Easy Beef Stroganoff

Hello dear readers! I have returned from my travels in the great state of Michigan and couldn't be happier to be back in the kitchen. For the last 3+ weeks I have survived on a diet consisting of Subway, Panera, Wendy's, Lean Cuisine, and free hotel breakfasts. Since arriving home on Friday, I have cooked Tuscan Baked Chicken and Beans (very yummy recipe from Cooking Light), veggie stir-fry and two loaves of bread.

Bow ties with sweet potatoes and turkey sausage

New pasta recipes have been my choice of late since they're usually pretty quick to throw together. This recipe for bow ties with sweet potatoes and smoked turkey sausage only takes about 30 minutes to put together. The original recipe from Food and Wine's Quick From Scratch Pasta originally called for Canadian bacon, but I couldn't find Canadian bacon at Meijer. But, I did have about half a pound of smoked turkey sausage in the freezer, so I pulled that out and substituted. I also used fresh thyme instead of dried sage.

This recipe is really good, and I'd definitely make it again. The sweet potatoes are really unusual, but yummy.

Bow ties with sweet potatoes and smoked turkey sausage (4 servings)
2 Tbsp. of extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 sweet potato (1/2 lbs.), peeled, cut in half lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup of water
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1/8 tsp. of ground cayenne
1/2 tsp. of salt
1 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes (16-oz)
1/2 lbs. smoked turkey sausage, diced
1/2 lbs. bow tie pasta

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sweet potato and cook 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft. Then, add the tomatoes, water, cayenne pepper, and salt. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add the sausage and thyme and cook for 5 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, cook the bow ties according to pasta directions.

Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce and serve and ENJOY :-)!

Summer Sandwich Classic: BLT

To tell you the truth, I was never a fan of the standard BLT sandwich, but that was mostly because I didn't appreciate the ingredient.  However (as with most simple things), quality is the key. In the past, this was my impression of the classic BLT components:

• Bacon--this is one ingredient that I have always LOVED
• Lettuce (yuck-I never ate green veggies until I went to college)
• Tomato (flavorless!)
• Bread (those pieces of flavorless air from the bagged bread aisle in the grocery store aren't sturdy enough to hold up to the lettuce and tomato)

My view on BLTs began to change about a month ago when....

My patio tomatoes began to ripen.... And I really wanted a sandwich and wasn't in the mood for peanut butter and jelly.... I *knew* that I should eat some lettuce because it's "good for you"... I had just baked bread.... And I just happened to get a hankering for bacon...

The base of this sandwich is this wonderful Sharing Bread from King Arthur Flour.

The nice thing about homemade bread is you get to slice it as thick as you want. I sliced a tomato from my container garden (and took out the seeds), cooked 3 slices of center cut bacon (only 2 slices made it to the sandwich ;-)), and layered on some crisp romaine. Instead of mayonnaise (I'm just not a fan), I substituted spicy mustard. 

And voila! My original presumptions about the simple BLT sandwich were found to be unfounded!

In other news- I finally got a job! Look for more regular posting in the next few weeks. I have been trying out some new recipes, so be sure check back soon!

Bow Ties with Chickpeas and Tomatoes

It's been weeks since the last post here on Goode Taste due to the lack of internet access at our house. But, my hubby was nice enough to bring his laptop home so I could get online.

Since we were getting tired of regular pasta with tomato sauce, I tried the Bow Ties with Chickpeas and Tomatoes from the Food & Wine Pasta cookbook. I really wasn't expecting this recipe to be good, I thought it would be okay, but it turned out to be very tasty and easy. It also got a thumbs up from a very picky eater :-).

This sauce differs from others since its seasoned with cumin and cayenne pepper. These spices aren't overpowering in the dish, you hardly notice that they're in the sauce. Also, the original recipe only calls for 1 cup of chickpeas, but I added in a whole can.

Bow Ties with Chickpeas and Tomatoes
Ingredients (4 servings)
3 1/2 cups (28 oz.) canned whole tomatoes with juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. salt
1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3/4 lbs. bow ties
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

I prepped all the ingredients before beginning the sauce-- that way I could get the onion, garlic, and parsley chopped before getting the cutting bored all soggy with the tomatoes.

So, go ahead and chop the onion, garlic, and parsley and set aside. Next, drain the whole tomatoes and save 3/4 cup of the juice from the can for the sauce. Chop the tomatoes.

Heat a saucepan over medium low heat and add the olive oil. Add the onions, garlic and seasonings. Once the onions are translucent, add the tomatoes and tomato juice and simmer for about 20 minutes until the sauce reduces. Then, add the chickpeas and cook for 10 more minutes.

In the meantime, boil the pasta for about 15 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce for a couple of minutes so the bow ties soak in the flavor. Serve garnished with fresh flat leaf parsley.

This recipe makes enough sauce for 4 servings-- I cooked enough pasta for 2 people and then saved the rest of the sauce to eat later in the week.

Bison Cincinnati Chili

I never had heard of Cincinnati Chili until I rented the first season of Cook's Country from Netflix. Honestly, I probably never would have tried it unless my mother had begged me to make it for dinner. Of course I made some modifications to the recipe, but it was very spicy (not hot spicy, just lots of spices) and really filling.

The ingredient list is long, but the recipe is really easy to put together. The recipe makes 6 generous servings. What distinguishes this chili from others is that

• the meat isn't browned, it's cooked in liquid
• you serve it over spaghetti (awe-some!)

Ingredients
1 lb. ground bison (original recipe calls for 1 1/2 lbs. of 80% lean ground chuck*)
2 Tbsp. canola oil
2 medium onions, minced
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper (I went a little shy on this)
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cups tomato sauce
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar (original recipe calls for cider vinegar, but I couldn't find any in the house)
2 tsp. dark brown sugar
1-15 oz. can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Hot sauce-optional (I didn't put any in)

Accompaniments
Spaghetti (you can add butter to it)
Shredded cheddar cheese
Chopped white onion

Heat a large pot over medium heat and add the canola oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onions and cook until they are soft and brown on the edges (this takes about 10 minutes). Add the garlic to the onions and cook for about one minute, or until the garlic is fragrant.

Then, add the chili powder, oregano, cocoa, cinnamon, cayenne, allspice, black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir stir stir :-) until the spices are fragrant, only about 30 seconds. Add the tomato sauce, broth, water, vinegar and sugar to the pot and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.

Add the bison meat (*see the note at the bottom of this page if using beef. This is where I deviated from the recipe-- I thought bison meat would be lean enough not to make the chili greasy. It was pretty lean, but I still had to skim some fat off the top. Next time I'll blanch it). Increase the heat to high, and once the mixture starts to boil, kick the heat back down to a simmer. Stir the mixture occasionally until the chili has thickened (it took about 1 1/2 hours).

Here is another deviation from the Cook's Country instructions: the kidney beans are traditionally a topping, but I just added them into the chili for about 30 minutes before serving. (Everybody at our house wanted beans, so why not throw them in the mix?)

Season with the salt (and hot sauce) to suit your taste.

Serve over spaghetti and top with the cheese and onion (and beans if you don't want them in the chili).

*If using ground beef, you need to get rid of some of the fat so the chili isn't greasy. Boil 2 quarts of water and 1 teaspoon of salt in a pot. Then add the meat, and stir stir stir until the meat separates into strands. When the foam from the meat rises to the top of the water, drain the meat in a strainer and set it aside*

5-Fruit Salad

Here is a really easy recipe for fruit salad and it's called (drum roll, please): 5-Fruit Salad. You'll never guess why-- oh oh, yes, yes that's right, there are 5 fruits in it.

This is simple to make, but it takes about 20 minutes of prep work.

Ingredients
1 pint of blueberries
2 pints of strawberries, quartered or sliced
3 kiwis, quartered then sliced
1 cup of grapes (red or green)
2 apples (I used Pink Lady), cut into 8 wedges, cored and thinly sliced *You can also use nectarines instead of the apples*
1 1/2 cups of orange juice
1/2 cup of sugar or Splenda

Start with a large bowl- pour in the OJ and mix in the sugar or Splenda until dissolved. Then get to slicing those apples, kiwi, and strawberries. Add each fruit into the juice as you get it sliced (I start with the apples since they turn brown quickly-- plus, the apples really soak up the juice).

This salad is great as a healthy dessert and it's good to make for a crowd.

Warm Spinach Salad

Tonight this Warm Spinach Salad served as a side dish. It's really simple to throw together, and doesn't take too many ingredients.

This recipe is adapted from Food Network Magazine.

Ingredients
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
10 ounces baby spinach
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup feta cheese

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and cook until golden brown.

Once the onions are browned, add the mushrooms and cook until golden brown, and then season with salt and pepper.

Turn the heat off and add the parsley, spinach, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and toss well to combine (the spinach will wilt down slowly). Top with the crumbled feta cheese.

This would also be fabulous with some bacon :-).

Two-Tomato Arrabbiata Pesto Pasta

This is a pretty easy recipe and yields delicious results. I think this recipe came out of the Food Network Magazine, but can't be sure since my mom photocopied the page and then cut out the recipe. This is a good summer dish since the only thing you have to cook on the stove top is the pasta.

This recipe makes 8 servings (although the original recipe reads it serves 4). When I make this again, I would cut this recipe in half to get 4 servings.

Ingredients
1 pound spaghetti
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped
2 large garlic cloves
2 Tbsp. hot water
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (I used a 3 cheese blend of Romano, Asiago, and Parm)
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped chives

Now, go ahead and get a big pot of water boiling on the stove and cooke the spaghetti. That way you can get the sauce finished as the pasta is cooking. Make sure to heavily salt the pasta water, and you'll need to reserve at least a cup of the cooking liquid to add t;o the sauce and pasta at the end.

(NOTE: Make sure your food processor is in working order before you being the sauce. Unfortunately, the food processor I was using had a crack in it and one of the parts fell off, so I had to use a mini food processor, which worked well enough.)

Put the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, crushed red pepper, and 2 tablespoons of hot water in the food processor, and turn on the machine. Drizzle in the extra-virgin olive oil as the mixture is processing. Next, add in the halved tomatoes, salt, and pepper and process until the sauce is smooth.

Transfer the sauce to a big bowl and mix in the cheese, parsley, and chives.

Stir in about 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water into the sauce (you can always add more if you need it).

Drain the pasta and add it to the bowl. Toss it with the sauce to coat it well. Garnish with parsley.