I did this for lunch on Wednesday, and it was super easy and really tasty.
All you need is some olive oil, a small onion, pasta, and some jarred salsa.
First, start a pot of water going for the pasta. Then, dice the onion. When the water boils, toss the pasta in.
In a skillet, heat some olive oil and saute the onion, until it gets a little browned, but still firm. Pour salsa in with the onions, and stir. Let that cook a little more. When the pasta's done, drain it and toss it in with the salsa and stir to coat it. Enjoy!
I made about 1/4 pound of penne pasta, and used about 2/3 cup of medium tostitos salsa. Feel free to use whatever brand you prefer.
The sauce came out tasting sweet, spicy, and a little smoky. It didn't really taste like salsa anymore, and if I hadn't made it myself, I probably wouldn't have known it was made from salsa.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Monday, December 6, 2010
orange cranberry sauce
Ok, so I did this before thanksgiving, and I'm only getting around to posting this now, but it's really good, so enjoy!
I started with this recipe:
http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Gravy-Sauce-Condiment/Homestyle-Cranberry-Sauce.aspx?cmpid=ps-Holiday2010-RM_Cranberry_Sauce-cranberry_sauce_recipe-ex
And I replaced the water with orange juice, only used half the sugar, and left out the vanilla. Oh, and I couldn't find my jar of ground cinnamon, so I ground up some cinnamon sticks with a mortar and pestle, which smelled amazing. Don't feel like you have to do that, though.
It was pretty sweet, so you can probably even get away with 1/4 or 1/3 cup of sugar, if you want it less sweet.
I started with this recipe:
http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Gravy-Sauce-Condiment/Homestyle-Cranberry-Sauce.aspx?cmpid=ps-Holiday2010-RM_Cranberry_Sauce-cranberry_sauce_recipe-ex
And I replaced the water with orange juice, only used half the sugar, and left out the vanilla. Oh, and I couldn't find my jar of ground cinnamon, so I ground up some cinnamon sticks with a mortar and pestle, which smelled amazing. Don't feel like you have to do that, though.
It was pretty sweet, so you can probably even get away with 1/4 or 1/3 cup of sugar, if you want it less sweet.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
kale chips
Ok, this is really simple. All you need is some kale, some oil, and some salt.
1. Wash the kale, and rip the leaves off the rib in the middle, and break them up into chip-sized pieces. If there are thick ribs running through the sides of the leaves, you can remove these too.
2.Put the leaves in a bowl. Pour some oil in. Toss the leaves around so they are all coated. Liberally sprinkle with salt, and toss around again.
3. Put the leaves on a single layer on a cookie sheet (I lined mine with foil for easy cleanup). Bake at 300ºF for about 15-20 minutes, or until crispy. Try one to see if it is crispy enough for you. If they are still a little chewy in the middle, then bake a few more minutes.
1. Wash the kale, and rip the leaves off the rib in the middle, and break them up into chip-sized pieces. If there are thick ribs running through the sides of the leaves, you can remove these too.
2.Put the leaves in a bowl. Pour some oil in. Toss the leaves around so they are all coated. Liberally sprinkle with salt, and toss around again.
3. Put the leaves on a single layer on a cookie sheet (I lined mine with foil for easy cleanup). Bake at 300ºF for about 15-20 minutes, or until crispy. Try one to see if it is crispy enough for you. If they are still a little chewy in the middle, then bake a few more minutes.
Potato, rice, rice, potato, carrot, parsnip, and lentil stew
Ok, so I had a bunch of veggies that I needed to use up, and I was feeling pretty lazy. Soup is the obvious choice to make in this situation, because you can just throw a bunch of stuff in a pot and let it cook.
10 cups water
4 veggie bouillon cubes (each makes 2 cups broth)
1 large can crushed tomato with basil
1 large clove garlic, minced
some olive oil
1 cup rice
3 handfuls of lentils, probably about 1 cup
about 3-4 medium potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
3 carrots and 1 parsnip, cut into bite sized pieces
1 leek, chopped up (you could use an onion instead)
a dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
1. Pour olive oil in a large soup pot. add the garlic, leek, carrots, parsnip, potato, and rice. Turn heat to high, and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
2. Add water and bouillon cubes, stir. Reduce heat to low, add the lentils in, and cover.
3. Simmer until the rice and lentils are tender to your liking.
The next day, it was even thicker. And my boyfriend said it was even better with a little bit of hot sauce added.
10 cups water
4 veggie bouillon cubes (each makes 2 cups broth)
1 large can crushed tomato with basil
1 large clove garlic, minced
some olive oil
1 cup rice
3 handfuls of lentils, probably about 1 cup
about 3-4 medium potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
3 carrots and 1 parsnip, cut into bite sized pieces
1 leek, chopped up (you could use an onion instead)
a dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
1. Pour olive oil in a large soup pot. add the garlic, leek, carrots, parsnip, potato, and rice. Turn heat to high, and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
2. Add water and bouillon cubes, stir. Reduce heat to low, add the lentils in, and cover.
3. Simmer until the rice and lentils are tender to your liking.
The next day, it was even thicker. And my boyfriend said it was even better with a little bit of hot sauce added.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Macaroni and Cheese with broccoli
This one is all my own recipe, and it makes a lot, so be prepared for leftovers.
Ingredients:
6 tbsp butter
6 tbsp flour
a little less than 1/2 gallon of milk
~1 cup sour cream
a splash of half and half
2 lbs sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small pieces or shredded
2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets and chopped small
3 lbs macaroni elbows
seasoned bread crumbs
1) Fill large pot with water, heat on high. Meanwhile, melt butter in another large pot, add flour and stir.
2) Add milk, sour cream, and half and half to the pot with the butter/flour mixture. (Note: the half and half and sour cream aren't necessary, I just had a little in my fridge that needed to be used up. It's fine with just milk.) Stir, and reduce heat to medium-low.
3) By now the pot of water should be boiling. Add the macaroni in. Stir, and cook according to the package instructions. Keep stirring the milk mixture in the other pot, and try to keep it from boiling. If it starts to boil, reduce the heat to low.
4) When the milk mixture gets thick, add the cheese in and stir. Keep stirring often.
5)When the pasta is done, drain it and put it into baking dishes. Sprinkle the broccoli in with the pasta, and add sauce. Stir the sauce in. Top of with bread crumbs, and bake at 350ºF for about 20 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs are nicely browned. ( I used one big foil pan plus 8 little individual sized foil pans, and had some left over.)
This was a really tasty dinner, and it makes tons of leftovers that reheat well. Instead of baking the little pans, I let them cool and froze them. They are now homemade frozen dinners that I can pull out and bake on nights when I'm tired and don't feel like cooking, and are significantly cheaper than buying the premade frozen dinners.
Ingredients:
6 tbsp butter
6 tbsp flour
a little less than 1/2 gallon of milk
~1 cup sour cream
a splash of half and half
2 lbs sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small pieces or shredded
2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets and chopped small
3 lbs macaroni elbows
seasoned bread crumbs
1) Fill large pot with water, heat on high. Meanwhile, melt butter in another large pot, add flour and stir.
2) Add milk, sour cream, and half and half to the pot with the butter/flour mixture. (Note: the half and half and sour cream aren't necessary, I just had a little in my fridge that needed to be used up. It's fine with just milk.) Stir, and reduce heat to medium-low.
3) By now the pot of water should be boiling. Add the macaroni in. Stir, and cook according to the package instructions. Keep stirring the milk mixture in the other pot, and try to keep it from boiling. If it starts to boil, reduce the heat to low.
4) When the milk mixture gets thick, add the cheese in and stir. Keep stirring often.
5)When the pasta is done, drain it and put it into baking dishes. Sprinkle the broccoli in with the pasta, and add sauce. Stir the sauce in. Top of with bread crumbs, and bake at 350ºF for about 20 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs are nicely browned. ( I used one big foil pan plus 8 little individual sized foil pans, and had some left over.)
This was a really tasty dinner, and it makes tons of leftovers that reheat well. Instead of baking the little pans, I let them cool and froze them. They are now homemade frozen dinners that I can pull out and bake on nights when I'm tired and don't feel like cooking, and are significantly cheaper than buying the premade frozen dinners.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Pumpkin Pie
Ok, so I stink at making pie crusts, so I just got a frozen one. I used this recipe for the filling:
http://www.rwood.com/Recipes/Pumpkin_Pie.htm
The only changes I made was that I used a Long Island Cheese Pumpkin instead of a sugar pumpkin, and I used half and half for the cream, and regular white sugar instead of the unrefined cane sugar. It came out pretty tasty, although it wound up tasting more like a custard pie and not as pumpkiny as I was expecting.
Also, I topped it off with homemade whipped cream. For this, I put a pint of heavy whipping cream in a bowl with a 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tsps of vanilla, and I whisked it until it was thick and foamy. I started out whisking by hand, but my arm got tired, so I switched to the electric mixer, which has a whisk attachment.
The whipped cream wasn't super thick last night when I first made it, but I put it in the fridge overnight, and now it's really thick and rich. Tastes really good too.
http://www.rwood.com/Recipes/Pumpkin_Pie.htm
The only changes I made was that I used a Long Island Cheese Pumpkin instead of a sugar pumpkin, and I used half and half for the cream, and regular white sugar instead of the unrefined cane sugar. It came out pretty tasty, although it wound up tasting more like a custard pie and not as pumpkiny as I was expecting.
Also, I topped it off with homemade whipped cream. For this, I put a pint of heavy whipping cream in a bowl with a 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tsps of vanilla, and I whisked it until it was thick and foamy. I started out whisking by hand, but my arm got tired, so I switched to the electric mixer, which has a whisk attachment.
The whipped cream wasn't super thick last night when I first made it, but I put it in the fridge overnight, and now it's really thick and rich. Tastes really good too.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
New posts tomorrow, I promise!
I've been lazy today, and just ate leftover soup and a pb&j. I plan on making macaroni and cheese with broccoli and a pumpkin pie tomorrow, so stay tuned for the recipes.
On Tuesday, I'm going to make some kind of stir fry with red cabbage, because I have a whole head of it from my farmshare, and I don't know what else to do with it.
On Tuesday, I'm going to make some kind of stir fry with red cabbage, because I have a whole head of it from my farmshare, and I don't know what else to do with it.
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