Category: Dips, Dressings, and Spreads

Chicken Kabobs, Oven Roasted Corn, and Naan with Arugula and Walnut Pesto

Chicken, Dips, Dressings, and Spreads, Sandwiches

I have been in the kitchen cooking since 3 pm. I made marinara sauce for my baked shells, cooked hamburger meat, marinated my chicken, made pesto, cooked dinner, and assembled my baked shells for tomorrow’s dinner. Any day I get to spend in the kitchen is a great one! Here is what we ate tonight…

Chicken Kabobs

I cut up chunks of chicken (4 breasts) and marinated it in olive oil, garlic (6 cloves, smashed and chopped), and salt and pepper to taste. Let set in fridge for at least 20 minutes. This is a great mild marinade, but heat would have been amazing in this. I might have added some diced jalapeno, a splash of hot sauce, or a few shakes of red pepper flakes if the girls were not eating this with us. Maybe next time I will do 2 marinades.
I also cut up some onion and added whole mushrooms to skewers I soaked in water for 20 minutes (while the marinade was going). Rotate on smoking hot grill or grill pan for about 6 minutes or so per side until the inside is no longer pink. 002

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Arugula and Walnut Pesto

You guys know I love to make pesto. This is the same as all the others. Greens (arugula), nuts (walnuts), cheese (Parmesan), and olive oil streamed in to the right consistency.
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Oven Roasted Corn

I wrapped 6 ears of corn in aluminum foil with 2 pats of butter per ear. I placed them in a 450 oven for about 20 minutes. Fresh corn is always a big hit! We planted some in our garden this year, so hopefully we will get a few ears out of it!

I heated some Naan bread on my gas eye and assembled a sandwich of sorts.It was heaven.

 

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Tilapia with Pesto and Cauliflower Gratin

Dips, Dressings, and Spreads, grains, potatoes, Seafood, Side dishes...veggies

I have heard some people say they don’t like cooking fish because they think it will stink up the house. They think it is hard to make. Well, I am here to prove them wrong. It couldn’t be easier and the house smells amazing. I also made a spinach and basil pesto to go with the fish. It matched perfectly. There were no leftovers…

Pan fried Tilapia

Ingredients
2-3 filets of tilapia cut in half
2 cups of flour
salt and pepper to taste
a couple tablespoons of oil AND butter

Directions
Sprinkle both sides of fish with salt and pepper; coat in flour. In large skillet, heat oil and butter over medium-high heat; fry fish in batches, turning once, until golden and fish flakes easily when tested, 4 to 5 minutes.

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Spinach Basil Pesto

Directions- Mix the following ingredients in a food processor and stream in olive oil to make smooth and creamy;
1/2 container of pine nuts
1 handful of both spinach and basil
1/2 container of parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
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Cauliflower Gratin

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
Sea Salt and Pepper
3 tbl butter
2 tbl flour
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
2 cups of shredded cheese- I used mild cheddar and colby jack

Directions

Place cauliflower on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Generously salt and pepper your veggies. Toss and cover well all pieces with olive oil or cooking spray. Place in preheated 425 degree oven for 20 minutes. Turn to broil for the last 5 minutes to get the pieces golden brown. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Over medium heat, melt the butter in a large skillet. Add in the flour, stirring to make a paste. Continue stirring for about 5 minutes. Slowly add in heavy cream stirring and blending. Do the same with the milk. Reduce heat to low and add the cheeses a little bit at a time, stirring and allowing it all to melt. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place roasted cauliflower in a large mixing bowl. Add creamy cheese mixture and blend well. Pour into a cast iron skillet and add more shredded cheese to the top. Bake for 20 minutes in a preheated 425 degree oven or until the top is golden brown.

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Oh, and we had a side of couscous. That is always a hit. =) Hope you have a great week!

Steak with Onion and Mushroom Blue Cheese Sauce, Creamy Spaghetti Pesto, and Roasted Asparagus

Beef, Date Night, Dips, Dressings, and Spreads, Girls' Night Out/In, Pasta, Side dishes...veggies, potatoes, grains

Skip the steak house and cook your family a nice steak dinner at home! My whole family LOVES steak, so when we see them on sale at the store, we always buy them. This time Publix had Porterhouse steaks on sale, so we just had to get them! I have blogged a few times on making steaks, but here are the directions I use for making mine. Of course, it depends on the cut and size of your steak, so if the steak is thinner you want to go less time, etc. I always cook them in my cast iron pan or cast iron grill pan. We like ours med. rare, so if you like it cooked more, obviously add time. You could also finish it off in an oven on 350 for a little extra cooking time.

Steak

The main star was the Porterhouse. For the perfect med.rare you need to follow these instructions. Get your cast iron pan to screaming hot smokiness. Then salt and pepper your steak on both sides. Cook until the first side is nice and crusty, about 6 minutes. Then turn and cook about 5 minutes. Take off the heat and tent in aluminum foil for at least 10 minutes. YUM!
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Onion and Mushroom Blue Cheese Sauce

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 onion chopped (or shallot)
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 container of mushrooms, sliced
1 cup heavy cream
1 container or package of crumbled blue cheese
salt and pepper

Directions
Cook onions and garlic in butter/oil on med. high heat for 5 minutes. Add your mushrooms and cook for 10 more minutes. Reduce heat to low heat and add your cream. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until it reduces to about half. Stir in blue cheese and melt. Serve with steak (or pork)
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Roasted Asparagus

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Snap the tough ends off of the asparagus. Place the asparagus on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, then toss to coat the asparagus completely. Spread the asparagus in a single layer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Roast the asparagus for 25 minutes, until tender but still crisp. One of my favorite vegetables!

Creamy Spaghetti Pesto

Ingredients
1 pound spaghetti
1/2 cup pine nuts
4 cups greens- I used a mix of parsley and basil
2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Cook your pasta in boiling salted water. Stir Occasionally.
When Al dente, drain, but keep about 2 cups of pasta water.

While your pasta is cooking, pulse your pine nuts and garlic in the food processor until smooth. Add your greens, oil, and Parmesan Cheese. Process until smooth. Season with your salt and pepper.

Add your pesto to your pasta. Stream in your heavy cream a little at a time. Add any starch pasta water as needed. Mix well. Enjoy!
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Kale and Basil Pesto

Dips, Dressings, and Spreads

So last night I was getting a snack from the fridge when I saw half a container of kale and a bunch of leftover basil. I also spied 1/2 a container of parmesan cheese. I decided to make a version of pesto. Real pesto has just basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, and parmesan cheese. The only ingredient I didn’t have was the pine nuts. All I did was add 3 heads of garlic, the kale, basil, and olive oil and a bit of salt to the food processor. I enjoyed it with some leftover steak, and then on some pita chips. You could add with other meats, fish, pasta, seafood, eggs; the possibilities are endless! Delicious!

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Here is another variation on pesto that I made awhile back…
https://funfoodiefamily.com/2014/01/20/four-course-meal-crab-cakes-vegetable-gratin-poached-salmon-with-pesto-and-chocolate/

Creamy Tomato Chicken with Garlic Rosemary Skillet Potatoes

Chicken, Dips, Dressings, and Spreads, Pantry Raid, Side dishes...veggies, potatoes, grains

It seems like forever since I have blogged. It actually has been about a week, and last week kinda was a blur. I cooked dinner a few nights, but nothing was really anything new or blog worthy. Tonight, I was feeling like I had a lot of random ingredients, so I decided to do a pantry raid. Here is what I found…

Proteins- Chicken breasts, chicken sausage, Black Beans, eggs

Pantry- Tomato paste- 2 cans, Diced Tomatoes- 2 cans, baked beans, chili, corn, 3 potatoes

Frozen- Variety Steamfresh Veggies, garlic bread

Fridge- cheese ravioli, alfredo sauce, half and half, fresh herbs- rosemary, thyme, and sage, white wine, 1/2 onion

So here is what I used and created…

Creamy Tomato Chicken

Ingredients

2-4 chicken breasts
3 cloves garlic crushed and chopped
1/2- 1 onion chopped
1/4 cup white wine
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 pint of half and half
Chopped fresh herbs- I had rosemary, thyme, and sage.
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Make sure you get your pan screaming hot!!! After 5 minutes of heating your pan, add your oil; 1 tablespoon or so to coat the bottom of the pan. When you see steam rising from the oil, add your chicken. Cook on each side for about 3-5 minutes until it is golden brown. 002

Once they are brown, take them out. Turn heat down to med heat and add onion and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant. Do not burn the garlic! Pour in about 1/4 cup of white wine… just enough to deglaze the pan. Add in 2 cans diced tomatoes and 1 can tomato sauce. I mashed up the diced tomatoes a bit, because my girls don’t like tomato chunks. Skip this step if you wish. 004

Then I added the half and half and the chopped herbs. I mixed together and added the chicken back in until the chicken was cooked through. A total of around 45 minutes for browning and cooking the chicken. …005007

I have some of the leftover creamy tomato sauce…I am thinking some good uses for leftovers this week!!!

Garlic Rosemary Skillet Potatoes

Ingredients

3 potatoes thinly sliced with a knife. You could use a mandolin, but make sure they are not too this. They need a bit of thickness to absorb all the delicious butter and cream.
1 stick of butter…yes, that is correct!
1 tablespoon or so of olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
1/4 cup of half and half
parmesan cheese- wild abandon
chopped rosemary

Directions

Heat your oven to 400
Heat your skillet with 1/2 a stick of butter
Add your garlic and rosemary- cook for about 5 minutes…ummmm, rosemary garlic butter =) Sprinkle in just a bit of parmesan cheese. Mix together.
Add your sliced potatoes in a pretty circular pattern. Add the rest of the butter in chunks all over the top.
Cook for 40 minutes.
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Take out and sprinkle more parmesan and rosemary. Turn your oven to broil. Brown the top of your potatoes and prepare to be wowed!!! 008

I added a side of Steamed Fresh Green Beans and Garlic toast. Dinner was a BIG HIT!