Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Baked Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce

I'm always on the lookout for a good side vegetable. I love asparagus and decided to try this new recipe for cooking it. It's rated very highly on allrecipes.com. It was good, not very healthy, but a nice change.

Baked Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce

Ingredients:
1 bunch fresh asparagus, trimmed
cooking spray
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Arrange the asparagus on a baking sheet. Coat with cooking spray, and season with salt and pepper.
3. Bake asparagus 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until tender.
4. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat, and stir in soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. Pour over the baked asparagus to serve.

Here are the results:

Monday, April 26, 2010

Pasta Pomodoro

It's not everyday that you find a recipe that taste like it came from a restaurant AND it's easy to make. My cute sister had me over to taste this new recipe she was trying called Pasta Pomodoro. It was so divine! I think the one thing she added was sauteed diced red peppers. I made it the next week without the peppers and it was just as good. I did add chicken for my meat-lovin husband and used canned diced tomatoes for ease and it turned out fabulous. Hubby really liked it too!

Pasta Pomodoro
Ingredients:
2 (8 ounce) packages angel hair pasta (This makes ALOT, you might want to reduce)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 (10.75 ounce) can low-sodium chicken broth
crushed red pepper to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Pour olive oil in a large deep skillet over high-heat. Saute onions and garlic until lightly browned. Reduce heat to medium-high and add tomatoes, vinegar and chicken broth; simmer for about 8 minutes.
3. Stir in red pepper, black pepper, basil and cooked pasta, tossing thoroughly with sauce. Simmer for about 5 more minutes and serve topped with grated cheese.

Here are the results:

Monday, April 19, 2010

Romaine and Mandarin Orange Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

I'm always afraid of being too extreme when preparing food for other people. When I was asked to make a meal for this couple in our church, I decided the main dish would be main stream, something everybody likes so I made chicken parmigiana. I decided to go out on a limb for the salad though. When I saw this recipe, I knew I would love it for some strange reason. I was right. It was fabulous. My changes are in bold.

Romaine and Mandarin Orange Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing


Ingredients:
6 slices bacon
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup white sugar (I reduced to 1/2 C)
1/2 red onion, coarsely chopped (I reduced to less than 1/4 red onion)
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
10 cups torn romaine lettuce leaves
1 (10 ounce) can mandarin orange segments, drained
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

Directions:
1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
2. Place vinegar, sugar, red onion, mustard powder, and salt into the bowl of a blender. Cover, and puree on high until smooth. Reduce blender speed to medium-low; slowly pour in the vegetable oil and blend until incorporated and the dressing is creamy. Stir in the poppy seeds and set aside.
3. To serve, toss the romaine in a large bowl with the crumbled bacon, Mandarin oranges, and enough dressing to moisten. Place onto salad plates and sprinkle with toasted almonds.

Again, I apologize for no pictures, but it was divine. The dressing is pink because of the red onion and it looks so pretty!

Southern Peach Cobbler

I'm so sorry I'm a slacker! I've been getting ready for this baby and even though I've cooked, I haven't been posting. Sorry!

I was asked to take dinner to a couple in our church the other night and decided to make a dessert. I usually don't make too many around my house just because I think they are unnecessary. I decided on this recipe because it was easy and most people like cobbler. It was really simple and really good. My changes are in bold.

Southern Peach Cobbler
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar (I reduced to 3/4 C)
3/4 cup self-rising flour
3/4 cup milk
1 (29 ounce) can sliced peaches in light syrup
Dash cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place butter in a deep 2 quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.
2. In a medium bowl, mix sugar and flour. Stir in milk, a little at a time, until wholly incorporated. Pour carefully over melted butter in dish. Spoon peaches and syrup over batter.
3. Bake in preheated oven 35 to 45 minutes, until crust is puffed and golden.

Sorry, no pictures. I didn't want the food to get cold before I brought it over to their house.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Orange Julius

Growing up, we mostly had this wonderful drink on a summer Sunday afternoon.

Orange Julius
1/2 (12oz) can frozen orange juice
1 C. water
1 C. Milk
1 tray ice cubes
1/3 C. sugar
1tsp vanilla

Blend until Smooth

My picture isn't the best but here are the results: