Entries tagged with quick and easy

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Recipe: "Mediterranean Chicken and Tomatoes"

I made this today. It turned out quite well.

"Mediterranean Chicken and Tomatoes"

Ingredients:
2 cups assorted cherry tomatoes, halved
half a sweet onion, sliced into petals
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken chunks
2 tablespoons light olive oil
a pinch of sea salt
a pinch of black pepper
about 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (divided)
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon full-flavor olive oil
brown rice or pasta (for serving, optional)

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Current Mood: accomplished

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Recipe: "Snarf Snarf Chicken and Tomatoes"

I made this tonight. It disappeared very quickly. :D

"Snarf Snarf Chicken and Tomatoes"

Ingredients:
2 cups assorted cherry tomatoes, halved
half a sweet onion, sliced into petals
1 cup cooked chicken chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
a pinch of Himalayan pink salt
a pinch of pepper
about 1/2 teaspoon basil flakes
2-3 tablespoons pomegranate vinaigrette
brown rice (for serving, optional)

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Middle Eastern Tomato Salad

PREP: 5 minutes
SERVINGS: 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

3-4 beefsteak tomatoes, or 8 plum tomatoes
1 red onion
1 green chili pepper
4 teaspoons fresh mint
2 cloves fresh garlic
120 ml olive oil (or to taste)
4-6 tbsp lemon juice (or to taste)
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

Optional:

1 English cucumber

METHOD:

Dice tomatoes, onion, cucumber (if using)
Mince chili pepper, mint, garlic
Mix everything together and serve!

NOTES:
Due to the romaine lettuce recall, I pulled this one out. The cookbook is called Olives, Lemons & Za'atar: The Best Middle Eastern Home Cooking, and is one of my faves. In addition to having great recipes, it's beautiful and enjoyable to read.

I've never made the recipe with green chili, and only with a little olive oil. Cucumber is a great addition. Mint is the thing I wouldn't cut!

And of course the recipe easily reduces to feed a single person living alone (me :P).

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Mayonnaise Biscuits

These are actually pretty good.

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Mayonnaise Biscuits

1c. self-rising flour
1 T. mayo
½ c. milk
Stir up and pour into greased muffin pans. Bake at 450 degrees until brown.

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Black Beans and Rice w/sausage

Black Beans and Rice

2-3 cups cooked rice
1 pint tomato juice
½-1 pound sausage or ground beef, crumbled and browned
1 medium onion, chopped and sauteed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed.

Make rice and set aside. If you use Minute Rice, use the tomato juice as the liquid.

Brown sausage and onions in a large skillet or wok. Add the rinsed beans and heat through. Add the rice and tomato juice. Heat through. Serve with a hot sauce, if you like it spicy. You can also add Cajun seasoning if you like.

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Turkey Ranch Club Wrap

TURKEY RANCH CLUB WRAP

Ingredients
1 Tortilla Wrap (I used multi-grain, use what ever you prefer)
2 ounce of smoked turkey
1/2 slice sharp American cheese (or cheese of your choice)
2 slices cooked bacon*
1 tablespoon Ranch dressing**
2 tomato slices
Romaine lettuce (you could also use baby spinach)

Directions
Spread ranch dressing over the center of wrap. Add turkey, cheese, bacon, tomato, and romaine.

Fold sides in and then roll up.

* Bacon can be cooked in skillet, oven, or microwave.
** I use Hidden Valley Ranch mix plus milk and mayo as directed on package.

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Baby Lima Beans and Corn

This is one of my favorite non chocolates.

Baby Lima Beans and Corn

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen baby lima beans
1 (10 ounce) can corn kernels, drained
2 tablespoons bacon drippings
5 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper

Directions:
In a medium size saucepan bring water to a boil.
Place frozen lima beans, bacon drippings, salt and pepper in water. Cover with a lid. Turn heat down to very low heat and let simmer for an hour and 15 minutes. Keep a watchful eye and do not let water boil out.
Pour drained can of corn kernels into bean mixture and simmer 15 more minutes.
Serve and enjoy!

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Butterscotch Haystacks

Butterscotch Haystacks

Prep Time: 5 mins
Total Time: 5 mins
Yield: 20 haystacks

Ingredients:

12 ounces butterscotch chips
3 tablespoons peanut butter
5 ounces chow mein noodles

Directions:

1. Melt chips and peanut butter in microwave (about 2 minutes in mine, stir halfway through).
2. Stir in chow mein noodles and drop onto wax paper (a heaping tablespoon per haystack).
3. Enjoy!

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Fish Creole

FISH CREOLE
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
1 lb. fish fillets
1 tablespoon margarine or butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
2 tablespoons finely chopped green bell pepper
Creole seasoning to taste.
Salt to taste
1 (8-oz.) can stewed tomatoes, undrained, cut up (I used the ones with green pepper, celery and spices added and used a standard size can instead of the small one.)

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Arrange fish fillets in ungreased 12x8-inch (2-quart) or 8-inch square baking dish.
2. Melt margarine in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery and bell pepper; cook and stir until tender. Stir in all remaining ingredients. Spoon mixture over fish.
3. Bake at 350°F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with fork.

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Beer-Soaked Beef

Beer-Soaked Beef

WW POINTS® Value: 6 (per 4 oz serving of cooked meat)
Servings: 6
Preparation Time: 7 min
Cooking Time: 14 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy

This meat is wonderfully tender and so well-flavored. Marinate it in the morning before you go to work and just pop it in the oven when you get home.

Ingredients

* 12 oz beer
* 2 Tbsp olive oil
* 1 large garlic clove(s), peeled and smashed
* 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
* 1 Tbsp dark brown sugar
* 1 tsp table salt
* 1/8 tsp whole cloves
* 1 1/2 pound raw lean flank steak, 1-inch thick, washed and patted dry

Instructions

* In a 9- X 13-inch glass baking dish, combine beer, oil, garlic, lemon juice, sugar, salt and cloves; add steak. Cover dish and marinate in refrigerator, turning once or twice, at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

* Place a grill pan in broiler; preheat broiler to high. Remove meat from marinade and broil about 3 1/2 minutes per side for medium rare, or longer until desired doneness.* Remove meat from broiler and place meat on a plate; loosely cover with aluminum foil and let stand for about 10 minutes.

* Meanwhile, place grill pan on stovetop over high heat; carefully pour marinade onto grill pan. Bring to a boil (beer will foam) and cook until all alcohol burns off, about 5 to 7 minutes.

* Slice steak thinly and serve with sauce. Yields about 4 ounces of steak per serving.

Notes

* *You can also cook this recipe on the grill and reduce the sauce in a saucepan on the stove.

Sis and I made this tonight...YUMMMMMMMY

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Chicken & Noodles (Crock Pot Recipe)

Chicken & Noodles

Ingredients:
2 or 3 chicken breasts (1 to 1 ½ lbs, boneless & skinless)
1 or 2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 to 2 cans of skim milk
8 to 12 ounces of egg noodles, cooked and drained.

Directions:
Put the whole chicken breasts in the crock pot. Stir the soup and milk together and pour over the chicken. (Try one can of soup and milk first, then add a second if needed). The sauce should be fairly thin, but NOT like soup, so don't add two full cans of milk. Cook on high until chicken is done, stirring occasionally. (Cooking on medium or low is okay, it will just take longer). When the chicken is done, take each breast out of the crock pot and use two forks to shred it. Then put it back in the crock pot with the sauce. Cook the noodles right before serving. Serve the chicken & sauce over the noodles.

Weight watchers points – points for the pasta + 1.5 points per ounce of chicken & sauce.

Current Mood: awake
Current Location: The front room

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Black Cherry-Choc Chip Muffins

A lot of you will have seen this posted on my LJ, but I thought I'd post the recipe here anyway. These are my all-time favourite muffins, and very easy to do.

Black Cherry-Choc Chip Muffins

1 egg
1 tspn vanilla essence
1/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup sour cream or yoghurt
1/2 cup melted butter (unsalted)
60g chocolate chips (I use white, but you can obviously use milk or dark)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 tspns baking powder
1 x 375g tin black pitted cherries, drained

Line muffin tins with muffin cases (trust me, this works best; it doesn't matter how well you grease the tin, the muffins end up sticking) and preheat the oven to 190°C. This recipe makes approximately 12 muffins.

Put the first seven ingredients into a bowl and mix well, then add the remaining ingredients except the cherries and blend until just mixed. Fold in the cherries, but do not overmix. Two-thirds fill the muffin tins and bake for 15-20 mins.

Current Mood: awake
Current Location: The front room

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Quick Risotto

My first contribution...

I love this recipe in that it’s done in less than half an hour, as it’s not your traditional risotto where you gradually add in the stock. This is taken from a book called ‘Risotto’, by Christine Ingram, and is the exact recipe, but I make the following changes to give it my personal twist: Instead of chicken stock, I use salt-reduced vegetable. The other thing I do is that I substitute the mozzarella for grated vintage cheddar cheese – and I *love* lots of cheese, so I end up putting in more than the recipe says (I have also used blue cheese instead of mozzarella, but I do go easy with that one). I’m also not a fan of adding extra salt; I find with all the cheese (especially parmesan) that there is already enough, but I do add pepper. Another thing that I have done is added in some cooked vegetables.

Quick Risotto

275g/10oz/1½ cups risotto rice

1 litre/1¾ pints/4 cups simmering chicken stock

115g/4oz/1 cup mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes

2 egg yolks

30ml/2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese

75g/3oz cooked ham, cut into small cubes

30ml/2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Freshly grated parmesan cheese to serve

Put the rice in a saucepan. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil and then cover and simmer for about 18-20 minutes until the rice is tender.

Remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in the mozzarella, egg yolks, parmesan, ham and parsley. Season well with salt and pepper.

Cover the pan and stand for 2-3 minutes to allow the cheese to melt, then stir again. Pile into warmed serving bowls and serve immediately with extra parmesan cheese.

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Bright Green Pea and Tarragon Soup

There are very few ingredients in this soup and no amounts specified. However, it tastes sweet and summery.

Frozen peas
Butter
Water
Milk
Tarragon.

Fill a medium sized small saucepan a third of the way with frozen peas and add dried or fresh tarragon to taste - I tend to use about a level tablespoon of dried for two cups of soup and at least double that if fresh.

Pour over enough cold water to just cover and then bring to the boil for one minute. Turn off heat.

Pour in enough milk to cover the peas by an inch or two and blend until the soup is smooth. Drop in a large nugget of butter and heat gently until it is hot, but not boiling, and then serve.

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"That'll Do"

"That'll Do," also known as "Cupboard Dinner"-- or, when my husband makes it "P's 2-alarm-Mexican-Firehouse-Kitchen-Skillet-Thing." It gets a lot of play in our house because you can make it with stuff that you can generally find in your cupboard already. It's also EXTREMELY flexible and forgiving.

Required:
Rice
(I like the super-cheap-- and probably not very nutritious-- pre-seasoned yellow spanish rice bags. pre-packaged pilafs are fine. If you're more health-conscious, brown rice would also be fine.)
1 med. onion (color of your choice)
1 or 2 peppers (color of your choice)
Olive oil
1 sm. can of tomato sauce

Optional:
1 jalapeno or a couple of serranos if you like heat
2 Chicken breasts, if you like meat
1 can of chick peas/garbanzo beans if you want protein without meat.
1 zucchini or other squash cut into coins or bite-sized pieces if you want more veggies.

- Make your rice.

- Chop small to med. onion (color of your choice) and sautee in 1-2Tbls olive oil. Right before the onion reaches the tender stage, throw in some cut peppers (I usually just cut them into strips-- too lazy for more chopping). I like 1 red and 1 yellow, plus a jalapeno for heat. Feel free to mix and match whatever peppers you want.

- Just before the peppers get tender (1-2 minutes), add an 8oz. can of tomato sauce. cook over low-med. heat until everything is tender.

-Top the rice with the tomato/pepper/onion mix.

-If using chick peas, add them when you start cooking the peppers. Same thing for the squash.

-If using chicken, sear the breasts in the olive oil over high heat first thing before cooking the onions.

There's really no rules to this one-- You can add any veggies or beans you have on hand, alter the spices to your taste, use it for a side dish or main course. It tastes good cold the next night, too.

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PHILLY CHEESE STEAK QUESADILLA

PHILLY CHEESE STEAK QUESADILLA

1 lb sirloin steak, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1 med onion, cut in thin strips
1 1/2 t McCormick Season-All
1/2 t McCormick garlic powder
8 oz Velveeta, cubed
6 - 8 inch flour tortillas

Saute meat in well oiled skillet for 3 minutes, drain and return to skillet. Add onions, Season-All and garlic powder, cook and stir 5 minutes. Add cheese, cook and stir until melted.

Place 3 tortillas on ungreased cookie sheet. Place 1/3 meat mixture on each tortilla, spreading evenly. Top with remaining tortillas. Lightly brush with oil and garnish with additional Season-All if desired.

Bake at 350° for about 5 minutes or until heated through. Cut into wedges and serve while warm.

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BUTTER GLAZED SUMMER VEGETABLES

I get nice simple little recipes from someone in one of my graphics groups. Perfect place to share them!

BUTTER GLAZED SUMMER VEGETABLES

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INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups zucchini sliced into thin coins
2 cups small yellow summer squash, thin sliced coin
2 cups broccoli flowerets
2 teaspoons snipped fresh basil
2 teaspoons snipped fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 tablespoon butter

DIRECTIONS:
Pour olive oil into a large skillet or wok and heat
Over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and yellow squash
To hot oil and stir fry for 3 to 4 minutes or until
Crisp-tender. Remove vegetables from the wok. Add
Broccoli, herbs, salt and pepper. Stir-fry for
Another 2 to 3 minutes or until crisp-tender.
Return cooked zucchini and yellow squash to pan.
Add tomato and butter and cook just until butter
Is melted. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4-6 servings

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Mayonnaise Biscuits

These are for the baking challenged like me and they taste good.

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Mayonnaise Biscuits

1c. self-rising flour
1 T. mayo
½ c. milk
Stir up and pour into greased muffin pans. Bake at 450 degrees until brown.

Current Mood: hungry

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quick and easy

Hawaiian Toast - Simple and Yummy!

This is one of my favourite recipes - it's wonderfully easy and has pineapple in it!

Hawaiian Toast

Ingrediants:
Sandwich Toast - as many slices as you would like
Ham
Pineapple rings - out of a can is fine (unsweetened), pineapple rings look best! :)
Cheese - I like Gouda best, but American or all other cheeses that melt well are fine

This is how you do it:
1. Take a slice of toast
2. Put a slice of ham on it
3. Put a ring of pineapple on it
4. Cover it with a slice of cheese
5. Put it in the oven (middlish temperature, about 180°C) and wait until the cheese it melted
6. Enjoy! :)

It's so easy and quick, it almost does not deserve to be called "cooking", but for a quick meal at night, it's wonderful. It's a favourite among German students, but kids and adults tend to like it too! :)