Summer Scalloped Tomatoes with Croutons

Do you love tomatoes like I do?  Yes?  Okay, then either go to your garden or nearest produce store to get some beautiful tomatoes and make this dish.  It was so simple and it brought out the wonderful sweetness of the tomatoes.  I also thought this was a great recipe to use to make some quick croutons for a salad. This will make a great side dish for a variety of dishes, so try this soon!

Source:  Smells like Home, adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients:

2-3 tbsp Good olive oil
3 cups (1/2-inch diced) bread from a French boule or baguette
2 lbs tomatoes, local if you can find them
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup julienned basil leaves, lightly packed
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat olive oil in a large (12 inch) saute pan over medium heat. Add the bread cubes and stir to coat with the oil. Cook over medium to medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the cubes are evenly browned.

Meanwhile, combine the tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. When the bread cubes are done, add the tomato mixture and continue to cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the basil.

Pour the tomato mixture into a shallow (6 to 8 cup) baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with the Parmesan cheese. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is browned and the tomatoes are bubbly. Serve hot or warm.

Summer Orzo Salad

Okay, so I decided to be a little adventurous with this recipe.  Perhaps my adventurous side needs to slowly progress.  This salad turned out exactly the way it was supposed to, but I had a hard time liking the flavor of the fresh mint.  So, I think if this is a recipe you want to try out, you have two options.  Either follow the recipe exactly or take out the mint, some of the fresh basil, halve the garbanzo beans, and perhaps use an italian dressing.  Although, I did really enjoy the red wine vinaigrette dressing so I encourage you to use the dressing!

Source:  Giada de Laurentis, Giada's Family Dinners

Ingredients:

4 c. chicken broth
1 1/2 c. orzo
1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 c. red and yellow teardrop tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
3/4 c. finely chopped red onion
1/2 c. chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 c. chopped fresh mint leaves
3/4 c. Red Wine Vinaigrette, recipe follows
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Pour the broth into a heavy large saucepan. Cover the pan and bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Stir in the orzo. Cover partially and cook until the orzo is tender but still firm to the bite, stirring frequently, about 7--9 minutes.

Drain the orzo through a strainer. Transfer the orzo to a large wide bowl and toss until the orzo cools slightly. Set aside to cool completely.

Toss the orzo with the beans, tomatoes, onion, basil, mint, and enough vinaigrette to coat.

Season the salad, to taste, with salt and pepper, and serve at room temperature.

Red Wine Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp honey
2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 c. extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

Mix the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, salt, and pepper in a blender.

With the machine running, gradually blend in the oil.

Season the vinaigrette, to taste, with more salt and pepper, if desired.

Yield: 1 3/4 cups

Whole Chicken with Spice Rub

Another great crock pot recipe!  I couldn't believe how flavorful the chicken was for a recipe that was so simple and didn't even include chicken broth.  Believe it or not, I had never bought a whole chicken before.  Maybe I have lived a sheltered life, but cooking a large chunk of meat has always intimidated me.  Thanks to one of my favorite kitchen appliances, not anymore! 

Source:  The Cooking Husband

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, 4-5 lbs.
4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 onion, chopped

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the above minus the onion.

Rub spice rub onto the chicken. Put chopped onion in bottom of the crock pot. Add chicken to the crock pot and add no liquid at all!

The chicken will make it’s own juices. Put the lid on the crock pot and cook for 8 hours on LOW.

Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs

Time to bring out the crock pot!  The crock pot gives me confidence in my cooking knowledge that I never knew I had.  A year ago, I never would have attempted making BBQ ribs.  I wouldn't have even known where to look in the grocery store for pork ribs.  However, since I have had so many successes with my crock pot these last 8 months, I decided to go for it.  These ribs were AMAZING!! They were cooked perfectly and the meat was falling off the bone as I tried to plate it for serving.  My husband said that recipe was definitely a keeper.  I used a homemade BBQ sauce for this recipe, but you can use your favorite bottle instead and it will turn out just as fabulous.

Source:  Joelen's Culinary Adventures

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds country pork ribs
2 cups BBQ sauce
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
 
Directions:
 
Place the pork, BBQ sauce, garlic and oregano into a crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Wow! Who knew homemade BBQ was easy to make and as delicious as some of the bottles you buy in the stores?  This recipe was extremely cost effective because I always have the necessary ingredients on hand in my kitchen at all times. I'll admit though at first I didn't know if the sauce would work out, because it had such a strong odor as it was cooking.  However, the final product was delicious with a wonderful balance of tangy sweetness.  I definitely recommend trying this recipe before you go out and buy an expensive bottle of sauce.

Source:  Joelen's Culinary Adventures, adapted from The Neelys

Ingredients:

2 cups ketchup
1 cup water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
5 tablespoons light brown sugar
5 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon ground mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently, for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells

This was a really fun dish to make.  One of the reasons that it was so fun was because my good friend Stacy and I made it together for a dinner with our husbands.  We both wanted to try something new and this recipe seemed perfect for us.  The recipe was so large that we had to use two dishes:  one 9x13" and one 8x8". This actually worked really well because we tried a little experiment.  We followed the recipe below for the bigger dish and then used pasta sauce and mozzarella in the smaller dish.  Both dishes turned out really well, except that if you decide to take the pasta sauce/mozzarella route, bake the dish at 350 degrees.  The sauce burned a little bit at the edges on 375.

Source:  Annie's Eats, adapted from Simply Recipes

Ingredients:

1 12-oz. package jumbo pasta shells
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
1 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 15-oz. container ricotta cheese
6-7 oz. fresh spinach, chopped OR 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 tbsp. chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 28-oz. can chopped tomatoes with herbs, including the liquid

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta shells according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage to the pan, breaking it into smaller pieces as it cooks. Cook until the sausage is completely cooked through and no pink remains, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg, ricotta, spinach, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, basil, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Stir together to combine. Add the cooked sausage mixture to the bowl and stir until evenly mixed.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spread a thin layer of the chopped tomatoes in the baking dishes (either three 8×8″ pans, or one 9×13″ and one 8×8″). Stuff each shell with some of the sausage and cheese mixture, and arrange in the baking dishes, open side up. Spread the remaining tomatoes over the top of the pasta shells.

Cover the pans with foil and bake for 30 minutes, until hot and bubbling. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 10 more minutes.

Chewy, Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownies

What is better than warm brownies fresh out of the oven?  It has been a long time since I made brownies so I never had a saved reciped.  It was my husband's birthday and he requested a warm brownie with ice cream as his birthday cake.  I found this fabulous recipe that incorporated a lot of different types of chocolate.  The brownies came out perfectly moist and chewy.  A wonderful treat to make again soon!

Source:  Annie's Eats, adapted from Baking Illustrated

Ingredients:

5 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into quarters
3 tbsp. cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1¼ cups (8¾ oz.) sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. salt
1 cup (5 oz.) all-purpose flour

Directions:

Place an oven rack in lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 350° F. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt; whisk until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk in the warm chocolate mixture until incorporated. Then stir in the flour with a wooden spoon until just combined. (It took me a while to get the flour evenly incorporated and I was worried it would affect the texture of the brownies, but they turned out fabulously – no need to worry.) Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread with a spatula to make an even layer. Bake until slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs clinging to it, 35-40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.

Remove the brownies from the pan using the foil and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares as desired. Store in an air-tight container.