Mexican Stuffed Shells

Ingredients
18 jumbo pasta shells
1 lb. ground turkey (could substitute ground beef)
4 oz. cream cheese
Approx. 2 cups salsa
Approx. 2 cups shredded cheese (I used a Mexican blend)
Sour cream, black olives, and chives for topping (optional)
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 350°.  Cook the pasta shells according to package directions. While shells are cooking, brown the ground turkey with the all the seasonings in a frying pan.

2. When the shells are done, drain and lay them out on a cutting board to cool and dry off a little (if you leave them in the pot too long, they begin to stick together and are very difficult to work with!).

3. When the meat is done, add the cream cheese and mix until it melts. Then remove from heat and allow it to cool down.

4. Pour some salsa into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Stuff the shells with the meat mixture and arrangement in the baking dish. Cover with the remaining salsa. (I didn't actually measure out the salsa, I just used an amount that looked good)

5. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove from oven, add the cheese (again, I didn't measure, just estimated a good amount), and bake for another 10-15 minutes without the foil until cheese is nice and melted.

We topped ours with some sour cream, chives and black olives, and served with a box of Zatarain's black beans and rice. It was a great meal!

The inspiration for this dish was found here.

Chicken Salad

Chicken salad is one of my favorite summer time foods.  I've tried many different chicken salad recipes over the years, but this is by far my favorite.  It's just the right combination of sweet, savory, and crunchy.  I'm so happy I am to have found a chicken salad recipe that meets my (admittedly high) expectations, I just had to share it with my blog readers!

INGREDIENTS

3 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
2 medium sized celery stalks, chopped
4 green onions, diced
2/3 cup of dried cranberries
1 cup green grapes, quartered
4 Tbs light mayo
2 Tbs light sour cream
1 tsp poultry seasoning

DIRECTIONS

1.  Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

2.  Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.

3.  Serve as desired!  I love putting it on a big bun and eating it as a sandwich, but you could also put it over some lettuce and eat it as a salad.

Chicken Marsala

Here's an oldie but a goody - straight out of the ol' Better Homes and Gardens classic cook book.  It's long been a favorite at our house.  If you've never tried it, you really must!  I like to serve it over some whole grain angel hair pasta.

INGREDIENTS:

2 chicken breasts, chopped
3 cups sliced portabella mushrooms
1 bunch of green onions, diced
1/2 cup chicken broth (I usually cheat and use a bouillon cube - it still tastes great!)
1/2 cup Marsala wine (I get a cheap bottle of Marsala wine from the regular wine section - Marsala cooking wine is generally more expensive and has added salt, which this dish doesn't need)
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons marjoram
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions:

1)  Begin to heat the olive oil and butter in large skillet.

2) Mix together the spices and flour in a bowl.  Dredge the chicken pieces through the flour mixture, shake off the excess, and throw them into the frying pan.

3) After a few minutes of cooking just the chicken, add the mushrooms and onions and continue to saute until the chicken is fully cooked and begins to brown slightly.

4)  Carefully add chicken stock and Marsala wine.  It will look like your dinner is drowning in liquid but keep the heat on medium-high, stir often, and it will reduce.

5) Cook for about another 5-10 minutes, or until the liquid has mostly boiled off, leaving a nice thick sauce.

Chicken Piccata

This dish is a-maz-ing!  Mike raved about it between bites all through dinner, and as soon as we were done, he declared it his new favorite dish!

We actually had chicken piccata for the first time at the food tasting for our wedding, and we liked it so much that we ended up choosing it as our chicken dish to serve at the wedding.  Well, this is the first time I've tried making it myself, and not to toot my own horn or anything, but...TOOT TOOT!  Don't tell our reception venue chef, but mine was WAY better!

INGREDIENTS

2 chicken breasts
1/4 cup flour
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs olive oil
1 lemon
3/4 cup dry white wine (I ended up using Marsala because I had some in the fridge)
2 tablespoon capers
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
A few sprinkles of pepper and parsley

DIRECTIONS

1) Place chicken breasts between some plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet until evenly thick (I always use a regular hammer for this and it works fine).

2) Heat butter and oil in a large skilled.  Dredge chicken in flour, shake off the excess, and place in hot skillet. 

3) Cook until chicken is fully cooked, about 5 minutes per side.

Note: the directions said at this point to take the chicken out of the skillet, set it aside, and then prepare the wine sauce.  I decided to just leave the chicken in the pan while I made the wine sauce, and I think doing it this way, the chicken absorbed the flavor of the sauce and is part of the reason turned out so moist and delicious.  But it's up to you...

4)  Add wine, lemon juice (I reserved two large slices of the lemon for garnish, and juiced the rest), garlic and capers to the skillet.  Keep it at a low boil.  Scrape up bits from the bottom of the pan as it cooks.  Keep cooking until the liquid reduces to a nice thick sauce.

5)  Spoon wine sauce over chicken to serve.  The recipe suggested serving it over pasta - I chose couscous instead.  It was pretty awesome that way, so I'd highly recommend it.

Pesto!

How did I manage to live for 27 years before trying pesto?  I'm not sure, but man have I been missing out!  This was super delicious - Mike said it's way better than any other pesto he's tried.  And with how quick and easy it is to make, I think it's about to become a regular menu item!

You can do a lot of things with pesto.  I mixed about 3/4 of this with 1 box of pasta of whole grain pasta and two breasts of cooked and diced chicken.  Then I mixed the remaining 1/4 to of the pesto with two cans of tuna and a little mayo, which turned out to be the best tuna fish sandwiches we've ever had!  So with this recipe, we got dinner for two nights AND lunch for two days!  Not bad for a night of cooking. :)

INGREDIENTS

2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 artichoke heart
1/4  cup sun dried tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

If your sun dried tomatoes are really dry, you may want to soak them in the olive oil for awhile first.  Then just toss everything in a food processor and pulse until smooth.  That's it!

Pasta Fresca with Parmasean Crusted Chicken

This has always been my favorite dish at the restaurant Noodles and Co.  We're trying to cut back on eating out to save money, so my new challenge is to try to replicate my favorite restaurant dishes at home.  This one turned out great!  Even Mike thought it tasted just like the restaurant version, if not better.

For the pasta:

INGREDIENTS:

1 box penne pasta (I used whole wheat to be healthier)
1 roma tomato, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
A large handful of fresh baby spinach leaves (Yes, that is a proper unit of measurement.  I literally went to the bin of bulk spinach and put one handful in the bag.  Well I used to tongs be hygienic, but the bag was in my hand)
A few shakes of salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of olive oil

For the fresca sauce:
1/4 cup fresh garlic
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup sweet white wine
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions.

2. While pasta is cooking, combine the ingredients listed above to make your fresca sauce.

2. Heat 1 Tbs. olive oil in a large skillet.  Add the onion, and saute for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to turn transparent.

3. Then add the tomato and cooked pasta.  Saute for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally, until steaming hot.

4. Finally, add your spinach and fresca sauce.  The recipe says to add 1oz of the fresca sauce you prepared, but I usually just throw it all in (I mean, what would you do with it if you saved it?).  Doing so makes the flavor quite a bit strong than what they serve in the restaurant, but I think it's even more delicious that way!  But use your judgment. 

5. Cook just until the spinach is wilted (only about a minute or so), stirring constantly.  Then remove from heat and toss to combine.  Serve with freshly shaved parmesan cheese.

For the chicken: 

INGREDIENTS:

1 clove garlic, minced
1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup), melted
1 cup dried bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I used dried - it was fine)

A large pinch of Italian seasoning (herb mix)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 lbs of skinless, boneless, chicken meat, cut into pieces no larger than 2x2 inches

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 450°F and grease a 9 x 13 baking dish (I always end up needing a second, smaller dish)

2.  In a bowl, combine the minced garlic with the melted butter.  In another bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, Italian seasoning, and pepper).

3.  Dip your chicken pieces first into the garlic butter, then into the crumb mixture to coat.

4.  Place the coated chicken pieces in the baking dish, leaving a little room between each piece.  If you have any butter remaining at the end, you can drizzle that into the pan too.

5.  Bake uncovered for about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear.

6.  Serve over pasta.

Pumpkin Turkey Chili

When the weather turns cold, I always start craving a nice warm bowl of chili.  I decided to try something new and came across this recipe.  It seemed very appropriate for Halloween week, although I'll admit I was a little skeptical of the pumpkin.  Well it was DELICIOUS!  The pumpkin flavor is actually very subtle, you'll hardly notice it.  It does, however, give it a very nice, smooth, rich texture.  Plus it's good for you!  All in all, a delicious and healthy chili that I will definitely be making again!

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs ground turkey 
2 small/medium yellow onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced 
3 bell peppers (I used red, orange and yellow because I thought it looked nice)
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can of no salt added corn
1 29 oz can of pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix!)
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon vegetable oil 
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
Dash of salt
Dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1) Heat oil in a large skillet.  Add chopped onion, cook until they begin to turn transparent.  Add bell peppers.  Continue cooking until peppers are tender.

2) Move peppers and onions from skillet to a large stock pot.  Use skillet to brown turkey along with garlic and spices.  If your meat is really lean, you might need to add a little more oil so it doesn't stick.

3) When turkey is done, move it to the large stock pot too.

4) Add everything else.  Simmer, covered, over low heat for 15 or longer if desired.

Goes great with corn bread. :)

Original recipe found here.

Brunch Burrito

This is a terrific weekend treat!  Great for those Saturday and Sunday mornings when you wake up late and can't decide whether to eat breakfast or lunch. :)

Now, for my calorie counting friends, you're probably thinking you could never eat this.  I'll admit, it's definitely more calories than my typical weekday breakfast (I calculate it's almost 700 calories).  But, if you eat it for brunch (i.e., 2 meals in one), you're actually probably eating fewer calories than you normally would with a separate breakfast and lunch.  At least that's how I look at it.  Plus it's so filling, you won't get hungry again for hours!  And all that lean protein...yum yum, eat up ladies! :)

Makes 4 servings.

INGREDIENTS:

4 large flour tortillas
1.25 lbs ground turkey (that's the size of one Jennie-O package)
2 large russet potatoes
4 eggs
1 medium sized yellow onion
1 cup shredded cheese (any kind will do, but I used a "Mexican" blend; cheddar would also be good)
Milk
Steak seasoning
Salt
Pepper
Canola oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Scrub and chop the potatoes into small, bite size pieces.  Coat a frying pan with a generous amount of oil and put the potatoes in it.  Cover and heat to medium-low.  Let it cook while you prepare everything else, about 20 minutes, stirring frequently until potatoes are a nice golden brown.  When they're done cooking, season with some salt and pepper to taste.

2. Dice onion and add to another frying pan, lightly coated with oil.  Add ground turkey and sprinkle with steak seasoning (optional, but it really makes it taste like sausage with just a fraction of the fat!).  Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until turkey is thoroughly cooked. 

3. Scramble eggs in a bowl with just a touch of milk.  Cook over medium heat, stirring as they begin to cook (you know, scrambled eggs style!).  When they're done cooking, season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. When everything is done cooking, assemble your burritos.  Onto each tortilla, place 1/4 of everything you just cooked (mean & onion mixture, scrambled eggs and potatoes).  Sprinkle on top 1/4 cup of shredded cheese.  Microwave for 1 minute to melt the cheese and warm the tortilla.