Vegetable Lasagna

• From cooking Light
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• Ingredients:
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• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 3/4 cup sliced mushrooms
• 3/4 cup chopped zucchini
• 1/2 cup sliced carrot
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1 (26-ounce) bottle fat-free tomato basil pasta sauce
• 2 tablespoons commerical pesto
• 1 (15-ounce) carton part-skim ricotta cheese
• Cooking spray
• 6 hot cooked lasagna noodles (about 6 ounces uncooked), cut in half
• 3/4 cup (3 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Prep:

Preheat oven to 375º.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and the next 4 ingredients (mushrooms through onion); cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add pasta sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

Combine pesto and ricotta in a small bowl. Spread 1/2 cup tomato mixture in the bottom of a 8-inch square baking dish or pan coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 noodle halves over tomato mixture. Top noodles with half of ricotta mixture and 1 cup tomato mixture. Repeat layers, ending with noodles. Spread remaining tomato mixture over noodles; sprinkle with mozzarella.

Cover and bake at 375º for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.

Notes: To make ahead, assemble as directed; stop before baking. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Let stand 30 minutes at room temperature; bake as directed. For easy cleanup, assemble in a disposable 8-inch aluminum-foil pan. If you're making for a gift, deliver uncooked with baking instructions.

Spinach Chicken & Pasta Salad with Teriyaki Vinaigrette

From Mel's kitchen cafe

INGREDIENTS

Dressing:
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1/3 – 2/3 cup bottled teriyaki sauce (I used 1/3 cup but you may want to add more depending on your taste)
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Salad:
• 16 oz. bow tie pasta, cooked al dente, drained and cooled
• 1 bag fresh spinach (9 – 10 oz)
• 6 oz. craisins
• 2 (11 oz.) cans mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, drained and slivered
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
• 6 oz. honey roasted peanuts
• 2 cups cooked chicken, tossed with 2-3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

DIRECTIONS

1. In a blender, combine all the dressing ingredients and blend until well combined and smooth.
2. Mix about 1 cup of the dressing with the cooked pasta in a large bowl and marinate for at least one hour (Judy has left this step out many times with still great results).
3. Combine the remaining salad ingredients in a large bowl.
4. Just before serving, add pasta and toss. Add dressing to taste and toss. Serve immediately.

Tricia’s Amazing Breadsticks

1 cup warm water

2 tsp. yeast

1 heaping Tbsp. sugar

½ tsp. salt

2 ½ cups flour

¼ cup butter

parmesan cheese

garlic salt

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water.  Add slat and flour.  Knead until ingredients are mixed well.  Raise for 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375. Melt butter in 9x13 pan in oven while preheating. Roll out in the shape of a 9x13 pan (actually just a tad smaller because strips will stretch as you dip them in the butter), cut down the middle lengthwise and cut in strips widthwise.  Add breadsticks to pan one at a time first dipping one side in melted butter and than flipping it, so the buttered side is now on top. When all the dough is in the pan, sprinkle buttered breadsticks with parmesan cheese and garlic salt.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Everybody loves this soup! Warm, hearty and delicious!

Thank you Savoring the Season's Our Best Bites

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Serves 10-12

5 tablespoons butter, divided

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 cup chopped carrots (about 2 medium)

2 cups roughly chopped portabella or baby bella mushrooms

2 stalks celery, chopped

½ tsp poultry seasoning

1 (12-ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

8 cups chicken broth or 8 cups water plus 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons chicken base

1 cup wild rice

2 (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked an cubed (can also be left over rotisserie chicken)

½ tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

½ cup flour

2 cups milk

1.     Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large stockpot over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, celery and poultry seasoning and sauté until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add artichoke hearts and chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat.  Add rice and chicken, reduce heat, cover, and simmer 50-60 minutes or until rice is tender.  When rice is tender, remove from heat and add sat and pepper.

2.     When the soup has about 10 minutes left, melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat  Whisk in flour to make a roux.  Slowly add milk, about ½ cup at a time, whisking constantly to remove lumps, until smooth and thickened to the consistency of thin pudding.  Slowly whisk milk mixture into the soup and stir until combined.  Simmer 4-5 minutes, until slightly thickened.

Butternut Squash Soup

You can cook it as the recipe directs, or roast the squash in the oven, and add it during the simmer process. Personally, I think peeling a squash and cutting it is a pain.


Ingredients:

1 Butternut squash, about 2 pounds

2 tablespoons peanut oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic

1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot

1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoon finely minced jalapeno pepper

2 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup heavy cream
4 oz. cream cheese

Dash of Cayenne Pepper

Directions

Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Peel the squash and cut into 1 inch pieces. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the carrot, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook for 1 minute, and then add squash, jalapeno pepper, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15- 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Remove from the heat and puree the soup using an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Return to the heat, add the cream, cream cheese and cayenne pepper and adjust the seasonings. 

Chili Verde {Mexican Stewed Pork}

From Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Yield: Serves 8-10

Note: don’t even think about skipping the step of reducing the sauce. It is absolutely essential to the flavor of the sauce! Just make sure to plan ahead – the roast takes 8-9 hours on low in the crockpot (or 3-4 hours in the oven) and an additional 30 minutes to reduce the sauce.

Second Note: I forgot to mention that the leftovers freeze excellently. After the pork has cooled, I put it in a ziploc bag, freeze it, then take it out and let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Then reheat on low on the stovetop or in the oven.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 5 pounds boneless pork roast, trimmed of as much fat as possible
• Salt and pepper for seasoning roast
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, finely minced or crushed
• 1 (15 oz.) can green enchilada sauce
• 2 (4 oz.) cans diced green chiles
• 2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 1 beef bouillon cube (or 1 teaspoon beef bouillon granules)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Cut the roast into 3-4 large chunks. Season the pork generously with salt and pepper on all sides. In a large heavy pot, the oil over medium heat until the oil is shimmering and hot. Add the pork, being careful not to crowd the pot (brown the pork in shifts, if needed). Brown the pork on all sides until golden and well-browned, about 30 seconds to a minute on each side. Leave the roast in the pot and add the onion and garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring often. Place the pork and garlic and onions in the slow cooker (read below for oven-roasting method). Stir in the rest of the ingredients to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours. After the roast has cooked for the allotted time, remove the roast. Shred it into bite-size pieces and set aside, covered with foil to keep warm. Pour the remaining liquid and ingredients from the slow cooker into a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil on the stove, and simmer vigoriously over medium-low or medium heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking or burning, until the mixture considerably reduced and thickened. Add the pork roast and sauce back to the slow cooker. Stir to coat the pork with the sauce. Turn the crockpot to low or high and allow the pork to heat through again. Serve with warm tortillas and desired toppings, such as sour cream, cheese, avocados, lettuce, tomatoes.
2. Oven-roasting Instructions: When beginning the recipe, make sure to use an oven-safe pot for the browning (such as a large enameled cast-iron pot). Follow the recipe up until the point of adding the pork to the slow cooker. Instead, keep the pork in the oven-safe pot. Add in all the other recipe ingredients plus 1/2 cup water. Stir to combine. Cover the pot and cook in the oven at 300 degrees for 3-4 hours. When finished cooking, remove the roast as directed in the above instructions. Follow the recipe to reduce the sauce.

Chicken Stock

Thank you Simply Recipes for the recipe

Chef Z inspired me to make my own chicken stock.  I used this recipe and was not disappointed.  It was so flavorful!

How to Make Chicken Stock

• Yield: About 2 quarts of stock.

METHOD

Method 1. Leftover Chicken Bones

• Leftover bones and skin from a cooked or raw chicken carcass
• Celery
• Onions
• Carrot
• Parsley
• Salt
• Pepper

1 Put the leftover bones and skin from a chicken carcass into a large stock pot and cover with cold water. Add veggies like celery, onion, carrots, parsley. Add salt and pepper, about a teaspoon of salt, 1/4 tsp of pepper.

2 Bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat to bring the stock to barely a simmer. Simmer uncovered at least 4 hours, occassionally skimming off the foam that comes to the surface.

3 Remove the bones and strain the stock.

4 If making stock for future use in soup you may want to reduce the stock by simmering a few hours longer to make it more concentrated and easier to store.

Lime Cilantro Rice with Pineapple

1 cup long grain white rice

2 cups water

2 tablespoons real butter

Juice from 1 large lime

1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained

1.2 -3/4 cups chopped cilantro

Kosher Salt and ground pepper to taste

1.    In a large saucepan, combine rice and water.  Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat to low, cover tightly and cook for 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to stand, covered for 5 minutes, so rice can absorb more water.

2.    After 5 minutes, add the butter and stir to melt.  Ad the lime juice, pineapple, and cilantro.  Stir to combine, and then add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.

Molten Chocolate Cakes with Raspberry Coulis

This is a tried and true recipe at our house.  We tried 3 other recipes before deciding this is our favorite.  It is taken from Keeping Up Cookbook, but Grace Ivory Rock and Amy Henriksen Foulger.

We use the Raspberry Coulis recipe for a pancake syrup. We prefer to keep the molten cakes a true chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream type experience.  Mike adds a scoop of Peanut butter.  :o)

Here's the recipe:

Molten Chocolate Cakes

With Raspberry Coulis

5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (or 1 cup chocolate chips)

½ cup butter

4 eggs

1 ½ cups powderedsugar

½ tsp salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup cake flour (regular flour works too)

1 tablespoon softened butter for greasing dishes

Generously butter six ½ cup ramekins or custard cups.  Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave at half power, stirring occasionally. Whisk eggs in a large bowl to blend.  Whisk in powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, then the chocolate mixture and finally, the flour.  Our batter into greased dishes, dividing equally.  (Can be made up to 2 days in advance, covered and refrigerated.)

Place ramekins on a baking sheet.  Bake in a 425 degree oven until cakes have risen above rim, but centers remain “molten,” about 11 minutes (14 for refrigerated cakes).  Run a knife or small spatula around edges to loosen cakes, then carefully turn them out onto serving plates.  Decorate plate with raspberry coulis and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Raspberry Coulis:

1 (10-ounce) package frozen raspberries, thawed

2-3 tablespoons sugar

1 tsp fresh lemon juice, or to taste

In a blender or food processor, puree raspberries with sugar and lemon juice.  Pour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on seeds.  Coulis keeps for 3 days, covered and chilled.