if there doesn’t seem to be enough sauce, add a good splash of chicken broth and a little more half-and-half. Top with more Parmesan, salt, pepper, and basil to taste.

Note: if you’re averse to wine, add chicken broth instead. But watch the salt later.

Changes: Did not add zucchini, yellow squash, fresh basil, switched parmesan cheese with cheddar cheese.

Verdict: I would cook the vegetables more, especially the carrots and broccoli.

Monday, May 31st, 2010 - BBQ Chicken

Recipe: Made it up, marinated frozen chicken for 20 minutes, grilled on grill pan with lid over until is got to 100 degrees. Took lid off and grilled on little bit higher setting until got to 160 degrees.

Need better sauce, but chicken was moist.