Navy Beans with Spinach

I think this could be good as a cold dish too. I would just forgo the bullion, water and wine, and use lemon and olive oil.

½ onion
6 1/8 inch slices of smoked pork lion ( I get at Bende.com) or 10 slices bacon
1 bag navy beans
2 chicken bullion
1 c. wine
1 cup frozen, 4 cups fresh spinach
Salt
Pepper
Marjoram
Tarragon
Soak beans overnight. Sautee onion and bacon or lion. In large corning dish add beans, soaking water, bullion and 2 c. water and wine. Add pork and onion, salt, pepper, tarragon and plenty of marjoram. Put in oven at 350 and cook for 45 min, when almost done, add spinach, let cook until just warm (5 min).

Lemon Chicken Pasta

½ C panko bread crumbs
½ C grated parmesan cheese
1 lb chicken
½ lb pasta
2 TBS capers
½ C oil
¼ C lemon
1 egg
1 TBS water
Combine egg and water and wisk. Pound out chicken breasts unil thin (you may need to cut chicken breast to half thickness). Season well with salt and pepper. Combine bread crumbs and parmesan. Dip chicken in egg and then crumb mixture. Fry in oil. While cooking chicken, cook pasta and set aside. When chicken done, add lemon to pan with oil and drippings and stir, add capers, and poor over pasta and chicken. Serve immediately.

Creamy Chicken with Apple and Portobello

2 tbs Butter
½ Onion
1 c. vermouth
1Carrot
1 c. Portobello
1 apple
1 lb chicken breasts
1 c cream




In skillet melt butter and sauté onions for a minute. Add vermouth, carrots, apple and mushrooms, let cook until vermouth reduces to half. Add chicken and cream. Cook until done.

Blue Cheese Spread

1 block cream cheese
1 TBS grated onion
4 slices bacon chopped and fried
¼ C blue cheese
Combine and serve. This isn’t too shabby on a steak or a baked potato.

Ginger Balls

1 lb ground chicken
1lb ground pork
2 eggs
¾ of a 5 oz can bamboo shoot (minus some)
¼ onion
1 carrot finely grated
1.5 TBS soy
1.5 TBS fish sauce
1 tsp salt
1.5 TBS grated ginger (I used some fresh and some jar)

I had to play around with this some so bare with me. combine all ingredients. I found that one whole can of the bamboo looked like a bit too much, so I used about ¾ of the can. I started with fresh minced ginger and found that gave bits of intense ginger flavor but not a great overall ginger flavor so I went back and added 1TBS of jarred grated ginger.

Form small balls and fry. I plan to make another noodle salad with the leftovers and add these. Also, I got the ground chicken thinking that would be a healthier alternative to all pork. I thought having the half and half mixture would give me the richness of pork but some of the health benefits of chicken. Only to find out the pork is just as lean/or not lean (depends if you are half full or empty sort of person) as the chicken. So in the future, for me, it will be all pork.


Dipping Sauce

1 TBS sugar
1 TBS Ketchup
1/3 C water
1/3 C vinegar
1TBS fish sauce
1 tsp corn starch
Pinch of red pepper flakes

Cook and stir until thick

Snapper With Tomato and Cilantro Salsa

2 Lbs, Snapper
2-3 large tomatoes chopped up
½ onion chopped
½ C. chopped cilantro
½ C. green olives
2 TBS capers
Heat oven to 350. In bowl add, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and capers. Mix and season to taste. Season fish. Cover fish with salsa and bake for 30 minutes. Remove fish from the oven, and cover with olives.

Pesto Portabella Cheesecake

1.5C. pesto
6 oz. Portabella (roughly 10 pieces of sliced portabella)
1/2 onion
1 TBS olive oil
2 block cream cheese softened
1 C. sour cream
3 large eggs
Tomato slices (about one tomato)
Parmesan

Line the bottom of a spring form with sliced tomatoes, and set aside. Sautee mushrooms and onions in olive oil. Combine cream cheese and sour cream and add onion and mushroom mixture, and pesto. Test seasoning. Add eggs. Pour over tomato slices in spring form and bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes. It is done when you stick a knife in and it comes out almost clean (not soupy). Let cool. Loosen sides of spring form and remove. Invert so that tomatoes slices are on top. Remove bottom of spring form and dust with Parmesan. This can be served warm or cold.

This is particularly good on bagels the next day! I have never tried sun-dried tomatoes but I think they would be great.

Steak Enchilada

1.5-2 lbs flatiron steak cut up
2 cans rotel plus one can water
2 TBS cumin
2 packets of Sazon Goya Coriander & Annatto seasoning
1 tomato bullion (found in Hispanic food section)
red pepper flakes (depends on how much spice you like)
cheddar cheese


Add all ingredients (except cheese) to pot and cook on low, covered, for 3 hours. Pull meat out and set aside. In processor liquefy remains in pot.. Pour in a pan and reduce by half. Roll meat in tortilla, poor reduced sauce over and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes

Curried Mahi Mahi

This was born out of some leftover curry paste from the Thai Pork.

1 lb mahi mahi
1.5 TBS butter
1 shallot
1 can extra rich coconut milk
1 TBS green curry paste
2 TBS fish sauce
1/8 cup white raisins plumped
1 cup panko crumbs
¼ c flour
1egg
1tbs water
½ lb Acini di Pepe (no.70) pasta (couscous would work as well)
¼- ½ C oil (depends on pan size need to cover bottom)


Put water on to boil for pasta. Cut fish into 3-4 inch length strips. Season fish. Add 1TBS water to egg and beat. Combine Panko, and flour and season. Dredge fish egg mixture then in Panko mixture. Heat oil and fry fish. While fish is cooking, put pasta on to cook. Heat butter and sauté shallots for 2 minutes. Add coconut milk, fish sauce and curry and stir. Finally add raisins. Place two pieces of fish over ¼ C pasta. Spoon sauce over and serve.

Truffled Chicken

2 large shallots
½ cup wine
1 C. cream or half and half
1 tsp garlic (pre-minced)
3-4 chicken breast filleted and pounded out and seasoned
Asiago cheese
Truffle oil
Olive oil

Sautee chopped shallot in 1 tsp of oil for 1 minute. Add wine. Reduce to half. Add cream and salt, pepper, and garlic. Reduce to half. Line one side of chicken with cheese. Spoon 1TBS of sauce on top of cheese. Do this for each breast and roll. Set aside unused cream sauce. Secure with toothpick. Add TBS oil to pan and sautee breasts. About 7 minutes each side. Spoon remaining cream sauce over. Drizzle with truffle oil.

This would also be good with prosciutto and asparagus or substitute the asiago with gruyere.

Good Guacamole

Okay it goes without saying, I did NOT invent guacamole. I just think mine is pretty good.

2 ripe avocados
1 TBS lemon juice
¼ Herdez Salsa (or your favorite)
1tsp (or to taste) Greek seasoning. I know it is odd, but it is a good all purpose. If you don’t have Greek seasoning use fajita, otherwise salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Peel and pit avocado, and add lemon juice and salsa. With a fork mash together. Add seasoning to taste.

Great Guacamole

If you have time this is really good “fancied up” version of an old standard.

Peel and devain about 15 small shrimp. Cut into small pieces. Add, lime juice to cover, garlic, salt and pepper. Let sit for 3 hours or overnight. The lime juice should cook the shrimp. It should be pink. However for those week at heart, zap it in the microwave for a minute stirring once. Make the above recipe with the addition of the shrimp and about ¼ c. chopped cilantro.


P.S. if you save the pit and throw it into the guacamole when you are done preparing it keeps the avocado from turning brown.

Stir Fry Noodle Salad

¼ head of cabbage sliced
½ onion sliced
2 celery ribs sliced
3 carrots sliced
1 can of sliced water chestnuts
1 TBS oil
2 TBS soy sauce
1tsp sesame oil
½ tsp fresh grated ginger
1 10 oz. package udon noodle
½ red bell pepper


In wok heat 1TBS oil and 1 tsp sesame oil. Add veggies, ginger, and soy sauce and stir fry for 6 minutes or just until wilted a bit. Let cool. Cook noodles, remove and cool. Combine noodles and veggies, and add uncooked bell pepper. Stir. Poor dressing over and chill.

Dressing
½ C rice vinegar
1 TBS sesame oil
1 tsp fresh ginger
1 tsp sriracha sauce

Thai Pork and Green Beans

Again, this is not an original. My parents had friends that are Thia and she learned it from her. That said, I have never seen it on a menu anywhere so, hopefully you have never had it either. It is my husbands favorite dish. I love it because it is great and quick and easy. The spice level can be changed with the addition of more curry. My mom always made it with red curry, I usually make it with green. Honestly I don’t know the difference. My mom never had measurements it was an "eyeball it" recipe. This is great if you are like we are and you love pork lion but if you make a whole one, you have 5 meals. Cut off a bit and set it aside for this dish.

1-1.5 lb pork, tenderloin is best but not necessary
3-4 handfuls of fresh green beans cleaned ( I know not very precise but I am thinking about 5 cups).
1/3 can of curry
¼ C. fish sauce
1 TBS oil
3-4 C. Rice


In wok heat oil and add curry. Sautee curry for 1 minute. Add pork, and fish sauce. Cook until almost done. Add green beans cook until just done but still firm. Serve over rice.

Perfect Summer Pasta

I will ,yet again, rely on Penzys for this. They make a Italian Dressing base, that I just love. I use Rice Wine Vinegar and ¼ of the oil it calls for though when I make it. I use that dressing for the marinade here, however, I double the amount of base used when making the marinade.

3 chicken breasts
3-4 zucchini sliced up
3-4 squash sliced up
2 tomatoes chopped up
1 onion sliced up
2 cups marinade (if you don’t have Penzys use your favorite Italian dressing)
1 small package of feta
4-5 leave fresh basil chopped up
1 lb pasta

Grilling is a must for this I think. I have never tried it not grilled, but I can’t imagine it would be near as good, but give it a try

The night before put chicken breasts in ziploc bag and one cup of marinade. In another Ziploc put the veggies and the other cup marinade. Right before your ready to cook remove the chicken and veggies from the marinade. If you have a veggie pan to go on the grill, grill the veggies as well, just save ¼ C of the marinade (from the veggies, not the chicken!!) for later. If you don’t have a veggie pan, just do it on the stove top, and there is no need to reserve some marinade since cooking on the stove top allows the veggies to juice. While chicken is cooking boil the pasta. Once chicken is done, cut up into slices. Add veggies, basil, feta, and marinade reserve (if needed) to pasta , mix in. You can either just add the sliced chicken to the whole dish or plate the pasta/veggie mixture and add sliced chicken to the individual dishes.

This would also be great with artichoke and asparagus. Also smoked mozzarella or goat cheese might be a good substitute for the feta. Fresh rosemary might also be good as well.

Feedback

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Vanessa

Black Bean Salad/Salsa

Black bean salad/dip

This is good as either a chucky salsa or as a “salad.”

2 16oz. cans black beans
¼ onion chopped
1 red bell pepper diced
½ bunch cilantro chopped
½ jar of Herdez salsa ( I really recommend Herdez)
½ tsp of cumin
salt and pepper

mix together and chill. Corn is also a good addition.