Pasta Salad

This hot weather is really kicking my tushie....I'm feeling nostalgic for winter at this point...ehehehe.  I've gone all cold dishes/appetizers when we have guests over.  Pasta salad seemed like a good choice when trying to stay away from the oven.  Easy to make and just to very tasty.

Any form of cooked chicken breast works great in this salad, but I went with a Cajun seasoned version for fun.  


Pasta Salad

6oz colored pasta spirals, cooked and drained
7oz provolone mozzarella, cut into chunks
1 can medium black olives, drained
8 small tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 chicken breast, cooked and cubed
1 jar sweet and hot pepper rings, drained
1 jar Giardiniera (picked mixed vegetables), drained and chopped roughly
1 red onion, chopped
1 cucumbers, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil & vinegar dressing

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Chill until ready to serve.

Salted Chocolate Drop Biscuits for Two

I ran across this post of sea salted buttermilk biscuits stuffed w/chocolate on Vanilla Sugar's blog.  Brilliant idea!  Just brilliant.  I had to try it out and the experiment fit right in with the weekend brunchfest. I just incorporated the chocolate and sea salt into my usual drop biscuit recipe.  I'm too lazy to make pretty biscuits...ehehehehe.

Very tasty....do not skip the coarse salt across the top....seriously that part just brings it home.  I may have had a wee bit much chocolate though.  Brace yourself for possible molten chocolate explosion.

I browse a ton of food blogs and run across so many creative, amazing recipes...my stack of recipes I want to try out is wicked thick.  Slowly....and I do mean slowly....ehehehe I get there.  It's hard to choose what to make in a week...something wandering around in my own head or something from the stack.  I'd love to just go on a baking bender, but then I'd have to taste test everything and spend an unspeakable amount of time on the treadmill.  ;)  Moderation is an evil hussy. 


Salted Chocolate Drop Biscuits for Two

1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tbls sugar
2 tbls tub margarine
3 tbls skim milk
1 oz dark chocolate (2 squares)
coarse sea salt

Mix together flour, baking powder, and sugar.  Blend in margarine until mixture resembles crumbs.  Add milk and stir until just combined.  Drop a small portion of dough onto a greased cookie sheet and spread it out a bit.  Place the square of chocolate in the center.  Drop another portion of dough over top of the chocolate to seal it in.  Repeat for second biscuit. Sprinkle some coarse sea salt across the tops.  Bake at 425 for 15 minutes or until nicely browned.

A picture of the melted chocolate glory...

A little heavy on the chocolate....so much lovely, melty chocolate.

Cranberry Sauce

I think my sauce is closer to a preserve, but I like my berries cooked down a bit.  It's a texture preference.  ;)  If you like your berries chunkier just reduce the cook time.  This sauce is very, very tart.  You can up the sugar is you need a bit more sweetness to it.  Personally, I like the whole exploding taste bud sensation.


Cranberry Sauce

12oz bag fresh cranberries, rinsed
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice
1 tbls orange zest
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Combine everything in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  When berries have cooked down and the sauce has thickened, remove from heat.  Cool.

Drop Biscuits for Two

I am a bread junkie....maybe I should say reformed bread junkie....but still a junkie.  ;)  This recipe makes just to enough to enjoy without overdoing. Sometimes you just don't need the temptation.  I used skim milk, but some buttermilk would be wonderful as well.  I just don't go through enough buttermilk to keep it in the fridge.

In the old days (the naughty, sinfully delicious eating days pre heart attack) we used to have a huge weekend breakfast with biscuits, sausage, bacon, sausage gravy, eggs, and a mess of hash browns.  Pancakes were involved at times, but only for me since Paul doesn't like them....savage!  ;)  Wow....that is a huge list of food.  It really was epic.  Ok...I might have drooled a little recalling those meals.  The weekend breakfast has now returned in the form of a tasty but healthier brunch with oven baked chunky hash browns, drop biscuits, scrambled egg whites (or an egg white omelet), and a half serving of turkey sausage and bacon.  I really should have taken a picture of the whole meal...but honestly I was too busy eating it...ehehehe.


Drop Biscuits for Two

1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tbls sugar
2 tbls tub margarine
3 tbls skim milk

Mix together flour, baking powder, and sugar.  Blend in margarine until mixture resembles crumbs.  Add milk and stir until just combined.  Drop biscuits by the spoonful onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 425 for 15 minutes or until nicely browned.

Summer Veggie Salad

Nothing says summer like a fresh vegetable salad. A workmate of Paul's gifted us with a lovely bag of cherry tomatoes....which I put to some immediate good use. ;)

Summer Veggie Salad

20 Cherry Tomatoes cut into halves or quarters
2 tbls reduced fat feta
1/2 of a seedless cucumber, chopped
2 slices sweet onion
2 tbls sliced black olives
1 tbls no fat Greek dressing

Combine everything in a bowl and chill in the fridge for a couple hours before eating....it's always better when the flavors have a chance to mesh together. Nosh!

Quinoa

Quinoa is quite the tasty and easy to prepare whole grain side dish. It's a nice alternative to rice or pasta. Bob's Red Mill is the brand I use. It comes pre-rinsed so I don't have to worry about messing about with that extra step. Prep is simply taking 1 cup water bringing it to a boil and then adding 1/2 cup quinoa. Reduce heat to medium low. Cook for about 15 to 20 minutes. Easy peasy. I used to cook it with onions, celery, carrots, and seasonings, but I found I liked it best plain with seasonings added when serving.

Sweet Potato Fries

A tasty little side dish to go with our misc sandwiches and burgers.

Sweet Potato Fries

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Peel and slice sweet potato into wedges. Place on sprayed cookie sheet. Spray top of fries with Pam and sprinkle with black pepper and a cajun seasoning. Pop into oven for 12 minutes. Flip. Bake for another 10 minutes. Nom!

A little pre-baked view....
I've tried all different sized wedges and it doesn't matter so much how wide you make them as how thick. You can also do a brushing of olive oil instead of spraying with Pam....frankly I just like to spray and move along myself...eheheh.