Carrie's Stupendous Spinach Stuffed Shells

1 box Jumbo pasta shells, cooked al dente, cooled

1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach, broccoli or kale (10 oz), thawed and drained

1 Tbs. butter or olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 c. fresh mushrooms, chopped

1 tsp. each of oregano & basil, dried

¾ tsp. salt

1 Tbs. flour

¾ c. milk

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

½ c. parmesan cheese, grated

1 jar of tomato sauce

Heat butter or oil in large skillet. Add garlic, onion, mushrooms, basil, oregano & salt. Saute until onion is soft & then add spinach. Stir to blend. Sprinkle with flour. Add milk; stir and heat to boiling. Cook until mixture thickens. Stir in shredded moz. Cheese and ¼ c. parmesan.

Fill pasta shells with rounded tsp. of mixture. Spread a spoonful or two of tomato sauce over bottom of 9x13 glass or metal pan. Place shells in pan in a single layer. Spoon sauce over shells and sprinkle remaining parmesan over them.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until heated through. Also good for freezing.

Enjoy!

Grilled Vegetable and Mozzarella Sandwich

Ingredients

• 3 cups (1/8-inch-thick) diagonally cut zucchini (about 1 pound)
• 3 (1/8-inch-thick) slices red onion
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 4 pieces
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon extravirgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Cooking spray
• 1 (1-pound) loaf ciabatta, cut in half horizontally
• 1 cup gourmet salad greens
• 5 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 8 fresh basil leaves

Preparation

Prepare grill to medium-high heat.

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl, tossing to coat. Remove vegetables from bowl, reserving vinegar mixture. Place the onion and bell pepper on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 7 minutes on each side or until tender. Grill zucchini 3 minutes on each side or until tender.

Hollow out bottom half of bread, leaving a 1/2-inch-thick shell; reserve torn bread for another use. Layer grilled vegetables, greens, cheese, and basil in bottom of loaf; drizzle reserved vinegar mixture on top. Cover with top of the bread; press lightly.

Place filled loaf on grill rack; grill 4 minutes on each side or until cheese melts. Cut into quarters.

Recipe is from Cooking Light.

Mom's Italian Corn Salad

This salad is so good and pretty that you won't ever bring anything else along to a potluck. I brought this to my friend, Kym's house last weekend and got rave reviews. I got the recipe from my mom, and goodness knows where she got it. The original recipe called for balsamic vinegar. I used that when I made it last weekend, but this weekend I wanted to try it with white wine vinegar instead (I'm not a huge fan of balsamic vinegar, and it stained the mozzarella in an unappealing way). It turned out great. I also added a touch of lime juice because I think everything tastes better with lime juice. Except for cereal, I guess. Here is the recipe with all of my alterations.

MOM'S ITALIAN CORN SALAD

2 ears of corn, cut from the cob*

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

4 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed

1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves

5 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

2 tbs. white wine vinegar

sea salt (to taste)

black pepper (to taste)

lime juice (to taste -- maybe about a teaspoon or two)

1. Combine corn, tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil in a bowl.

2. In another bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently.

3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then add more salt and pepper if necessary before serving.

* I used this super hilarious OXO Good Grips Corn Stripper. My mom bought it for my husband because she knows he loves his corn cut OFF the cob.

Hank's Butternut Squash Soup

I got this recipe from a high school friend about 2 years ago. I finally tried it this past weekend. IT WAS AWESOME. And it was a pretty color. :)

Ingredients:
4 C Chicken Stock
1 C Water
1 C Half n Half (Don’t worry, it’s a big pot)
1 large Butternut Squash
1 tsp Yellow Curry Powder (Adjust to taste - I use closer to 2 tsp)
1 Onion
1 large Carrot, chopped
1 Potato
1 C Sour Cream
Sat & Pepper to Taste


Directions:
1. Peal and Cube Potato and Butter Nut Squash while bringing Stock and Water to a boil in a large pot (seriously, it needs to be large).
2. Add Carrots, Onion, Potato, and Squash and cook until tender.
3.Using a slotted spoon remove from stock and transfer to blender with a little stock and blend until smooth.
4. Return mixture to pot and add remaining ingredients.
5. Simmer stirring occasionally for approximately 1 hour to allow for flavors to blend and soup to thicken.

More Lentil Soup!

3 carrots, chopped
a couple potatoes, chopped (whatever you have around)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed
8 cups water or vegetable broth
2 cups lentils, rinsed (I used red and brown)

Throw it all in the crock pot. Cook on low for about 8 - 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.

About 10 minutes before serving put in 1.5 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with feta cheese on top.

Demetri's Pad Thai

All hail my Hot Husband -- For he has made Pad Thai!!!!!!!!!!

We got the original recipe here, but Demetri altered it and it turned out AMAZING. As good as a restaurant! Also, I know this recipe looks long (10 steps! Gasp!) but it's not as hard as it looks.

1 box regular (or GF) pasta - linguini-width (or fried Pad Thai rice noodles)
2 eggs (or 1/2 cup soft tofu)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup cabbage, roughly chopped (optional)
additional veggies of your choice (we* used sugar peas and baby corn)
2 cups bean sprouts
2 green onions, sliced
1/3 cup fresh coriander/cilantro (we used cilantro)

PAD THAI SAUCE:
3/4 Tbsp. tamarind paste (available at Asian/East Indian food stores)
1/4 cup hot water
3 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 to 2 tsp. chili sauce (to taste), (we used 1/2 tsp)
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. peanut butter

OTHER:
3-4 Tbsp. oil for stir-frying
2-3 Tbsp. vegetable or faux chicken stock

Preparation:
1. Bring a pot of water to and cook noodles 2 minutes less than package direction (noodles will finish cooking in frying pan)
2. Dissolve the tamarind paste in the hot water. Add the other pad thai sauce ingredients and stir well to dissolve the sugar. Don't skimp on the sugar (you need it to balance the sourness of the tarmaind). Reserve.
3. Place large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 Tbsp. oil plus the garlic and red onion. Stir-fry 1 minute to release the fragrance.
4. Add the cabbage and the stock. Stir-fry 2 minutes.
5. Push ingredients aside and add 1/2 Tbsp. more oil to the center of the wok/pan. Add the eggs (if using) and stir-fry briefly to scramble them.
6. Add additional veggies if using.
7. Push eggs aside and add a little more oil to the middle of the wok/pan. Now add the drained noodles (and tofu, if using) and 1/3 of the sauce. Stir-fry everything together for 1 minute using 2 utensils and a tossing motion.
8. Add a little more sauce and continue stir-frying in the same way for 1-2 more minutes, or until the noodles begin to soften and become sticky. Reduce heat to medium if noodles begin to stick and burn.
9. Add the bean sprouts plus the remaining sauce. Stir-fry to incorporate everything together for 1-3 more minutes, or until noodles are done. Noodles are cooked to perfection when they are soft but still deliciously chewy and a little bit sticky.
10. To serve, scoop noodles onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with the green onion, coriander/cilantro.

* and by 'we' I mean Demetri

Macaroni-Cheese Puff

I found this recipe in the "all-time favorites" section of my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, and it is so awesome! I hate pimiento, so I left it out, and my puff (kind of like a souffle) turned out the tiniest bit bland, but it was still fabulous enough that my husband, my 19 month-old daughter, and I all inhaled it. Does anyone have any ideas of a tasty ingredient that could be added to this souffle in lieu of pimiento? The only things I could come up with were bacon and corn.

It's not beautiful, but it's tasty!!


Prep: 30 minutes
Bake: 50 minutes
Oven: 325 degrees

Ingredients:
1/2 cup elbow macaroni (uncooked)
1 1/2 cups milk
6 oz American cheese slices, torn
3 Tbsp butter (use the salted kind)
3 eggs (to be separated)
1 cup bread crumbs (about 1 1/2 slices)
1/4 cup chopped pimiento (optional)
1 Tbsp snipped parsley (optional)
1 Tbsp finely chopped or minced onion
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Directions:

1) In a small saucepan, cook macaroni according to package directions; drain and set aside.

2) Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine the milk, cheese, and butter. Cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted. Remove from heat.

3) Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks, putting the egg yolks in a small bowl and the egg whites in the electric mixer's bowl. Beat the egg yolks. Stir about 1/2 cup of the hot cheese mixture into the egg yolks. Pour egg & cheese mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the hot cheese mixture and stir to combine.

4) Add the drained macaroni, bread crumbs, pimiento (optional), parsley (optional) and onion to the egg & cheese mixture in the saucepan. Set aside.

5) Beat the cream of tartar and egg whites with the whisk attachment for your electric mixer* until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Gently fold into macaroni mixture.

6) Pour mixture into an ungreased 1 1/2 quart souffle dish (or a 2 quart casserole dish).

7) Bake in a 325 degree oven for 50 minutes. Serve immediately.

*If you do not have an electric mixer, con someone else into beating the egg whites. This is a TON of work to do by hand!! And if you don't have a whisk attachment, I think the normal attachment will also work, but it might take longer. I could be wrong about this.

Update: Eggs in a Tomato improved!

Almost a month ago, I posted the Eggs in a Tomato recipe, and I mentioned the watery-ness problem. I requested ideas to fix the issue, and several people came up with some great fixes. Jennifer L. pointed out that the salt would draw out the moisture in the tomatoes, so perhaps nixing that would work. I cooked this recipe again tonight, and leaving out the salt WORKED!! Granted, we needed to add salt before we ate the eggs in tomatoes, but the texture and moisture was absolutely perfect. JLo, you rule!

Macaroni & Cheese That Will Make Joslyne Shudder with Revulsion

I made this after buying some of the Kraft-brand processed cheese stuff (like the Velveeta cheese) that I bought in a vain attempt to figure out a way to get Charlotte (my 2.5-year old) to eat mac & cheese with healthier pasta than comes with the boxed stuff. This recipe was inside the box, so I gave it a whirl. Joslyne doesn't believe that processed cheese is an actual food, so I'm posting this just to make her skin crawl. You're welcome, sweetie! I altered the directions a little after realizing places they were a little unclear

HOMESTYLE MACARONI & CHEESE

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, divided
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
8 oz. Kraft Deluxe Pasteurized Processed American Cheese, cut up
2 cups elbow macaroni, COOKED AND DRAINED*
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese**
1/4 cup crushed Ritz crackers***

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Crush the crackers. Melt 1 tbsp. butter and stir it in with the crackers. Set this aside.

3. Boil the pasta until it is al dente and drain it. Dump it into a large bowl. (Do this before the next step because everything starts happening really fast and you don't have time to monitor and drain the pasta.)

4. Melt 3 tbsp. of the butter/margarine in a medium saucepan on medium low heat. Add the flour and mix well. Cook 2 minutes or until bubbly, stirring occasionally. Gradually add the milk, whisking until well-blended. Cook on medium heat until mixture boils and thickens, stirring CONSTANTLY. Add the processed cheese chunks; cook until melted, stirring frequently.

5. Dump the cheesy sauce onto the macaroni and mix until all of the pasta is covered. Spoon into a 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese and then the buttery cracker crumbs.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until heated through. Makes 5 servings according to the original recipe, but I think this only applies if you have the superhuman portion-control discipline of my tiny mother-in-law or have some really kick-butt side dishes to go along with it (other than the canned green beans I served).

* I used Ronzoni Smart Taste rotini instead of the elbow macaroni, and it was very fun.

** I used shredded "Mexican Blend" cheese instead of the cheddar because that's all we had. It was yummy.

*** I used saltines because I didn't have any Ritz, and it tasted pretty darn good to us.


The recipe turned out really good, but unfortunately Charlotte had eaten her afternoon snack a little too close to dinner and didn't eat very much. CURSES. Foiled again. Maybe next time. Peter, my 9-month-old, loved it, so I declared him the favorite child that evening. Just kidding. He was declared the favorite child of the year.

Eggs in a Tomato

Holy moly, people-- this dish is SO good.... I adapted it from a recipe I found in Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine (thank you, Niki, for the subscription!). But it has one tiny flaw, at least when I make it: it's a bit watery. Andrew and I have discussed several ways to sop up some of the liquid (put some tiny croutons or uncooked rice in with the corn?), and I'm interested to see if those will work, so I'm going to try them in the future. What other ideas can we come up with on this blog to make the guts of the recipe less watery?

Ingredients:

4 large, firm tomatoes
Kosher salt
Ground pepper
1/3 cup niblets canned corn
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh chives
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 9 inch square baking dish (or a pie plate) with parchment paper.

2) Slice off the top 1/2 inch of each tomato with a sharp knife (a serrated knife works well). Use either a spoon, a melon baller, or one of those grapefruit spoons to scoop and carve out the inner ribs and seeds of the tomatoes, creating the tomato version of a bread bowl. Don't break through the outside of the tomato unless you want the egg mixture to leak everywhere! Place tomatoes on the parchment paper in the dish/plate and season well with the Kosher salt and ground pepper.

3) Put 1/4 of the corn in each tomato.

4) Whisk together the eggs and chives, then divide them among the tomatoes. Top each egg mixture with 1/4 of the cheese.

5) Bake until the egg mixture is set (about 45-50 minutes).


******************

So, there you have it-- a really, really yummy dinner for two people (serve with rice, orzo, or toasted bread), or breakfast for 3 or 4 people. Let me know your ideas to solve the watery-ness problem. Maybe when you make it, it won't turn out watery.... Maybe I'm not scooping out enough of the insides of the tomato? Help! It just goes to show you how yummy this recipe is if I keep making it despite the watery issue.

And here's a gratuitous shot of my bestest little buddy, my daughter:


Sonia already loves scrambled eggs and cheese, so I'm going to see if she likes this next time I make it!

Mom's One Pot Pasta

This recipe is ridiculously easy and fast And yet I have still managed to screw it up... twice. I'll share my failures with you in hopes that you will be able to avoid my errors.

Ingredients:
1-2 cloves garlic
28 oz can of crushed or diced tomatoes
12 oz pasta (rigatoni or penne works best - we use whole wheat noodles)
1/2 cup cream (I use half and half - it's the lowest in fat and calories)

Optional toppings:
ground beef
fresh spinach

Use a large, deep saucepan.

Saute the garlic in olive oil over medium heat - cook until you can smell the garlic, but don't let it get brown.
(You could also saute some chopped onions at this point if you so desire.)
Add the can of tomatoes and 3 cups of water.
Salt.
Bring to a boil, and add the pasta.
Cover the pasta, and check it again in 12-15 minutes. You want the noodles to have absorbed a lot of the tomato sauce.
Add the cream, stir well.
At this point, you can turn off the heat and add the fresh spinach, stirring well, and let it wilt.

You can also brown some ground beef on the side and add it, but I haven't done this.

This is a super easy and delicious way to cook a big pot of pasta and tomato sauce!

Oh, and as promised, here are the moron mistakes I made:
- Be sure to actually saute the garlic before adding it. I forgot once, and tried to add the raw garlic later. Needless to say, it went poorly.
- Use crushed or diced tomatoes, NOT pureed. The sauce is fairly tasteless with pureed tomatoes.
- The cream is important - it really thickens up the sauce well.

Quesadilla Pie

I found this little doozy on Simply Recipes. It's super easy and tasty, and normally I would just link you to the original recipe, but my first attempt didn't come out so well so I'm adding a few notes in red that might help anyone else who tries it. Everything else is straight from the SR website.

Brush butter on the bottom of the pan to keep the tortillas from sticking, and to the top of the last tortilla for flavor and to help it brown. Hint: do not skip the butter.

Basic ingredients:

• 4 large flour tortillas (9-10 inches diameter) Don't try to go all health nut and use whole wheat tortillas. They don't work as well. Josh thinks corn would work best, and they may be worth a shot!
  
• Butter
• 1/2 pound grated cheese, either mild or sharp cheddar, or Monterey Jack

Potential filling ingredients:

• Beans, cooked (black beans, pinto beans)
• Tomatoes, chopped I used a can of diced tomatoes, and the chunks were really too big and watery. I would recommend either chopping up a fresh one, or using a well-drained can of petit diced.
  
• Summer squash, chopped
• Onions (green onions, red onions, onion greens) Half an onion should be sufficient...
  
• Mushrooms (if using a lot, sauté first, to remove moisture)
• Cooked shredded chicken, pork, or beef
• Chiles, either from cooked green chiles, chopped pickled jalapenos, or salsa I used a small can of Hatch Green Chile, but I didn't drain it well enough. Be sure to drain drain!
  
• Cumin and/or chili powder for extra heat

Garnishes:

• Chopped avocado
• Chopped cilantro
• Thinly sliced iceberg lettuce dressed with vinegar and salt
• Sour cream
• Salsa

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter the bottoms and sides of a pie dish, approximately the same size as your tortillas (I used a 10-inch pyrex pie dish for 10-inch wide tortillas).

2 Place one tortilla on the bottom of the pie dish. Sprinkle some shredded cheese over the tortilla. At this point, you will begin to add your chosen filling ingredients, and layering the tortillas. Just make sure each layer has a generous sprinkling of cheese. In the pictured example, I used cheese, black beans, and onion greens on the first layer. Then I added another tortilla on top of that and put chopped zucchini, chopped tomato, chopped pickled jalapenos, and more shredded cheese. I also sprinkled a little cumin and chili powder on this layer. I added another tortilla and put more shredded cheese, more black beans, tomatoes and onions. Top off your layers with one last flour tortilla. Spread a little butter over the surface of this tortilla.

3 Cover the dish with aluminum foil. Put in oven for 30 minutes on 350°F. Then remove the foil and increase the heat to 400°F. Cook for another 15-20 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and cheese is bubbly. Remove from oven. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Cut into quarters.

Serve with chopped avocados, shredded lettuce, cilantro, salsa, and/or sour cream.

Serves 4.

Be sure to drain your ingredients well, otherwise your dish will end up looking like mine! (Although Josh was very sweet and insisted it still tasted good. I thought it was good enough, but not great!)