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Entries in Dinner (51)

Thursday
Mar042010

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Peppers. Photo: T.Thomas

Green peppers stuffed with ground meat, veggies & cheese make a complete meal, by Trevy Thomas.

This old fashioned dish is a classic for good reason.  Stuffed peppers are easy to make, hearty to eat and pretty enough to be a step above other ground beef dishes.  I was feeling terribly lazy when I made these, so I didn’t do anything fancy, but there’s a lot of room for making this recipe your own.  I think ground lamb would be good in the filling.  Had I thought ahead, I would’ve used rice, but I didn’t want to wait for it to cook, so I used Bulgur Wheat instead, which turned out surprisingly well.  Vegetarians could just use a rice, onion & mushroom filling.  This dish is pretty easy to serve both meat eaters and vegetarians alike by not adding the meat to the filling until the end.  But if you don’t want to bother, make it how you like and tell whoever doesn’t want it to cook for themselves next time.  Works like a charm.

Stuffed Peppers Recipe
Ingredients:

  • 3 peppers, Lids cut off and reserved, cleaned & seeded

Filling:

  • 1 pound ground beef (grass fed reduces calories & fat)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 small onion chopped
  • 2 celery sticks, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • Salt & pepper
  • 1 tablespoon oregano (dried)
  • 1/2 cup bulgur (or 1 cup cooked rice, but bulgur wheat can be used raw)

Topping:

  • 1 14-oz can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • Grated cheese (Asiago, mozzarella or your favorite)
  • Feta cheese

Directions:

  1. Set peppers in a baking sheet.  
  2. Mix together filling ingredients and stuff into peppers.
  3. Mix together tomatoes, and Worcestershire sauce and pour over top of stuffed peppers.
  4. Top with grated and feta cheese to your liking.
  5. Put lids on top.
  6. Bake in 350-degree oven 1 hour.

 

Green Pepper on FoodistaGreen Pepper
AuthorTrevy Thomas | Comment1 Comment | Print ArticlePrint Article
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Sunday
Jan312010

Ropa Vieja with Mango Salsa

A Cuban dish of Flank Steak and Peppers, topped with a fruity mango salsa, by contributor, Robin Daumit.

Ropa Vieja with Mango Salsa. Photo: R. DaumitThis recipe is a great example of why I like having company in the kitchen.  After a while, all home cooks could use a boost in the creativity department.  Food ruts abound, and that’s when you need a trusted friend, neighbor or sister to pull you out of your food funk.  A bit of Cuban steak is just what the doctor ordered for this home cook who’s stuck in the snow.  Thanks, Robin!

From Robin:  “A classic Cuban dish that transports you to palm trees swaying in the sun, spicy smells coming from a Latin kitchen, and a good glass of rum on the side.

“Ropa Vieja translates as ‘old clothes’ and is so named because of the way it looks cooking in the pot. But the flavors in this dish will create lasting memories that have nothing to do with old clothes.

“This dish is traditionally served with black beans and white rice. A mango salsa on the side is a wonderfully fresh complement to the warm flavors in the meal.”

Ropa Vieja Recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 2 lb cut of Flank Steak, cut with the grain into strips
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic pressed
  • 2 large onions chopped into small pieces
  • 4 green peppers, cored/seeded and chopped into small pieces
  • 2 jalapeno peppers, cored/seeded and chopped into small pieces
  • 1 pint of grape tomatoes sliced into quarters
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 2 teaspoons crushed cumin
  • 1 tablespoon crushed oregano
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 jar of tomato sauce
  • 3/4 cup of dry Vermouth

Directions:

  1. Have these ingredients chopped and ready to cook at once. Place oil in a heated pot on high, add all ingredients but tomato sauce and vermouth and stir to give everything time at the bottom of the pot until the meat has been seared.
  2. Add tomato sauce and vermouth.
  3. Stir, bring to a simmer, cover and cook for at least 1 hour, though 2 hours is best. Remove the lid the last 30 minutes of cooking.
  4. Serve with Mango Salsa


Mango Salsa RecipeMango Salsa. Photo: R. Daumit

Ingredients:

  • 3 mangos, diced
  • 1 large red onion, diced
  • 1 cucumber, peeled seeded and diced
  • 1 jalapeno, cored seeded and diced
  • 1 red pepper, cored seeded and diced
  • handful of cilantro, washed and chopped fine
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Chop all ingredients into small pieces about the same size.
  2. Squeeze in the lime, salt and pepper and toss well to blend.
  3. Best if prepared an hour before eating to marinate the flavors.
AuthorTrevy Thomas | Comment1 Comment | Print ArticlePrint Article
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Thursday
Jan212010

Leftover Chicken and Pork Enchiladas

A spicy, cheesy, hot dinner that transforms leftover cooked meat into a new meal, by Trevy Thomas.

Leftover Chicken & Pork Enchilada. Photo: T. ThomasLeftover dinner happens.  One night you make this fabulous chicken dish, and the next morning, it greets you from the refrigerator looking awfully yesterday.  What to do with that beast of yore?  My best solutions have been to transform the previous night’s meat into an entirely new creation.  In fact, I want it to be unrecognizable.  My roast chicken and potatoes might’ve been great once, but the re-heated leftovers are not very enthusing.  Like all good leftover dishes, this one is slightly lame, and by that I mean it doesn’t require much effort, or special ingredients or creativity on your part.  After all, one night of brilliance is all that should be expected of a home cook.  The next night is a holiday.  So this dish is both a cooking expedition and a reprieve too.  There is only so much brilliance a girl can produce in one week.

Leftover Chicken and Pork Enchilada Recipe
Ingredients:

  • 1 can enchilada sauce (or substitute tomato sauce with some hot sauce added)
  • 1 jar salsa (or whatever is left)
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • Big splash wine or vermouth
  • Grated cheese (cheddar & asiago is what I used, but go with what you have)
  • Diced leftover cooked meat (chicken, pork, beef or combination about 2 cups will fill 8 tortillas)
  • 2 spring onions, chopped (or white/yellow whatever onion)
  • 8 Tortillas (or as many as you have)
  • Sour cream or yogurt for topping

Directions:

  1. Mix together the enchilada sauce, salsa, garlic & wine in a saucepan over medium heat until just hot.  
  2. Put most of the grated cheese and chopped meat in a bowl, along with the onions
  3. .  Add half the sauce mixture to the meat and stir.  Taste.  It should be good.  If not, season.  
  4. Rub a large baking dish with a tiny bit of oil just to moisten.  
  5. Put one tortilla on a plate and fill with a small handful of meat-sauce filling.  Roll up and place seam down in the baking dish.  Repeat until the pan is full.  
  6. Put any leftover filling along the sides of the pan.  Top with a bit more grated cheese and the rest of the sauce.  
  7. Bake at 400 degrees for 20  minutes.  
  8. Serve with a dollop of yogurt/sour cream and anything else good you have (like avocado or olives).
AuthorTrevy Thomas | Comment1 Comment | Print ArticlePrint Article
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Sunday
Dec062009

Sausage & Pepper Rigatoni Recipe

Bites of spicy sausage tucked between rounds of rigatoni pasta with crisp peppers in a warm tomato sauce, by Trevy Thomas.

Sausage & Rigatoni. Photo: T. ThomasThere’s sausage and peppers, then there’s rigatoni with sausage and peppers.   I think the addition of pasta, cheese and tomato sauce turns this classic dish into a heavenly comfort meal.  You can make all kinds of healthy choices to up the nutrition factor and lower the fat if you want.  I love gourmet chicken sausages, but have to blindfold my husband if I go that route (fun in a whole different way).  Spicy Italian sausages are really good too, and there are organic varieties of those available now.  Whatever you choose, try this dish on a cold winter night, or afternoon, and remember that food can do a lot to feed your soul as well as your belly.  Enjoy.

Sausage & Pepper Rigatoni Recipe

  • 1 pound rigatoni (or other tube-shaped pasta)
  • 1 pound spicy sausage
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 peppers (1 green, 1 red), chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 1 32-oz. jar tomato sauce
  • Salt & pepper
  • 1 1/4 cup grated cheese (your favorite – I like Asiago)

Directions:

  1. Boil pasta in salted water until slightly underdone.
  2. Sauté sausage, casing removed, in olive oil, breaking up into bits with a spoon.
  3. Add chopped peppers, garlic and onion.
  4. Stir and cook about two minutes.
  5. Stir in tomato sauce, and season with salt and pepper if needed.
  6. Drain pasta, and pour half of it into a lightly oiled casserole.
  7. Top with half the tomato-sausage mixture, then 3/4 cup grated cheese.
  8. Finish with pasta, sauce and 1/2 cup grated cheese.
  9. Bake in 375 degree oven 30 minutes.

To go with:

Easy Salad Recipe



 

AuthorTrevy Thomas | Comment1 Comment | Print ArticlePrint Article
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Monday
Nov232009

Acorn Squash Bowls with Wild Rice

A taste of autumn using acorn squash halves as (mostly) edible bowls filled with wild rice and other flavors, by Dave Utrata.

This recipe is certainly not completely unique.  In fact, doing a bit of research for this, I found numerous recipes that make use of winter squash as bowls, and lots of variation on how to stuff acron squash halves.  Undeterred, I tried to use my own ideas for flavors I felt went together well.  I tried this out on friends and we all enjoyed it.  Feel free to make variations to suit your own tastes and whims.

 

Ingredients

2 Acorn squash, halved, with seeds and pulp removed

1 cup wild rice blend, cooked

½ cup chopped celery

1 tsp savory leaf

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp allspice

¼ cup chopped pecans

3 thin ham slices

3 pineapple rings

 

Directions

Place acorn squash halves on baking trays; you may need two to fit the squash, depending on their size.  My friends and I used 3 halves that fit on one large pan. The 4th was prepared on the side just to have roasted squash.  Also note that the volume of the squash-stuffing mix can vary depending on the siz and number of acorns you have.  We used 3 rather large halves here.

Mix the spices, nuts and celery together, then blend into the cooked rice.  The above amount of ingredients filled these three squash halves almost to overflowing for us, so you may wish to adjust this to fill the number and size of “bowls” you use.

After your squash halves are filled, fold and arrange a slice of ham on each bowl.  Top this with a pineapple ring.  Cover the squash halves with aluminum foil; you’ll want to keep them moist.  Place in the oven at 375oF and cook for about 40 minutes.  For a lower temperature, use a longer time.  In any case, check the squash so that they’re cooked and tender to taste.

We found this recipe gave a blend of flavors that hinted in a few directions without overpowering a nice earthiness from the pecans, rice and squash.  It also had a nice appearance that made dining together more fun.  Enjoy!

AuthorDave Utrata | Comment1 Comment | Print ArticlePrint Article
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