Broccoli Ramen Salad

    
     Colorful and crunchy, with a tangy yet sweet dressing, this easy salad is great with anything from fried chicken to hot dogs. It's perfect for potlucks, tailgates, fall picnics or to accompany a quick sandwich at home for lunch. It's even still delicious the day after it's prepared, when all of the flavors have melded together and the dressing has soaked into the ramen noodles.

     The hardest (ha!) part of the preparation is chopping the onion and smashing the dry noodles into bits (fun!) which makes this ideal for those times when you need something in a hurry. And who doesn't need fast food now and then?

Broccoli Ramen Salad
1 bag Broccoli Slaw Mix (12 oz.) If you can't find this already bagged, it's just a mixture of julienne broccoli stems, julienne carrots and shredded red cabbage
1 pkg. Ramen Noodles (Beef, Chicken or Oriental flavor)
1/2-1 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup oil (Canola or light flavored olive)
1/3 cup sugar (up to 1/2 cup if you prefer a sweeter taste)
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 medium red onion, finely diced

Break up the ramen noodles (in the bag) and place them in a large bowl with the broccoli slaw mix, almonds, cranberries and onion.
Mix together oil, vinegar, sugar and seasoning packet (optional) from the ramen noodle soup. Pour over the slaw mixture and toss together. If you prefer not to use the seasoning packet, you may want to add some salt. Serve immediately (ultimate crunch!) or refrigerate to serve later.

Macaroni and Four Cheeses

  It's cold and damp here today, with dark cloudy skies and lots and lots of rain. No working outside, even though the grass needs cutting and I have flowers to plant! For dinner tonight we needed something to eat that was warm and comforting but not too terribly bad for us. Since Ellie's book, The Food You Crave, was still sitting out on my kitchen counter I took a look and found this lightened up macaroni and cheese.

  Believe it or not, it's winter squash that gives this dish its creamy texture and gorgeous golden color. I couldn't taste the squash in the finished dish, but I have to admit that I did use more cheese than Ellie recommends. This added more calories to the dish, but it even so it still had a lighter and less greasy feel than a traditional mac and cheese. Reviewers of this recipe on the Food Network site either loved it or hated it. We loved it and didn't think it had a strong squash taste like many reviewers thought. Then again, we like winter squash so I don't think that would have been a bad thing anyway!

Macaroni and Four Cheeses
recipe from Ellie Krieger
You'll need:
Cooking spray
1 (16 oz.) box elbow macaroni (I used ditalini.)
2 packages (10 oz. each) frozen pureed winter squash
2 cups lowfat milk
1 1/2 cups (4 oz.) grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (I used 2 1/2 cups.)
2/3 cup (2 oz.) grated Monterey Jack cheese (I used 1 cup of Italian 3 cheese blend.)
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I used a bit more than this.)
2 Tablespoons plain dry breadcrumbs (I used panko.)
2 Tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. olive oil

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 9x13 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
• Cook macaroni according to the directions on the package. Drain and pour into the prepared baking dish.
• While the macaroni is cooking, place the milk and the frozen squash into a saucepan and cook over low heat until the squash is defrosted. Turn the heat up until the mixture is almost at a simmer.
• Remove from heat and add cheddar, Monterey Jack, ricotta, salt, mustard and cayenne. Pour this cheese mixture over the macaroni and combine.
• In a small bowl, mix together bread crumbs, Parmesan and olive oil. Sprinkle over the top of the macaroni and cheese. *Note: I doubled the breadcrumbs and Parmesan for my topping.
• Bake until cheeses are bubbling around the edges, about 20 minutes. Broil for 3 minutes, or until the top is crisp and browned.

Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta

     Need a quick and easy weeknight meal? This baked shrimp dish fits the bill. Looking for a quick dinner using ingredients I already had, I found this recipe in Ellie Kreiger's book The Food You Crave.  The only change I made to the recipe was to use Thai basil in place of parsley, which gave it a little different flavor than the parsley would have. I think the next time I make this I'll add some crushed red pepper to spice it up just a bit. Orzo and a nice salad rounded out this healthful meal quite nicely!

Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta
Recipe from Ellie Krieger 
(my changes noted)
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced no-salt-added tomatoes with juice
1/4 cup finely minced flat leaf parsley ( I used Thai basil instead)
1 Tablespoon finely minced fresh dill
1 1/4 lbs. medium shrimp, peeled and de-veined (I used frozen shrimp, uncooked.)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup crumbled feta (about 3 oz.)

Cooking Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Heat oil in an ovenproof skillet. Saute onion until soft, about three minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute, taking care not to brown the garlic. 
• Add tomatoes with juice. (I thought this was a little too watery, so when I make this again I'll leave out some of the juice.)  Reduce heat and simmer about five minutes, until mixture has thickened a bit.
• Remove from heat and stir in parsley (or basil), dill, shrimp, salt and pepper. 
• Crumble feta on top of all.Bake for about 12 minutes, or until shrimp are done and cheese is melted. Serve with brown rice or orzo.

Bacon, Linguine and Tomato Toss

Are you one of those people who can walk into a tomato patch, pick a red ripe tomato, and eat it right there with warm tomato juice dripping off your elbow? I have to confess I'm not one of those people. I do love tomato sauce and even salsa to some extent, but I really can't say I'm a tomato lover. I think I was traumatized by a tomato worm at a tender age. The only exception is in late June or early July when the tomatoes first start ripening. That's when I crave a tomato and bacon sandwich with mayo- on soft white bread no less.

But I digress. Last weekend I went to a Pampered Chef party where the consultant whipped up this pasta dish to showcase some of her products. It was delicious! Bacon and tomatoes in a creamy sauce- it was like a BLT,  only pasta style.  I think it might just tide me over until I have that sandwich.

Quick, easy and tasty, I think it's a great meal to serve after a harried day at work when you don't have much time or energy. I chose to use high fiber whole wheat pasta and low fat cream cheese when I made it for dinner tonight. Do you think that made up for the extra bacon I threw in?

Bacon, Linguine and Tomato Toss

adapted from Pampered Chef

Ingredients

6 slices of bacon (I have to confess I used more than this)

1 qt. chicken broth

3 cups (or 2 small cans) diced tomatoes

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

4 oz. cream cheese (low fat is fine)

12 oz. linguine (I used whole wheat)

1 oz. grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved (or another 1 cup diced tomatoes)

Directions

• Dice bacon. Fry until crisp, remove from skillet and set aside. Pour all but about a tablespoon of bacon grease out of the skillet.
• In the bacon grease left in the pan, cook the onion and garlic until onion is tender.
• Add the 3 cups (or cans) of tomatoes and all of the broth to the onion mixture, and simmer until tomatoes are heated through.
• Add the linguine, cover and simmer about 9-10 minutes.
• Break or cut cream cheese into pieces. Stir into linguine-tomato mixture until melted.
• Stir in the Parmesan cheese, reserved bacon and grape tomatoes.
  
• Garnish with fresh basil if desired.