Lettuce Wraps

I love lettuce wraps; veggie, pork, chicken, you name it, I love it. So I saw this recipe in--where else--Cooking Light and decided to give it whirl. It's a little different in that the pork is not ground, but rather sliced tenderloin. I already had two tenderloins in the freezer from when they were on sale last month, so the timing was perfect. The tenderloin was--for lack of a better word--so tender. It sliced like butter. They were amazing, the will be a favorite around here for sure.

I made a lot of changes to the recipe for this one, some based on what I had in the house and some based on wanting more in the slaw/salad poriton. It's an easy recipe and really healthy too. I paired with some brown rice.

Lettuce Wraps:
1/4c. Pineapple juice
2 tbsp. Sake (I used rice wine vinegar and I doubled this)
2 tbsp. Soy Sauce (I used reduced sodium and I doubled this)
4 cloves garlic, pressed
2 tbsp. fresh ginger, sliced (I eyeballed it)
1 lb. pork tenderloin
1 green mango, shredded (I cute the sides off and cut them as small as I could, shredded was just too small for my taste)
Shredded carrots (I used some cole slaw mix)
1/4 c. shredded red cabbage (My addition)
Handful of bean sprouts (Omitted)
1 head Bib lettuce (if you're making this for more than 2, get extra lettuce)
Thai peanut sauce for topping (My addition)

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large zip lock bag, fork the tenderloin and add to the bag. Refrigerate 1 hour (I did about 2). Grill tenderloin for about 25 minutes. (I saved the marinate and basted the tenderloin when I turned it).

Combine mango, slaw mix, and cabbage and toss. I microwaved the rest of the marinate for 3 minutes--to a boil--then tossed some in the salad mix. I tossed the rest of the marinate on some brown rice.

Goat Cheese & Corn Quesadillas

I spent the last few evenings going through three months of Cooking Light magazines that I haven't had time for because of school. I've now got a list of about 10--probably more--recipes on my to-do list. So tonight I started with goat cheese and corn quesadillas. They were really good and super easy. I served them with a tex-mex salad on the side.













Quesadillas:
4 tortillas (recipe called for corn, but I used flour)
1 cup whole kernel corn
1/2 cup goat cheese
1/2 cup tomatillo salsa (I had an open jar of black bean/corn salsa so I used that)

Saute corn in a small amount of EVOO. Mix heated corn with cheese. Lightly butter the tortillas, place butter side down in a warm skillet, top with corn mix and a spoon full of salsa, top with other tortilla. Cook two min on each side and slice with a pizza cutter.

Salad: (not from the magazine)
Spring mix
Roma tomato, chopped
Corn
Black beans
Bell pepper, chopped
Avocado, sliced
Cilantro
Salsa, on the side

For Jene...

My good friend, Jene, has been bugging me to post some delish food for her to look at for months. I know I completely suck and haven't posted in forever. I got a new job and between that and a rough semester, I've just been too busy lately.

This was something I just decided one day that I would try out. Ryan freaking loved it, talks about it all the time. Tells people about it the day after I make it. Comes in and dips bread (and his fingers) in the food processor to taste it. There is no source for this recipe, I kind of just found out what was in most pestos and tried some things until it was perfect.

So, without further adieu, I give you Pasta with Pesto Sauce:

Basil, about 1 1/2 cups fresh
Toasted pine nuts, 1/4 cup
Garlic, 4-5 cloves
Salt & Pepper
Process
Add 1/2 cup parm cheese
Process
Add extra virgin olive oil while processing until it reaches a consistency that you like.


Sometimes, if I'm feeling spicy, I'll add some red pepper flake. Pour over a pasta with lots of cracks and folds for the pesto to hide in. I usually serve it with bruschetta.

Three-Garlic Risotto and Caprese Sandwiches

Fantastic. I really enjoyed both of these dishes. Sorry for the crummy camera phone pic, but that's all I had.















Three-Garlic Risotto
I found the original recipe here, it's a great cooking blog.

5 cloves raw garlic, chopped
8 cloves roasted garlic, chopped
1/2 small onion or 1 small shallot, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup dry white wine
5 cups chicken broth, warmed
1 cup arborio rice (I used orzo pasta)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
A few pinches of dry or fresh parsley
Optional: 1 tsp white truffle oil (I omitted this)

For the roasted garlic. I wrap the entire head in foil and stick it in the oven at 300 for about 15 min. The cloves will be falling apart and you can just squeeze out the garlic.

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium/medium-low heat; add 1/2 of the raw garlic. Toast the garlic being careful not to burn it. Remove it from the oil.

Add the rest of the raw garlic and the onions to the oil. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
Add the butter and rice; stir for 1 minute.
Add the white wine and stir until it is absorbed.
Add the chicken broth 1 ladle-full at a time, letting it fully absorb before adding more. This takes a while, be sure to continue stirring or it will stick. Ryan tagged in a few times so I could work on the sandwiches.
Before the final ladle of broth, add the roasted garlic.
Add the cheese then parsley.
Top with the toasted garlic.

Caprese Sandwiches
(This is for my friend Jene)
I saw this on an episode of 30-Minute Meals, but I'm recreating it from memory.

4 flour tortillas
2 tomatoes, sliced
2 fresh mozzarella balls, sliced
4 strips of bacon (I only put bacon in two of them)
Fresh basil to your liking
Salt & Pepper
Balsamic

Blister the tortill a frying pan, cover one half with all other ingredients.
Fold over, and flip to golden brown on both sides.

Next time I make these, I won't put the balsamic in the tortilla. It made them too juicy and the two tortillas that sat on the plate while we ate the others got a little soggy in spots. I would probably make a balsamic sauce instead.

No laughing...Fish Tacos

Mmmm....mmm. These were so good and so easy. No original recipe this time, I saw a picture of tacos on the homepage of Foodtv.com and decided I wanted fish tacos for dinner. I worked with what I had.

Fish:
Whisk together:
EVOO
Fresh lime juice
Chipotle season
Marinate the fish in that for as long as you have. Place the fish on a baking sheet, then mix the marinate with panko breadcrumbs and spread on top of the filets. Oh, I used tilapia. Bake at 450 for about 15 minutes. Then flake the fish apart with a fork to make it bite-sized for the tacos.

Sauce:
2 parts plain fat free yogurt
1 part fat free mayo
Chipotle seasoning

Salsa:
1 can corn, drained
1/2 an onion, diced
Fresh lime juice
Cilantro

Then I topped them off with some chuncks of avocado and served with Mexican rice.

Pasta Primavera

The inspiration recipe for this came from http://www.thepioneerwomancooks.com/. Great website, btw. I changed it up a bit based on what veggies/pasta/cheese I had in the kitchen. Below is my adapted recipe, but check out the website I referenced for the original and other great recipes.

Pasta Primavera

Saute the following in EVOO
1 zucchini, sliced
1 yellow squash, sliced
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Two handfulls of chopped mushrooms
Red, yellow, & green pepper, chopped
Or whatever veggies you have.

Toss those in a big bowl once they are cooked to your liking. Boil pasta, drain and toss in bowl w/ veggies.

Sauce:
1 cup chicken or veggie stock. I made chicken out of water and bouillon cubes.
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4/ cup milk
1/2 cup parm cheese
1/2 cup mozzerella cheese
1/4 cup asiago cheese
Salt/pepper

Dump the sauce over the pasta and veggies and mix. I topped it with more parm cheese.

Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Egglant Sundried Tomato Calzones

As you know by now, I love eggplant and am always looking for new wasy to prepare it. I was flipping through the Best Vegetarian Cook Book. I think that's what it's called, I'll double check and update this if I'm wrong. These were so good, I will make them again.























I never got a really great picture. I served it with scalloped potatoes and assparagus.


Calzones:
Eggplant, peeled and diced
Sundried tomatoes, chopped
shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped (I used 2)
Puff pastry (I used pie shells, one for each calzone, fill, then fold over into half-moons. Cut in half when done for four servings)

Saute the eggplant, tomatoes, shallot, and garlic together until just tender. Fill puff pastry with mixture and bake at 350 for about 15 min.

Eggplant Rolatini and Amazing Scratch Scallops

I had an eggplant that I needed to use, I didn't feel like baked eggplant, so I attempted eggplant rolatini. It turned out pretty good. But the star of this meal, for sure, was the scratch scalloped potatoes. The eggplant is my own concoction, and the potatoes were from http://www.foodtv.com/

Eggplant Rolatini:
One eggplant, sliced length wise
Ricotta cheese
Mozzerella cheese
1 egg
EVOO

Put the eggplant slices on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt, let them sit for about 10 min. Drizzel them with EVOO and bake for about 5 min at 350. Lightly scramble the egg, mix with ricotta & mozzerella to your own liking. Then scoop cheese mix onto a slice of eggplant and roll it. Place in baking dish, tightly together so they don't unroll. Cover with tomato sauce and more mozzerella cheese. For sauce, I just blended a can of italian seasoned tomatoes, some basil, and some parm cheese. Bake for about 20 min. at 350.

Scalloped Potatoes:
1 pound of yukon gold potatoes (or Russett)
1/2 cup cream
garlic
nutmeg
salt & pepper
parm cheese
butter

Cut the potatoes into thin slices. I held the potato with my PC onion holder. In a sauce pan cook the cream & spices on low heat. Put a layer of potatoes in the bottom of a baking dish, overlap them, pour in some of the cream mix, sprinkle with parm cheese, another layer of potatoes, cream mix, two pats of butter, parm cheese, then two more layers. Then top with rest of cream mix and parm cheese. (I added some mozz cheese to the top). Bake at 375 for 45 min. Then broil for 5 min. to brown the cheese.

My favorite dinner

I love baked eggplant...love it. I make it once a week to once every other week. I serve it with garlic mashed, a veggie, baked feta, and mini pitas. Last time I made it R asked for a sauce for it. I told him that I usually spread the feta or some of the garlic mash on it. His response was that he had already scarfed his garlic mash...too bad for him. So this time I made a sauce. I'll admit, it was a nice addition.

Since I had the sauce this time, I decided to do something different with the potato. I just bought some ramekins the other day and wanted to use them so I made little potato souffles.

Aren't they cute? Here is what I did:

Made garlic mashed as usual.

Spray the ramekins with non-stick spray

In the food processor:

1/2 c. flour

1 egg

1/2 c. milk (maybe less)

Process

Pour mix into ramekin just above covering the bottom, the fill with potato, then pour more mix over top. It made a great little baked crust.

Here is the rest:

Eggplant:

Slice

Dip in egg

Dip in breading mix

Bake at 400 for about 15 min on each side.

My breading:

Panko bread crumbs

Shake and bake or italian bread crumbs

Oregano

Basil

Garlic powder

some parm cheese

The Sauce:

Leftover pan drippings from shrip linguini and a can of italian spiced tomatoes in the food processor. R loved the sauce BTW.

My favorite soup

Cheesey Potato Chowder

I got this probably six years ago out of a magazine, sorry, I don't remember which one. I've made many changes to it over the years, so here is my version.

Extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 chicken broth cubes
2 cups water
3 cups potatos, diced
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1 can whole kernal corn, drained
4 cups milk
2 tblsp flour
salt
2 cups shredded cheese of your choice

Cook onion in oil for about 4 min. Add water, broth cubes, potatos, carrots, and corn. Boil then simmer for 15 min.

Whisk milk, flour, and salt. Add to soup and boil. Simmer for 3 min or until slightly thickened. Add cheese and cook on low for about 15 min.