This is one of the vegetarian recipes that my husband and I enjoy. I admit that my kids turned down the opportunity to eat it with us and chose frozen burritos instead. Silly kids. The recipe is adapted from New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant.
onion
Red Sauce DiPaola
If you’ve read this blog very much at all, you know I love pasta. Pasta meals tend to come together quickly, making them perfect for hungry families and this one is no exception. This recipe was shared by DiPaola Momma on her blog, Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom. (Don’t you just love the title of her blog?) I altered it a tiny bit, but didn’t mess with the secret ingredient.
Rustic Italian Sausage Pasta with Roasted Red Peppers and Two Cheese Sauce
I invented this recipe last night when I wanted something a little different, but also quick. It was a hit, as most pasta dishes are at our house.
Here’s what you’ll need. As always, feel free to substitute and change out ingredients for what you have available. I thought mushrooms would be good in this, if you like them.
1 lb. linguine or other type pasta (penne would be good)
half & half (about 2 cups)
parmesan cheese (about 1 cup)
mozzerella cheese (about 1 cup)
small onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
butter for making the sauce (2-3 Tbs)
roasted red peppers (I used about 1/2 jar)
Italian sausage, browned
Cook the pasta according to the directions. Brown the sausage and drain the fat. In a saucepan, cook the onion and garlic in the butter until soft. Whisk in the half & half. Then stir in the cheeses and let them melt into the sauce over low heat. I didn’t really measure any of the sauce ingredients, but went by what I thought looked good. I also added salt and pepper.
When the pasta is cooked, drain it and put it back in the cooking pot. Add in the sausage, sauce and roasted red peppers. Serve it with garlic bread and salad.
We had some left over for lunch today and I thought it tasted even better. The flavors were more pronounced today. I’ll be making this one again!
Vietnam Fried Rice
More-with-Less is one of my favorite cookbooks. This recipe for Vietnam Fried Rice was a huge hit with my family.
Gather up your ingredients:
Vietnam Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cup rice
- 4 Tbs. cooking oil
- 1 lb. any cooked or raw meat I used 2 large boneless chicken breasts that I sliced thin
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp.. sugar
- 1 Tbs. soy sauce
- 1 cup leftover or frozen vegetables I used frozen peas and carrots
- 2 eggs beaten
Instructions
- Cook the rice.
- In a hot skillet add the oil and stir fry the meat if it’s not cooked. I sprinkled some soy sauce on the chicken before I stir fried it.
- Remove the meat from the skillet and add the garlic, onion, salt, pepper, sugar and soy sauce. I didn’t measure any of this, just eye-balled it.
- Stir fry until the onion is cooked through.
- Stir in the beaten eggs, stir frying until the eggs are done. They will not and should not look like scrambled eggs you eat for breakfast.
- Add the vegetables and stir fry until they are hot through.
- Add the chicken back in to the skillet, along with the rice.
- Throw in some more soy sauce until it looks good to you.
Pull out the chop sticks and enjoy!
Shaker Village Tomato Soup
We’ve had a winter storm here for the past few days and have really snuggled in. Grilled cheese and tomato soup have fit the bill for lunch. This recipe is a great way to dress up a can of tomato soup.
Please note: the recipe calls for celery, but I didn’t have any on hand. It tasted good without the celery, but is a little better with it.
Gather up your ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup celery, chopped fine
2 Tbs. butter
1 can tomato soup
1 can water
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. sugar
salt and pepper
Saute the onion and celery in the butter until it’s tender, but not browned. Add the remaining ingredients and heat through. Stay warm!