Linguine with Clam Sauce

When I don't have much time to make dinner this is my go-to meal. It's quick, easy and always good. If you have time to make a box of mac & cheese, you have time to make this. I usually have all of the ingredients in my pantry. My dad's jalapeno wine gives this dish a little extra zip. Add one cup crushed plum tomatoes for a little variety.

1 lb.  linguine, spaghetti or fettuccini
¼ cup c olive oil
2 garlic cloves, smashed - I like to add more!
13 oz.  chopped clams
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper
¼ cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 T. butter

Bring a large covered pot of water to a boil. Add salt and pasta. Cook until al dente.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add garlic and cook until goden brown. Stir in clams with their juice, wine, (tomatoes if using) and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce has thickened slightly.

Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Stir pasta, parsley and butter into sauce in the skillet. If the sauce doesn't coat pasta, stir in a few tablespoons of pasta water.

Baked Ziti and Chimichangas - not on the same night!

Life in our house has been a little busy the past few nights. Relatives came to town, two dinners at my parent’s house and husband took me out to dinner to celebrate my first day back at work in twelve weeks (wood fired pizza, Italian beer and gelato). I made baked ziti for husband and my parents before heading out to the comedy club to see my cousin perform Saturday night. It was so cold out that the baked ziti was perfect and kept us away from bar food (pickled pig’s feet and chips as my dad calls it). Wednesday night husband had a meeting after hours for a local organization he’s a member of, so I decided to whip up Mexican! I think husband is a little tired of Mexican after my constant craving for anything wrapped in a tortilla for nine months. I visited Weight Watcher’s again for these recipes. After the barley and bean incident I wanted WW to redeem themselves in my cooking world. I’m glad I did, these two recipes were delicious.


Baked Ziti
This dish was absolutely fantastic. It can feed a large group of people easily and it was a breeze to make. The mozzarella on top adds some wonderful saltiness to the dish! I added half an onion and a red pepper to the marinara sauce because they were in the fridge and needed to be used. Ground beef (ground turkey in our house) could very easily be added to this dish without any problems. No pictures – I cooked this at mom and dad’s.

1 lb. uncooked ziti
¾ lb. ricotta
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup parmesan
4 cups marinara sauce
8 oz. mozzarella, shredded
¼ cup basil, cut into ribbons for garnish
 
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat bottom and sides of a lasagna pan with cooking spray.

Cook pasta according to package directions; rinse with cool water and drain.

While pasta is cooking, in a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, red pepper flakes, 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese and 1/3 cup marinara sauce.

To assemble ziti, spoon ½ cup sauce on bottom of prepared pan; top with half of pasta in an even layer. Evenly spread pasta with ricotta mixture and cover with half of remaining sauce. Top with remaining pasta and spoon remaining sauce over top. Sprinkle with mozzarella and remaining Parmesan.

Bake until cheese melts and is browned, about 20 to 30 minutes. Allow ziti to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing into 12 pieces.

Adapted from www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeid=224411


Baked Chicken and Jack Cheese Chimichangas
Easy to make, quick on the cooking side and very tasty. I used homemade salsa which is a little watery compared with a store bought brand but I don’t think it made any difference. I’m not sure the chili peppers were necessary considering the amount of salsa used. I also didn’t add any scallions – not because I didn’t think they would be any good, I just didn’t have any on hand. I did not warm up my tortillas, they were soft enough. I think my tortillas were a little smaller than they should have been so I had a difficult time wrapping up ½ a cup of filling in each but I did make it work.

The filling was very easy to make. Little one was in his bouncer the entire time I cooked. He was done with sitting in his bouncer right as I was finishing folding the tortillas. As a quick meal for someone with a newborn, this was perfect! Because I was on a time limit with little one – no pictures.

½ lb. ground turkey breast
16 oz. fat free refried beans
1 ¾ cup salsa
4 oz. green chilies
1 tsp. chili powder
3 T. scallions, sliced
1 cup Montery Jack, shredded
8 whole wheat tortillas, burrito size
1 cup salsa
½ cup sour cream
 
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray.

Coat  a 13- X 9- X 2-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Add turkey to skillet and cook over medium-high heat until lightly browned, about five minutes. Drain any excess liquid from pan and then add beans, 1 ¾ cups of salsa, chili peppers, chili powder and scallions. Cook until heated through, about three minutes. Stir in cheese.

Wrap tortillas in foil; warm in oven for 10 minutes.

Assemble chimichangas by spooning about ½ cup of turkey mixture onto each tortilla, fold in sides and roll up.

Place chimichangas, seam-side down, in prepared baking dish. Bake, uncovered, until tortillas are crisp and browned, about 20 minutes.

Serve each topped with 2 tablespoons of salsa and 1 tablespoon of sour cream.

Adapted from www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeid=90081

Broccoli Cheese Soup and Salmon Cakes

I strongly dislike broccoli. I cannot think of a time that I have willingly eaten broccoli but now that little one is here I need to take the initiative to eat more vegetables. Kiwi magazine has a broccoli-cheddar soup recipe that I tried tonight - it was yummy! Because this recipe was so easy to make, I look forward to making this with little one when he is big enough to help in the kitchen.

Because I have a hungry husband I made salmon cakes to round out tonight's dinner. If this recipe taught me anything it's that I need to start halving some of my recipes that I make for just the two of us.

1 cup sharp cheddar, grated
2 T. butter
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced minced
32 oz. chicken broth
16 oz. frozen broccoli florets
1/2 tsp. thyme

Melt butter in a large pot. Saute the onion and garlic until translucent. Add the broth, broccoli and thyme to the pot. Bring the soup to a boil and cook until the broccoli is very soft. Using a hand blender puree the mixture. Add the cheddar cheese until melted and serve immediately.

24 oz. canned salmon
1 cup panko
1/2 cup celery, diced
1 cup red onion, diced
2 T. parsley
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. black pepper
4 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Mix all ingredients together. Form three ounce patties and pan fry in vegetable oil until browned on reach side. Finish off in a 350 degree oven for ten minutes.

Tater Tot Hot Dish

My Midwest comfort food goes by three names (that I know of): Casserole, Hot Dish and Bake. Many families use one of these names, I am happy to say I use all three depending on the dish. For the purpose of this post I will use "Hot Dish."

Hot Dish can really be made from anything but does have some basic components.
1. Meat - ground beef and chicken are the top two
2. Vegetable
3. Starch - pasta, potatoes or rice
4. Cream of ________ soup
5. Salt/seasoning - Garlic salt or Lawry's Seasoning Salt
6. Topping - usually something crunchy

Cheese isn't always necessary but is always a welcome addition.

My all-time favorite Hot Dish is Tater Tot Hot Dish. Nothing about this says healthy, but everything about it says comfort to me. My parents came over for dinner last night. Dad brought over a Tater Tot Hot Dish that he made earlier in the day. I wasn't my mom's recipe, but it was good! That is the lovely thing about the Hot Dish - even if it's not your mom's recipe there is a very good chance that it will still be yummy. I've had many different variations of Tater Tot Hot Dish and while they aren't my mom's recipe very few have failed to be yummy.

Lesa's Tater Tot Hot Dish
1 ½ lb. ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
8 oz. canned mushrooms
10 oz. cream of mushroom soup
1 bag tater tots
Season to taste - garlic salt, Lawry’s, parsley, pepper
 
Sauté ground beef, onions and celery until beef is browned and onions are translucent. Drain oil from hbeef, return to pan and heat. Stir in one cup of tater tots, mushrooms and soup. Add seasonings to taste. Pour mixture into a well-greased casserole. Top with remaining tater tots. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until mixture is well heated and tater tots are crispy and golden.