Skillet Lasagna

 

28 oz can dieced tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, minced
salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1 lb meatloaf mix or lean ground beef
10 curly-edged lasagna noodles, broken into 2 inch lengths
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 cup mozarella cheese, grated, plus extra for serving
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh basil

Directions:
1. Pour the tomatoes with their juice into a quart measuring cup. Add enough water to the tomatoes to measure 4 cups.
2. Heat the oil in a 9 inch non-stick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and 1/2 tsp salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the meatloaf mix and cook, breaking up the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
4. Sprinkle the noodle pieces evenly over the meat. Pour the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce over the pasta. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, about 20 minutes. (The sauce should look watery after 15 minutes of cooking. If dry, add up to 1/4 cup additional water to loosen the sauce.)
5. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dot heaping tablespoons of ricotta over the noodles. Cover the skillet and let stand off the heat for 5 minutes.
6. Sprinkle with the basil and serve, passing the extra Parmesan separately.

Comments: I had a lot of fun making this, it smelled so good. I used gluten free lasagna noodles, but it tasted a little tough. I'm not sure if it's the noodles or if I had not cooked long enough. 4 out of 5 stars!
Courtesy of American Test Kitchen

Chicken Cacciatore

 

1 lb chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 yellow onion, chopped
3-4 gloves of garlic, chopped
dried oregano
chili powder
oil
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 can of diced tomato
1/4 cup dry wine
salt & pepper
1/2 cup shaved parmigiano-reggiano cheese
fresh basil

1. Mix chicken with herbs.
2. Heat oil in skillet. Saute onion and garlic, add chicken pieces until browned.
3. Add mushrooms and red bell pepper, saute about 5 minutes
4. Stir in tomato and wine, bring to simmer. Cover, simmer for about 10 minutes.
5. Stir in salt and pepper, sprinkle with cheese and fresh basil.

Comments: The dish smelled amazing, and so easy to make. We added some cream to make the sauce a bit thicker. Our ingredients were a bit different than what the original recipe asks for; we used shiitake mushrooms and Chinese dried wine, not very Italian, but worked just as well. The dish got raving reviews from the sister!

Quiche

 

Pastry Dough or pie crust (buy or make your own)
Cake Pan or whatever you have, I only had a loaf pan
4 eggs
cream
4-5 shiitake mushrooms
sun dried tomatoes
handful of frozen spinach, thawed
handful of feta cheese, crumbled
1 small onion, chopped
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F
2. Grease pan with butter or cooking spray, line with pastry
3. Combine eggs, cream, salt and pepper
4. Put in all ingredients and arrange to your liking
5. Pour in eggs mixture
6. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top
7. Bake until golden brown, about 40-45 minutes

Comments: So easy and fun to make, I love eggs! In fact, I'm eating the last piece right now...And you can vary your ingredients to whatever you like, possibilities are endless! I do wish I had a cake pan and the quiche would look prettier. I made my own dough too! Now question for our resident food photographer, how do you take a good picture of a quiche? I couldn't quite get it right...

recipe courtesy of Hugh Balgarnie

Banana Chocolate Chunk Cookies

 

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract
1 large mashed ripe banana
1 cup rolled oats
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chunks or chips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flours, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside. Mix butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Whisk in add egg and vanilla until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats, chocolate chunks, and walnuts.
2. Scoop and drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 12 to 13 minutes. Let cool completely.

Comments: Pretty good, not too sweet. I put more banana and oats than recipe asks for, but the cookies turned out nicely.

Smoky Tomato-Salmon Chowder

3 6-ox frozen salmon fillets
1 tsp chili powder
2 bell peppers, any color you like, halved lengthwise and seeded
1 sweet onion, 1/2 inch slices
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded
2 14-oz cans chicken broth
1 14.5 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 large tomato, chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 avocado

1. Thaw salmon, pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with chili power and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and refrigerate.
2. Preheat over to 425F. Place bell peppers, onion and jalapeno on foil-lined baking sheet, roast 15-20 min.
3. Place salmon in baking pan, bake 4-6 minutes per 1/2 inch thickness or until salmon flakes easily with a fork.
4. Take roasted vegetables and transfer to large saucepan. (Original recipe asks for removing and discarding vegetable skins, but I didn't bother with that) Add broth and undrained tomatoes. Bring to boil, stir occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in chopped tomatoes and parsley.
5. To serve, ladle chowder into shallow bowls. Break salmon in pieces and divide among bowls. Top with avocado slices and sprinkle with chili powder.

Comments: I forgot to take pictures when I made this. I loved the chunkiness of the soup. The salmon was perfect with the veggies. Although the second time I made it, it was too spicy, so watch out for the jalapeno and chili powder. I wonder about the tastes if I do not roast the veggies and just cook them in the soup, but even with the roasting it was pretty easy to make. Lastly, just the soup itself was really good as left overs, I added some pre-steamed dumplings to the soup to reheat, how I love dumplings!

steamed cod with ginger

 

1 lb fresh cod or tilapia fillets (we couldn't find cod so we used nile perch)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
2 tsp canola oil
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut in rings
1/4 cup dry white wine or reduced sodium chicken broth
2/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 onion, chopped

(original recipe also asked for halved shiitake mushrooms and sliced green onions)

1. combine ground ginger, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, sprinkle on fish; set aside
2. cook fresh ginger in hot oil for 14 sec. add pepper, onion (mushrooms and green onions if you have them), cook 5 minutes. remove from skillet, add wine. return to heat, cook and stir until wine is almost evaporated. add broth; bring to boil
3. place seasoned fish on veggies in skill. reduce heat, cook, covered, 4-6 minutes for each 1/2 inch thickness of fish or until fish flakes easily when tested with fork. serve fish and veggies topped with ginger. spook cooking liquid over all

comment: very tasty and easy to make, the ginger is amazing with white fish. we used chinese dry white wine and it was fantastic, definitely recommend it. we ended up having a lot of broth and it worked pretty well as a soup! would like to add shiitake mushrooms next time.

chocolate banana cake

 

150g unsalted butter at room temp
175g dark chocolate
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1 large ripe banana, mashed

icing:
1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup caster sugar
100g milk chocolate
1/3 buttermilk
1/2 cup roughly sliced almonds
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. preheat over to 160C, brush 20cm cake tin with melted butter;
2. melt dark chocolate in bowl over simmering water;
3. beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add eggs one at a time;
4. sift baking powder, cocoa, and flour together. fold into butter, sugar, and egg mixture, add bananas and melted chocolate. mix gently, ingredients do not have to be mixed too thoroughly, keep as much air in the mixture as possible. pour into tin and bake for 45 minutes, allow to cool;
5. icing: melt butter in saucepan, add caster sugar, stir until dissolved. add chocolate, stirring constantly. slowly add buttermilk. leave to cool for 40 minutes. smooth onto cake, mix almonds with vanilla and scatter on top
6. put on some candles and start singing!

comments: easy to prepare, very pretty, make sure to watch chocolate and stir at all times, icing may not need as much buttermilk, my icing came out too thin.