Vegetarian: Quesadilla Casserole

This is really filling and we didn't even miss the meat.

Today's Ingredients:

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

¾ cup chopped onion

One 29-oz. can black beans, drained, ½ cup liquid reserved

1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels, thawed

½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Five 10-inch flour tortillas

8 oz. monterey jack cheese, shredded

1 cup store-bought green enchilada sauce


Preheat your oven to 400.  Shred your cheese

 Prep your onion and cilantro, drain your beans - reserving 1/2 cup liquid

 In a bowl combine corn, parsley, and remaining black beans.

In a skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add 1 ½ cups black beans.

Mash into a chunky paste.

Stir in the reserved liquid.

This recipe calls for building these in a oven-proof skillet, but I just greased  a glass casserole dish and built my quesadilla in there.  I also had some 8-inch  tortillas to use up so I added another layer.

Place a tortilla in the skillet and spread with 1/3 cup mashed black bean mixture. Top with 2/3 cup corn-bean mixture and ½ cup cheese.

Repeat with the remaining tortillas, mashed black beans, corn-bean mixture and cheese.

You should really end with a tortilla and then the beans, corn and cheese, but I accidentally added 1 more tortilla and cheese.  It worked out great anyways.

Make sure to compress all the layers as your build them.

Bake until the cheese is melted and the casserole is heated through, about 30 minutes.  If needed, transfer to the broiler and cook for 1 minute.  Mine definitely didn't need that because I had added the last layer of just cheese on top of a tortilla.  It was definitely done and crisp enough.

Heat up your enchilada sauce and serve it on the side.  Kinda messy but so filling.

I didn't even up using all 8 oz. of the cheese and it was definitely cheesy enough.








Quesadilla Casserole Printable Recipe

Light and Lean: Salmon with Asparagus and Couscous Salad

Summer is quickly approaching and myself like I'm sure many of you want to look your best. I am committing myself to slimming down in time for swimsuit season and will be posting lighter dishes to help us get there.



First up: One of my favorite meals is pretty simple! I love Salmon and perfectly baked asparagus. I added a couscous salad to this and our dinner was nicely balanced and well rounded.

I have been buying the pre-seasoned salmon fillets from Costco for awhile and never noticed the plain individually wrapped ones. They are perfect because I can pull out the exact amount our family is going to eat. If no one eats Salmon in your family then grill up some chicken breasts for an alternative light and lean meal.

Let's talk asparagus for a minute. You may think you don't like asparagus because maybe your mom used to boil it to death (I remember that!) or maybe you've only had it from a can (gag!). Asparagus when cooked MY way is so delicious and you'll want to eat the whole pan - seriously!


Today's Ingredients:
Salmon fillets or a whole Salmon
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Asparagus
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 cups chicken broth
10 oz. couscous
¼ bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped

I didn't take a picure of my Salmon, but we seasoned with the Fox Point seasoning and S&P and grilled on both sides.  You can make the sides below while the Salmon is cooking.  Once the Salmon is done, let it rest for about 5 min. to keep the juices locked in.

Couscous Salad

Thinly slice your garlic. I halved the recipe for the couscous and should have included all of the garlic too. It adds a nice flavor and isn't overpowering at all.


Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

 
Add the chicken broth, season with salt, cover and bring to a boil.


Stir in the couscous and parsley and remove from the heat; cover and let stand for at least 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork.

Asparagus

Heat your oven to 415. Rinse and dry the asparagus. Put it on a cutting board with all the tops aligned.


Take one spear and break it. It will naturally break where the stem is thicker and not as tender.


Use this as a guide and cut all of your other asparagus at this point. This will get rid of the thick unappetizing parts.


Place your spears on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil (maybe about 1 tablespoon or so) and season with S&P. Get your hands dirty and coat turn your spears so they are well coated in the EVOO and S&P


After they are well coated then arrange them in a single file line so they get evenly cooked. Bake at 415 degrees for 10 min. Even if they are thicker asparagus do not overcook. I have done that before and past 10 min. seems to send them over to the mushy side where they aren’t very good.  The olive oil crisps up the tops of the spears and the S&P seasons them perfectly.


So delish, enjoy!

Salmon, Asparagus and Couscous Salad printable recipe

Sausage & Broccoli Rabe Stoup

Another Rachael Ray recipe. I couldn't find Broccoli Rabe in my regular grocery store, but Whole Foods had it. If you really had to substitute I guess you could substitute spinach instead. I hadn't eaten it before this recipe and it's really good! It's not broccoli at all, but is related to the turnip. It is widely used in Italian cooking and is also very popular in China.


This is perfect for those cold rainy days.


Today's Ingredients:
Salt and pepper
1 large head broccoli rabe, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 pound bulk hot or sweet Italian sausage*
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 cups chicken stock (32 ounces)
One can stewed or diced tomatoes (28 ounces), with their juices
One can white beans (15 ounces), rinsed
1 1/2 cups small, short-cut orecchiette pasta or rigatoni
Grated Pecorino Romano cheese, for topping

*I used Ground Turkey this time with 1 tablespoon sausage seasoning. You couldn't even tell the difference. Either way is good!


Trim your Broccoli Rabe - slice off the broccoli rabe ends and cut it into 1 1/2-2-inch lengths. Prep your onion and garlic.

Get a pot boiling with water and cook the broccoli rabe for 3 min. This is to help take the bitterness out of it. If you are using spinach just add to the stoup at the end and it will quickly wilt.


Let it drain and cool.


Heat a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium-high heat with the EVOO, a turn of the pan. Add the sausage and brown and crumble, 7-8 minutes.


Stir in the onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Season with the nutmeg and salt and pepper, to taste.


Add the chicken stock, tomatoes and their juices and 2 cups water; cover and bring to a boil.


Stir in the white beans and cooked broccoli rabe and return to a boil.


Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente.


Top with cheese and serve.

Sausage & Broccoli Rabe Stoup Printable Recipe

Double-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

This recipe calls for stuffing chicken breasts under the skin. I'm not a big fan of skin on my chicken so I changed this up so it would work for skinless breasts.


So delish! I am totally making this again soon.


Today's Ingredients:
½ cup small shell pasta
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup ricotta cheese
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup breadcrumbs
Four 8-10 ounce chicken breasts
3 cups store-bought marinara sauce


Heat your oven to 350. Get your water boiling and pasta cooking. Cook the pasta for 4 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.


Take your chicken breasts and pound them with a meat mallet until super thin. I've needed a mallet for awhile but have never had one so I picked one up for target for about $6.


I halved all the ingredients since I was only making 2 chicken breasts. Once the pasta is cooked, mix together with the mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese and parsley.


Makes such a delicious filling.


If you are using a chicken breast with the skin on this is where you would stuff the filling up under the skin. I put the mixture on half of the chicken breast.


And the folded the other half over and secured with toothpicks. In a shallow bowl, beat the eggs. Place the breadcrumbs in another shallow bowl.

Dredge the chicken in the egg mixture and then in the breadcrumbs.


Put parchment paper over your baking sheet and place the chicken breasts with the toothpicks still in them. Make sure to remove all of the toothpicks once the chicken is done and it will stay together.


Bake for about 50 minutes and serve over marinara sauce that has been heated up. Top with 1 tablespoon parsley. I added the all parsley accidentally to the mixture and didn't top with it and it was yummy.

For the kiddos I just cooked up extra pasta shells and had some leftover meatballs that I chopped up finely and added to the marinara sauce and then mixed everything together. I think Matthew thought it was the best dinner ever!

Double Stuffed Chicken Breasts Printable Recipe

Stay Tuned

Taking a little break - I'll be back on next week posting more yummy recipes!

Crockpot: 4-Hour Stew

There is nothing better than a yummy bowl of stew on a cold day. When we lived in AZ, my window of making soups and stews was pretty small, but in Oregon it's been cold and rainy since we moved here in December so it's been perfect for these recipes.


Make some yummy bread and it's so delicious.


Today's Ingredients:
2 lbs stew meat, cubed
2 cups potatoes (new, white or red), quartered
20 baby carrots, cut in thirds
1 (8 oz) package whole mushrooms - optional
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of celery soup
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can water
1 (1 ounce) envelope onion soup mix


This part is optional - you can brown your meat before adding to the crockpot. I haven't done that before and next time I think I'll just put the meat in raw. I just wanted to see if it added any flavor or tenderness and it really didn't.


Add your quartered potatoes.


I used three carrots instead of baby carrots, so either work. Did you know that baby carrots aren't baby carrots at all but just mature carrots shaped to make those little carrots. They are essentially the middle of carrots. You can read about it here.


The original recipe didn't call for mushrooms, but I love mushrooms and we had some leftover that needed to be used up and then I also bought another package so there would be enough. I didn't know how they would do, but they were so good and juicy. If you don't like mushrooms, leave them out.


Last add the meat. We only used 1 pound and I did feel the stew was a little sparse without it, but 2 pounds would have been too much. It was fine though especially since I had added the mushrooms.


Combine the soups, can of water and soup mix (I prefer Lipton over generic-I can taste the difference).


Pour over all the ingredients. Cook on high for 4 hours (hence the name) or low for 8 hours (that's what I did).


I don't know if it was because I didn't use enough meat or the mushrooms added some liquid while cooking, but the liquid was a little thin for me - I like a thick broth. Next time I'll only do 1/2 can water and see what the results are.

Seriously delicious!

4-Hour Stew Printable Recipe