Great Summer Night Meal

I have a confession...not life-altering but just the same...I love sesame oil/seeds...anything sesame "says me" (cheesy)! Anyway, with that off my chest, I made us a sesame pasta chicken salad for dinner the other evening, and it was delightful! Seeing that the weather is hot! hot! hot! I decided to go with something lighter and chilled! So, I chose this off my Pinterest and went to work on our dinner! Here is how you make this exceptional salad...

First you're going to start with a small pan/skillet and heat it up over medium/high heat. Add 1/4 cup of sesame seeds and roast them in the pan. (You won't need oil, water or anything like that). Remember to stir them frequently so they don't burn. After you have "browned" the seeds, remove them from the heat completely and set aside. Now, you are going to cook one package of bow tie pasta in salted water. While you have the pasta cooking you are going to combine the following in an air tight jar (I just whisked mine in a bowl) and mix very well; 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, 1/3 cup of light soy sauce, 1/3 cup of rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 3 tablespoons of sugar, the browned sesame seeds, 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Mix this dressing well.

Sorry, this is the only pic I got. (It's the dressing) The camera died right after this! But believe me, it doesn't need a picture to show you how delicious it is. Just read the ingredients and allow your taste buds do the rest of the talking :)

Once the pasta is finished, drain the water and run cold water over the pasta to cool it off. Pour the dressing over the pasta along with 3 cups of shredded and cooked chicken, 1/3 cup of cilantro, and 1/3 cup of chopped green onion and mix well. Voila! You have a fast, easy, super delicious, cool dinner on a hot summer day! I found this recipe at Trickschefs.com. Here is the run down and directions one more time


Sesame Pasta Chicken Salad
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 (16 ounce) package bow tie pasta
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup light soy sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast meat
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup chopped green onion

Heat skillet on med/high heat. Add sesame seeds--cook, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and set aside.

Bring salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook about 8-10 minutes or as package directs. Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water then transfer to a large bowl. 

In a jar (or bowl) combine the vegetable oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, sesame seeds, giner and pepper. Mix well.

Pour dressing over pasta and toss. Gently mix in chicken, cilantro, and green onions

~Happy Eating~

gazpacho

Today’s the day! My last blog for Easy as Pie. It has been a blast talking with you all about food. I hope you have tried a few of my recipes or that they have inspired you to try something new.

I’m leaving you with one of my top ten favorite recipes. It’s not a brownie, a cookie or a cake--- it’s cold soup! Ha! But seriously, I wait all year to make gazpacho. I think it is one of my favorites because it is full of fresh ingredients that come together perfectly on their own. No cooking required. Just some chopping and a light dusting of salt and pepper and you have a beautiful, flavorful soup. In each bite you’ll taste a bit of each ingredient—the cool, bright cucumber, mild warmth of the red onion and garlic, earthiness of the tomato and red pepper. It’s the perfect summer first course or served as a meal with hunks of crusty bread for dipping.

This is so simple. But with a flavor that will make you feel like a top chef.

Chop up the vegetables in to similar sized cubes. The cucumber.

Vine ripe tomatoes--all the same or a combination of your favorites. I used some plain red slicers and about two cups of yellow cherry tomatoes. No real favor change—just what I had on hand.

A roasted red pepper, peeled and seeded. Sometimes I oven roast mine but I charred this one right on my gas burner. Flip it a few times until charred all over. Put in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to let it cool and sweat. You might want to do this first to give it time to cool. When it is, the skin will peel right off. Take out the seeds and stem after peeling and toss the pepper flesh in the blender.

Chop a red onion—I had a white one on hand.

Most gazpacho recipes call for a bit of bread which helps thicken the soup. You won’t even know it’s in there. I used one low cal slice of wheat bread.

Add a small amount of olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

These ingredients fill my blender to the brim so I tend to add one ingredient and blend for a second. Add the next ingredient and blend. Eventually these flavors all blend together so the order doesn’t matter.

The final concoction is smooth, tangy and perfect. Add more salt to taste or a squeeze of lime for brightness. Chill before serving to allow time for the flavors to blend.

Keep cooking, friends. Enjoy every bite!

 

Gazpacho
adapted from My Father’s Daughter  

8 ripe vine-ripened tomatoes, peeled and cored
1/2 English cucumber, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped (about 2/3 cup)
1 roasted red bell pepper1/3 cup peeled and diced red onion (1/2 onion)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup 1/2-inch bread cubes, cut from day-old sourdough, country bread, ciabatta, or the like
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 lime, halved
top with croutons for garnish

Combine all of the ingredients up the olive oil in a blender and blend until desired consistency. I like mine to be almost smooth with a little texture. Once blended, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Serve with a squeeze of lime and a few cubed cucumbers or croutons.

 

black bean burgers

I've got just one more post after this one before I say bye-bye to the blog. I've loved showing you a bit about what I love to do most....other than sniffing and kissing my kiddo of course! So I am leaving you with two of my simplest, tastiest go-to recipes. 

First: Let's talk feeding toddlers. It's fun and hard and was a huge lesson in patience for me. Fun because they are slowly learning more textures and flavors. Hard because they are darn picky and switch likes and dislikes on a whim. As my daughter started advancing past tiny finger foods I was often stuck figuring out how to get protein in her. She never loved chicken and was strange about the flaky texture of fish. Some days she would eat beans. Others she wouldn't. Patties, in all shapes and flavors, became a life saver. For some reason she tolerated bites of lightly pan fried goodies. Maybe the ketchup or "dip dip" as she calls it helped. I tried several versions with beans and lentils. I made fishcakes. Shredded veggies became patties. She gobbled them up. 

These black bean burgers have become one of her and my favorites. Just cooked brown rice, a can of black beans and a few spices makes a surprisingly tasty patty you can top with any of your favorite burger toppings. 

Saute an onion and some garlic in a pan. Add cooked brown rice and a can of black beans, rinsed. 

Add cumin, salt and pepper and stir to combine. I could eat it just like this and be happy.

But for patty purposes, mash the mixture. Use a potato masher or toss the ingredients in to a food processor. It doesn't need to be completely smooth. A bit of texture is good.

Form in to patties. Lightly pan fry. Done!

I treat mine like a normal burger but slice my daughter's in to bite sized chunks so she can "dip dip" in ketchup.

Homemade Veggie Burgers from My Father's Daughter cookbook

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, peeled and finely diced
2 garlic clove,s peeled and minced

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1 14-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup cooked brown rice

1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro (optional)

2 tablespoons flour

3 tablespoons cooking oil

4 hamburger buns or other bread for serving (optional)

Heat olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium-low heat. Saute the onion, garlic and cumin together until softened and fragrant, about seven minutes.

Add salt, pepper, beans and rice. Cook, stirring for two minutes until heated through. 

Add cilantro, if using, and mash the mixture with a potato masher just to combine and to get some cohesion--you want the burgers to have some texture. 

Let the mixture cool until it's easy to handle. Form the mixture into four patties. 

Dust both sides of patties lightly with flour. 

Heath oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the burgers on both sides, about one minute per side. 

Serve on buns with your favorite fixings. 

Weekend recipe ideas

With the weekend in mind, here are a few things I’d love to make:

BLT corn salad lettuce wraps from Joy the Baker sound like a great thing to let guests snack on before a meal or at a causal cookout.

photo via Joy the Baker

I’ve been dreaming of these roasted shrimp enchiladas with jalapeno cream sauce since I saw them on Pinterest. It has a few steps, but Damn Delicious's blog makes it seem fairly easy to put together. Mouth. Is. Watering.

photo via Damn Deleicious

I love this pretty purple blackberry frozen yogurt from Kitchen Corners.

photo via Kitchen Corners

How about washing it all down with a watermelon cucumber cooler? Martha Stewart always has tasty seasonal cocktail recipes. This would be good without alcohol, too.

photo via Martha Stewart

Happy weekend!

Mexican Stuffed Jumbo Pasta Shells

Hola! We made Mexican stuffed shells the other evening and they were so delicious! I'm going to share these flavor packed pasta shells with you because, I like you and because when you eat these scrumptious shells it is like a pinata of "goodie" flavor in your mouth!! You won't want to stop eating and may break out in a little happy dance when you're done!

 

Cook to this and you'll be in the fiesta mood in no time!

So, I found the recipe at The Way To His Heart which is a brilliant title and perfect for us because Dee Jay loves his food (as do I) and one way to his heart is through my cooking! Ya'll are going to laugh (or get tired) of me saying this, but again I used ground venison! Hey, when your man goes off hunting and brings home deer for you, you pretty much are guaranteed to have meat in your freezer for a VERY long time! You can use ground beef or turkey, whichever you prefer. So with all that being said and your music playing in the background like I know it is ;) here is how you make it...

You will start with one pound of ground beef which you will cook and drain. Throw it back into the skillet and add two tablespoons of taco seasoning and one cup of water (I made my own taco seasoning via her website link which I will give you ingredients for below). Stir this all around and then add 4 oz of cream cheese, cover, simmer and let the cheese melt. 

While you have that going go ahead and put 14-16 (I recommend at least 16 because I broke a couple of mine) jumbo pasta shells into boiling water and cook! (NOTE: I did not cook my shells long enough for them to get super soft. I left them a tiny bit harder so they wouldn't fall apart). When your cream cheese mixture is melted in the skillet remove the skillet away from the heat and let this mixture cool completely. 

Now, when your shells are done cooking, go ahead and drain them and lay them out on a cutting board or flat surface where they won't stick! In a 9x13 pan you are going to pour 1 1/2 cups of salsa into the bottom of the pan. Then CAREFULLY stuff each shell with about two teaspoons of the meat/cream cheese mixture. Place the stuffed shell on top of the salsa in the pan open side up. When all the shells are lined up in pretty little rows you are going to pour one cup of taco sauce over the shells and cover the pan with foil.

 

Place in a 350 degree pre-heated oven and cook for 30 minutes. Once your timer has gone off, CAREFULLY remove the foil and sprinkle one cup of cheddar cheese and one cup of monterey jack cheese. Place the pan back in the oven (uncovered this time) and allow to cook for 10-15 minutes more (I think I went with 12 minutes). During the last few minutes go ahead and chop up some green onions, get out some jalapenos, and or black olives (I wish I had the black olives but we didn't) and whatever else you would like to serve it up with. When they are finally out of the oven and cooled down a bit, plop a dollop of sour cream on top and serve it up and garnish it with goodies!! Sit back and enjoy the flavors!! YUM

 ~Happy Eating~

The Way to His Heart Mexican Stuffed Shells

1 lb. ground beef
1 package low-sodium taco seasoning
4 oz. cream cheese
14-16 jumbo pasta shells
1.5 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce (This is a smooth, tomato based sauce found in the Mexican section)
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup monterey jack cheese
3 green onions
Sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook your beef and drain. Add seasoning and one cup of water. Add cream cheese then cover the skillet and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend it well and take it off the heat and let it cool completely. 

Cook the pasta-drain and set shells out on a cutting board

Pour salsa on bottom of a 9x13 pan. Stuff each shell with meat mixture and place the shells open side up on top of the salsa. Cover them with taco sauce, cover the pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Add shredded cheese and cook uncovered for another 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Add green onion (and whatever else you like) and sour cream. Serve and ENJOY

TACO SEASONING 

The Way to His Heart 

4 Tbsp Chili Powder
3 Tbsp plus 1tsp paprika
3 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

COMBINE (For one pound of meat you will use two heaping tablespoons of seasoning and one cup of water)!

mini peach cobblers

This peach cobbler for one recipe from Joy the Baker is perfect when you want a little sweet treat but not the sweat of a full blown cake or pie. As Joy mentions, I'd totally eat it for breakfast and I did eat it for a midnight snack. Nom.

Just cut peaches in half and remove the pit. No need to peel.

Combine some flour, brown sugar, old-fashioned oats, cinnamon and salt (Joy also likes shredded coconut and slivered almonds but I used what I had on hand.) Combine the dry ingredients with cold, cubed unsalted butter.

Pile equal portions into your peach holes, peach pits, peach ravines, what have you.....

.

Bake. Top with ice cream. You're done! And your mouth is happy.

For more happy, spend lots of time on Joy's blog over HERE.

Peach Cobbler for One, Joy the Baker

1 ripe peach

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

3 tablespoons old-fashioned oats

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon shredded coconut

1 tablespoon slivered almonds

2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed

Place a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice a peach in half and remove the pit.  With a small spoon, scoop out the the dark red pit center, creating just a bit more room for the crumble topping.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, salt, coconut, and almonds.  Add butter and, with your fingers, work the butter into the dry ingredients.  Quickly break up the butter until it is well combined.  Some of the butter bits will be the size of oat flakes, others will be the size of small peas.

Place peach halves, cut side up, in a small, oven-safe dish.  Top each peach half with a generous portion of crumble topping.  Heap it on!

Bake for 20 minutes, until topping is golden brown.  Remove from the oven and serve warm with vanilla ice cream or cold milk.  Peaches are best served warm from the oven.

slow roasted tomatoes

Summer makes everything so simple. Corn, tomatoes, peaches, berries…just a few things that are abundant this time of year and are nearly perfect all by themselves. Each weekend when I unload my sack of fresh fruits and veggies my brain and taste buds are singing a little something like this:

As Ms. Wanda Jackson says, "Let’s have a party! Whew!" I know...I'm a goof.  

Something I love to make in the summer is roasted tomatoes. I talked about roasting peaches here and roasting tomatoes does the same thing---brings out natural sweetness. Plus, they are very versatile---so I hear. I eat them like candy.

Slice a quart of cherry or grape tomatoes in half.  

Sprinkle with some olive oil and a little salt. Then put them in a 275 degree oven for two to three hours. I check them at about two hours but low and slow is the game. Use that time to do some laundry, run an errand, take a nap or play outside.

When finished, they should look something like this---starting to crisp on the edges, caramelize, yet the centers stay juicy and sweet. 

So what can you do with them? Here’s a few ideas:

Add to sandwiches, a wrap or a burger
Use as a topping for crostini
Blend in with a homemade tomato soup
Stir into pasta
Use as a pizza topping

This time I used them as a topping for chicken Milanese, a GP recipe and basically a breaded chicken cutlet. Milk and Mode blog shows you how to make it here. With a salad on the side this was a perfect, light summer dinner.  

photo via My Father's Daughter cookbook