Stovetop Chili Mac Casserole

This was delicious!!  The kids LOVED this and it was easy to make!!

Ingredients

1 lb. extra-lean (93%) ground beef or turkey

1 medium onion, chopped

1 bell pepper (any color), chopped

3–4 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 cups V8 juice

1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

1 cup water

8 ounces macaroni or other small pasta

1 can pinto beans, drained

4 ounces cheddar cheese

1/3 cup chopped green or red onions

1/2 cup chopped cilantro (optional)

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Heat a 12″ skillet that has a lid over medium heat. Add ground beef and cook, stirring frequently, until about halfway cooked. Add onions, garlic, and pepper as well as the seasonings and cook until the meat is cooked through and the onions are tender.

Add the V8 juice, tomato sauce, and water and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and stir to combine and then cover, reduce heat, and cook for 15-ish minutes or until the pasta is al dente. Add the beans and heat through. Remove from heat, sprinkle with cheese, and replace the lid for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Sprinkle with onions and serve immediately

BLT Pasta Salad

This was perfect meal to make ahead and bring out on the boat tonight!!  B man couldn't eat enough of this!!

INGREDIENTS

·       1 (1 ounce) package dry Ranch dressing mix

·       1 cup whole milk

·       1 cup mayonnaise

·       1 lb bow-tie pasta (farfalle pasta)

·       1 1/2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes halved

·       1 cup thinly sliced red onion

·       1 teaspoon ground pepper

·       1 pound bacon cooked and crumbled

·       3 cups chopped Romaine lettuce

·       1/2 cup finely chopped flat leaf parlsey

 

1.      For the Ranch dressing: Whisk together the Ranch dressing mix, milk, and mayonnaise. Chill at least 30 minutes in the fridge to thicken. 

2.      Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.

3.      In a large bowl, add the pasta, tomatoes, red onion, and pepper. Toss with the Ranch dressing, reserving 1/2 cup for later. Chill until ready to serve. Right before serving add the bacon, lettuce, and parsley tossing well. Add the remaining dressing if needed as the pasta will soak up the dressing. 

Grilled Stuffed Zucchini

This was a delicious summer meal!!  We all just inhaled it!!  I would grill the zucchini a little bit longer though cause some "shells" were a little tough to chew.  GREAT MEAL!!!

Ingredients:

2 medium zucchini (about 10″)
4 oz Italian turkey sausage
1/4 C diced red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium tomato (about 1/2 C diced)
1 1/2 T chopped fresh basil (or abt a teaspoon of dried)
2/3 C Italian cheese blend (the kind pre-bagged with parm/mozz/asiago/etc)
1 T Italian style bread crumbs

kosher salt
black pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Slice zucchini in half length wise, leaving the tops on.

Scoop out the centers, saving them in a bowl. Leave at least 1/4 inch around the edges and bottoms. Take the good parts of the zucchini guts you just scooped out and dice up 1/2 C. This will go in your filling.

Drizzle the zucchini shells with a little olive oil and use your hands to rub it on all sides. Sprinkle with some kosher salt and black pepper and set aside.

Preheat your grill outside and then start your filling in a skillet on the stovetop. Start by browning the sausage. When you no longer see pink, add the onions, garlic, and diced zucchini. Cook for 2-3 minutes until onion is tender. Add tomato and basil, 1/4 t kosher salt and a few cracks of black pepper. Remove pan from heat and set aside.

You’re gonna add that cheese in just a second! First take your zucchini to the grill and put them hollow-side down.

Grill for about 5 minutes on medium heat. They should have nice charred marks and look tender on the inside.

Take them back inside. Add cheese and bread crumbs to filling mixture. Stir to combine and then divide the filling between the zucchini. Top each zucchini with about 1T cheese and sprinkle with 1/4-1/2 t bread crumbs. Lastly, give them a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Place them back on the grill (filling side up- please!) Close grill lid, and cook for another 5-7 minutes. Larger/thicker zucchini will obviously take longer to cook.

If you’re doing this inside, it will take a little longer seeing as you can’t close the lid to keep in the heat. You also might want to broil them in the oven when they’re finished to help the cheese on top get nice and bubbly.

Creamy Chicken And Mushrooms

This was delicious!!  Ross made fun of me and said "are you going to say it's a Sodahl fav" but yes - yes I am!!

Ingredients

·       2 tablespoons unsalted butter

·       1 tablespoon olive oil

·       2 pounds chicken breast cutlets, cut into chunks

·       1 large yellow onion, diced

·       2 garlic cloves, minced

·       16 ounces crimini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

·       2 tablespoons flour

·       3 cups half and half or skim milk

·       1 1/2 teaspoons salt

·       1 teaspoon black pepper

·       1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

·       1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

·       fluffy white rice, for serving

Set a large skillet over high heat with the butter and oil. Once melted, add the chicken all at once. Cook until browned on all sides, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon to a plate or platter.

Add the onions, garlic, and mushrooms and cook until caramelized and brown, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle the flour on top and stir to fully combine. Cook for about 1 minute. Reduce the heat to low, and stir in the half and half. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika and add the chicken back in. Cook for another 3 to 5 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve on top of white fluffy rice.

Sodahl Potato Salad

Oma always makes this for 4th of July so we gave it a try tonight - it was delicious and a twist on your store bought stuff!!

Ingredients

3lb red potato

6 Hardboiled eggs

Minced onions

2 tablespoon mayo

Mustard

Sugar

Cut potatoes and boil – don’t boil too much you want them semi hard so they are mushy

Cool in cold water.

Cut up 6 hard boiled eggs – minced onions if desired.

Combine potatoes, eggs, 2T mayo, tsp of mustard, 1tsp sugar to start – add more of any item to taste

Rosemary Balsamic Pork Tenderloin

This was super tasty and the boys said it was the best pork they had!!!

Ingredients

1 ½ lbs pork tenderloin

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon crushed rosemary

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 ½ teaspoons balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons olive oil

Combine garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper.  Massage the seasonings all over the pork loin.

Whisk together the balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Place the seasoned pork tenderloin in a ziplock bag and add the oil and vinegar combo.  Seal the bag and refrigerate for 4-10 hours.

Preheat oven to 400.  Remove pork from bag and place tenderloin on a foil lined baking dish.  Place the preheated oven and bake till pork reaches 160 – about 25 minutes.

Let stand for 5 minutes and then slice into ½ inch pieces.  Spoon pan juices over roast before serving.

Fauxtisserie Chicken

Oh we fancy :)  We loved this -- the boys wanted the chicken to have more wings :)

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, small enough to fit in your slow cooker

Salt-based seasoning (Seasoning salt, Cajun seasoning, lemon pepper with salt in it, etc. Just make sure salt is one of the first ingredients on the label.)

 OPTIONAL:

Whole garlic cloves, peeled

Fresh herbs

Make 3 balls of aluminum foil and place them in the bottom of your slow cooker. These hold the chicken off the bottom so the hot air can circulate all around the chicken and so it’s not stewing in its own juices.

Rinse chicken, including the cavity, and pat dry with paper towels. Place the chicken on its back so the breast is facing up and the legs are on the plate. If you want (and I actually strongly recommend that you do UNLESS you’re looking for a neutral flavor), pull the skin up all around the chicken. This does involve sticking your hand between the skin and the breast. Slice a few garlic cloves in half lengthwise and stick them under the skin. You can also arrange a couple sprigs of fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, and/or sage under the skin. This makes a very pretty chicken when it’s all cooked and adds a lot of flavor.

Rub salt-based seasoning VERY liberally onto the skin of the chicken. Place chicken breast-up on the foil in the slow cooker, cover, turn heat to low, and leave it alone for 7-8 hours.

Pulled Pork Flatbread

This was SO delicious!!  We used cauliflower crust and leftover Buddy boy pulled pork/BBQ sauce -- it was SO GOOD!!!

Ingredients

Homemade pizza crust

BBQ sauce

Smoked gouda

Diced jalepenos

Diced onions

Cilantro

Sour cream

Salsa verde

Homemade pizza crust, thin layer of BBQ sauce, crumbled pork on top of sauce, add smoked Gouda, diced jala, diced onions, and bake at 450.

When out, top with cilantro and thinned out sour cream (season with salsa verde)

Artichoke - grilled and steamed!!

Well wow -- HUGE family fav!!!  We were torn between the steamed and grilled version of this but both were AMAZING!!!  B man killed 2 artichokes himself!!!

1. Remove stem– just snip the stem so it’s about an inch long

2. Trim the bracts– Take a pair of kitchen shears (or a clean pair of scissors) and snip the tips all the way around. You can take a sharp knife and just cut off the very top.

3. Steam–  Bring to boil a couple inches of water in a pot with a steamer insert (a mesh strainer will work if you’re in a pinch), place artichokes in stem side up and cover pot with a lid.  If you are going to eat your artichokes just steamed then they’ll need to stay in there for anywhere from 30-60 minutes depending on the size. For these Fire Roasted Artichokes, just steam for 20 minutes and then remove and let cool until cool enough to handle.

4. Slice artichoke in half

5.  Remove the choke– remove purple flesh and use a spoon to scoop at choke.  Slicing with a knife will make choke removal easier.

6. Oil and Season– Brush both sides of artichoke with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper

7.  Grill– place artichoke on a preheated grill (medium heat) center side up.  Grill with lid closed for about 10 minutes and then flip.  Continue grilling for another 5-10 minutes until you have nice grill marks and the flesh appears soft.

8.  Serve and eat! Place on a serving dish with your desired dipping condiments.  We love this Garlic-Herb spread and melted butter is always a classic.

Slow Cooker Balsamic Pot Roast

Gotta love myself an easy meal that feels like a restaurant made it :)

Ingredients

·       4-5 pounds Beef Chuck Roast

·       2 cups Beef Broth

·       1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar

·       1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar

·       1 Tbsp Soy Sauce

·       1 tsp Salt

·       1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

·       3 Cloves of Fresh Garlic, pressed

·       Zest of 1/2 an Orange

·       Red Potatoes, washed

Place meat and potatoes into crock pot and turn on low heat. Whisk together all the other ingredients and pour over the top of the meat. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.