Roasted Cabbage with Lemon

 

I've been wanting to try different types of vegetables and this one caught my eye.  I love lemon so these are right up my alley.  They could maybe even use more lemon in my opinion. 

Roasted Cabbage with Lemon
From: Kalyns Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 medium-sized head of green cabbage
2 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Spray a roasting with non-stick spray or olive oil or cover with aluminum foil.

2. Cut the head of cabbage into 8 same-size wedges, cutting through the core and stem end. Then carefully trim the core strip and stem from each wedge and arrange wedges in a single layer on a pan.

3. Whisk together the olive oil and lemon juice.  Then use a pastry brush to brush the top sides of each cabbage wedge with the mixture and season generously with salt and pepper.  Turn cabbage wedges carefully, then brush the second side with the olive oil/lemon juice mixture and season with salt and pepper.

4. Roast cabbage for about 15 minutes, or until the side touching the pan is nicely browned.  Then Turn each wedge carefully and roast 10-15 minutes more, until the cabbage is nicely browned and cooked through with a bit of chewiness remaining.  Serve hot, with additional lemon slices to squeeze lemon juice on at the table if desired.

Crunchy Asian Chicken Salad

With the coming of spring I have been really wanting to make more salads.  This one really sounded good to me.  It was light, filling with a little crunch.  I really liked the addition of cabbage and the Asian dressing was really delicious.  My pictures of it don't really do it justice, but the pictures on the Dashing Dish are much better!

***Note: You can see the first time I shredded my own cabbage and carrots. The second time I used a package of mixed cabbage.  Both tasted great, but of course the package makes it that much easier!

Crunchy Asian Chicken Salad
From: Dashing Dish

Ingredients:
1/3 cup light Asian salad dressing of choice (I used Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame Salad Dressing & Marinade)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tsp Honey
1/2 head of lettuce
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup cabbage mix (pre-packaged kind with carrots and different kinds of shredded cabbage)
1 cup snow peas, washed and trimmed (I didn't add these)
1 red bell pepper, washed and thinly sliced
1/3 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp sliced almonds or 1/3 cup Asian noodles
Optional Variations: 2 scallions, thinly sliced, 2 Tbs sesame seeds, toasted, 1 small can mandarin oranges rinsed and drained

Directions:
1. For dressing, combine Asian dressing, chopped cilantro, soy sauce, and honey in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk.  Set aside in the fridge to chill.

2. In a large bowl place salad greens, chopped chicken, cabbage mix, snow peas, red pepper, red onion together and toss gently.

3. Sprinkle almonds (or Asian noodles) on top and toss gently with dressing if serving immediately.

Roasted Chick Peas

I have been looking for healthier snacks and I really love chick peas, so when I saw this recipe I was intrigued. It reminded me of roasted pumpkin seeds I make every year after carving my pumpkin (can't believe I haven't posted a recipe for those yet!).  I pretty much love anything salty, crunchy and snacky so I gave this a try.  They turned out really good.  I over cooked some of them, and others were undercooked so I will need to make sure I really dry them before roasting next time, but overall they were very good and exactly what I was looking for.  This made a lot, and since Bill wasn't really into them I would probably only do one can next time because after a few days they don't taste quite as good.

Roasted Chick Peas
From: Let's Dish Recipes

Ingredients:
2 (15oz) cans chick peas
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp cumin
dash of cayenne pepper
dash of ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Rinse and drain chickpeas; dry well on paper towels. 

2. Place chick peas on lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and shake.  Return to oven for another 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, combine garlic salt, cumin, cayenne and black pepper in a small bowl.  Remove chick peas from oven and drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with spices and shake pan again to coat chickpeas with olive oil and seasonings.  Return to oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until chickpeas are browned and very crunchy.

Stoplight Corn Chowder

I seem to be on a Soup kick!  I guess with winter winding down, I realized there were a lot of soup recipes I have wanted to try and post.  I always love a good corn chowder and was really excited when Ashley posted this one from Food and Whine.  It was really easy and I really liked the flavor and consistency. I like that it included beans and left out potatoes, I also liked the red, yellow, and green (stoplight!) colors.

Stoplight Corn Chowder
From Ashley's cooking adventures

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cups corn
1 can navy beans
2 vegetable or chicken bouillon cubes
3 Tbsp flour
3 cups milk
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
optional for garnish: crushed tortilla chips,cilantro, sliced green onions

Directions:
1. In the bottom of a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add pepper and onions and saute until softened (about 5 minutes). Stir in corn.

2. Crumble bouillon over pepper and corn mixture.  Sprinkle flour atop peppers.  Whisk in milk.

3. Stir over medium heat until chowder begins to thicken (about 10 min).  Add cheddar cheese and stir until melted.  Garnish if desired before serving.

Lentil Soup

I love soup and this lentil soup is so hearty and delicious. I got this recipe from my Sister-in-law Olga, and it is pretty similar to what her Mom makes - which I also like but don't have the recipe for.  I changed it up a little bit, mainly because I didn't have everything in the house, but still think it turned out great! 

Lentil Soup
From: Olga

Ingredients:
1 cup lentils
6 1/2 cups stock or water
2 onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 large carrots, chopped
6 oz lean ham
4 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 fresh or dried bay leaves
salt and pepper
9oz potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp ground allspice
chopped scallions or chopped fresh parsley, to garnish

Directions:
1. Place the lentils and stock in a large pan and let soak for 1-2 hours

2. Add the onions, garlic, carrots, ham, tomatoes, and bay leaves and season to taste.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover and let simmer for 1 hour, or until the lentils are tender, stirring occasionally to prevent the lentils sticking to the bottom of the pan.

3. Add the potatoes and continue to simmer for 20 minutes, or until potatoes and ham are tender.

4. Discard the bay leaves. If desired, remove some of the ham and process soup in blender until smooth.  I usually do not blend it though.  Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary, and add the vinegar and allspice and add the reserved chopped ham.  Simmer gently for an additional 5-10 minutes.  Garnish with scallions and serve.

French Onion Soup

This winter I wanted to try my hand at French Onion Soup. It is something I have always wanted to make, but felt especially in the winter.  It is a little time consuming, but overall fairly easy to make. I think it turned out pretty good and with time and practice (and making sure I read the directions correctly), I really think it could be great. I accidentally forgot to leave to pot ajar and forgot to stir after that as well, so they onions probably were a little bit more overdone than they should have been, but still delicious.  My pictures aren't great and really don't do it justice!

I forgot to take a picture of the ingredients, but I'm sure you can imagine it... fairly basic stuff! :)

French Onion Soup
From: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp butter, cut into 3 pieces
6 large yellow onions (about 4 pounds), halved and cut into slices
salt
2 cups water, plus extra for deglazing
1/2 cup white wine
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups beef broth
6 sprigs fresh thyme, tied with kitchen twine
1 bay leaf
ground black pepper
1 small baguette, cut into 1/2 inch slices
8 oz shredded Gruyere cheese (or provolone or mozzarella)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Generously spray inside of a heavy-bottomed large Dutch oven with nonstick cooking spray.  Place butter in pot and add onions and tsp salt. Cook, covered, 1 hour.

2. Remove pot from oven and stir onions, scraping bottom and sides of pot.  Return pot to oven with ld slightly ajar and continue to cook until onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 hr longer, stirring onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour.

3. Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. Cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until liquid evaporates and onions brown (make sure to use oven mitts - pot will be hot).


4. Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed a dark crust, about 6-8 minutes.  Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown.


5. Stir in wine and cook, stirring frequently, until wine evaporates, about 5 minutes.


6.  Stir in broths, 2 cups water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 tsp salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot.  Increase heat to high and bring to simmer.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes.  Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper.


7.  While soup simmers, put bread covered with cheese in broiler and broil until cheese is melted and bubbly.  Place in soup and serve.

Easy Cookies and Cream Frozen Pie

This recipe appealed to me because it is has 3 things going for it: 1.It's easy 2.It's 'light' 3.It's a dessert that looks delicious.  And it ended up being all those things and I'm so glad I found it.  I will definitely be making this again and again.

Easy Cookies and Cream Frozen Pie
From: The Dashing Dish

Ingredients:
1 cup skim milk
1 pkg chocolate instant pudding mix (regular or sugar free)
1 tub fat free cool whip (de-thawed)
2 Tbs Hershey's syrup (optional)
2 pkg 100 calorie Oreo crisps, crushed (optional)
1 Oreo pre-made pie crust

Directions:
1. Whisk together milk, pudding mix, cool whip, syrup, and oreo crisps in a large bowl until everything is well combined.

2. Pour mixture into the pie crust, and smooth out the top.

3.  Place in the freezer for 4 hours or overnight - until pie filling is thick and frozen to your liking.  Top with Whip Cream and drizzle Chocolate syrup if desired.

Roast Beef Sandwiches Au Jus

 
I made these on New Years day because I was looking for something easy, filling, tasty, and good football type food that wasn't too unhealthy.  These fit the bill.  These aren't from scratch and aren't super fancy, but they are still very delicious!  I would definitely make these again!

Roast Beef Sandwiches Au Jus
From: Food.com



Ingredients:
1 10oz can French onion soup
1 10oz can beef consomme
1/2 - 1 lb thinly sliced deli roast beef
provolone cheese slices (or swiss)
4 hoagie rolls (you can tell from the picture that I didn't get the right kind)
garlic powder and mayonnaise (optional)

Directions:
1. In a medium pot simmer roast beef slices, consomme, and soup until fully cooked.

2. Meanwhile, slice hoagie rolls in half lengthwise, sprinkle with garlic and toast until golden brown.

3. Once the meat has heated through and cooked down, place on half of the hoagie rolls and top with slices of cheese as needed to cover meat.

4. Broil untl cheese melted and bubbly.

5. Serve with Au jus on the side and mayonnaise if desired.

Fancy Broccoli

On a blog I read (Big Mama) she raved about this broccoli as the best broccoli she ever had. Bill is a fan of broccoli and it is one of our go-to sides, however, I never seem to know what to do with it, so I usually just steam it - BORING! So when I saw this recipe I knew I needed to give it a try. It was really delicious - might even be the best broccoli I have ever had and can you really go wrong with garlic, lemon and Parmesan? I had never really tasted broccoli cooked like this before and I'm glad I tried it.  It is slightly more work than just steaming it, but not that much more and it is worth it.  Also I think you could easily leave the cheese out if you wanted to make it a little healthier, but I love me some Parmesan!  I have definitely been using this occasionally to spice up our broccoli options!

Fancy Broccoli
From: Amateur Gourmet via Big Mama

Ingredients:
Broccoli (2 bunches or more)
Olive oil
salt and pepper
2-4 cloves of garlic (peeled and sliced)
lemon
Parmesan cheese
Pine nuts, if desired (I left those out)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 and cut broccoli into florets (but relatively big ones). Wash if desired but make sure you thoroughly dry them before cooking. Put broccoli on an foil lined cookie sheet.  Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Add garlic slices and toss all together.

2.  Roast in the oven 20 minutes or until crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned. Shake halfway through cooking

3. When it's done, take it out of the oven and zest a lemon over the broccoli, squeeze half lemon juice over the broccoli, add 1 1/2 Tbsp more olive oil if desired, and 3 Tbs toasted pine nuts (I left those out), and 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese.

Better than Crack Brownies

When I saw the recipe for Better than Crack Brownies on Jessica's blog, I knew I wanted to try them.  How could I not with a name like that.  However, I wanted to make them sometime for a group of people because I didn't want to end up eating an entire pan all myself.  I made these last weekend for family and they turned out great! I couldn't tell you if they are better than crack, but they are definitely brownies that are maxed out on chocolate and peanut butter and so rich that you feel like you can't eat more than one, but at the same time you wan to eat the whole pan!

Notes:

- I only did nuts on half of the brownies because my brother doesn't like nuts, and both halves were delicious!

- I also used semisweet chocolate chips instead of milk because that is what I had, plus, I like darker chocolate better anyway.

Better than Crack Brownies

From: Jessica at How Sweet It Is

Ingredients:

1 batch brownies (I just used a box mix, but you could make them homemade)

1/2 cup salted peanuts

1 cup chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups

1 1/2 cup milk (or semisweet) chocolate chips

1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies Cereal

Directions:

1. Mix brownies according to directions, and bake for 20-25 minutes in a 9 x 13 baking dish. 

2. Remove and top with peanuts and peanut butter cups, and bake for 4-6 minutes more.

3. While they are finishing baking, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Stir in cereal. 

4. Remove brownies from oven and evenly pour chocolate mixture over top.

5. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. Store in refrigerator.