Easy Noodle Stir Fry

Super fast. Super Easy. And decently healthy. What's not to love?

I came up with this recipe because I was craving those noodles you get at the Japanese hibachi grill places. I used whole wheat spaghetti because I'm trying to eat a little more healthy, and honestly this was so good I don't think I'd even want to use the regular stuff. I only made a one person serving for my lunch, but I'll definitely be making this again for the fam soon.

Easy Noodle Stir Fry
Source: Me

1 serving whole wheat pasta, cooked and drained
1/4 white onion, sliced very thin
2 large cloves garlic, sliced thin
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp spicy brown mustard
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
3/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add onions and cook until they start to get lightly brown and translucent. While the onions are cooking, whisk together the ginger, mustard, pepper flakes, sesame oil and soy sauce in a small bowl. Add the garlic to the pan with the onions and saute a few more minutes. Turn the heat up to medium high and add the noodles. Stir fry about 2 minutes, then add the soy sauce mixture. Toss and cook a few more minutes, then serve and eat!

Risotto Fake Out

I love risotto! It is so creamy, so cheesy and so decadent. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. However, having a little monkey running around means I do not have 45 minutes to stand at the stove and stir rice. It's just not happening.

I have seen Rachael Ray make her broken spaghetti risotto a million times and thought about making it, but just never got around to it. I finally decided to try it for myself last week and it was a hit with the family. The husband and little monkey-boy loved it! And it is SO much faster than regular risotto.

You pretty much use the same method as the real thing, but you use broken spaghetti pieces instead of rice. This has become my go-to quick meal. You can add pretty much any meat to it and it's dinner!

We were in such a hurry to eat that I only took a picture of it in the pot. No time for plating and pictures this time. ;)


Click here for Rachael's recipe.

Dinner By Accident

One of Logan's favorite past times these days is to open all the drawers in the kitchen and pull out all my recipes and cook books. While cleaning up his mess for the 3rd time yesterday, I came across a Rachael Ray cookbook with tabs for recipes I wanted to try. Of course I had never gotten around to any of them, so I decided I would make one for dinner. One look at the pasta carbonara and I was sold. I've made it once before using Tyler Florence's recipe and it was ok, but I wanted to try it again with a different recipe.

As for the protein part of the meal, chicken won the toss up and I decided to blacken it with a blackening recipe I recently saw on my friend Dela's website. She used it on fish, as was my initial plan, but I figured it would be good on chicken too. It was FANTASTIC! Thank you Dela! I will be using this any time blackening is required from now on. It was a little spicy for Logan, so he had some smoked sausage I threw on the grill with the chicken.

Blackened Chicken Carbonara:

Pasta Carbonara
Source: Rachael Ray, my changes/additions in italics

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pound pasta, such as spaghetti or rigatoni
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (enough to coat bottom of pan)
1/4 pound pancetta (Italian bacon), chopped (I used regular bacon)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
5 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped (I found I was out [gasp!] and so I minced some onion and used it instead)
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used water because I was even out of chicken stock which is my usual substitute for wine)
2 large egg yolks
Freshly grated Romano cheese
Handful of finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish (Omitted)

1. Put a large saucepot of water on to boil. Add a liberal amount of salt and the pasta. Cook to al dente, about 8 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and pancetta. Brown pancetta 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and garlic and cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Add wine and stir up all the pan drippings.

3. In a separate bowl, beat yolks, then add 1 large ladleful (about 1/2 cup) of the pasta cooking water. This tempers the eggs and keeps them from scrambling when added to the pasta.

4. Drain pasta well and add it directly to the skillet with pancetta and oil. Pour the egg mixture over the pasta. Toss rapidly to coat the pasta without cooking the egg. Remove pan from heat and add a big handful of cheese, lots of pepper, and a little salt. Continue to toss and turn the pasta until it soaks up egg mixture and thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Garnish with parsley and extra grated Romano.

Blackening Recipe
Soure: Dela from Not Your Mama's Southern Cooking

2 teaspoons ground paprika
4 teaspoons dried leaf thyme (I used basil because I was out of thyme and I love basil!)
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or to your taste
1 teaspoon dried leaf oregano
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I omitted because I didn't have any)

I actually doubled this and had plenty left over to use later!

Leftover Do-over

I never know what to do with leftover roast beef. It is really all I can do to eat it the first time, but my husband really likes it. And he will eat some of the leftovers in sandwiches, but really, how many sandwiches can one man eat? Plus, I get tired of staring at it in my fridge.

I decided to have a do-over and make it into something I would really like. I love asian style food: chinese, japanese, thai, ect. So I present to you my leftover do-over: Asian Beef and Noodles

Asian Beef and Noodles

1-2 cup cold cooked beef, sliced thin
1 pack spaghetti noodles, cooked
1/2 cup onion, minced
1 clove garlic, grated or minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tbsp honey
1 serrano pepper, minced
1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1/2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
cilantro

Heat heavy frying pan. Add olive oil, meat and onions. Heat until hot and brown. Add garlic and cook until tender. Mix water and cornstarch; add. Add remaining ingredients except cilantro and cook slowly for 10-15 minutes. Top with cilantro.

Pasta alla Carbonara

Bacon? Yum!  Garlic?  Yum!  Pasta? Yum!  Yeah, that pretty much says it all.  What more do you need?  Click here for Tyler Florence's recipe I used.  Fab-U-lous!  I did use cilantro instead of parsley.  I just like the flavor better.

Hola!

Well it is Cinco de Mayo and I have no Mexican dish to present you. Sorry, but Mexican food just didn’t make the list this week. I did make that spicy black bean dip Saturday. Go have a look at that recipe if you feel cheated.

However, tonight we did have an awesome meal even if does fall more on the Italian side of the culinary spectrum. It comes from the Pioneer Woman and if you’ve never read her blog go there now. Stop reading and click the link. She is hilarious and her recipes are amazing. I’ve yet to try one I didn’t like.

What first drew me to this recipe was the picture on the left hand side of her page. She features different recipes there and if they strike my fancy, I usually check them out. This one happens to be for a shrimp pasta with a tomato cream sauce. I am beginning to love tomato cream sauces. They work great for my family because Taylor would rather have a tomato based sauce and I would rather have a cream based sauce. Now we have the best of both worlds!

Shrimp Farfalle in a Tomato Cream Sauce

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman’s Penne a la Betsy

3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp olive oil
1 lb. Shrimp, peeled and de-veined
3/4 lb. Farfalle pasta (otherwise known as bow tie pasta)
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken stock
8 oz. Tomato sauce
1 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp basil
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Put a pot of water on the stove to boil (for the pasta). Heat 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet. Add shrimp and cook until opaque. Remove to a plate. Add the pasta to the now boiling water. Add 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp olive oil to the skillet from earlier and add the shallot and garlic, stirring occasionally. Chop shrimp into bite size pieces (remember to remove the tails if yours still have them on). Add chicken stock, tomato sauce and cream to the pan with the onions and garlic, one at a time and stir to combine before adding the next liquid. Add shrimp to tomato cream sauce and salt and black pepper to taste. Add herbs and stir together. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Serve hot with fresh grated parmesan cheese on top!

On top of Spaghetti...

Are gouda stuffed meatballs!! YUM! Well, they were on top of my spaghetti. This is yet another dish where Taylor and I differ on the best way to serve it. He prefers meat sauce instead of meatballs. I of course prefer meatballs. So tonight, we each had it our way.

I found a recipe for mozzarella stuffed meatballs in Rachel Ray's magazine and they looked so good. I didn't have any mozzarella, so I used gouda. (I know I've been using it a lot lately, but there is a big hunk of it in my fridge and I need to use it up. Plus, I just LOVE it!)

Gouda Stuffed Meatballs
Source: Adapted from Rachel Ray's Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/2 cup milk (or water)
1 lb. lean ground sirloin
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 large egg
1 tsp salt
4 ounces gouda, cut into about 20 (1/2 inch) cubes

In a medium bowl, soak the breadcrumbs in milk. Add the beef, chopped garlic, parsley, parmesan cheese, egg and salt to the soaked bread crumbs and stir with a fork until combined. Place about 2 tablespoons of the mixture in your hand and press a gouda cube into the center. Shape the meat around the cheese, forming a ball. Repeat with the remaining meat and gouda.

Submerge meatballs in whatever sauce you are using. Bring sauce to a simmer and let cook for 20 minutes without stirring.

Me and Salad? Not the Best of Friends

I'm not a big salad eater. Well, I should say, I don't eat salad at all. The whole not liking lettuce thing (or really any veggies) kind of gets in the way of us having a relationship. I do however like salads of the non-lettuce variety, but even those I'm pretty picky about. I like chicken salad, but no celery and no fruit in it please. I like potato salad, but not with a mustard base. I know...why not just leave all salads alone and let those who enjoy them have them? I just can't. I like the basic concept of the salads, but I like to add different things or omit certain ingredients. And sometimes I come across a recipe that just looks good, even if it has the word "salad" in it. And Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad has all things I love in it! I figured I couldn't go wrong.

I made this to take to a Sunday school class social, where we just happened to be watching to Auburn/LSU game. Yeah, Auburn lost but the pasta salad turned out great! Next time, I think I will omit the chicken though. It didn't seem to add that much to the dish in my opinion and would take some time out of the preparation. My additions/omissions are in italics.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
(Source: Amber's Delectable Delights)

Ingredients:
2 cups dry shell pasta (I used macaroni)
1/4 cup julienne carrots (I omitted these)
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 pckt (or 3 tbls) dry ranch dressing mix
4 strips bacon (cooked and crumbled) (I used 6 strips... I love bacon!)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups chicken (cut into bite size pieces; cooked and cooled)

Directions:
1) Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in pasta, wait a few minutes then add in carrots and cook until pasta is al dente. Drain pasta into strainer and rinse with cold water. Shake until well drained. Set aside.
2) In medium sized bowl mix the mayonnaise, ranch dressing mix, bacon and onion powder. Add in the cooled pasta and carrots, chicken and cheese. Mix until everything is covered with mayonnaise mixture. Chill and serve.

*(If you feel that there is not enough mayonnaise to cover all the ingredients just add in a tablespoon or so more until it covers everything well). (I did add in another tablespoon and that made it perfect!)