Monthly Archives: December 2014

Carrot Salad

Soups/ Salads / Stews,

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Cool and refreshing is how I would describe carrot salad. It is the kind of side dish that compliments chicken, beef or pork and is good any time of the year.

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I was first introduced to carrot salad at an office party many, many years ago. The ingredients looked pretty simple so I figured it couldn’t taste too bad. I learned early on that not everyone can cook and sometimes pretty dishes are just that – pretty. Pretty does not always equal tasty so I was still hesitant when I put a spoonful of carrot salad on my plate. I was both grateful and pleasantly surprised at how good the carrot salad tasted. From that point on I looked forward to having carrot salad at our office parties.

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I think I make a rather tasty carrot salad and thought it worthy of sharing with the world. Carrots, golden raisins, cranberries, nuts and pineapple. A great combination of flavors and healthy to boot.

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Who wouldn’t love carrot salad?

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Carrot Salad

Ingredients:

1 10oz bag shredded carrots
1 14 oz can crushed pineapple well drained
1 tbsp mayonnaise
3 tbsp sour cream or Greek yogurt
½ tbsp sugar
½ tsp seasoned salt
½ cup golden raisins
½ cup cranberries
¼ cup walnuts chopped
¼ cup pecans chopped

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until well blended. Let chill for 30 minutes or overnight before serving. Enjoy!

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Salmon and Penne Pasta

Pasta and Grains, Seafood/ Fish, , , ,

Teryaki Salmon 10

On days I want to be really healthy and stay away from red meat or pork “the other white meat”, I turn to my one true favorite – salmon. Since my hubby and son love pasta so much I knew if I added salmon to a pasta dish they would love it.

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Preparing pasta is simple and so is fixing salmon. As long as you pick out a nice salmon fillet and have the right seasonings you will be golden.

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The right seasonings means you need to pull together a combination of spices that will make the dish pop and your taste buds do a little dance in your mouth. A little heat from red pepper flakes or cayenne will usually wake up the taste buds but to make them dance you need more.

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Garlic, capers, mixed peppers and lemon juice. Bitter, salty, sweet and sour. Something to tickle each taste bud and brighten up the dish. Splash a little cream into the mix and you will not be sorry you decided to make something healthy.

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Salmon and Penne Pasta

Ingredients:
4 salmon fillets
1 box penne pasta
2 garlic cloves chopped
5 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp starchy water from pasta
1 bag fresh baby leaf spinach
5 tbsp butter
1 tbsp capers
1 tbsp parsley
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp seasoned salt
½ tbsp salt
½ tbsp black pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ red pepper sliced thin
½ green pepper sliced thin
½ yellow pepper sliced thin
½ cup half and half
½ cup heavy cream
Juice from one lemon
½ tbsp lemon zest

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare pasta al dente as directed on box. Set aside. Reserve 2 tbsp of starchy water from pasta.

Season salmon with salt, black pepper, garlic powder and smoked paprika. Place 1 tbsp butter on each salmon fillet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until cooked through but still moist. Set aside to rest.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil to a small frying pan. Add fresh peppers and saute until slightly browned.

Melt 1 tbsp butter in a large frying pan along with olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium then pour in heavy cream along with half and half and starchy water. Simmer for 2 minutes then add sauteed peppers, capers, parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest and remaining seasonings. Stir to blend. Add spinach and let it wilt. Once spinach wilts stir in pasta to coat with sauce.

Place pasta in a bowl and top with salmon. Pour a little sauce over the salmon then enjoy.

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Mexican Hot Chocolate

Beverage/ Drink, ,

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At the request of my daughter I came up with a recipe for Mexican Hot Chocolate. I had never heard of Mexican Hot Chocolate but I was game for trying out a recipe. I did some research on various types of Mexican Hot Chocolate and developed a version that is satisfying and tasty.

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The secret to making Mexican Hot Chocolate is to have a balance between the sweetness of the sugar and the heat of the chili and cayenne. Mexican hot chocolate should initially taste sweet on the tongue and then create a tingle at the back of your throat from the heat of the chili. After a few seconds the tingle goes away and you want to sip some more. If you add too much cayenne, the tingle will be will be an out and out ache at the back of your throat. Trust me, that is not a good feeling. While testing out my recipe I thought I would add more cayenne to the hot chocolate to make sure it had a Mexican flair. The result was not pleasant and I got a thumbs down from the family. Of course, everyone has their own idea of what tastes good. I would suggest that if you follow my recipe but you want heat add it to your own individual cup.

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Don’t forget the orange zest! The orange flavor mixed with the chocolate and cinnamon sticks is absolutely delicious. While the cayenne tingles the back of the throat, the orange zest flavor will linger on your tongue. Top the whole thing off with marshmallows and what more could you ask for on a cozy night.

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Mexican Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
½ cup half and half
¼ cup chocolate liqueur
4 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped
2 cinnamon sticks
4 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp orange zest
½ tbsp cayenne (add more if you like a lot of heat but be careful with it)

In a large pot whisk together milks, sugars, cayenne, chocolate liqueur, zest and vanilla over medium low heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add chopped chocolate and whisk until melted. Add cinnamon sticks and continue simmering for 10 minutes until nice and hot. Strain into mugs and top with marshmallows if desired.

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Grandma Dee’s Chicken and Dumplings

Meat/ Poultry, Soups/ Salads / Stews, , , ,

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Chicken and Dumplings is the ultimate grandma comfort food. If made like my grandmother use to make it, it is packed with chunks of meat, sweet vegetables, potatoes and plenty of dumplings. The dumplings are my favorite part. I love almost anything made with dumplings whether it is a main course or a sweet treat like cobbler.

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Now that I am a grandma, I thought I should come up with my own chicken and dumplings recipe that my grand kids would love. Since I prefer quick and easy to long and difficult I used preformed dumplings along with fresh veggies and chicken to shorten the prep and cooking time.

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The end result was a dish I was proud to call “Grandma Dee’s Chicken and Dumplings”.

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Grandma Dee’s Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients:
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 carrots peeled, sliced
1 small onion chopped
1 small jalapeno pepper seeded and chopped (optional)
1 box frozen peas
1 10 oz can cream of chicken soup
5 cups water
½ box Anne’s frozen dumplings
½ tsp poultry seasoning
½ Adobo seasoning
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp onion powder
1 bay leaf

In a large pot add water, chicken, 1 stalk of celery, 2 tbsp onions and seasonings. Cook at medium high temperature until chicken is tender and cooked all the way through. Remove chicken. Chop chicken into big chunks and set aside.

Strain broth then add broth back to the pot. Add carrots, remaining onions, celery, jalapeno pepper and a little more salt. Cook for 10 minutes then add peas and dumplings. Cook for another 8 minutes gently stirring the dumplings.

In a small bowl add cream of chicken soup and ½ cup of the hot broth. Whisk them together then add to the pot along with the chicken. Reduce heat to simmer and cook an additional 5 minutes to heat chicken and soup mixture.

To prepare in a crock pot:
Add chicken, water, celery, onions, carrots, jalapeno pepper and seasonings to a crock pot. Cook on high for 1 hour. Add carrots and dumplings. Gently stir in the dumplings and cook an additional 15 minutes. In a small bowl add cream of chicken soup and ½ cup of the hot broth. Add mixture and peas to the crock pot. Reduce to low heat and cook for 10 more minutes.

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Eggplant Casserole

Uncategorized, Vegetables, , ,

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I am an eggplant lover. Back in my single days I use to make eggplant parmesan and it became one of my specialties. Over the years I have forgotten my original recipe so I decided to just make a simple eggplant casserole recipe. Although I love eggplant, I was not too sure how my family would like it. They like fried eggplant but a casserole? I was imagining that I would be eating the casserole the entire week for lunch and dinner.

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I love it when I am wrong about how one of my recipes will be received by my test team. I was the first one to try it out. Usually, I don’t brag a whole lot about the dishes I make but I had to say out loud “this tastes good!”. My exclamation of how good the eggplant tasted made my hubby curious so he was the next one to dive into the dish. Like I said in the beginning, I love it when I am wrong about how one of my recipes will be received. Hubby was delighted and said he loved the different flavors.

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Eggplant casserole is a wonderful side dish or you can make it into a meal. It is filling and I am sure once you taste it you will go for seconds.

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Eggplant Casserole

Ingredients:
2 small eggplants sliced thin
2 shallots sliced thin
1 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup fontina cheese shredded or sliced thin
½ stick butter sliced
2 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp seasoned salt
1 tbsp black pepper
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spray a rimmed cookie sheet with cooking spray. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil and spread around the cookie sheet. Place the sliced eggplant on the cookie sheet. Season with salt and black pepper on both sides. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes on each side until lightly browned.

Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a small frying pan then add shallots. Season with a little salt and pepper. Saute shallots until softened and slightly browned. Set aside.

Spray a small casserole dish with cooking spray. Put a large spoonful of fire roasted tomatoes on the bottom of the casserole dish. Layer the bottom with the eggplant overlapping each ring. Sprinkle a little oregano over the eggplant. Spoon some of the fire roasted tomatoes over the eggplant then add a layer of mozzarella cheese. Place another layer of eggplant and sprinkle with the seasonings then layer the shallots over the eggplant. Place fontina cheese over the shallots then add another layer of eggplant. Sprinkle with seasonings then spoon on more tomatoes. Layer more mozzarella cheese. Finish with a layer of eggplant, seasonings, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.

Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees. Bake eggplant casserole for 25 to 30 minutes until cheese is melted and slightly browned. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 – 10 minutes before serving.

 

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