Tag Archives: parmesan cheese

John’s Famous Spicy Spinach & Artichoke Dip

This is John’s famous recipe. He won’t even let me make it! I can be the sous-chef though! It’s still a great recipe and is usually a big hit. You can serve it with tortilla chips or crackers. Just make sure they are strong enough to hold the dip!

John's Spicy Spinach & Artichoke Dip

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

5-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2- 10 ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained

1- 14 ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1- 8 ounce package cream cheese

1- 8 ounce package sour cream

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided

1 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided

2 tablespoons TABASCO® brand pepper sauce

salt to taste

corn chips or crackers


DIRECTIONS:

1: Melt butter in a large saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

2. Stir in spinach, artichokes, cream cheese, sour cream, ¾ cup Monterey Jack, ¾ cup Parmesan cheese, pepper sauce and salt. Stir until well blended and heated through.

3. Pour mixture into a ½ quart casserole dish and top with remaining Monterey Jack and Parmesan cheese. Bake in 350º oven until cheese starts to brown, about 10 minutes. Serve with corn chips or crackers.


Makes about 4 cups

Leaner, Meaner Shrimp Scampi

One of my all time favorite shrimp dishes is Shrimp Scampi. I love the butter, the oil, the garlic and of course, the shrimp! I am actually going to make this recipe tonight. I found it today in my email from Hungry Girl. Who is Hungry Girl? I am sure some of you have heard of her lately or seen her on TV. She’s on Rachael Ray quite a bit as well as all the talk shows. She shows us a healthier way to eat all of our favorite dishes. I have to say that I use quite a lot of her recipes and love them all. I have all her cookbooks, there are three. One of the newest ingredients for me that she uses as a noodle/pasta substitute is “House Food Tofu Shirataki Noodle Substitute”. I  can hear some of you groaning…Tofu?? Yes, tofu. It’s not a horrible thing. Really!! When you prepare these noodles with sauces they are delicious. No they do not taste like real pasta, but they are still fantastic. Loaded with soy protein and fiber! GOOD!!! They come in pouches covered in water in the organic section of the produce department. I buy them all the time and use in casseroles, for fettuccine alfredo and a ton of other dishes. Today’s recipe calls for the Fettuccine style noodles. They come in spaghetti style and angel hair style as well. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my regular pasta but living with a carbophobe makes me nuts so I have to make substitutions.

(Check http://www.house-foods.com/Tofu/tofu_shirataki.aspx for recipes and information) So tonight’s recipe is courtesy of Hungry Girl Lisa Lillien. I will take a picture and post it afterwards but for now I am including a picture of hers.

One more thing on this recipe that I really like. The shrimp calls for the tails removed! Hooray! This is one of my pet peeves. Why must the tails be left on with almost all shrimp dishes? Besides that it looks nice? Really? Is that the only reason?  I hate having to make a mess attempting to remove these tails while I am eating. Especially in a restaurant! Come on, cook without the tails! You’re not going to eat them anyway so why leave them on? Okay I feel better now!

INGREDIENTS:

1 small lemon

2 packages House Foods Tofu Shirataki Fettuccine Shaped Noodle Substitute

¼ cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon chopped garlic (I will add more garlic as we are LOVE garlic)

8 oz. raw shrimp, peeled, tails removed, deveined

1 plum tomato, chopped

1 tablespoons light whipped butter or light buttery spread (I use I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter w/Olive Oil)

2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese

Optional: Salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, chopped parsley, fresh basil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut lemon in half, and squeeze the juice from one half into a small dish; remove any seeds, and set aside. Cut the other half into wedges, and set those aside as well.

2. Use a strainer to rinse and drain shirataki noodles well. Pat dry. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave for 1 minute. Drain excess liquid. Dry as thoroughly as possible, using paper towels. Cut noodles up a bit, using kitchen shears if you have them. Set aside. (The noodles are very long so this is why you need to cut them up a little)

3. Bring a skillet sprayed with non-stick spray (butter flavored if you have it) to medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook until softened, 2-3 minutes.

4. Add shrimp and tomato. Stirring occasionally, cook until shrimp are opaque, about 2 minutes. Add lemon juice and continue to cook and stir for 1 minute.

5. Raise heat to medium high, add shirataki noodles, and mix well. Continue to cook for 1-2 minutes, until entire dish is hot and shrimp cooked through. Add butter and stir.

6. Plate (or bowl) your scampi and top each serving with 1 teaspoon Parmesan topping. Garnish with lemon wedges and, if you like, season to taste with optional ingredients. Enjoy!

Makes 2 servings

Serving Size: ½ of recipe (about 1¾ cups)

POINTS® value: 5 (for all you WW fans)

Meatloaf in the Round

One of the all time favorite comfort foods, meatloaf. I could make meatloaf every night for John and he’d be so happy! But after a while the same old loaf gets boring. So to change things up a bit I have made them in muffin tins or as today’s title says, “in the round”.  All I do is take a round casserole dish and invert a small bowl in the center and put the meatloaf mixture all around the small bowl. Ta da! Meatloaf in the round! Still tastes exactly the same just in a different shape! The muffin tin is great too because you get little mini meatloaf muffins, though the pan is a pain to clean so I don’t do that too often!

Meatloaf in the Round

Meatloaf in the Round

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound ground beef of choice

1 cup bread crumbs of choice (I like Italian Panko)

2 eggs

1 small onion or half of a large onion chopped

3 cloves garlic chopped

½ cup parmesan cheese of choice

¼ cup milk of choice

2 tablespoons dried parsley

1 tablespoon dried basil

Meatloaf Ingredients

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

few dashes Tabasco hot sauce, optional

tomato sauce or tomato paste for topping (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix till everything is evenly mixed in. Don’t over mix though.

Meatloaf Ingredients in Bowl

Meatloaf Ingredients in Bowl

2. Place small bowl upside down in center of round casserole dish. Place meatloaf mixture evenly around small bowl in casserole.

3. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and spread tomato sauce or tomato paste over top of meatloaf if you wish.

4. Return meatloaf to oven and continue to bake for 15 more minutes.

5. Let sit 5 minutes before serving so it can set up a bit.

6. Enjoy!

After 30 minutes at 350 degrees

Meatloaf after cutting

Easy Pasta Fazool (Pasta Fagioli)


Pasta Fagioli

This is one of my all time favorite soups. There are so many versions of this but this is mine. I have done the trial and error and found what is best for me! Try some tonight! It is a simple and hearty soup that is great any time of the year!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1- 15 oz. can fire-roasted diced tomatoes w/basil, garlic & oregano (or 1- 8 oz. can tomato sauce)

1 cup chicken broth (this gives a great flavor)

1-  15-16 oz. can white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

½ uncooked pound ditalini or elbow macaroni

1 tablespoon dried parsley

grated parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a saucepan, fry the garlic gently in oil until golden brown. Add the canned tomatoes or sauce and chicken broth and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the beans, stir gently and continue to cook on simmer until pasta is ready.

2. Meanwhile cook the pasta al-dente, drain and add to the bean mixture. Stir gently. If soup gets a little too thick add a little more chicken broth or water. Add parsley.

3. Serve immediately otherwise the pasta will absorb all the liquid. The recipe can easily be doubled if you like. Serve with parmesan cheese on top and good italian bread. It is even good cold the next day!

VARIATIONS: You can omit the tomatoes or sauce and have a ‘white sauce’.  You can also replace the cannellini beans with a can of chick peas, sweat peas, black eye peas or lima beans, whichever you wish!

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