Heidi | Dinner Trade

Recipe: Baked Ziti with Spinach and Tomatoes

heather — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:16:40 +0000

Ingredients

3/4 pound hot Italian sausages, casings removed
1 medium onion, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 28-ounce can diced peeled tomatoes
1/4 cup purchased pesto sauce
10 ounces ziti or penne pasta (about 3 cups), freshly cooked
8 c. fresh, washed spinach leaves (about 2/3 of 10-ounce pkg)
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, cubed
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)

Instructions

Heat heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sausage, onion and garlic and sauté until sausage is cooked through, breaking up meat with back of spoon, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes with juices to pan. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in pesto. Season sauce with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before continuing.)
Preheat oven to 375° F. Lightly oil 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish. Combine pasta, spinach, mozzarella and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese in large bowl. Stir in hot tomato sauce. Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish. Sprinkle remaining 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese over. Bake until sauce bubbles and cheeses melt, about 30 minutes.

Recipe: Minestrone Soup

heather — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:38:50 +0000

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 c. minced onion (about 1 small onion)
1/2 c. chopped zucchini
1/2 c. frozen cut Italian green beans
1/4 c. minced celery (about 1/2 stalk)
4 tsp. minced garlic
4 cups vegetable broth
2 (15 oz) cans red kidney beans, drained
2 (15 oz) cans small white beans or great Northern beans, drained
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 c. carrots, julienned or shredded
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsely
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
4 cups hot water
4 cups fresh baby spinach (optional)
1 cup small shell pasta

Instructions

Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat in a large stock pot.
Saute onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent.
Add vegetable broth to pot, plus drained tomatoes, beans, carrots, hot water, and spices.
Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for additional 20 minutes or until desired consistency.

Recipe: Cafe Rio Pork Salad

heather — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:08:14 +0000

To build your salad, you start with a flour tortilla, add a smidge handful of cheese, a spoonful or two of black beans, a spoonful or two of rice, as much pork as you think you can get away with, pile on shredded romaine lettuce, a couple of spoonfuls of pico, some guacamole if you have it, the tomatillo dressing and then homemade tortilla strips
Total Prep-time: 18 hours, technically. But most of that is just waiting for the pork to cook. I’d say active cook time for the entire meal was perhaps an hour, maybe 1 hour 15 mins. Lots of this meal (dressing, pico) can be made before-hand and kept in the fridge until it’s time to eat.

Café Rio Salad Ingredients

Tortilla – you can make your own, mine came from a package.
Cheese – it is a good idea to warm on the tortilla so the cheese is a little melty.
Beans – black or pinto (mine came straight out of the can, warmed in the microwave with a little garlic powder and green Tabasco sauce).
Rice – don’t be stingy now!
Pork – I am actually salivating while writing this post…
Lettuce – Shredded Romaine, you want small enough pieces to get a little of everything on your fork
Pico de Gallo – I like extra pico, so I give myself an extra scoop.
Tortilla Strips – slice a corn tortilla into strips, brush with olive oil and salt and pepper and bake on a foil-covered sheet for 15-20 minutes at 350-ish.
Creamy Tomatillo Dressing – I like to keep mine on the side so my lettuce doesn’t get too slobbery

Cafe Rio Cilantro Rice

Ingredients

3 cups. water
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 can (4 oz) green chilies
4 tsp. chicken bouillon
1 tsp. cumin
3/4 tsp. salt
1 TB butter
3 cups rice, uncooked

Instructions

Bring water to a boil in large pot, add all ingredients.
Cook covered for 30 minutes, or until rice is done.

Total Prep-Time: About 10 minutes, although a food processor would cut down your chopping time significantly.

Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa

Ingredients

5-6 lb. pork roast
21 oz. Dr. Pepper (or Coke, do NOT use diet soda)
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
7 oz. can chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
6-ish oz. red taco sauce (I used hot)
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions

Place roast in crock-pot, cover half-way with water and cook on low for 12 hours. (I started my Pork Adventure at midnight and everything worked out perfectly for Sunday dinner at 6:00 pm.) After 12 hours, drain pork (retain liquid if you want sauce for burritos, simply mix with a can of verde enchilada sauce and away you go.)
Mix remaining ingredients until sugar dissolves. I didn’t keep the actual chilies, I dumped the can into a bowl and added enough Dr. Pepper to get all the sauce off of the chilies, then I tossed them. I also rinsed out the can with Dr. Pepper for more adobo goodness. My version had a fairly good kick to it, but if you LOVE hotness, then blend everything + 2 or 3 chilies in the blender. (Also, the adobo sauce tends to stain plastic, using a glass or metal mixing bowl will make your clean-up of adobo sauce considerably less frustrating.)
Add Dr. Pepper mixture to the roast and cook on low an additional 4 hours. Take out roast and shred, add back into sauce and cook for 2 more hours. At this point the meat was so tender it practically shredded itself.

Cafe Rio Tomatillo Dressing

Do not skip this part, the dressing is my favorite part of the salad! Creamy and spicy and zesty, it is absolute heaven. I actually use leftover dressing for a tomatillo-cilantro salsa, this stuff makes regular, everyday corn-chips taste like exotic, savory treats. (Because we all know, corn is not exotic on it’s own.) If it can transform corn chips, just IMAGINE what it will do for your salad! Besides, it takes 3 minutes to put together.

Ingredients

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix
3 tomatillos (remove papery skin), rough chop
1 cup mayo
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup (or more) cilantro, rough chop
3 cloves garlic
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp green Tabasco sauce
juice from 1 lime

Instructions

Dump everything in a blender and blend until smooth.
Refrigerate in air-tight container (or your entire fridge will smell like garlic and cilantro).

Easy Pico-de-Gallo

Ingredients

3 tomatoes, diced
1/2 bunch of cilantro, minced
1/2 sweet onion, minced
1 section of green pepper, minced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
about 1/3-1/2 cup vinegar (use your best judgment)
salt and pepper

Instructions

Mix it up really well and refrigerate. I put my pico in a Tupperware and shook it up really well right before serving to re-mix.

Recipe: Calzone

heather — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:37:25 +0000

Ingredients

Filling:

Shredded mozzarella cheese
Pineapple & ham, cut up
Pepperoni Diced
onions
peppers
tomatoes
(Any combination or other fillings you like ie. olives, artichokes, sausage, etc.)

Dough:

2 pkg (2 Tb.) yeast
2 Tb. sugar
2 cups warm water
5 cups flour
2 tsp. salt

Instructions

Combine yeast, sugar, and warm water. Allow a few minutes for the yeast to proof (double and bubble.)
Add flour and salt.
Knead dough with more flour to form a firm dough.
Divide into four balls and roll each ball into a circle.
Put filling on half of a circle. Fold in half and seal edges.
Let raise 10 minutes.
Put on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking oil. (I usually let them raise on the cooking sheet for 10 min or longer, covered with Saran Wrap sprayed with cooking oil.)
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
Serve with warmed pizza or spaghetti sauce for dipping. Makes four calzones.

Cooking time (duration): 60

Number of servings (yield): 4

Recipe: Stuffed Pasta Shells with Sausage

heather — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:19:22 +0000

Delicious stuffed pasta shells never fail to make a big impression. This is a unique dish that will be a big hit with kids of all ages.

Ingredients

Pasta:

1 1/2 boxes (about 20 oz.)
Jumbo/Super Shells Macaroni
1 1/2 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. oil

Cheese Mix:

4 lbs cottage cheese (low fat or non-fat)
3 lbs white cheese (I use half mozzarella and half Colby Jack)
5 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. oregano, dried
1 Tbsp. basil, dried
1 Tbsp. chopped parsley, dried

Sauce Topping:

4 bottles spaghetti sauce
2 lbs. Italian flavor sausage

Instructions

Pasta:
Bring 8 qts water and salt to boil. Add shells and cook about 14 minutes. Add oil during boil to prevent shells from sticking. Drain and rinse in cold water. Pat dry.
Cheese Mix:
Cut most (2 1/2 lbs) of the cheese into small, 1/2 inch cubes. Grate the remainder and put aside. Mix all of the cheese mixture together (except for the cheese you grated–this will go on top when it’s all done.)
Sauce Topping:
Brown sausage in oiled skillet. Drain. Combine with spaghetti sauce.
Now to assemble all together:
Spray casserole dish with Pam. Spoon cheese mixture into pasta shells, (about 1 1/2 to 2 Tbsp. mixture per shell) and line up in dish. Cover filled dish with Sauce Topping. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top. Bake five pans at 350 for one hour. (When I’m heating just one dish, I bake at 350 for only 30 minutes but it takes much longer with a full oven).
Side Note: It’s hard to judge how full to fill the shells, and I usually run out of either cheese mixture or shells. Sometimes I whip up extra cheese mixture to fill extra shells, sometimes I just have extra pasta shells that don’t get filled. I tried to adjust the recipe so that there aren’t leftover shells, but it’s hard to know.

Cooking time (duration): 60

Number of servings (yield): 12

Meal type: dinner

Culinary tradition: Italian

My rating: 4.0 stars