Antipasto Pasta Salad

I have to admit...I'm not really a pasta salad person.  I don't even know why I don't like it because I like all of the components of pasta salad, but it's something that I will usually only take a tiny scoop of when it's served at a party.  We recently hosted a party at our condo where we were serving barbeque type foods so when planning the menu, pasta salad seemed like a logical fit for one of the side dishes so I needed to find a pasta salad recipe that I would like. 

I decided to adapt this recipe that I found on allrecipes because it looked much better than the "typical" pasta salad, and the combination of the salami, cheese, and vegetables sounded tasty.  I'm glad I found this recipe because I definitely thought this was one of the best pasta salads I've had.  I guess what I'm trying to say is - this is a good pasta salad recipe for people who don't usually like pasta salad.  This recipe makes a HUGE bowl of pasta salad so unless you are serving it at a party, I would cut it in half.   The only thing I would change for next time would be to add a couple of chopped scallions to add a little bit of onion flavor and a pop of green color.

Ingredients:

1 (12 oz.) box of tri-colored rotini pasta
1/2 pound Genoa salami, chopped
1/2 pound Asiago cheese, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
salt and ground black pepper to taste
 
Directions:
 
Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, and cool under cold water.

In a large bowl, combine the pasta, salami, asiago cheese, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper and tomatoes. Stir in the envelope of dressing mix. Cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour.

To prepare the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Just before serving, pour dressing over the salad, and mix well.

Fruit Salad - Revisited

I make fruit salad a lot in the summer as a side dish for whatever we make for dinner that night on the grill.  I seem to use a different combination of fruits each time, but I really enjoyed this combination so I think I will be repeating it quite a bit over the next few months.  This combination of fruit really tastes great, and the different colors look really pretty together!  This made a big bowl of fruit salad that would serve about 6-8 people.

Ingredients:

4 yellow peaches, chopped into bitesize pieces
2 mangos, peeled and chopped into bitesize pieces
2 apples, chopped into bitesize pieces
Juice from half of a lemon
1 small container of raspberries
Small bunch of green, seedless grapes (I used maybe 1/3 of the bag)
Sugar, if your fruit isn't fully ripe

Directions:

First, toss the chopped apples with lemon juice to prevent them from browning.  Next, sprinkle a little sugar over the peaches and mango pieces if they need a little extra sweetness (I bought my fruit the same day I made the fruit salad so I did use a little sugar since the fruit wasn't fully ripened).  Then, mix all the fruit together and serve.  If you are making this ahead of time (which I did), you might want to mix the raspberries in right before serving so that it doesn't turn your other fruit red.

Grilled Corn with Cilantro Lime Butter

This is another grilled side dish that we will be making a ton this summer.  The deliciousness of this recipe completely depends on the deliciousness of the corn you buy, but usually it should be pretty good in the summertime. 

I was growing cilantro out on our deck, but after I started picking stuff off of it it ended up growing all weird so I threw it out.  The cilantro lime butter was delicious, but since I don't have it right out on our deck I will probably use another herb most of the time when we make this unless I buy cilantro for another recipe.  I think that chive butter sounds good so I will probably do that next time.  Anyways, if you haven't grilled corn already, try this out - it's super easy and cheap and you can either make one or two ears per person, depending on how much you like corn.

Ingredients:

4 medium ears of sweet corn, with the silk and husks removed (or however many you want to make)
Foil
1/2 stick of butter, at room temparature (about a tablespoon for each ear of corn you have)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Juice from half of a lime
Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

Mix together the butter, cilantro, lime juice, and a little bit of salt & pepper.  Smear the butter mixture all over each ear of corn and wrap in foil. 

Grill over medium heat for about 30 minutes, turning occasionally. 

The possibilities for flavored butter to go with the grilled corn is endless!  Now I just need to buy some of those corn holder things that you stick in each end so that it's not so messy when we eat this :)

Grilled Pineapple

We've been grilling a lot so far this summer, and we've made grilled pineapple several times already.  The picture doesn't do it justice, but this is amazingly simple and delicious.  It makes a perfect side dish to anything grilled or you could even add a little ice cream and turn this into dessert.

While Kevin is grilling our dinner, I will get this ready to go and have him throw the pineapple on the grill about five minutes before we eat.  It always ends up sweet and juicy :)

Ingredients:

1 pineapple - peeled, cored, and cut into strips (I cut about 8 big strips per pineapple)
1/2 stick of butter, melted
About 1/2 cup of brown sugar (I've also used regular sugar when I didn't have brown sugar, but I just used less)

Directions:

Brush the prepared pineapple strips with the melted butter on both sides.  Sprinkle both sides with the brown sugar and rub into the butter.  Grill over a medium flame for about 2 or 3 minutes on each side and enjoy!

Beer Bread

Let me just start by saying, this beer bread is REALLY good!  I don't think I've actually ever made beer bread before, but we had some good beer in the house and this recipe looked so easy and quick so I decided to make it on a whim.  This is a quick bread so it uses baking powder instead of yeast, which was great because I checked my yeast in the fridge and of course it was expired.

I will say that I had my doubts when I first put it into the oven because it looked too buttery (you pour butter on top before you bake) and I wasn't sure if it would really rise up and be big and fluffy, but sure enough when the timer went off, I opened the oven and it looked perfect :)  It tasted perfect too - the flavor of the beer was subtle, and it was so moist.  You should serve it hot out of the oven because that's when it will taste the best.  I did have a little leftover the next day and it was okay, but not even close to how it tasted the night before.  I found this recipe on another fabulous blog called Erza Pound Cake.  Try this - you won't be dissapointed!

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 bottle (12 ounces) beer (I used a bottle of Goose Island Honkers Ale - use the good stuff, I don't think miller or bud would cut it in this recipe)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese, grated (I added this to the original recipe to make it a little cheesy)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients except for the beer and the butter.

Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer into the bowl with the dry ingredients until just mixed.

Pour half of the melted butter into a loaf pan, then spoon the batter into the pan, then pour the other half of the butter on top of the batter.  Slide a baking sheet onto a lower rack to catch any butter that might overflow (I thought about skipping this because I didn't think I would need it, but a little butter did overflow so definitely put the pan underneath).

Bake for 50-60 minutes until golden brown, and serve immediately.

Pork & Shrimp Egg Rolls

To go along with the orange chicken that I made for dinner, I decided to make some homemade egg rolls.  I've been wanting to make homemade egg rolls for awhile because the frozen kind just doesn't cut it for me.  Kevin loves egg rolls so I decided to go ahead and give it a try.

These turned out great!  I will say that it did take me quite a bit of time to make these since you have to roll up each invidual egg roll, (we ended up not eating dinner that night until 9ish instead of 8 like I had planned) but if you have the time it's worth it.  I think my first time making egg rolls was a success.  My only advice is to buy extra egg roll wrappers if you have never made egg rolls before because I tore quite a few of them in the beginning.  It took me awhile to get the rolling down (and you have to be very gentle otherwise the wrappers will tear open), but eventually I got the hang of it. 

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com, and it ended up making about 30ish big egg rolls so I fried up 8 and froze the rest for later (which I would suggest doing - this recipe is definitely a process so you want to make a bunch while you're doing the work so that you can eat these over several meals).

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) package wonton wrappers (I bought 2 packages of big eggroll wrappers.....each had 21 wrappers so I definitely needed 2 or else I would have had extra filling)

1 pound lean ground beef (I used ground pork instead)
1 pound shrimp - peeled, deveined and coarsely chopped
5 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 pound bean sprouts
2 green onions
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium head cabbage, finely shredded (I just bought a bag of coleslaw mix to make it easier)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon MSG (I omitted, but I seasoned the filling with salt & pepper)
1 cup vegetable oil
Sweet and Sour Sauce, for serving

Directions:

1.  Place cabbage, bean sprouts, celery, and green onions in a large wok and stir fry over a high heat until vegetables cook down. Mix in shrimp, stir fry until cooked (I actually cooked the shrimp seperately to make sure I didn't overcook them.  Then I added into the mixture at the same time as the ground pork).

2.  In a large skillet, brown ground pork. Drain grease and add the meat to the vegetable and shrimp mixture. Continue to fry over a high heat; add oyster sauce, soy sauce, garlic, and salt & pepper. When well blended, remove mixture from heat.

3.  Place a tablespoon of the meat and seafood mixture (or more, depending on how large your egg roll wrappers are) into the center of each egg roll wrapper. Fold the wonton skin over to make a package of the meat mixture inside, and seal the skin closed by dipping your finger in a little water and pressing the ends together (the back of the egg roll wrapper package had instructions for how to roll the egg rolls up).  If you are freezing some of the eggrolls, freeze them on a baking sheet at this time and then move to a ziploc bag once they are frozen.

4.  Fry the wontons in 1/4 inch of vegetable oil until golden brown (if you are frying up the frozen ones, just go ahead and fry them from frozen and just fry a few extra minutes).  Serve with sweet and sour sauce.

Cheesy Potato Casserole

Between being super busy with school last week and getting over a bad cold this week, it's been too long since I updated my blog :(  But I'm back with lots of things to post so I'll post a couple of recipes for the next few days just so that I can get all caught up. 

Anyways, this cheesy potato casserole is a great side dish that I make when I'm craving potatoes, but I'm not in the mood for my go-to mashed potatoes or twice baked potatoes.  It's also a great do-ahead dish that would be perfect for when you have guests over (it makes a whole 9x13 pan full of potatoes).  I use this recipe from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

1 (2 pound) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (I loooove cheese so I used a little extra)
chopped chives to sprinkle on top

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray one 9x13 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2.  In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, butter, salt, pepper, onions, soup, sour cream, and cheese. Gently mix and pour into prepared pan or dish. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes. Sprinkle some chopped chives on top when you're serving.

Fruit Salad

I've found myself eating less fruit now that it's wintertime, so I made an effort to buy a lot of fruit when I went to the grocery store last week.  A few days later, I threw some of it together for a quick, light side dish to go with the Caribbean jerk chicken sandwiches we were having for dinner. 

For this fruit salad we used a whole pineapple, 2 mangos, half a carton of strawberries, and some red grapes.  Fresh and delicious!

Twice Baked Potatoes

I love serving twice baked potatoes with any steak meal I make, and I think they're perfect for having company over because you can make them in the morning (or even the night before) and then all you have to do is finish them off in the oven when you're ready.  When we're having people over, I don't like to make recipes that require me to do to much right before I serve them because it's too stressful to be messing around too much in the kitchen when people are over....I'd much rather do all of my prep in the morning and only have to worry about putting stuff in the oven, taking stuff out of the oven, tossing the salad with the dressing, etc.  Anyways, I've been making these potatoes for a long time, and they will continue to be one of my go-to side dishes.  Below is how I make mine, but you can definitely adjust the ingredients to your tastes.

Ingredients:

6 large baking potatoes

1 stick of butter

1 1/2 cups sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2-3 tablespoons chives, minced up

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Poke some holes in each potato with a fork, and bake for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes, or until soft (if you're using small potatoes, it might be closer to 45 minutes).

2.  Cut enough of the skin off the top of each potato so that you can scoop the potato out of the skin.  Scoop out each potato and put into a large mixing bowl.

3.  Add butter and sour cream, and mash together.  Stir in the shredded cheese, chives, and salt and pepper to taste.  I think that the seasonings can really make or break your potato - if you don't add enough salt, these will taste really bland, but be careful not too add too much.  I usually start with a little, taste, and slowly keep adding more salt and pepper (and tasting) until it tastes perfect.

4.  Fill the potato skins with the mixture, and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until heated through.

Southern Cornbread Stuffing

I was in charge of the stuffing this year, so I made this recipe (from Paula Deen).  This is my second time making this recipe, and I think it's a great thanksgiving stuffing with really good flavor.  Kevin wants me to make a different stuffing next time that has sausage in it so I next time I'll probably try to find a new recipe with sausage and maybe apples in it.  Whenever I want to go back to a more basic stuffing though, this recipe will be the one I use. 

Ingredients:

Cornbread (I made 2 boxes of Jiffy cornbread or you can use Paula's recipe here)
7 slices oven-dried white bread
1 sleeve saltine crackers
8 tablespoons butter
2 cups celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
7 cups chicken stock (I only used 6 and I thought that was plenty)
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sage (optional) - didn't use this
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (optional) - did use this and I love the flavor it gives the stuffing
5 eggs, beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine crumbled cornbread, dried white bread slices, and saltines; set aside.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery and onion and cook until transparent, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Pour the vegetable mixture over cornbread mixture. Add the stock, mix well, taste, and add salt, pepper to taste, sage, and poultry seasoning. Add beaten eggs and mix well.  Pour mixture into a greased pan and bake until dressing is cooked through, about 45 minutes (I ended up cooking mine for about an hour). Serve with turkey as a side dish.

Guacamole

Chips and guacamole made the perfect appetizer / side dish for the enchiladas I made tonight.  I love avocados, and this guacamole turned out really good and flavorful.  I used to buy that store bought guacamole because I would never plan ahead and buy avocados a few days in advance so that they had time to ripen, but I will never buy packaged guac again because the homemade stuff is easy to make and so much better!  Plus, I plan all of my meals out so that I only have to go to the grocery store once a week so by planning to have this meal on a Tuesday, they avocados had time to ripen since I bought them on Sunday.  During the day on Tuesday, I put the avocados in a brown paper bag just to accelerate the ripening.  This recipe came from http://www.allrecipes.com/. 

Ingredients:

3 avocados - peeled, pitted, and mashed
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mash together the avocados, lime juice, and salt. Mix in onion, cilantro, tomatoes, and garlic. Stir in cayenne pepper. Refrigerate 1 hour for best flavor, or serve immediately (when storing, put plastic wrap directly on top of the guacamole so that there's no space between the plastic wrap and the guacamole - that way it doesn't get brown).