spicy spaghetti

i love this spicy spaghetti! add some chopped tomatoes from the garden; this is a great way to use home-grown produce. quick and easy, this dish went from chopping to serving in just 30 minutes. i'm looking forward to the leftovers!

also, this meal is very inexpensive. if you grow your own peppers and basil as i have, each serving of this dish costs about $1.00. for the money, this meal was satisfying, healthful, and tasty!

adapted from Jamie Oliver’s recipe

serves 4-6
2 cloves garlic
1 pound dried spaghetti (i used Capellini)
1 fresh red chile
olive oil
small bunch of fresh basil
14 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 cup fresh spinach, stems removed
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
4 oz. fresh grated parmesan cheese

to make your pasta:
*peel and finely slice the garlic
*finely slice the chile
*pick the basil leaves off the stalk and put to one side
*finely chop stalks
*bring large pan of salted water to a boil, add spaghetti, cook according to package
*put dutch oven on medium heat, add 2 lugs of olive oil
*add garlic, chile, and basil stalks, stir
*when the garlic browns, add most of the basil leaves and canned tomatoes
*turn the heat up to high for one minute
*season with salt and pepper
*drain spaghetti in colander, transfer to the dutch oven, add spinach and stir

serving suggestion:
serve in bowls topped with torn remaining basil leaves and parmesan cheese.
Chianti works well with this meal.

red, white, & blue cobbler

this quick and easy dessert is perfect for July 4th weekend; add a little ice cream and it’s red, white, and blue! personally, i think cobbler makes a great breakfast too.

adapted from Allrecipes.com

serves 6
4 Tbsp. butter
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp. baking pwder
1/3 tsp. salt
¾ cup milk (I used 2%)
3 cups sliced fresh berries (I used strawberries and blueberries)
1 Tbsp. sugar

to make your cobbler:
*adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat to 350 degress
*put butter in your dutch oven (or at least 2-quart pan), set in oven to melt butter and then remove
*whisk flour, ¾ cup sugar, baking pawder, and salt in a small bowl. Add milk; whisk to form a smooth batter.
*pour batter into the dutch oven (with butter), then scatter fruit over batter, and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. sugar
*bake until batter browns and fruit bubbles (50-60 minutes)

serving suggestion:
serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream or whipped cream

cheesy baked pasta with spinach & artichoke

this simple, healthful recipe was quick to prepare and yielded a wonderfully cheesy result. any opportunity to grate fresh parmesan is a welcome one, and i think it adds so much more flavor to any dish over the store-bought pre-grated variety.

i thought the meal was hardy enough as a main course, but this recipe could easily be a side item as well. next time, i will try using some lemon pepper and/or lemon thyme in this dish as i love the combination of lemon and artichokes.

adapted from Real Simple’s recipe

serves 4
8oz. whole grain mini penne (or other short pasta)
14oz. can artichoke hearts, rinsed and quartered
9oz. package frozen creamed spinach, thawed
¼ cup fresh grated parmesan
2 cups grated mozzarella, divided
Fresh ground black pepper

to make your pasta:
*cook pasta according to directions, drain, and return to pot
*add artichoke hearts, spinach, parmesan, 1 cup mozzarella & ¼ tsp. pepper, stirring to combine
*heat broiler
*sprinkle remaining mozzarella over the top of the pasta and broil until cheese is browned in spots, about 2-3 minutes

serving suggestion:
with a crisp salad

mom's meatloaf

Meatloaf = comfort food. And while I usually think of this dish as a fall or winter meal, it’s just as tasty when it’s warm outside. It’s even better (and perhaps more seasonally appropriate) the next day as cold slices on sandwich bread. I was able to use parsley from my garden, and soon I’ll be able to use my own peppers too!

Occasionally, I’ll substitute oatmeal for breadcrumbs, which creates a chunkier texture. Also, I place slices of red pepper on the top of the loaf before baking, though this is more for aesthetics than anything else. If you don’t like red pepper, you could substitute any sweet pepper.

based on my mom’s recipe

serves 4-6
pad of butter
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 lb 8% fat Laura’s Lean ground beef
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
3/4 cup italian breadcrumbs
1/3 cup chili sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
1 egg
a few sprigs of fresh Parsley, finely chopped
pinch of cumin
pinch of mustard powder
pinch of salt
a few turns of fresh ground pepper

to make your meatloaf:
*preheat oven to 350
*with dutch oven over medium to high heat, saute' onions in butter for a few minutes
*meanwhile, chop red pepper and combine with beef, breadcrumbs, chili sauce, ketchup, egg, and seasonings in a large mixing bowl
*remove onions with a slotted spoon and place them in the bowl with the meat
*mix everything well with your hands
*create a loaf shape (like a football) and place in the dutch oven (or spread into a loaf pan)
*lightly drizzle the top of the loaf with ketchup
*bake covered for an hour, uncover the last few minutes of baking

serving suggestion:
serve with butter rolls, potatoes, greens, and of course ketchup!

sweet & savory roasted chicken

“food must not only be good to eat, but also good to think”--Claude Levi-Strauss

Some like to fix sweet potatoes sweetly, others prefer savory; this recipe is the best of both worlds. Everything used to make this meal came from local farms save the oil, salt, and pepper.

This is the first time I’ve ordered chicken from my CSA, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the moistness and flavor. This meal makes the most of everything that’s in season right now, making it very cost-effective.

adapted from Real Simple’s recipe

serves 4
4 chicken thighs
4 chicken legs
3 tbps olive oil
2 ½ tsp kosher salt
¾ tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 ½ lbs sweet potatoes
1 medium onion
2 tbps honey

to make your chicken:
*preheat oven to 400
*pat the chicken dry with paper towels and place in the dutch oven (or roasting pan)
*drizzle with 1 tbsp oil, 1 ½ tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper, rub to coat
*roast chicken for 25 minutes
*meanwhile, chop sweet potatoes and onions into 1” pieces and combine in a large bowl with honey and remaining spices
*after chicken has roasted for 25 minutes, add sweet potato mixture on top of chicken and cook another 25-30 minutes until potatoes are tender.

turkey piccata

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."
—Virginia Woolf

I love schnitzel, piccata, and scaloppine. Veal piccata (which is the origin of this dish in Italy) is the superior piccata from a taste perspective. But, if you are budget conscious or morally opposed to veal, the poultry options are a good bet. And, if you're Vegan/Vegetarian you can make this dish with seitan. When I saw the Turkey version in Alton Brown’s Good Eats 2, I couldn’t wait to try it.

Traditional Piccata is sauteed, butterflied meat in a lemony reduction. It is typically served over a bed of pasta in America, or after the pasta course in Italy. I am accustomed to a piccata dish containing capers, but this recipe omits them (and I missed them, though this was probably just nostalgia). This simple dish is easy to assemble and very quick cooking.

The turkey breast I bought from Whole Foods was already so thinly sliced that I didn’t take the time to flatten the turkey cutlets further. Next time, I will make more of the lemon/wine reduction as it accompanied the fettuccine pasta quite well. The turkey was delicious and I’m looking forward to the leftovers!

adapted from Alton Brown’s Good Eats 2

serves 4-6
1 pound of turkey cutlets
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. olive oil
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
2 tbsp. shallots, finely chopped
½ cup white wine
1/3 cup lemon juice (which was more than 1 lemon for me)
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)

to make your Piccata:
*preheat oven to 200
*slice your turkey breast into ½” pieces and pound turkey cutlets to no less than 1/8” thick
*season both sides of the meat with salt and pepper and dredge through flour, shaking off excess, set aside
*heat oil and 4 tbsp. butter over medium high
*when hot, but not yet smoking, brown the turkey, about 1 minute on each side, then remove to an oven-proof platter and place in oven to keep warm
*reduce heat to low and add shallots, sautéing for 1-2 minutes, until they begin to turn translucent
*add the wine and lemon juice and simmer until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes
*add the remaining butter and whisk to combine
*season with salt and pepper to taste, if necessary
*pour the sauce over the turkey, sprinkle with parsley, and serve immediately

serving suggestion:
over a bed of pasta or mashed potatoes with a crisp salad

p.s. the photo used is from wikipedia's chicken piccata article. my turkey was camera-shy and really, they look quite similar.

(twice) baked beans

We’ve had such mild weather lately that we’ve been able to grill out in the middle of February! I love baked beans, and this recipe doesn’t disappoint. We had these beans as a side to really delicious burgers on the grill. And while a dutch oven is not necessary, as with all things, it only makes it better!

My boyfriend thought it was comical that one of the ingredients in this recipe was in fact canned baked beans. Come to find out Whit himself passed off canned baked beans in a Crockpot as a homemade side dish for a holiday party years ago. If he had just had this easy recipe, he could have truthfully claimed this fabulous side dish as his own.

If chili sauce is unknown to you, you are in good company. I had no idea what it was before I made these beans. I found it between the cocktail sauce and ketchup in the condiment aisle at my Kroger. It's not hot (spicy), but more of a sweet ketchup. This sauce is tasty and will be a condiment staple in my fridge from now on.

This recipe is adapted from ‘Life After Ramen’ by Ann Thatcher and Randy MacDonald, who are Knoxville natives! I've truly enjoyed their cookbook in the years since I received it as a gift. The recipes have short ingredients lists and do not require a lot of skill or equipment to pull off.

In the future, I'll try to make baked beans from scratch. But in the meantime, I'm happy to have this time saving and absolutely delicious recipe for a summer favorite on hand.

serves 4-6
28 oz. canned original style baked beans
¼ cup diced onion
¼ cup diced green pepper
6 oz. chili sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 strip bacon

to make your beans:
*preheat oven to 350
*mix all ingredients and add to the dutch oven
*top with bacon strip
*cover and cook for 15 minutes
*uncover and cook for another 15 minutes

serving suggestion:
this side dish is delish hot or cold!