Ravioli with Brown Butter and Sage

Ravioli with Brown Butter and Sage

This is a fantastic dish composed of only four ingredients – butter, cheese ravioli, fresh sage, and walnuts. I had made some spicy pork sausage and had fresh sage left over but it is worth it to splurge on fresh sage in order to make this! I adapted the recipe from an article in the February 2010 issue of Real Simple magazine. The article was “10 ideas for: cheese ravioli.” I had just stocked up on Trader Joe’s dried version of ravioli so gave this a try. We really enjoyed it and I’ll definitely make it again.

Ingredients
12 oz. dried mini cheese ravioli (or 16-18 oz. of fresh or frozen)
6 T. butter
1/4 C. chopped walnuts
1/3 C. sage (large leaves torn in half or thirds)
salt & pepper to taste

1. Cook the ravioli in well salted water according to package instructions and drain. Set aside.
2. Melt the butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the walnuts and sage and cook until the sage is crisp and the butter and walnuts are browned. (6-8 minutes)
3. Mix in the drained ravioli and season with salt and pepper. Serves 4

Honey Mustard Beet Salad

Honey Mustard Beet Salad

This is a great winter salad that is very colorful and tasty. It makes a lot but is the kind of salad that gets better the longer the beets marinate in the dressing. My friend with all the food allergies was able to enjoy this because there are no additives in any of the ingredients. I served this with roasted chicken that was cooked in the crockpot.

Ingredients
5 cans sliced beets, drained
1/2 C. honey
4 t. balsamic vinegar
1-2 T. yellow mustard (depending how mustardy you like it)
1 shallots, finely minced or 1/4 C. onion, finely minced
1/2 C. toasted, chopped walnuts
1 – 10 oz. bag baby spinach

1. Drain the beets and place them in a large bowl.
2. In a small bowl whisk together the honey, balsamic vinegar, and yellow mustard. Stir in the shallot and pour over the beets. Toss to coat the beets with the dressing. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes for the flavors to blend.
3. To serve, place a handful of baby spinach on a salad plate and top with the beet mixture. Sprinkle with walnuts. Serves 8

Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup

Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup

The other day I ran across an old folder of recipes I had clipped from newspapers and magazines most of which I never tried. I bet all you foodies out there have the same kind of file laying around! It was fun to go through the recipes to see if there were any that I still wanted to try. There were two or three that still interested me but the others no longer sounded very appealing. I think I have evolved in my food tastes over the years so I guess this should be no surprise. At any rate, I thought the Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup recipe sounded good. One of the reason it appealed to me was starting with a base of packaged long grain and wild rice blend so basically you have much of the seasoning for the soup all set. So here is my adapted version of the recipe. The main things I did differently were adding a chopped shallot to the mix (which can be left out if you don’t have any on hand), using a red pepper instead of green (because that’s what I had around), and using 4 ounces of light cream cheese for the creaminess since I did not have a can of evaporated skim milk on hand. Oh, and oh yeah, I added an optional tablespoon of sherry just before serving. Hmmmmm . . . I guess I changed the recipe more than I thought . . . oh well, enjoy!

Ingredients
1 – 6 oz. box long grain and wild rice blend (I used Uncle Ben’s original)
1 onion, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1/2 C. red pepper, diced
1/3 C. flour
4 C. chicken stock or broth
4 oz. light cream cheese
1 T. sherry (optional)

1. Cook rice blend according to the package directions and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, pour 1/4 C. of chicken broth and heat until hot. Add the onions, red pepper, shallot, and red peppers and saute in the chicken broth for 2 -3 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add the mushrooms and saute until tender.
3. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir until well mixed with the vegetables.
4. Gradually stir in the rest of the chicken broth and heat until boiling. Add the light cream cheese in chunks, stirring to melt into the broth.
5. Stir in the rice mixture and season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Just before serving stir in 1 T. sherry. Add more chicken broth if too thick.

Buttery Shredded Carrots

Carrots & Green Onions Ready to Saute

This is another quick and easy recipe that uses a couple of bags of pre-shredded carrots from the produce department. It seems like we always have plenty of desserts and potato or bread at our monthly Dining for Women meeting so I made this for potluck last month. It went very well with the roasted pork loin the host made. Sorry I forgot to take a picture after this was cooked!!

Ingredients
2 – 10 oz. bags shredded carrots
4 T. butter
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 1/2 T. brown sugar
salt & pepper to taste

1. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.
2. Stir in the shredded carrots and green onions. Saute for a couple of minutes to coat the carrots with butter and release some of the moisture from the carrots.
3. Cover the carrots and steam for 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the brown sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Serves 6-8

Chile Cheese Puff

Chile Chees Puff

I recently signed up to provide breakfast at church before Sunday School meets. It has been really cold here so I thought it would be nice to have something hot for one of the dishes and decided to make this breakfast casserole. The breakfast needed to be items I could make in advance since I have to have everything at the church by 9 AM in order to get everything set up before 9:30. So along with the Chile Cheese Puff, I made my banana bread, a plate of citrus fruit, and some chunks of banana in a bowl.

Citrus Platter

I made the casserole up the day before and refrigerated it until Sunday morning and baked it so I could head out the door to church right after I took it out of the oven. The citrus fruit and banana bread could be completely prepared the day before so that worked out well. When I got to church I put the casserole in a 200 degree oven to hold while I got everything set up. The only other food prep was cutting up the bananas and placing them in a bowl. I served the banana bread that I had made in a bundt pan on a pedestaled cake plate so it looked very attractive!

Ingredients
10 eggs
1/2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 C. cottage cheese
8 oz. pkg. monterey jack cheese, shredded
8 oz. pkg. cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 C. melted butter
2 – 4 oz. cans chopped green chiles
paprika for garnish
Salsa and sour cream on the side

1. Spray a 10 inch X 15 inch casserole dish or two 8 inch X 8 inch baking pans with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat eggs in large mixing bowl. Stir in the cottage cheese and green chiles.
3. Mix together the flour and baking powder and toss together with the shredded cheeses. Add to the egg mixture and blend in the melted butter. Pour into the casserole dish and sprinkle with paprika.
4. Bake fo 40-45 mintues or until center tests done. Serves 8-10.
5. Serve with salsa and sour cream on the side.

Oven Roasted Green Beans

Oven Roasted Green Beans

I haven’t posted a vegetable dish in awhile so thought I’d post this. It’s so easy that I hesitated to post it but is so good that I went ahead as you can see. This same procedure can be followed using frozen asparagus spears and they’re delish as well!

Ingredients
1 lb. bag frozen whole green beans (I use Happy Harvest Extra Fine Green Beans from Aldi’s)
1 shallot or small onion, slivered
salt & pepper to taste
balsamic vinegar to taste

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Spread the green beans on a baking sheet with sides and sprinkle with the slivered shallot or onion. Season with salt and pepper. 3. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven, flip with a spatula, and return to oven to cook for 10 more minutes.
4. Remove from oven and drizzle with a tablespoon or two of balsamic vinegar. Serves 2-3.

Moroccan Spiced Salad

This is a wonderfully unusual salad. It’s a blend of savory spices, crunchy nuts, chewy raisins, rice, and beans with a hint of lemon and mint. The blend of rice, beans, and nuts makes it appropriate for a vegetarian main dish and it makes a great side with roasted chicken for the carnivores among us. Kudos go to my friend, Charmaine, who shared this recipe with me after bringing it to our Dining for Women group. I made a few adaptations but the spice blend remained the same as the original recipe.

Ingredients
2 T. olive oil
1 C. rice
3 1/2 C. water

4 T. olive oil
6 T. vinegar
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. honey
2 t. garam masala (a blend of spices)
2 t. ground coriander
1 t. dry mustard

1 – 15 oz. can small red beans (or kidney)
1 – 15 oz. can cannellini beans (or garbanzo)
4 shallots, chopped
8 green onions, trimmed and sliced
1 1/2 C. golden raisins
1 1/2 C. walnuts, coarsely chopped (or pine nuts)
1 T. chopped fresh mint

Chopped fresh mint to garnish
Lemon wedges, to serve

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium sauce pan with a lid. Add the rice and cook for 3 minutes, stirring, over low heat. Pour in the water and bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover, and simmer on low for 25-35 minutes until water is absorbed. Remove from heat and pour the cooked rice into a strainer. Rinse under cold running water, drain well, and set aside to cool.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 4 tablespoons of olive oil and honey until emulsified. Mix in the vinegar, lemon juice, garam masala, coriander, and dry mustard and stir well.
3. Add the rice and mix well.
4. Drain and rinse both cans of beans and add them to the rice along with the shallots, green onions, walnuts, golden raisins, and mint. Mix well. Garnish with fresh mint and serve with lemon wedges. Serves 8

Easy Oriental Broccoli Slaw

Easy Oriental Broccoli Slaw

I’m always interested in quick and easy recipes that can be thrown together after work and served up quickly with some grilled meat and fruit for a nutritious meal. This recipe includes the fruit right in the slaw so eliminates an extra side dish in my opinion. While for most folks (meat eaters that is) this would be a side dish, because it contains toasted slivered almonds, I think it would qualify as a vegetarian main dish especially if a little tofu or feta cheese is thrown in. For meat eaters who would like to make this a main dish, simply add some diced chicken and increase the salad dressing a little. This recipe is adapted from Hungry Girl 200 Under 200 cookbook by Lisa Lillien. It’s a great little cookbook with 200 recipes under 200 calories. This recipe weighs in at 111 calories for a 1 cup serving!

Ingredients
One 16-ounce package of dry broccoli slaw mix
1 can of diced water chestnuts, drained and chopped a little more
1 12-ounce can of mandarin oranges, drained
1 C. chopped green onions
2/3 C. Newman’s Own Lighten Up! Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing
1 packet of Splenda
1/4 C. slivered almonds

Place the slivered almonds on a small plate and microwave on high for 1 minute 30 seconds to toast. If they need toasted a little more, toast for 10 second increments until done. Set aside. Pour the broccoli slaw into a large serving dish. In a smaller bowl, mix together the salad dressing and packet of Splenda. Add the onion and mandarin oranges and toss to mix. Pour the dressing mixture over the broccoli slaw and sprinkle with the toasted almonds. Toss everything to combine.

Ginger Pumpkin Bread

Ginger Pumpkin Bread

A friend of mine gave me the coolest loaf pan when she stayed with us not long ago. It has pumpkins and leaves carved in the bottom of the pan so that when you dump out the bread you’ve made it has this really pretty fall design on the top.

Cool Autumn Loaf Pan

I just had to try it out so decided to make this ginger pumpkin bread. It’s from the October 2006 issue of Everyday Food. One of the reasons I like this recipe (beside the fact that it tastes great) is that it uses the whole can of pumpkin and makes two loaves so you don’t waste any of the pumpkin.

Ingredients
12 T. butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted
2 1/2 C. flour
2 t. baking powder
2 t. ground ginger
1 t. salt
1 C. sugar
1 C. packed brown sugar
1 15 oz. can of pumpkin
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 1/2 X 4 1/2 inch loaf pans; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, ginger, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, pumpkin, melted butter, and eggs;add the flour mixture, and stir until just combined.

Divide the batter between the two loaf pans. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of loaves comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes; invert pans and transfer loaves to a wire rack to cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or glaze if desired. Serves 12

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Roasted pumpkin seeds have been a tradition in our family for a long, long time. Even though my kids are grown and gone, I still buy a pumpkin a Halloween just so I can make these. It’s really simple.

Directions
Just scoop the seeds from the pumpkin and separate them from any bits of the flesh. Rinse the seeds and then boil them in water for 10 minutes. Drain well. For each cup of seeds, mix together 1 tablespoon of melted butter and 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce and pour over the seeds. Mix to coat the seeds. Spread in a large jelly roll pan and sprinkle generously with seasoning salt. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until dry. Stir them every 10 minutes during the bake time.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds & Appetizer Platter