8/26/13

Something about veggies...

i love to cook.
being in the kitchen is one of my most favorite places ever.
and i am plum stocked on fresh veggies this week.
as a result, i have nothing but recipes and idea flying through my head.
So far this week I have made two new dishes that were simply scrumptious and it would be a disservice if i did not share.

let's start with some awesomely homemade pasta sauce.
i always make my sauce from scratch, but this time i had some fresh tomatoes that were about to go bad.
so i added them to the mix and it made all the difference in the world.
i shall always use fresh tomatoes from now on.

in an iron skillet i sautéed a shallot and 3 cloves of garlic. the key is to do it low and slow so they really sweeten up.
next i added 3 peeled/diced fresh tomatoes and let them break down. about 5-7 minutes.
i then added a plop of tomato paste, some salt, pepper and a little dash of sugar. once that all became a little thick, i added 2/3 cup of canned crushed tomatoes (natural and organic). simmer on low for about 30 minutes. i also added a jar of artichoke hearts that i chopped up and some fresh parsley to cook in for the last 10 minutes or so. it was simply amazing. i wanted to just have a bowl of sauce for dinner, but i figured i should probably add a few noodles.
hubby approved of this meatless dinner, however i'm sure that some sausage or ground beef would be delightful!
and apparently i was too caught up in the moment to bother with pictures of that one.

moving on to potato chicken casserole.

 i had a bag of baby red potatoes that i chopped up.



then i sliced 1/4 of a yellow onion.

feel free to add more onion...i'm just not a huge onion fan. i like the flavor, but i don't like to bite into one, so my slices were extremely thin.
in a bowl, toss the potatoes, onions, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and a little ranch dressing mix.



in a greased baking dish, throw in the potato mixture and bake at about 500 degrees for roughly 30 minutes (depending on size of your potatoes).



the goal is fork tender. While the potatoes are baking, cut up some chicken and toss it in a little olive oil, salt, pepper and ranch dressing mix.



When potatoes are fork tender, place the raw chicken mixture over the potatoes.

Cover with cheese and cooked bacon and put back in the oven. Knock the temp down to 400 and cook for 15 minutes. Then it's time to eat!



I mixed some chives and sour cream together for mine, and chris ate his just as it was. yuuuumy!

2 comments:

  1. Oh wow! That potato recipe sounds delish for sure. Everything good about cheese , bacon, and potatoes!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ummm... wow. YUM! I rarely feel inspired to comment on let alone try new recipes (I have a fairly food-simple husband)... but that last one is a keeper! I am trying it this week!!)

    ReplyDelete