Bruschetta

When I went to visit my parents in Ireland, my Mom was so excited to see us! She even made us a special welcome meal.  After flying all day, it was a nice surprise.  It had been over 3 months since we had seen my parents and they were not only missing their daughters, but also the comforts from home.  We brought a suitcase full of special items from home, including a video of my brothers and their cute families.  Well, after eating some of the food there, I wanted to fill the suitcase up and bring some home.  My Mom learned from one of her Irish friends how to make bruschetta.  I can't believe I had to fly all the way to Ireland to taste this for the first time.  Ireland has some of the best produce I have ever had.  The tomatoes were from Spain and were delicious!  I love this stuff so much, I have even made it with canned tomatoes in the winter.  It isn't as good, but it still hits the spot.  My sister and I have ordered this at many restaurants around Salt Lake City, but she always tells me that mine is her favorite.  Well, I found some delicious tomatoes at the store the other day and made a batch.  You can really use any tomato you like.  I try to stick with heirloom, on the vine or roma.  They tend to have the best flavors, at least in my mouth!  If I have lots of time, I will seed the tomatoes.  If not, I just cut up everything and throw it in the bowl.  It really just depends on how much juice you really want.  Needless to say, there were no leftovers!

Bruschetta
4-6 Roma Tomatoes, finely diced
2 Garlic Cloves, minced or pressed
6-8 Basil Leaves, julienned
Salt & Pepper to Taste
1 tsp Oil Olive
Balsamic Vinegar for drizzling
1 Baguette, sliced and toasted

Mix all items in bowl, except the vinegar and bread.  Set aside for 30-60 minutes for flavors to combine.  Serve over the toasted bread and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. 

Panko Chicken

I saw a commercial the other day for fried chicken.  This is something I love, but do not eat very often.  My sister suggested that we by some shake and bake and make it.  I was against that!  Why have shake and bake when you can make your own?  She was a bit hesitant because she remembers loving that stuff as kids.  With her being so against meat, I almost bought it.   I kept hearing about panko breadcrumbs being so much better than regular breadcrumbs.  I found them at the store and they were on sale, so I decided to take the plunge.  I have not been disappointed.  They are so light and fluffy, but toast up nicely.  Well, I am glad we didn't buy them, because the recipe I threw together was so much better and she loved it!

Panko Chicken
2 Chicken Breast, cust in half and then pounded thin
1-2 tb Olive Oil
1/2 c Panko Breadcrumbs
4 tsp Parmesan Cheese, grated
Morton's Natures Seasoning

Pound chicken to desired thickness.  Coat baking dish with oil olive.  Sprinkle both sides of chicken with seasoning salt and place in dish.  Sprinkle tops of chicken with panko breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese.  Drizzle chicken with remaining olive oil.  Cook on 350 for 30 minutes, or until chicken is done. 

Sauteed Spinach

Growing up, I was the only kid at my house that loved spinach.  My brothers and sister used to pay me to eat it when my Mom wasn't looking.  Little did they know, they were the ones missing out!  As my sister got older, she started eating it in salads and soup, but never really had it sauteed.  Well, I had a about a half of bag left in the fridge and decided to try something different. This would have been even better with mushrooms, bacon and a little feta cheese, however, I didn't have any in my fridge!  I couldn't believe how much the spinach shrunk down, so next time I will make a whole bag for the two of us to share.

Sauteed Spinach
1 bag of Spinach
1/2 Red Onion, sliced
1 Tb Olive Oil
1 Garlic Clove, minced
Salt & Pepper to taste
Balsamic Vinegar

Heat Olive Oil in pan and onions and garlic.  Saute until tender.  Add Spinach and salt & pepper.  Stir and watch spinach until it is all sauteed and wilted down.  This only takes about 2-3 minutes.  Drizzle with little balsamic vinegar before serving.

Spaghetti Sauce

Almost every summer growing up, I would help my Mom can tomatoes.  It was so much work, but so worth it in the end.  With those canned tomatoes, my Mom would always make the best homemade spaghetti sauce.  When I finally moved out of the house, I realized that I didn't really care for the spaghetti sauce I was buying at the grocery store.  I tried all of the different brands, but none of them really were my favorite. Don't get me wrong, I do have some of these in my food storage and have used them on long days when I don't want to make the good stuff.  But, I prefer to make my own sauce.  I don't have the time to do my own canning these days, so I buy canned tomatoes at the grocery store and let the sauce simmer for about 30-60 minutes to make the flavors better.  If I am not using homemade meatballs, I will brown ground turkey with a diced onion before making the sauce.  This is also the sauce that I use for my homemade lasagna.

Spaghetti Sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cans tomato sauce (I use the small cans.  Can use 1 large can.)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tb oregano
1 Tb Thyme
1 Tb Basil
2 Tb Parsley
1 Bay Leaf
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt & Pepper to taste

Add all ingredients into saucepan.  Simmer on low for 30-60 minutes.  Remove bay leaf before serving.  Pour over noodles and garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Pesto Pasta

Pesto Pasta

½ Box Penne Pasta

Homemade Pesto (Can use ½ c of store bought Pesto)

1 cup Tomatoes, diced

1 cup Artichokes, chopped

1 Avocado, diced

4 cups fresh Spinach

¼ c Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Cook Pasta according to directions on box.  Meanwhile, chop all veggies except Spinach.   When there is 30 seconds left in cooking, add Spinach to hot water.  Drain Noodles and Spinach and add back to hot pan.  Add chopped veggies, cheese and Pesto.  Reheat and salt & pepper to taste. 

Pesto

1 Bunch Fresh Basil leaves removed from stems (I use the small package you can find at your grocer’s produce department)

¼ c Oil Olive

¼  - ½ c Water

¼ c Shredded Parmesan Cheese

1 Garlic Clove

2 Tb Pine-nuts

Salt & Pepper

Add all ingredients except Olive Oil and Water to food processor (I didn't want to get out my big food processor  so I used the Magic Bullet.)  Pulse until mixed together well.  Add in Oil and Water and pulse. 

Balsamic Chicken

Every week there is at least one night I stand in front of the fridge, trying to decide what to cook.  I then pull out everything that needs to be eaten, that I have forgotten I put in the drawers.  Tonight was that night!   After much thinking, I decided on Balsamic Chicken with Pesto Pasta.  My new favorite ingredient with pasta is an avocado.  It is actually quite delicious!  When using pesto for the sauce, the avocado adds creaminess that finishes it off quite nicely. 

Balsamic Chicken

1 pkg Chicken Tenders

2 Tb Balsamic Vinegar

1 Garlic Clove, chopped

1 Tb Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Add oil to pan.  Salt & Pepper Chicken on both sides and add to hot pan (medium high heat).  Cook chicken on both sides, until brown.  Add in Balsamic Vinegar and garlic cloves.   Cover with lid.  Cook until chicken is done, about 15-20 minutes.  

Tofu Stir-Fry

I love Chinese food and stir-fry is one of my favorite meals.  I can’t get enough of it!  My sister isn't a big fan of any type of meat, so I decided to switch out the chicken and try Tofu.  To my surprise, we actually loved it.  Tofu is very mild and will take on flavor very easily.  I love to serve it over brown rice, but recently tried brown rice noodles.  It was a nice change and very delicious!  I can’t wait to make it again. 

Tofu Stir-Fry

1 Pkg Firm Tofu

1 Head of Cabbage

1 cup chopped Celery

1 cup chopped Carrots

2 bunches Broccoli

1 onion, sliced

1 clove garlic

1 can Water Chestnuts

1 Tb Vegetable Oil

1 Tb Sesame Oil

1 tsp. Soy Sauce

1 cup Water with 1 tsp. Chicken Bouillon

Sauce

3 Tb Cornstarch

4 Tb Soy Sauce

3 tsp Sugar

Remove Tofu from package and wrap in paper towels to dry.  Heat Vegetable Oil in pan and add diced Tofu.  Add Soy Sauce and cook Tofu until it starts to brown, then remove from pan.  Add onions and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent.  Then add all of the veggies into pan.  Add water with bouillon and a little Soy Sauce and cover with lid to cook.  Stir about every 10 minutes, until veggies are tender.  Add Tofu back into pan and pour sauce in.  Cook until sauce thickens.   Serve or Rice or Rice Noodles.