Creamy Italian Dip

We had so much time off for the Pope being in Philly that we decided to have a party... obviously!  Matt and I hosted an Italian themed party... with lots of Italian foods because that's probably what they eat at the Vatican, right?  Anyway, for an appetizer I served this dip with crackers as well as some olives.  It was the perfect start to our meal!

Creamy Italian Dip

Creamy Italian Dip

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
2 small tomatoes, diced
2 Tbsp. Italian Dressing
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese
2 Tbsp. basil, chopped

Preparation:
Spread cream cheese onto bottom of pie plate.
Combine tomatoes and dressing; spoon over cream cheese.
Top with remaining ingredients.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Kraft

French Toast Casserole

The pope being in Philly means one thing... 5 day weekend!  To celebrate, I decided to make French toast... we had to have something with our mimosas!  I ended up going a little easier and translated French toast into a French toast casserole.  We topped ours with strawberries, which was a good thing because it was so sweet! (Syrup would definitely have sent us to the dentist).  Bacon on the side made this a wonderful brunch!

French Toast Casserole 

French Toast Casserole

Ingredients:

French Toast:
1 loaf Crusty French Bread (I actually used regular wheat, but French bread would have been much better)
8 whole Eggs
2 cups Whole Milk
1/2 cup Whipping (heavy) Cream
3/4 cups Sugar
2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract

Topping:
1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
1/2 cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 stick Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces
Fresh Fruit (Strawberries, blueberries, bananas, etc.)

Preparation:
Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with butter. Tear bread into chunks and evenly distribute in the pan.
In a medium sized bowl mix together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Pour evenly over the bread. Cover tightly and store in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add butter pieces and cut them into the dry mixture until mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in a Ziploc in the fridge.
When you're ready to bake the casserole, preheat oven to 350 F. Remove casserole from the fridge and sprinkle crumb mixture over the top. Bake for 45 minutes for a softer, more bread pudding texture. Bake 1 hour or more for a firmer, less liquid texture.
Scoop out individual portions. Top with Fresh fruit.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Ree Drummond

Roasted Squash and Onions

This recipe could not be easier.  For real.  Got some squash? Got some onions? Great, that's all you need.  Also, it's delcious!  Matt was convinced that it was bad for him because it was so tasty.  "There's really no cheese?  No meat? No butter?"  It was really like that, and then he ate all of it.  This was a great side to my no carb meal with sausage!

Roasted Squash and Onions

Roasted Squash and Onions

Ingredients:
2 medium yellow summer squash, cut in thick strips
1.5 small onions, sliced
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425F.
Lightly spray a baking sheet with olive oil. Trim the ends of the squash, cut off the slender necks, and slice the necks in half, lengthwise. Then slice each squash into lengthwise slices, about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick. Lay the slices on the cooking sheet in a single layer, or best you can, I had to overlap, but it was fine.
Layer in onions.
Sprinkle with pepper and salt.
Bake for about 15 minutes, until bottoms of squash begin to brown. Flip squash and onions and bake until bottoms of squash are browned, about 15 minutes more. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Susan at Fat Free Vegan

Moroccan Meatball Tagine

I found this recipe and knew I had to try it!  I am a big lover of meatballs (hello, I'm Italian!) and the North African twist sounded like a winner to me!  Plus I've been trying to incorporate more veggies into my dinners, and this seemed like the perfect way to do so.  I served it over couscous for a complete meal!

Moroccan Meatball Tagine

Also, my meatballs kind of fell apart, but they were still very tasty, so I deemed they were fine.  I only may have worried if I was having a fancy party, but still, eh.

Moroccan Meatball Tagine

Ingredients:
1 large onion, finely chopped, divided
2 Tbsp. raisins, coarsely chopped
1 lb. ground beef
1 Tbsp. tomato puree
3 tsp. curry powder
3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 stalks celery, thickly sliced
2 medium zucchini, roughly chopped
1 cup frozen peas

Preparation:
Mix together half the onions, the raisins, ground beef, tomato puree, and curry powder in a large bowl.  Using your hands, combine and form into meatballs.  (The recipe said you could make 24, I made about 15, it's fine).
Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a dutch oven.  Add the meatballs and brown all over.  Pour out excess fat.  Add cinnamon, tomatoes, and lemon juice.  Cover and simmer for about 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan.  Add celery and zucchini and cook until soft, but not mushy.  Add peas and cook for another 5 minutes.
Combine zucchini mixture into meatball mixture just before serving.
Serve over couscous for a complete meal.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from 1000 Recipe for Simple Family Food by Eleanor Maxfield

Chicken Piccata

Chicken piccata is a dish that I often find myself ordering at restaurants because I don't make it at home.  Why?  Who knows.  Well, now I need to find something else to order at restaurants because this turned out great and I can't wait to make it again!

Chicken Piccata 

Chicken Piccata 

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts, pounded thin, cut in half
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup all purpose flour
2 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 cup chicken broth
1.5 lemons
¾ Cup Heavy Cream
¼ cup capers
Chopped parsley, for garnish
1/2 pound spaghetti

Preparation:
Cook spaghetti according to package directions.
Heat butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Season flour with salt and pepper, to taste and dredge chicken in flour.  Place the chicken in the skillet. Cook for about 6 minutes on each side, or until it is cooked throughout and no longer pink. Remove from the skillet and set aside on a plate.
Turn the heat to medium low. Add broth, juice from lemons, heavy cream, and capers. Bring the sauce to a boil and return to medium low heat. Test the sauce and season with salt and pepper as needed, (you probably won't need much salt because the capers are so salty!). Allow the sauce to cook and bubble for about 3 minutes.
Serve the chicken over cooked pasta and spoon the sauce over both. Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Recipe Critic

BLT Flatbread Pizza

I needed a quick, yummy dinner this week because I spent longer at school helping out with the play.  This recipe fit the bill!  Using pre-made crust, naan in this case, was a great time saver, and the only prep I had to do was to cook the bacon.  It took about 20 minutes in total and we were ready to eat in no time!
We ordered wings (because who has pizza without wings!?), though if I had more time, I could have made wings.  Alas, that will be a great weekend project.

BLT Flatbread Pizza

BLT Flatbread Pizza

Ingredients:
4 pieces garlic naan
1/2 cup tomato sauce
5 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
2 Roma tomatoes, cut into ¼-inch thick circles
1/3 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup arugula
1/2 lemon
Pepper, to taste

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 

Lay naan on a pizza stone, pizza steel, or baking sheet. (I had to use a pizza stone and a baking sheet).

Spread about 1/8 cup of tomato sauce on each piece of naan.

Divide the bacon, tomato circles, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese evenly between the naan.

Place naan in the oven.  If using two pans, switch top and bottom pans after 4 minutes.

Continue baking until the cheese is melted and the naan bread is golden brown, about 3-4 minutes.

Take pizza out of the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.

While the pizza is resting, place the arugula in a small bowl and toss it with the lemon juice and ground pepper.

Top each pizza with a quarter of the arugula salad.

Slice the pizzas into halves.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Cookin' Canuck

Arugula Salad with Tomatoes

Are you ready for the easiest salad accompaniment ever?  Perfect.  I serve this salad all the time.  My Mom serves this salad all the time.  It goes great with any Italian meal or as a nice summer salad.  I served it tonight with eggplant parmigiana and some homemade bread... delicious!

Arugula Salad with Tomatoes

Arugula Salad with Tomatoes

Ingredients:
6 oz. arugula (1 bag)
1 tomato, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
1/2 lemon
parmesan, to taste
1 Tbsp. olive oil, more to taste
salt, to taste

Preparation:
Add lemon juice and olive oil in small bowl. Whisk to combine.
Place arugula in large bowl. Sprinkle parmesan on top of arugula, to taste.  Add salt, to taste. Mix well. Add tomatoes on top.
Enjoy!

Balsamic Blueberry and Spinach Grilled Cheese

This grilled cheese was just happenstance; I was alone for dinner, was browsing Pinterest for menu ideas for next week and chanced upon this recipe.  I had every ingredient!  Hooray!
Let me tell you, this was goooood.  Before you say, "Wait! Blueberries and balsamic and spinach and cheese?  Together?!" stop, this was great.  The sweetness from the blueberries and sugar combined with the acidity of the vinegar and the creaminess of the cheese make for one dynamite dish.  It came together in about ten minutes and I didn't have to turn on my oven in the midst of this Philly heat wave.  Perfection!

Balsamic Blueberry and Spinach Grilled Cheese

Full disclaimer- I was going to say that I wanted you to be able to see the spinach and that's why I bit into my sandwich, but really I kind of burnt it and I bit off the blacker parts.  Whoops!


Balsamic Blueberry and Spinach Grilled Cheese

Ingredients:
2 slices of bread (I used sourdough)
8 slices of cheese (I used an even amount of both sharp white cheddar and monterey jack)
1 cup Fresh spinach (it will seem like a lot when you put it on, but I promise it's not)
1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2- 1 tsp. butter

Preparation:
In a small saucepan, combine blueberries, sugar and vinegar over medium heat. Let the mixture come to a slow boil. Use a utensil to crush berries as you stir. After boiling for about 5 minutes, pour mixture into a mesh strainer and let the juice syrup separate from the solid berries.  (If you don't have a mesh strainer, I used a slotted spoon and that worked fine!)
Spread blueberries onto a piece of bread, top with half the cheese, then spinach, and then the rest of your cheese! Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper. Top with your other slice of bread.
Over low heat, melt 1/2 tsp. of butter.  Once melted, add your sandwich.  Once the bread is golden brown (unlike mine!), flip over and grill the other side until golden brown.  If you have no butter left in the pan when you flip you can melt your other 1/2 tsp. of butter before re-adding the sandwich.
 Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Amanda K. by the Bay

Maque Choux

Today I made cajun marinated chicken (which I totally forgot to take a picture of... evidence of how fast we ate them... don't worry I'll make it again!) and needed a side dish.  I stumbled on this New Orleans side and decided it would be perfect!  Corn is in season right now and I didn't need to turn on the oven, I was sold!
When I set out to make this, I unfortunately couldn't use my "holy trinity" in this dish (onions, bell peppers, and celery) because I used all my pepper in the Tex Mex Sweet Potato Salad I made the day before.  Whoops!  I doubled the celery, and didn't really miss it, but it would have added a nice sweetness to the dish.  I included it in here for you guys, but if you don't have any pepper, you can double the celery, I promise.

Maque Choux

Maque Choux

Ingredients:
3 ears of corn, kernels cut off
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup onion, finely diced
1/4 cup celery, finely diced
1/4 cup bell pepper, finely diced
1 cup tomato, finely diced
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon parsley
2 green onions, sliced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat.
Add the onion, celery and bell pepper, and saute until tender, about 10 minutes.
Add the corn, tomatoes, cream, and parsley and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.
Use an immersion blender to puree 1/4 of the corn mixture.
Mix in the green onions, season with salt, pepper and cayenne to taste.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Closet Cooking

Tex Mex Sweet Potato Salad

I really needed a side dish for my cilantro lime salmon and this seemed like a perfect solution!  I'm not a huge fan of overly mayonnaise-y potato salads, so I really wanted something that would fill me up without being too much.

This potato salad uses a homemade honey mustard dressing that feels like a nice light solution to mayo.  I halved the dressing recipe for you guys because there was a ton in the bottom of the bowl when I was done.  

This recipe is also very easily made vegan, substitute agave or maple syrup for the honey!

Tex Mex Sweet Potato Salad

Tex Mex Sweet Potato Salad

Ingredients:

about 1 1/4 pounds sweet potatoes (about 2 jumbo), washed, peeled, and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1 medium red bell pepper, diced 

1 cup corn (I use frozen that I allowed to thaw)

1/2 cup cilantro leaves, minced

1 Tbsp. honey

1 Tbsp. dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. lime juice

1 Tbsp. oil

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

pinch cayenne pepper, optional and to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Add the sweet potatoes in an even, flat layer. Evenly drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and bake for about 40 minutes, or until fork-tender and done. Halfway through baking flip potatoes to ensure even cooking. Baking time will vary, I recommend starting to check at 30 minutes for doneness.

Add the green onions, red pepper, corn, cilantro to a large bowl; set aside.

Add the honey, dijon mustard, lime juice, remaining olive oil, salt and pepper, optional cayenne pepper to a medium bowl, whisk to combine; set aside.

After potatoes are cooked, add them to the bowl with the beans and vegetables, add the sauce, and toss to combine. Taste, check for seasoning balance, make any necessary tweaks, and serve. Potato salad can be served warm, at room temp, or chilled.  

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Averie at Averie Cooks