Antipasto Pasta Salad

I made this pasta salad for a cookout we had planned with some very good friends that we have not seen in WAY too long! No sooner did we sit down to eat than my two year old managed to fall head-first out of his chair, landing on their brick deck. Long story short, we had to leave dinner early and I am now sitting at home on 'concussion watch '09'. My poor kid inherited my klutziness! I didn't get the opportunity to eat much of my dinner-- but I did enjoy the few bites I got in before disaster struck! (Sorry again, Becca!) Becca is an awesome cook and I've been trying to convince her to start her own blog to share her recipes-- watch for that to be coming soon, hopefully!

I started with a recipe I found on allrecipes.com, but ended up with a very different pasta salad. There were several ingredients that I felt were missing from the dish, and some of the technique was very different from what I traditionally would do with a pasta salad. All in all, my final recipe ended up quite different from what I started with-- though I do want to give credit where credit is due! I liked the idea of the antipasto salad and that, along with the core ingredients came from the allrecipes.com site.

Antipasto Pasta Salad
1 pound tri-color pasta
1/4 pound Genoa salami, chopped
1/4 pound pepperoni sausage, chopped
1/2 pound cheddar cheese, shredded
1 small can sliced black olives, drained
1 small or 1/2 large red bell pepper, diced
1 small or 1/2 large green bell pepper, diced
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
2-3 green onions, chopped (white and green parts)
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, and cool under cold water. In a large bowl, combine the pasta, salami, pepperoni, cheddar cheese, black olives, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, green onions and tomatoes. To prepare the dressing, whisk together the envelope of dressing mix, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, parsley, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Strawberry Muffins

I knew I'd be making these the moment I saw them on Donna's blog. My little boy loves strawberries and will eat them by the handful. I'm always looking for healthy breakfast options for him-- and these certainly fit the bill. With strawberries on sale everywhere at the moment, they were really inexpensive to make and they seriously came together within 15 minutes. They were incredibly moist and he (as well as the rest of us) loved them. These will certainly be made often through the coming months!

Strawberry Muffins
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
6 teaspoons sugar
2 cups chopped strawberries
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and one cup of sugar in a medium bowl. Toss the strawberries into the dry ingredients, set aside. Beat together eggs, butter, milk, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Spoon batter into muffin tins lined with paper liners. (Fill 2/3 of the way.) Sprinkle a small amount of sugar on the top of each muffin. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Source: My Tasty Treasures

Chicken with Lemon Sauce

My sister was kind enough to prepare this meal for us right after my little girl was born. . . and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since! I had so much fun making it the other night. I love that the chicken is breaded with a combination of flour and parmesan cheese-- it had such a delicate flavor, not at all too heavy. When I was at the grocery store, they had chicken breasts on sale, and one type of package had the chicken 'thin sliced'. It was a little bit more expensive, but was already perfectly prepared and cut my prep time drastically. (It wasn't so expensive that it wasn't worth the time saver!) If you can find your poultry this way, I'd highly recommend it with this dish. You want your chicken pieces to be very thin and this is a nice way to ensure that it is. (I went ahead and included Rachel's original directions in case you are using regular chicken breasts.) This is a nice meal for company also, as it really does present well.

Chicken with Lemon Sauce

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup all purpose flour, divided

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 teaspoons salt, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons pepper, divided

2 eggs

5 tablespoons butter, divided

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups apple juice

3 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Flatten chicken to 1/4-inch thickness. In a shallow bowl, combine 3/4 cup flour, Parmesan cheese, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. In another bowl, beat the eggs. Dip chicken into eggs and coat with flour mixture. In a large skillet, cook chicken in 2 tablespoons butter and oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Remove and keep warm. In a small bowl, combine the remaining flour, salt and pepper; stir in broth until smooth. Add apple juice to the skillet, stirring to loosen any browned bits. Stir broth mixture and add to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Stir in lemon juice; cook for 1 minute. Add parsley and remaining butter; cook and stir until butter is melted. Serve over chicken. (I serve next to linguine and poured extra sauce over the pasta.)

Source: Rachel vs. The Kitchen

Taco Puffs

I had these taco puffs on my weekly menu for next weekend, but when my husband saw them on the list, he requested that they be 'bumped up'. If he had his choice, he'd have tacos every night! Needless to say, he's been a big fan of Heidi's blog lately! When I first started making these, I thought they were going to end up in disaster! I had a really hard time getting my crescent pieces to stick together to create the pockets. Heidi does recommend letting the meat mixture cool a bit before filling the shells, and maybe I didn't quite let them cool enough. While I was a bit afraid putting these in the oven, they really baked together well and stayed exactly in form. They were so cute! My whole family really enjoyed them and my husband already asked when I will be making them again!

Taco Puffs
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 envelope taco seasoning
2 tubes refrigerated crescent
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
Garnish (I used sour cream, tomatoes, shredded lettuce, diced onion, and additional cheese)

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions. Cool slightly. Unroll crescents leaving 2 crescents together to form a square. Press seems together and place in a greased cookie sheet. Spoon 1/4 cup meat mixture onto each; sprinkle with 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Pull crescent dough around the filling and pinch edges to seal tightly. Bake at 400 degrees for 13 minutes or until golden brown.

Source: Tried and True Cooking with Heidi

Onion Rings

This is a recipe that got thrown together due to a great deal on a large bag of Vidalia Onions that I found on sale. I've always loved onion rings, but have never before attempted to make my own. They were surprisingly easy to put together. I'm not promising that this is the best way to make them, but my entire family thoroughly enjoyed them. They had just a nice bit of kick to them without being too overwhelmingly heavy. The breading was nice and light and they perfectly complemented our grilling. The only negative was that my house smelled like a carnival for the rest of the night!

Onion Rings
1 large Vidalia Onion, cut into rings
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (or less depending on preference for heat)
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
canola oil

Fill a large skillet with canola oil (enough to completely cover your onion slices) and place over medium-high heat. In a wide bowl, mix the milk and eggs until well beaten. In another bowl, mix the flour, salt, and pepper. Place onion slices into the milk mixture, then place in the flour-- coating well on all sides. Shake off any excess flour. Place coated rings in the oil and fry until golden brown. Once at desired color, place on paper towel to drain off extra oil. Serve hot.

Salsa and Guacamole

A short while ago, I had some co-workers over to our house for dinner. A member of our first grade team is retiring at the end of this school year and we wanted to honor her before her last day. Her request was for a Mexican themed dinner-- which is certainly not my specialty! I needed to make something that didn't need a ton of last minute work as my husband was out of town and I was on my own with both kids. I decided to do a 'taco bar' with all of the fixings and also made chicken fajitas. I need to give special thanks to my other team members who brought some sides, dessert, and drinks. It was a really nice opportunity to catch up and relax a little in the middle of what is typically a hectic time of year!

I wanted to have some appetizers ready that my guests could work on while waiting for dinner-- and figured that I couldn't go wrong with some homemade salsa and guacamole. I wish I had more time to play with homemade tortilla chips, too! That will be my next project! I knew I had to make Pam's salsa once I saw it. It looked and sounded just like our favorite restaurant salsa and I was not at all disappointed. I tend to be a little weak when it comes to spice, so I did not make mine too 'hot'. This would certainly be an easy thing to adjust when making yours. For my guacamole, I had to go with my mom's old standby. It's a classic and still my favorite. Both dips come together very quickly and go far-- they'd be great outdoor appetizers with a great big margarita!

Salsa
10 tomatoes (I used vine ripened)
2-3 green onions
2-3 cloves of garlic
Handful of cilantro
2 jalapenos, seeded and deveined
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Clean tomatoes, remove stem, then gently cut an X on the bottom of the tomatoes. Heat a large pot of water until boiling. Add the tomatoes and boil for 10-15 seconds. Remove from water and put into an ice bath. Once the tomatoes have cooled, gently peel off the skin. Place tomatoes, garlic, green onions, cilantro, jalapenos, sea salt and fresh cracked pepper in a food processor or blender. Puree until thoroughly mixed. Taste and re-season if necessary. (Pam recommends letting the salsa sit in the fridge for a bit for the flavors to combine. I highly recommend this as well. My salsa tasted even better the next day.)

Source: For the Love of Cooking

Guacamole
4 ripe avacado
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 plum tomatoes, finely chopped
White pepper and garlic salt to taste
Handful of fresh cilantro (leaves only)
1 Lime

Mash the avacado in a medium sized bowl. Add the chopped onion and tomatoes. Finely chop the cilantro and add to mixed guacamole. Season to taste. Sprinkle with juice from one lime.

(No matter what you do, your guacamole is going to turn brown after sitting for a while. If you stir it up, it will return to it's green color. To try to prevent this from happening, you can store the guacamole with one or two of the avacado pits placed in the center of the bowl-- be sure to remove them before serving. The lime juice will also help with some of the color change.)

Source: Adele Fine

Pesto Barbeque Pork Medallions

This is a nice simple meal that is perfect for summer grilling. A friend of mine from school used to make a version of this and it quickly became a favorite. It's a recipe that comes together very quickly and has a very unique flavor. I'm almost embarrased to post this as a recipe, as it is so incredibly simple-- but the flavors cannot be beat. You can use any pork chop to make these-- I have used a thin cut, thick cut, bone-in, boneless, and now these medallions. All work well and it's nice to know you can use whatever is on sale! I haven't tried it on a tenderloin yet. . . that might have to be next! My outdoor grill is still broken, so I used a grill pan to make mine. I do think I prefer the outdoor grill for these, but they certainly work inside if you options are limited.

Pesto Barbeque Pork Medallions
Pork medallions
Pesto sauce (either homemade or jarred)
Barbeque sauce (I use Sweet Baby Rays)
Garlic salt
Pepper

Rinse pork medallions and dry well. Season to taste with garlic salt and pepper. Use a pastry brush to coat both sides of the pork with pesto sauce. Allow to sit for about 20 minutes. Place on a hot grill and cook through. For the last few minutes, brush with barbeque sauce on both sides.