Macaroni and Cheese Bake
James made this one. Cheese is usually the number one ingredient in most of his dishes.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
2 cups milk
4 tablespoons melted butter, divided
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs
Method:
Cook macaroni according to package directions in boiling salted water; drain and set aside. Combine milk, 3 tablespoons melted butter, flour, salt, pepper and eggs in a mixing bowl. Whisk until smooth and well-blended. Layer half of cooked macaroni in the bottom of a shallow, buttered 2-quart baking dish; sprinkle with 2 cups cheese and top with remaining macaroni. Pour milk and egg mixture over macaroni. Toss breadcrumbs with remaining tablespoon of butter. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top of macaroni and cheese mixture. Bake at 350 degrees uncovered, for 45-50 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and continue baking for about 5 minutes longer or until macaroni and cheese is set.
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 1 hour
Serves: 6
Healthy?: no
Delicious?: yes!
No Hurry Vegetable Curry
This is a perfect recipe for a lazy Sunday afternoon. Curry is another of James' favorites.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 carrots, sliced on the diagonal
1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
8 ounces green beans, ends trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups slow-cooked chickpeas (I used red beans b/c I forgot these at the grocery store)
One 14 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup frozen green beans, thawed
1/2 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
salt to taste
Method:
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the carrots and onion, cover and cook until softened, about five minutes. Add the garlic, curry poweder, coriander and cayenne, stirring to coat. Transfer the vegetable mixture to a 3 1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker. Add the potatoes, green beans, chickpeas, tomatoes and stock. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Just before serving, stir in the peas and coconut milk and season with salt.
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 6-8 hours
Serves: 4
Healthy?: yes!
Delicious?: yes - but spicy!!!
Baked Chinese Tofu
Another James recipe. Very simple but oh so tasty!
Ingredients:
Block of firm tofu, retain tofu water
Handful of spring onions
Clove of garlic
Dash of white pepper
Tablespoon of sesame oil
Dash of soy sauce or tamari
Sprinkle of fried shallots
Method:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove tofu from packaging and retain tofu water. Wash tofu and pat dry. Cut into 1/2 inch thick strips and arrange onto roasting pan. Brush with sesame oil. Bake 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in oiled pan, stir-fry garlic until fragrant. Add in tofu water, spring onion, pepper, remaining sesame oil and soy sauce and mix well in medium heat. Add in fried shallots and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Remove tofu from oven and garnish each with mixutre. Bake five more minutes and serve immediately.
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Serves: 4
Healthy?: yes
Delicious?: yes!
Asparagus Pesto with Pasta
You had to know it was coming...it would happen eventually...our perfect record in the kitch would come to an end sooner or later. And so it did with Simply Recipe's Asparagus Pesto with Pasta. Seems simple enough, right? I thought so, and the picture totally sold me too. Turns out it was NOT so simple and DEFINITELY not so delicious. In fact, it was totally inedible! It's okay, you can laugh, we sure did!
looks delicious, right?!?
Off to a good start...I even got to use my new blender!
Unfortunately my common sense COMPLETELY failed me - twice! Once when i forgot to put the top on the blender and again when I decide to try to "fix" the blender blade with a wooden spoon - which resulted in green slime ALL over the kitchen (and me) and chucks of wood scattered through whatever was still left behind.
I still made James try the dish (after sorting through the remaining "sauce" to pick out the splinters). It was terrible. I mean really, really bad. I think we ended up eating PB & J for dinner that night. Oh well, lesson(s) learned.
Black Bean Burrito Bake
Mexican is my favorite. I think I could eat it every single day. This is a recipe that my co-worker Emily made for one of our famous office cook-offs. It's from Cooking Light and it's simply delicious!
Ingredients:
1 7-ounce can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed, drained and divided
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
4-5 8-inch flour tortillas (# you can make depends on how much you put in them)
Can of enchilada sauce
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Note: I also fried up some onions and garlic to add to burrito filling. You can get creative with what you put in these - anything goes!
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove one chile (if you like your Mexican HOT add more) from can. Chop it finely. Combine sour cream and chile in a medium bowl, let stand for 10 minutes. Use a potato masher to mash 3/4 of the beans. Add mashed beans, remaining whole beans and corn to the sour cream mixture (also add any other ingredients you wish to include in the filling). Spoon 1/2 cup of bean mixture down the center of each tortilla. Sprinkle inside with cheese and a dash of enchilada sauce. Roll up tortillas, seam side down on top of a layer of enchilada sauce in an 11x17 inch baking dish. Spread remaining enchilada sauce on top of burritos and sprinkle the whole thing with cheese (we use a lot of cheese). Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
Black Bean Burrito Bake
Mexican is my favorite. I think I could eat it every single day. This is a recipe that my co-worker Emily made for one of our famous office cook-offs. It's from Cooking Light and it's simply delicious!
James wasn't feeling particularly photogenic this night. =)
Ingredients:
1 7-ounce can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed, drained and divided
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
4-5 8-inch flour tortillas (# you can make depends on how much you put in them)
Can of enchilada sauce
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Note: I also fried up some onions and garlic to add to burrito filling. You can get creative with what you put in these - anything goes!
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove one chile (if you like your Mexican HOT add more) from can. Chop it finely. Combine sour cream and chile in a medium bowl, let stand for 10 minutes. Use a potato masher to mash 3/4 of the beans. Add mashed beans, remaining whole beans and corn to the sour cream mixture (also add any other ingredients you wish to include in the filling). Spoon 1/2 cup of bean mixture down the center of each tortilla. Sprinkle inside with cheese and a dash of enchilada sauce. Roll up tortillas, seam side down on top of a layer of enchilada sauce in an 11x17 inch baking dish. Spread remaining enchilada sauce on top of burritos and sprinkle the whole thing with cheese (we use a lot of cheese). Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
Cook time: 20 mins
Serves: 4-5 burritos
Healthy?: probably not considering how much cheese we used
Delicious?: yes!!!!!
That's all for now, that is, if you're even still reading this marathon post! We have tried other recipes as well - some with less success (well, nothing was quite as bad as the asparagus pasta debacle). I'll be sure to share any super delicious ones as we find them - and please, do the same!
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