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: , , , , , , ,

Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad

April 10, 2013 by 2 Comments

As I mentioned yesterday, I have been craving tangy dressing a lot lately. I’ve also noticed that I’ve been gravitating towards lighter, springy-er dishes. That could be pregnancy related or could be that I’m just really ready to move on from heavy winter dishes (even if I do live in San Diego). Either way, when a friend on a cooking message board I frequent mentioned a pasta salad including asparagus, I was immediately intrigued. Suddenly vegetable pasta salad combinations were just swirling around in my head and I knew exactly what we were having for dinner.

The plan was for me to make grilled chicken and serve it with a large side of this Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad. The look on Jesse’s face when I told him the plan was kind of comical. He was sure that there should be some other side, or something! Much to his surprise (and my delight!) he loved dinner and he even felt full. It just goes to show that dinner doesn’t have to be heavy to be good. The leftovers also made an awesome lunch!

 

Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad

Ingredients
1 – 1 1/2 cups asparagus, chopped into 2-inch bites
1 bell pepper, chopped (I used yellow)
1 small zucchini, chopped
3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp Italian dressing (You may decide you need more salad dressing, so keep the bottle handy)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
10 oz. dry pasta (I like bowties for pasta salad and this time I used Barilla Plus)
2-3 oz. mozzarella cheese, cut into cubes
Additional salt and pepper as needed, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Toss chopped vegetables in 1 Tbsp Italian dressing (let marinate while the oven is preheating). Spread chopped vegetables out on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Roast for 25-30 minutes, or until vegetables start to soften and turn golden brown. Allow vegetables to cool to room temperature.

While the vegetables are cooling. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the dry pasta and cook to al dente according to the box. Drain, immediately rinse with cold water, and drain some more (you don’t want soggy pasta salad).

Once the pasta has cooled and drained, toss with the vegetables, cubed mozzarella cheese, and Italian dressing. If 1/4 cup of dressing doesn’t seem like enough to lightly coat all of the pasta, add a little more at time. This pasta is best if you let it sit for at least an hour before serving (it can also be made a day ahead of time).

Sunny Side Up

Here are a few more lighter side dish ideas!

Tangy Mustard Coleslaw
Southwest Pasta Salad
Spicy Cold Noodles

Filed Under: Healthier, Pasta, Side Item, Vegetables Tagged With: , , , , ,