Salmon Pasta Salad II

Ya know, we're getting really sick of this "having to make dinner every night" crap. I mean, really...it's getting old. So yeah...that's pretty much how we both felt the other night when neither of us had any idea what to make for dinner. I was just going to make some sort of pasta salad anyway, so instead of tuna fish, we decided to use salmon.

2 salmon fillets

Miracle Whip (optional)

salt and pepper

1 lb. cooked short pasta of your choice (I used rotini)

6-8 large radishes

2 stalks celery

1/2 small sweet onion

1/2 English cucumber

handful fresh parsley

5-6 fresh basil leaves

1 tsp. coriander

1 tsp. celery salt

mayonnaise

Jim wanted the salmon to have a little flavor to them before they were added to the salad, so I sprinkled them with salt and pepper, coated the tops with Miracle Whip and baked them in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime, cook the pasta.

I was feeling pretty lazy so I threw the radishes, celery, onion, cucumber, parsley and basil into the food processor and chopped everything up. You don't want a puree, so pulse it until you feel like you have the veggies to a nice size. Add the coriander, celery salt and salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta, flake the salmon and add everything to a large bowl. Add as much mayonnaise as you feel works for you and mix.

Mmmmmmmm, tasty salmon pasta salad.

Lemon Spaghetti

I needed a side dish to go with the Garlicky Baked shrimp I made and I came across this. It was quick and I had all the ingredients on hand. Well, almost. I used parsley instead of basil. And I didn't use the full 1/2 cup of lemon juice either. I ended up using 2 lemons which gave me about 1/3 cup of juice. It was the perfect amount. Anymore and I think it would have been too sour.

1 pound spaghetti - I used Ronzoni whole wheat spaghetti
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, about three lemons (I used two)
salt and pepper
1 tbsp. lemon zest
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves (I used parsley)

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, whisk the oil, Parmesan and lemon juice in a large bowl to blend.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce and the reserved cooking liquid, adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon zest and chopped basil/parsley (I added these to the sauce and blended them all together beforehand).

Blackened Salmon Fillets

Since someone had to make the daily visit to the vet for Cheeto, we decided that I would take Cheeto and Jim would stay home and make dinner. Well Jim found this salmon recipe and it was so good! There's nothing better than a delicious piece of salmon. Add some home-grown green beans and YUM!

2 tbsp. ground paprika
1 tbsp. ground cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. onion powder
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
4 salmon fillets, skin and bones removed
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

In a small bowl, mix paprika, cayenne pepper, onion powder, salt, white pepper, black pepper, thyme, basil and oregano. Brush salmon fillets on both sides with 1/4 cup butter (Jim used olive oil), and sprinkle evenly with the cayenne pepper mixture. Drizzle one side of each fillet with 1/2 remaining butter (olive oil).

In a large, heavy skillet over high heat, cook salmon, butter side down, until blackened, 2 to 5 minutes. Turn fillets, drizzle with remaining butter, and continue cooking until blackened and fish is easily flaked with a fork.

Roasted Vegetable Pasta

It was a night where I really didn't feel like putting all that much effort into dinner. Jim was taking his 3-4 hour "nap" after work in order to stay up for a Wings game so I was on my own. This is what I came up with. All the measurements are approximate since I basically just threw a bunch of veggies on a pan and roasted them.

2 handfuls baby carrots

1 small zucchini, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1-2 cups broccoli florets

1 medium onion, chopped

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 lb. pasta, cooked (I used rotini)

basil

Parmesan chese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and get the water boiling for your pasta. In the meantime, prepare all vegetables and place on a baking sheet. Liberally coat the veggies with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix around to ensure veggies are coated with oil. Place in oven for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes is up, stir the veggies around. Place back in oven and cook for another 10-20 minutes, depending on how tender you want your vegetables and exactly which vegetables you used (you can use anything really). Once the vegetables are roasted, add them to the cooked pasta and mix. I added fresh basil and a little Parmesan cheese to mine.

Chicken Pesto Pasta

I needed another excuse to use my food processor and have always wanted to make pesto, so this was the perfect opportunity. Jim is "allergic" to nuts like almonds, pecans, etc., so I used pistachios for this. He says pine nuts would be fine, but I didn't have any on hand, so pistachios it was.

For the chicken, I just roasted two bone-in, skin-on, chicken breasts.

Pesto recipe
1-1/2 cups basil
1/2 cup parsley
zest of half a lemon
3 cloves garlic
1 cup pistachios
1/4 - 3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

I just whipped up the pesto, cooked up some pasta, cut up the chicken (once it was cooled a little) and mixed it all together in a pot. Add as much or as little pesto as you'd like...I used about half of what this made. I also added about half a cup of the pasta water to sort of loosen up the pesto a little and make it more sauce-like. It was delicious!

Ultimate Lasagna

So yesterday was Valentine's Day and I told Jim I'd make him his favorite...lasagna. I found a few recipes online, sent them to him and this is the one he picked. It called for cinnamon, which I was a little hesitant on adding, since I had added it to a meat dish once before and it was horrible. Jim told me to keep the recipe as it was and not change anything. Well it was really good, but you could definitely taste the cinnamon. I think next time I would just leave it out. We also cut the recipe in half since the original uses a 4-inch deep 13x9 pan. I just served this with a salad and some breadsticks.

1 pound dried lasagna noodles
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 pounds ground beef
1 pound ground Italian sausage - I used the Jennie-O Hot Lean Italian Turkey Style Sausage and removed the casings
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1.5 carrots, chopped
1 stalks celery, chopped
1 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
1/2 tbsp. chopped oregano leaves
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 cup red wine
1 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (recommended: San Marzano)
1.2 tbsp. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 quart ricotta cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
Grated Parmesan and mozzarella, for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook the lasagna noodles in plenty of boiling salted water until pliable and barely tender, about 10 minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking. Drain the noodles thoroughly and coat with olive oil to keep them moist and easy to work with.

Coat a large skillet with olive oil, add beef and sausage and brown until no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. In a food processor, combine the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, basil, parsley, an oregano. Process until pureed, add to the pan with the ground meat and stir to combine. Stir in the flour. Add the wine and cook until it has reduced by half. Stir in the tomatoes and add the heavy cream and the cinnamon.

In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta and the parmesan. Stir in the eggs and season with salt and pepper.

To assemble the lasagna: Coat the bottom of a deep 13 by 9-inch pan with olive oil. Arrange 4 noodles lengthwise in a slightly overlapping layer on the sauce. Then, line each end of the pan with a lasagna noodle. This forms a collar that holds in the corners. Dollop 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over the pasta, spread to the edges with a spatula. Spread 1/2 of the meat mixture over the ricotta. Sprinkle 1/2 of the mozzarella on top of the ricotta. Top with a ladle full of sauce, spread evenly. Repeat with the next layer of noodles, ricotta, sauce, and cheeses. Top last layer with noodles, sauce, shredded mozzarella and Parmesan. Tap the pan to force out air bubbles. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven. Let lasagna rest for 30 minutes so the noodles will settle and cut easily.

"Homemade" Pizza

Ok, well we really did want to make the pizza dough ourselves, but by the time we got home from the daily errands (a grocery store trip that took way too long) it was just too late to wait for dough to rise. Luckily we thought ahead and bought pre-made dough at the store. I did find a sauce recipe to use though.

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
6 fluid ounces warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
salt to taste

In a small bowl, combine tomato paste, water (I used a small can of sauce instead of paste and water), Parmesan cheese, garlic, honey, anchovy paste, onion powder, oregano, marjoram, basil, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes and salt; mix together, breaking up any clumps of cheese. Sauce should sit for 30 minutes to blend flavors; spread over pizza dough and prepare pizza as desired.

We added fresh mozzarella, ham, red onion, marinated artichoke hearts, and Jim put mushrooms on his half.

I can't remember what temp or how long we cooked the pizza, but we just followed the directions on the dough container.

When the pizza came out I added fresh basil on top as well.

This was definitely a different kind of pizza sauce than I was used to. I don't know if it had to do with the sauce I used instead of the paste, but definitely different. It was good though. And it was even better the next day as leftovers for lunch!

Mediterranean Salmon

Another fab find from All Recipes. We actually planned dinner this time, so there was no "workin' with what ya got" for this meal. It was really good!

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
4 cloves garlic, pressed
4 (3 ounce) fillets salmon
1 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
1 1/2 tsp. garlic salt

Mix together the olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl. Arrange the salmon fillets in a shallow baking dish. Rub garlic onto the fillets, then pour the vinegar and oil over them, turning once to coat. Season with cilantro, basil, and garlic salt. Set aside to marinate for 10 minutes. Preheat your oven's broiler. Place the salmon about 6 inches from the heat source, and broil for 15 minutes, turning once, or until browned on both sides and easily flaked with a fork. Brush occasionally with the sauce from the pan.

We served it with some Mediterranean couscous and it was delicious!

Italian Sausage, Peppers and Onions

I've made a pretty similar recipe before, so this was only slightly different. It was quite delicious though! I used a recipe I found on All Recipes.

1 package Jennie-O hot turkey sausages
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1 medium red onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 - 1/2 cup beer

2 tbsp. tomato paste

Place the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, and brown on all sides. Remove from skillet, and slice. Leave a little of the oil from sausages in the pan and add the olive oil and heat on medium. Stir in the yellow onion, red onion, and garlic, and cook 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in red bell pepper and green bell pepper. Season with basil, and oregano. Stir in beer and tomato paste. Continue to cook and stir until peppers and onions are tender. Return sausage slices to skillet with the vegetables. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes, or until sausage is heated through. We served it over brown rice.

Turkey Meatball Subs

I've tried this recipe before with ground sirloin and they were so good! I decided to give it a try with ground turkey and they were just as good. Now, the recipe calls for 1 1/2 pounds of ground meat, but I only used a pound and adjusted the rest of the recipe accordingly. That's why there are some strange measurements. I also made the sauce to go along with it. Enjoy!!!

Meatballs:

1 pound ground turkey

1 large egg, beaten

2/3 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 small onion, chopped fine

3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced

1/3 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1-1/3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1/6 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

1/6 cup grated Parmigiano or Romano

Coarse salt and black pepper

5 Minute Marinara Sauce:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

A handful flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped, about 2 tablespoons

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 (28 ounces) can crushed tomatoes

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 sub buns, with or without sesame seeds

1 (10-ounce) bag (2 1/2 cups) shredded provolone or Italian 4-cheese blend

Shredded basil (sweet), for garnish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place ground turkey in a large mixing bowl and punch a well into the center of meat. Fill well with the egg, bread crumbs, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, Worcestershire, parsley, cheese, and a little salt and pepper. Mix up meatball ingredients until well combined, yet not over-mixed. Divide mix into 4 equal parts, roll each part into 4 balls and space equally onto a nonstick baking sheet. Place meatballs in oven and roast about 20 minutes. Break a meatball open and make sure meat is cooked through before removing from the oven.

Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add oil and garlic. When garlic starts sizzling, add herbs and crushed pepper. Allow oil to infuse for half a minute, then stir in the tomatoes and season sauce with salt and pepper. Bring sauce to a bubble, reduce heat, and simmer until meatballs are removed from oven.

Combine meatballs and sauce and pile into sub rolls, 3-4 meatballs per sub. Top with shredded cheese and place under subs under broiler to melt cheese. Top with shredded basil.

Herb and cream cheese chicken roll

Jim had big plans to stuff the chicken breasts with the feta cheese we had in our fridge, but when we came home to start dinner, all he found was a green, fuzzy block of feta. Don't think we're using that! So we started sifting through all the cheeses we had on hand, and cream cheese seemed like the next best substitute. No real recipe, Jim just took some fresh basil and parsley, chopped it up and added it to the cream cheese. You can sort of tell by the picture the ratio of cheese to herbs. He flattened out the chicken breasts a little, spread the mixture on, rolled them up and secured them with toothpicks. Put a little olive oil, salt and pepper on the outside of the chicken and threw them on the grill. They were so yummy!!

Parsley-Basil mashed potatoes

We wanted something different than regular old boring mashed potatoes, so I decided to make use of our little herb garden and put in some fresh basil and parsley. They were even better the next day since the herbs had sort of infused into the potatoes.