Pineapple Casserole

Pineapple Casserole

Last month when our moms came up to visit, my mother-in-law gave us a new cookbook called Mississippi Hometown Cookbook. 

The boys and I read through it and drooled over the delicious sounding recipes.  Of course, a lot of the ingredients are not "figure friendly" (as is the case with most of my Southern cookbooks!), but it's fun to try out new recipes any time!

Brennan spotted a Pineapple Casserole recipe in the "vegetables and other side dishes" chapter and was intrigued why it would be considered a vegetable or side dish instead of a dessert.  I had to agree.  But I like pineapple casserole and hadn't had it in years so we made it last night.  And yes.  It truly is more of a dessert.

I've modified it quite a bit to make it a touch healthier less decadent  :)

I only took the "after" shots.  We had friends in and out and a lot of activity while I was cooking dinner and trying out this new dish.  I'm just glad I remembered these photos!

We drained a can of pineapple (you can use chopped or crushed), and reserved 2 Tbsp of the juice.

We sprayed our casserole dish with Pam and placed the pineapple in the dish.

Then we combined sugar, flour, and cheese and sprinkled it on top.

Finally we mixed the pineapple juice in with melted butter and crushed Ritz crackers (I used whole wheat), and sprinkled it on top.

Baked at 350* for 30 minutes, it was a delicious sweet treat after dinner.

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Enjoy!



Homemade Marinara

Sandy's Homemade Marinara

Pasta with a delicious sauce is such a great dinner, and requires little prep if I have sauce on hand.

The issue is that the boys (who avoid chunky tomatoes and peppers at all costs), don't really care for most of the jarred sauces out there.

I've strained jarred sauces, and I've blended jarred sauces in order to get rid of the chunkiness (I clearly love my children dearly).  It works OK, but I'd rather have a sauce that we all really like, that isn't full of sugar (which the jarred brands are), and is much more delicious.



This recipe comes from Sandy Thomas, Holistic Health Coach (www.zenchoice.com).   In the final healthy cooking class I took with Sandy last month, we made this sauce and enjoyed it with our lunch that day and it was delicious!  I knew I'd make it often.  Sandy recommends keeping one container of the sauce in the fridge and the rest in the freezer to pull out when needed.  If you are local and want more information about Sandy's services, please give me a call!

 

Brennan prepared this sauce mid-morning, and after errands that afternoon, rushed home to stir and taste test.  We seasoned and finished off the sauce that evening while I was making the pan roasted cherry tomatoes. 

 

My recipe is slightly modified from Sandy's original.  This is an easily customizable recipe to your family's tastes.  And because it cooks in the crock pot - it couldn't be easier!

 

We started by sauteing a diced onion in olive oil until tender and translucent (~5 minutes).  Then we added crushed garlic for another minute.

 

We transferred the sauteed vegetables, the cans of crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, dried Italian seasonings, and fennel seeds to the crock pot.  Stirred, and set it to cook on low for 6 hours.

 

 

That evening we tasted it and Brennan thought it needed sweetness.  Per Sandy's recipe we added a tablespoon of honey.  Then we added about 2 tsp of Kosher salt, some fresh black pepper, and a little bit of garlic powder.  Because the sauce was a little took chunky for my family, Brennan used the "soup puree-er" to smooth it out. (see photo above)

 

 

 

We chopped about 1/4 c of fresh basil, and served the pasta over penne.

 

 

Then I divvied up the remaining sauce into 4 containers for the fridge and freezer.  It's so great to have a delicious sauce on hand!

 

Funny Story - the mason who will be repairing our chimney this summer stopped by mid-day.  He was at the front door and I could tell he was kind of distracted.  Finally he said - what are you cooking?  I told him marinara and offered to put some in a container for him to take home.  He shyly turned me down, but I could tell it was hard to do.  The house smelled wonderful all day!

 

Thank you, Sandy, for another delicious recipe!

 

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Buon Appetito!

Pan Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

London Reid's

Pan Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

I saw this recipe on the London Reid blog a couple of weeks ago and decided to try it out.

I was making a new marinara sauce for dinner last night, and thought this would be great as another topping for pasta.

I knew the boys wouldn't eat it, so I only made enough pan roasted tomatoes for David and me, and maybe some lunch leftovers - but no chance.  They were all gone.

I had all the ingredients on hand, and the dish was delicious, and so so simple!

I placed a mixture of cherry tomatoes that I had on hand in a skillet and drizzled them with olive oil.

I heated the tomatoes on medium for a couple of minutes.

Then I added minced garlic, Kosher salt, and some julienned fresh basil leaves.

Sorry for the blurry photos.  Perhaps too many things going on at once in the kitchen...

After about 12 minutes, the tomatoes were softened and starting to burst a little, so I knew the were ready.  I added a little extra basil and transferred them to a serving dish.

This looks like too much basil, but is there such a thing??

The tomatoes were really, really good on the penne!

And the smell of olive oil, garlic, and basil cooking in the kitchen was Heavenly!!

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Buon appetito!



Roasted Cauliflower with Ras el Hanout Tahini Sauce

Roasted Cauliflower with Ras el Hanout Tahini Sauce

This recipe in Vegetarian Times (June 2012) caught my eye because I have a jar of Tahini that I keep on hand for hummus, but would like to use it more often. 

I purchase this brand at Kroger.

As is often the case with my recipe choice for the evening, I had cauliflower that I needed to use up, so this recipe was perfect!

The only issue was I had no idea what Ras el Hanout was, so I googled it.

It's a Moroccan spice blend, and that intrigued Brennan.  I took a chance that our Spice/Vinegar/Olive Oil specialty shop might have it, but she did not.

So we found the recipe online here, and I put Brennan in charge of making the spice blend.

Ras el hanout means "top of the shop" in Arabic, meaning that the vendor's top spices would go into this mixture.  According to research online, every chef has his/her own ras el hanout recipe with 10-100 spices in the mix. 

I then cleaned and chopped the cauliflower into florets and coated it with olive oil, tahini, and ras el hanout.  Then I roasted the coated cauliflower at 400* for 20 minutes.

While the cauliflower was cooking I made the Tahini Sauce from tahini, lemon juice, and more ras el hanout. 

Just before serving, you drizzle the sauce over the cauliflower and garnish with lemon wedges.

We liked this dish, except for Brennan.

He likes cauliflower a lot and I think the flavors took away the cauliflower flavor (which is OK for some!)

This is a dish the rest of the family would like to have again though.

One note - the Tahini Sauce that you drizzle on top as you're plating is not necessary, but it's good.

If you just coated the cauliflower in the olive oil, tahini, and ras el hanout before roasting it, I think that would be enough flavor.  Maybe a little sprinkle of lemon juice. 

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بالهنا والشفا

(Arabic for Bon Appetit!)



Baked Fish with Carrot and Leek Puree

Gillian McKeith's

Baked Fish with Carrot and Leek Puree

Last week I bought a leek on impulse, and realized last night I needed to use it soon.

I found this recipe in my new You Are What You Eat cookbook by Gillian McKeith and thought I'd try it out since I had all the other ingredients on hand!

I started by cleaning and chopping 4 carrots and a leek.

In case you weren't aware, leeks are very dirty inside so they need to be cut open lengthwise and rinsed well.

Then I added a vegetable bouillon cube.

I buy this brand at Kroger, and really like it.

I just barely covered the vegetables with boiling water, then let it simmer with the top on for 10 minutes or so, until the carrots were tender.

Then I pureed the vegetables and broth using my handy handheld blender ("soup puree-er" Brennan calls it).  My mom got me this for Christmas a couple of years ago and I love it.

At the same time I seasoned tilapia with salt and pepper and cooked it at 400* until flaky - about 10 minutes.

Then I cooked frozen garden peas in boiling water for about 3 minutes.

I drained them, reserving 1 Tbsp of the liquid, and tossed the peas with olive oil and cleaned, chopped fresh mint.  Thomas would like me to point out that he went outside in the rain to pick the mint from our pots.  Such a helper.

I seasoned the peas with a little Kosher salt and black pepper, then I smashed the pea mixture up a little with the back on my spatula.

To plate the dish you place some of the carrot and leek puree on the plate. 

Then lay a piece of fish on top, then top off with your peas.

I was really surprised with how well this dish went over. 

The carrot and leek puree was really delicate and flavorful.

Everyone in my family loves tilapia, so I knew that would be an easy sell.

And the peas were really tasty.

No leftovers at all!

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Enjoy!