I made this right before Easter, but forgot to post it! I love taco salads, as you know, and this is a lot like one. Only this one is served with noodles instead of chips. My husband wasn't sure if he was going to like it. He loved it! Put this one in the dinner rotation!
1 box penne noodles (preferably whole wheat)
1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 packet taco seasoning (I only had fajita seasoning)
1/4 cup tomato paste
1-1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups shredded cheese
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and shopped
1/4 head iceberg lettuce or chopped romaine lettuce
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and return to pot.
While the pasta is cooking, heat a skillet and brown the beef over medium heat. Cook until no longer pink. Drain off excess fat. Add three-quarters of the onion, garlic and taco seasoning. Cook until the onion of softened, about 6-7 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste for 1 minute, then stir in the chicken broth.
Add the meat sauce to the pasta and toss. Spoon into a serving dish, top with the cheese and tent with foil to melt the cheese, about 1 minute. Top with the remaining onion, the tomatoes and lettuce. Add sour cream and olives like I did!
The only thing I regret is forgetting to put away the leftovers. I woke up to the pot still sitting on the stove! I was SO mad! UGH
Enjoy!
(adapted from Rachael Ray Magazine)
After last night's flop of a salad (it was good last night, not for lunch today) I was very excited when this turned out as great as it did! The feta cheese was great. My husband ate it too...he didn't know it had feta cheese in it :) It wasn't his favorite, but he picked out the zucchini and ate some. That's progress, right?!? I bought the chicken sausage from Sam's. I buy the big pack and freeze them in two's or three's. The sausage is fully cooked, so I just sliced it in half-moons and browned in the skillet. By changing the flavors of sausage, you could really change up the dish. To be honest, I don't remember what kind mine was. It had a slightly sweet background to it. I pulled it out of the freezer tonight and thawed it in the sink in cold water. This is a refreshing change on the noodle casserole dish! I've got some already packed for lunch tomorrow. Oh, and Rusty...you're getting a container too!
2-1/2 cups uncooked ziti (I used whole wheat rotini)
8 ounces chicken sausage (I used 4 links)
5 cups zucchini, thinly sliced (I used 4 medium)
2 cups vertically sliced onion (didn't have this)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 ounces) feta cheese (I used the whole 4-oz. container)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (you could use 1/2 cup)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cook pasta in boiling water according to package directions. Drain and return to pot.
Slice sausage in half-moons. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add sausage to pan; cook until browned. Remove from pan. Wipe out skillet.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in pan. Add zucchini, garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Cook 10 minutes or until veggies are tender and zucchini begins to brown, stirring occasionally.
Combine broth and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add broth mixture to pan with the veggies; cook 1 minute. Combine zucchini mixture, pasta, sausage and feta cheese in a large bowl or the pasta pot; toss well. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 X 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until bubbly and light browned.
Enjoy!
(adapted from Cooking Light)
Zucchini and yellow squash are probably some of my favorite vegetables. And some that I don't eat enough of! So, when I find them on sale, I try to use them so they don't go to waste just sitting in my fridge. I have been holding on to this recipe for a LONG time! I can remember clipping it from the Cooking Light magazine way back when. I knew it looked like a great lunch salad recipe. This would be perfect served with some grilled fish or chicken. Really light. Perfect for bathing suit season! I left out the onions and herbs because 1) I don't like raw onions and 2) I didn't want to spend the extra money on the herbs for this. I figured it would taste just fine without it. If you grow your own, you're way better than me. I kill anything green in my house. I actually have had a plant for over one year now in my kitchen. And I'm proud to say it is alive and well. Maybe I'll get the herb garden one day. But for now, I kept this salad herb-less. This salad holds well, so it is a great salad to bring to a cookout or pack in a lunch. I think some pretty halved grape tomatoes would probably be good in this too. And the color would be great! All-in-all this was a great salad. It could have used a little more flavor...probably from the herbs :)
Vinaigrette:
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice (can get from 1 orange)
1-1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (can get from 1 lime)
2-1/2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Salad:
1-1/2 cups zucchini, julienned (I used 2 medium)
1-1/2 cups yellow squash, julienned (I used 3)
1 cup fresh corn kernels (I used canned, but fresh would be best)
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion (I omitted this)
1 tablespoon fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped
To prepare vinaigrette, combine the first 7 ingredients, stirring with a whisk.
To prepare salad, combine zucchini and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add vinaigrette; toss well. Cover and chill.
*To julienne the squash cut into 1/4-inch slices, then into "sticks". Cut the sticks into 1-inch pieces.
**UPDATE: I packed this for lunch today and was less than thrilled. It tasted better fresh and crunchy last night when I made it. The veggies lost too much of their moisture overnight and watered down the dressing. I also should have used fresh corn. Read some of the reviews from the original link below.
Enjoy!
(adpated from Cooking Light)
I am constantly finding recipes on line. I print some of them, and some of them I bookmark for future reference. But I needed a way to keep them all in one place and keep them organized. I found this online service that does just that. And its FREE! You can collect recipes from any website and store them in this online recipe box. Springpad is a free personal organizer to keep web pages in one place: recipes, notes, restaurants, books, movies, music and more! This is perfect to store my online recipes. I've already signed up and started uploading the pages from my bookmarks.
Try this out. When you find a recipe cut and paste the address into the recipe organizer page. There is also a "Spring It" Bookmark you can add. When you find a recipe and are on the actual page you can click on "Spring It" in your bookmarks and it saves it for you! You can add your own notes and even mark it as "I want to try this recipe" or "I've tried this recipe". How awesome is that! I will definitely be using this now. I just wish I had found it sooner.
This is one for the kiddos. I'm sure you can tell by the name that this one is a Rachael Ray creation. She has a "for the kids" section in her magazine that has easy kid-friendly recipes. This is one of them. I had the ingredients on hand, so I haven't had to shop Publix yet this week. The hot dogs and cheese are on sale though. This was quick and easy. If you could make two at a time, you could make it that much faster. I think the leftovers would be great for lunch the next day. You could totally eat it cold....like pizza!
4 beef hot dogs
4 10-inch flour tortillas
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce (or salsa)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Using a small knife cut the hot dogs in half lengthwise, then into 1/2-inch pieces. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil if you don't have a non-stick pan, then add the hot doogs and cook until browned all over, 2-4 minutes. Drain the hog dog slices on paper towel-lined plates. Wipe out skillet.
Spray the skillet with Pam. Add 1 tortilla. Cook for 1 minute, then flip over with tongs and turn the heat to medium-low. Place a big spoonful of spaghetti sauce (or salsa) on half of the tortilla. Spread it around with the back of a spoon. Top the sauce with 1/4 of the cheese (a big handful of each kind). Top the cheese with 1/4 of the hot dog slices. Fold over the tortilla to form a half-moon shape. Press down on the folded tortilla with a spatula to flatten the pizza-dilla and make it stick together.
Cook the pizza-dilla, flipping it carefully once more with a spatula, for 1 minute per side (I probably did mine more like 2-3 minutes per side to get it slightly crispy). Cut into 4 wedges and serve. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
**I also think this would work on a panini press. Mine will fit two of these at a time so that will speed things up a little instead of having to cook them all separate.
Enjoy!
(adapted from Rachael Ray Magazine)
I hope everybody had a wonderful Easter! I had a great time with my family, and the food was FANTASTIC! If you had a chance to make some of the recipes I hope they were as good for you as they were for me. That Oat Topped Sweet Potato Crisp was awesome. Thanks for the recipe Dawn! This week's sale at Publix runs a little longer because of the Easter holiday. I've come up with some recipes this week that are a little bit healthier and use a lot of fresh produce. I have to be in a bathing suit in two weeks...so no more cream cheese!
Hot Dog Pizza-Dillas- Mon 4/5
Zucchini, Sausage & Feta Casserole- Tues 4/6
Garden Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette- Wed 4/7
Chicken Zucchini Alfredo (Low Fat)- Thurs 4/8 (didn't make this!)
Crispy Apricot Pork Chops with Roasted Potatoes- Fri 4/9
Zucchini Oat Bread- Sat 4/10
Cranberry Chicken Couscous- Sun 4/11
Bean, Corn & Tortilla Salad- Mon 4/12 (didn't make this!)
I am also going to do the ingredient breakdown a little bit different. I am going to separate the ingredients out by recipe so that you can shop accordingly. I will still post the recipes after I make them. If you are dying to try a recipe before I post it, PLEASE feel free to e-mail me at fairhopefoodie (at) gmail (dot) com and I will be happy to send it to you! The ingredients with the (*) next to them indicate a sale item at Publix.
Hot Dot Pizza-Dillas:
4 beef hot dogs *
4 10-inch flour tortillas
1/4 cup salsa *
1/4 cup ketchup
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese *
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese *
Zucchini, Sausage & Feta Casserole:
2-1/2 cups short-tube pasta (elbows or ziti)
8 oz chicken sausage
5 cups zucchini (about 1-1/2 lbs) *
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella *
Garden Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette:
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice *
1-1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1-1/2 cups zucchini *
1-1/2 cups yellow squash *
1 cup corn kernels *
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley *
1 tablespoon basil *
Chicken Zucchini Alfredo:
2 garlic cloves
2 zucchini *
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
12 oz. fettuccine (or similar pasta)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup low fat milk
1/2 cup evaporated non-fat milk
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley *
Crispy Apricot Pork Chops and Roasted Potatoes:
2 slices multi-grain sandwich bread
4 pork loin chops, about 1-inch thick *
salt and pepper
4 teaspoons apricot jam
red potatoes
olive oil *
Zucchini Oat Bread:
1-1/2 cups sugar
ground cinnamon
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup oats
baking powder
salt
baking soda
3 eggs
1 cup applesauce *
1/4 cup butter
vanilla
2 cups zucchini *
1 cup walnuts or pecans
3/4 cup raisins
Chicken Cranberry Couscous:
1 10-oz. box couscous *
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
curry powder
salt
3/4 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 small onion
2 ribs celery
1/4 cup cranberries (I'm using craisins) *
1/3 cup evaporated milk
Bean, Corn and Tortilla Salad:
1 can pinto beans (I'm using black beans)
2 cups corn kernels (frozen, fresh or canned) *
1/4 cup salsa *
1 cup scallions
1 avocado
3 plum tomatoes
salt and pepper
1 bag romaine hearts *
3 cups tortilla chips
3/4 cup shredded cheese *
I hope this helps everybody! Tonight the recipe is for the kiddos- Hot Dog Pizza-Dillas...
I saw Paula Deen make this casserole on the Food Network several years ago. It looked awesome. We made it that year for our Christmas morning breakfast at my parents house. I've made it several times since then and adapted the recipe some. I found that when I made it as written with the sliced bread the casserole was too soggy. It had all of the components of bread pudding (which I love) so I decided to make it as such. I cubed the bread instead of slicing it and I formed mini loaves in my "mini loaf pan". The results were outstanding. Another reason I love this recipe is because its made the night before and kept in the fridge. Just make the topping in the morning and bake. I love serving it with sliced strawberries and maple syrup. Heaven in my mouth! This is definitely one you are going to want to make. I think this is one of my signature dishes!
1 loaf french bread, cubed in 1-inch pieces (6-8 cups of bread)
8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
dash of salt
maple syrup
strawberries
Praline Topping:
1 stick butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
Cube bread into 1-inch pieces (I use a whole Italian loaf from the bakery). Allow to sit for a few hours on the counter to stale. The drier the bread, the better it will soak up the egg mixture. spray the mini loaf pans with cooking spray (I use 2 pans making 16 total loaves). Evenly distribute the cubed bread among the cups. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread cubes, making sure all are covered evenly with the egg mixture. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the Praline Topping: Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well (I use my fingers). Crumble the praline topping evenly over the bread and bake for 30-35 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. If you make this into a bigger casserole just adjust your baking time. Serve with maple syrup and strawberries.
Enjoy!
(adapted from Paula Deen)
