Speedy Greek Salad

This is one of my favorite lunches and something I have pretty often!  It's super quick to toss together and is definitely one of those "more than the sum of its parts" concoctions.  The crunchy, mild cucumbers, sweet, acidic tomatoes, super salty and slightly bitter olives, tangy, salty, creamy feta, and pucker of vinegar are just perfect together.  You don't even need any oil, though a splash of olive oil wouldn't hurt anything.  I'm not sure it actually qualifies as a recipe, but who cares?  The amounts for all these ingredients are completely up to you.
  
Speedy Greek Salad
 
cucumber, cut into small bite sized pieces
halved cherry tomatoes (or big tomatoes cut into bite sized pieces)
pitted kalamata olives
feta cheese
salt to taste
small sprinkle of oregano (sometimes I add it, sometimes I don't)
a splash or two of raw apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
 
Consider how many people you'll be serving and whether this will be the main dish or a side.  Put however much cucumber and tomatoes you want into an appropriately sized bowl and sprinkle with salt, toss.  Add however many olives and how much feta you want.  Sprinkle with the optional oregano then drizzle on a little vinegar.  Toss to combine.  Taste and add more of anything.
 
Enjoy!

Pizza Subs

This is a simple but delicious recipe.  Good for a small crowd if you want to make something easy, or good to make ahead to reheat later.  I most recently made these for my brother and his wife to keep in the freezer for a quick meal after the birth of my nephew.  The original recipe is from Southern Plate.

 

Pizza Subs

 

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

7 oz package pepperoni, cut in half and separated

14 oz jar pizza sauce

small can sliced olives, drained

1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 C grated mozzarella

8 sub rolls

 

Brown ground beef, drain.  Stir in all remaining ingredients except cheese and rolls and heat through.  Divide meat mixture evenly among sub rolls and top with grated cheese.  

 

To serve immediately, preheat oven to 350 and place as many subs as you want to cook on a cookie sheet, then bake until the bread is toasty and the cheese is melted, about 10-15 minutes. 

 

To serve later, wrap the subs tightly in aluminum foil and either refrigerate or freeze.  To heat, bake the foil wrapped sub in a 350 degree oven until heated through (about 20 minutes), making sure to thaw the sub overnight in the refrigerator if it was frozen.  If you don't have access to an oven (like if you take it to work for lunch), you can heat the unwrapped sub in the microwave until hot.  It will still be good, but not as nice as if it was heated in the oven.

 

Yield: 8 subs

Pizza Sticks

This is an easy and yummy recipe, even for adults!  I found it on the I Wash, You Dry blog, and changed it by using homemade pizza dough instead of dough from a can, and I added parmesan.  Not much to the recipe.  The pizza sticks are similar to something called pizza rollers sold at our favorite pizza place, but these are undeniably better.  Next time I make them, I'm going to try freezing a bunch of them before baking so I can see how they do when baked from frozen.  Talk about a convenient, quick dinner or lunch!

 

Quick Note:  Use part skim mozzarella.  I made half of these with regular string cheese, and half with lactose free cheese sticks (not specifically mozzarella).  Every single one of pizza sticks made with the full fat lactose free cheese burst open in the oven and leaked their cheese everywhere, I think because of the extra fat.

 

  

Pizza Sticks

 

13 oz pizza dough (1/3 of this recipe)

40 slices pepperoni

10 mozzarella string cheese sticks, or a brick of mozzarella cut into 1 oz sticks

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried parsley

3 Tbsp parmesan cheese

optional: pizza sauce and ranch dressing for serving

 

Preheat oven to 450 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.

 

Roll out pizza dough into an approximately 11 by 16 inch rectangle.  Make one long cut lengthwise, then cut the two strips into 10 rectangles total.

 

Line up 4 slices of pepperoni on each rectangle of dough, then top with a cheese stick.  Wrap the dough around the cheese sticks and pepperoni, sealing the seam and the ends.

 

Arrange pizza sticks on the baking sheet.  Melt butter and stir in garlic powder and parsley.  Brush over pizza sticks, then sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

 

Bake until golden, about 10 minutes.  Let cool a couple of minutes before serving.

  

Yield: 10 pizza sticks

Slow Cooker Cauliflower Soup

This recipe requires a bit of an explanation.  I've been having a medical issue that's resulted in me cutting way down on starches/grains and sugar.  The sugar I can mostly do without, but avoiding pasta, potatoes, bread, and the like is harder.  Lucky for me, I've had quite a bit of success with finding recipes that are already okay for me to cook, and adapting other recipes.  The standards by which I judge a recipe haven't changed and I will only post recipes here that I think are really good, even for people (like my husband!) who can eat whatever they want.  As evidenced by all the dessert posts last month, I'll still be posting recipes for sweets and pasta and that type of thing, just not as frequently.

 

This is one of the adapted recipes.  When I came upon the Cauliflower Soup recipe on the Pioneer Woman blog, it occurred to me that cauliflower soup with baked potato toppings on it would probably be pretty good.  I adapted the recipe so it would work in the crock pot, and left out the butter, flour, and milk (the milk just because I thought the texture was perfect without it).  It turned out exactly how I hoped!  My husband really dislikes cauliflower, but really enjoyed the soup anyway.  It's pretty good on its own, but the toppings really enhance it, especially the sour cream.  The sour cream also helps thicken it a bit since it's a pretty thin soup. 

If you want the soup thicker and don't mind adding flour to it, you could make a roux by melting 4 tablespoons butter in a small pan on the stove, then whisk in half a cup of flour and let it cook for a minute, then slowly whisk in the half and half and a cup of milk.  Let it simmer for a couple of minutes while stirring, then stir it into the soup.  I haven't tried it this way because I thought the consistency was fine, but the Pioneer Woman does basically the same thing to thicken her version and I'm sure it works perfectly.

 

Slow Cooker Cauliflower Soup
 

36 oz frozen cauliflower florets
1 carrot, diced

1 1/2 cup diced onion
4 cloves minced garlic

2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt (plus more later)

1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder
2 quarts chicken broth

1 C half and half
 

Toppings:
1 C sour cream
cooked, crumbled bacon
grated cheddar
thinly sliced chives or green onion

In the crock of a large slow cooker, combine all ingredients except half and half and toppings.  Cook until carrots and cauliflower are soft, about 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low (times will vary according to your slow cooker).  Use a potato masher to break up the cauliflower.  If you want it smoother, you can use an immersion blender next, but we think it's best with a bit of texture to it.  Stir in the half and half, then taste the soup and add more salt if necessary.  I ended up using 2 teaspoons total. 
 

To serve the soup, ladle it into individual bowls and then top with sour cream, bacon, cheese, and green onion.

Yield: About 8 servings

Salad Stuffed Shells

I came across this recipe on AllRecipes the other day and had to make it right away!  What a clever idea, spooning chopped salad into large pasta shells.  It's also quick to make and pretty healthy.  These would make a great lunch or summer dinner, but I didn't want to wait that long and anyway it was in the 20s here today which is practically summer, right?

This is more of an idea than an actual recipe.  Make your favorite salad (with the salad and other ingredients chopped up), add dressing, and stuff it into pasta shells.  Feel free to follow this recipe, but you can really put in whatever you want!  Oh and if you decide you want leftovers, you can mix up the salad part on the first day, just make sure to only add the dressing to the portion you plan to serve right then.

Salad Stuffed Shells

20 large pasta shells (I suggest just cooking the entire 12 oz box since some will undoubtedly tear)
1/2 of a 10 oz bag pre-washed lettuce, chopped into slightly smaller than bite size pieces
1/2 cucumber, chopped
1 C cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
1 C cooked, shredded, and cooled chicken
1 small can sliced black olives, drained
caesar salad dressing to taste (this recipe is our favorite, or you can use bottled)
6 T grated parmesan, divided

Cook pasta shells in a large pot of salted water, then drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water until shells are cold.  Drain well, then blot each shell dry.

While pasta cooks, combine salad ingredients, dressing, and 2 T of the parmesan.  When shells are ready, spoon some of the salad mixture into each one.  Arrange on plates and sprinkle with remaining parmesan.

Yield: 4 or 5 dinner sized servings

Creamy Garlic Tomato Soup

 The ingredient list for this soup may not look very impressive, but trust me.  It.  Is.  GOOD.  Really good.  It's kind of creamy since it's roux based and has milk, but is not too bad for you.  The flavor is great and the garlic stands out.  It also takes less than 10 minutes to cook!  Perfect to whip up on a busy night with salad and bread or a good ol' grilled cheese sandwich, which is how I served it tonight, using the rosemary wheat bread I made earlier today.

Credit for this recipe goes to Inge, the mother of the wonderful family I stayed with when I lived in Austria.  Inge was a fantastic cook and could make anything taste good.  She often made a variation of this soup using whatever tomato products she had on hand.  The best version used tomato puree she canned from her own tomatoes every summer instead of the broth, tomato sauce, and tomato paste.  She also used a little cream instead of milk and a bit of beef bouillon, but it was essentially the same!  I've fiddled with the recipe a bit since I sadly do not have the home canned tomato puree, and this is the best version I've come up with.  Enjoy!

Creamy Garlic Tomato Soup

3 T butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 T flour
2 C chicken or vegetable broth
1 C milk
16 oz can tomato sauce
6 oz can tomato paste

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat.  Add garlic and saute until lightly golden, then whisk in flour.  Whisk and cook until roux is light golden, about 2 minutes.  Whisk in broth, 1/4 C at a time, making sure mixture is smooth before adding more.  Whisk in milk, tomato sauce, and tomato paste until smooth.  Cook until soup comes to a boil and simmer for two minutes, stirring constantly.  Add salt if necessary, but taste it first because it should be salty enough from the broth and tomato products.

Yield: 4 servings

Amazing Stove Top Mac and Cheese

I love cooking, but don't really like watching cooking shows or the Food Network. It's just not very interesting to me. I do like the recipes of some TV chefs, like Giada de Laurentiis (I have 3 of her books and have made a lot of her recipes with great success), but I've never seen her on TV. The only TV chef I enjoy watching is Alton Brown. My husband and I watch old episodes of his show sometimes. This particular mac and cheese recipe is his. It's one of those recipes that I saw online, realized I had all the ingredients, and scurried off to the kitchen to make. The method is rather different from most other mac and cheese recipes, and the result is delicious. Flavorful, cheesy, and as smooth and creamy as any Velveeta based sauce. The down side is that it doesn't reheat particularly well, but it's so easy to make that it's okay! You could try using another kind of cheese instead of the cheddar (maybe pepper jack, swiss, or a bit of parmesan?) and I'm sure those would be great, too.

Amazing Stove Top Mac and Cheese

8 oz macaroni
2 eggs
1 t salt
a sprinkle of pepper
1/2 t hot sauce (I use Frank's Red Hot Sauce)
1/2 t prepared yellow mustard
3/4 C milk
1/4 C butter, cut into pieces
10 oz freshly grated medium or sharp cheddar cheese

Cook macaroni in a large pot of lightly salted water. While it cooks, whisk eggs until smooth, then whisk in salt, pepper, hot sauce, and mustard. Whisk in milk. When macaroni is cooked, drain and return to pot. Put pot on stove over low heat and add butter. Stir until melted. Stir in egg and milk mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened: about 3 minutes. Remove pot from heat and stir in cheese.

Yield: 4 servings as a main dish, 6 as a side

Garbanzo Sandwich Spread

Yesterday I came across this recipe and had to give it a try. It looked interesting, I already had the ingredients, and I need to bring lunch to school three times this week so it seemed like a good choice! Of course I changed it a bit to better suit my tastes, but it turned out quite well. Basically I made it the same way I make tuna salad and egg salad. The texture is surprisingly similar to that of tuna salad and I think it tastes quite good, too. You should definitely give it a try if you're a vegetarian. Even though I'm not a vegetarian, I still plan to make this for myself. It would be great on toasted wheat bread (or a bagel, mm!) with assorted veggies (I'm thinking tomato, cucumber, and alfalfa sprouts), or wheat crackers.

Quick note: I dislike the crunch of raw onion and celery in things, but feel free to add them instead of the onion and garlic powders if you want!

15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained
4 T mayonnaise (you can use light, fat free or vegan)
1/2 T lemon juice
1/2 t dried dill
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Place the beans in a flat bottomed bowl and mash with a potato masher. It shouldn't be completely smooth, but you don't want whole beans. Stir in mayonnaise and other ingredients, then add salt and pepper to taste.

Yield: Enough for 3 or 4 sandwiches

Mint Orzo Salad

The other night when I cooked orzo to go with my Zucchini Patties, I just cooked the entire 1 pound bag. We ate it for 2 meals and then I used the rest in this yummy, refreshing salad that's perfect for lunch. I saw the recipe on AllRecipes and knew it was something I would love because it has 4 of my favorite things: pasta, lemon, mint and most of all... PEAS! I am a lifelong lover of peas. Only fresh or frozen though, canned ones are evil. Story time: when I was in second grade I wrote and illustrated a short story that was published through the school. There was an "about the author" section and much to the surprise of many kids (and adults) who read it, my two favorite foods were listed as macaroni and cheese and peas. The lady who typed up the page even put several exclamation points in parentheses after it. I'm well aware that many people hate peas for some reason, but I am definitely not one of them!

Quick note: You definitely want to mince the mint leaves finely for this one. If you don't, the salad will have a distinct... leafy quality to it. Ahem.

Mint Orzo Salad

3 C cooked orzo
1 1/2 C frozen peas, thawed
5 fresh mint leaves, minced finely (or to taste)
2 T lemon juice
1 T olive oil
3/4 t salt
1/4 t onion powder or 1/4 C sliced green onion
sprinkle black pepper

Combine everything in a bowl and serve cold.

Yield: 3-4 servings