Zippy Carrots

2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp mustard
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups carrots (cut how ever you like)
1 tbsp parsley

Melt butter in a pan. Stir in brown sugar, mustard and salt. Add carrots and stir constantly until carrots are glazed and heated. Sprinkle with parsley.

Comments: These were delicious. C gobbled them up. I would recommend maybe using julienne carrots. I used slices and they didn't get to the consistency I would have preferred, but I was done cooking them.

Easy Posole Skillet

From Pampered Chef Season's Best Spring/Summer 2005

4 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp masa harina (all purpose flour can be substitued)
1 can hominy (white or golden), drained and rinsed
2 cups shredded chicken
2 cups shredded chihuahua cheese (I substituted mexican blend)

Cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove, drain drippings (reserve 1 tbsp in skillet). Crumble bacon and set aside.

Place bell pepper, jalapenos, onion and garlic into skillet. Cook and stir over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and masa harina (flour) and cook 1 minute while stirring. Add hominy, chicken, and zucchini. Cook for 3 minutes until mixture is slightly thickened, stir occassionally.

Reduce heat to low, stir in half the cheese. Top with bacon, cilantro and remaining cheese. Cover and cook 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Comments: As I got into making this I started becoming very skeptical of how it was going to taste. I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. It is perfect for summer. All the veggies tasted like summer to me. There are some hard to find ingredients. Masa Harina is a finely ground cornmeal. My grocery has a GREAT latin foods section and I couldn't even find it. Same with the chihuahue cheese. I think those would have to be found at a specialty grocer. I think the substitues worked just as well though. I also tagged this as vegetarian because I think you could take away the bacon and chicken and not miss any of the flavor. If you don't like hominy (why would you not, though?!?) I think corn would also be a good substitute.

Neopolitan Baked Ziti

From Rachael Ray

1 lb ziti
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
28 oz can whole plum tomatoes
4-5 basil leaves, torn
salt and pepper
3 tbsp butter
2 cups milk
1 bay leaf
nutmeg
mozzarella
1/4 parmigiano reggiano

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cook pasta to just shy of al dente according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, start the red sauce: In a medium sized pot over medium-high heat place 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the onion and garlic, and cook, stirring every now and then until the onions start to get tender (about 3-4 minutes).

Add the tomatoes and smash them up into small pieces. Add the basil and season with some salt and pepper. Bring up to a bubble and simmer for 15 minutes.

To make white sauce: Heat medium sized sauce pan over medium heat and melt the butter. Add the flour, stir to combine and cook for about a minute. Whisk in the milk and add the bay leaf. Season with some salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Bring to a bubble, turn the heat down to low and gently simmer, stirring frequently for 5 minutes. Don't forget to remove the bay leaf.

Combine the cooked ziti with the red sauce in the pot the pasta was cooked in and then transfer into a prepared baking dish. Top with the white sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano over the top. Transfer to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Comments: I felt big time with three pots going on the stove at the same time. It sounds like a lot, and I was afraid I might get overwhelmed. It really wasn't as bad as I thought. So this obviously isn't the most simple recipe. And I'm not sure it was really worth the effort. I wasn't overly impressed with it. I expected more flavor with both a white and a red sauce. Maybe I wasn't heavy handed enough with the seasoning. I would like to give it another try because I feel like it should have been better than it was.

Stuffed Pasta Shells

From Blog Chef

1 pkg jumbo pasta shells
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/ cup chopped tomatoes
3/4 cup peeled and chopped cucumbers
1 cup chopped, cooked chicken
3 oz hard salami, chopped
Salad dressing (I used a garlic Caesar dressing)

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and allow to cool.

Place all remaining ingredients in a large bowl and combine together.

Stuff each shell with mixture and refrigerate a few hours before serving.

Comments: I'm not really sure what I was expecting this to be when I purchased the ingredients for this meal. Its basically a salad inside a pasta shell, but thats not really what I was expecting. It wasn't until I started cooking that I realized what I was going to have. I got concerned because J doesn't really care for cold pasta.

This turned out so well. It was so quick and so easy. Its a perfect summer dish. It was very refreshing. Its also so simple to make it to your own tastes. Add in or take away whatever ingredients you want. I was quite skeptical, but this has definitely become a summer favorite.

This would also make a great potluck dish as well.

Black Bean and Corn Salad

From Rachael Ray

14 oz black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups frozen corn
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small red onion, diced
1.5 tsp ground Cumin
2 tsp hot sauce
lime juice
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Combine everything in a large bowl. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Review: This is possibly my new favorite thing. Ever. Perfect for summer. So fresh. So colorful. SO EASY. Be prepared to see this as a side dish to everything I cook from now on. Just kidding..... Probably.....

Pasta E Fagioli

adapted from Full Bellies, Happy Kids

2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 strips bacon, uncooked and cut into pieces
2 cloves garlic
1 jar spaghetti sauce
15 oz cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp grated pecorino-romano cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper
1 lb of any tubular pasta, cooked

Cook your pasta.

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Saute onions for 3 minutes. Add bacon and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. Add garlic, cook for 2 minutes.

Turn heat to medium-low. Add sauce, beans, cheese, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine and cook for 15 minutes. Add pasta to sauce and mix well. Turn heat to low for a few minutes.

Review: First of all, sorry for the lack of pictures here. I was hungry and my camera batteries were dead. Not a good combination.

Second, I'm going to be honest. I was very skeptical about this dish after I started cooking. I prefer my pasta to be saucy. Like really saucy. I just didn't feel like this was going to provide "coverage" for the amount of pasta. I was also a little skeptical about beans in my pasta. .

This was good. Surprisingly good. The beans were probably my favorite part. I might use less pasta next time I make it because, really, nothing is bad with a little extra sauce.

*I am going to label this as vegetarian because it would be super easy to skip the bacon. I really don't feel like it would take away from the dish at all.