Main Dish
This is a great Taste of Home recipe, but guess what? I did not make it. My Mom, Lydia, made it! We were lucky enough to get some of it for dinner one night! How lucky are we?! She made a couple small changes but otherwise followed the recipe as written below! I especially enjoyed how flavorful the broth was, not to mention all of those delicious vegetables. Perfect on a cold New Hampshire day!
LYDIA’S CHANGES TO THE RECIPE
Lydia used elbow pasta, packaged slaw (for shredded cabbage) and added shredded zucchini.
INGREDIENTS (Serves 11)
2 large carrots, diced
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cans (14.5 ounces each)reduced sodium chicken broth
2 cans (8 ounces each) no salt added tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz.) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz.)chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup uncooked whole wheat elbow macaroni
1/2 cup or so of grated Parmesan, to top soup
DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan sauté the carrots, celery and onion in oil and butter until tender. Add garlic and cook one minute longer. Stir in the broth, tomato sauce, beans, cabbage, basil, parsley, oregano,and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add macaroni and continue to cook uncovered for 6-8 minutes or until macaroni and vegetables are tender. Ladle soup into bowls, sprinkle with cheese and serve.
FREEZER OPTION
Before adding cheese, freeze cooled soup in containers. When ready to use-partially thaw in refrigerator over night. Heat through in a saucepan stirring occasionally adding a little broth if needed.
Enjoy!
I made this sub sandwich for our daughter Amanda and her better half Steve…and of course for us. This recipe can be done on the stove top or on the grill. When I made them on this particular day I made them on the stove but in the summer I will be grilling them! This is a fast and easy dinner to get on the table and you could even pan fry or roast the pepper and onion in advance. We like our sandwich buns toasted so those are easy and fast to toast under the broiler. Just don’t walk away from them as they will burn really fast!
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 – 2 pounds chicken tenders
2 Tablespoons Cajun seasoning (found in the spice aisle of your grocery store)
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 to 1 cup of honey barbecue sauce
2 green peppers, sliced into strips
1 sweet onion (Vidalia), sliced into strips
4 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
6 sub rolls
DIRECTIONS
Combine the Cajun seasoning and the brown sugar. Place the chicken tenders in a Ziploc bag and sprinkle the seasoning over the chicken. Mix the chicken around to coat the tenders with the seasoning. Once coated, add enough BBQ sauce into the bag to coat the chicken evenly. This can marinate overnight or for as little as 30 minutes.
To cook on the stove top:
Add two Tablespoons of oil into two large separate frying pans.
Add the peppers and onion into one of the pans and cook over medium heat.
Add the chicken tenders into the second pan with oil and also cook over medium heat. Cook the chicken, turning occasionally until completely cooked through and the vegetables are tender.
Combine both of the cheese together and set aside. If you want the buns toasted place them split side up under the broiler for just a couple minutes keeping the oven door open and watching closely!
To grill:
Follow the same steps except grill the chicken directly on the grill grates over medium heat. For the vegetables you can use a BBQ vegetable grill pan and roast over the grill until tender. Toast buns split side down until lightly browned and assemble the same way as stove top method.
To assemble:
Place the buns on a plate, divide the cheese between the buns, add the chicken on top of the cheese and finish by adding vegetables to the top.
Serve warm.
Enjoy!
This is another fantastic recipe from Taste of Home! This is an easy dish to put together and easy to change up the vegetables to fit to your family tastes. This would be a great summer lunch or perfect for a Mother’s Day or Easter brunch! I just love roasted vegetables so this dish was a big hit at our house!
INGREDIENTS
1 small eggplant, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 medium sweet red pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 sheet refrigerated pie pastry
1 Tablespoon cornmeal
2 Tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese (I used shaved Parmesan)
Fresh minced Basil, optional
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl combine your vegetables, 3 Tablespoons of olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender and the moisture has evaporated. Stir every ten minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out your pie pastry into a 13 inch circle. Sprinkle cornmeal over a greased 14 inch pizza pan (or ungreased pizza stone). Place pastry on prepared pan.
Spoon vegetable mixture over the pastry leaving a 1 1-2 inch edge around the edge of the pastry. Fold up the edges of the pastry leaving the center uncovered. Brush pastry with remaining oil.
Bake at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Sprinkle with cheese. Cut into wedges and garnish with basil if desired.
Enjoy!
This week I am sharing some of my favorite things! I’m starting with this pasta dish that was delicious. It does take a bit of work and time but it was well worth it. Jim has been asking for this again and again. I shared some with a neighbor and she enjoyed it as much as we did. There are so many great flavors in this dish, the spicy sausage, the sweet sun dried tomatoes and the peppery arugula! Perfect on one of these cold snowy days we seem to be having!
INGREDIENTS
1 pound spicy Jimmy Dean sausage
1 large onion, diced
2 cups of heavy cream
2 1/2 cups of gruyere cheese, divided
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese
1 cup of chopped sun dried tomatoes
2 cups of mixed spinach and arugula
1 Package Farfalle pasta
DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large pan, add the sausage and start to brown, remove fat if needed and add the diced onion. Continue to brown the sausage and let the onion soften. When cooked through, Add cream, cream cheese and 1 cup of the gruyere cheese and stir until creamy. Add the nutmeg, sun dried tomatoes, arugula and spinach stir to combine. Once the spinach and arugula are wilted remove from heat.
Boil the pasta according to the package directions . When the pasta is done, drain and add the sauce mixture. Pour into a 9×13 baking dish top with remaining cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted.
Serve warm.
Enjoy!
I am not kidding when I say these are the best turkey meatballs! These are healthier and delicious and so simple to make! We found ourselves going back for seconds in no time!
This recipe comes from Jessica Alba and will be my go to meatball. Give these a try, you will love them. I had homemade broth and used that but low sodium store bought is fine too! I served these over lightly buttered egg noodles.
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds lean ground turkey
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped carrots ( I grated them)
1/4 cup finely chopped zucchini ( I grated them)
1/4 cup finely diced onion
2 large eggs
2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 Tablespoon coarse sea salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup homemade or store bought low sodium chicken broth.
Cooked egg noodles, lightly buttered for serving.
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl mix turkey, Panko, carrots, zucchini, onion, eggs, Italian seasoning and salt. Mix until combined. Form into 1 inch balls. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add the meatballs and cook turning until they are browned on all sides. This should take about 7-10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until almost all of the liquid is almost completely absorbed, about 7 minutes. Add remaining 1/4 cup of broth and increase the heat back to medium and cook uncovered until liquid is absorbed and the meatballs are cooked through. Serve warm with buttered pasta.
Enjoy!
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