Ravioli Toss

November 12, 2010 at 11:32 am (Main Dish)
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Ingredients

    2 (9-ounce) packages refrigerated whole-wheat four-cheese ravioli
    2 cups (2-inch) cut green beans (about 1/2 pound)
    2 tablespoons olive oil
    2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
    4 plum tomatoes, chopped (about 1 pound)
    1 garlic clove, minced
    1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
    1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    1/4 cup (1 ounce) shaved fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Instructions

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and oil. Add beans to pasta during last 5 minutes of cooking. Drain.
2. Combine remaining ingredients (through garlic) in a large bowl. Add pasta mixture, salt, and pepper; toss gently to combine. Top with cheese.

Number of Servings: 6

 

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Green Chile-Black Bean Chicken

February 15, 2009 at 10:21 pm (Main Dish)
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This is another recipe from Rhiannon’s impulse buy cookbook magazine, so I officially declare it worth the money and will stop teasing her about buying a freakishly expensive magazine.  We actually made this dish a couple of weeks ago, but I forgot to post the recipe even though we decided it would get added to the meal rotation.   We had it again tonight, and it’s actually so quick and easy that I didn’t start the water for the vegetables before the chicken started and had to wait for green beans to cook–and green beans don’t take long to cook –that’s how quick and easy this recipe is.  The chiles don’t really make this all that spicy, so don’t worry if you’ve never cooked with them before–they are actually pretty mild and just give it good flavor without too much heat.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
3/4 cup onion
salt and pepper to taste
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 4.5-ounce can green chiles, undrained

Instructions

1.  Cut up chicken and onion and cook in a skilled coated in cooking spray until chicken is no longer pink, about 7 minutes.
2.  Add black beans, tomatoes, and chiles to pan, and cook until heated, about 2 minutes.
3.  Serve with cilantro, cheese, and/or sour cream.

Yield: 4 servings (1 1/2 cups each)

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Chili Pasta with Beans

February 3, 2009 at 10:39 pm (Main Dish)
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Source:  January/February 2009 issue of Cooking Light.

We thought we made this dish tonight, but in writing down the recipe, I see that we were quite challenged in following directions–I cooked the pasta first and we forgot to add the tomato sauce.   Whatever it was we cooked was good though, and we have a giant container of leftovers.  It was just the slightest bit over the level of spice that I like in my food, but I’m a bad judge of spiciness since even green peppers send me running for the Tums.  Rhiannon didn’t think it was too hot at all and requested that I add the recipe to the site.

Other than not reading the directions, we made one intentional change and one assumption that didn’t affect the final recipe in a negative way:

  • we substituted 99% lean ground turkey for the sirloin
  • our guess is that diced tomatoes with chiles are like Rotel.

Yield

6 servings (serving size: about 1 1/3 cups)

Ingredients

  • 1  tablespoon  canola oil
  • 3/4  cup  chopped onion
  • 3/4  pound  ground sirloin (we substituted 99% lean ground turkey breast)
  • 4  teaspoons  chili powder
  • 1  teaspoon  ground cumin
  • 1  teaspoon  dried oregano
  • 2  cups  water
  • 3/4  teaspoon  salt
  • 6  ounces  uncooked ruote (about 2 1/4 cups uncooked wagon wheel–shaped pasta)
  • 1  (15-ounce) can no-salt-added pinto beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1  (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with green chiles (such as Muir Glen), undrained
  • 1  (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
  • green onions for topping
  • shredded cheddar cheese for topping

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and beef to pan; cook 4 minutes or until onion is tender and beef is browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in chili powder, cumin, and oregano; cook 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups water and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 18 minutes or until pasta is done.

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Turkey Picadillo

January 28, 2009 at 11:15 pm (Main Dish)
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After the recent grocery store impulse buy, I’m glad to announce we have been able to get our money’s worth out of the Weight Watchers-5 ingredient, 15 minutes cookbook.  Tonight we tried a recipe for turkey picadillo.  Picadillo is a traditional Latin American dish, usually made with beef and tomatoes.  They suggest serving this inside a tortilla or spooning it over brown rice–we went with the rice option. The final verdict was that this is really easy and very good, if not all that different from other taco filling type dishes.  It tastes a lot like one of the Mexican flavor Hamburger Helpers, a good thing in this house actually.  But with like 1000% less sodium and not from a box.

I can imagine adding black beans and onions to this recipe with little extra effort or money, yielding nice flavors and more leftovers.  That might not make it a picadillo anymore, but we probably already made it not a picadillo by not putting the raisins in.  Raisins are not on Rhiannon’s list of approved foods, and they even creep me out a bit in this dish.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pounds ground turkey breast (we used 93% lean since it’s easier to find and cheaper than 99% and  it’s still better for you than most beef)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 (15-ounce) can seasoned diced tomato sauce for chili (I found chili ready diced tomatoes, so I guess that’s what they mean)
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup raisins
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/4 cup presliced green onions

Instructions:

1.  Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat; add turkey and cumin.  Cook 7 minutes or until turkey is browned, stirring to crumble.  Stir in tomato sauce and next 4 ingredients (all but green onions if you’re counting); bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with green onions (we added a bit of leftover shredded cheddar cheese too).

Yield:

Four 1-cup servings.

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