Pasta Salad

I've never been much of a pasta salad person, but this is one that I actually really like. I love that it's so quick & easy. It's a great summer meal. Or you can omit the chicken and make it a side for a BBQ.

Mix dressing in blender and refrigerate night before.

Dressing:

1 cup sugar
2 cup canola oil
1 cup red wine vinegar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dry mustard

Cook:

1 pkg bow tie noodles
1 pkg colored spiral noodles

Add:

2 to 3 cut-up cooked chicken breasts {seasoned}
1/2 lb. cooked bacon, crumbled
Broccoli
Chopped red onion
1 pkg frozen baby peas or edamame

Add dressing & serve.

*Omit chicken to make it vegetarian

Quinoa Corn Edamame Salad

This dish is packed with all things good for you. Delicious, too! It's my favorite quinoa dish that I've tried. I'm sad I didn't take a picture, because it's so colorful and gorgeous.

*You can add shredded chicken and call it dinner

QUINOA CORN EDAMAME SALAD


2 cups frozen, shelled, edamame

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup cooked, cooled quinoa (leftover is great)

1 green onion, sliced (just green parts)

1/2 red sweet bell pepper, diced

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Dash cayenne

.

Briefly boil the edamame and the corn, just until tender.  Drain very well and cool completely.

In a large bowl combine the edamame, corn, quinoa, green onion, red pepper, and cilantro.  In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, lime juice, salt, chili powder, black pepper, thyme and cayenne until emulsified.  Drizzle over the salad and toss to coat.  Cover and chill for at least two hours.

Vegetable Tostadas

another favorite of ours.

1 T. cumin

1/4 t. s and p

2 t. canola oil

sprinkle that on top of 4 chicken breasts cut up and fry it in a large frying pan until chicken is done.  don't over cook, it will make your chicken hard.

when chicken is done add:

1 red onion chopped

2 ears corn (you can use a can)...fresh is always better.

1 chopped zucchini

1/2 c. green salsa verde

3 T. chopped cilantro

when veggies are soft, spray both sides of a tortilla with pam, put it on a cookie sheet and place it in the oven on broil for about 30 seconds.  flip it over and let the other side cook...this will make your tortilla crispy.

after tortilla is crisp place the mixture on top and some cheese on top of that.  put it back under broil until cheese is melted and eat like a tostada!  YUM.. and healthy too.

Mango Chicken on Coconut Rice

I forgot about this recipe.  I got it a while ago off of the sisters cafe blog.  It is one of our favorites and super easy.

cook 6-8 chicken breasts in crock pot sprinkled with cumin and lemon pepper to taste.  when it is done shred and add:

*you may want to remove some of the chicken juice if there seems to be a lot.  maybe remove it all and if in the end it seems a little dry you can just add more salsa.

1 can corn drained

1 can black beans drained

3 cups mango salsa (i like the kind from costco)

cook it all for another hour or so...

eat this on top of Coconut rice.  Just cook your rice in coconut milk.  however; i tried to do this with a rice cooker and it didn't work.  i now just buy minute rice for this recipe.  so 1 can coconut milk per 1 cup rice.

garnish with cilantro or parsley.

No-Bake Nutella Cheesecakes

As of this week, melskitchencafe.com has become my favorite source for recipes. Because her pictures of food are mouth-watering, I click and print almost every recipe. I just have to try it. If it tastes as good as it looks, it must be amazing.

So rich, but so delicious. This mousse-type dessert so smoothly melts in your mouth, it leaves you dreaming about it for several days. Here is the original source.



*Makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

Crust:
18 Oreo cookies, crushed into crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Cheesecake:
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Garnish:
Extra sweetened whipped cream, optional
Crushed oreos or chocolate curls, optional

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium bowl, stir together the Oreo cookie crumbs and melted butter. Evenly divide the crumbs between your individual serving dishes and press into the bottoms of the dishes to form a crust layer. Glass dessert cups work well for this, as well as mini-trifle dishes; you could also use a mini-cheesecake pan or simply small glass bowls.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until light and smooth. Add the nutella and mix until combined and smooth. Add the vanilla and mix to combine. In another medium/large bowl, whip the cream and powdered sugar together until medium to stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the whipped cream into the cream cheese/nutella mixture until well blended and no streaks remain.

Spoon the filling into individual serving dishes on top of the crust. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving, at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.

If desired, garnish with additional whipped topping, chocolate shavings, and/or toasted, chopped hazelnuts.

Mushroom Lasagna with White Sauce

I made this the other night and it was soooo good. A very different take on lasagna but this is actually my very first successful making of any type of lasagna. You also learn how to make a white sauce here which most people think they have to buy. I got the recipe here.



*Note: If you don't care to use no-boil noodles or don't have them on hand, substitute regular lasagna noodles, boiling and draining them prior to assembling the lasagna.

*Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

12 no-boil lasagna noodles (I prefer the Barilla brand)
1 large clove garlic, minced
4 cups whole milk
3/4 cup (12 tablespoons or 1 1/2 sticks) butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 pounds cremini or baby bella mushrooms (or a combination of both)
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

For the white sauce, bring the milk and garlic to a simmer in a medium saucepan, or heat it in your microwave in a glass liquid measure, and set it aside. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons or 1 stick) butter. Add the flour and cook for one minute over low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon. Pour in the hot milk, a little at a time at first and whisking until combined. Once you’ve added half of it, you can add the second half all at once, along with 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt, the pepper, and nutmeg. Cook the white sauce over medium-low heat, stirring or whisking frequently, anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes, or until thick. Set aside.

To prepare the mushrooms, slice the mushrooms 1/4-inch thick, trimming stems if desired (I left them on). In a large 12-inch skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the mushrooms with a couple pinches of salt and cook for about 5 minutes, until they are tender and release some of their juices. Stir occasionally to make sure they cook evenly.

To assemble the lasagna, lightly coat with cooking spray the bottom and sides of a 9X13-inch baking dish. Spread 1/4 cup or so of the white sauce in the bottom of the dish. Arrange a layer of noodles on top (I used 3 no-boil noodles for each layer without overlapping them - just laying them next to each other), then more sauce (about 1/4 of what remains), 1/3 of the mushrooms and 1/3 or so cup of the grated cheese. Repeat two more times then top with a final layer of noodles, your remaining sauce and last 1/4 cup of cheese.

Bake the lasagna for 45 minutes, or until top is browned and the sauce is bubbly. Remove from oven and let sit, lightly covered for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Lemon Ice Cream!

I got this recipe from my mom, who got it from my brother in-law, who got it from his mom, who got it from a lady in her ward (Bertha Stromberg, who is insistant in getting credit for this recipe). It just goes to show that it is definitely a recipe worth passing along!

Here is the original recipe: http://chrisyscookin.blogspot.com/2009/07/lemon-ice-cream.html
(Chris is the queen of delicious desserts. You may want to check out her cooking blog :)


When I make it this is what I do:

3 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups Half and Half
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (3 or 4 lemons depending on size)
Lemon zest
and if I have it, a few drops of lemon extract. But it works fine without it.

Combine all ingredients and freeze in an ice cream freezer.