Jim's Yummy Summer Salad

Okay, Jim actually made this for me last Thanksgiving, but it was the perfect accompaniment to our burgers tonight!

Ingredients:

Red leaf lettuce (washed, spun dry and wrapped in a dish towel, stored in the fridge until ready to use)
Blueberries
Strawberries, washed, tops cut off and diced
Thinly sliced red onion
Freshly Grated Parmesan
Mixed Nuts, salted
Audrey's Sweet Vinaigrette

Combine ingredients and dress lightly with vinaigrette. That recipe is attached to Audrey's Spinach and Pear salad.

Jim's Red Beans and Rice

This is a family favorite. Pressure Cooker Required.

Ingredients:

2 lb. bag of red beans - soaked overnight in 8 C water
Chicken Bouillon (enough for 6 C of water)
1/2 tsp salt
2 bay leaves
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 onion, diced
3 T Worcestershire
28 oz can of whole tomatoes

Rinse and drain your soaked beans. Pick out any that didn't expand or that are wrinkly. Cover beans with 6 C fresh water in a pressure cooker. Add bouillon, salt, bay leaves, garlic, onion, worcestershire and tomatoes.

Cook beans according to pressure cooker directions. ( I do mine for 12-15 minutes on high pressure) Serve over jasmine rice with thinly sliced and seasoned flank steak. (I use Grillmates Montreal Steak Seasoning)

Dash a little Tabasco on top and you're in heaven.

Mandi's Baked Penne

You want to talk about a crowd pleaser? Children and adults love this dish at our house. I feel so hokey for typing that. But it's true!

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced (you may be tempted by this insane number of garlic cloves to think, "why not put in a whole head of garlic?". Don't do it! Keep it at 6. It's just right.)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and ground black pepper
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
3 C water
12 oz penne pasta
1/2 C heavy cream
1/2 C freshly grated parmesan
1/4 minced fresh basil
1 C grated mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 475 degrees.

Combine oil, garlic, pepper flakes and 1/2 tsp salt in a 12 inch ovensafe non-stick skillet. Saute over medium high heat until fragrant, about one minute.

(If, like me, you don't have an oven safe skillet, don't fret. Cook in a regular skillet and then transfer to a 9X13 pan when you're ready to bake.)

Add crushed tomatoes, water, penne, and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and cook, stirring often and adjusting heat as needed to maintain a vigorous simmer. Cook until zitti is almost tender, 10-15 minutes.

Turn off heat. Add cream, parmesan and basil. Season with salt and pepper if necessary. (I don't usually find it necessary). Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over penne. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until cheese has melted and browned, about 10 minutes.

I usually adjust this recipe so that I'm using a 1 lb (or 16 oz) box of pasta, by adding an 8 oz can of tomato sauce and adjusting the rest of the ingredients accordingly. I'm too lazy to figure out all the measurements right here though, so you'll have to do your own math.

Shauna's Black Bean Soup

Pleasantly spiced, filling and nutritious.

Enjoy topped with your favorite combination of: shredded cheese, diced avocado, sour cream, minced cilantro, pico di gallo, lime wedges and tortilla chips.

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil
4 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 medium carrots, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 cans black beans
1 3/5 oz can diced green chilies
2 cans low sodium beef broth (I use beef bouillon)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dry oregano leaves
1 bay leaf
1 lime

Warm a large stock pot over medium high heat. Add olive oil, carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Saute 4-5 minutes.

Add black beans, chilies, and beef broth. Stir to combine and then add salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and bay leaf.

Simmer uncovered for about 20-25 minutes or until carrots are tender.

Remove from heat and remove bay leaf.

Using an immersion blender, puree soup until completely smooth. Squeeze in juice from one lime and pulse to combine.

Serve with toppings.

Mom's Roast Butternut Squash Soup

Creamy, comforting and SO good for you. This pairs nicely with artisan bread. I often roast the squash earlier in the day and then let it cool so I can peel the skin easily when it's time to make the soup.

Ingredients:

2 medium butternut squash
1 T olive oil
4 minced garlic cloves
1 diced yellow onion
2 peeled, cored and chopped granny smith apples
Red Pepper
1 tsp thyme
3 maggi chicken bouillon cubes
8 C water
1/2 tsp ground pepper
salt to taste

Cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray and then lay the squash, sliced in half and flesh down on the baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes, or until the squash is very fork tender.

In a large soup pot heat the olive oil and saute the onions and apples on medium heat until the onions are clear. Then add the garlic and saute until fragrant.

Peel the skin off the squash and remove any seeds. Add to the soup pot with water, chicken bouillon, thyme, pepper, and a dash of red pepper.

Simmer for 30 minutes. Blend with a hand blender or carefully transfer to an upright blender. Taste and add salt if necessary. If soup is thin (usually a result of too small squash), take a cup of soup out of the pot and whisk with flour to make a roux. When the flour is fully incorporated, add back to the soup. (but it's better if you don't have to do this, so get a good sized squash!)

Giada's Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

When this came out of the oven this afternoon, I thought "I wish I could take a picture of the way it smells." Che Buono!

Ingredients

• 2 red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch wide strips
• 2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 cremini mushrooms, halved
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced into 1-inch strips
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix or herbs de Provence
• 1 pound penne pasta
• 3 cups marinara sauce (store bought or homemade, I used Giada's basic marinara recipe)
• 1 cup grated fontina cheese
• 1/2 cup grated smoked mozzarella
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/3 cup for topping
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

On a baking sheet, toss the peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and onions with olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and dried herbs. Roast until tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, you want to make sure the inside is still hard. Drain in a colander.

In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce, cheeses, peas, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Using a wooden spoon, gently mix, until all the pasta is coated with the sauce and the ingredients are combined.

Pour the pasta into a greased 9 by 13-inch pan. Top with the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan and butter pieces. Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes.

I have made 7 of Giada's recipes in the last two weeks. 5 of them were DELISH. I think she deserves a spot on the sidebar. You're movin' on up Giada!

Mushroom and Sweet Potato Risotto

I'm trying to cut back on our grocery bill so I've been inventing with whatever I have in the fridge. Last night I looked in and found onions, carrots, sweet potatoes and mushrooms and a cup of arborio rice in the pantry. This turned out fantastic. It is low fat, yet oh so creamy.


Ingredients

1 tsp. Canola Oil
1 small onion, diced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 carrots, peeled and cut into same size chunks as sweet potato
6 white button mushrooms, sliced
Coarse salt
Freshly ground garlic pepper
Pinch of dried rosemary
1 C arborio rice
5 C chicken broth
Freshly grated parmesan

Instructions

Heat chicken broth in a pan and maintain a low simmer. Heat oil in large stockpot on medium heat. Add onion, sweet potato, carrots and mushrooms and salt and pepper to taste . Cook on medium heat until onions are translucent, stirring often and taking care not to burn the onions.

Add dry rice to vegetables and let brown, stirring often for 2 minutes. Add rosemary and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 C of chicken broth to the stockpot and deglaze the pan, breaking up the frond (browned bits) from the bottom of the pot.

When the vegetables and rice have absorbed all the broth, add another cup of broth. Repeat this process, adding one cup of broth at a time, until all of the broth is gone and the rice and vegetables are soft. Stir often. You can leave the pot unattended for a minute or so, but much longer than that and you get scorching on the bottom. I usually set up shop in the kitchen with some task (usually loading the dishwasher and cleaning) while I'm stirring.

When rice is al dente, ladle into serving bowl. Sprinkle freshly grated parmesan cheese (I use the Pampered Chef rotary cheese grater) on top. Serve immediately.

4 out of 5 members of my family liked this dish. And the only naysayer didn't even try it!

ps I think I can use chicken broth in a vegetarian meal. But I just read that fancy chefs get annoyed when people call a meal vegetarian that has chicken broth in it. So Fancy Chef, I give you permission to substitute vegetable based broth.

Greek Couscous

Kathryn and the boys were up here last weekend and we stopped in at Sweet Tomatoes. They had the most delicious cold couscous salad and last night I tried to replicate it. It was good, but even tastier today after a night in the fridge.


Ingredients

1 1/2 C Couscous (I used white, but next time I'm going to try a mix of white and wheat)
2 1/4 C Chicken Broth
1 can garbanzo beans
1/2 C Feta Cheese, crumbled
diced tomatoes
diced cucumber
diced red bell pepper
fresh basil, parsley and oregano, minced
Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper
Fresh Lemon juice
Greek Vinaigrette

Bring chicken broth to a boil and add couscous. Remove from heat. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff thoroughly with a fork and refrigerate. When couscous is cold, toss with drained and rinsed garbanzo beans, feta, vegetables, and herbs. Squeeze juice of half a lemon and salt and pepper to taste. Next time I'll try adding a little Greek Vinaigrette for a little more flavor. But it was delicious anyway!

Jim's Red Lentil Soup

I got a version of this from cook's illustrated and we love it. i
have experimented with it over the years and below is the version we
like the most. it takes about 30 minutes to prepare.

red lentil soup

4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water (add more if the soups starts to get too thick)
2 cups split, rinsed red lentils (you can use any lentils, but red
lentils don't have a seed coat, so they take less time to cook - if
you use regular lentils, you may have to cook the soup a little longer
and use more water)
1 T olive oil
1 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh grated ginger
1.5 t garam masala (an indian blend of coriander, cardamom, cumin,
cinnamon, and cloves - you can buy garam masala or just sprinkle in
some of each of these)
1 14oz can coconut milk - you can use the light variety if you want,
but we use just regular coconut milk
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro - if you don't like cilantro (and our
son tony doesn't), then add fresh spinach near the end of the cooking
time (or it will get mushy). i add lots of spinach - like two cups.
fresh ground black pepper
3 roma tomatoes - cored, seeded and chopped coarse

bring broth, water, lentils and 1/2 t salt to a boil, covered, in a
large saucepan. reduce to simmer and cook covered until you are ready
to add them to the next pot.

heat the oil in another pan and saute the onion and a sprinkle of salt
until soft and lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. then add the garlic,
ginger and garam masala - cook until fragrant (about 1 minute). then
add the lentils with the broth, scraping up any browned bits and
mixing the whole thing well. add the coconut milk and then bring to a
simmer and cook until the lentils are soft and the soup is thick. if
you need to, add more water so the soup doesn't get too thick.

once the lentils are soft, remove from heat and add the cilantro or
spinach and stir until the cilantro is incorporated or the spinach is
soft (a minute or so). season with salt and pepper to taste, then
serve with chopped tomatoes sprinked on top of individual servings.
of course, goes great with crusty bread and butter. delicious and
healthy!

St. Louis Bread Co. Cheesy Broccoli Soup

Jane loves Cheesy Broccoli Soup at Bread Co., but at $4 a bowl, it's a little steep for a frequent treat. I found this recipe in my ward's old cookbook. I've tweaked it a bit, and I believe it's every bit as good as the restaurant!

BTW, a food processor is a really handy tool when making this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb. bag of carrots, peeled and grated
5 Heads of Broccoli, cut into florets
1 Onion, finely chopped
4 Stalks of Celery, finely chopped
9 T. Butter
1/2 C Flour
4 C Chicken Broth
2 C Skim Milk
1 C Cream
2 C. Finely Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 C Velveeta (Yes, the secret to restaurant-like soup is pasteurized cheese product. Who knew?!?)

Put 1 T. butter in a large stockpot and melt over medium high heat. Add all vegetables. Toss vegetables in butter and cook for about a minute, until they intensify in color.

Then add 1/2 C water and cover the vegetables with a lid. Steam until vegetables are tender. Don't worry about overcooking, you're going to mush this all up anyway.



In a large saucepan, melt 1 cube butter (8 T) over medium heat. Add half cup of flour and whisk to make a roux. Add Chicken broth and stir until roux comes to a boil. Boil for one minute or until you have a gravy-like consistency.



Mash your vegetables with a potato masher, leaving some chunks of broccoli and celery. Add roux, shredded cheese, half and half, and Velveeta. Salt and Pepper to taste. Although I usually don't need to add anything.



This is delicious with Artisan bread. We had it tonight for Jane's birthday dinner and everyone had seconds!