Brussels Sprouts

This is a fast easy yet yummy recipe-NOT healthy. The ultimate test was to get my husband to eat it...this is why I added bacon :) And he enjoyed it so I win!

I washed and tore off all ugly looking leaves on the brussels sprouts. We received some fresh organic ones in our CSA last week.

I parboiled them for about 3 minutes...they should be almost tender (cut one in half to check).



Drain the water and put them in cold ice water , this will keep them nice and green.


In a pan add butter, onion, and bacon-sauté for a few minutes.



While they are cooking cut the brussels sprouts in half then add to the onion bacon mixture.
Cook for a 4-5 more minutes…don’t over cook! When brussels sprouts are over cooked they become bitter tasting! I like mine to be tender yet a tad crisp yet.

Looks healthy right!?

I served them with meatloaf and red potatoes. Yum!

Spaghetti Squash

I have never cooked a spaghetti squash before. So I made a very simple dish and turns out I really enjoy it!

To cook the spaghetti squash I preheated the oven to 350 degree and cut the squash in half. I placed it cut sides down in a baking dish with about an inch of water.
I cooked it for 30 minutes.

While that was cooking, I sliced and cooked some smoked turkey kielbasa with some diced onion and fresh garlic.
I added some chopped red pepper and heated through. I also chopped up 2 tomatoes and added them for the last few minutes of cooking…just enough to warm them up slightly.




My husband took the squash out of the oven and used a fork to “shred” out the squash.
Then we simply dished the meat and veggies on top of the squash and added a few pinches of Italian cheese.


Very simple and very good!

Quick and Easy Healthy Meal

After receiving A LOT of tomatoes in our CSA I got to thinking of what I could make with them.
Tonight for dinner I did a simple mix of veggies (onion, zucchini, squash, cerise toamtoes) mixed with some chicken served with corn on the cob and broiled tomatoes.

For the broiled tomatoes I sliced the tomatoes to desired thickness. Placed them on a broiling pan and then I covered half of them with Italian Vinaigrette and the other half with dry Italian seasonings.


I then sliced some mozzarella cheese and placed that on top and a sprinkle of black cracked pepper. I broiled them just until the cheese was melted a tad.

They turned out pretty good, I like the ones that had the Vinaigrette on them the best. It was a nice way to use the tomatoes and a nice addition to the meal!

Super Chicken Salad

Trying to find creative ways to use up our CSA veggies I decided to get crafty and make some super-chicken salad. It is super easy so this blog will not be long!

I chopped up some red cabbage, shredded a carrot, and chopped up some onion.


I boiled 2 chicken breast and then shredded them using two forks.



In a small bowl I used some mayo (made with extra virgin olive oil), a bit of yellow mustard, a dash of celery salt (we had no celery on hand), and some black cracked pepper. As with all my sauce mixtures I didn’t measure anything just added as I went along!

I then added all of the ingredients together and mixed well. I served it as an open faced sandwich on a piece of wheat bread with corn on the cob and a side salad. I served it slightly warm but you can let is sit and cool in the fridge if desired.
It was very good and something I will make again.


The cabbage added an extra good crunch. The carrots were shredded so the flavor was not overpowering and added a nice color to the salad.

Veggie Pasta

My husband and I recently celebrated 3 years of wedded bliss. We went out for a nice dinner at a restaurant downtown Madison and had a fabulous meal. We both ordered dishes that were not complicated but due to all the fresh ingredients it was remarkably delish! Of course it got me thinking I can make dishes similar to the ones we had.

We got our CSA this week and it was once again FULL of great organic goodies so I decided to make an easy yet yummy dish using a lot of our veggies.

The first thing I did was dice up on tomato and minced one clove of garlic. I mixed them together in a bowl and added some spices to it (Italian spices). I threw the mixture into the fridge and let it sit for the entire day, mixing every now and then so that all the flavors could blend together.


I then cut up a zucchini and one summer squash, leaving the skins on both. I chopped up part of an onion and minced one more clove of garlic.
I fried all the veggies up to the point that they were warm but not mushy. I like my veggies to still have a slight crunch when I eat them.


I also washed and cut in half about a handful of cerise orange tomatoes. They look just like cherry tomatoes but a tad smaller and they are a pale orange color. I had never used them before but they were in the CSA and they had a great taste to them. I added these to the last couple minutes of frying for the veggies-again enough to make them warm but not enough to make them complete mush.



While the veggies were cooking I cooked up some chopped chicken and made some pasta, I used thin spaghetti noodles.

Once everything was done cooking I mixed it all together and threw in some mozzarella pearls. This allowed the warmth of the dish to slightly melt the mozzarella but not enough for it too completely melt.

To finish I put the tomato/garlic mixture that was marinating all day over the top as a “cold sauce”. Overall it was amazingly good.


I think the next time I cook it I will cook the veggies on a lower heat for a longer time to let the flavors of all the veggies blend together. When I ate the leftovers for lunch today it seemed more flavorful and the only reasoning I can come up with is that it had time to sit and blend together. I also added cracked black pepper today.
I

Pseudo-Homemade Meatloaf

Our grocery normally carries pre-assembled meatloafs so that all you have to do is throw it in the oven for 45 minutes and ta-da dinner is served. However they have been out for the last couple of days and of course my husband and I have wanted it.

While considering other dinner options I thought I could possibly pull off making it myself. Usually when I cook something new I look over several (at least 5) different recipes to get a feel for what I am going to prepare and the different ways it can be made. So I some what cheated, I went to the spice section of the grocery store and found of box of pre-mixed spices and breadcrumbs to make a meatloaf. The box of spices said to just mix with one egg and some water. Easy enough I threw it in the cart got a pound of fresh hamburger and headed home.

I followed the simple directions on the box, mixed 1/3 cup warm water with an egg and then added the pre-mixed seasonings. Once that was mixed I quickly diced and sauted some fresh onion and green pepper (from our CSA).
I mixed the hamburger, season mixture, and green pepper/onions in a big bowl. If you have ever seen someone make meatloaf or have made it yourself you know you can’t thoroughly mix it with a spoon. So I slid my wedding rings off washed my hands and dug in.
The smell of raw meat really grosses me out however the spices seemed to pack a good punch and already smelled really good.
Once everything was mixed well I formed it into a loaf shape and placed it into a greased baking dish.


For the sauce they recommend using ketchup on top but I wanted something a tad yummier. I mixed about ½ cup of ketchup with a dash of worcestershire sauce, a dash of ground cumin, some Sriracha hot sauce, a little bit of honey, and a small amount of brown sugar. I have no idea on exact measurements, normally when I am throwing together a sauce I wing it. I add and taste as I go until I get a mixture I enjoy. This sauce has a tad of a kick, I might have over done it on the Sriracha sauce but we tend to like spicier things.


I cooked the loaf at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. At that point I added the sauce over the top and cooked an additional 10 minutes!

I served ours with salad, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob (also from our CSA).
Good comfort food!!

Fried Eggplant

Fried Eggplant

In last weeks CSA we received a couple eggplants so for dinner tonight I decided to make a side of fried eggplant to go with our meat ravioli.

I have little experience with eggplant eating it or cooking it so I did some quick on-line research and got right to it.

First I peeled the eggplant. This was pretty easy to do and it’s not necessary the peel is totally edible and depending on how you are cooking it you should keep it on (when broiling they recommend keeping the peel on).


After I peeled it I cut it into slices and laid out on a wire rack. I also learned that certain eggplants may have a bitter taste to them. To draw the bitter juices out of the eggplant sprinkle some salt on the slices. I used seasoning salt and it worked nicely.



Next I whipped 3 eggs with some seasoning salt, a clove of fresh garlic (minced), some Essence of Emeril seasoning, and some crushed black pepper.



In a separate bowl I combined 1 cup of bread crumbs, 1 cup of corn meal, and some grated Parmesan cheese.
I took the eggplant slices dipped them in the egg and then coated them nicely in the dry mix.
I let them sit for a few minutes on a wire rack to help them dry out a bit before frying.


I added about 3 TBSPs of oil into a pan and once it was heated placed the eggplants in. I let them cook for about 2 minutes on each side before removing.


I served them along side our favorite ravioli. You can eat the eggplant with a side of marina or even a side of ranch.