What's For Dinner Tonight? Salads All Around!

The past few days the weather has been warm and gorgeous, so we've been eating pretty light. Farm Fresh had some great sales on produce, so we took advantage of that and made different salads all weekend. The great thing about these salads is you can easily add in or take out ingredients based on availability or your taste. Everything here is vegetarian, and easily made vegan by leaving out the cheese in the salad.

Dinner Salad

• 1 bag of romaine mix
• 1 large carrot, sliced
• 1 cucumber, cut lengthwise and sliced
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 8 white mushrooms, clean and thinly sliced
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup sliced black olives
• Freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Dressing:

• 3 teaspoons sherry vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• Pinch of black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine all salad ingredients in large bowl and toss.

Whisk vinegar, salt, pepper, mustard, and garlic in small bowl until mixed. Slowly stream in olive oil, while continually whisking.

Add dressing to salad mixture and toss to coat. Top with cheese, salt, and pepper to taste.

Serves 4. Ready in: 10 minutes

---

Colorful Pasta Salad

• 1/2 package (8 oz) rotini pasta, cooked
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1 large lemon (or 2 small)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 (6 oz) can sliced black olives
• 1 small cucumber, peeled and diced
• 1 large tomato,diced
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1 small green bell pepper, diced

Cook pasta according to directions until al dente. Rinse with cold water and drain well. 

In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and garlic.

Add to bowl olives, cucumber, tomato, red onion, bell pepper, and pasta. Gently toss everything together until coated. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Serves 4. Ready in: 20 minutes

---

Tropical Fruit Salad

• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 mango, peeled and cubed
• 1 papaya, peeled and cubed
• 2 mandarin oranges, peeled and segmented
• 2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
• 1 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, and cubed
• 6 fresh mint leaves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange coconut in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast coconut until edges are golden brown, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine mango, papaya, orange, kiwi, and pineapple. Refridgerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, top with toasted coconut. Garnish with mint leaves.

Serves 6. Ready in: 20 minutes

Happy eating!

What's For Dinner Tonight? Sweep Steak, Baked Mac & Cheese, Spinach Salad

So simple, but really tasty. If I use a mix, I go for organic if I can. I was using a great organic french onion soup mix, but it's been discontinued (boo!). I'm trying 2 Simply Organic French Onion Dip packets for this since I already have them. You could also make your own with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

*Remember to be careful with dry mixes since the HPV salmonella recall. Check www.foodsafety.gov to see if you have anything that's been recalled)*


Sweep Steak   

2-3 pounds round steak or pot roast
1 (2 oz) package of onion soup mix

Put the meat on a sheet of aluminum foil big enough to wrap it in,  Sprinkle the onion soup mix on top of it, fold the foil, airtight, around it, put it in a baking pan, and bake at 300°F for 3 hours (or 200°F for 9 hours).

You can also open it up about an hour before it’s done and surround it with potatoes and carrots.

From The Compleat I Hate To Cook Book by Peg Bracken


Serves 4-6. Ready in: 3 hours, 10 minutes

---

Skip the boxed stuff and treat yourself to a super cheesy, tangy mac and cheese. You can adjust the sharpness of the cheddar and amount of mustard and cayenne to suit your family's tastes. This makes a leftover that always gets eaten here.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese


1 (16 oz) package macaroni
1 ½ pounds sharp cheddar, shredded
1 tbsp butter
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
½ tsp mustard powder
½ tsp cayenne (optional)
Salt and pepper


Preheat oven to 350° F. Cook pasta in lightly salted water until al dente; drain. Combine mustard and cayenne into the evaporated milk.

Grease a 2 quart casserole. Place a quarter of the macaroni in the bottom followed by a layer of cheese. Dot with butter and season with salt and pepper. Repeat layering three times, saving some cheese for top. Pour evaporated milk mixture over top.


Bake, covered, for 50 minutes. Add remaining cheese to top and bake uncovered for 10 minutes or until golden and bubbly.


Serves 6-8. Ready in: 1 hour, 15 minutes

---

Spinach Salad

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch of salt
Pinch of black pepper
1 bag (5 oz) baby spinach
1 medium red apple, cored, halved, and thinly sliced
1 cup seedless grapes, halved


In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic powder, salt, and pepper until combined.

In a large bowl, toss spinach with apples and grapes. Pour dressing along sides of bowl*, and toss to coat.

(*Pouring dressings directly on top can damage delicate spinach and make it soggy)

Serves 4. Ready in: 10 minutes

Happy Eating!

What's For Dinner Tonight? Shrimp Fettuccine

This recipe has been in staple in my family for years. Everyone in the family considers it one of their favorite foods. It is rich and not-so-figure-friendly, but this is the perfect dish to splurge on. If you have crawfish tails available (they taste much better if they come from the US instead of Asia), they work even better. This pasta is perfect for feeding large crowds by doubling or tripling it. It's my number one go-to dish for pot lucks and family gatherings. Once prepared, transfer it to a crock pot and you're good to go!


Shrimp Fettuccine

1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 bunch green onions (and tops)
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons minced parsley
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 pound of fettuccine noodles, cooked al dente
Cayenne, to taste
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano

Heat butter in a large non-stick skillet. Add green onions, garlic, and parsley. Saute 3 minutes; add cayenne, salt, cream, and lemon pepper. Simmer about 8 minutes on low heat. Stir in shrimp and cook until heated through. Pour over cooked noodles. Top with cheese and toss.

Serves 6. Total preparation time: 35 minutes

I serve this with a colorful garden salad and some nice crusty bread.

What's For Dinner Tonight? Beef Stroganoff

I've been getting used to the warmer weather here, so today's burst of cold air caught me by surprise. I immediately knew tonight was going to be a total comfort food night. For this beef stroganoff, I used ground beef, since I stockpiled it during a great sale at Farm Fresh. I serve it over egg noodles, but it's also great over other types of pasta, rice, and potatoes. Easy, warm, and tasty for those cold nights!


Beef Stroganoff


4 ounces fresh mushrooms
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup beef broth
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper

In a large skillet, sautee onions, garlic, and mushrooms in half of the butter over medium heat until soft, remove from pan.

Brown ground beef in same pan. Add remaining butter to pan and melt. Mix in flour. Stir in beef broth and Worcestershire sauce and cook until thickened slightly.

Add onion and mushroom mixture. Stir in sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook until heated through, but do not boil. Serve over cooked egg noodles.

Serves 4 (easily doubled). Total prep and cook time: 25 minutes.



I served this along with asparagus sauteed in a little butter and olive oil and my favorite bread machine bread.

Happy eating!