Taco Salad

 

I’m part of the website swap-bot. I participate in a lot of recipe swaps. Recently one of the swaps I participated in was called Send Me Some New Recipes. The swap required that you mail an envelope with at least 25 recipes in it, taken from anywhere. I sent recipes to my partners cut from magazines, handwritten from my personal collection, and printed from blogs online. One of the envelopes I received was a ton (25) recipes written on neon index cards. I added these to my recipe box collection, which has become significantly fuller since I started swap-bot.

This recipe was written on a neon green index card. This was a super easy recipe and was very delicious.

Taco Salad

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
2 tbsp Penzey’s Bold Taco spice
3/4 cup water
10 cups romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup onion, chopped
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup salad dressing of choice
1/2 cup tortilla chips, crushed
sour cream, optional (also, guacamole could work!)

Directions

1. In a large skillet cook the ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain. Stir in the taco spice and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, cooking for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl combine the lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and cheese. Stir in the ground beef. Drizzle with the salad dressing and toss to coat. Sprinkle with the crushed chips. Serve with option sour cream or guacamole (or both!) on top.

* serves 5
* shared with Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, & #Foodie Friday

Mediterranean Mac and Cheese

This was a yummy and easy dish – besides that there isn’t much to say! This is my study break from finals studying tonight.

Mediterranean Mac and Cheese
(source)

Ingredients
3/4 cup dry elbow noodle
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
2/3 cup feta cheese
1 cup milk
2 1/2 tsp unsalted butter
2 1/2 tsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp black olives
1/2 cup canned fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook to package directions. Drain and set aside.

3. In a heavy pan over medium-high heat, melt  the butter and mix in the flour. Whisk together and cook for 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup of the milk and whisk until smooth. Add 1/2 cup milk and whisk together. Cook for several minutes, whisking continuously, allowing the mixture to thicken.

4. Add the cheddar cheese and 1/2 of the feta.  Stir well, allowing the cheese to melt. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, the remaining milk, fire roasted tomatoes, and olives. Stir together well.

5. Once the sauce is smooth, pour of the noodles and mix together well. Pour into a casserole dish and bake for 15 minutes.

* serves 3
* Shared with Full Plate Thursday, Catch A Glimpse Thursday, The Busy’s Bee’s Blog Hop, & Showcase Your Talent Thursday

Spicy Roasted Vegetable Macaroni and Cheese

 

This month’s Pasta Please theme was chilies and was hosted by Shaheen.

I’m looking at the picture of this dish, and I’m realizing there is way too many breadcrumbs on the dish. Once scooped out of the dish, they obviously got lost in the noodles – but oh my goodness – this picture looks like a breadcrumb dish.

Anyway, after poking around different corners of the internet and looking for something that would work for this challenge, I found a delicious looking mac and cheese. I didn’t venture out as much as I could have with this challenge. I should have bought a red chili to substitute the crushed red chili flakes – but alas, I did not. I like spicy food. I just really hate cutting chilies. Without a doubt, for as careful as I try to be, I touch my eyes or rub my nose or get the chili juices somewhere that just doesn’t feel great – and oh my goodness, it’s hard to get rid of it once you do it. Even when I wear gloves, I somehow manage to just create so much pain for myself. I love the taste, I just hate the process.

Because of this, I rely on red chili flakes to add the heat from a fresh chili (though.. obviously not the same, I know.)

Anyway, this was a yummy mac and cheese. It created a lot of dirty dishes, but was delicious!

Spicy Roasted Vegetable Macaroni and Cheese
(source)

Ingredients
1 cup broccoli florets, cut into pieces
1 yellow squash, diced
1 orange bellow pepper, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 cups elbow pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups skim milk
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried chili flakes
2 tbsp bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Set a medium pot of water to boil. Cook the noodles per package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil covering it. Toss the broccoli, squash, bell pepper, and carrots on a baking sheet. Coat with half the olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes.

3. Heat the remaining oil in a skillet. Once hot, add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk, stirring until the mixture thickens.  Remove from heat. Stir in cheddar, allowing to melt. Add the red chili flakes and cayenne. Add the macaroni and vegetables.

4. Place the mixture in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Place under the broiler for 4 minutes.

* serves 6
* Besides Pasta Please, this recipe is being shared with See Ya In The Gumbo

Parmesan Baked Pork Chops over Roasted Cabbage

 

The idea of slicing cabbage into chunks, smearing olive oil on top of it, and sticking it in the oven seemed rather foreign to me. There just seemed something wrong about it, something that should never be done or something. But I pushed my judgments aside because Martha Stewart usually knows what she’s talking about when it comes to food. If it’s okay with Martha, it’s worth trying.

Even though these two recipes had different cooking times and temperatures, I stuck the cabbage in the oven at the same time I was doing the pork chops. Parts of it came out a little charred, but it was easier than putting the cabbage in for 40 minutes at 400 and then putting the pork in for 30 more minutes at 425.

Most of dinner’s cook time last night involved watching Project Runway, because I had to wait for it to cook.

It was a delicious meal and I’ll definitely do cabbage this way again.

Parmesan Baked Pork Chops
(source)

Ingredients
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp Worcestershire
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
2 pork chops, boneless

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425. In a shallow dish combine the flour, salt, paprika, and pepper. In another shallow dish combine the egg and Worcestershire sauce. In a final shallow dish combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan.

2. Coat each pork chop with the flour. Then dip in the egg. Finally coat with the bread crumbs. Place in a baking dish. Bake for 35 minutes. Serve on top of cabbage (recipe follows.)

* serves 2

 

Roasted Cabbage
(source)

Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
1 head of cabbage, cut into 1-inch thick rounds
salt and pepper, to taste
ground thyme, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with 1 tbsp olive oil. Place the cabbage rounds on the baking sheet.

2. Brush the cabbage with the remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme. Bake for 35 minutes.

* serves 6

* This recipe is shared with Weekend Cooking

Breaded Tomato Pasta

 

I know I posted earlier in the month my Pantry Party dish of the month. But this month my inspiration ran amok. Rather than just post one breaded dish, this month there’s going to be (at least) two. Fried tomatoes are now my favorite things ever. Really, this dish is incredible simple. But sometimes it’s the most simple dishes that taste the best.

This dish dug into my pantry to grab my spaghetti noodles, bread crumbs, and flour. I bought the tomatoes this morning at the farmers’ market, so they were better than usual.

Don’t forget, enter Pantry Party’s breaded theme this month before the 28th! For more info go here!

Breaded Tomato Pasta
(source)

Ingredients
4 oz spaghetti noodles
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup skim milk
2 tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp basil, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
salt, to taste
garlic powder, to taste
Parmesan cheese, to taste

Directions

1. Cook the spaghetti noodles per package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. Place the bread crumbs in a shallow dish. Place the milk in another shallow dish. Place the flour in another shallow dish.

3. Slice each tomato into three slices. Using the ends of the tomato that are left over from the slices, chopped the tomato. (By the ends I mean the ends of the tomato.)

4. Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet. Dredge each tomato slice in flour. Then dip in milk and then cover in bread crumbs. After dipping in the breadcrumbs, dip back into the milk and into the breadcrumbs again. Place each tomato slice in the hot oil. Cook for about 5 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Remove from skillet and place on a paper towel to drain.

5. In the hot skillet add the chopped tomatoes, garlic, basil, garlic powder, and salt. Cook until fragrant. Add the noodles and stir together with the tomato, basil, and garlic, making sure to evenly combine.

6. To serve place pasta on a plate. Place three fried tomatoes on top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

* serves 2
* Besides Pantry Party, this dish is being shared with See Ya In The Gumbo

Pistachio Spinach Pesto

 

This month at Pasta Please, Jen from Blue Kitchen Bakes hosted the pasta challenge of pesto. Each month a host provides a theme around pasta. Last month was peppers; this month’s was pesto. The pesto couldn’t have come at a better time, because I know you’ve all seen the pesto dishes I’ve been making lately (with different veggies and different nuts.) For this pesto dish I decided to use pistachios and spinach.

Matt’s been on a huge pistachio kick lately. We get flavored pistachios each week from the farmers’ market. This week we got onion-garlic and I figured that would pair well with my pesto.

I still have that cup of pesto in my refrigerator. Besides putting it on noodles, how do you suggest I use it?

Pistachio Spinach Pasta

Ingredients
a bunch of spinach, washed and pressed in a paper towel to remove moisture
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1/2 cup olive oil
8 oz noodles, cooked

Directions

1. In a food processor pulse together the spinach, garlic, cheese, and pistachios. Pulse until a paste is formed.

2. Add the olive oil a little at a time, pulsing consistently. Continue until you have pesto consistency.

3. Serve over noodles.

* serves 4
* Besides Pasta Please this dish is being shared with Tasteful Tuesday Party, Recipe Box, Tasty Tuesdays, &  Tempt My Tummy

Roasted Italian Sausage with Potatoes and Mushrooms

 

This month at Alphabakes, the letter of the month is I. Caroline and Ros host Alphabakes every month – taking turns of who features it on her blog.

I racked my brain this month for something I could make with an I. I got stuck on Italian sausages, so I decided to take the savory route this month. This dish was super easy to make and had a lot of flavor. It took a while in the oven, but most of that time didn’t include actual labor. I love it when I can let the dish do its own thing while I do mine.

Roasted Italian Sausage with Potatoes and Mushrooms
(inspiration)

Ingredients
1 garlic clove
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
4 medium potatoes, quartered
1 lb sweet Italian sausage, pushed out of the casing
2 onions, cut into chunks
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
4 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400.

2. Combine herbs, olive oil, salt, and pepper to the potatoes. Toss to mix.

3. Place the sausage and potatoes in a roasting dish. Roast for 30 minutes.

4. Add the onions and mushrooms. Roast for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

5. Sprinkle with mozzarella and leave in the oven for 5 more minutes.

* serves 6
* Besides Alphabakes, this recipe is being shared with Mix It Up Monday & Mealtime Monday

Tuna Casserole

 

This month at Belleau’s Kitchen Dom moved away from cookbooks from the random recipe this month. To pick the Random Recipe this month, Dom instructed us to randomly pick a recipe from our cuttings, memories, and clippings. My mom has a whole stack of recipes scribbled down on pieces of paper, magazine clippings, and the like. But the closest I have to anything of this sort is a recipe box of recipes I made, enjoyed, and wrote down. I have too big of a problem cutting my magazines apart, so I wind up keeping the entire magazines.

Dom, you should do a random food magazine round up one month, because I have a ton of those.

Since I don’t really have any clippings, I went the “memory” route. I closed my eyes and pulled a recipe out of my bright red recipe box. I have no idea where this recipe came from, but I’d made it in the past and oh my god, so easy. For the minimal amount of effort this dish takes to make, it tastes delicious.

Tuna Casserole

Ingredients
2 cups dry pasta
1 can tuna, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup mozzarella, shredded
bread crumbs, as needed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Boil water in a pot. Add the pasta and cook until al dente and drain. Mix the tuna, cream of mushroom soup, and cheese in with the pasta. Pour into a casserole dish and cover with bread crumbs as desired. Bake for 15 minutes.

* serves 2
* Besides Random Recipes, this dish has been shared with Tried and True Recipe Party, Weekend Cooking, & Strut Your Stuff Saturday

COPIED: In-N-Out Burgers

Wow. I’m usually better about updating around these parts, but I just hadn’t been cooking anything recently that I deemed blog worthy. But last night landed me upon a keeper. I picked this recipe to participate in Chris’s Bloggers Around The World. Each month Chris picks a country that his readers are encouraged to cook a recipe from. Last month we went to Mexico. This month was the US.

The US is such a huge country. What is local cuisine here (California) is very different than the local cuisine of say, Georgia. Because of this I had a wide range of dishes I could have cooked from. Fried chicken? Barbecue? I have a ton of options.

I decided to reign it in though and go more locally. In-N-Out is a local hamburger chain. In-N-Out is only available in five states. And it has a tiny menu with a somewhat larger secret menu. The main/public menu has three options: hamburger, cheeseburger, and double-double (double meat, double cheese.) When I was little (and by little, I mean up to about age 18) I wouldn’t eat hamburgers. I hated them; I thought they were vile. But In-N-Out changed all of this and ever since I’ve loved hamburgers of all varieties.

Anyway, I thought this burger was the best way to represent the US for this month’s country.

The sauce isn’t quite right, but I think I did it justice. My burger was a lot bigger than the patties they use at In-N-Out. And Matt announced, “This is the best burger I’ve EVER had!”

Next time I make these I need to make fries… ANIMAL STYLE!

COPIED: In-N-Out Burgers
(source)

Ingredients
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp ketchup
1/2 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp relish
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 lb ground beef
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 slices Velveta cheese
2 hamburger buns

Directions

1. Toast your hamburger buns and set aside.

2. In a bowl stir together the mayonnaise, ketchup, vinegar, sugar, and relish. Set aside.

3. In a cast iron skillet, grill the onion slices.

3. In a large bowl use your hands to combine the ground beef, egg yolk, and bread crumbs together. Spray a cast iron skillet with cooking spray. Form two patties with the ground beef mixture and cook in the skillet for 5 minutes per side.

4. After you’ve cooked the patties on both sides, top with a slice of cheese. Lower the heat and cover with a lid. Allow the cheese to melt.

5. Slather the sauce onto the buns. Place the bun in the burger. Garnish with the grilled onion. Add any lettuce and tomato as desired.

* serves 2
* besides Blogger’s Around The World, this recipe is shared with Foodie Friends Friday, Foodie Friday, Weekend Potluck,  & Foodie Friday

Foodie Pen Pal Reveal: February

Once again I received another wonderful box in the mail full of food. I love participating in this program and foresee continuing in it so long as it exists.

This month I received a box from Alyson at Simply Nutricising. In the email I sent Alyson with my likes I told her I liked hazelnuts, chocolate, candy, and spices. I also told her that I rely on snacks during the week when I have my late night classes but that I love to cook. The box Alyson sent me hit the mark perfectly. I love everything in the box.

The box I sent this month was sent to Kiersten. I sent her some Annie’s Mac & Cheese, some jam, some herbal coffee, and some other things.

So if you haven’t heard about it already, I’m assuming now you’re wondering “WHAT IS FOODIE PEN PALS!?” I mean, when I first read a blog post about it that’s exactly what I thought. So here, let me tell you.

Foodie Pen Pals is a program that Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean put together, where she pairs people together to send boxes of food to each other, based on likes and dislikes.

• On the 5th of the month you receive an email pairing you with information about who you’re paired with. You email that person to get information pertaining to allergies and dietary restriction.
• By the 15th you put together a box of treats and mail them to your partner.
• On the last day of the month you post a blog post about your box of treat

So.. What did I get this month?

I had opened my box so late on Tuesday night. I have class Tuesdays until almost 9:30 p.m. I got home and I shoved some food into my face and realized there was a box sitting on the counter that I hadn’t seen when I walked in. After shoving food into my face I tore the box open like a ravenous dog.

Among the food varieties packed in the box, Alyson sent me a super cute kitchen towel. I’m always in need of these, so this was excellent.

Whenever I get a FPP box I can’t resist but chowing down on something immediately. I obviously don’t eat everything in the box in one sitting, but I always have to have something. Considering I had just finished dinner Matt and I shared this ka-ka-o milk chocolate peanut butter bark. I have the biggest sweet tooth ever. And I have an even bigger love for chocolate. I probably should have made this bark last longer than the minute it took to eat it so I could have savored it a lot more than I did, but it was excellent and was a perfect way to start the February FPP box.

Speaking of chocolate, Alyson sent me a handful of chocolate hearts for Valentine’s Day. I did restrain myself a little bit – I haven’t eaten them all yet.

Alyson really listened when I said that there are some days when I could really use some snacks. She sent me multiple 100-calorie snack packs in three different varieties: chocolate pomegranate, dark chocolate roasted almonds, and dark chocolate blueberry. I’ve tried the almonds and the blueberries so far. I’m actually going to need to find these on my own because they are really satisfying when sitting in a class that feels like it’ll never end and your stomach is rumbling. On top of that, chocolate!

I haven’t had a Dum-Dum in forever. When I was in elementary school I recall having them a lot. I vaguely recall a teacher handing them out as rewards. I love the bouquet she created with the lollipops. They bring me right back to childhood!

Alyson also included this box of instant oatmeal called OatFit. I brought the box to work because when I get hungry after court it’s super easy to pop this in the microwave and have a big bowl of oatmeal. The coolest part about this is the convenience factor. The packet that the oatmeal comes in is also the measuring cup for water. Such a great product!

I’m feeling like this is the endless box of goodies! Alyson also sent me these flavored vinegars in calamansi (citrus) and cherry. Though I haven’t used them yet, I have found several ideas online for things I’m going to make with them. I plan on using the calamansi on roast salmon. Alyson also suggested using it in a salad dressing.

Last but not least, Alyson sent me two Penzey’s spices. One was in Bold Taco and the other is cinnamon. I love spices (and told Alyson that) so I was very excited for these. Also, I’ve been wanting to order Penzey’s for some time now, but I just hadn’t been able to justify the cost of their spices to myself plus shipping. But after trying the Bold Taco spice (I haven’t opened the cinnamon yet) I think I’m going to have to change that and start exclusively buying Penzey’s.

With the Bold Taco spice I made a pasta dish. It was delicious.

Enchilada Pasta Casserole
(inspiration)

Ingredients
1 boneless skinless chicken breast, trimmed and cut into small pieces
1/2 tbsp Penzey’s Bold Taco spice
3 oz cream cheese
2 tbsp heavy cream
1/4 cup red enchilada sauce
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup monterey jack cheese
1/2 cup corn kernels
1/2 can diced green chiles
6 oz egg noodles

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot boil water. Cook the egg noodles to the package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. In a large skillet, cook the chicken until no longer pink. Stir in the Bold Taco spice until the chicken is all covered.

3. Add in the cream cheese until melted.

4. In a large bowl combine the heavy cream, enchilada sauce, half of the cheddar, half of the monterey jack cheese, the corn, and the diced chiles.  Stir to combine. Pour the sauce over the chicken and simmer for 3 minutes.

5. Add the pasta to the chicken. Mix well until everything is coated in the sauce.

6. Pour the pasta into a casserole dish. Cover with the remaining cheese.

7. Bake for 15 minutes.

* serves 3