Random recipe: Angel Hair Pasta with Asparagus

Ok, so I want to document recipes that I like but haven't made recently. So I have decided that when I title the post "What's for dinner" it is something that we are having for dinner within the month that I am posting. When I title the post "Random Recipe" it will be something I am not necessarily making during that month, but still wanted to share. That way I can share recipes faster but it will also not have pictures of the actual recipe for you. I title these posts this way also because I may just write a post one of these days that has nothing to do with recipes at all. But I want to be able to find the recipes quickly so I'll title them so I can categorize them. Hmmmm, that was boring but did it make sense? :)

Ok, on to the recipe. this is one I have kind of tweaked over the years, which you can do, too. Add or take away whatever works for you. With Summer getting closer, I thought I'd share this one. My kids love it! I do it when asparagus and tomatoes are less expensive, so the meal can be fairly budget friendly.

Angel Hair Pasta with Asparagus

Here's what you need:

1 pound fresh asparagus
2-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 medium plum tomato, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup chicken broth(instead of wine)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 package angel hair pasta(however much works for you and you can use refrigerated)
1/4 cup fresh basil, shredded
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I have to say 2 things before I continue. One is that I love asparagus. I would have it weekly if it were in season all year. I have grilled, broiled, and sauteed it. If you have never cooked with it here is what I do in this recipe: I take each piece of asparagus and snap off the bottom, usually about an inch from the bottom. This gets rid of the "woody" texture that doesn't taste good. You can cut it off if you want but asparagus has a natural way of snapping exactly where it needs to, and I think I like the sound of it. Call me crazy....
The other thing, call it a tip, is about the tomatoes. When you cook with tomatoes, and fresh tomatoes are added to a warm dish the skin separates from the flesh. It is not good to find stringy pieces of skin in an otherwise yummy pasta dish. So this is what I do: When you get the pot of water started for the pasta, and it is VERY close to boiling, but not boiling yet, throw the plum(roma) tomatoes in whole for 1 minute. Seriously just 1 minute, no more than 2. then take them out, let them cool enough to handle them, then immediately peel them. The skin comes right off with a knife. Then you can seed and chop without the skin getting in the way. By the way, when I seed them, I just squeeze them over the sink. The seeds come right out.
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Snap off and discard woody bases from asparagus. Cut the tips off, and set aside.

Bias slice(move the knife 45 degrees from where you normally have it) the remaining portions of asparagus spears into 1 to 1 1/2 inch
long pieces; set aside.

In a large skillet cook and stir garlic and pepper in hot oil over medium
heat for 1 minute. I have found that the minced garlic spreads more throughout the whole dish while the sliced garlic is for the occaisonal punch of taste which I love. Just don't let it brown too much!
Add the tomatoes;cook for 2 minutes more, stirring often. Add the asparagus pieces, broth, and salt to the mixture in the skillet. Cook, uncovered, for a few minutes, maybe 3-4. The tomatoes will start to break down and almost create a sauce.

Add the asparagus tips;cook uncovered, for 1 minute more. Add butter and
stir until melted.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain
pasta;return to pan. Add asparagus mixture and basil to pasta, tossing to
coat.

You can add cooked chicken, other veggies, pretty much anything. This is one of my all-time favorites.

What's for dinner: Teriyaki Chicken

I found this recipe on a crockpot website: www.crockpot365.blogspot.com I found this site only a few weeks ago when I was desperate to find new recipes to make my life easier. She has more recipes than I expected that I would be willing to try. This is my first one off her site. Basically I dumped the chicken(I used 12 drumsticks) into the crockpot and poured the sauce over it, and done. Nothing easier!
The conclusion: Green-as in go. Definitely a decent flavor. The meat was falling off the bones, and very moist. The kids had mixed reactions. Emma is the only one I can count on right now to give me an honest try and an honest opinion, and she liked it. Zach and Jon tried it, but that was it. Jason and I both liked it and agreed we would make it again.

Here's what you need:
Chicken pieces-any kind you like but I think that wings wouldn't work if you wanted to let it cook for a really long time. Unless maybe they were frozen to start.
Bottled Teriyaki sauce-I used La Choy brand Ginger and Garlic flavor ( I used 2 bottles for 12 drumsticks)
I added 4 cloves of minced garlic and 2-4 tablespoons of brown sugar. I used the tiniest bit of water to get all the sauce out of the jar, mixed it all in a bowl, and poured it all over the chicken in the crockpot. Turned it to low at 11 am and turned it to warm at 5 pm while we made potatoes. Overall, I thought it needed salt but otherwise it was very good.

Above is the raw chicken after I poured the sauce in, below is after it was cooked.

Jason wanted to take a picture of it plated even though it was sort of plain looking.

What's for dinner: Lasagna

A while ago I decided I was going to try to make 2 lasagnas and freeze one to see how it would turn out. Again, with my "large family", it's got to be easy, easy, easy. So I figure if I am going to go through the mess of one, I might as well assemble two. So I doubled this recipe and made two, one for that night and one for 2 weeks later. I put plastic wrap in the baking dish before I assembled it, and froze it long enough to pull out to wrap again. I wrapped it 3 or 4 times with plastic wrap and once with foil. The day before we were going to have it, I pulled it out to defrost and popped it back in the same baking dish I had frozen it in. 24 hours seemed to not be enough time because I had to cook it slightly longer than stated so next time I may try to defrost 36 hours or so. It still turned out really well. It did not have any freezer burn on it because it hadn't been in the freezer that long, and everything firmed up very nicely. I was ECSTATIC with my first attempt at freezing anything but soup! This is a basic recipe with no fancy meat or veggies, but I may try it with ricotta cheese next. Yummy!

Cook's Tip: I buy ground beef(the 90-10 ratio is the absolute LOWEST I will go) in bulk now and cook it up and freeze it in 2 cup portions. So instead of having to brown the beef for this recipe, I just had to defrost 1 cooked portion in the microwave for 2 minutes. Even less work!

LASAGNA

Here's what you need:

9 lasagna noodles
1 lb. ground beef or ground turkey
1 28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
1 16 oz. container of small curd cottage cheese
1 package shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz.)
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 medium-sized onion
Brown meat and onion in a skillet and remove grease. Add spaghetti
sauce and simmer 2-3 minutes.
While browning meat, cook noodles for approximately 10 minutes and
drain. Place 3 noodles horizontally in a 9” x 12” pan and begin
layering process with the sauce. Dab on 1/3 of the cottage cheese,
mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Repeat the layering process
two more times for a total of 3 layers.
Bake for 35 minutes at 350°. Serve with toasted garlic bread and
a tossed salad.

Here is the frozen finished product before the defrosting. I am still amazed at how well it worked.

And the finished cooked product All brown and bubbly just the way we like it!

What's for Dinner: Baked Bean Chili

This last week we had Chili. I have hated Chili my whole life. I like kidney beans a little, so I don't know if that's what's kept me from liking it all these years. The weird thing is, whenever it rains really hard, or even snows, I feel like Chili is what I SHOULD be making for dinner. Anyway, I found this recipe a while ago at www.livingonadime.com It has become our new favorite 15 minute dinner. It really is on the table fast, especially if I already have cooked hamburger in the freezer. In this economy, with the 4 kids, cheap and easy is what I aim for. Healthy is just as important, so I'll tweak things sometimes as I go. This one I will try with no sausage next time. I serve it over cornbread with a little cheese on top. Jason likes his cornbread on the side, so it really is whatever you want to do. OH! The other criteria I look for in recipes is ones that most of the ingredients are in the pantry-these are good food storage recipes. I have a bunch of recipes that require fresh ingredients, especially in the Summer. But I also like to have the ones that we like and could survive on if we had to.
Enjoy!

Just a tip: I double this and freeze it. When I make my menu for the month I decide on recipes for the first 2 weeks, and then repeat it. So when I do Chili, and freeze half, 2 weeks later I have no mess to clean up-only the pot. Nice, huh?

BAKED BEAN CHILI

Here's what you need:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
8 ounces sausage, cooked, crumbled and drained
8 ounces ground beef, cooked and drained
1 can (16-oz.) pork and beans
1 can (10.75-oz.) condensed tomato soup
1 cup beef broth
1 can (4-oz.) diced green chiles
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro, optional

Heat oil in a large saucepan; add onion and garlic. Cook for 5
minutes. Add sausage, beef, beans, soup, broth, chiles, chili powder
and cumin.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes. Season with
salt and ground black pepper. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.

What's for dinner: Feijoada

Tonight is Feijoada. Brazilian beans and rice to be exact. Just about as good as the Feijoada you can eat at Tucano's or Rodizio's (restaurants that are Brazilian inspired). It is a little bit time consuming, but sooooo worth it. So if you have a wintery day to sit around the house all day, try it out! Today it's even better because Jason is cooking it. I tell him he's the one that makes it Brazilian, otherwise it's gringa beans and rice. Not nearly as good. :)

Here's what you need:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 whole large onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1 bag dried black beans, soaked overnight and drained
1 pound salt pork, boiled for 5 minutes, cut into cubes
1-2 packages smoked sausage(like a Hillshire Farm brand)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 whole bay leaves
1 1/2-2 1/2 quarts water

Put oil in a large sauce pot, heat till hot. Saute the onions and garlic until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Dump in beans and water(not the water you soaked them in). The water needs to cover the beans entirely. You don't want the beans "swimming", but definitely covered. That's why the huge difference in water amount. It just depends on your pot, etc. Cut up the sausage into discs and add to the pot. Add the salt pork, too, here if you wish but I never do just for the sake of being a little healthier. We love the flavor still without it. Add the salt and bay leaves, bring it to a boil. Cover and simmer at least until beans are soft but the longer the better. Usually 2-3 hours. The sauce starts to thicken later in the process, and it becomes like a thin gravy. That's when it's really good.
About 40 minutes before you want to eat start the rice.
Here what you need:
4 tablespoons oil
1 whole yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
3 cups rice
4 cups water to start with
1 whole bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat the oil again in another large sauce pot. Saute the onion and garlic until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Saute the rice dry with the oil for a few minutes. Add water, enough water to cover so it will stir freely. Add salt and bay leaf. Bring it to a high boil and watch and stir turning heat down slightly if needed. You are looking for the water in the rice pot to become thickened slightly. Cover it, and drop the temperature to low and cook it for 25 minutes.

*Note about the rice: You will get a crunchy rice or a soggy rice or a perfect rice depending on how you do this. Jason still occasionally makes the rice wrong even though he has made this for years. I have yet to make it perfect, so there you go. Perfect is the consistency of a really good Spanish style rice, not sticky like Chinese food rice. The flavor is amazing, so it's worth it.

*salt note: This is definitely to taste. The beans need some for sure to cook with, but I sometimes add even more to my own plate. It just depends on how the beans taste to me.

The smell in my house right now is AMAZING! I plan to add recipes that we like a lot-family favorites, and occasionally I will add what we're having for dinner. It may be something new, or a family favorite. Enjoy!

A long time coming....

Alright, maybe I am jumping on the bandwagon here, but oh well. I really like to cook, I always have. What I have discovered after having kids, however, is that they suck the joy right out of cooking because they never like anything or they never want to try anything. So here is my attempt at taking back some of the joy. Feel free to try the recipes and let me know what you think. Feel free also to send me any recipes-that's sort of what I anyway, a kind of recipe swap. We all spend our time trying to figure out what's for dinner. I know I can always use more ideas of what to cook. So my plan is to post my inspirations for certain dishes, post new recipes I am trying, or just some old family favorites. Hopefully I can post pictures as I go because for me, that's what makes me want to try a recipe in the first place.
I have a lot of opinions on food, so this blog is a good opportunity for me to put it all out there. I have been wanting to do this for a while, so here goes. Wish me luck!