Easy Weeknight Meals: Casseroles to Panini to Middle Eastern flair

Here are five dinner ideas to get you out of your rut. White Bean-Turkey Chili with Cornbread Dumplings will do that for you.

Monday: Leftover delight
Use up leftover rice in Cheesy Chile Rice, a meatless dish idea from the Food Network. To 2 cups of cooked rice, add 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 cup chopped scallions and a small can of drained, diced chiles. Then mix in 1 cup shredded Cheddar (I’d use pepper jack), salt and cayenne pepper if you’d like. Spritz a casserole dish with non-stick spray and sprinkle with Parmesan. Dump in the mixture and bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Tuesday: Upscale sandwich
Go fancy with Salmon and Goat Cheese Panini, and if you don’t have a panini press call your hot sandwich grilled cheese and make it in a frying pan. You can also make panini on a George Foreman gill. Layer poached salmon, goat cheese, capers and slivers of red onion between slices of sturdy bread and grill on each side until goat cheese is gooey. A lightly dressed green salad is perfect on the side.

Wednesday: Rotisserie chicken
Prepare Middle Eastern Chicken Flatbread by spreading store-bought baba ghanoush on toasted pita or flatbread. Layer on shredded rotisserie chicken, sliced cucumbers, diced tomatoes and Romaine lettuce. Sprinkle red wine vinaigrette over all. Serve with a side of couscous studded with raisins.

Thursday: Turkey preview
Get a head start on your November turkey consumption with White Bean-Turkey Chili with Corn Bread Dumplings (recipe below), or clip and save for the day after Thanksgiving . Hunt through the pantry for a jar of salsa to save you one more purchase at the grocery store.

Friday: Bake it
Italian Shrimp Bake is an easy and satisfying end of the week meal. Put several large, peeled shrimp in gratin dishes or individual ramekins with basil-infused tomato sauce. Top with cubes of fresh mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes. Serve with green salad and crusty bread for dipping.

White Bean-Turkey Chili with Corn Bread Dumplings
1 pound cooked turkey
1 (16 ounces) jar chunky salsa
1 (15 ounces) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 (8.5 ounces) package corn bread mix
1 egg
Garnish:
1/4 cup shredded cheese
Sliced green onions
Chili powder for sprinkling

Chop turkey. In  Dutch oven, combine turkey, salsa, beans, chili powder and 2/3 cup water. Bring to boil.
Meanwhile, for dumplings, in a medium bowl mix together corn bread mix, egg and 1/4 cup water. Drop batter by large spoonfuls on boiling turkey chili.

Cover; reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into a dumpling comes out clean. To serve, top chili with cheese, green onions and chili powder.

Serves 4.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens

Easy weeknight meals: From pasta to couscous

This week we celebrate starches. (Don't we always?) Ideas for what to serve with noodles, rice, potatoes and couscous.

Monday:  With noodles
Go meatless tonight with Mediterranean Spinach and Pasta. While 8 ounces of spaghetti or fettuccine are cooking, saute diced onion and chopped garlic in olive oil. Add red pepper flakes. Stir in 1 bag of baby spinach leaves and a can of undrained kidney beans. Let spinach wilt, add drained pasta and some grape tomatoes, a handful or two of feta cheese and fresh, chopped parsley. Heat through.

Tuesday: With rice
Pan-Seared Scallops and Scallion Rice is quick and easy for a weeknight. Start the rice first because the shellfish will take less than five minutes. Cook rice in vegetable broth and add chopped scallions toward the end. Sear the scallops in a bit of olive oil, basting with melted butter on each side as they cook. Squeeze lemon juice over scallops and serve with rice. Make a green veggie, too.

Wedesday:  With rotisserie chicken
Slice up the bird and serve it with Sauteed Broccoli Rabe. Broccoli rabe looks like skinny-stemmed broccoli but it’s actually a member of the turnip family. Strip off the little leaves (like you do broccoli) and saute the stocks in olive oil and garlic with a few shakes of red pepper flakes. Season with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. Crusty bread on the side.

Thursday: With potatoes
Hash Browns and Ham Casserole (recipe below) gets a head start from frozen hash browns, but you’ll need to make your own sauce. C’mon, you can do it.

Friday: With couscous
Grill or saute fish fillets and serve with Zucchini-Mint Couscous. Prepare couscous according to package instructions and make the accompaniment by sauteing diced zucchini and minced garlic in hot olive oil. Add a few shakes of cumin, diced fresh tomatoes and a handful of chopped fresh mint. Spoon sauce over couscous.

Hash Browns and Ham Casserole
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 cups diced ham
1 (24-ounce) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well
1/2 cup buttered bread crumbs, optional
Over medium heat, melt butter in a large saucepan; add flour. Stir until smooth; add milk. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly; remove from heat and stir in cheese and mustard. Place half of the ham in a lightly greased casserole. Top ham with half of the hash brown potatoes and half of the cheese sauce mixture. Spoon spinach over the top. Repeat with the remaining ham, potatoes and sauce. Top with buttered bread crumbs if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 to 55 minutes.

Serves 6 to 8.

Source: About.com

Easy weeknight meals: Fast scampi and a nutty-blue chicken salad

Out of dinner ideas? Here are five to get the juices flowing.

Monday:  What a scampi
We’ve made Shrimp Scampi Fettuccine before and it’s a dish worth repeating. Saute garlic, and minced shallots if you’ve got ’em, in a mixture of butter and olive oil. Don’t let the garlic go brown; keep stirring. Add peeled shrimp and a few good splashes of white wine (or chicken broth). Let shrimp cook through and serve over hot fettuccine. Green salad on the side.

Tuesday: Corny alternative
Saute corn kernels, fresh or frozen, and sliced jalapeno peppers for Spicy Corn & Jack Quesadillas. Mix the corn and jalapenos with grated Monterey Jack cheese and use as the filling for quesadillas. Serve with green salsa and sour cream.

Wednesday: Rotisserie Chicken
Nutty Blue Chicken Salad is what’s for dinner. Shred the bird and arrange meat over iceberg lettuce mix; add some crunchy veggies if you’d like. Sprinkle toasted walnuts and crumbled blue cheese over all; dress with balsamic vinaigrette.

Thursday: Going light
Sausage and Egg Flatbread (recipe below) from Cooking Light is, as you would expect, a light meal. The lemony dressing pairs well with the peppery arugula that garnishes this “pizza.”

Friday: Simply salmon
When you see salmon on sale, grab it. Saute fillets seasoned with salt and pepper in olive oil, about 4 minutes a side. Remove from skillet and add grape tomatoes, a bit of butter, fresh lemon juice and capers to pan. When tomatoes go soft, dump the chunky sauce over the salmon and serve. Five-minute couscous on the side.

Sausage and Egg Flatbread
1 (11-ounce) can refrigerated French bread
2 teaspoons cornmeal
2/3 cup chopped onion
1 (4-ounce) turkey Italian sausage, casing removed, crumbled
1/2 cup  shredded Fontina cheese
4 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups arugula
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Find lengthwise seam in dough. Beginning at seam, gently unroll dough into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough crosswise into 2 equal portions. Roll each portion into a 15- by 6-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Place each rectangle on a baking sheet sprinkled with 1 teaspoon cornmeal.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and turkey Italian sausage to pan; cook 4 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring to crumble.

Divide sausage mixture evenly between rectangles, spreading evenly down length of dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border on each; top evenly with 1/4 cup cheese.

Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven. Break 2 eggs onto each flatbread, packing evenly lengthwise; sprinkle evenly with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until eggs are set. Turn off oven; leave flatbreads in oven with oven door closed for 4 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from oven.

Combine arugula, lemon juice and olive oil; toss. Arrange arugula mixture evenly over flatbreads. Cut each flatbread crosswise into 3 squares; serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings.

Nutritional information per serving: 288 calories, 12g fat, 17g protein, 28g carbohydrates, 676mg sodium.
Source: Cooking Light, October

Easy dinner ideas: Weeknight meals of fish, black bean soup and rotisserie chicken

Here are some ideas for making dinner when you don't have time to make dinner. Your family will think you're a hero.

Monday: Get fishy
Baked Herbed Fish goes well with quick-cooking wild rice and roasted Brussels sprouts. To make the fish, put 2 pounds of firm, white fillets in a baking dish. Sprinkle with dried seasoning (such as Italian herbs), garlic powder, salt and pepper. Top with chopped onion and about 1/2 cup of white wine. Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Tuesday: Oh beans
Black Bean Soup With Rice is a tasty meatless meal that can start with a few cans of your favorite black beans. Make a quick black bean soup by cooking 1 can of beans with 3/4 cup vegetable broth, 1 to 2 minced garlic cloves, 1/2 chopped onion and 1 teaspoon (or to taste) ground cumin. Simmer until onion has softened, about 15 minutes. Puree and serve with cooked rice and chopped onions. Hot, buttered Cuban  bread on the side.

Wednesday: Rotisserie chicken
The Philly cheesesteak gets flipped on its head by a rotisserie chicken for Chicken Cheesesteaks With Peppers (see recipe below). Okay, okay, there’s no Cheez Whiz either. Serve with potato salad.

Thursday: Stuff ’em
Chili Potatoes With Cheese can be made with canned chili or your own recipe. Split hot baked potatoes and ladle on the chili, then top with grated cheese and diced onions. Want to reduce the fat? Use meatless or turkey chili and go easy on the cheese.

Friday: Open face it
Make Crabby-Cheesy Melts by first mixing up a crab salad of canned crab meat, mayonnaise, lemon juice, diced celery and a few shakes of Old Bay seasoning. Pile on split English muffins and top with Swiss cheese. Melt under the broiler. Serve with a mixed green salad dressed with balsamic vinaigrette.

Chicken Cheesesteaks With Peppers
2 to 3 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
2 mixed bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as safflower
Coarse salt and ground pepper
6 ounces sliced provolone cheese
4 soft hoagie rolls, split lengthwise
1/4 cup light mayonnaise

Heat broiler. On a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, toss together peppers, onion and garlic with vegetable oil. Broil, tossing occasionally, until crisp-tender and slightly charred, 8 to 10 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Add chicken to broiled vegetables; toss, and spread in a single layer.
Top chicken and vegetables with cheese; broil until cheese is bubbling, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Scoop out most of the doughy center from both halves of rolls; discard. Spread rolls with mayonnaise; fill with chicken and vegetables. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Source: Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food (October 2008)

 

Scallop Po' Boys get zing from spicy mayonnaise

Do not fear making po' boys at home. The seafood in the legendary New Orleans sandwich doesn't have to be deep-fried. The scallops in this recipe are fried in oil in a skillet and not totally submerged. You'll need to cook the scallops in batches and the trick is to not let the pan go one second without something cooking otherwise the coating bits left in the pan will burn and smoke. And that will give the scallops a burned flavor.

Make extra of the spicy mayo and use it on your turkey sandwiches.

Bay Scallop Po’ Boy with Spicy Mayo
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus lemon wedges, for serving
3/4 teaspoon paprika
Hot sauce, to taste
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 pound bay scallops, patted dry
1/2 cup vegetable oil, such as safflower
4 hot dog buns
4 lettuce leaves

In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice, teaspoon paprika, and hot sauce; season with salt and pepper. Set spicy mayo aside.

In a medium bowl, combine breadcrumbs, flour, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon paprika; season with salt and pepper. Add scallops, and toss to coat.

In a medium nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Working in two batches, fry scallops, tossing occasionally, until golden and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer scallops to a paper-towel-lined plate; season with salt.

Dividing evenly, spread inside of buns with spicy mayo. Top with a lettuce leaf, then scallops. Serve po boys immediately, with lemon wedges.

Serves 4.

Source: Everyday Food

Photo by Scott Keeler, St. Petersburg Times

Easy weeknight meals: Chicken every which way

Monday: Homestyle dinner
Pair Parmesan Chicken with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli for a hearty Monday night dinner. To make the chicken, dredge boneless, skinless breasts in beaten egg, then in a mixture of grated Parmesan cheese and sesame seeds. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes. Flip halfway through cooking time.

Tuesday: Meatless tonight
Pasta with Eggplant-Tomato Sauce will fool most meat lovers. Simmer cubed eggplant with a couple cans of diced tomatoes and minced garlic for about 45 minutes. We use the tomatoes that are already flavored with oregano and garlic (or whatever seasonings you like). Don’t worry if the mixture looks too dry; the meaty eggplant releases lots of juice. Spoon over cooked pasta and garnish with Parmesan cheese. Salad and bread on the side.

Wednesday: Rotisserie Chicken
Low-fat Cantaloupe Chicken Salad (recipe below) reminds us
of an old-school ladies-who-lunch dish. Pile the salad into half
a melon, and serve with breadsticks. Ladies have dinner too,
don’t they?

Thursday: Seafood grill
Oil up the grill grate for sea scallops and shrimp. Brush them with olive oil infused with minced garlic and parsley. Serve over couscous that’s been cooked with thinly sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle your one-bowl meal with sliced scallions, both white and green portions.

Friday: Burgerfest
Put your stamp on Cheese-Stuffed Burgers by forming the patties around a tablespoon or so of feta, goat, mozzarella or pepper Jack cheese. Adorn accordingly, though we think they all go with thin slices of Granny Smith apples and thick slabs of bacon. Serve with fresh fruit and pasta salad loaded with veggies.

Cantaloupe Chicken Salad
1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fat-free sour cream
1?1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Dash salt and pepper
1 cup cubed cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup seedless red grapes, halved
2 scallions, chopped
1 small cantaloupe, halved and seeded
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted

In large bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, sugar, peel, lemon juice, ginger, salt and pepper. Add the chicken, celery, grapes and scallions; toss to coat. Spoon 1 cup salad mixture into each cantaloupe half; sprinkle with almonds.

Serves 2.

Nutritional information per serving: 350 calories, 11g fat (2g saturated), 40g carbohydrates, 5g fiber, 37g protein, 417mg sodium.

Source: Taste of Home: Healthy Cooking

Photos from Taste of Home and Williams-Sonoma

Dinner in a flash with scallops

Cherry, grape or those little Santa Sweets tomatoes, pictured at left, are perfect for the relish of this quick-cooking dish. Depending on the size of the tomatoes, slice them in half. The Santa Sweets can go in whole and as they heat they'll soften and implode. The scallops cook in 2 to 3 minutes a side.

Even Rachael Ray doesn't make dinner this quickly. Serve it with couscous to soak up some of the sauce.

 

Scallops with Cherry Tomato Relish
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed and skin removed
1 pound sea scallops
1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup dry white wine

Place oil and crushed garlic in large saute pan. Heat until garlic becomes fragrant and begins to brown. Once it begins to brown, remove from the oil. Set aside.

Add scallops and cook until golden on frist side, approximately 3 minutes. Turn and cook until golden on second side, which will take about 3 minutes.

While scallops are cooking on second side, add slice cherry tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook until tomatoes are soft, about 3 minutes. Add basil leaves and wine. Cook 1 minute, stirring to blend tomatoes and basil.

Serves 4.

Source: "The Diabetes Seafood Cookbook" by Barbara Seelig-Brown (American Diabetes Association)

A shrimp recipe to call my own

I like to tinker with recipes. If a recipe calls for feta, I might use goat cheese. If shallots are on the ingredient list, I am likely to use whatever onion I have on hand. They want thyme? I add dried Italian herbs. 

Maybe tinker is the wrong word. Maybe it's really desperation substitution because I just don't have everything on hand and can't stomach the idea of getting back into a hot car and heading for the store.

Such is the case with Monterey Shrimp, a promising recipe I spied on the back of a box of Publix spaghettini. I didn't have seasoned salt so I used a few shakes of one of those new McCormick herb-spiked crusting blends, the 1/2 avocado became a whole one, I left out the pesto, added more shrimp and a bit of olive oil to finish the whole thing. It was delicious and a keeper. Plus, it was done in about the time it took to cook the pasta. 

Feel free to tinker away. I certainly did. Here's how I made it:

Monterey Shrimp
8 ounces thin spaghetti
1 medium avocado, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt (this is where I used the crusting blend)
1 1/2 pounds peeled medium shrimp
2 tablespoons butter
2 medium cloves garlic
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
1 to 2 tablespoon olive oil to finish (optional)

Prepare spaghettini according to package directions.

Place flour and seasoned salt in Ziploc bag; shake to mix. Add shrimp, seal tightly and shake to coat.

Preheat large saute pan on medium-high for 1 to 2 minutes. Add butter and swirl to coat. Crush garlic into pan. Add shrimp and saute 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat to low. Stir in avocado and remaining ingredients. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens. Toss spaghettini with shrimp mixture. If mixture looks to dry, drizzle with olive oil.

Garnish with scallions if you'd like.

Serves 4.

Source: Adapted by me from a Publix recipe; photo by me

Of goats and farms and me

C'mon. Aren't these goats the cutest things you've ever seen? I promised you a photo of me with the goats at Harley Farms Goat Dairy in Pescadero, Calif. Could I look more silly? The Jackie-O glasses didn't fool these girls. They knew who was boss.

Here's a weird coincidence. I've been loving the book "Goat Cheese" by Maggie Foard (Gibbs Smith, 2008) for quite a while. Maggie moved to a Northern California farm from the big city a few years ago and fell in love with goats. (What is it about grown women and goats?) As I am looking at the book two nights ago, I realize her farm is near Harley Farms! And in fact, the cheese she used to test her recipes came from there. Small world. So here's me with the goats and a delicious simple recipe for salmon tacos that are draped with a cream sauce spiked with goat cheese.

Salmon Tacos with Roasted Corn and Chile Adobo Cream
3 cups corn kernels, cut fresh from the cob or frozen
1/2 red onion, diced
1 red or orange bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 pounds salmon fillet
8 small flour tortillas
Garnish:
Sliced avocado, cucumber and cherry tomatoes
Chile Adobo Cream:
4 ounces chevre
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 to 3 tablespoons canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce

Heat a charcoal, gas or stove top grill for the salmon. Preheat oven to 400 degrees for the corn. Toss the corn, onion and bell pepper in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in an ovenproof dish for 20 to 25 minutes until the corn is lightly brown and fragrant.

While the corn is roasting, brush the salmon with the remaining olive oil and place on the hot grill, about 5 minutes per side. Once the salmon is off the grill, let it rest a few minutes, keeping it warm, wrapped in foil until you are ready to assemble the tacos.

Warm the tortillas briefly on the grill. Wrap in a kitchen towel to keep warm.

Place everything on the table and let everyone assemble their own tacos, passing the Chile Adobo Cream.

To make the cream, whisk together the chevre, buttermilk and chipotles in a bowl or in the blender. Pour into a small serving dish.

Serves 4.

Source: "Goat Cheese" by Maggie Foard (Gibbs Smith, 2008)

 

Everyday Food magazine always inspiring

Friends let friends cook from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food mag. How's this for a good friend? My buddy Karen gave me all her back issues of Everyday Food, way back to the beginning, for Christmas last year. Seriously, she boxed them up and wrapped them up.

I love it!

I've been having lots of fun going through old issues and marking recipes. It is such a great magazine with tons and tons of doable recipes and ideas. Very inspirational.

Here's one I forgot about from June 2004. Sesame Orange Chicken is super quick and really delicious. You know I am a big fan of shrimp and often cast about for different ways to make it. Martha suggests that for this recipe you use egg whites instead of whole eggs in the batter. It makes the coating crispier.

Take your time and cook in batches. Don't crowd your pan of the shrimp will be in there longer than need be and may get tough. I serve it with rice.

Sesame Orange Shrimp

2 large egg whites

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup sesame seeds

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more if needed

1 cup fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites, cornstarch, sesame seeds, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper until frothy. Add shrimp, and toss to coat.

Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Working in two or three batches, cook shrimp until golden and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to drain. Add more oil to skillet if necessary for remaining batches.

Wipe skillet with a paper towel. Add orange juice, soy sauce, and sugar. Boil over high heat until syrupy and reduced to about 1/3 cup, 4 to 5 minutes. Return shrimp to skillet; add scallions, and cook until heated through and coated with sauce, about 1 minute.

Serves 4.

Source:  Everyday Food, Martha Stewart

Photo from Everyday Food