Leftover Spaghetti Lasagna

I have a very difficult time cooking for just one or two.  It's tough to make small portions; there are just some ingredients that you can't really half or use a little of and reserve for a later use.  If you forget those ingredients are there, you'll have wasted perfectly good food.  What happens is I usually end up making a meal that could really feed 4-6 instead of two.  That means I often have leftovers. I for one, love leftovers and luckily my husband does too.  Most of the time, it tastes even better the next day (or two) when the flavors have had a chance to really meld and soak in.

Earlier this week, I made a pasta dish.  I like to use what vegetables I have on hand and simmer them with sliced sausage, a can of diced tomatoes and maybe half a jar of bottled Marinara sauce.  I find that just using Marinara sauce from the jar doesn't make my pasta "saucy" enough.  Some jarred sauces are also packed with lots of sugar so I like to use some sauce and add in fresh and/or canned tomatoes. 

This time my pasta was angel hair and the sauce was 1 lb sliced garlic chicken sausage, 1 bag of spinach, half an onion chopped, three cloves of garlic chopped, 1 can diced tomatoes (italian seasoning), 3/4 jar of Classico sauce (which I had left over from the Eggplant recipe last week).  The pasta was good but of course I had a TON of it.  Last night we were going to eat the leftovers when I thought, hmmmm I can spice this up a bit!  Here's what happened:

I know, it looks like  a hot mess... and it was.  But boy was it delicious! It was basically a spaghetti lasagna bake.  Very saucy, very cheesy.  What more could you want?

Leftover Spaghetti Lasagna Bake
Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

Leftover spaghetti dish (about 4-6 cups worth)
1/2 cup ricotta (part skim)
1/4 cup half and half
1 egg
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried Basil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 8 oz can tomato sauce (such as Hunts)
1 tsp dried Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray casserole dish with cooking spray.  I actually used a Pyrex loaf pan dish which I find is a good smaller sized dish to use.

Combine ricotta, half and half, egg, oregano, basil and garlic powder in a bowl and blend together with a fork.  In a second bowl combine tomato sauce, italian seasoning and onion powder (you can add whatever other spices to this you want to flavor the sauce).

Layer half your leftover pasta in bottom of dish.  Pour half of ricotta mixture over the pasta, then pour half the marinara mixture over the ricotta.  Repeat these three layers and top with Parmesan cheese.  Bake in oven about 40 minutes or until heated all the way through and bubbling.  Eat with garlic bread!

Side view of cheesy, saucy concoction

 
Who said leftovers aren't any good??? :-)

Chili and Cheese Rice

This is the dish before it was baked.

I grew up in a really great neighborhood in Southern California.  It's the kind of place you ride your bike to the park in with your friends, walk to school from your house and have neighbors that become some of your best friends.  Our neighbors across the street are an awesome family of five (like my family).  We have had countless dinners, barbeques and fun times together.  The Mom is like a second mom to me.  For my 25th birthday she and one of her daughters but together one of the best birthday presents ever.  She gathered some of her most favorite recipes and put them together in a three ring binder for me.  That was 3 years ago and right around the time I actually developed a real interest in learning to cook.  I've since tried most of the recipes and have continued to add to the book through the years.  This Chili & Cheese Rice recipe is one of the recipes that was originally included.  It's super easy and really yummy, perfect as a side dish for so many dinners - I made it as a side dish on one of my Mexican themed nights.

The pictures are from when I halfed the recipe, I included the full version below.  Also, I just realized that when I made this last night, I mixed all the cheese in together, then baked... I think it turned out just about the same... oops!

Chili and Cheese Rice
Serves 6

Ingredients:
 1 cup long grain rice
1 4 oz can diced Ortega chiles
1 1/3 cups sour cream (I always use Light)
1/2 lb Jack cheese grated (2 cups)

Directions:

Cook rice as directed on package.  Combine cooked rice, chillies, sour cream, and 1/2 cups cheese and turn into greased 1 1/2 quart casserole.  Sprinkle balance of cheese on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Apparently, I was hungry and couldn't wait to serve myself until AFTER the picture...

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

I think I could eat Mexican food pretty much every day.  Lucky for me, my hubby loves it too so I make something Mexican pretty much once a week.  One of my go-to Mexican inspired side dishes is to make some variation of a black bean and corn salsa.  The combination of black beans and corn is delightfully satisfying.  I love the bright flavor of the lime that comes through and marries oh so well with chopped fresh cilantro.  Add tomatoes and red onion and you have a symphony of yumminess!

There are many variations of this recipe, you can add or sub in different things depending on what you have on hand.  Below, is the basic recipe which is the one pictured as well.  I've included "add-ons" below it so you can find what your perfect salsa combination is.  Muy bueno!

Black Bean and Corn Salsa
Makes about 4 cups

Ingredients:

1 can black beans drained and rinsed
1 can corn or 1 can Mexicorn or 1 cup frozen corn defrosted
3/4-1 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of 1 whole limes (watch for seeds!)
1/2 pint grape tomatoes chopped
1 T or drizzle of olive oil (optional)
salt & pepper to taste (Note: in most Mexican dishes I use Tony Chacheres Creole seasoning in place of salt)

Add-ons:
1 Haas avocado, diced
chopped fresh jalapeno pepper (seeded if you want less spicy)
couple shakes of your favorite hot sauce

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix together.  Eat as a side dish or with chips for dipping!

 

Turkey Meatloaf & Crash Hot Potatoes

Have you visited The Pioneer Woman's website or seen her show on The Food Network?  If not, go there! See it! She has awesome recipes and her blog/website is really fun to read.

Okay, now on to the food.  As a follow up to the eggplant post, last nights dinner included the delicious Gratin accompanied by turkey meatloaf and my attempt at making Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes.  The meatloaf turned out delightful.  I always make beef meatloaf and this was the first time I tried it with turkey.  It was really good! Healthier for you in that turkey meat has less fat and calories, it's a great alternative.  I'll start with the meatloaf recipe which I slightly adapted from Cooking Light's version of Turkey Mini Meatloaves.

Turkey Meatloaf
Makes 5 mini loaves

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups chopped onion (I used sweet onion)
About 1/2-3/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
2 1/2 teaspoons Worcester sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 eggs
1 1/4 lbs lean ground turkey
1/2 cup ketchup divided
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (I used Tabasco)

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 400.
Saute onion on stove until soft.  Mix onion with next 7 ingredients through eggs with the turkey in a large bowl.  Stir in half the ketchup.  Form mixture into mini loaves and place on cookie sheet or jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray.  I made about five loaves of equal size.  Mixture will be very moist.  Combine remaining ketchup with hot sauce and brush mixture over each loaf. 
Bake loaves in oven for about 35-40 minutes or until internal temp reaches at least 165 degrees.


Now on to the potatoes! I saw the recipe for Crash Hot Potatoes and thought YUM! I used regular red potatoes.  I think I should have used the petite red potatoes instead.  I found that after I boiled the potatoes they were really hard to mash on the oily sheet, they slipped and slid around.  What ended up happening is we had a mess of mashed up potato that I baked anyways and it turned out great.  So even if a recipe doesn't come out as it should look, doesn't mean it wont be delish!!!

My Crash Hot Potato Mess

Crash Hot Potatoes

Ingredients:

As many potatoes as you would like to make
Olive oil
salt
pepper
herb of choice (I used rosemary)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450.

Bring pot of water to boil and add potatoes.  Boil until they are soft or fork tender.

Drizzle cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with olive oil generously.  This step is key so the potatoes don't stick at the end.

Once potatoes are done, place on cookie sheet and mash down with potatoe masher.  They are supposed to somewhat maintain form held together by the skin.  As you can see from my picture it was a mess! But I forged on and still made the recipe with my poorly mashed potatoes.

After you have successfully mashed to your hearts desire, sprinkle potatoes with salt, pepper and your herb.  Bake in oven for about 25 minutes or until crispy on top.  Enjoy!

Eggplant Gratin

So after buying our very first house this year, the hubby and I decided we needed to try our hand at these vegetable gardens that are all the rage these days.  Mind you, I do not have a green thumb... well, at least I don't think I do.  My parents came to visit and we built a HUGE veggie box.  We also did it on one of the hottest days of the year which I don't recommend.  We planted zucchini, bell peppers, two kinds of hot peppers (I like spice in my life), two kinds of tomatoes, eggplant and parsley.  Wouldn't you know the only plants that have produced are the hot peppers and eggplant.  And boy did that eggplant grow.  If I can grow all these suckers, so can you, trust me.  Here's a picture of one from our garden:

Japanese eggplant

So last night I had to figure out what the heck to make with some of the eggplant.  I had tried it on the grill which was okay (not my favorite purple veggie preparation).  I have thrown some of it in stir fries, delicious! But I wanted something different, something where the eggplant was the star of the show.  So I found an Eggplant Gratin recipe from the one and only Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten.  It was very easy to make and oh so creamy and delicious.  I've decided that eggplant was just meant to be eaten with tomatoe sauce.  Add ricotta and cheese - pure perfection.  I did not have two small gratin dishes so I made it in an itty bitty pyrex, mine is a 5 1/2" x 7" dish.

Here's the recipe from The Foodnetwork Website:

Eggplant Gratin
Serves 2

Ingredients:

Good olive oil, for frying
3/4 pound eggplant, unpeeled, sliced 1/2-inch thick (I used two of my Japanese Eggplant)
1/4 cup ricotta cheese (I used part-skim)
1 extra-large egg
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good bottled marinara sauce (I used Clasico, mmmm)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat about 1/8-inch of olive oil in a very large pan over medium heat. When the oil is almost smoking, add several slices of eggplant and cook, turning once, until they are evenly browned on both sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Be careful, it splatters!
Transfer the cooked eggplant slices to paper towels to drain. Add more oil, heat, and add more eggplant until all the slices are cooked.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the ricotta, egg, half-and-half, 1/4 cup of the cheese, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
In your baking dish place a layer of eggplant slices, then sprinkle with Parmesan, salt and pepper and marinara sauce. Next, add a second layer of eggplant, more salt and pepper, the ricotta mixture, and finally grated Parmesan on top.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the custard sets and the top is browned. Serve warm.

I made the Gratin as a side dish to go with Turkey meatloaf and potatoes, here's a picture of the whole plate, other recipes to follow!

Gratin at the top, turkey meatloaf to the left, potatoes to the right

 I swear it all tasted delicious... I need to get better at my plating and photographs... :-/

Overflowing Lasagna

My Mom is an excellent cook.  She's self-taught and has learned along the way how to feed a hungry crowd leaving them totally satisfied and delighted wishing that their stomachs could handle more.  I had company coming into town (actually my in-laws) and thought I would make a lasagna.  What better way to feed a crowd right?! Well I didn't exactly follow a recipe but more my Mom's guidelines.  What resulted was a delicious yet VERY saucy lasagna (pictured above).  Caution: if you plan to make this much sauce, place a cookie sheet underneath in the oven as the lasagna will most likely bubble over.

Overflowing Lasagna
Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

1 pkg no-cook lasagna noodles
1 lb ground beef
1 lb sausage
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium sized onion chopped
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
1 jar favorite pasta sauce
1 14.5 oz can italian diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
2 T chopped fresh parsley
16 oz ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 1/2 - 2 cups Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned.  Season with oregano, basil, salt and pepper.  Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Southwest Crispy Chicken Sliders

I admit, I am a Cooking Light fanatic.  I read every issue the day it arrives in my mailbox from cover to cover.  Yes, I like to eat healthy but I wouldn't say I'm a diet fanatic or calorie counter.  I find that Cooking Light provides so many amazing recipes that don't make me feel like I'm cutting corners at all.

I recently tried this recipe for Southwest Crispy Chicken Sliders from the July 2012 issue.  I'll be completely honest, for the amount of work it was, I thought they were lacking in the flavor department (note the bottle of Chalula in the background, my go-to spice).  Albeit not so tasty, they looked so darn cute! 

** Recipe below from Cooking Light Magazine, July 2012

Ingredients

Muffins:
3 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2/3 cup)
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup fat-free buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1/3 cup) 
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
Cooking spray
 
Chicken:
2/3 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided 

Additional ingredients:
1 ripe, pitted, peeled avocado 
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
2 slices applewood-smoked bacon, cooked and crumbled 
12 (1/2-inch-thick) slices small, ripe tomato 
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. 1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. 2. To prepare muffins, weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Combine buttermilk, butter, and 1 egg, stirring well. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until combined. Stir in cheese and jalapeño. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 17 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove muffins from pan; cool on a wire rack. Cut muffins in half crosswise.
3. 3. To prepare chicken, place panko in a shallow dish. Combine fat-free milk and 1 egg in a shallow dish, stirring well. Split each chicken breast in half lengthwise to form 2 cutlets; cut each piece in half, crosswise, to form 12 pieces. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Dip chicken in egg mixture; dredge in panko. Coat panko lightly with cooking spray. Add 6 chicken cutlets to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until golden and done. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 tablespoon oil, remaining 6 chicken cutlets, and cooking spray.
4. 4. To prepare additional ingredients, combine avocado and lime juice; mash to desired consistency. Stir in bacon. Place 2 muffin bottom halves on each of 6 plates. Divide avocado mixture evenly among muffins; top each slider with 1 chicken cutlet and 1 tomato slice. Sprinkle tomato evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt and black pepper; top with muffin tops.