Mandarin Pasta Salad

WOW! Has it really been over a month since I last posted?!? Summer is SO busy! (I have 4 kids doing swimming and dance and 3 kids playing baseball) and add to that we are finishing our basement ourselves and it's hard to find time for anything! This is one of my ALL TIME favorite recipes, Bountiful Baskets was nice enough to deliver all the ingredients right to my site this week! YEA! I was planning it as a main dish but we got invited over to a bar-be-que so I omited the CHICKEN and took it as a side. Either way it's delicious! TIP: Do not put the dressing on until you are ready to serve!

Dressing

1 teaspoon finely chopped gingerroot

1 garlic clove, pressed

1/3 cup vinegar

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon seasame oil

1 envelope onion soup mix

2 teaspoons sugar

Salad

8 oz uncooked pasta (I used penne because that's what we had, the recipe called for bowties)

1 cucumber, sliced thinly

1 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup chopped red onion (I didn't put this in because I prefer no onion)

1 bunch spinach, chopped (I tripple wash and spin my spinach because fresh spinach is DIRTY!)

1-11oz can mandarin orange segments

2 cups diced cooked chicken (also I omited as mentioned)

1/2 cups sliced almonds, toasted

For dressing, whisk together ingredients, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

For salad, combine ingredients, when ready to serve toss with dressing!

Easy and Delicious, just the way I like it!

Grilled Steak with Jicama Corn Slaw

One of the fun things about Bountiful Baskets is getting to experiment with produce I might never have bought at the store. This was really fresh tasting and flavorful.

Steak

1 pound beef sirloin steak, 1 inch thick

2 tablespoons southwest seasoning

Dressing

1 orange, zested and juiced

2 limes, zested and juiced

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, snipped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 teaspoon chipolte powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Slaw

1 medium jicama, peeled and cut into julienne strips

1 can corn, drained, or 2 ears kernels

1 medium carrot, peeled and julienned

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

For steak rub southwest seasoning, heat grill pan over medium heat 5 minutes, cook steak 6-8 minutes turning once for medium. For dressing combine zest, juice, cilantro, oil, garlic, chipolte, and salt in a small bowl. For slaw combine jicama, corn, carrots, bell pepper and half of the dressing. To serve, thinly slice steak and serve over slaw. Drizzle with remaining dressing.

Beef Stir-Fry

This is a stand-by basket recipe! It's quick and easy and tastes great. I like to use a beef fajita mix to make things even easier, plus the beef in the mix has a great flavor!

1 bunch broccoli, chopped

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 onion, sliced

1 large green bell pepper, sliced

2 tablespoons oil

1/4 cup light soy sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1 teaspoon fresh ginger root

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

1 package cooked beef fajita meat or 1 lb beef top sirloin steak, sliced

1/2 cup beef broth

2 cups rice

Cook rice according to package directions. Mix together soy sauce, cornstarch, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Place meat in mixture and marinate 15 minutes in mixture while you chop veggies. Heat oil in large skillet. If using raw steak, cook beef 1-2 minutes or until outside is no longer pink, reserving marinade. If using fajita mix skip this step. Add veggies to skillet, stir-fry in oil 3-4 minutes. Add in beef and marinade. Cook another 3-4 minutes until veggies are tender and beef is heated through. Add in beef broth, bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute stirring gently, until sauce is thickened, serve over rice.

Chicken and Chayote Hash

I made one of the recipes from my Chayote Squash post. It was called Chicken with Chayote Squash and Potato Casserole, but it's not really a casserole at all so I am calling it a HASH. This was really yummy, and MY KIDS ATE IT REALLY WELL. My husband said it would be yummy as a breakfast, with out the chicken with some fried or scrambled eggs.

1 pound chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/2 pound potatoes, chopped

3 chayote squashes, peeled and chopped (I used disposable gloves when peeling, worked out great!)

1 small onion, finley chopped

1 green pepper, finely chopped (I did this more for the benefit of my kids, leave them bigger if you want)

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon salt

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat, add in onion, pepper, garlic, salt and black pepper. Saute 1-2 minutes or until fragrant, add in chicken. (I seasoned my chicken with a Bell Pepper and Herb Rub) Cook 1-2 minutes on each side. Add in potatoes, squash. Stir together and cover. Reduce heat to medium. Stir occasionally until potatoes are soft and chicken is cooked through. Stir in parsley and tomatoes. Cook another 2-3 minutes until tomatoes are heated through.

Sausage and Veggie Scramble with Banana Zucchini Muffins

I like having breakfast for dinner. I am not a huge morning person, so usually breakfast is cereal or instant oatmeal. Not that a smoothie or pancakes or even something like this would take too long, but really I am just not in the mood to do it in the rush of getting a husband off to work and kids off to school.

Banana Zucchini Muffins

3 eggs

1 cup applesauce (or 3/4 cup oil)

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 cups grated zucchini

3 smashed bananas

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon plus (pumpkin pie spice)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 325*. (I used a kitchen aid, but you could easily do this by hand in a large bowl) Beat eggs until until light yellow and frothy. Add applesauce, sugars, zucchini, bananas and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix together wet and dry ingredients just until incorporated. Stir in cranberries. Divide into lined muffin tins. (This will make 3 dozen) Bake about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake, remove to wire rack to cool. (The flavors really come out when they are cool)

Sausage and Veggie Scramble

2 tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/2 green bell pepper diced

3 green onions with tops sliced

2 large sausages (I used sun-dried tomato chicken sausage with basil and tomatoes), cut into small pieces (I quartered and sliced)

12 eggs

1/2 cup mozarella cheese, shredded

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add veggies and sausage, cook 3-5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add in eggs. Mix together and let cook 3-5 minutes before stirring, repeat until desired doneness. Stir in cheese, mix to melt.

Chicken and Cauliflower Curry w/ Homemade Mango-Pineapple Chutney

Tonight's dinner was sweet and hot. I love stir-fry because it's quick and easy. I was actually surprised how well my kids ate this! I didn't scoop the extra chutney on top of theirs because it had some KICK! If I made it again I would probably leave out the red pepper flakes and make it more of a sweet chuteny, but my husband likes the heat so he wasn't complaining at all. (I always cool things down for the kids) **IMPORTANT** The chutney takes about an hour to make before you can start the dinner, so plan for that. I made mine earlier in the day and then it was ready, you could even make it a day or so ahead and keep it in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Mango Pineapple Chutney (makes about 2 cups)

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (leave these out if you don't want A LOT of heat!)
1/2 sweet onion, minced
1 inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
1/3 large yellow bell pepper, diced
1 large ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted, and diced
1/3 small pineapple, peeled and diced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
3 tablespoons cup apple cider vinegar

Heat the vegetable oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the red pepper flakes and cook until they begin to sizzle, then stir in the minced onion. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally until the onions have softened, about 5 minutes. Remove the lid, increase the heat to medium, and stir in the ginger and yellow bell pepper. Cook and stir until the ginger is fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the mangoes, pineapple, brown sugar, curry powder, and vinegar. Bring to a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool the chutney completely when done and store in airtight containers in the refrigerator.

Pork and Cauliflower Curry

1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
2 cans chicken broth, divided
4 cups cauliflower florets
4 (4 ounce) pork chops, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup mango-pineapple chutney (could substitute store bought pineapple or apple chutney)

Cook rice using 1 1/2 cans of the chicken broth. Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet over medium high heat. Season pork chops with 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder, salt and pepper. Cook pork 5-7 minutes stirring occaisionally. Remove from skillet and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the chicken broth, curry powder, buttermilk and flour. Add to skillet and heat to a boil stirring constantly. Add in pork, cauliflower and chutney. Cook until sauce is thickened and cauliflower is tender. Serve over rice and top with extra chutney.

Cabbage Chili w/ GREEN Chili Lime Corn Chips

Remember the Super Bowl Corn Chips that Bountiful Baskets offered? Well, we were cheering for the Steelers, SO I threw the green tortillas into the freezer for St. Patricks Day! Today I sprayed them with a little oil and sprinkled with salt and chili lime rub and baked them at 350* for 15 minutes, to serve with our chili! Yummy!

1 lb. ground turkey
2 small onions, chopped
1 red or green pepper, chopped
About 3 (hot) chilies (to taste), finely chopped (I used hot banana peppers)
1 Cabbage, chopped
3 fresh tomatoes
1-2 cans stewed tomatoes, undrained
1-2 cans kidney beans
2 small yellow squash, chopped (optional)
2 heaped teaspoons of cumin seed;
2 teaspoons curry powder
pepper to taste

Heat a large pot over medium high heat. Add turkey and onions. Cook 5 minutes. Add in cabbage, tomatoes, squash, beans, peppers and seasonings. I had a very large cabbage, so I used 2 cans of the tomatoes and beans, remember the cabbage will cook down quite a bit though. The chili will seem very dry at this point, but as the cabbage simmers it will release lots of liquid. Simmer over low heat 30 minutes stirring occaisionally.

Whenever I cook something like Chili, I like to see what older veggies I have in the fridge that I can add. It's a great way to add more vitamins and usally doesn't effect the flavor of the chili. I didn't have any this time, but when we get brussels again (not my favorite veggie) I am going to try adding them to chili!

Recipe adapted from The Giant Cabbage

Creamy Pasta with Spring Vegetables

This recipe had such great flavor! I love the fresh basil and roasted veggies. This recipe was adapted from a recipe in The Pampered Chef Main Dishes cookbook, which is now out of print. Most recipes that I make in my home I go off of an idea and then add or take away things until it's what I want. I doubled the recipe, with a big family that's a must, plus that way I could use the whole can of evaporated milk.
8 oz. thin fresh asparagus spears, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
8 oz. baby portobello mushrooms, quartered
1 large bell pepper, cut into 1 in pieces
1 yellow squash, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 tsp. salt (I like course sea salt)
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, snipped
8 oz. penne pasta (I use whole wheat)
3/4 cup fat free evaporated milk (could use heavy whipping cream or regular evaporated milk)
2 oz fresh parmesan cheese grated

Preheat oven to 425*. Chop up veggies and place in a large bowl. Add olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Toss gently. Spread out on a cookie sheet with sides. Roast 18-20 minutes until veggies are tender. (if you like crisp veggies only roast 10-12 min). Cook fat free evaporated milk in a small sauce pan over medium low heat until slightly thickened. Add in parmesan cheese and stir until incorporated. When veggies are done, return to large bowl, top with sauce and basil and toss together. Top with additional black pepper and parmesan cheese as desired.

yeild-4 servings, calories per serving: 120

notes: Tonight I made this vegetarian style, but it would be great with grilled chicken breasts cubed and tossed in. Also, I used veggies that I had on hand, it's easy to add or take away veggies in a meal like this to suit it to your tastes!