new-recipe-week: October 2012

Friday, October 26, 2012

Recipe #40 Tomato, Basil, and Cheddar Soup

This week's recipe I found on Pinterest, not sure the origination of it. I keep waiting for colder weather and we actually had it for a few days, so time to make soup! This one was simple, but of course I changed it just slightly because of what I had on hand, i.e., I used chicken broth instead of vegetable, and 3-cheese Mexican shredded instead of cheddar. Everything else was pretty much the same. It was easy and delish. This is week 40, 12 more to go. Happy Cooking!

Tomato, Basil and Cheddar Soup

Makes 6 servings

2 28-oz. cans of diced tomatoes
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
2 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup of plain Greek yogurt
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup basil, chopped, loosely packed
2 tsp of oregano
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Over medium heat, add the olive oil to a large pot. Add the chopped onion and allow to cook until tender, about three to four minutes. Add in chopped garlic and cook for an additional two minutes. Pour in the two cans of tomatoes (juice and all) and the vegetable stock. Stir in the basil, oregano, sugar, and salt and pepper.

Place the lid back onto the pot and allow to simmer ten minutes. At the end, stir in the Greek yogurt and cheddar cheese until well blended. Use either an immersion blender or food processor to puree the soup if you prefer a smooth texture. Garnish with chopped basil and grated cheddar cheese if desired.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Recipe #39 Amazing Pork Tenderloin in the Slow Cooker

It's my the 30th anniversary week of my moving across country to Santa Barbara. Woo Hoo! I also need to give a shout out to my Detroit Tigers (to those of you who know me well, yes, I do care a little bit about sports). It's also still debate time so needed a recipe that was ready to go, but I couldn't stand another casserole so it was time for a slow cooker recipe. I found this recipe on All Recipes. com. What I liked about it is that it cooked the pork more like a roast vs my typical shredded result. I also used pork tri tip instead of pork loin. It was great, served with cheesy mash potatoes and a Green Giant side of cheese vegetables. Only took a couple of pics because there were so few ingredients and not much prep. I added flour to the juice to maake a gravy at the end. My crock pot has a meat probe which kept the cookig time perfect. Happy Cooking!

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 4 Hours

Ready In: 4 Hours 15 Minutes

Servings: 6

"A simple pork tenderloin recipe for the slow cooker with flavors of a fancy feast! The roast soaks up the wonderful flavor combination of onion, red wine and garlic, all of which come together at service to make a delicious au jus."

Ingredients:

1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin

1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix

1 cup water

3/4 cup red wine

3 tablespoons minced garlic

3 tablespoons soy sauce

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Place pork tenderloin in a slow cooker with the contents of the soup packet. Pour water, wine, and soy sauce over the top, turning the pork to coat. Carefully spread garlic over the pork, leaving as much on top of the roast during cooking as possible. Sprinkle with pepper, cover, and cook on low setting for 4 hours. Serve with cooking liquid on the side as au jus.

Nutrition
Information

Servings Per Recipe: 6

Calories: 180

Amount Per Serving

Total Fat: 3.7g
Cholesterol: 65mg
Sodium: 918mg

Amount Per Serving

Total Carbs: 5.8g
Dietary Fiber: 0.5g
Protein: 24.5g

Printed from Allrecipes.com 10/19/2012

Friday, October 12, 2012

#38 Moussaka Cottage Pie

Moussaka Cottage Pie

It's debate season so I am afraid you have another casserole. This one has a bit of a twist because it contains eggplant and the recipe is not eggplant parmesan. It has an interesting meld of flavors; I made this one pretty much as is, but left out the raisins and used a different tpe of mashies. Thanks to Anita for the eggplant from the garden :) This is another recipe from Allrecipes.com. I made it ahead of time, then just brought out to room temperature and followed directions. Easy and different, but not sure if I would make again. I felt like I needed gravy with the mashies. Happy Cooking!

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 medium onions, cut into medium dice

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey

2 cups canned crushed tomatoes

1/3 cup dark or golden raisins

1 pound eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch thick

slices

Salt and pepper

1 (24 ounce) package refrigerated

mashed potatoes, warmed in the

microwave according to instructions

1 large egg, beaten

Directions:

Heat 2 Tbs. oil in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onions until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, cinnamon and cloves; cook about 1 minute. Add meat, stirring to break it up, and cook about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and raisins; simmer 10 minutes.

Arrange eggplant slices on a lipped cookie sheet. Brush both sides with remaining oil, and season with salt and pepper. Broil on upper oven rack, turning once with kitchen tongs, until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side.

Reduce heat to 400 degrees. Lay eggplant in a single layer over meat mixture. Whisk egg into mashed potatoes; spread over eggplant. Bake on lower rack until sauce is bubbly, about 20 minutes.

Nutrition
Information

Servings Per Recipe: 8

Calories: 361

Amount Per Serving

Total Fat: 13.9g
Cholesterol: 99mg
Sodium: 570mg

Amount Per Serving

Total Carbs: 30.9g
Dietary Fiber: 5.3g
Protein: 28.9g

Printed from Allrecipes.com 10/12/2012

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Recipe #37 Easy Mexican Casserole Recipe

I was looking for a simple recipe to fix for a debate watching party. I had invited my new neighbors and of course, my fellow politico Susie. I needed a recipe that I could at least partially make ahead of time so that it was ready to eat by debate time and I was not spending all my time in the kitchen. I found another casserole recipe; normally I would have spiced it up but I didn't know how my neighbors would feel about that. I found this recipe on Pinterest and it is from Allrecipes.com. I also combined some features from a different recipe. I used Fritos instead of tortilla chips, greek yogurt instead of sour cream and roasted tomatoes instead of salsa. Also, I didn't realize it but my black olives were not sliced they were chopped; I had forgot to layer them so put them on top of the casserole, giving the "ant like" quality to the appearance of the dish. I prepared a home-made cilantro dressing also found on Pinterest to compliment the green salad. I apologize for the finished-product photos, when entertaining it is hard to remember sometimes to take the final pictures; somewhere on this plate next to the salad is the casserole covered in salsa. Happy Cooking!

Easy Mexican Casserole

Rated:

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Ready In: 50 Minutes

Submitted By: ANDREALF63

Cook Time: 30 Minutes

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef (added chopped onion and garlic and a little Mrs. Dash)

2 cups salsa (Hunts Chopped Tomatoes in Garlic)

1 (16 ounce) can chili beans, drained (used Ranch Style jalapeno beans undrained)

3 cups tortilla chips, crushed (Fritos)

2 cups sour cream (Greek Yogurt)

1 (2 ounce) can sliced black olives,

drained

1/2 cup chopped green onion

1/2 cup chopped fresh tomato

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (Three-Cheese)

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef until no longer pink. Stir in salsa, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in beans, and heat through.
3.	Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread crushed tortilla chips in dish, and then spoon beef mixture over chips. Spread sour cream over beef, and sprinkle olives, green onion, and tomato over the sour cream. Top with Cheddar cheese.
4.	Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.