Quick and Easy Asian Style Salad

Do you ever have those nights when you are craving veggies like crazy and you don't feel like cooking a big heavy hot meal?  Or it's a warm summer night and you don't want to heat the kitchen up by cooking something in the oven?  Or maybe you just want something light and healthy and quick before you run off to your next family thing of the evening...

Tonight I was craving the veggies, and we had a bunch of good produce in the fridge from our Bountiful Basket that we picked up on Saturday.  This time we ordered the Asian pack with it, so my wonderful husband has been having some fun experimenting with different stir fry recipes and we've been enjoying the different flavors. Tonight I was trying to decide how to make a quick dinner that would satisfy my veggie craving and also feed my hungry bear of a husband.  He had a headache tonight and wasn't feeling so great, so it was up to me to make sure something made its way to the table.  Salad to the rescue!  It seems silly to write a recipe for a salad, but here we go.

Asian Salad

1/2 head romaine lettuce, chopped into thin strips (about 1/4 inch wide)
2 carrots, chopped fine
2 ribs of celery, chopped fine
a handful of sugar snap peas
2 green onions, sliced thin
1 avocado, peeled and diced small
sesame ginger salad dressing.  We used Newman's Own, but you can also make your own pretty easily.

Dressing suggestion:

1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/3 c rice wine vinegar
1/3 c olive oil
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 c soy sauce

Whisk together til well combined.  Pour over salad when ready to serve, toss well to coat everything and then serve.

We got a head of romaine lettuce in the basket on Saturday, and we already had half of a head left from before Saturday, so it needed to be used up before it all went bad.  I used the half head and chopped it into thin strips and then added some carrots, celery, green onions, and snap peas, and then a chopped up avocado (I cut it up pretty small so hubby wouldn't notice it so much--he's not a huge fan of the avocado for some strange reason).  Then I just tossed it in some dressing and served it all along side some pan fried potstickers (which I got from the frozen foods section of my local Costco--cheating, I know, but let's be honest, potstickers are a big pain to make from scratch unless you have a party of 20 people hanging out at your house for the night and you all make them together).

We loved it and it felt good to have something fresh and light for dinner.  It was also quick and easy and ready by the time the potstickers were done cooking on the stove.  I had dinner done in about 10 minutes!

So that's what we had for dinner tonight.  What did you make for your family?

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Today was rainy.  Very, very, wet and rainy.  At first I was kind of disappointed because it was so warm a couple days ago and I loved having the sun shining and being able to wear short sleeved shirts without worrying about a jacket.  I love Spring, it is my favorite season, but mostly I just love the sunshine of it, and the blooming flowers and green grass and trees, and the birds and because I love it so much I'll mention it again, the SUNSHINE.  After a bit of accepting the fact that it was going to rain and I would just have to deal, my husband saved the day and my mood by suggesting we have soup for dinner.

We had some broccoli in the fridge that needed to be used (and I guess he decided afterall that he wasn't going to make Chinese style beef and broccoli with it), so he suggested I go to one of the fancy grocery stores on my way home from the hospital and get some good quality sharp cheddar and make broccoli cheddar soup tonight.  Umm.... do you have to ask me twice?  I love broccoli cheddar soup! And I love ANY excuse to shop at our local "gourmet" grocery store (this is Utah, where it can be VERY hard to find unique and high quality meats, cheeses and produce--you have to search for a bit, so when this store opened my foodie heart was THRILLED).

**Warning, blatant tangent begins here** Seriously, people, I could get myself into serious trouble here.... they have a cheese counter, totally dedicated to high quality cheeses, and a nice bakery with yummy artisan bread, a fantastic seafood counter, and a meat department with all kinds of amazing meat options.  The produce department is huge, and everything is ripe and the right color (I know, that sounds weird to be excited about, but it's hard to find here sometimes), and you can get all kinds of different ethnic foods and things.  I could spend hours and lots of money at this place if I am not careful.

So... back to our regularly scheduled blog post... the soup.  I've tried making this before and to be honest, while it was good, it wasn't great.  I tried too many variations and should have stuck more to the basic idea of the recipe.    So here is the new version, and I hope you like it.

Cheddar Broccoli Soup

2 15 oz cans of low sodium chicken broth or stock (about 4 cups)
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 c all purpose flour
8 oz good sharp cheddar cheese, grated (trust me guys, its worth getting the good stuff--the flavor is oh so much better)
2 heads broccoli, cut into florets, and stems chopped up fine
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small onion, finely diced
pinch salt
pinch cayenne pepper, and black pepper
1/2 c milk

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and then add onions.  Saute onions in butter til soft and translucent.  Stir in flour, and mix til flour is absorbed into butter and all is combined well.  Add chicken broth or stock, and stir to combine.  Bring to a simmer, and then add your cheese and half the broccoli, and all of the carrots.  Simmer for about 15 minutes, and then add the rest of your broccoli.  Continue to cook for another 5 minutes, and then serve hot with more cheese on top and if you like, a dollop of sour cream.  We ate ours with sliced roasted garlic artisan bread.

Enjoy!

P.S. I realize this post got kind of long.  I guess I have been needing to blog for awhile, and I had a lot to blab on about today.  Sorry!  Hope the recipe is worth the random babble.  If not, feel free to skip the babble and go straight to the recipe--it's a good one, I promise.

Thanks for your patience!

I appreciate you all bearing with me while I was away for awhile.  I am now recovered from my c-section and life is getting a bit easier.  My son is still in NICU (and will be for about 6 more weeks), but he is doing well and for the most part is stable.  So while I am still making multiple trips a week down to the hospital, I am beginning to get back into the swing of cooking again.

I think I have finally gotten tired of frozen foods and short cuts again, enough that I am willing to put forth the effort to make things homemade again.  Don't get me wrong, I always prefer homemade from scratch over quick fix boxed or frozen meals.  I just haven't had the energy or brain power to come up with menus and dinner ideas for awhile.  Too many other things going through my head recently (like the health and welfare of my premature baby boy) and not enough energy to spend the whole day at the hospital and then come home to figure out what groceries to buy and put together for dinner.

So I appreciate very much that you all have given me the time needed to get back into my groove, so to speak. I was lagging a lot anyway before the c-section because of the low energy due to pregnancy, but I think most of the fatigue is really starting to wear off and my energy is coming back up to normal levels and I am ready to cook again for awhile.  I may have to beg your pardon again when our baby boy comes home in a few weeks, but hopefully not for too long.

And now....let's get started again!  I am going to post another recipe tonight, and I think you'll all enjoy it.  It's good for those Spring days when the weather can't quite decide if it wants to be warm or cold, and I bet your whole family will love it!

Happy Cooking!

Taking a break for a bit

So I am going to be taking a hiatus from the blog for a bit.  I had a c-section and delivered very early due to some blood pressure trouble and so I am recovering from surgery and visiting my little baby boy in the hospital each day--not much time for cooking, and when I am home, I have my feet up to keep the swelling down.

I probably won't be blogging for the next 2 months while my little guy is in the NICU, so I hope you guys don't mind the lack of posts for the time being and in the meantime can find some good recipes in my previous blog posts by using my search tool on the right side bar.

Until next time, Happy Cooking!

Valentines Day Menu

This year my husband and I decided because of our previous bad luck in years past to find restaurants for Valentines Day, that we would make dinner at home and save ourselves the nightmare of waiting for 2 hours for a table at some random restaurant.  I don't know if you readers have the same trouble in your area, but for us it seemed silly to wait til 8pm to eat even though it meant we had to be at the restaurant at 6pm because NOWHERE takes reservations anymore!  So anyway, I thought about it for a few weeks, searched recipe pages online and combed through Pinterest endlessly, and I came up with a few ideas for a fancy romantic dinner of my own.  I hope you like them and maybe find them useful for your Valentines dinner next year, or maybe just for any romantic occasion you have coming up.

I decided my menu would be:

Linguini with Shrimp, Roasted Red Peppers, and Artichoke hearts in a garlic cream sauce

Stuffed Mushrooms

Homemade Caesar Salad with homemade croutons

Roasted Garlic Artisan Bread (most local grocers sell this--check out your store's bakery)

and for dessert...Cheesecake with sliced strawberries.

I cheated and bought the cheesecake and the bread.  And I used that new stuff out there called Philadelphia Cooking Creme for the garlic sauce on the pasta.  But here I post the recipes for the Stuffed Mushrooms and the pasta, and the croutons for the salad.  I usually don't cheat so much, but I am 6 months pregnant and tired these days and I didn't want to spend all of my energetic time cooking, rather than spending it with my husband.  I wish I had pictures but unfortunately I forgot to take them the night of and my husband ate all of the leftovers before I got around to it.  Sorry about that!

First here is the recipe for the croutons since you'll want to make those ahead.

Homemade Croutons

1 loaf french bread (whatever you can get cheap at the store)

4-6 tbsp olive oil

seasoning salt or salt and pepper to taste

granulated garlic

parmesan cheese, optional

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut the bread into cubes.  I actually like to wait a day or two after I buy the bread so its a bit stale but not super dried out.  Toss bread in olive oil and seasonings and then spread in an even layer on a cookie sheet.  Make sure you don't have any overlapping pieces, and use 2 cookie sheets if needed.  They can be close together, just not on top of each other.  Bake for about 10 minutes, then use a spatula to move them around and turn them all over, and bake for another 10-15 minutes, til golden brown.   Let cool and then store in a large ziplock bag.  When you are ready to make your salad, just toss them with your cut up romaine lettuce, more parmesan cheese, and your Caesar dressing.  I added some diced heirloom tomatoes, too, but that was just a variation my husband and I love.  You could always also add some diced roasted red pepper, or some grilled chicken (if you weren't already doing the shrimp pasta).  Enjoy!

And now for the....

Stuffed Mushrooms

1 lb large cap white mushrooms, about 16 mushrooms (I got mine at Costco, for some reason they always have giant mushrooms!)

1/2 c breadcrumbs (seasoned or not, doesn't really matter

1/4 c parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp granulated garlic

1-2 tbsp olive oil or butter

4 slices bacon, diced fine, optional (I didn't use this this time, but my sister says it's my brother in law's favorite.  If you use bacon, you can probably omit the oil)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove stems from mushrooms and carve out the insides to make room for your filling.  Leave the caps in tact, but you'll want to take out some of the outer edge around the stem, so you can fill it up with your filling. Place the trimmed mushrooms onto a cookie sheet.

Dice up your stems and a couple other whole mushrooms very finely.  They need to be small so they can be spooned into the caps easily and not fall out or have big air pockets.  Saute the mushrooms with the olive oil and garlic until about half their volume.  Place this into a medium mixing bowl.  Add breadcrumbs and cheese, and mix together til well combined.  Using a teaspoon, spoon your filling into your caps, trying not to over fill or spill.  Top your filled caps with more cheese, and then bake for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

And lastly, the pasta.

Shrimp Linguini with Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Hearts

1/2 lb linguini (I used fresh, but it doesn't really matter what you use, just cook according to pkg directions)

1 lb raw, peeled and deveined shrimp

1 15 ounce can quartered unmarinated artichoke hearts, drained

1 or 2 roasted bell pepper halves (I bought the jarred ones, but you can do your own under your broiler), diced

1 container Philadelphia brand Cooking Creme, classic garlic flavor

1 small can lump crabmeat, drained and rinsed

Bring a pot of salted water to boil for the pasta.  

While you wait for the water to boil, saute shrimp in a bit of olive oil and some garlic powder or fresh minced garlic.  Remove from pan when they just barely get pink (overcooked shrimp turn rubbery and unflavorful, not good).  In the same pan you cooked the shrimp, add your cooking creme and mix with the garlic oil and shrimp juices. Stir in your artichoke hearts and roasted bell peppers and let the flavors come together for a bit.  

Meanwhile, cook your pasta.  If it's fresh pasta then it should only take a couple of minutes, if its dry then it will take about 7 minutes or so.  Once it's fully cooked, drain it and add it to your saute pan.  At this point you will want to reduce the heat, and add back your shrimp and then your crab meat.  Toss it all together til the pasta is coated and everything is well combined, then transfer to your serving bowl and serve immediately with your salad and bread and stuffed mushrooms.

And that's it!  Enjoy your meal with your special someone, and when you are ready a couple hours later, have some cheesecake, too.  You have to be decadent sometimes....

Cheese, Spinach, and Artichoke Calzones

This recipe is still a work in progress.  We tried it with some sourdough pizza dough that we had leftover in the fridge from when my husband made pizza last, and the dough was kinda dry... so I learned a few things I am going to implement next time.  I'll share those tidbits of knowledge with you at the end of the recipe.  Overall though, I think it was a success.  I'm going to play with it some more and see if I can't make it better.

Spinach Cheese Artichoke Calzones

1 recipe pizza dough
15 oz ricotta cheese (one small container)
1 c mozzarella cheese
3 eggs
1 10 oz pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 can artichoke hearts (the un-marinated kind, just in water), drained and chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp garlic powder, or granulated garlic, or 2 cloves fresh minced garlic
1/4 c pizza sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Divide dough into 12 equal pieces, about the size of a tennis ball.  Spray 2 cookie sheets with cooking spray and stretch dough to a circle about 6" in diameter.   Set aside.  Mix together ricotta, mozzarella, spinach, eggs, artichoke hearts, garlic, pizza sauce, and salt and pepper together until well combined.  Spoon about 2-3 tbsp of the cheese mixture onto half of each round of dough.  Fold over the other half and roll the edges up and pinch them together.  You'll want to roll the bottom edge up over the top one and pinch  to keep everything inside.  Brush the tops of the calzones with some olive oil or melted butter (this is something I am going to try next time--this time they were kinda dry) to keep things soft while it all bakes.  Then top each calzone with some more shredded mozzarella and bake for about 30 minutes.

Serve hot with a salad or whatever you like.  These have veggies and protein in them already so you can also just eat them on their own.  I imagine you could make mini versions of them for appetizers too if you wanted.  Freeze any leftovers on a cookie sheet and they would probably make fantastic homemade "hot pockets" if you will.  Enjoy!

Meatloaf

Meatloaf is an American family classic and has been for years, but it also seems to be the brunt of so many jokes around the country.  It can be completely delicious or completely the opposite.  I have a few things that are always the same when I make meatloaf and some things that change depending on what I feel like and what I have in the fridge.  As long as you get the basics of meatloaf down, it doesn't really matter what veggies you use. I learned this valuable lesson as a kid from my mother, a fantastic cook.  So here we go, a primer if you will about meatloaf.

Meatloaf

1 lb ground beef (defrosted completely if previously frozen)
1 tube lean ground pork sausage (I use the Jimmy Dean lean--it's about 3/4 of a pound per tube)
2 tbsp worchestershire sauce
1/2 to 3/4 c breadcrumbs (seasoned or not, doesn't matter)
1-2 eggs
1 tsp garlic powder
1 small onion, or 1/2 medium onion, diced very fine
1/2 c each of mushrooms and bell peppers, sliced and diced fine.
also possible: grated carrot, finely chopped celery
optional: ketchup or bbq sauce (I don't like to use these, but sometimes my mom does for extra moisture and flavor

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a medium bowl, combine meats, egg, breadcrumbs, worchestershire sauce, and garlic powder and veggies together.   I usually use my hands to do this, it just seems to get the job done better than anything else I've tried.  Be sure to remove any jewelry from your hands and wash them well before and afterward to prevent meat germs from spreading everywhere.

Once everything is well combined and the veggies are all sticking together with the meat, you can do one of two things.  My husband prefers I mold the meat into a loaf shape and bake it on a sheet pan so the grease runs off and doesn't pool on the top of the loaf pan.  But you can always do what most people do, and just dump this mixture into your loaf pan and press it down.  At this point, if you wanted to use the bbq sauce or ketchup you can glaze the top of the meatloaf with said sauce.

Bake this for about 45 minutes to an hour.  Let rest for about 5 to 10 minutes before slicing and serving.  This helps prevent crumbling when you slice it.

Serve with baked or mashed potatoes and your favorite veggie.  My mom also likes this leftover the next day in a meatloaf sandwich.  Not my personal fave, but a common one.  Enjoy!

** Optional Variation** You can also make this more Italian flavored by using oregano and some tomato paste in it, and then coating with marinara sauce before baking.   I've also had it with a more Asian flare with soy sauce in the meatloaf and scallions instead of regular onions and sesame oil--kind of like wonton soup.  Very versatile.