This really is a great, quick and easy meal. My brother likes meals like this - no fuss, little clean up, ready in a flash. I especially love the extra *something* the corn adds. Also, the ranch instead of sour cream makes it a little more fun and adds a different flavor. This is also a great way to stretch a buck, because you only need a little meat, then you add beans and lots of lettuce and tomatoes and corn, and have a nice little meal. Yum!
Taco Salad
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning
2/3 c. water
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained
Chopped romaine lettuce
Chopped tomatoes
1 can corn, heated, or 1 c. frozen corn, cooked
Blue corn tortilla chips, crushed
Shredded cheese
Taco sauce
Ranch dressing
In a medium sauté pan over medium heat, brown ground beef; drain. Add beans, taco sauce, and water; stir well. Turn down heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, assemble salads: layer lettuce, tomatoes, corn, chips, cheese, taco sauce, and ranch dressing. Top with meat mixture.
*Note: Adam likes to serve this with rice as well. That adds about 10 minutes to the start-to-finish of the meal, but it does make the meal more hearty and it adds an extra something. It is delicious!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Chicken with Apple, Onion, and Cider Sauce
Very easy, very simple, very delicious, and EASY clean-up! (That part's my favorite!) Be sure you cut the apple and onion into big pieces, or they will absorb too much of the sauce. I served this with steamed broccoli and salad. It was a very easy, quick meal - less than 30 minutes from start to table, and I hadn't even made it before! I really recommend this one. It's not a showstopper but it's a great weeknight meal, and good enough to serve to company if you want to go low-key!
Chicken with Apple, Onion, and Cider Sauce
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs.)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large red onion, cut into LARGE pieces
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and cut into LARGE pieces
3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1½ c. low-sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Add 2 Tbsp. oil to the pan. Place the chicken in the skillet smooth-side down and cook until golden, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a baking dish and bake until cooked through, about 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, add the onion and apple to the skillet, along with 1 Tbsp. oil, if the pan is dry, and increase the heat to high. Cook, tossing, until the onion has wilted slightly and the apple is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the vinegar and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits from the pan. Let the mixture boil until the vinegar becomes syrupy, about 1 minute. Add the chicken broth and return to a boil. Cook until the broth reduces by half. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper and whisk in the butter.
Remove the chicken from the oven; add any collected juices to the sauce. Divide the chicken among four plates and spoon the apple, onion and pan sauce over each piece.
Chicken with Apple, Onion, and Cider Sauce
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs.)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large red onion, cut into LARGE pieces
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and cut into LARGE pieces
3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1½ c. low-sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Add 2 Tbsp. oil to the pan. Place the chicken in the skillet smooth-side down and cook until golden, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a baking dish and bake until cooked through, about 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, add the onion and apple to the skillet, along with 1 Tbsp. oil, if the pan is dry, and increase the heat to high. Cook, tossing, until the onion has wilted slightly and the apple is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the vinegar and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits from the pan. Let the mixture boil until the vinegar becomes syrupy, about 1 minute. Add the chicken broth and return to a boil. Cook until the broth reduces by half. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper and whisk in the butter.
Remove the chicken from the oven; add any collected juices to the sauce. Divide the chicken among four plates and spoon the apple, onion and pan sauce over each piece.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Delicious AND Easy - Part 3! Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon-Honey Butter!
Okay, guys, I'm giving you all the elements for a really easy and delicious, and stunning, dinner meal! First it was my Honey Wheat Rolls, and then it was the World's Most Delicious Pot Roast. Now I'm giving you a fantastic side dish - Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon-Honey Butter. Man, is this great! They would be great as a Thanksgiving side dish, also, as opposed to the usual Sweet Potato Bake loaded with sugar and butter, if you're trying to cut some calories in various places this holiday season. If your hubby, boyfriend, or kid isn't really into sweet potatoes, try this one on for size - s/he might be really surprised!
Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon-Honey Butter
2-4 large sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) butter, melted, divided
2-3 Tbsp. honey
1-2 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch salt
Preheat oven to 400° F. In a very large bowl, mix together 2 Tbsp. butter, honey, cinnamon, and salt. Add cubed sweet potatoes and toss well. Lay sweet potatoes in a single layer on a greased baking sheet (I lined mine with foil to minimize clean-up). Roast for 25-30 minutes, or until potatoes have reached desired tenderness. (If you like your potatoes to have a crispy exterior, turn on the broiler for a few minutes at the end of roasting.) Transfer potatoes to a serving platter; drizzle with additional butter if desired. Also, add more cinnamon if needed.
Here would be your time table if you wanted to make all 3 dishes together on one day. If you want to eat dinner at 6 pm:
3:30: Prepare roast; preheat oven to 450
3:45: Put roast in oven; make roll dough
4:00: Lower oven temp to 275; Allow roll dough to rise for 1 hour
5:00: Shape rolls and allow to rise
5:25: Begin preparing potatoes
5:35: Take roast out of oven and cover with foil; Raise oven temp to 400; put potatoes in oven
5:45: Raise oven temp to 425; put rolls in oven (The higher temp won't hurt the potatoes)
6:00: Take rolls and potatoes out of oven, slice roast, and enjoy!
(And while it looks like a lot of prep and time in the kitchen, it really isn't - there's only about 30 minutes of prep total for some very delicious and homemade items. It's mainly oven time, where you can be getting lots of other things done, and a lot of the things happen at one time which minimizes running back and forth to the kitchen!)
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Brownie Pudding
If you want something chocolate-y, make this. It's easy (I promise!), super delicious, rich enough that you shouldn't need more than a few spoonfuls, and good enough to make for company. It doesn't really present well but it's seriously delicious! You can substitute any liqueur for the framboise (a raspberry liqueur) - coffee, hazelnut, amaretto, orange - or you can leave it out entirely. It's good either way.
Brownie Pudding
1/4 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering the dish
4 extra-large eggs, room temperature
2 c. sugar
3/4 c. cocoa powder
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean or 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. framboise liqueur, optional
Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Preheat oven to 325° F. Lightly butter a 2-quart (9x12x2-inch) oval baking dish. Melt the butter and set aside to cool.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder and flour together and set aside. When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla seeds, framboise, cocoa powder and flour mixture. Mix only until combined. With mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again just until combined.
Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dish and place it in a larger baking pan. Add enough of the hottest tap water to the pan to come halfway up the side of the dish and bake for exactly 1 hour. A cake tester inserted 2 inches from the side will come out ¾ clean. The center will appear very under-baked; this dessert is between a brownie and a pudding. Allow to cool and serve with vanilla ice cream.
Brownie Pudding
1/4 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering the dish
4 extra-large eggs, room temperature
2 c. sugar
3/4 c. cocoa powder
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean or 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. framboise liqueur, optional
Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Preheat oven to 325° F. Lightly butter a 2-quart (9x12x2-inch) oval baking dish. Melt the butter and set aside to cool.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder and flour together and set aside. When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla seeds, framboise, cocoa powder and flour mixture. Mix only until combined. With mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again just until combined.
Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dish and place it in a larger baking pan. Add enough of the hottest tap water to the pan to come halfway up the side of the dish and bake for exactly 1 hour. A cake tester inserted 2 inches from the side will come out ¾ clean. The center will appear very under-baked; this dessert is between a brownie and a pudding. Allow to cool and serve with vanilla ice cream.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Oatmeal Toasting Bread
Oatmeal Toasting Bread. Yeah, just the name sounds good. But the actual bread is SO incredible. I can't say enough about it. Slightly sweet, super moist, incredible texture. YUM! Try it.
There are a few ingredients I bet you don't have lying around (vital wheat gluten?!) but it's SOOO worth it. Try the bulk containers at your local health food store. I doubled the recipe and made one 2-lb loaf and 2 1-lb loaves (9x5 and 8x4, respectively). Also, just in case you didn't know, "instant yeast" is also known as "Rapid Rise" yeast.. Finally, I'd recommend kneading by hand. It's stiff so it takes some elbow grease. Happy Baking!
Oatmeal Bread
2 oz. (4 Tbsp.) unsalted butter
2 oz. (1/4 c.) light brown sugar
5 oz. (1 1/2 c.) leftover oatmeal (see note), room temperature
1¼ tsp. salt
1 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 c. oat bran
10 oz. (2 c.) bread flour, plus more as needed
1/4 c. nonfat dry milk
2 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten
2 tsp. instant yeast (note: this is not a full pkg.)
Melt the butter and stir in the brown sugar and salt. Stir this into the leftover porridge. Put the rolled oats, oat bran, bread flour, dry milk, vital wheat gluten, and yeast in a large bowl. Stir the leftover oatmeal. Knead in KitchenAid for about 10 minutes. This is a very sticky dough. You may need to add more flour so that you can move from sticky towards tacky, which is desirable. Place the dough in a clean oiled bowl. Cover with a cloth, and let the dough rise for 1 hour.
Flour a work surface. Gently flour the dough and fold over about four times. Dust with flour if the dough is sticking to your hands. (If making multiple loaves, divide the dough now into equal pieces.) Fold the dough in half, pinch the seam, and gently roll into a loaf shape the length of your pan. The dough will be stiff. If needed, pinch the seam with moistened fingers. Place in greased loaf pans. (Either one 2-lb. loaf or two 1-lb. loaves.) You want the ends of the loaf to touch the short ends of your pan (so it will rise evenly.) Cover with oiled plastic wrap and a towel. Let dough rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Dust the top with oat bran, if you like. Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes.
Note: To make fresh oatmeal, bring 1½ cups (12 oz.) water to a simmer. Add 1/2 cup (3 oz.) steel-cut oats (MUST use steel-cut oats!). Simmer on low, covered, for about 25 minutes. Stir in butter, brown sugar, and salt. Cool your oatmeal down to below 120°F (took about 45-60 minutes), before proceeding with the recipe.
There are a few ingredients I bet you don't have lying around (vital wheat gluten?!) but it's SOOO worth it. Try the bulk containers at your local health food store. I doubled the recipe and made one 2-lb loaf and 2 1-lb loaves (9x5 and 8x4, respectively). Also, just in case you didn't know, "instant yeast" is also known as "Rapid Rise" yeast.. Finally, I'd recommend kneading by hand. It's stiff so it takes some elbow grease. Happy Baking!
Oatmeal Bread
2 oz. (4 Tbsp.) unsalted butter
2 oz. (1/4 c.) light brown sugar
5 oz. (1 1/2 c.) leftover oatmeal (see note), room temperature
1¼ tsp. salt
1 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 c. oat bran
10 oz. (2 c.) bread flour, plus more as needed
1/4 c. nonfat dry milk
2 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten
2 tsp. instant yeast (note: this is not a full pkg.)
Melt the butter and stir in the brown sugar and salt. Stir this into the leftover porridge. Put the rolled oats, oat bran, bread flour, dry milk, vital wheat gluten, and yeast in a large bowl. Stir the leftover oatmeal. Knead in KitchenAid for about 10 minutes. This is a very sticky dough. You may need to add more flour so that you can move from sticky towards tacky, which is desirable. Place the dough in a clean oiled bowl. Cover with a cloth, and let the dough rise for 1 hour.
Flour a work surface. Gently flour the dough and fold over about four times. Dust with flour if the dough is sticking to your hands. (If making multiple loaves, divide the dough now into equal pieces.) Fold the dough in half, pinch the seam, and gently roll into a loaf shape the length of your pan. The dough will be stiff. If needed, pinch the seam with moistened fingers. Place in greased loaf pans. (Either one 2-lb. loaf or two 1-lb. loaves.) You want the ends of the loaf to touch the short ends of your pan (so it will rise evenly.) Cover with oiled plastic wrap and a towel. Let dough rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Dust the top with oat bran, if you like. Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes.
Note: To make fresh oatmeal, bring 1½ cups (12 oz.) water to a simmer. Add 1/2 cup (3 oz.) steel-cut oats (MUST use steel-cut oats!). Simmer on low, covered, for about 25 minutes. Stir in butter, brown sugar, and salt. Cool your oatmeal down to below 120°F (took about 45-60 minutes), before proceeding with the recipe.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Honey Wheat Rolls - Delicious AND Easy!
These are super super easy, come together quickly, don't required a lot of kneading, AND you don't have to roll them out! (You can if you want, but by the time I got to shaping the dough, it was a little too sticky to roll out so I just followed the directions.) Seriously, don't be afraid. Try this recipe. You will be so proud of yourself, and amazed at how little effort they require!
Honey Wheat Rolls
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 c. warm water (100° -110° F)
2 c. all purpose flour, divided (I used more like 3 c. flour)
1 c. whole wheat flour
3 Tbsp. honey (I eyeballed it)
2½ Tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
Cooking spray
Dissolve yeast in 1 c. warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add 1½ c. flour, whole wheat flour, honey, butter and salt to yeast mixture, stir until well blended. Add 1/4 c. flour and stir until a soft dough forms.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes). Add enough remaining flour, 1 Tbsp. at a time, to keep it from sticking to hands.
Place dough in large bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover (with plastic wrap) and let rise in warm place free from drafts 1 hour, or until doubled.
Separate into golf ball size pieces and flatten slightly. (I got about 15 rolls.) Place on greased baking sheet. Cover and place in warm area free of drafts for about 45 minutes, until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 425° F. Bake rolls 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
Honey Wheat Rolls
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 c. warm water (100° -110° F)
2 c. all purpose flour, divided (I used more like 3 c. flour)
1 c. whole wheat flour
3 Tbsp. honey (I eyeballed it)
2½ Tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
Cooking spray
Dissolve yeast in 1 c. warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add 1½ c. flour, whole wheat flour, honey, butter and salt to yeast mixture, stir until well blended. Add 1/4 c. flour and stir until a soft dough forms.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes). Add enough remaining flour, 1 Tbsp. at a time, to keep it from sticking to hands.
Place dough in large bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover (with plastic wrap) and let rise in warm place free from drafts 1 hour, or until doubled.
Separate into golf ball size pieces and flatten slightly. (I got about 15 rolls.) Place on greased baking sheet. Cover and place in warm area free of drafts for about 45 minutes, until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 425° F. Bake rolls 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Baked Manicotti
This is one of my favorites. It is sooo easy, comes together in a snap, cleanup isn't bad, and it makes you feel like a pro. I always use a little bit more spaghetti sauce than the recipe calls for, especially since I don't cook the shells first. Also, the basil pesto is SO worth it. It's expensive and goes bad fast BUT... if you store it in the freezer, it will keep (up to 6 months after opening) and it thaws almost instantly when you need to use it. Don't leave that ingredient out! It makes a huge difference!
Also, you can get away with not cooking the shells. Just be sure you overdo the sauce, because the shells absorb a good bit of the moisture while cooking.
Also, you can get away with not cooking the shells. Just be sure you overdo the sauce, because the shells absorb a good bit of the moisture while cooking.
Baked Manicotti
2 c. spaghetti sauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 c. ricotta cheese
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 basil pesto sauce
12 manicotti shells, cooked, rinsed in cold water (or uncooked and add 1/2-1 c. sauce to recipe)
Preheat oven to 350° F. Spread 3/4 c. of the spaghetti sauce on bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Mix egg, ricotta, 1½ c. mozzarella, parmesan, and pesto sauce until well-blended. Spoon cheese mixture into large resealable plastic bag. Using scissors, cut off one of the bottom corners of the bag. Fill manicotti shells, one at a time, squeezing cheese mixture into both sides of each shell. Place in baking dish; pour remaining 1¼ c. spaghetti sauce over manicotti. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake 40 minutes or until heated through. The last 5 minutes of cooking, sprinkle more mozzarella cheese over top and remove aluminum foil to allow to melt and brown slightly.
I serve this with a simple green salad and some form of bread.
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