This is one of the husband's favorite casseroles, which is saying quite a bit, because he never met a casserole he didn't like. It makes a great weeknight dinner, though there are a number of steps, so if I am pressed for time use store-bought cooked chicken and beans for this.
Mexican Quinoa Casserole
Nouns-
2 cups dry quinoa or rice
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1-2 cups corn kernels
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 cup salsa
1 can tomato soup
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup crushed tortilla chips
2 cups cooked black beans (or pinto, if you prefer)
2 tbsp chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
Verbs-
Preheat the oven to 350. In rice cooker or medium pot, cook the rice or quinoa according to package directions, but using broth in place of water. While that is cooking, saute the chicken in a little olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the onion and pepper and saute another 5 minutes. Add the garlic and half the chili powder and cook until chicken is done, another 2 minutes or so, then remove from heat. Now you're ready to assemble the casserole. Grease a large casserole dish and pour the beans in the bottom. In a large bowl, combine the salsa, tomato soup and remaining chili powder. Add the chicken mixture and quinoa/rice and stir to combine. Pour the mixture over the beans. Top with the shredded cheese and chips. Bake for 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Baby Shower Food!
This weekend I'm hosting a baby shower for my beloved Miriam and her husband Lee and their little soon-to-be-baby. Because the shower is in a park, I had to get creative with the food. There isn't a BBQ, but there is electricity, so I am going to feed 12-15 people from a selection of salads that can be served at room temperature and from two crockpots. Here's the plan:
Party Meatballs- Crockpot 1 will have store-bought (I know, cheating!) turkey meatballs in tangy sauce. Simply pour a bottle of Heinz chili sauce and a bottle of apricot preserves over the meatballs and cook on low in the crock for few hours and Voila! delicious.
Shredded Chipotle Chicken Soft Tacos- Crockpot 2 will have chicken slow cooked with chipotle chilis in adobo. Once the chicken is done it'll be shredded and put back in the crock and served with a huge stack of corn tortillas and some fresh pico de gallo. Yummers.
No-Mayo Potato Salad- Roasted cubed red potatoes with chopped hard boiled eggs, celery, fennel, green onions and maybe capers, in a light Dijon fennel vinaigrette.
Mediterranean Pasta Salad- Tricolor rotini with carrots, peppers, artichokes, cauliflower, broccoli, tons of feta cheese and Italian dressing.
Cabbage Salad- my usual recipe
Lemon Cupcakes- I'm using the Joy of Baking recipe but trying to track down some lavender to do lavender icing instead of the regular lemon.
Red Velvet Cupcakes- Again, the joy of baking recipe.
Kids' Station- Juice boxes, strawberries, crackers.
I'll also put out some watermelon, strawberries and beverages.
I have to go boil eggs, roast potatoes and cook pasta now.
Party Meatballs- Crockpot 1 will have store-bought (I know, cheating!) turkey meatballs in tangy sauce. Simply pour a bottle of Heinz chili sauce and a bottle of apricot preserves over the meatballs and cook on low in the crock for few hours and Voila! delicious.
Shredded Chipotle Chicken Soft Tacos- Crockpot 2 will have chicken slow cooked with chipotle chilis in adobo. Once the chicken is done it'll be shredded and put back in the crock and served with a huge stack of corn tortillas and some fresh pico de gallo. Yummers.
No-Mayo Potato Salad- Roasted cubed red potatoes with chopped hard boiled eggs, celery, fennel, green onions and maybe capers, in a light Dijon fennel vinaigrette.
Mediterranean Pasta Salad- Tricolor rotini with carrots, peppers, artichokes, cauliflower, broccoli, tons of feta cheese and Italian dressing.
Cabbage Salad- my usual recipe
Lemon Cupcakes- I'm using the Joy of Baking recipe but trying to track down some lavender to do lavender icing instead of the regular lemon.
Red Velvet Cupcakes- Again, the joy of baking recipe.
Kids' Station- Juice boxes, strawberries, crackers.
I'll also put out some watermelon, strawberries and beverages.
I have to go boil eggs, roast potatoes and cook pasta now.
Review of last week's recipes/ baking day
Well, last week went well! The Thai fried rice turned out very well, and the quinoa was scrumptious. I had to fuss with the veggie burgers a bit to get them right, but they turned out quite good in the end.
I learned that the veggie burgers need less time in the food processor, but more egg and bread crumb binder, than I originally thought. So, the best ones were a mix of a cup or two of mushed black beans, a half block of frozen, pressed and crumbled tofu, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, a dash or two of worchestershire sauce, minced onions and spices. I fried them on a griddle, because I was afraid they'd fall apart on a grill pan, and they were very tasty with cheese and ketchup on homemade honeywheat bread for buns.
Today is also baking day, but I didn't feel like going to the store for more yeast and flour, so I am trying a new, single loaf sandwich bread recipe, modified from this one: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-sandwich-bread-recipe. The only change I made was to use half honey and half sugar for the sweet, and we'll see if that works! It's still rising. I also decided to mix and knead the dough entirely in my mixer instead of by hand... we'll see how that worked. It was so much easier, but also less tactile and fun.
I will post this week's meal plan in bit here.
I learned that the veggie burgers need less time in the food processor, but more egg and bread crumb binder, than I originally thought. So, the best ones were a mix of a cup or two of mushed black beans, a half block of frozen, pressed and crumbled tofu, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, a dash or two of worchestershire sauce, minced onions and spices. I fried them on a griddle, because I was afraid they'd fall apart on a grill pan, and they were very tasty with cheese and ketchup on homemade honeywheat bread for buns.
Today is also baking day, but I didn't feel like going to the store for more yeast and flour, so I am trying a new, single loaf sandwich bread recipe, modified from this one: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-sandwich-bread-recipe. The only change I made was to use half honey and half sugar for the sweet, and we'll see if that works! It's still rising. I also decided to mix and knead the dough entirely in my mixer instead of by hand... we'll see how that worked. It was so much easier, but also less tactile and fun.
I will post this week's meal plan in bit here.
Crockpot Recipes, hit and miss
First, the HIT!
Easy Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings
Nouns:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 medium onion
3-4 ribs celery, chunked
3-4 carrots, chunked
1.5 cups chicken broth
1 can cream of celery condensed soup
2 bay leaves
sprinkle of basil
sprinkle of oregano
sprinkle of thyme
2 cups dry biscuit mix... I like buttermilk mix for this.
Verbs
Put all but the last ingredient into the crockpot and cook on low 6-8 hours. (I actually cooked mine for over twelve hours because I forgot my keys and couldn't get into my house and my husband had to come rescue me and blah blah blah, I didn't get home until 8:30 or so, and it still turned out yummy.) Then, turn the crock to high and mix the biscuit mix with as much water as the directions call for. Mix into biscuit dough. Pinch off small pieces of dough, say gumball sized, and drop them into the crock. Cover the crock and simmer on high for about 30 minutes. If you are impatient, you can parbake the dumplings first in a toaster oven, like I did. Once the biscuits are done through, ladle up a big bowl full and eat. Delicious!
The husband raved about how much he liked it. Actually, he grunted like a happy puppy with his mouth full and mimed putting more in his bowl. Which I interpret as a compliment.
And now, the Miss...
Crockpot Chicken Paprikash
I put this together from a variety of different recipes, and it's not great.
Nouns:
4 portions of chicken bones and skin removed... I used four thighs and a breast, but you could do all breast, or a whole cut up chicken, or whatever
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons paprika
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
salt and pepper
1 cup sour cream
Egg noodles or Spatzle
Put the first set of ingredients in the crockpot and cook on high 4 hours. I cooked mine on low for 8, and it was too long; things got a bit too browned and sad. Remove the paprikash from the crock and stir in the sour cream right before serving over the noodles or spatzle.
This is not great. It's overdone and so all fell apart. It looks like barbecue pulled chicken, but tastes like nothing much, really. I think it would be MUCH better with a shorter cooking time and better quality paprika (ours is from the bulk spice bin at our discount grocery, and it's only so-so) but it's just not really worth tinkering with to try to get perfect. Paprikash is not for the crockpot, as it turns out.
Easy Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings
Nouns:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 medium onion
3-4 ribs celery, chunked
3-4 carrots, chunked
1.5 cups chicken broth
1 can cream of celery condensed soup
2 bay leaves
sprinkle of basil
sprinkle of oregano
sprinkle of thyme
2 cups dry biscuit mix... I like buttermilk mix for this.
Verbs
Put all but the last ingredient into the crockpot and cook on low 6-8 hours. (I actually cooked mine for over twelve hours because I forgot my keys and couldn't get into my house and my husband had to come rescue me and blah blah blah, I didn't get home until 8:30 or so, and it still turned out yummy.) Then, turn the crock to high and mix the biscuit mix with as much water as the directions call for. Mix into biscuit dough. Pinch off small pieces of dough, say gumball sized, and drop them into the crock. Cover the crock and simmer on high for about 30 minutes. If you are impatient, you can parbake the dumplings first in a toaster oven, like I did. Once the biscuits are done through, ladle up a big bowl full and eat. Delicious!
The husband raved about how much he liked it. Actually, he grunted like a happy puppy with his mouth full and mimed putting more in his bowl. Which I interpret as a compliment.
And now, the Miss...
Crockpot Chicken Paprikash
I put this together from a variety of different recipes, and it's not great.
Nouns:
4 portions of chicken bones and skin removed... I used four thighs and a breast, but you could do all breast, or a whole cut up chicken, or whatever
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons paprika
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
salt and pepper
1 cup sour cream
Egg noodles or Spatzle
Put the first set of ingredients in the crockpot and cook on high 4 hours. I cooked mine on low for 8, and it was too long; things got a bit too browned and sad. Remove the paprikash from the crock and stir in the sour cream right before serving over the noodles or spatzle.
This is not great. It's overdone and so all fell apart. It looks like barbecue pulled chicken, but tastes like nothing much, really. I think it would be MUCH better with a shorter cooking time and better quality paprika (ours is from the bulk spice bin at our discount grocery, and it's only so-so) but it's just not really worth tinkering with to try to get perfect. Paprikash is not for the crockpot, as it turns out.
Cheater recipes
These are few of my tips and tricks, not full-blown recipes, just a few ideas you can use in a pinch for some tasty food.
3 Uses for Orange Marmalade
* mix with equal parts good-quality balsamic or white wine vinegar for a fat-free and tasty salad dressing
* mix with equal parts soy sauce for quick and easy stir-fry sauce (even better with ginger and chili garlic sauce stirred in!)
*makes a great fruit salad dressing... all by itself!
3 Cheap and Easy Cabbage Dishes... that actually taste great!
* Ramen Cabbage salad- slaw a head of cabbage, and crumble 1 package of dry ramen noodles over it, reserving the flavor packet. Chop 1 bunch scallions and add to cabbage. Mix the flavor packet (oriental flavor or chicken is best) with 1 tbsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar, a splash of soy sauce and the juice of one orange. Zest the orange and add zest to cabbage. Pour the dressing over the salad and you're in business! Add giner, almonds or sesame seeds for extra tastiness.
*Easy Asian chicken wraps- wrap pre-cooked chicken, slawed cabbage (the pre-bagged stuff is fine!), chopped scallions and bottled sesame ginger salad dressing (we like Newman's Own for this) in a tortilla or whole-wheat wrap. Tasty, nutritious, low-cal lunch!
* Glazed red cabbage- Saute slawed red cabbage over medium heat with 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/3 cup orange marmalade and 1 tsp ground allspice until wilted. My mother, who doesn't like cooked cabbage, liked this one, especially served with chicken apple sausage and rice.
3 uses for leftover pasta
* Spaghetti Casserole- Pour sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella over leftover noodles and bake under bubbly and golden brown. Yum!
* Use for "Spaghetti Eggs"... as seen once on the food network. Heat olive oil in a frying pan, add the spaghetti and shallots and garlic, then a few eggs, stirring to scramble as you add milk and a WHOLE BUNCH of fresh grated parm. Top with basil, parsley or other fresh herbs. Better than the best omelet ever.
* Quick pasta salad- you can make a super easy one-serving pasta salad with whatever veggies you have on hand and your favorite bottles salad dressing. I often just dice a little celery, add some peppers and carrots to my salad and then sprinkle crumbled feta or grated cheddar over it before stirring in Italian dressing. Yumm!
3 Uses for Orange Marmalade
* mix with equal parts good-quality balsamic or white wine vinegar for a fat-free and tasty salad dressing
* mix with equal parts soy sauce for quick and easy stir-fry sauce (even better with ginger and chili garlic sauce stirred in!)
*makes a great fruit salad dressing... all by itself!
3 Cheap and Easy Cabbage Dishes... that actually taste great!
* Ramen Cabbage salad- slaw a head of cabbage, and crumble 1 package of dry ramen noodles over it, reserving the flavor packet. Chop 1 bunch scallions and add to cabbage. Mix the flavor packet (oriental flavor or chicken is best) with 1 tbsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar, a splash of soy sauce and the juice of one orange. Zest the orange and add zest to cabbage. Pour the dressing over the salad and you're in business! Add giner, almonds or sesame seeds for extra tastiness.
*Easy Asian chicken wraps- wrap pre-cooked chicken, slawed cabbage (the pre-bagged stuff is fine!), chopped scallions and bottled sesame ginger salad dressing (we like Newman's Own for this) in a tortilla or whole-wheat wrap. Tasty, nutritious, low-cal lunch!
* Glazed red cabbage- Saute slawed red cabbage over medium heat with 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/3 cup orange marmalade and 1 tsp ground allspice until wilted. My mother, who doesn't like cooked cabbage, liked this one, especially served with chicken apple sausage and rice.
3 uses for leftover pasta
* Spaghetti Casserole- Pour sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella over leftover noodles and bake under bubbly and golden brown. Yum!
* Use for "Spaghetti Eggs"... as seen once on the food network. Heat olive oil in a frying pan, add the spaghetti and shallots and garlic, then a few eggs, stirring to scramble as you add milk and a WHOLE BUNCH of fresh grated parm. Top with basil, parsley or other fresh herbs. Better than the best omelet ever.
* Quick pasta salad- you can make a super easy one-serving pasta salad with whatever veggies you have on hand and your favorite bottles salad dressing. I often just dice a little celery, add some peppers and carrots to my salad and then sprinkle crumbled feta or grated cheddar over it before stirring in Italian dressing. Yumm!
Best Appetizer Ever
I make this for all the parties I go to, and virtually every special occasion.
Angie's Baked Brie
1 wheel of brie
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup whiskey
Preheat oven to 350. Unwrap the brie and place it in a small baking dish, or if you have on, a brie baker. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and whiskey together, until the sugar is about half dissolved. Add more whiskey or sugar as you like. I sometimes double the sugar and whiskey, because what is better than sugar and whiskey? Roughly chop (or don't) the nuts and sprinkle them over the cheese. Then pour the sugar/whiskey over the cheese and nuts and bake until the sauce is bubbly, the nuts are browned, and the cheese is ready to ooze out everywhere.
Serve with crackers or thinly sliced apples, or both.
1 wheel of brie
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup whiskey
Preheat oven to 350. Unwrap the brie and place it in a small baking dish, or if you have on, a brie baker. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and whiskey together, until the sugar is about half dissolved. Add more whiskey or sugar as you like. I sometimes double the sugar and whiskey, because what is better than sugar and whiskey? Roughly chop (or don't) the nuts and sprinkle them over the cheese. Then pour the sugar/whiskey over the cheese and nuts and bake until the sauce is bubbly, the nuts are browned, and the cheese is ready to ooze out everywhere.
Serve with crackers or thinly sliced apples, or both.
German-Inspired Dinner
Tonight I made a cheater dinner, just the quickest and easiest thing I could think of.
Kielbasa and Brown Rice:
1 turkey kielbasa, sliced into 3-inch sections
1.5 cups brown rice, prepared
1 half yellow onion, sliced thinly
1 half cup of beer
1.2 tsp stone ground mustard (optional)
olive oil
Saute the onions in olive oil until transparent, then add the kielbasa sections and saute over medium high heat for 3-5 minutes. Add the beer and mustard to the pan, turn down to a simmer and stir. When liquid has reduced by half, serve over rice.
Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Pine Nuts
As many brussels sprouts as you want, cleaned and sliced in half
zest of one lemon
a few tablespoons pine nuts
olive oil
Saute sprouts in oil over medium high heat for about 10 minutes, or until they caramelize. Turn the heat down to low and add the nuts and zest. Stir for 2-3 minutes, not letting the nuts scorch. Serve with kielbasa.
Kielbasa and Brown Rice:
1 turkey kielbasa, sliced into 3-inch sections
1.5 cups brown rice, prepared
1 half yellow onion, sliced thinly
1 half cup of beer
1.2 tsp stone ground mustard (optional)
olive oil
Saute the onions in olive oil until transparent, then add the kielbasa sections and saute over medium high heat for 3-5 minutes. Add the beer and mustard to the pan, turn down to a simmer and stir. When liquid has reduced by half, serve over rice.
Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Pine Nuts
As many brussels sprouts as you want, cleaned and sliced in half
zest of one lemon
a few tablespoons pine nuts
olive oil
Saute sprouts in oil over medium high heat for about 10 minutes, or until they caramelize. Turn the heat down to low and add the nuts and zest. Stir for 2-3 minutes, not letting the nuts scorch. Serve with kielbasa.
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