Fiesta Mac and Cheese

On the subject of mac and cheese, I adapted this from the December issue of Cooking Light. It was really good and only took about 15 minutes of prep time plus an additional 15 minutes of cook time. It was all made in one pot so barely a mess. This would make a good week night meal. I think you could use any type of cheese in this. Pepper jack might make a nice substitute for the white cheddar, but I just used what I had in the fridge.

Ingredients (serves 4):
2 1/2 cups whole wheat penne
1 T butter, divided
1 c chopped red bell pepper
2 1/2 T flour
1 1/2 c nonfat milk
1/2 c extra sharp cheddar
1/2 c white cheddar
1 small can fire roasted green chilies
1/2 c thinly sliced green onion
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 slice sourdough bread

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and place in a large bowl. In the pasta pot, melt 1 T butter. Add bell peppers and cook 5 min until tender. Add to pasta.

Add flour to pan. Slowly add milk and stir until smooth. Bring to a boil (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat, slowly add cheese while stirring constantly until melted into milk mixture. Stir in chilies, salt, and pepper. Add to pasta mixture. Add green onions and toss until well
combined.

Place bread in small food chopper and process until crumbly. Melt remaining butter. Mix bread crumbs and butter together in bowl.

Pour pasta into small oven proof dish. Top with breadcrumbs and bake for 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Tart

I had been eying this recipe from Deborah Madison's, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, and decided to make it when I had company over this weekend. The flavor of the filling is nice. It tastes like it was made with love and would make a wonderful pasta sauce on its own if some red wine were added. The actual tart is reminiscent of a red jammy old fashioned pizza pie, minus the cheese. It would probably also be great with smoked mozzarella or thin slices of Romano on top.


















Ingredients

Tart Dough
2 t active dry yeast
1/2 t sugar
1/2 cup warm water
3 T olive oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 t salt
1.75 cups flour, as needed

Tart Filling
2 red onions, finely diced
3 T olive oil, plus extra for glazing crust
1.5 lbs ripe roma tomatoes
3 large red bell peppers
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 t saffron threads
salt and fresh pepper to taste
2 T chopped fresh basil
16 kalamata olives

Directions

Make the dough first!
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in warm water in a bowl and let stand 10 minutes. Add the oil, egg and salt, then stir in the flour. When the dough is too stiff to work with a spoon, turn it onto the counter and knead until smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes. Add more flour if necessary to keep it from sticking. Set the dough in an oiled bowl, turn it over to coat, cover with a towel, and let rise in a window until doubled in bulk, 45 minutes to an hour. Turn the dough out and roll into a thin circle and use it to line a 10" tart pan.

Filling
Cook the onions in the oil over medium heat until soft, about 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the onion is cooking, half and seed the bell peppers. Roast them in the oven for about 10 minutes on broil until peppers are soft and skin is shiny. Set aside one pepper for topping and finely dice the rest. Peel and seed the tomatoes and finely chop those as well. Add the garlic, tomatoes and peppers to the onions. Crumble in the saffron threads and anise and season with salt and pepper. Cook mixture for 30 more minutes, stirring occasionally. The mixture will be quite thick. Taste for proper seasoning and add basil at the end of cooking.

Tart
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Add filling to the tart pan. Cut the reserved bell pepper into narrow strips and decorate top with a lattice pattern. Place the olives in the spaces formed by the peppers. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove the tart from the tart pan and brush the crust with olive oil. Serve warm with a nice salad.

*Make sure to keep an eye on your tart in the oven. I left mine in too long and I feel the crust was a little dry because of it.

Steak and Pineapple Kabobs with Grilled Vegetables

Dave and I celebrated the first 'summer-like' weekend in Newport by purchasing a gas grill. I have enjoyed my charcoal Weber for years, but we had been discussing for some time that we would probably use a grill much more often if we didn't have to wait for coals, especially during the week. This recipe is really simple and does not require a lot of work...perfect tribute to summer after a day at the beach!

Ingredients (serves 2):
3 large red potatoes
1 red onion
1 red bell pepper
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 T olive oil
1 T thyme
salt and pepper to taste

1 2 lb top sirloin, fat trimmed and cut into chunks
1 pineapple, chopped into large chunks (you will have some leftover)
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 T Worcestershire sauce
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 T brown sugar
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 T canola oil

Directions:

Trim steak and put into a large ziplock bag. Add all ingredients, except pineapple to bag to create a marinade. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. I made this in the morning and headed to the beach all day.

Chop vegetables, mix in bowl with garlic, seasonings, and olive oil. Put in grill basket and grill over low heat for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, assemble kabobs by alternating steak and pineapple chunks on skewers. If using wooden skewers, make sure to soak in water prior to assembling. Once vegetables have cooked a while, flip the grill basket to grill the other side, add kabobs to barbecue. Cook on low to medium for an additional 20 minutes (turn every 5 minutes so all sides are seared) until desired doneness is achieved. Remove from grill and serve side by side. We also served this with rice pilaf.

Burrito Stuffed Bell Peppers

I commonly stuff bell peppers with anything from meat loaf to jambalaya. This time, I stuffed them like a burrito. These are delicious, healthy and easy.

Ingredients:
4 red bell peppers, seeded and sliced lengthwise
2 cups cooked bulgur
1 can pinto beans
1/2 cup pico de gallo (see recipe) + more for topping
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t chile powder
1/2 t coriander
salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste
1/3 cup extra sharp cheddar + more for topping
sour cream for topping























Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil a pot of water and in a steamer attachment, steam the bell peppers for 4 minutes each. Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl add remaining ingredients except for sour cream and stir. Place peppers into a greased pyrex and spoon in the stuffing. Top with more cheese and cook for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Remove peppers from oven and top with sour cream and more pico de gallo. Serve warm.























One half of a pepper is almost a good enough serving for one person if you are serving a salad or another side. They are more filling than they look, but definitely save well for leftovers if you cook and add toppings the next day. I think they would also be great with sliced avocado on top.

Stuffed Artichoke with Roasted Red Pepper Mayonnaise

I usually eat pretty plain artichokes with mayonnaise, but love going to restaurants and seeing them cooked fancy. I thought I would take a stab at making one myself. I think an essential step with this is making the breadcrumbs yourself. Home made ones are just so much better than the store bought kind!

Ingredients
1 artichoke, leaves trimmed and top cut
1/4 loaf old french bread
1 t melted butter
1/8 c shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 tomato, diced
salt, pepper, olive oil

1/4 c lowfat mayonnaise
1 garlic clove
juice of half a lemon
1 roasted red pepper















Directions
Steam artichoke in a boiling covered pan for 35 minutes or until fork tender. Let cool and then turn upside down and spread leaves out slightly. With a large spoon, scoop out the soft inside of the artichoke, just leaving outer leaves and heart.

While artichoke is steaming, put bread and butter in a food processor to make bread crumbs. When artichoke is prepared, drizzle with olive oil to help the stuffing stick and then alternate adding the Parmesan, breadcrumbs and tomato. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put in a baking dish and bake at 425 degrees for 8 minutes.

While artichoke is baking, add remaining ingredients to a food processor to make the red pepper mayo. Serve artichoke warm or at room temperature.

Penne with Sausage and Peppers

I have the Everyday Pasta book by Giada De Laurentiis and first of all must say that everything I have ever cooked from this book is fantastic. One night I had a bunch of leftover chicken jalapeno sausages from fondue night the evening before so I looked up sausage in the index to see what I could find. I did not have Marsala wine so I used white wine instead and it worked out just fine.


Ingredients:
1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound Italian sausage (recipe calls for sweet- I used jalapeno)
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and sliced
2 yellow onions, sliced
1 t salt
1 t ground pepper
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 t dried oregano
1/2 c chopped fresh basil
2 T tomato paste
1 cup Marsala wine (I used sauv blanc)
1 large can diced tomatoes with juice
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes (I omitted due to the usage of jalapeno sausages)
1 pound rigatoni pasta
fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausages and cook until brown (about 1o minutes depending on size). Remove sausages from pan and place on a towel lined plate.

Add bell peppers, onions, salt and pepper and cook until onions are cooked through, about 5 minutes). Add the garlic, oregano, and basil, cook an additional 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir until incorporated, add wine, tomatoes with juice, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine, scrape bottom of pan and bring to a simmer.

Cut the sausages into bite sized pieces. Return to sauce pan. Simmer uncovered about 20 minutes.

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain the pasta and add the sauce, toss to combine. Plate and sprinkle with fresh Parmesan cheese.



This was a great dish and kept really well for leftovers the next day. Unless you like really hot food, I would recommend using sweet Italian sausage. It was really spicy!