Colorful Pepper and Onion Pizza

I like to use orange, yellow, and red bell peppers for the nice colorful presentation of this dish, but when I can't find any good ones, or the store doesn't have any, I will use red and green peppers instead.

Ingredients
One prepared pizza crust (such as boboli)
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 small-medium sweet onion
Fresh mozzarella cheese
Minced garlic
EVOO
1 large tomato (optional)

Directions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees
- Cut peppers and onions into bite size pieces
- Saute peppers and onions in a large pan with 1 tsp minced garlic and about 2 tbsps EVOO until peppers are soft and onions are translucent.
- Remove peppers and onion from heat
- In the same pan, add 1 tsp or more of minced garlic and an additional 1 tbsp EVOO. Saute garlic until it starts to turn brown.
- Slice about 8oz of fresh mozzarella cheese.
- Pour garlic and EVOO sauce onto prepared pizza crust
- Alternate topping with peppers and onions, tomato if using, and cheese, making sure the cheese is the final ingredient on top.
- Put pizza onto a baking pan, or directly on oven rack for crispier crust, and bake for 8-10 min or until cheese is melted.

Wait about 2 min or so before cutting pizza to ensure toppings stay on!

Baked Mac and Cheese

My mom used to make this for me all the time growing up. It's definitely my favorite comfort food!
This version is taken from Cottage Living 2004

Prep: 15 minutes, Cook: 40 minutes.
Yield
Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients
1 (8-ounce) package dried elbow macaroni or favorite pasta (about 2 1/4 cups, uncooked)
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon whole-grain Dijon mustard
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
1 (8-ounce) package shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (optional)
Toppings (optional):
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Melt butter in a large heavy saucepan over low heat; add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Turn heat to medium; gradually whisk in milk, and cook over medium heat, stirring or whisking constantly until thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in pasta, mustard, and next 4 ingredients, stirring just until cheese begins to melt.
3. Pour pasta mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano or more Cheddar. If desired, top with fresh breadcrumbs, and drizzle evenly with melted butter.
4. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!!

6 Can Casserole

This has been one of my favorite dinners since I was a child. It is called "6 Can Casserole" because it used to take 6 canned items to prepare it. One of those ingredients is now in a bag though, so, now it's not really 6 "Can" Casserole anymore. When I first made it for Brett, he was a little leery. But, once he tried it, he loved it. It's my go to recipe for something quick and tasty.

1 Bag of Chow Mein Noodles (You'll likely only need about 3/4 of the bag)
2 Large Cans of Chicken (the canned chicken that looks just like the cans of tuna. You can add more chicken if you'd like, it depends on how much chicken you'd like in your casserole)
1 Can of Cream of Mushroom soup (low fat, low sodium, whatever you prefer)
1 Can of Chicken with Rice soup (again, low fat, low sodium, whatever you prefer)
1 Small Can of Evaporated Milk

Spray a medium casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Spread an even layer of Chow Mein Noodles at the bottom of the dish. Add the remaining ingredients over the Chow Mein Noodles. Cover with another thin layer of Chow Mein Noodles. Mix.

Bake at 350 F for 35 - 40 minutes and enjoy!

Katy

Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad

My favorite part about this recipe is you can really customize it to your liking by adding more or less of the ingredients, mixing up the seasonings, or adding other ingredients.

This recipe can easily be halved or made in the larger quantity so you can have it for leftovers

Also, I keep experimenting with the chicken seasonings, but I'm including my favorite so far. Sometimes if I'm in a hurry I'll omit the chicken, although if you buy the tenderloins it really doesn't take too much extra time.

Lastly, this is a dish that is best cold... it actually is better the next day (although I still devour it right after I've made it!)

Ingredients:
1 box farfalle (bow-tie) pasta (you can use ziti or rotini, but I like farfalle the best!)
Your favorite pesto
Parmesan cheese
Sea-Salt, fresh ground pepper, and onion powder
1 bag craisins
1lb chicken tenderloins (give or take a little, I usually get about 1.25lbs)
1 container grape or cherry tomatoes (I prefer grape)

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350
Trim the chicken, place on a pan and season with salt, pepper, and onion powder
Bake approximately 20 minutes or until chicken is done
Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces

While chicken is baking, put a large pot of water on to boil
Boil whole box of farfalle until done
Drain pasta, throw a couple of ice cubes in the pot, and throw the pasta in the freezer or fridge for a couple of minutes to cool the pasta off.


While chicken is baking and pasta is boiling, cut tomatoes in half for grape tomatoes and in quarters for cherry tomatoes.

When pasta is cool, mix together all the ingredients in the following order:
Chicken
Craisins
Pesto
Parmesan cheese
Tomatoes

Enjoy!!

Zucchini Lasagna

2-3 small zucchini or 1 large
2-3 medium tomatoes
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 green pepper
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
2 tbsp. butter
16oz shredded mozzarella cheese
1 can tomato soup
Parmesan cheese

Brown turkey in a medium skillet. Meanwhile melt butter in a large skillet, saute zucchini, onion and garlic. Spread turkey in a 9x13 inch pan. Spread 1/2 of the cheese on top of the meat. Layer zucchini, onion and garlic evenly across cheese. Top with remaining cheese. Slice tomatoes and green pepper and arrange evenly on top. Spread tomato soup (just the soup, no water) over top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake covered for 35 minutes at 375 degrees. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Citrus Garlic Shrimp Pasta

This is my favorite pasta recipe. Its a great meal when you are looking for a pasta dish that doesn't feel to "heavy."

Citrus Garlic Shrimp Pasta

1 pound linguine
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup orange juice*
1/3 cup lemon juice*
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled
5 teaspoons grated lemon peel*
4 teaspoons grated orange peel*
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Shredded Parmesan cheese
Fresh parsley, scallions, or chives to garnish
*I use 2 lemons and 2 oranges which is about the right amount for the zest and juice needed

Cook linguine according to package directions. Meanwhile in a food processor combine the next 8 ingredients; cover and process until well blended.

Pour this mixture into a large skillet; heat through. Add shrimp. Cook or 5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Drain linguine; toss with shrimp mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and garnish if desired.

Feta Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I found this recipe on myrecipe.com and tried it. It was amazing! I didn't make the sauce for the burgers, but I'm going to try to do that next time.

A simple yogurt-based sauce and a rich feta-and-spice stuffing makes these turkey burgers stand out above the rest. Pair with sautéed zucchini. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Yield
4 servings

Ingredients
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground turkey
6 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
Cooking spray
1/4 cup grated English cucumber
1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices tomato
4 green leaf lettuce leaves
4 (2-ounce) Kaiser rolls or hamburger buns

Preparation

1. Combine first 6 ingredients. Divide mixture into four portions. Indent center of each portion; place 1 1/2 tablespoons feta into each. Fold turkey mixture around cheese; shape each portion into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.
2. Heat grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add patties; cook 5 minutes on each side.
3. Combine cucumber, yogurt, and mint in a small bowl. Arrange 1 turkey patty, 1 tomato slice, 1 lettuce leaf, and 2 tablespoons yogurt mixture on bottom half of each roll. Top with top halves of rolls.
Sautéed zucchini: Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 cups sliced zucchini and 2 minced garlic cloves; sauté 5 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper.

Spinach Artichoke Calzones

This is a Rachael Ray recipe. I liked this so much that I made it again for bunco one night. I just cut the pizza dough into smaller rectangles and made them appetizer size. Yummy!

2 cups low-moisture part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, or a few pinches ground
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (a couple handfuls)
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
1 can (15 oz) quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained and coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tubes prepared, refrigerated pizza dough (10 oz each)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (available in pouches in the dairy aisle)
2 cups tomato, marinara or pizza sauce, warmed, for dipping

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine ricotta, nutmeg, black pepper, Parmigiano Reggiano, spinach, artichoke hearts, and garlic in a bowl to make the filling.

Roll both tubes of pizza dough out on 2 separate nonstick cookie sheets and cut each dough in half across. Spread 1/2 cup mozzarella and up to 1/4 of the filling over half of each rectangle, then fold dough over top of filling; pinch edges firmly to seal. For a half-moon pizza parlor look to your calzones, mound filling into a half moon shape, fold dough over top, and trim edges following the rounded shape, then seal by pinching with fingers. If the dough tears, remove a little of the filling and repair. Repeat process, spacing calzones evenly on a baking sheet, and bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve with warm tomato, marinara, or pizza sauce for dunking. Add a tossed salad and you've got a complete meal.