Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad

This was delicious!!  Evan didn't like it very much but the rest of us couldn't stop eating it :0

Ingredients

Salad

·      2 cups miniature farfelle pasta, uncooked

·      3 cups frozen corn

·      1 large avocado

·      3 green onions

·      1/2 bunch cilantro

·      6-8 strips hardwood smoked bacon

·      1/2 cup feta Cheese

·      1/2 canned cup black beans

·       

Dressing

·      1/2 cup full fat regular mayo no substitutes

·      3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice and 1/4 teaspoon lime zest

·      1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

·      1/4 teaspoon paprika

·      1/2 teaspoon chili powder

·      1 teaspoon Sriracha or hot sauce

·      Pinch of salt and ground black pepper

Greek Pressure Cooker Chicken

This was a really good but the boys weren't impressed :)  Super easy to make though!!

Ingredients

·       1–2 teaspoons olive oil

·       1 onion, diced

·       4 cloves garlic, minced

·       1.5 – 2 lbs chicken (boneless skinless breasts or thighs)

·       1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

·       1/2 teaspoon black pepper

·       1 tablespoon dry oregano

·       1/2 tablespoon basil

·       1/2 teaspoon dill

·       1 lemon

·       1 cup chicken broth (or 1 cup water and 1 bouillon cube)

·       12oz jar roasted red peppers

·       12 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts

·       optional: fresh minced parsley

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Instructions

Set electric pressure cooker to saute mode.  Add olive oil, onion, and garlic and stir for 2-3 minutes until softened.  Turn saute mode off.

Place chicken breasts in pressure cooker and sprinkle in all seasonings.  Add chicken broth and juice from half of the lemon.  Secure lid.  Cook on manual high pressure for 6 minutes.  Let sit for 5 minutes or so on natural release and then quick-release remaining pressure.  (If you’re crammed for time, you can quick release immediately after cooking, I just find the chicken turns out a little better if I let it sit for a few.)

Remove chicken and place on cutting board.  Drain juices from roasted peppers and dice, drain juice from artichokes and leave as is or rough chop as desired.  Add both to pot and stir so they can warm through.  Shred chicken and add back into juices.  Add juice from remaining half lemon.  Stir everything together and add parsley if desired.

Serve on pitas with cucumber and tzatziki, or over rice or cauliflower rice, or in wraps, or whatever you like!

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Notes

*If chicken is larger than 1″ thick, cut horizontally to make thinner before placing in pressure cooker.

Alternate Slowcooker instructions:  I prefer bone-in breasts for slow-cooking, but you can use whatever you like.  Place all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low for 4-ish hours until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Key Lime Pie & Tarts

Oh yeah - I made an actual pie!!!  :)  This was super easy to make and it tasted great too!!

Ingredients

10 mini graham cracker crusts OR 1 8-serving (9″) graham cracker crust

5 egg yolks

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Around 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice. If you’re going to use bottled regular lime juice, don’t.

Whipped cream

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Instructions

TART INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, combine egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and lime juice. Distribute evenly among graham cracker crusts (I used my cookie scoop to make sure things were equal). Place tart pans on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven 10-11 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature, then chill in fridge until ready to serve.

Before serving, add a dollop of whipped cream

WHOLE PIE INSTRUCTIONS

 To bake this as a single large pie, just use a standard 9″ graham cracker pie crust and bake for 15 minutes. Top each slice with whipped cream before serving.

Fresh Strawberry Gelato

Well look at me - I made homemade gelato and it was AMAZING!!  Super easy to make 

and the whole family LOVED it!!

Ingredients

·        3/4 cup granulated or powdered sugar (I've used either with good results)

·        1 tablespoon cornstarch

·        1 cup whole milk

·        3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

·        1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

·        2 1/2 cups sliced very ripe, fresh strawberries

INSTRUCTIONS

1.      In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar and cornstarch. Gradually whisk in the milk and whipping cream.

2.      Place the pan over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture begins to bubble and thickens, 5-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

3.      Pour the mixture into a bowl and cool completely (either by pressing plastic wrap directly on the surface and refrigerating or nesting the bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice and stirring until it is cool to the touch).

4.      Puree the strawberries in a blender until the mixture is very smooth.

5.      Once the gelato base has cooled completely, strain the strawberry mixture through a fine mesh strainer into the creamy mixture. Use a rubber spatula or the back of a large spoon to press the strawberry puree through the strainer so all the pretty strawberry liquid gets strained into the gelato but the seeds are left behind. Stir well.

6.      Cover the gelato by pressing plastic wrap directly on the surface. Refrigerate 3 hours or up 24 hours.

7.      Process the gelato in your ice cream maker following the manufacturer's instructions. Scrape the ice cream into a container, cover and freeze for at least two hours or up to 2 days (and I'm guessing even longer than that).

NOTES

Using the ripest, juiciest strawberries will give this gelato the best strawberry flavor. Also, I've doubled the gelato/strawberry base with great results - I had to process it in my ice cream maker in two batches (I have a 2nd bowl for my machine) but if you have a fairly large ice cream maker, you could probably process the entire double batch in one go. Check with your manufacturer's instructions to be sure!

Also, if the fruit you are using is ultra-ripe and really sweet, you might be able to decrease the sugar just slightly. If you want to take this gelato completely over the top, serve it with a few slices of ripe, juice strawberries. Heavenly!

Lemon-Herb Zucchini Fettuccine

This was the perfect Italian dinner for our celebration of Italy :)

Ingredients

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 lemons
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 pound fettuccine (that’s just 1/2 of a normal box)
2 medium zucchini
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (about)
5–6 cloves garlic
Fresh basil (about 1/2 cup)
*Fresh oregano (about 1/4 cup) If you don’t have fresh oregano, just add a little dried.
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper

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Instructions

Prepare grill. You could also do this on the stove top in a skillet, or a grill pan.

Place chicken in a zip-top bag with the juice of one lemon, a couple tablespoons of olive oil, and a couple tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Smoosh around and set bag aside while you get your other things ready. (If you’ve got time to spare, let the chicken marinate for 30 minutes, if you don’t, just take what you can get. I did mine for 15 min and it was great.)

Put the pot on the stove to boil water for the pasta. While you’re waiting for the water to boil, slice the zucchini in half length-wise. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Press, or finely mince garlic cloves. In a small sauce pan on the stove, place 1/4 cup olive oil and add garlic. Turn burner onto low-med heat. It shouldn’t be popping and frying, it should just slowly warm, infusing the oil with the garlic and removing that zing fresh garlic has.

When water boils, add pasta and a spoonful of salt.

Remove chicken from bag and salt and pepper both sides. Place chicken, and zucchini on grill.

While chicken and zucchini are grilling and pasta is boiling, chop herbs and get out cheese. Zest both lemons and juice the one that hasn’t been juiced.

Keep an eye on garlic. It should still look nice and white, not brown or crispy. Give it a stir. If it starts really cooking, just take it off the heat and set aside.

When zucchini and chicken are done, take them off the grill and chop them up.

Reserve about 1/2 cup pasta water. Drain pasta and immediately place in a big bowl. Place chopped zucchini and chicken on top. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, cheese, herbs, and garlic-olive oil mixture and toss together.  If you feel it needs more moisture, add a little of the pasta water, or a little more olive oil.

Garnish with a little more Parmesan on top and another squeeze of lemon if you have any left and serve.

Creamy Cajun Pasta with Peppers and Smoked Sausage

This was delicious and uber yummy!!  The kids just inhaled it too!!

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound smoked pork sausage, halved and cut into 1/4” slices
1 small red onion, halved and sliced
3–4 cloves garlic, minced
2 colored bell peppers (I used red and yellow), halved and sliced
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups water (high elevations increase to 1 3/4)
8 ounces pasta (I used trottole)
2 cups 1% milk
3 ounces low-fat cream cheese
1 teaspoon Cajun or Creole seasoning (like Tony Chachere’s)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup (4 ounces) freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook 2-3 minutes or until it starts to release oil and is browning. Add the onions and cook until fragrant. Add the garlic and sliced bell peppers and cook until the peppers are tender-crisp. Remove from heat and transfer the sausage and peppers to a large plate. Set aside.

Return the pan to heat and add the tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then quickly add the pasta, reduce heat to medium-low, and cover. Cook until the pasta is al dente and the liquid is absorbed.

While the pasta is cooking, place the milk, cream cheese, Cajun seasoning, smoked paprika, and flour in the jar of a blender and blend until smooth. Heat the butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. When melted, add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes or until tender and fragrant. Add the mixture from the blender and cook until smooth and thickened to where if the back of a spoon is dipped into the sauce, you can trace your finger down the back of the spoon and that spot will stay clean.

Remove the sauce from heat and add the Parmesan cheese. Stir until melted and smooth.

Add the peppers and sausage to the pasta/tomato mixture and stir to combine. Add the garlic sauce and combine. Season to taste with Cajun seasoning and serve immediately. Makes 8 servings.

Open Face Spam Sandwiches

So this was a meal from my childhood and because my boys all love spam, we gave it a try!  They all liked it :)  me, not so much hahaha

Makes 10 halves

Ingredients:
1 can spam
4 pieces cheese
1/2 onion, chopped
celery, chopped
hamburger bun (or english muffin)

Grind up spam.

Mix spam, onion, celery and spread on open hamburger bun.

Put slice cheese on top.

Heat under broiler and enjoy!