San Francisco Style Pasta

I made this last night and couldn't believe I haven't blogged about it... This is one of my favorite dishes and reminds me of growing up.  My dad used to make it all the time.  Sometimes the simplest things taste the best.  I think this pasta is a great way to get lots of different types of veggies into a meal. I made this for some boys who used to live next to me and they inhaled it. It's the perfect summer time dish. It's served cold and keeps very well for leftovers.

San Fransisco Style Pasta
A package of Farfalle (bow ties) or fusilli (corkscrews) or tube shaped pasta.  I use whole wheat pasta to make things a little more healthy.  It seriously tastes the same.  
Green bell pepper
Red bell pepper
Head of broccoli
Baby carrots (cut in half)
Black olives (cut in half or whole)
1 pkg Parmesan cheese
Hard salami (cut into bit sized pieces)
Olive Oil


Cook the pasta until done.  While the pasta is cooking cut up the green and red bell peppers, broccoli, baby carrots and black olives into small bit sized pieces. Once the pasta is done, rinse under cold water until pasta is no longer hot.  Drain.  Drizzle olive oil over pasta.  Add the pkg of cheese, veggies and salami.  Toss all together.   

Great tip on saving pesto

So my room mate and I made pesto again this weekend and she had a great tip.  Unfortunately pesto doesn't last long in the fridge.  If you make a batch and are single or if you'd like to save money and make a bulk batch, pour the extra pesto into an ice cube mold.  After you've filled the tray cover each cube with olive oil so it stays fresh.  Place in freezer.  Now, if you want a single (or multiple) serving(s) you can pop out one (or many) cube(s) of pesto and place over a single (or multiple) serving(s) of pasta.

Pesto

Last week we had an amazing 4th of July BBQ.  One of my room mates made homemade pesto.  It was by far the biggest hit of the night!  The boys ate this up.  I thought I'd share.  Can't wait to make me another batch this weekend! 

Homemade Pesto

2/3 cup olive oil

2 cups fresh basil

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 or 2 cloves garlic (I like using 2, it gives it a little more bite)

I usually throw the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in the blender and pulse them until they're pretty well chopped. Then pour the olive oil in slowly with the blender on medium speed until it incorporates.  Finally, add the cheese, and blend on low speed just until it's mixed in.  This is enough to go with a 1-lb box of pasta.

My favorite chicken recipe: chicken pillows

I don't mind chicken in this recipe at all.  I love these.

Chicken Pillows

2-3 cooked chicken cut in bit sized pieces

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese

1 can drained mushrooms

2-3 pkgs crescent rolls 

butter

bread crumbs

Gravy

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup of milk or 1 c. sour cream

1 tbsp lemon juice

Mix cooked chicken, cream cheese and mushrooms together.  Place mixture in each crescent roll. Seal edges.  Melt butter and drizzle on each roll.  Dip in bread crumbs.  Bake @ 350.  Make gravy by heating soup and milk/sour cream and lemon juice.

Easy Fried Rice

I make this all the time when I'm feeling too lazy to go to the store or cook anything complex.  This is another Aunt Paula goodie. :) It goes great with teri chicken!

1/4 c. olive oil

4 cups cooked rice

2 cloves garlic

1 envelope onion mushroom soup mix

1/2 c. water

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed

2 eggs, slightly beaten

In a skillet heat the oil.  Add the rice and garlic and cook for 2 minutes or until rice is heated.  Stir in soup mix blended with water and soy sauce.  Cook for 1 minute.  Add peas and carrots and cook for 2 minutes or until heated.  Make a well in the center of the rice and quickly stir in eggs.  Cook gently until not quite done.  Stir eggs into rice until done.

Teri Chicken

One of my coworkers remarked today that I sure do have a lot of chicken recipes for someone who hates chicken.  She couldn't be more right.  I rarely cook it myself.  I usually make recipes and just leave out the chicken.  However the two chicken recipes today are posted in honor of the 4th!  And I do actually like these marinades for chicken!  

This chicken is one of my family's favorite grilling recipes.  It's from my Aunt Paula originally.  It is delicious with Easy Fried Rice. 

Teri Chicken Marinade (Aunt Paula)

1/4 c. Water

1/4 c. Soy Sauce

1/4 c. Molasses

1/3 c. Cider Vinegar

2 T. Sugar

1 T. Fresh Ginger

2 Cloves Chopped Garlic

2 LBS Boneless Chicken

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight.  Saute on a skillet or cook on grill.

Chicken Broccoli Braid

Another Aunt Paula favorite!  I believe this is a similar recipe to the pampered chef one...  When I made it the first time- I had no idea how to do the braid. I found this on youtube and it shows how to make it pretty! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YYju6VIMLI

Chicken Broccoli Braid

2 c. cooked chicken

1 c. broccoli 

1/2 c. red bell pepper

1 garlic clove

1 c. sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 c. mayo

2 tsp. dry dill weed

1/4 tsp. salt

2 T. slivered almonds

2 packages crescent rolls

Chop chicken, broccoli and red pepper.  In a large bowl combine chicken, broccoli, red pepper, garlic, cheese, mayo, dill weed & salt. Mix well. Unroll both packages of crescent rolls.  Do not separate sections.  Arrange dough across the width of a cookie sheet or baking stone.  Roll dough to seal perforations.  Apply filling down the center of the dough (approx. 6 in.) and fold sides over the filling.  Brush 1 lightly beaten egg white over dough.  Sprinkle with almonds. 

Bake @ 375 for 30 minutes or until deep golden brown.

Ranch Chicken Pizza

Another Aunt Paula recipe.  This is my favorite pizza! 

Ranch Chicken Pizza

1/2 c. Ranch Dressing

3 oz. cream cheese

2 t. tomato paste

1 cup chopped cooked chicken

1/2 c. red bell pepper strips

sliced olives

1/4 c. green onions

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Combine dressing with cream cheese and tomato paste.  Stir in chicken.  Spread mixture on pizza dough.  Arrange peppers, olives, and onions on pizza.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Bake @ 450 degrees for 15 minutes.

Summer Squash Casserole

My auntie Paula is a fabulous cook.  She has her own cook book that has the most fantastic recipes ever.  I remember at one point in college I lived a couple blocks away from her with my cousin.  Many nights I'd come home to a fantastic meal with warm cookies or a warm dessert.  Or I'd have fresh, warm muffins waiting for me when I'd wake up.  It was unreal.  One night, she had made a beautiful salad and when I reached for a bottle of dressing my cousin said "There's homemade dressing is in the fridge".  I proceeded to tell my cousin that I hated her for getting homemade dressing, beautiful meals, and warm desserts every night for her whole life.  My mom is a great cook- she just hates cooking.  My mom is super crafty.  I think if she and my aunt combined they would be a million times more awesome than Martha Stewart.

Many of my favorite recipes come from my aunt's cook book.  This is one of them.  I made this for my family and they absolutely loved it.  It's a great way to sneak in veggies in a delicious way. 

Summer Squash Casserole

2 lbs yellow or zucchini squash

1 sm chopped onion

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded carrots

1 package (8 oz) herb stuffing mix

1/2 c. melted butter

Cook squash and onion in boiling salted water for 5 minutes.  Drain.  Mix soup, sour cream and carrots.  Fold into squash and onion.  Spread half of the stuffing mix on the bottom of the casserole dish. Spoon in the veggie mixture and top with remaining stuffing and butter. Cook @ 350 for 25 minutes.

Bowtie Chicken Caesar Salad

I was looking through food blogs yesterday and came across a great recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything.

My old room mate in van ness used to make something similar.  I do like this recipe, however I changed it up a bit- I didn't really care for the Brianna’s Asiago Caesar Dressing.  I think I'd use my trusted Kraft Caesar dressing next time.  I didn't use chicken because I don't like it- but I know lots of people do so I left it in.  It is great without!

This recipe feeds a family.  Last night my roomie and I each had a bunch of romaine lettuce and added the amount of toppings we wanted.

Bowtie Chicken Caesar Salad

3 bunches romaine leaf lettuce, chopped

1 bag Marie Calendars Fat Free Croutons
1 bag Almond Accents/ Roasted Garlic Caesar
2 Chicken Breasts, boiled with an onion and salt and pepper (optional)
2 cups bowtie pasta, cooked
4 - 6 oz. shredded parmesan cheese
Kraft Caesar Dressing

Toss all the above ingredients with Caesar dressing right before serving.