Rainbow Pasta

This is a baked pasta dish that's absolutely stuffed with veggies, so it will be my contribution to Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup.

Rainbow Pasta
2 Tbsp EVOO
1 c sliced mushrooms (I used crimini and shiitake)
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1 small yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 large jar tomato sauce (I used an organic roasted garlic/basil flavor sauce)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1/2 lb (half a box) penne pasta, cooked until nearly al dente
1 ball fresh mozzarella, sliced or shredded
1/4 c fresh chopped parsley, for garnish
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add the mushrooms and cook until they soften and begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and bell peppers, and season well with salt & pepper. When the veggies are all softened (another 4-5 minutes), add the tomato sauce and the red pepper flakes and heat through. Mix the sauce with the cooked pasta and pour into a casserole dish. Top with the mozzarella cheese and bake until the cheese is golden brown and the casserole is bubbly (about half an hour).

Serve immediately, garnishing with parsley for a little punch of color.

Chicken Mexi-Casserole

This is another one of those simple casseroles with a generic base of noodles and chicken and canned soup. Mr Wonderful loves these, and the kids don't complain about it too much, so I generally consider it a success. ;-) This casserole would also be good with rice instead of pasta. And if our super-picky kids weren't eating it, I would have thrown in a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes for a bit more color & flavor.

Chicken Mexi-Casserole
2 Tbsp EVOO
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 lb chicken breast cutlets, sliced into strips about 1" wide
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 lb pasta (I used tri-color rotini), cooked according to package directions
1 can sweet corn
1 small can sliced olives
1 c shredded cheese (I used Mexican mix, but plain Jack or Cheddar would work too)
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the onions until translucent (maybe 5 minutes). Add the chicken strips and season with cumin, garlic powder, smoked paprika and salt & pepper. Cook just until there's no more pink showing (the chicken will still be undercooked inside). Add the soups, the cooked & drained pasta, the corn, olives and about 3/4 of the cheese. Mix well. Transfer to a large casserole dish (spray with non-stick spray for easy cleanup) and top with the rest of the cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the casserole is bubbly. You can broil it for a few minutes to make the casserole golden brown on top, if you like.

Scalloped Croque Monsieur

Mr Wonderful's birthday was two days after Thanksgiving. His absolute favorite food is scalloped or au gratin potatoes, so I decided to make a variation by adding classic Croque Monsieur flavors: mustard and ham. In addition, we had a lovely salad with apples, candied pecans, bacon, caramelized balsamic onions, blue cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. And for dessert we had Tiramisu, another favorite of his.

Russet potatoes are an antioxidant-rich food, so this will be my submission for Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup. Click the link to see more great recipes from food bloggers!

Scalloped Croque Monsieur
4 Tbsp butter
1/4 c flour
2 c milk
1 Tbsp good grainy mustard
1/4 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated, if possible)
1 1/2 c shredded Gruyere cheese (or other good swiss-type, like Emmenthal or Comte)
3 small russet potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
1/4 lb thinly sliced deli ham
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 375.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble slightly, add the flour and cook for a minute or two. Add the milk slowly, stirring or whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Raise the heat to high, and continue stirring constantly, until the sauce begins to thicken. Remove the sauce from the heat and add the mustard, nutmeg, salt & pepper (go easy on the salt; cheese is salty) and 1 cup of the shredded cheese.

In an 8" buttered baking dish, layer the potatoes, sauce and ham, starting with a little bit of sauce on the bottom, and ending with a bunch of sauce on top to make sure it's all covered. Sprinkle the casserole with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the potatoes are soft and the casserole is golden brown on top. Serves 2-3.

Mac & Cheese

Made from scratch, with four different kinds of cheese and a buttery breadcrumb topping...this was decadent and delicious.

Mac 'N' Cheese
1 pound cooked pasta (penne, macaroni, or similar)
6 Tbsp butter, divided
1/4 c flour
2 1/2 c milk
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
4 oz Gruyere, shredded
4 oz white Cheddar, shredded
4 oz Brie, diced (rind removed)
1 1/2 c fresh breadcrumbs
2 tsp Sriracha (optional)
2 Tbsp freshly shredded Parmesan
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Melt 4 Tbsp butter in a saucepot over medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble slightly, add the flour and cook for a minute or two. Add a little salt and some pepper (go easy on the salt because the cheese is salty). Add the milk and stir immediately to blend everything without lumps. Raise the heat a little bit, and cook, stirring constantly, until the bechamel sauce thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Add the nutmeg. Take the sauce off the heat and add 3/4 of the Gruyere, Cheddar and Brie cheeses. Stir until cheeses are melted and completely incorporated. Add the cheese sauce to the pasta and pour into a large casserole dish. If you want, at this point you can drizzle some Sriracha on the mac 'n' cheese. It adds a tiny bit of kick and brightens up the dish. Top with the rest of the Gruyere, Cheddar and Brie.

In a saucepan, melt the remaining 2 Tbsp butter and add the breadcrumbs. Cook, stirring gently, for a couple of minutes, until the crumbs are pretty evenly coated with melted butter. Spread the breadcrumbs evenly on the casserole and sprinkle with the shredded Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes, until the casserole is bubbly and the topping is golden brown.

Chicken and Brown Rice Casserole

The photo is a bit overexposed, but this dinner turned out really well, using frozen Trader Joe's brown rice, topped with cheese and some sliced green onions. But the best thing was when I added a little Sriracha to it. OMG, fantastic!

This is my submission to Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup this week, thanks to the mushrooms and onions and the uber-healthy brown rice (even if it's not technically an ARF).

Chicken and Brown Rice Casserole
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced small
1 cup crimini (baby portobello) mushrooms, cut into quarters
Four thin-cut chicken breasts, sliced into 1" strips (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can Cream of Celery soup (can use two cans of Cream of Mushroom instead, but I only had one can of that)
2 bags frozen Trader Joe's brown rice
1 cup shredded cheese - jack, cheddar, mexican mix, whatever you have on hand
2 green onions, white & green parts - sliced
2 Tbsp (or more) Sriracha sauce (optional) - this is an Asian hot garlic-chili sauce, it comes in a plastic squirt bottle with a rooster on the front
Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Over medium heat, warm olive oil in a large saute pan. Sautee yellow onions and mushrooms until onions are translucent and mushrooms are golden brown, about five minutes. Salt & pepper the veggies. Raise the heat a little and add the chicken strips, throwing a little salt & pepper on them once they're in the pan. As soon as the chicken strips aren't showing any pink on the outside (they will still be undercooked inside), add the canned soup and decrease the heat to low.

Microwave the rice bags for three minutes (cut a little slit in each bag first). They might still be a little cold when you pull them out, but that's ok. Mix the rice into the soup/chicken mixture and add the Sriracha, if using. Pour everything into the prepared casserole dish. Top with shredded cheese and bake for about 30 minutes, until everything is bubbly. If the cheese isn't slightly browned after 30 minutes, broil it for a couple of minutes until it is. Top with sliced green onions and serve immediately.

When I made this, it was originally a dish for the whole family so I intentionally made it rather plain. About halfway through my dinner I looked at Mr Wonderful and said, "You know what this could use?" and he replied, "Yeah - jalepenos." My thoughts exactly. But then I thought, what about Sriracha? It is glorious on lots of stuff, and could easily be added to just the parents' servings after being dished out. So we tried it...and it was fabulous.

Chicken Potpie

I was all set to make roast chicken with mashed potatoes last night, when I discovered that Mr Wonderful and Tomboy had that EXACT thing for dinner on Saturday night. Dammit. So I figured I'd make the roast chicken another night, and instead we had chicken potpie. This will be my contribution to Sweetnicks' ARF/5-A-Day roundup on Tuesday, since it's full of gorgeous, bright veggies.

Chicken Potpie
2 T olive oil
2 T butter
1 c chopped carrots
1 c chopped celery
1/2 c onion, diced
1 lb chicken tenders, cut into bite-size pieces
2 T flour
1 1/2 c chicken stock
1/4 c milk, half & half or heavy cream (I had cream left over from the mushroom soup, so I used that)
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley
1 c frozen peas
1 refrigerated can of croissants (can that makes 8, not 4)
salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 375.

Heat the butter & oil in a large pan over medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble a bit, add the onions, carrots and celery. Season the veggies up with salt & pepper, and let them cook for oh, about five minutes or so. You want the veggies to soften up a bit. Then push the veggies to the outside of the pan and add the chicken to the center. Salt & pepper the chicken, and cook until it's nearly done on all sides. Sprinkle the flour over everything and stir it up. Your pan will get really dry, and that's fine. Cook for another minute or so to remove the floury taste, then add the chicken stock and stir. Raise the heat a bit, and keep stirring until the flour is evenly dissolved in the stock and the liquid starts to thicken and bubble. Add the milk or cream, and cook for another minute or so. Finally, toss in the parsley and frozen peas.

Dump the whole thing in a rectangular casserole dish (mine was 11" x 7" and fit everything just perfectly). Open up the croissant can and drape the dough over the dish, covering the whole thing. Pop it in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until the croissant dough on top is golden brown and puffy.

Yum Yum Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Dinner 05/01/07
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister.

I made the fabulous Yum Yum Chicken Enchilada Casserole again on Tuesday, and got a picture this time. It may not look like much, but let me tell you....D ate half the pan in one sitting (and this amount could easily serve 4-6 people), and polished off the leftovers the next day for lunch. This is GOOD STUFF, y'all.

But definitely not safe for dieters. ;-)

Yum Yum Chicken Enchilada Casserole

My sister and her family came over yesterday for a visit. They are moving from Phoenix to Portland, and I was sorta kinda on the way. ;-) It was great to catch up with my sister, because I just don't see her very often; once a year is about all we can manage. Her daughter, who is autistic, has made a LOT of progress since the last time I saw her, and I was really enjoying spending some quality time with my niece. I didn't get to spend as much time with my BIL and my nephew, as they took off to visit BIL's Bay Area friends shortly after they arrived.

Anyhoo, I thought about making chicken enchiladas but then discovered that I didn't have enough tortillas to make enough for us all. So Sister & I improvised, and came up with the NOT DIET-FRIENDLY Yum Yum Chicken Enchilada Casserole:

2 cooked chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 small can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 jar enchilada sauce
2-3 tortillas, cut into strips
Shredded cheddar (or Jack, or Mexican Mix - whatever you have) cheese
Fritos
Sour cream (optional - for serving)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Take the 2 chicken breasts & shred the meat with forks. Mix together the can of soup, plus 2 or 3 chiles (minced) and a little of the adobo sauce (you will have TONS of the chiles left over; save them for another recipe). Mix enough of the soup/chile sauce in with the shredded chicken to make it like chicken salad or tuna salad consistency. You don't want your chicken swimming in the soup stuff, but you need enough to keep the meat moist & tasty.

Spray a 9" square casserole dish with nonstick spray. Pour in enough enchilada sauce to lightly coat the bottom of the dish. Lay slices of tortilla over the sauce to cover, then carefully spread the chicken/soup mixture over it. Top with more sliced tortillas. Pour more enchilada sauce on top (you'll probably have a lot left over - I think I used half a jar). Then add a layer of shredded cheese. Finally, crunch up some Fritos and put them on the very top. Pop it in the oven for about 30 minutes, until the cheese and sauce is bubbly. Then broil the casserole for a couple minutes to make the Fritos golden brown. Serve with sour cream. Will serve 4-6, depending on how often you go back for more. Heh.