Spicy Black Bean Sliders

Prep: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 6 minutes
Makes 16 sliders

Ingredients:

• 3 green onions, trimmed, chopped
• 2 cans (15 ounce each) black beans, drained, corsely mashed
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1.2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon chipotle pepper powder or chili powder
• 2 tablespoons canola or peanut oil
• 16 mini buns

*Optional toppings: Pepper Jack or Cheddar cheese slices, guacamole, salsa, chopped cilantro

Directions:

1. Combine green onions, beans, egg, celery, garlic, bell pepper, bread crumbs, lemon juice, salt and chipotle powder in a bowl. Spoon out about 2 tablespoons of the mixture; form into a patty. Repeat, making 16 small patties.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet (or 2 skillets) over medium heat. Cook patties about 3 minutes per side. Serve each on a mini-roll with optional toppings.

*I just make full patties vs. sliders and it works fine. I also typically don't use a bun, and serve with avocado, homemade honey mustard (literally just mix honey & mustard), pineapple, sweet potato fries or other sides.

~Recipe from Stephanie M.

Fresh Pasta con Vodka Sauce

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4-6

Pasta Ingredients:

• 4 cups semolina durum flour
• 6 eggs
• 2 tsp olive oil

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 cup vodka
• 3 1/2 cups marinara sauce
• Oregano
• salt & pepper
• 1 cup half-and-half
• Basil leaves, for garnish

Pasta Directions:

1. Put the flour in a large mixing bowl. Beat the eggs and oil together and mix it into the flour. The dough should be firm enough to handle and not sticky. Adjust the consistency with additional flour or a few drops of water, knead dough 5 minutes. Roll into ball and cover with kitchen towel. Let rest 10 to 15 minutes. Make noodles.

Sauce Directions:

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute until transparent. Add 1 cup vodka and reduce by half, add marinara sauce. Let simmer and reduce. Season with oregano and salt & pepper.
2. Cook pasta in salted water. Add cream to sauce and allow it to heat through for a couple minutes while pasta cooks. Drain pasta and toss with sauce. 

*You don't have to make your own pasta to make this recipe. Just follow sauce directions and use store bought noodles. I recommend a thicker noodle if possible.

~Recipe via Corrado Savarino at Savarino's Cucina in Nashville, TN

Creamy Chicken & Mushroom One-Pot with Potpie Toppers

Ingredients:

• 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 3 onions: 1 quartered (root end intact) and 2 chopped
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced or quartered
• 4 baby potatoes, diced
• 2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 small ribs celery, chopped
• Leaves from 2 or 3 sprigs fresh sage, very thinly sliced (I used dried sage)
• salt & pepper
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 3 Tablespoons flour, plus more for unfolding the puff pastry
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 round Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed but chilled well
• 1 egg, beaten with a splash of water

Directions:

1. In a Dutch oven or deep skillet, combine the chicken, onion quarters, and 1 bay leaf. Add water to come to the top of the chick. bring to a low boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and poach the chicken for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the chicken and when cool enough to handle, dice or shred with forks. Strain the poaching liquid and reserve. Dry the pan.
2. In the same pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and brown lightly. Add the chopped onions, potatoes, parsnips, celery, sage, the remaining bay leaf, and salt and pepper. Cover the pot and sweat the vegetables for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the bay leaf. Melt in the butter, sprinkle in the 3 tablespoons flour, and stir to make a light roux. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Add 2 cups of the reserved poaching liquid. Whisk in the mustard and 2 cups chicken stock. Stir in the cream and simmer to thicken to a light gravy consistency. Adjust the salt and pepper and add the chicken.
3. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
4. Unfold the puff pastry onto a lightly floured work surface. Choose 3-cup bowls to serve the potpies in. Invert them onto the dough and trace around them with a knife to cut pieces to fit the tops. Arrange the pastry on a nonstick baking sheet or parchment paper-lined baking sheet and brush with the egg wash. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.
5. Ladle the chicken and mushroom filling into the bowls and top with the potpie toppers.

*This freezes extremely well! Just ladle into aluminum freezer bowls cover with foil and freeze. To prepare after freezing, remove lid and place in a 325°F oven until heated through. Cook off pastry the night you are eating the dish.

~Recipe from Week in a Day with Rachael Ray

Brown Sugar Roasted Acorn Squash

Ingredients:

• Acorn squash
• olive oil
• butter
• brown sugar

Directions:

1. Cut acorn squash in half and remove seeds.
2. Drizzle and/or brush olive oil on the inside of acorn squash. Place squash halves cut-side down on a sheet pan. I use a silicon mat to make clean up easier. If you don't have a silicon mat you can use foil or parchment paper.
3. Roast in a 425°F oven for 45 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and carefully flip squash halves cut-side up. You can check doneness of the squash with a fork. I add a small portion of butter and brown sugar to the hot squash, which melts and can be mixes together with the squash.

~Recipe from Mikaila

Quick Smoothies

Add the following to a blender and mix until blended!

• Orange Dream (serves 3) 
• 3 oranges
• a large handful of spinach
• Vanilla almond milk (or plain with a dash of vanilla extract)
• ice
• Banana Almond (serves 1)
• Banana
• handful of spinach
• spoonful of almond butter
• a couple splashes of non-dairy milk
• You can also add berries to taste

*You really CANNOT taste the spinach.

~Recipes from Stephanie M.

Butternut Squash Lasagna

Serves 6-8

Time: about 2.5 hours

Ingredients: 

• 1 large butternut squash (about 4lbs) cut into ½” pieces
• 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher Salt & fresh ground pepper
• 5 ¾ cups milk, divided
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 7 TBSP unsalted butter
• 7 TBSP flour
• 12 no-boil lasagna noodles
• ¾ lb fresh mozzarella, sliced ¼” thick

Directions:

1   Preheat oven to 425, toss butternut squash with olive oil & season generously with salt & pepper

** we usually just cut the squash in ½ and wipe it with olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper & then once its cooked & soft, cut it into cubes**

Divide between 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Roast, rotating trays halfway through, until tender & golden, about 40 minutes

2  Transfer to a food processor (or blender) along with ¾ cup milk, thyme, and ¼ cup water.  Puree

3 Make white sauce:

melt butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan, then whisk in flour & cook, whisking constantly til tan, about 5 minutes. Slowly whisk in remaining 5 cups milk & cook, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with 2 tsp salt & ¼ tsp pepper.

4 Spread about ½ cup white sauce evenly across bottom of a 9x13” baking dish. Top with 3 noodles. Dollop 1 cup squash over noodles, using back of spoon to spread evenly. Repeat the noodle, squash, sauce layers 3 more times.

5   Arrange mozzarella slices on top and season with pepper.  Cover with foil; bake for 50 minutes. Then increase heat to 475, remove foil, and bake until mozzarella is golden in spots, about 5-10 more minutes. Let stand at least 15 minutes before serving.

~Recipe from Carolyn A.

Chicken or Eggplant Parmesan

 

Ingredients:

•  Olive oil
•  4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (about 11/2 pounds) OR peeled eggplant sliced into about 1/4 – 1/2 inch disks
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
•  2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 cup dried bread crumbs
• 1 (8-ounce) fresh buffalo mozzarella (regular mozzarella works too- buffalo is creamier)
•  Freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 pound spaghetti pasta, cooked al dente
•  Jar of your favorite marinara sauce (or homemade)

Directions:

                  1.       Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

2.       Get the ingredients together for the chicken so you have a little assembly line.

For chicken only-  Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them. Pound the chicken breasts with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/2-inch thick.

3.       Put the flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. In a wide bowl, combine the eggs and water, beat until frothy. Put the bread crumbs on a plate, season with salt and pepper.

4.       Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high flame in a large oven-proof skillet. Lightly dredge both sides of the chicken or eggplant cutlets in the seasoned flour, and then dip them in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off, then dredge in the bread crumbs. When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 4 minutes on each side until golden and crusty, turning once.

5.       Poor some sauce into a baking dish to lightly cover the bottom.  Place fried cutlets in the dish. 

6.       Ladle some sauce over the chicken or eggplant and sprinkle with mozzarella, Parmesan, and basil.  

For eggplant only-  Put another cutlet on top of the cutlet that you just topped.  Repeat the above step.  Do this again as many times as you’d like!  The highest I have gone is three layers. 

7.       Bake the Chicken or Eggplant Parmesan for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Serve hot with spaghetti.

*You can also sneak more veggies into this dish by adding layers of spinach to the eggplant version...not sure how it would work for the chicken version.

~Recipe via Stephanie M.

Broccoli Wild Rice Casserole

Prep Time 20 Minutes Cook Time 1 Hour 15 Minutes

Difficulty Easy

Servings 12

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Uncooked Wild Rice
• 8 cups Low-sodium Chicken Broth, More If Needed For Thinning
• 3 heads Broccoli, Cut Into Small Florets
• 1 pound White Button Or Crimini Mushrooms, Finely Chopped
• ½ cups (1 Stick) Butter
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
• 2 whole Carrots, Peeled And Finely Diced
• 2 stalks Celery, Finely Diced
• 4 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
• ½ cups Heavy Cream
• 1 teaspoon Salt, More To Taste
• 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs

Preparation Instructions:

1. Add the wild rice into a medium saucepan with 5 cups of the chicken broth. Bring it to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Cook the rice until it has just started to break open and is slightly tender, about 35 to 40 minutes Set it aside.
2. Meanwhile, blanch the broccoli by throwing the florets into boiling water for 1½ to 2 minutes, until bright green and still slightly crisp. Immediately drain the broccoli and plunge it into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Remove it from the ice water and set it aside.
3. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat, then melt 6 tablespoons of the butter. Add the onions and the mushrooms and cook, stirring them occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the liquid begins to evaporate. Add the carrots and celery and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and the mixture begins to turn darker in color.
4. Sprinkle the flour on the vegetables and stir to incorporate it, then cook for about a minute. Pour in the remaining 3 cups of broth and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil and allow it to thicken, about 3 minutes. Pour in the heavy cream, stirring to combine. Let the mixture cook until it thickens. Season with the salt and pepper, then taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.
5. Add half the cooked rice to the bottom of a 2-quart baking dish, then lay on half the broccoli. (You can do one layer of each or two layers of each. Using a ladle, scoop out the vegetable/broth mixture and spoon it evenly all over the top. Continue with the rest of the sauce, totally covering the surface with vegetables.
6. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, then pour it into a separate bowl with the panko breadcrumbs. Toss the mixture together to coat the breadcrumbs in butter, then sprinkle the breadcrumbs all over the top.
7. Cover with foil and bake the casserole for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and continue baking for 15 minutes or until golden brown on top. Sprinkle on the parsley after you remove it from the oven.

*Bite sized pieces of chicken can be added, just add to pot before sauteing vegetables.

~Recipe via Stephanie M.

Baking Powder Biscuits

Drop Biscuits with cheese

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 450°F. Cut shortening into flour, baking powder and salt with pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in just enough milk so dough leaves side of bowl and rounds up into a ball. (Too much milk makes dough sticky, not enough makes biscuits dry.)
2. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead lightly 10 minutes. Roll 1/2 inch thick. Cut with floured 2-inch biscuit cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart for crusty sides, touching for soft sides. Bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. 

Buttermilk Biscuits: Decrease baking powder to 2 teaspoons and add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to the flour mixture. Substitute buttermilk for the milk. (If buttermilk is thick, it may be necessary to add slightly more than 3/4 cup.)

Cheese biscuits: Stir in 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheese.

Chive-Yogurt Biscuits: Substitute 1 cup unflavored yogurt for the milk; stir in 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon snipped chives with the yogurt.

Cornmeal Biscuits: Substitute 1/2 cup cornmeal for 1/2 cup of the flour. Sprinkle cookie sheet with cornmeal; place biscuits on cookie sheet and sprinkle with additional cornmeal.

Drop Biscuits: Increase milk to 1 cup. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. (If desired, first drop dough into sesame seed; coat all sides.)

Herb Biscuits: Add 1 1/4 teaspoons caraway seed, 1/2 teaspoon crumbled leaf sage and 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard to the dry ingredients.

Rye Biscuits: Substitute 3/4 cup rye flour for 3/4 cup of the all-purpose flour.

~From Betty Crocker's Cookbook 1978

Ricotta & Blueberry Pancakes

Prep. time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups pancake and waffle mix (Pancake recipe below, if you don't have boxed mix)
• 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
• 2/3 cup frozen blueberries
• melted butter

Directions:

1. Stir 1/3 cup of water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Stir in the honey. Set aside and keep the honey syrup warm.
2. Using a rubber spatula, stir remaining 1 2/3 cups of water and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the pancake mix and stir just until moistened but still lumpy. Stir in the ricotta into the pancake mixture, then stir gently to incorporate the ricotta but maintain a lumpy batter. Fold in the blueberries.
3. Heat a griddle over medium heat. Brush with the melted butter. Working in batches, spoon 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Serve with the honey syrup.

Hamburger Pie

 

Ingredients:
24 oz mashed potatoes
1 1/4 lbs lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
1/4 tsp salt
Dash of black pepper
2 1/2 cups frozen cut green beans, thawed (or mixed vegetables)
1 10.75 oz can condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Prepare mashed potatoes; set aside. In a large skillet cook meat and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat. Add salt & pepper. Stir in thawed beans and soup. pour into a greased 2-quart baking dish.
2. Spoon mashed potatoes in mounds on beef mixture. Sprinkle cheese over potatoes. Bake, uncovered, in a 350°F oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until mixture is bubbly and cheese begins to brown.

Hash Brown Casserole

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 55 min

Ingredients:
2 Tbs butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
One 6-ounce slab country ham, diced
1 small onion, finely chopped
salt and black pepper
2 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar
One 22-ounce package frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
3 green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Add the butter to a large heavy skillet. Once foaming and melted, add garlic, ham, onions and some salt and pepper. Saute until the onions are tender and the ham is browned, about 4 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook until pasty, about 2 minutes. Add the milk and stock and stir until smooth. The mixture will begin to thicken as it comes to a simmer. Once thick, turn off the heat and add 1 cup of the shredded cheese. Stir until melted. Add the hash browns and green onions and stir until well mixed. Add to a 13-by-9-inch casserole dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake until the top is golden and the potatoes are tender, 45 minutes.

~Recipe via The Neelys at foodnetwork.com

Buffalo Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs Olive oil
• 2lbs Ground chicken
• 2 large carrots, peeled & finely chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 ribs celery, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 Tbs smoked paprika
• 1 Bay leaf, fresh or dried
• Salt & Pepper
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup hot sauce (I use about 1/4 cup because I like it mild)
• 1 can tomato sauce (15oz)
• 1 can stewed, fire roasted or crushed tomatoes
• 1 bag tortilla chips

Directions:

1. Large pot oven medium-high heat with olive oil, add ground chicken and break up, lightly brown it for 5 minutes.
2. Add carrots, onion, celery, garlic, paprika and bay leaf, salt & pepper. Stirr frequently, about 7-8 minutes. Add chicken stock and scrape up any brown bits on bottom.
3. Add hot sauce, tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes, bring up to a bubble. Simmer for 8-10 minutes.
4. Serve with chips.

~Recipe via Rachael Ray