Three Cheese Chicken Penne Florentine

This is one of my favorites.  It might seem a little complicated, but if you do some prep work ahead of time, it's not bad.  I usually just buy a rotisserie chicken instead of cooking my own.  I also usually add extra spinach, and sometimes I skip the red bell pepper.  You can assemble it and freeze it too.

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Florentine (from Cooking Light magazine)

• 1  teaspoon  olive oil
• Cooking spray
• 3  cups  thinly sliced mushrooms
• 1  cup  chopped onion
• 1  cup  chopped red bell pepper
• 3  cups  chopped fresh spinach
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh oregano
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  (16-ounce) carton 2% low-fat cottage cheese
• 4  cups  hot cooked penne (about 8 ounces uncooked tube-shaped pasta)
• 2  cups  shredded roasted skinless, boneless chicken breast
• 1  cup  (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/2  cup  2% reduced-fat milk
• 1  (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup, undiluted

Preheat oven to 425°.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, and bell pepper; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add spinach, oregano, and black pepper; sauté 3 minutes or just until spinach wilts.

Place cottage cheese in a food processor; process until very smooth. Combine spinach mixture, cottage cheese, pasta, chicken, 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, milk, and soup in a large bowl. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheddar cheese and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

[from Jaime]

Val's Sunsugar Salsa

And THIS one is the one I love! I think I realized I haven't really loved recipes because I don't really love salsa. I made this one up and LOVE it. But it isn't spicy at all. It also uses a cherry-like tomato called a Sunsugar. This is an amazingly delicious little tomato I highly recommend you grow. Literally everyone I know who I have try it starts growing it themselves.

Sunsugar Salsa

Sunsugars (I don't know how many)
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
2 green onions (or other onions if you want)
3-5 garlic cloves (we went for 5)
some garlic salt
some sugar

stuffed crepes with roasted red pepper sauce

I love this idea. Any herbivores out there? I'm always looking for new vegetarian or vegan recipes.


Tonight we had stuffed crepes with roasted red pepper sauce.


Ingredients

8 crepes

Filling:

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tomato, cored, seeded, and diced
• 1/4 tsp fennel seed, crushed
• 2 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into sixths and thinly sliced
• goat cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Sauce:

• 1 7 oz. jar roasted red peppers, well drained and patted dry
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 1 minced garlic clove
• dash of cayenne
• salt

To make the filling:

1. saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil for 5 min.
2. add tomato and fennel, cook 1 min.
3. add zucchini, cook 10 more min.
4. season w/ salt and pepper to taste

To make the sauce:

1. combine all ingredients in blender and puree. Heat in a sauce pan.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees

Assemble the crepes:

lightly butter a baking dish

spoon in some of the zucchini mixture along the center of a crepe and top it with some goat cheese

roll the crepe to make a log and place it seam side down in the baking dish and repeat with all crepes.

lay a lightly buttered sheet of wax aper on the crepes, cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Serve with sauce.


Very yummy dish.



*This recipe comes from Main-Course Vegetarian Pleasures*

 
[from Maryea]

Stir Fry

Tonight is one of my "go-to" meals. It is kind of a hodge-podgey stirfry. I always thow tons of veggies in this. You could use any veggies you want. I will list the ones I typically use. I make a lot to have leftovers for lunches for DH and I. My family loves this and eats a lot of it! Use a big skillet if you plan on making this much. Or spilt in two skillets.




Ingredients:

2 packages of Polish Kielbasa sliced into coins.(There are several kinds, I use a lean one made with turkey)

Any kind of veggie you want to add. I normally add:

Chopped green/red/yellow peppers

Broccoli florets

Chopped celery

Sliced mushrooms

Sliced carrots

Cherry tomatoes halved

Brown rice



Directions: Add kielbasa first to begin browning. Then start chopping and adding veggies. I add carrots and broccoli first as they take the longest. I cook my veggies till pretty soft as Emma still only has 6 teeth but that is up to you. Then I add celery, peppers and tomatoes. Mushrooms come last. Season with Italian seasoning. Cook until veggies are the way you want them. Serve over bed of rice and top with parmesan cheese.

[from Molly]

Stuffed Mushrooms

20 medium Mushrooms
3 tbs Butter
2 tbs finely chopped Onions
2 tbs finely chopped Red Bell Pepper
14 Ritz crackers, finely crushed
¼ cup Parmesan Cheese
½ tsp Italian seasoning
1 tbs Pepper Sauce
Dash Garlic powder
2-3 cloves fresh minced Garlic
¼ Frozen Spinach, thawed and warmed
OPTIONAL: ¼ cup Mozzarella cheese



*Preheat oven to 400. Remove stems from mushrooms. Finely chop enough of the stems to measure ¼ cup; set aside. Cover and refrigerate remaining stems for later use.

*Melt butter in large skillet on medium heat. Add chopped stems, onions and peppers; cook until veggies are tender. Thaw and heat the spinach.

*Stir in cracker crumbs, cheeses and seasoning. Spoon mixture evenly into mushroom caps and place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes or until heated through.

*Can be stuffed several hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake. Baking time is 20 minutes.

[from doodiebug30]

Pasta Salad with Spinach

Mix up your favorite pasta salad recipe. Let chill. Toss with fresh spinach before serving.


Here is what I use:

Bow tie pasta-cooked & drained, diced red bell pepper, chopped red onion, chopped cucumber, a small can of mandarin oranges-drained, slivered almonds, Feta cheese, black pepper, and tossed with Kraft Mandarin Orange Dressing. Chill for several hours. Toss with fresh spinach and extra dressing when ready to serve.



*Serve with fresh bakery bread or crescent rolls.

[from Doodiebug30]

Hungarian Style Chili with Cheesy Polenta

Hungarian Style Chili with Cheesy Polenta


Ingredients

•2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil

•2 pounds coarse ground sirloin

•1 red chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped

•1 red bell pepper, chopped

•1 large onion, chopped

•4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

•Salt and pepper

•1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder, a palmful and a half

•1 1/2 tablespoons smoked sweet paprika

•1 teaspoon dried marjoram or oregano, 1/3 palmful

•1/4 cup tomato paste

•1 quart beef stock

•1 1/2 cups water or chicken stock

•1 1/2 cups milk

•1 cup quick cooking polenta

•2 tablespoons butter

•1 cup shredded Gouda or smoked Gouda

•1 cup sour cream

•Finely chopped fresh dill, parsley and chives for garnish


Preparation

Heat a large pot over medium-high to high heat. Add beef and brown 7-8 minutes. Add hot pepper, bell peppers, onions and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook to soften vegetables, 7-8 minutes more. Stir in chili powder, sweet paprika and oregano. Add tomato paste to pot and stir to combine, 1 minute. Add stock to pot and bring chili to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook 15 minutes more.



In a separate pot, bring water or chicken stock and milk to a boil, whisk in polenta and cook 2-3 minutes until thickened. Stir in butter and cheese, season with salt and pepper.



Fill shallow bowls with polenta, make a well in the center. Fill well with ladles of chili and top with sour cream and herbs.


***Oh, I used regular instead of sweet paprika and sharp cheddar instead of Gouda and it was great!
 
[from Raegan]

Chicken & Pasta in Peanut Sauce

• 8 oz thin spaghetti
• 1 bunch broccolini, cut in 2 inch lengths
• 1 med. Red bell pepper, cut in strips
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in strips
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• salt & pepper
• ½ cup bottled Peanut Sauce
• crushed red pepper -optional

*In Dutch oven, cook pasta according to directions, adding broccolini and peppers during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Drain. Return to pan and set aside.

*Meanwhile, brown the chicken strips in the olive oil. Add to pasta & veggies, along with salt & pepper to taste. Add peanut sauce. Heat through. Sprinkle with red pepper/cayenne, if needed.



Serves 4



**I used 1 large bunch of broccoli instead



Kind of ethnic.... Yummy tho!



[from doodiebug30]