Taco Casserole

taco casserole, via pinterest

We made this yummy casserole for dinner Sunday after seeing it on pinterest. It promised to appeal to the whole family and it did - T loved it! We used green pepper from our garden (miraculously our pepper plants survived the heat of the summer, and so far the cold of the winter as well). 

peppers from the garden

Ingredients

1 lb ground skinless chicken breast
1/2 c onions, chopped
1/2 c bell peppers, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
8 ozs taco sauce
1 c fat-free sour cream
1 c fat-free cottage cheese
1 c low-fat tortilla chips, whole or broken up (we used Tostitos baked scoops)
1 c low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded
3/4 c salsa

Directions
Preheat oven to 400. Spray cooking spray on bottom of a 2-quart casserole dish; set aside. In a skillet, cook chicken, onion, peppers, and garlic clove until tender. Add seasoning mix and taco sauce; mix thoroughly and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese; set aside. Place half the broken chips in the bottom of casserole dish. Add meat mixture to cover the chips, then cover the meat with sour cream mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and remaining crushed chips. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until cheese has melted. Top with 3/4 cup salsa if desired.

Makes 8 (1 Cup) Servings

Nutritional Info Per Serving:
287 Calories; 4g Fat; 25g Protein; 34g Carbs; 43mg Cholesterol; 2g Fiber; Points Plus+ 7

Note: I accidentally used fat-free cheese in this recipe, which I would not recommend. It dried out a bit and had to be cut with a sharp knife. Luckily it still tasted good. We'll try 2% cheese next time!

Fresh Vegetable Soup

Slightly adapted from the original recipe, we enjoyed this tasty and very healthy soup for lunch on Sunday. The only changes we made were to up the amount of broth (6 cups was not enough for the 8+ cups of veggies involved) and to increase the Swiss chard (T enjoyed chopping it a lot!). 

2 clove(s) garlic clove(s), minced
2 medium uncooked carrot(s), diced
2 small uncooked zucchini, diced
2 cup(s) uncooked savoy cabbage, or other variety, shredded
2 cup(s) uncooked Swiss chard, chopped
2 cup(s) uncooked cauliflower, small florets
2 cup(s) uncooked broccoli, small florets
1 medium uncooked onion(s), diced
1 medium sweet red pepper(s), diced
1 rib(s) uncooked celery, diced
2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
10 cup(s) vegetable broth
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, or chives, fresh, chopped
1/2 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper, or to taste
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, optional

Directions
Put garlic, vegetables, thyme and broth into a large soup pot. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to low and simmer, partly covered, about 10 minutes.

Stir in parsley or chives; season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

PointsPlus value 1
Servings 12

Seafood Stew

Over the holiday break I wanted to attempt to make a seafood stew. T had a lot of opinions about what kinds of seafood should go into it! After reading a lot of recipe options, we settled on one from Ina Garten, with a few alterations. Here is the adapted recipe which was delicious and definitely a keeper:

Ingredients
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 small)
2 cups large-diced small white potatoes
2 cups chopped fennel (1 large bulb)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups good white wine (we used Toasted Head chardonnay)
1 (28-ounce) can plum tomatoes, chopped
1 quart (=32 ounces) Seafood Stock
1 tablespoon chopped garlic (3 cloves)
1 teaspoon saffron threads
4 large Atlantic sea scallops
1 pound tilapia, cut in large chunks
2 pounds mussels, cleaned and de-bearded

a dozen Alligator Point clams
3 tablespoons Pernod
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Toasted baguette slices

Directions
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or stockpot, add the onions, potatoes, fennel, salt, and pepper, and saute over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, until the onions begin to brown. Add the wine and scrape up the brown bits with a wooden spoon. Add the tomatoes with their juices, stock, garlic, and saffron to the pot, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Add the scallops, fish, clams and mussels, bring to a boil (this is important as adding everything will really bring the temperature down), then lower the heat, cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the pot to sit covered for another 5 minutes. The fish and scallops should be cooked and the mussels and clams opened. Discard any mussels or clams that didn't open. Stir in the Pernod, orange zest, and salt, to taste. Serve ladled over 1 or 2 slices of toasted baguette.

Quote of the Week

via pinterest

The Saga of the Tarte Tatin

Santa brought Thomas 8 shiny new ramekins for Christmas which has led to much discussion of what we should bake in them. Our first project was pumpkin creme brulee. Our second, Deep Dish Apple Tarte Tatin. The recipe, which we had seen on Tyler's Ultimate, looked deceptively simple - make caramel, layer it with apples, then pastry; bake and enjoy.

The finished product!

Honestly, there must be a typo in the original recipe because a cup of water plus a cup of sugar will make simple syrup, not caramel! At least not within 10 minutes... but my first rule of any new recipe is to follow the directions. So we did. Once the sugar dissolved in the water in the saucepan on the stove, it became clear that caramel was a long way off so we dumped it out and started over, this time with sugar and just a couple tablespoons of water. The mixture completely crystallized. I read a couple other recipes for tarte tatin and saw that they started with butter and sugar, so we reduced the recipe a bit, maintaining the proportions, and this time made hard candy instead of soft caramel. We have made caramel before so I decided the way to success was to use that recipe. Fortunately this process worked (fourth time is the charm?). My hypothesis is that the key to perfect caramel is no stirring. Once the sugar dissolves, don't touch it until it's that dark amber color. Whew!

Our next problem was that I had bought fillo dough instead of puff pastry. They are right next to each other in the freezer case... but not interchangeable. I didn't realize until I had it out of the package that it was the wrong thing! Luckily a friend came to our rescue and made the trip to Publix that saved the day. In the end, the tartes were delicious and hopefully if we decide to make them again they won't be as much of a struggle!

Ingredients
1 1/2 Tablespoons water
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
6 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, halved and cored
1 sheet puff pastry, store bought, thawed
sugar for sprinkling
vanilla ice cream to serve with tartes

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Stir sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat; boil without stirring until mixture turns deep amber, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with wet pastry brush, about 6 minutes. Add cream (mixture will bubble). Remove from heat and pour into the ramekins, dividing evenly among all 6.

Arrange 1 apple half, cut side down on top of the caramel in the bottom of each ramekin. Take the remaining halves and cut them into wedges so you can fill the gaps in the top of each ramekin to create a level surface on which the pastry will lie across. Sprinkle apples with some sugar. 

Roll the pastry out use a cookie-cutter to cut out circles the size of the ramekins and place over the apples folding it in at the edges. Make 3 or 4 holes with a knife to let steam out when baking. Bake for 20 minutes and then let it rest for 15 minutes.

It's important to let the tartes rest because if you turn them out too soon, they won't hold their shape.

Put a plate on top of the cooled ramekin and flip both over. Lift the ramekin up slowly. Add a scoop of ice cream and enjoy!

Ham & Bean Soup

Yesterday we made a big pot of ham and bean soup, using the bone from our Christmas ham. The recipe came to us from my Dad. It's hearty, warming, delicious and easy.

Ingredients
1 ham bone (leave some meat on it)
1 pound navy beans
4-5 quarts of water
2 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, diced
4 carrots, sliced
6 whole allspice
1 cup ketchup

Directions
Soak the navy beans overnight the day before you want to make the soup (or use the quick soak method on the bean package).

Put all the ingredients (except ketchup) in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for two hours. Add 1 cup ketchup and simmer another hour. Remove bone (shake off any meat that hasn't fallen off on its own into the soup) and allspice. Season to taste.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

from megappleby.com