Creamy Taco Mac

May 9, 2013 by 1 Comment

If you browse food blogs at all then there is a good chance you’ve seen this (or a version of this) before. Why has it graced so many food blogs? In short, because it’s amazing. Not amazing in a fine dining kind of way, but in a homey, comforting kind of way. It’s the from-scratch cook’s answer to Hamburger Helper. You can easily throw this meal together on a busy weeknight, but more importantly you can feel good about serving this to your family.

Jesse, bless his heart, has actually been known to request Hamburger Helper from time to time. In order to do my best to indulge him, I’ve made several homemade versions. He says they are all good but this one is the clear winner.

 

Creamy Taco Mac

Ingredients
1.25 lbs. ground turkey
8 oz rotini pasta
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 -14 oz can diced tomatoes with jalapenos*, drained
4 Tbsp (or one packet) taco seasoning
4 oz cream cheese (reduced fat is fine)
1/2 cup sour cream (reduced fat is fine)
Salt & pepper to taste
Fresh cilantro and shredded cheese, for garnish (optional)

*If you can’t find diced tomatoes with jalapenos it’s also fine with plain diced tomatoes or diced tomatoes with green chiles

Directions
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta to al dente, according to directions on package. Drain and reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water.

While the pasta is cooking, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, start to brown the ground turkey. When the turkey is stating to brown and almost cooked through, add the onions. Once the turkey is done, add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the tomatoes and taco seasoning, simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cooked pasta, cream cheese, and sour cream, stirring until the cream cheese is melted and well combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired. Simmer for 5 minutes, adding reserved pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce.

Serve with fresh cilantro and shredded cheese.

Barely adapted from Annie’s Eats, originally from Delish

Looking for more easy, weeknight dinners? Check these out-

Shells and Cheese with Kielbasa and Peas
Mexican Lasagna
Sloppy Joes
Creamy Shrimp Pasta

 

Filed Under: Easy Weeknight Dinner, Main Course, Mexican, Pasta, Poultry Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Creamy Green Chile, Tomatillo, and Avocado Sauce

May 3, 2013 by 2 Comments

Earlier in the week I posted on Facebook about a dinner exceeding my expectations. This is that dinner. When I read the list of ingredients, poblano peppers, tomatillo, avocado, cilantro… OF COURSE I knew I would like the sauce. What’s not to love about all of those things? What I didn’t expect was standing over my food processor bowl with a spoon hoping that I could manage to leave enough sauce in it to actually serve for dinner. That’s how much I liked loved this stuff. (Notice in the photo I put sauce under AND over the chicken).

What makes this sauce even better is its versatility. I used it as a semi pasta sauce and served it with grilled chicken and a black bean and corn salad. Of course it could easily go over rice or just plain right on top of chicken. I also have plans in the near future to serve it over top of fish. I’m guessing it would also go perfectly grilled shrimp. The possibilities are endless. And I’m all about versatility in the kitchen.

Creamy Green Chile, Tomatillo, and Avocado Sauce (served over penne pasta with chicken)

Ingredients

1/2 medium onion, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 or 2 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, and halved*
1 poblano pepper, stemmed, seeded, and quartered
2 medium or 3 small tomatillos, husked, cored, and quartered
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 Tbsp Canola oil
1 avocado, peeled and cut into chunks
2 Tbsp cilantro
2 Tbsp lime juice (about 1 lime)
1/4-1/3 cup half and half

*I only used 1 jalapeno and Jesse and I both agreed that we could have handled one more

Directions

Preheat your oven on the broiler setting. Place the onion, jalapeno, poblano pepper, tomatillos, and garlic on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with canola oil. Place the baking sheet under the broiler, until the peppers start to char and the vegetables are softened. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once cool, place the vegetables in the bowl of a food processor along with the avocado, cilantro and lime juice. Process until it is almost smooth* then, with the processor still running, stream in 1/4 cup of the half and half. If you would like the sauce a little thinner, add a little more half and half.

Serve with grilled chicken, fish or shrimp over penne pasta or rice. Also goes great with a simple black bean and corn salad.

*I processed mine for a little longer than I needed too, as a result I lost some of the beautiful flecks of dark green cilantro. But it still tasted great!

Source: As seen on Elly Says Opa, originally from Food and Wine Annual Cookbook 2010, via Our Life in Food

Looking for more sauce recipes?

Tzatziki Sauce
Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
Jack Daniels Sauce
Southwest Marinade and Sauce

 

Filed Under: Chicken, Easy Weeknight Dinner, Pasta, Poultry, Sauce/Condiment Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells

April 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Up until a few weeks into my second trimester I had a major aversion to chicken. Just the thought of it icked me out. The first time I noticed the aversion was when I was having lunch with a friend and I ordered a buffalo chicken wrap. I took one bite, looked at my friend, covered my mouth with a napkin and said, “Sorry”. I wound up picking out all of the chicken (and half of the lettuce). Next time we went for lunch I asked them to replace the chicken with beans (yeah, that’s right, I ordered a buffalo bean wrap, and it was delicious!).

I am finally over that crazy aversion and we’re back to having chicken several nights a week. Of course it’s easy for things to get repetitive when you eat chicken for dinner several times a week, so I’m always trying to think up new ways to use it. What better way to spice up chicken than to add buffalo sauce? To mix it up even more I decided to stuff the chicken in pasta shells. The result was fantastic! We absolutely loved this dinner, hope you do too!

 

Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells

Ingredients
~20 large pasta shells
1 15 oz container part skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp blue cheese crumbles
1 celery stalk, finely diced
1 green onion, finely diced
1/2 oz (1/2 packet) Ranch seasoning packet
1/4 – 1/2 cup Buffalo sauce (You can try making your own or use something like Franks)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 small chicken breast, cooked and chopped/shredded*
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder
pinch of salt
Cheddar cheese, blue cheese crumbles, green onion, celery, and additional buffalo sauce for topping

*You can poach the chicken, bake the chicken, pick it off a store bought chicken or use left over shredded chicken. Whatever is easiest for you!

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a casserole dish by spraying with nonstick cooking spray.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta shells just a minute shy of directions on box. (This makes them easier to handle when you’re stuffing them, they will finish cooking in the oven). Once their finished, drain them and rinse with cold water.

While the shells are boiling, combine the ricotta, blue cheese, celery, green onion, ranch seasoning packet, 1/4 cup of Buffalo in a large bowl. Taste the filling and add more Buffalo sauce if you would like it spicier. Once the filling suits your taste, mix in the egg. Add the cooked chopped chicken to the bowl and stir to combine.

Fill the shells with filling and place in the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with additional buffalo sauce and top with cheddar cheese and additional blue cheese crumbles. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 18 minutes. In the meantime, in a small bowl combine the melted butter, Panko, parsley, garlic powder, and salt. After 18 minutes, remove shells from oven and sprinkle the breadcrumb topping over the shells. Bake uncovered for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the bread crumbs start to turn golden brown. (If you’re careful and keep an eye on it you can turn the broiler on for a minute or two at the end).

Top with additional green onions and diced celery. Serve hot with extra Buffalo sauce, Ranch, and a salad on the side

Sunny Side Up original

Check out these other tasty Buffalo recipes, too!

Buffalo Chicken Salad
Buffalo Chicken Bites
Homemade Spicy Garlic Buffalo Sauce
Buffalo Chicken Sliders
 

Filed Under: Cheese, Chicken, Dinner, Easy Weeknight Dinner, Main Course, Pasta, Poultry Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Spicy, Sticky, Sweet, Asian Meatballs

March 26, 2013 by 18 Comments

The first time I made these I just sort of threw them together, I didn’t take great notes and I didn’t get a picture. Of course Jesse loved them (and so did I) and said they had to go on the blog, so I had to do my best to recreate them. The second time they turned out even better than the first and we’ve since had them twice in a month. That’s a sure sign of winner in our house.

I wanted to call these “Hot, sticky, sweet” Asian meatballs. You know, after the song. But Jesse thought it sounded better with all S’s, so Spicy, Sticky, Sweet Asian Meatballs they are. Either way, it’s the best way to describe these. The chili garlic sauce gives the sauce a nice heat, which is also carried through in the meatballs. But the spicy flavor is balanced out with the sweet, sticky sauce and pop of fresh ginger.

In non-food related news, I’m headed to Boston tomorrow! What’s in Boston? The Irish Dancing World Championships, that’s what! I get to see my dance family that I’ve missed so much AND I get to watch my cousin dance in her first solo worlds competition. I couldn’t be more excited! I’ll let you know how it goes!


Spicy, Sticky, Sweet, Asian Meatballs

Ingredients
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp chili garlic sauce (more if you like a lot of heat)
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp fresh grated ginger*

1 1/4 lbs ground turkey
1/4 cup and 1 Tbsp diced green onions, including whites, divided
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly whisked
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup mushrooms, finely diced
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger*
2 tsp chili garlic sauce
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
sesame seeds for garnish

*Helpful Tip: Store ginger in the freezer. When you need it, just grate with a zester right off the frozen chunk!

Directions
In a small saucepan, whisk together the first group of ingredients (water through grated ginger). Heat over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil, then reduce heat medium-low and simmer until reduced and thickened.

While the sauce is thickening, combine the second group of ingredients (reserving one tablespoon of the green onion tops) in a medium bowl. Shape into 2-inch meatballs.

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and cook for about 6 minutes, turning to brown all sides evenly. Reduce heat to medium and pour in the sauce. Continue to cook for 5-10 minutes, or until a meatball cut in half is fully cooked/no longer pink, and the sauce coats the meatballs.

Serve hot over rice with steamed baby bok choy and sesame seeds and green onion tops for garnish.

Sunny Side Up Original

Here are some other cool Meatball recipes, all made with ground turkey instead of beef!

Greek Turkey Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce
Southwest Turkey Meatballs

Filed Under: Asian Food, Main Course, Poultry, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,