Easy Polenta

Polenta is known as a peasant food, but is actually now served at high end restaurants covered with all kinds of sauces and toppings to make it a gourmet food. It is known for both its heartiness and its nutricious values, so give it a try! Here you go!

Polenta:

3 cups water
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tsp chicken-flavored instant bouillon
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce
1 Tbsp melted butter

In a large saucepan blend 1 cup water and 1 cup cornmeal and bring to a boil and mix until smooth. Then add the remaining 2 cups water, the bouillon, garlic powder, basil, and hot pepper sauce and bring to a boil/

Once boiling bring down to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes or until very thick...stirring frequently.

Pour the polenta into a greased pie pan and let stand for 15 minutes.

Cut the polenta into wedges; place on a broiler pan drizzling the melted butter over the top and then broil for 4-6 minutes or until bubbly.

OPTIONAL IDEAS:
*Sprinkle cheese over the top before broiling
*Once polenta is done, cover with sauteed mushrooms & onions, pico, or fresh, homemade sauces (tomato or onion).

Tortilla Soup

my friend Jaci posted this on her blog while ago actually

and it's pretty good! 

i forgot to take a picture after making it though. sorry no pic.

Rumbi Island Grill Tortilla Soup

-3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves 
-8 cups chicken broth 
-1 cup carrot, diced very thin 
-1/4 teaspoon ground allspice 
-1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped  
-1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
-1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped 
-1 tablespoon garlic clove, minced 
-1 cup chopped tomato 
-1 cup coconut milk 
-1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce 
-1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded 
-2 cups white corn tortilla chips, cut into strips 
-2 limes, cut into wedges 
-salt 

Directions:

In a large pot, combine the cooked chicken, water, bouillon and carrot. Season with allspice, thyme, cinnamon, ginger and garlic. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until carrots are tender. Pour in the tomato, coconut milk and hot pepper sauce. Heat through, but do not boil.

Ladle into bowls, and top with shredded mozzarella cheese and tortilla strips. Squeeze juice onto soup from lime wedges. 

You will feel kinda fancy! -- 
You just made a restaurant soup! :) 

*i like to put avocado wedges in my tortilla soup too, but that's just me*

Zucchini Risotto

This is a really good vegetarian dish! Try it. :)

1 cup arborio rice
2 Tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic salt
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 zucchini
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
freshly ground pepper

In heavy saucepan, saute rice in butter stirring constantly.
Add onion, red pepper, and garlic salt. Saute until onions and peppers are tender.
Add 1 cup chicken stock, stirring frequently.
As the liquid cooks down, continue adding 1/2 cup stock at a time until all the stock is used and the mixture is creamy. Keep stirring!
Add zucchini.
Stir in milk.
Fold in cheese.
Top with fresh ground pepper.
Serve immediately.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

4-6 Tbsp shortening or butter

About 1 and 1/4 cups warm water

Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt

Cut in shortening or butter

Add water little by little, not allowing dough to get sticky

Separate into 12 equal parts and roll out into tortilla shaped flats

Either bake tortillas under the broiler for about 30-60 seconds each side or pan-fry them in a frying pan for a few seconds each side

Enjoy!

Stuffed Cabbage

*ok, ok. don't judge the poor things by their cover. they look nasty but taste great*

i didn't take this picture-- i forgot to take one of my own:)

Dan's sister, mom and I made this one night in Colorado. It was so tasty!

Stuffed Cabbage

1 large head of cabbage
1-1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
1 1/4 tsp corriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
season with pepper
1 TB brown sugar
1 egg
2 dollups tomato paste
1/3 c uncooked rice
1 medium onion finely chopped

Bring large pot of water to boil and steam cabbage head. Cut the center core out as best as you can as this will make it easier to remove the individual leaves when boiling. As leaves fall off the head of cabbage remove them from the pot and set on a plate to cool. Be careful not to overcook cabbage as it will make it difficult to wrap because the leaves will rip.

In a frying pan with 1 TB oil brown the onion and rice for a few minutes. Then mix in with all other ingredients listed above.

Use the very small cabbage pieces from the center of the cabbage to line the bottom of the pot. Roll up your cabbages and put them in the pot. I cut the very large cabbage leaves in half before rolling them just to make more rolls and I usually need all the cabbage to use up all the meat mixture.

Add to the pot
3 Beef Bouillon Cubes
2 - 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes
6-8 cups water...enough to barely cover cabbage rolls

Cover and bring pot to a boil and then simmer for about an hour. Garnish with sour cream and enjoy.

Gumbo

Here is my attempt at writing down my gumbo recipe. I usually just add stuff and don't really measure, but with gumbo I think it's all a preference and it turns out great every time. So here are my guesstimates - Hope you enjoy!

I use a big pot to make my gumbo in. Start by making a roux (equal parts butter and flour). I usually use 1-2 Tbsp of each. On medium high heat, melt them together, whisking the whole time.


You want to whisk it until it becomes a light brown color, a little darker than the picture below.


After it turns a light brown color I add the following:

1 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 or 3 roma tomatoes (blended in the blender with a little water to make them smooth)
2 tsp chili garlic sauce (found on the ethnic/Asian food isle) - we use this stuff A LOT when we cook.
1 Tbsp. molasses
1 tsp. salt
2-3 cups of chicken broth (depending on if you like it thicker or not)
1 small onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 bay leaves
1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1 1/2 cups sliced smoked sausage (we buy the Jennie-o Lean Turkey sausage - and use about 1/3 of the package)

Cover and let it simmer for at least 30 minutes to let flavors blend. I have made it a couple of hours in advance and let it simmer until we were ready to eat.


Serve over cooked rice. Even Annabelle loves this stuff, but then again her eating habits aren't quite normal ;)

I'm posting this recipe on the other two *other recipe blogs that I contribute to--not only because I don't have three new recipes to contribute this month, but also because my hubby thought this was SO GOOD (so did I) that I figured I'd share it with everyone.

I made this recipe up for the sole reason that I have never found a good, healthy tuna noodle recipe that wasn't full of butter, sour cream, and cheese. So, I threw together my own ideas and it was a success. Let me know what YOU and YOUR family thinks!

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Boil Egg noodles so that you'll have about 3-4 cups of cooked noodles

Meanwhile, in a large skillet sautee (in about 1-2 tsp olive oil):
1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
8 oz (or 10 medium) mushrooms (chopped)
About 1/2-3/4 cup cooking sherry
1 tsp minced garlic

Once onions are translucent add:
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of celery soup
1 to 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
2 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
2 tsp ground mustard powder
1/4 tsp curry powder
1 to 2 tsp onion salt
1 to 2 tsp garlic powder
1 to 2 tsp salt
1 to 2 tsp pepper

Stir together until its creamy then stir in:
3 cans of tuna (6 oz cans) after draining liquids

When noodles are nearly all the way done boiling, drain the water and stir them in with the creamy tuna mixture in the skilllet. Once thoroughly mixed together pour contents of skillet into a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Sprinkle top of noodles with about 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Place in oven for about 15 minutes or until bread crumbs are browned and top noodles are crisp

Serve hot! Enjoy!

*Pleasant and Plump
*Tried and True Food