Southwest Chicken Sliders

These are very easy to make--in fact they were a sort of accidental creation, but now I crave them often.  I serve them topped with sour cream and the pickled red onions that I posted about previously (Red Chile Short Rib Tacos aka Taco Toppings).  The burger is a simple mix of ground chicken,  olive oil, salt, hot sauce (I use Tapatio) and southwest seasoning (Penzey's Southwest Seasoning or Pampered Chef Southwestern Seasoning Mix).  If I had it, I'd add sliced avocado or some guacamole to the list of toppings!  Don't forget the tomato!  The one pictured is straight from my garden.  Yum!  I recommend cooking these in a skillet so they don't dry out--I personally don't grill ground chicken due to this, but it's certainly a matter of personal preference.  Please note the variances in seasonings in the recipe guidelines below--I posted these varied amounts keeping in mind that everyone has difference comfort levels when it comes to salt and other seasonings. 

Southwest Chicken Sliders 

serves 4

1 pound ground chicken

1 tablespoon olive oil

several dashes of hot sauce

1/2-1 teaspoon of salt

1-2 teaspoons of southwest seasoning

Mix all ingredients and form into patties (I make 8 sliders from a pound of ground meat but these would make great regular sized burgers, too!).  

Cook in a skillet on medium-high heat for approximately 5 minutes per side or until chicken is fully cooked.  

Place cooked sliders on buns and top with your choice of toppings.

Pickled Red Onions

courtesy of Food Network/Bobby Flay

3/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt (I lowered this amount)

1 thinly sliced red onion

Combine ingredients 1-4 and bring to a boil.  Allow mixture to cool for at least 5 minutes.  Toss with onion and refrigerate at least overnight.

I usually make a double batch as these keep very well in the refrigerator--I love these and always have some in my fridge!

Scallops with Creamy Pesto

I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's actually been too hot to stand outside and grill, so I've been dredging up recipes that get me in and out of the kitchen quickly.  More accurately, this is a recipe that only requires your stove to be on for about 5 minutes.  Minimal ingredients, fast and really tasty.  Serve with veggies or pasta (which may require the stove to be on a little longer ;-P--make sure it's done before the scallops so they don't have to sit as they are best served immediately).

Scallops with Creamy Pesto

1 ½ lbs. sea scallops, patted dry

1/3 c. prepared pesto

2 tbsp. heavy whipping cream

1 tsp. minced garlic

olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat 1 ½ tsp. olive oil and minced garlic in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add scallops and cook just 4 minutes (2 minutes per side), until golden and barely opaque at the center.  Remove from skillet to plate and cover with a paper towel.  Turn off stove burner.  Add pesto and cream to still-warm skillet and stir to blend.
2. Spoon cream sauce onto plates and top with scallops.  Add salt and pepper, to taste, though this dish really doesn't require much of either.

Serves 4

Red Chile Short Rib Tacos aka Taco Toppings

A recent issue of Food Network Magazine contained a feature on tacos, with recipes presented by various popular chefs.  I decided to try Bobby Flay's Red Chile Short Rib Tacos.  I did some research and decided to substitute brisket for the short ribs I had difficulty locating at my local Kroger.  Perhaps my substitution of meat greatly affected the flavor, but I wasn't fond of this dish as a whole, though some portions of it I'll carry to other Mexican cooking recipes that I've tried and love.  The recipe consists of several parts--you make the meat, then you also make a homemade queso sauce, pickled red onions and green chile relish to top the tacos.  

I felt that the port overwhelmed the pepper flavor I expected to shine in the meat part of this dish, making the meat seem very heavy and pot-roast-flavored.  The queso sauce just wasn't what I was looking for (though the cheese lovers who tried the dish really liked the queso--personally I prefer some good Crema Mexicana on my tacos as opposed to cheese).  Now, onto the pickled red onions and green chile relish.  I loved the flavor of both these taco topping and will definitely make both again.  The only change I'll make is to reduce the canola oil to 1 teaspoon in the green chile relish.  I could taste the oil and felt the amount imparted an oily texture to the relish that I could easily eliminate.

 Preparing the brisket

 Infusing broth with red chiles

 Red chile brisket

 Red chile tacos with pickled red onions, green chile relish and fresh cilantro

Potlatch-Seasoned Salmon Grilled on a Cedar Plank

This is a recipe that bears repeating now that summer is here!

Over the years I've had several opportunities to enjoy salmon grilled atop a cedar plank. Each time I remember thinking "Oh, this is easy. I can do this at home. No sweat." If only that were ENTIRELY true. My gas grill didn't allow for the flame down to be adjusted to a point low enough to keep from catching the cedar plank on fire (bad, because you may not realize it right away since the grill lid is closed for cooking). Also, I wasn't soaking the plank properly--you need to place something heavy (such as an unopened can of soup or vegetables) on the plank to keep it fully submerged in water for several hours (I let it soak all day or even overnight). Now that I feel that I have mastered my charcoal grill, I decided to try again. Charcoal grills seem to work better for this cooking application because once the coals of charcoal burn down, there is no actual flame left to ignite the board. I use one of my all-time favorite seasonings:  Williams-Sonoma's Potlatch Seasoning. They also carry the cedar planks, but many stores carry these now (I'm able to find mine at Kroger, Target and Lowe's). Make sure the wood is UNTREATED!

Potlatch-Seasoned Grilled Salmon on a Cedar Plank

1 cedar plank (soaked)

2 lbs. fresh salmon (with the skin still on)

2 heaping TEAspoons Potlatch Seasoning

enough olive oil to make a paste of the seasoning (but no more than that...stir the olive oil and seasoning together to make a thick paste)

Prepare your charcoal grill. Let the coals burn down until there is no more flame. The temperature will be between 350-400 degrees. While the coals are burning down, prepare the fish as follows:

Place the salmon (skin down) on the soaked cedar plank. Spread the paste evenly over top of the salmon filet.  You can use a silicone basting brush or even your fingers. Press the seasoning into the flesh of the fish gently--do not rub and tear the flesh of the fish.

When the coals are ready, place the plank on the grill and close the lid. The salmon will take approximately 20 minutes to cook, but this can vary due to grill temperature and thickness of your salmon filets.

Veal Saltimbocca Burgers

These are just plain amazing.  A new burger twist worth trying.  I pick up the ground veal at Wheeling's Miklas Meat Market. 

Saltimbocca Burgers

Rachael RayFrom Every Day with Rachael Ray

September 2007

FOUR SERVINGS

1 1/2 pounds ground veal
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
15 leaves fresh sage, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
4 slices prosciutto (about 1/4 pound)
6 ounces fontina cheese, sliced or shredded
Eight 1-inch-thick slices semolina bread
2 cups chopped romaine lettuce from the heart
Juice of 1/2 lemon

1. In a medium bowl, mix the veal, garlic and sage; season with salt and pepper. Form 4 patties, pressing your thumb in the center of each burger to prevent it from bulging while cooking.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the burger patties and cook through, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Top the burgers with the prosciutto and fontina. Cover the skillet to melt the cheese, about 3 minutes.

3. While the burgers cook, toast the bread and set aside.

4. In a medium bowl, dress the lettuce with the remaining 2 tablespoons EVOO and the lemon juice; season to taste with salt and pepper. Set each burger on a toasted bread slice; top with the romaine and another toasted bread slice.

Oven-Roasted Shrimp

This isn't a recipe so much as a jumping off point.  Think of all the ways you can use this method of cooking shrimp.  It's one of the easiest ways I've encountered to cook shrimp.  I line a large rimmed baking sheet with a few layers of foil and just throw away the mess when I'm done.  Please note that temperature and cooking time is for shrimp that still have tails and peels ON.

Oven-Roasted Shrimp 

• 1 lb. shrimp (tails and peel still intact)--size medium (21-30 count per pound)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 stick butter
• salt and pepper
• lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Toss the shrimp with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, then spread on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Scatter pats of butter over the shrimp.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and opaque.

There are a number of modifications that can be made to this recipe.  You can add garlic and make a scampi-type shrimp, coat them in Old Bay or blackening seasoning, lemon pepper seasoning...the list goes on and on.

Shrimp Enchiladas

This recipe was on the cover of Bon Appetit last summer.  I saved it and then didn't come across it again until recently when I had company on the way for the weekend and a craving for Mexican food. 

The actual title of the recipe is "Shrimp and Cotija Enchiladas".  Cotija cheese is a hard, white Mexican cheese made from cow's milk.  If this is an ingredient you think you'll have trouble purchasing, you can substitute feta cheese.  I was able to make a trip to Reyna Foods in the Strip District of Pittsburgh to get most of the ingredients for this dish that I would have trouble getting at my local Kroger store.  It's a great little store that carries lots of Mexican/Latin American staples, novelties, various fresh guacamole and salsas as well as in-store-made tortillas and corn chips.  I was able to get the only other ingredient that isn't readily available to me at home in Wheeling, which is Crema Mexicana.  This is the Mexican version of sour cream (which, of course you can use as a substitute in this recipe).  True Crema is sour cream's richer, more decadent cousin.  If you can get your hands on it, you won't regret it.  It's delicious!

For the first time making this dish, I did follow the recipe closely.  I thought it was wonderful, but I do have just a few changes that I will make when (not if, WHEN!) I make these enchiladas again.  

• I will substitute flour tortillas for the corn tortillas called for in the recipe.  This is really a matter of personal preference.  The one modification I did make was to use both flour and corn tortillas in this dish.  The recipe directs that both sides of each tortilla be dredged in the freshly made salsa verde.  I liked how the flour tortillas soaked the flavor up more (and I have to be honest, I just don't care for the texture of corn tortillas--again, personal taste should guide you, here)
• The recipe calls for the finished enchiladas to be topped with thinly sliced avocado and red onion for serving.  The next time I make these, I will dice the avocado and red onion and marinate it in lime juice then top each enchilada with the mixture along with fresh cilantro.

Bon Appetit's Shrimp & Cotija Enchiladas RECIPE

Roast Turkey

I made a really great turkey this year.  I don't have a single photo to prove it, but I finally got the cooking process down to exactly how I want it.

I start by brining the turkey with a jar of Turkey Brine from Williams Sonoma.  I follow the directions on the label (using the apple cider variation). 

As far as roasting it after brining:

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.  Place the turkey in a large roasting pan. Using kitchen twine, tie the legs together. Drizzle the turkey with olive oil and rub it into the skin.  Roast the turkey for 30 minutes at 500 then decrease oven temp to 325 degrees.  Continue to roast to at least 160 degrees F in the thickest part of the breast, about 3-3 1/2 hours for an 18 lb. turkey (the size I typically get). If the skin starts to get too dark during roasting, tent with foil.  I always wrap the wings in foil so they don't get too dark, then uncover them during the last 30 mins. to 1 hr. to let them brown along with the rest of the bird.  I no longer put the stuffing in the bird, but instead bake it in a separate pan.  Stick to the thermometer for checking if the turkey is done--it really helps keep you from overcooking the turkey!  After removing from the oven, allow the turkey to rest under a tent of foil or a large mixing bowl while you prepare your table/sides/etc (about an hour is fine).

Southwest Cider-Spiked Marinade

I have a tendency to throw different things together to make marinades or salad dressings.  Some aren't good enough to revisit--some are.  I use this one a lot, particularly for flank steak.  Today I'm using it for a London Broil.  My son, Grant, asked if he and his sister Sophia could ride trikes while I grill steak.  The terrible heatwave has broken (for at least the moment).  So:  Yes, my kidlets.  Yes, you can!!! I hope you enjoy this quick marinade as much as we do.

• 1/2 cup oil (I used a canola oil blend)
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 3-5 tablespoons southwest seasoning (I have used Southwestern Dip Mix from Miller's Market in Romney, WV and Pampered Chef's Southwestern Seasoning Mix)
• 1/2 large yellow or white onion, sliced into rings

Toss ingredients together and marinate meat for a few hours.  Grill the marinated meat as you like it (and grill the other half of the onion to serve with the meat).

Firehouse Breakfast (Egg Bake)

 This recipe was sent to me by my friend Kara (hi, Kara!!!).  The only change I made was omitting 1 teaspoon of garlic salt from the recipe.  This is fantastic and a great choice if you want something that is a little different than the usual egg breakfast bakes.  The consistency of this is like that of a quiche, but there is no actual crust.

-12 eggs, divided
-1 cup rice, cooked
-1 stick butter, melted
-16 oz. cottage cheese, small curd
-1 envelope Knorr Leek Soup mix
-1 teaspoon onion salt
-1/4 teaspoon black pepper
-1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained & squeezed of excess water
-1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided

In a large bowl, beat 9 eggs, then add the cooked rice, melted butter, cottage cheese, soup mix, spices, drained spinach and mix together.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese on bottom of a 13x9" greased baking dish. Spread the rice and cottage cheese mixture in the dish. Beat the 3 remaining eggs and pour evenly over the top of the mixture. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese over mixture.

Cover and refrigerate overnight (I didn't have time to do this the first time I made it, and I just baked a few minutes longer). Remove from refrigerator 30 min. prior to baking. Bake uncovered at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Cool 15-20 min. before cutting.

Serves 12

Remember Me? Summer Grilling (and a recipe for Cheater's Cajun Shrimp Alfredo)

So, I've been a little busy. OK, a lot of busy. I still cook...sometimes. I'm doing a good bit of chasing the kids around outside and reading for school.

We've been doing a lot of grilling on our new Char-Griller combination charcoal grill/smoker. I can honestly say that I don't think our propane gas grill will get any (or much) use this season (or ever again). Like many people, we shied away from charcoal thinking it was a pain, too dirty or too time-consuming. We're finding that none of that is really true. Now, my mom says it's carcinogenic, but after all the food hysteria (and packaging hysteria) that we've been inundated by, I just can't even bring myself to look. It appears that breathing air each day is carcinogenic, too. So, anyway, sidetracked... Jon has been begging for a charcoal grill and I found this great model on sale at Home Depot (if we ever go bankrupt, I hold them solely responsible). It was supposed to be his Father's Day gift, but I guess Father's Day came early this year.

Something to consider (it's worth the $10-15 or so) is a Charcoal Chimney Starter. This takes all the work out of getting your charcoal ready for grilling. We've been buying natural charcoal, too, instead of the briquettes with all of the chemical starters, etc. in them.

The taste difference in grilling over charcoal as opposed to on the gas grill is just unbelievable. We haven't used the smoker yet, but I'm sure we'll get to that (probably a pork loin with a cider-vinegar-based BBQ marinade so we can chop the meat and make Pulled Pork Sandwiches). today I have a flank steak marinating in a mixture of Pampered Chef's Southwest Seasoning, Olive Oil and Apple Cider Vinegar (yes, I love me some vinegar...what of it?!!?).

Happy Grilling!!!

Now, last night I made a quick "fake it don't make it" kind of dinner. Last weekend I went to fish market and got some Old Bay-seasoned steamed shrimp. We had some left over, so we peeled them and popped them in the freezer. I had an idea to make some kind of Cajun Shrimp Alfredo, but had no desire to make alfredo sauce from scratch (my only true cooking disaster was homemade alfredo sauce...the cats wouldn't even eat the shrimp from it). So, here's what I did.

Cheater's Cajun Shrimp Alfredo

1 lb. cooked shrimp (frozen or thawed, doesn't matter) peeled and deveined

powdered cajun seasoning (I use something called Cajun Dust...found it at TJMaxx)

3 small containers refrigerated alfredo sauce (I used Buitoni)

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 portabello mushroom, chopped

1 box whole wheat linguini

Place first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan and allow to heat through. DO NOT ALLOW CREAM SAUCES TO BOIL. Prepare pasta and serve. It tastes so good that no one could ever guess how lazy you are ;-)

Fettucini with Italian Sausage and Peppers

There is nothing revolutionary about this dish, but it's easy, quick and good. Here is the way I do it...

Fettucini with Italian Sausage and Peppers

2 tbsp. + 1/4-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 lb. Italian sausage--loose pack if you can find it, otherwise sliced or removed from link casings and crumbled (hot or mild)

4 Cubanelle or Hungarian Wax peppers, cut into small pieces (depending on the level of 'heat' you'd like; the Cubanelles are a little milder in my opinion)

1 lb. fettucini

salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan or Romano cheese to sprinkle after cooking

Boil a pot of water and cook pasta as directed. As the water boils/pasta cooks, heat 2 tbsp. olive oil and garlic over medium-high heat. Allow garlic to just start to brown, and add sausage. Cook until done. Add pepper chunksand stir together. Saute until peppers are JUST done (don't let it all get mushy and colorless). Add enough olive oil to skillet to make this into a good 'sauce' for your pasta. Add salt and pepper to taste. Drain pasta and toss with sauce. Add cheese to taste and serve!

**my dad likes to add crushed red pepper flakes to this recipe

Open-Faced Cream Cheese Crockpot Chicken Sandwiches

Say that really fast six times. Anyway, a fellow mom and internet friend posted this recipe and I decided to make it for dinner last night. The original recipe can be found here. I used Jenn's changes and made a couple of my own. Thanks again, Jenn!!!


Cream Cheese Crockpot Chicken


4 chicken breasts
Olive oil
1 can chicken broth (divided in half)
½ cup white wine
1 package of dry Italian dressing/seasoning mix
1 small package sliced mushrooms
Handful chopped celery
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 8 oz brick of cream cheese, cut up in cubes
1 large onion, minced
crushed garlic to taste

Brush chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with the dry Italian seasoning mix. Add ½ can chicken broth and wine to crockpot and place chicken breasts in the wine/broth. Cover and cook on low for about 4 hours.

About 45 minutes before done, brown the onion in the butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Add the cream cheese, soup, and chicken broth to the pan (and a splash more wine if you wish). Add the crushed garlic and whisk all ingredients in saucepan until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour sauce mixture over chicken in crockpot and cook an additional 30-45 minutes. Remove chicken to platter and stir sauce before serving.

I served the chicken and gravy atop slices of whole-grain bread, as you would an open-faced turkey sandwich.

Banh Mi - Vietnamese Steak Sandwich

This recipe is from the August 2004 issue of Real Simple magazine. It's a favorite in our house. My only real deviation from this recipe is to marinate the flank steak overnight or from morning until cooking at dinnertime. Don't be afraid of the mayo, it broils off in the oven and serves only to soften the bread surface. You cannot taste it and the recipe just isn't the same without it. Being weird about mayo, I have made it both ways. Enjoy (Michelle, I know you've been waiting for this)! Also, I double or triple the marinade to make more meat and also use an entire bottle of rice vinegar and make a lot more pickled veggies so there are lunchtime leftovers for Jon.

Vietnamese Steak Sandwiches (Banh Mi)

1/2 lb. piece of flank steak, about 1 inch thick

1 TEAspoon sriracha chili sauce (found in the international aisle of most supermarkets...heck, I can even find it here in Wheeling!)

4 TEAspoons sugar

1 1/2 TABLEspoons nuoc nam (fish sauce...once again, head for the international foods aisle)

1 TEAspoon minced garlic

1 cup rice wine vinegar

3 radishes thinly sliced (daikon if you can find them, but regular radishes are just fine)

1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks

1/2 medium bell pepper, cut into thin rings

4 TABLEspoons mayonnaise (don't even think of using Miracle Whip)

1 small loaf (appx. 8") baguette or french bread, halved and cut horizontally

6 sprigs fresh cilantro

Place chili sauce, sugar, fish sauce and garlic into a gallon ziploc bag. Mix together and add meat to marinate. Heat oven (or toaster oven) to 450 degrees. Heat an outdoor grill or stovetop grill pan to medium-hot. Place vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Toss the radishes, carrots and pepper into the vinegar. Remove from heat, cover and set aside. Place the marinated steak on the grill and cook to medium, 4-6 minutes per side and allow to rest before cutting into thin slices. Meanwhile, spread mayo on the baguette. Heat the open baguette, mayo-side up until the mayo melts and the bread begins to get crispy. Fill the baguette with the vegetables and steak, and top with cilantro.

serves 2

Sloppy Joe Pizzas

This is a quick dinner. It's a nice little twist on an ordinary standby. Kids seem to love it, too. I like the little bit of sweetness the carrots add, not to mention the fact that you're sneaking a vegetable in somewhere. How can that be bad? I served these with 3-bean salad.

Sloppy Joe Pizzas

1 lb. ground chicken (can subsitute ground beef or meatless crumbles)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup minced onion

1 can Manwich Bold sloppy joe sauce

1 cup shredded carrots (Yes, I'm channeling my inner Jessica Seinfeld here, just go with it)

4 personal-sized pizza crusts (or one regular-sized)

shredded cheddar cheese

Brown ground meat, garlic and onion. Add Manwich sauce and shredded carrots. Simmer as directed. Preheat oven according to pizza crust directions. Spoon sloppy joe mixture onto pizza crust/s. Top with shredded cheese. Bake as directed.

Artichoke Dip Pasta Bake

I was inspired by this recipe. I decided to make a few changes...it started with my aversion to mayonnaise. I use mayo in dips and such, but couldn't bring myself to use 1.5 cups in a main dish. It's not a dietary thing, oh no...it's an...I'm weird thing. So, off to tinker in the kitchen I went. I am thrilled with how this turned out, and I hope anyone else who tries it loves it too! Oh, a disclaimer...this recipe is not for the diet conscious. I mean, the title should probably give that away, huh? Also, this would be very easily vegetarian-ized; just omit the chicken!

Artichoke Dip Pasta Bake

1 cooked rotisserie chicken, shredded
2-13.75 oz. cans quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1 lb. penne, cooked and drained
3 tbsp. olive oil
¼ stick of butter
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 8 oz. brick of cream cheese, cut into small chunks
¼ cup lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream (half and half would work, too)
2 cups Parmesan cheese, shredded or grated
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large skillet (I use my wok so I have room to mix the pasta and ‘sauce’ together later), heat olive oil and butter over high heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant and starting to brown. Add artichoke hearts to skillet. Allow to warm through. Stir in cream cheese chunks and allow to melt completely. Add lemon juice and cream separately, stirring into skillet mixture. Add chicken and 1 cup of Parmesan. Stir until well-mixed. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the penne pasta. Spoon mixture into baking dish (appx. 13x9”). Sprinkle remaining Parmesan over top of pasta. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese on top of pasta begins to brown.

Italian Stuffed Peppers

This isn't a standard recipe of hamburger, rice, tomato sauce and green peppers, though it does still have rice and tomato sauce. It's a blend of ground chicken, grated zucchini, brown rice, tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese. Nothing drastic, just something a little bit different.

***Please note, these are easily reheated in the crockpot. I place 1 can tomato sauce in the bottom of the crockpot, then allow the peppers to simmer on the warming setting (low if you don't have a 'keep warm' setting) through the day for an easy dinner.

Another note, this is another recipe easily adapted for vegetarian diets. Either eliminate the ground chicken, or substitute a ground soy/vegetable product in place of the chicken. I like Morningstar Farms Ground Meatless Crumbles.

Italian Stuffed Peppers

12 red, yellow or orange bell peppers (tops and seeds removed, blanched in boiling water for about 1 minute)
8 cups cooked brown rice
1 can tomato sauce
1 packet powdered Italian salad dressing
1 tablespoon oilive oil
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, minced
1 lb. ground chicken
8 oz. pkg. of mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 small-medium zucchini, grated
Kosher salt
Garlic salt
Crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a very large skillet (I use my wok so it's easy to mix the rice in later), heat olive oil. Cook garlic and onion until lightly browned.
• Add ground chicken. Season with Kosher and garlic salt.
• Cook until nearly done, then add zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes. Allow to cook for a few minutes.
• Add tomato sauce and powdered dressing. Allow to simmer over low heat until flavors combine.
• Mix in cooked rice and Parmesan cheese, stirring until combined. Season mixture with salts and red pepper flakes to taste.
• Coat the inside of a dutch oven or other deep baking dish with olive oil, then stand peppers in pan. Fill peppers with rice mixture and bake for 30-45 minutes. Serve with Parmesan cheese (or sprinkle more on top towards end of baking time).

Herbed Salmon & Rice Pilaf Bake

I made this a long time ago, straight from an Allrecipes recipe for Baked Salmon. I wasn't too impressed, and thought the recipe was a good idea, but somewhat bland. I always meant to doctor it up, but never got around to it. Well, tonight was the night, and I made some changes to the recipe. Jon and I really like how it turned out!


Herbed Salmon & Rice Pilaf Bake

INGREDIENTS
1 cup wild rice pilaf (I use Par Excellence Garden Harvest from Costco)

1/2 package fresh matchstick carrots (appx. 6 oz)
2 1/2 cups water
1 pound salmon filet
1/8 cup lemon juice

1/8 cup white wine
1 Tablespoon dried dill weed
1 Tablespoon dried rosemary
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1 Tablespoon ground mustard
1 Tablespoon lemon pepper

Salt (as desired)

Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a saucepan bring 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Add rice and carrots. Stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

In a large pan, add enough water (or wine, if you wish) to just wet the bottom of the baking dish. Lay the salmon fillet in the pan, pink side up. Brush with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. Place cooked rice mixture around the outside of the fish. Sprinkle the lemon juice and wine over the fish and rice.

In a small bowl, combine the dill weed, rosemary, basil, mustard, lemon pepper and sprinkle over the fish and rice (please note, if you like less spices, don't use all the dried spice mixture; we like a lot of spices in our food). Cover with aluminum foil (if desired).

Bake in a preheated oven for 45 minutes or until the salmon is tender and flaky.

***Also, this certainly would all but destroy the health-conscious factor of the dish, but adds to the flavor...put a thin pat of butter on each piece of fish and atop the rice before baking.

Venison Chops with Mushroom Gravy

This is a crockpot meal and requires little prep. Beef (round steak, flank steak or possibly even chunks of stew meat) could very easily be substituted if you don't have/like venison.


Venison Chops with Mushroom Gravy


8 butterflied venison chops
1/2 cup red wine (I used Beaujolais)
salt
pepper
2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 large sliced onion
1 pkg. sliced mushrooms


Coat inside of crockpot with cooking spray or olive oil. Pour in 1/4 cup of the wine. Coat both sides of 4 chops with wine and arrange on bottom of crock. Salt and pepper meat. Layer half each of the mushroom and onion slices on top of meat. Spoon 1 can of mushroom soup on top of meat and vegetables. Repeat with remaining meat, wine, salt, pepper, veggies and soup. Cook on low setting for at least 6 hours.

Quickie Paella

Quickie Paella

OK, so it’s really not Paella. What it is…a one-dish dinner. And it’s quick.

8-16 oz. shrimp, sautéed in olive oil and McCormick Sal con Chile y Limon (Chile Lemon Salt, a Mexican seasoning). You can also use cooked chicken, maybe some chorizo thrown in, some of each...

Knorr Arroz Amarillo (Yellow Rice), prepared as directed

1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can diced green chiles, drained

In large skillet, mix all ingredients and cook on low for 15 minutes.