Balushkies (Link)

Balushkies
Shared by: Dolores Reborn
From: Group Recipes, but originally mentioned on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

Bobbio saw the episode and thought it sounded good (Bacon!, cabbage, onions and noodles). Rebo found the recipe for him. He has now made this and pronounced it good. He recommends reducing the amount of noodles.

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole (Link)

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

Shared by: Tupug Anachi

From: Disney Family Food

Mrs. T's marinade

Mrs. T's marinade
From: taxi78cab

taxi reports: "I grilled chicken with the marinade below, broccolini, and some bake-at-home rolls. It was goooooooood."

(Mrs. T was a teacher with a really complicated last name so everyone just called her Mrs. T. No relation to Mr. T. She gave Mom this recipe years ago, and it's been our favorite marinade ever since.)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp minced/powdered garlic
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried basil or oregano
dash pepper

Combine all ingredients. Allow chicken (or beef) to marinade for at least 4 hours or all day. Grill. Yum!

Spring Pea and Spinach Salad

Spring Pea and Spinach Salad
From: gardentraveler

Not so much a recipe as a general idea. Made one serving for my lunch today. it was yummy. Here's what I used. Lots of possible substitutions.

For each serving:
Salad stuff:
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup loosely packed baby spinach chiffonade
1 tablespoon grated Monterey Jack Cheese
1 teaspoon chives, finely chopped
1 leaf fresh mint chiffonade

Dressing stuff:
2 teaspoons Miracle Whip (Yeah, I'm a heretic; deal with it! :p Use mayo if you must; you could probably add buttermilk, yogurt, etc.)
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
Dash Green Goddess dressing mix (Penzey's)
Dash Creamy Peppercorn dressing mix (Penzey's)
Dash Szechuan pepper mix (McCormick)

Garnish:
Crumbled bacon
Sliced almonds (sunflower seeds, toasted pine nuts, chow mein noodles, pick your crunchy item)

Zap peas and let cool. (I zapped mine the night before.) Toss with remaining salad ingredients. Combine dressing ingredients with salad. Top with garnish just before serving.

Did I mention: yum!?

Shrimp Scampi (Link)

Shrimp Scampi
Shared by FairyChatMom
From: about.com/southernfood

Cajun Krab Alfredo

Cajun Krab Alfredo
From: taxi78cab

I invented something yummy on Saturday in an attempt to clean out the fridge. I had fake krab that I needed to use up and some spinach, green onions, and cilantro. So I made Cajun krab alfredo. We have Penzey's Cajun seasoning so I put that on the fake krab and broiled it. Made a white sauce with lots of garlic and some parmesan. Tossed the chopped spinach in the boiling water with the pasta for a minute. Threw in the green onions and cilantro and a splash of cream just 'cause. Added that to the spinach, pasta, and the crab. And voila! It was quite tasty. KT approved when he came home last night.

Chicken and Chorizo Romesco with Spanish Potatoes and Kale (Link)

Chicken and Chorizo Romesco with Spanish Potatoes and Kale
Shared by: taxi78cab
From: The Food Network/Rachael Ray

Spazghetti Sauce

Spazghetti Sauce
From: SpazCat

0.5 - 1 lb. ground beef
1.5 chopped onion
3-5 cloves garlic

Simmer all this together until the beef is browned and the garlic is soft.

1 15-oz can tomato sauce
1 15-oz can tomato paste
1 cup water

Add to above, stir, cover, cook 15 minutes

Add spices--this is the most important part. The ones I always use are:
basil--about a pinch
sage--about half a pinch
thyme or oregano--a pinch
parsley--three pinches
black pepper--upend the shaker and go to town (I love black pepper)
ground cloves--just a touch of this

Stir again, cover again, cook another 15-30 minutes. It gets better as it ages, so definitely make enough for leftovers.

I'm serious about the cloves. That's the most important secret ingredient. It brings all the flavors together.

Middle Eastern French Fry Sammiches

Middle Eastern French Fry Sammiches
From: Lissla Lissar

Buy pita (thin pita will work best), make tahini sauce (tahini, garlic, water, cumin, salt, chopped garlic, a little sugar, blend) and use tzatziki or lemon/garlic/olive oil for sharpness.

Go to your nearest fast food joint with good fries. Take the sauces and the pita, or get takeout and bring them home. Lay pita flat, fill with fries, drizzle sauces on top, wrap it up. Eat it.

Got the idea from the newish John Thorne book, Mouth Wide Open, and the tahini sauce recipe from Eat Me.


I figure it's mildly more healthy than the traditional British chip butty, but I'm probably delusional.

Gnocchi Nicoise

Gnocchi Nicoise
Shared by: taxi78cab
From: Food Network

Cannelloni

Cannelloni
From: taxi78cab

- 12 oz lasagna noodles, cooked to al dante and drained. I like the whole grain ones - they work well for this.
- 16 oz part-skim ricotta
- 1 egg
- couple handfuls shredded parmesan
- spices for filling: powdered onion, powdered garlic, dried thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, etc.
- 8 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained
- tomato sauce, homemade or jarred is fine, probably 24-32 oz.

If you're making your own sauce, start it first so it has a chance to simmer a bit. I like to saute onions and garlic, add in a little red wine, then add crushed and/or diced tomatoes. Yesterday I used one big can and one regular can. Not sure on the sizes. Then let simmer for 45 min to an hour or until everything else is ready.

Boil the noodles to al dante. (Don't overcook 'cause they'll get baked too so you want them to start off kind of firm.) Drain and lay separately on a rack, foil, parchment, or waxed paper so they don't stick together. They can sit for a while while you prepare everything else.

Thaw the spinach in the microwave if necessary and drain and wring out in a towel or paper towel. Get as much excess liquid out as possible. Combine the ricotta, spinach, egg, parmesan, spices as desired (make sure to add a decent amount of salt and at least some spices here or the results will be way too bland).

When the sauce is nicely simmered (or the jarred sauce is open), spray a 13x9 pan (or two 8x8 or other small pans... I prefer to do two small pans 'cause this freezes really well so I can have it again in a couple weeks with no prep work. Plus, one little pan feeds two of us for one meal plus one person's lunch.) with Pam. Spoon about 1/2 a cup of sauce into each pan or a cup or so into the bottom of the big pan.

With your noodles laid out in front of you, spoon some of the filling into each noodle. If they're all separate and you have the room, spoon filling onto all the noodles at once so you know you have enough on each one. If you want them extra cheesy, sprinkle some grated mozzarella over each one. Then roll them each up and place them seam side down in the pan. I usually put 8-9 in each of the two pans.

Pour the remaining sauce over the top, making sure to cover each roll so they don't dry out. Sprinkle some shredded/grated mozzarella over the top.

Bake at ~350 for ~45 min to an hour or until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted and turning golden. If you want to freeze one pan, do so BEFORE baking. Then take it out of the freezer, cover it with aluminum foil, and put it, frozen, into a cold oven. Turn the oven on and let it heat up as the oven heats up. From the freezer it takes about 90 minutes to thaw and heat up. Then uncover it and let the top brown up for about 15 min.

Ham and N.O.T. Soup

Ham and N.O.T. Soup
From: swampbear

3 1/2 cups potatoes, peeled and diced (I keep mine with the peel you might not. I won't judge. Well, within your hearin' anyways.)

1/3 cup celery, diced (Not necessary but if ya got some celery hangin' around use it.)

1/3 cup onion, finely chopped (The onion is necessary so get choppin'!)

1-2 cup ham, diced and cooked (or be lazy like me and buy it already cooked!)

3 1/4 cups water

2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules (or a couple of those cube thingys)

1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)

1 teaspoon pepper (If you're feelin' adventurous throw in a little cayenne pepper on top just for kicks)

5 tablespoons butter (Yes, butter! Put that margarine back in the fridge!)

5 tablespoons flour (Self-risin' or All-purpose, whatever ya got)

2 cups milk

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded (Extra, extra sharp is good but if ya want it more mellow, that's your business. Ok, actually, some Swiss and Provolone together is pretty good too)

Combine potatoes, celery, onion, ham, and water in stockpot and bring to boil.

Then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender.

Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt, and pepper.

In separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and cook stirring constantly until thick.

Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form and all milk is added. Continue to stir until thick (4-5 minutes)

Add in cheese and stir until melted.

Stir the cheese mixture into the stockpot and cook until heated through. It gets thicker as it cools.

Alternate Method:

Dump everything except the butter, flour, milk and cheese into a slow cooker and let it go to town on low for three to four hours, then do the stuff the recipe says to with the butter, flour, milk and cheese and add to the soup. It's the lazy easy way!

Tri-Color Pepper Meatloaf Rings with Creole Sauce

Tri-Color Pepper Meatloaf Rings with Creole Sauce
From: Dolores Reborn

Stuff meatloaf mixture into 1" thick bell pepper rings (I only had two colors though) and pan fry both sides. Add creole sauce to oven-proof skillet, and finish in a 400° oven, along with some Crash Hot NOTs.

Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry

Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry
From: Dolores Reborn

1 tbs vegetable oil
1 lb round steak or sirloin steak, sliced very thin
1 tbs corn starch
2 tbs soy sauce
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 carrot, julienned
1/4 onion, thinly sliced
1 lg pkg frozen broccoli florets, thawed (you can use fresh, but the cooking time will be different)
1/2 c beef stock

Marinade the steak in the cornstarch, soy sauce, ginger and garlic for a few minutes while you prepare the veggies and put on some rice to cook. Stir-fry meat in two batches and remove to a plate. Stir-fry carrots and onions for a minute or two, then add in broccoli. Keep stirring until broccoli is almost done to your taste, then add in the meat. Add in the stock for the sauce. The cornstarch on the meat should thicken the sauce. Add a little more stock, or a little slurry of corn starch to get the thickness of the sauce right. Serve with steamed rice. Or make fried rice!

Pasta With Light Bleu Cheese Sauce

Pasta With Light Bleu Cheese Sauce
From: WhyNot

I "invented" (as in, I'm sure it's just a version of a dish that I don't know the name of) this last night. One of those "pantry" meals whipped up with stuff I had on hand before Grocery Day came around again. I suppose if one wanted to be authentically "Italian", they'd use Gorgonzola, but I had about 1/3 cup of leftover bleu cheese/cream cheese/sour cream mush that I stuffed into tomatoes on Oscar night, and a container of bleu cheese crumbles, and that inspired me to come up with this dish:

Serves: 6
prep time:5 minutes
cook time: 15 minutes

1 box pasta, cooked and drained as usual. I used farfalle, but shells or tubes would work - the strand pastas like spaghetti or linguine might not have enough surface area to hold the fairly thin sauce.
1 Tablespoon olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cloves minced garlic
2 cups chicken broth (I use 2 cups water and 2 tsp Better than Bouillon)
8 ounces low-fat cream cheese or neufchatel cheese. You could use regular, of course, if you have the metabolism of a jackrabbit! I don't.
3 ounces bleu cheese crumbles - amt approximate, I'm really not sure how much I used, adjust to your taste
2 teaspoons (ish) Lemon pepper seasoning
undetermined amount of dried parsley. It's only there for looks, folks!
2 Tablespoons (ish) sour cream (optional)
2 fresh tomatoes, diced. Don't bother seeding 'em.
Extra bleu cheese crumbles for serving

While the pasta's cooking, brown the chicken pieces in the olive oil over me-high heat. They will leave brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. This is a good thing, trust me. (The French chefs call these bits "fond".)

When the chicken is cooked, add the garlic. Cook about 20 seconds, just long enough to release the flavors of the garlic without burning it.

Add the chicken broth (watch out! It'll go WOOSH on you!) and "scrub" the browned chicken bits off the bottom of the pan with your spoon. The chicken broth will make them release, I promise. (This is called "deglazing the pan", by the way.)

Turn the heat down to med-low and add the cream cheese and bleu cheese crumbles. Stir, letting the cheese melt.

When the cheese is melted, add the lemon pepper and stir to combine. Add parsley until it looks like you've spent hours slaving over this dish. (I love dried parsley - it has almost no flavor, but it makes things look more complex than they are.)

Turn off the heat and add sour cream and tomatoes. Stir to incorporate, but you're not trying to cook the tomatoes here. The sauce will be pretty thin, that's okay.

Toss the pasta in the sauce, and serve with a little extra bleu cheese crumbles on the top.

This sauce is also all kinds of awesome on cauliflower.
The dish would also be good with shrimp or even well pressed firm tofu instead of chicken.