Eat out at Home—Steak Fajitas

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Main Dish, Quick Meals and tagged with dinner, food, quick meal, recipe, steak fajitas April 17, 2013

Sizzling hot and so pretty, good enough to eat!

Mention fajitas and I can hear that sizzling pan already. Don’t you love that sound when the waiter brings a cast iron pan to your table sizzling with steak, onions and peppers waiting to be wrapped up in a flour tortilla? OK, so we can’t go out as often as we might like to enjoy this kind of food, but how about making it at home! You won’t believe how easy it is to recreate fajitas and other restaurant favorites right in your own kitchen. And there are benefits besides. You’ll save money, perhaps eat more healthfully, AND have it whenever you want it.

Starting with today’s offering, I will be periodically posting a recipe called “Eat out at Home” that will feature a restaurant dish. Hopefully one that many people enjoy, and is universally popular.

This recipe requires only a few ingredients that are readily available: a tender cut of steak, sliced onions, peppers, lime juice, soy sauce, tortillas, and garnishes such as grated cheese, diced tomatoes, cilantro and sour cream. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

SEARED STEAK FAJITAS

YIELD: These amounts serve 2, so adjust accordingly

INGREDIENTS

3/4 pound top round, skirt steak or sirloin tip steak
1 Tablespoons soy sauce (seem strange?, it adds a depth of flavor)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice ( 2-3 fresh limes)
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 large pepper, seeded and thinly sliced (I think red peppers are more colorful than green.)
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
4 tortillas ( corn or flour, your choice), warmed
1/2 cup grated cheese; Jack cheese, cheddar or Mexican Blend are good
1 large tomato chopped, or halved grape tomatoes
cilantro, chopped for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. In a shallow dish or bowl, combine steak, soy sauce, and 1/4 cup lime juice. Refrigerate 1 hour, turning steak several times.

Marinate steak in soy sauce and lime juice.

2. Remove steak from marinade and blot dry with paper towels. Necessary to get a good sear, as moisture will cause the steak to steam rather than fry. Season with salt and pepper. In a heavy skillet — cast iron is best because it can get really hot and hold the heat–heat 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium-high. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the steak and cook about 2 minutes per side for medium rare, or to your taste. It is important to get a nice sear on the steak as that contributes to its flavor. Transfer to a platter, and tent with foil to keep warm.

Have all ingredients cut up and ready to cook.

3. Add a small amount of additional oil to the pan if needed, add the peppers and onion, minced garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until vegetables are crisp-tender, 4 – 6 minutes. Squeeze the juice of half a lime over the top, and lightly mix in.

4. While the vegetables are cooking, warm the tortillas in the oven or microwave. Wrap in foil to keep warm.

5. Thinly slice the steak and serve with the vegetables, tortillas, cheese, tomato and cilantro.

Additional garnishes at the table.

Building the Fajita.

This may not be truly authentic, but it sure is good!

This is what was left!

SOURCE; Martha Stewart, Everyday Foods

Corned Beef Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Quick Meals, Sandwichs and tagged with corned beef, food, grilled cheese, lunch, quick meal, recipe, sandwich April 4, 2013

Grilled Corn Beef and Cheese Sandwich.

Did you know that everyday is some kind of National Food Holiday? And some days celebrate more than one kind of food. I don’t usually pay much attention to this sort of thing because some of them are just plain silly. For instance, you could get pretty tipsy if you celebrate National Mulled Wine Day, or bust a gut for National Nutella Day, or get really greasy fingers on National Fried Chicken Day. See what I mean?

However there is one that I could get into in a big way. I really love grilled cheese sandwiches, and if there was a day to celebrate them, I would eat them all day. Well, SURPRISE! Grilled cheese is so highly regarded it has not just a day, but a whole month devoted to it, and this is it. April is National Grilled Cheese Month. Yea, I am totally in.

If you like corned beef and you love grilled cheese sandwiches, then you are gonna love this sandwich that combines both along with some glazed onions cooked in dark beer. WOW! what a combination.

With some corned beef left from our Irish meal, I made these sandwiches for a weekend lunch. You can make the sandwich anytime using corned beef from the deli, but I used what I had on hand. You start by slowly cooking sliced onion in a little butter with some sugar, salt and pepper, then add dark beer such as porter or stout. Let that cook slowly to condense it into a syrupy liquid. Add the corned beef and heat it up. Then layer up the sandwich, and grill it. Rich, gooey, filling and soooo good.

CORNED BEEF GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH

Worcestershire sauce and whole grain mustard contribute their flavors, too.

MAKES 2

1 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper
3/4 cup dark beer, such as porter or stout
2 ounces deli sliced corned beef, cut into strips
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 1/2 cups grated cheese
4 slices marble rye bread

1. Melt 1/2 Tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sprinkle with the sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden, about 10 minutes.

Cooking the onions with seasonings.

Add the Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and beer and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender and the liquid is slightly syrupy, about 8 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the corned beef.

Corned beef added into the pan.

2. Divide half the cheese between 2 bread slices; top with the corned beef mixture, and the remaining cheese and 2 bread slices.

Layer up the ingredients on the rye bread.

3. Melt the remaining 1 Tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sandwiches and cook, pressing occasionally with a spatula, until the bread is toasted and the cheese melts, about 4 minutes per side, adding more butter to the pan if needed.***

*** I used my panini pan to grill the sandwiches, and instead of using butter to toast them, I spread mayonnaise on the outer sides of the bread. This makes a nice golden toasted sandwich. I read somewhere that chefs in restaurants use mayonnaise for grilled sandwiches, so now I do it, too.

Don’t let the remainder of that beer go to waste, enjoy it with your sandwich.

SOURCE: Food Network Magazine, March, 2013

Corned Beef Hash with Eggs

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Breakfast, Brunch, Main Dish, Quick Meals and tagged with breakfast, brunch, corned beef, eggs, food, hash, potatoes, quick meal, recipe March 26, 2013

Corned Beef Hash with Eggs.

If I am lucky enough to have some corned beef left from our St. Patrick’s Day meal, I like to make corned beef hash. I can remember back to when I was child visiting my grandmother, and she made this same meal in a black cast-iron frying pan. She kept the pieces of potato rather large, almost like home-fries, and they got brown and crusty, along with the meat. She also added any carrot that might be leftover and lots of onion. As she served it, she topped each serving with a poached egg. I loved, loved, loved it. Although I now have and use her cast-iron pan, I can’t seem to quite duplicate what she created. Perhaps over time, my memory has enhanced what it was like, but that is what I aim for whenever I make hash.

This year I was fortunate in having a good-sized piece of corned beef left and I cooked extra vegetables so I could make this hash dish.

CORNED BEEF HASH WITH EGGS

SERVINGS: About 4 servings

WHAT YOU NEED:

3 cups of cooked potatoes, cut into cubes, about 1/2 to 1 inch.
2 Tablespoons olive oil, Or 1 Tablespoon oil and 1 Tablespoon butter; I think it helps brown up the potatoes.
1 onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons Horseradish
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
about 1/2 pound corned beef, cut into pieces about the same size as the potatoes
optional: left over carrots, sliced
1/4 cup heavy cream

WHAT YOU DO:

1. Heat oil in a heavy fry-pan, cast-iron, preferred. Add potatoes, cook until golden in color, 10 – 12 minutes.

2. Add onion, season with salt and pepper. Cook until potatoes and onions are browned, about 5 minutes

Browning the potatoes and onions.

3. Add horseradish and Worcestershire sauce. Stir in corned beef ( and carrots, if using).

Add in corned beef and carrots.

Add cream, drizzling evenly over all.

Pouring in the cream.

Make 4 depressions in the mixture and break an egg into each one. Cover lightly and cook until egg whites are set.

Cook until eggs are set.

Serve each portion of hash with an egg.

SOURCE: Martha Stewart

Shades of Green

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Main Dish, Quick Meals and tagged with Asparagus, dinner entree, Lenten meal, Pasta, quick meal, recipe, Shrimp February 22, 2013

I’m thinking green, people. I don’t mean environmentally green as in recycle, reduce, reuse or regift. I mean the color green, as in grass, spring, shamrocks, emeralds, (woo-hoo, my birthstone!).

Penne with Asparagus and Shrimp

What got me thinking along these lines was a display of fresh asparagus at the supermarket. This vegetable says spring to me like no other so I had to buy some. And then the question, ‘what shall I make with it?’ I pondered: roast asparagus? steamed asparagus with butter sauce? asparagus with eggs? No, even though I like all those dishes, I wanted something more substantial that would make a whole meal. So, remembering that I had a bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer, ( remember my resolution not to forget about foods in the freezer?) I decided on the following recipe for Penne with Asparagus and Shrimp. This is a healthy, hearty, yet easy recipe that is good enough to serve to guests. It also makes a great take-along lunch for the next day.

PENNE WITH ASPARAGUS AND SHRIMP

SERVES: about 4 generously

INGREDIENTS

Beautiful green asparagus, shrimp, onions and garlic.

1 pound penne pasta
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup white wine
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 Tablespoons butter
1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for the table

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the penne and cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes; drain

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and onion, and cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes.

Onions doing their thing.

3. Pour in the white wine, and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in the red pepper flakes, butter, and asparagus;

White wine, butter and asparagus added.

Cook until the asparagus is just tender, about 3 minutes. Add the shrimp and lemon juice, continue cooking until the shrimp have turned pink and are no longer translucent in the center. Season with salt and pepper.

Shrimp, lemon juice, and then pasta added.

4. Toss the cooked penne pasta with the shrimp and asparagus mixture. Sprinkle with parsley and Parmesan cheese to garnish.

This just keeps getting better and better!

Sprinkle on more Parmesan cheese.

Serve with more parmesan cheese at the table to sprinkle on each serving.

SOURCE: AllRecipes.com

Chicken Yakitori Rice Bowl

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Main Dish, Quick Meals and tagged with chicken, entree, quick meal, recipe, rice bowl, snow peas, Yakitori chicken February 20, 2013

Chicken Yakitori

I didn’t know what “Yakitori” was, since I had never had it, but I was willing to experiment with a new recipe. The title was intriguing, and besides that it promised to take only 20 minutes cooking time. On a Friday evening I’m usually looking for a quick-to-fix meal and this one seemed to fit the bill.

I glanced at the recipe initially and knew that I had everything on hand that it called for with the exception of snow peas, so while I was out doing some errands, I stopped at the market to get some. Snow peas are tender and crisp, some with tiny peas inside the shell, but they do have a tough “string” along the side that needs to be pulled off. So to prepare them for the recipe, you need to wash them, then remove the tips and the string. Then each one gets cut in half lengthwise.

Snow peas, trimmed and cut diagonally lengthwise .

The bunch of green onions called for also need to be cut into 1-inch pieces. Therefore you need to plan for some prep time for the vegetables. Once all that is done the rest goes together quickly.

Green onions cut into one-inch pieces

The seasoning in this dish is achieved thru the use of Asian ingredients; soy sauce, mirin (sweet rice wine), rice vinegar and peanut oil. Together they make a pleasant flavoring that is very enjoyable. Mirin is low in alcohol content, and most of it cooks off in this recipe. For a non-alcoholic version, substitute an equal amount of chicken broth and another tablespoon of rice vinegar.

Asian seasonings

CHICKEN YAKITORI RICE BOWL

YIELD: Serves 4

2 ( 3.5-ounce ) bags boil-in-bag basmati rice
1/4 cup lower sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons lower-sodium chicken broth
3 teaspoons peanut oil, divided
1 pound boneless chicken, either breast or thigh meat. ( If meat is thick cut in half lengthwise)
8 ounces snow peas, halved lengthwise diagonally
1 bunch green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

1. Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

2. Combine soy sauce through chicken broth in microwavable bowl. Heat on HIGH for 1 minute to dissolve sugar. Stir, and set aside.

3. Heat a large non-stick skillet or wok over medium heat. Add 2 teaspoons peanut oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken pieces to pan; cook for 3 minutes on each side or until browned.

Lightly brown chicken pieces.

Transfer to a cutting board; cool slightly. Cut into ( 1-inch ) strips.

4. Return pan to medium-high heat; add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to pan. Add snow peas and onions; sauté 2 minutes.

Saute snow peas and onions.

Add soy sauce mixture and chicken to pan;

Add in chicken pieces and soy sauce mixture.

Cook 2 minutes or until liquid is syrupy and chicken is throughly cooked, stirring frequently.

5. To serve, place 1 cup rice in each of 4 shallow bowls; top each serving with 1 cup of chicken mixture.

Serve over rice.

Our assessment of this recipe? Both of us liked it well enough for me to make it again. I am not generally fond of main course foods that are sweet. So for me, it was a little too sweet. Next time I will reduce the sugar to 2 Tablespoons from the 3 called for and I will probably add some matchstick cut carrots to the mix, just to get in another vegetable and for more color.

With some advance planning; i.e. prepping the vegetables the night before and keeping them refrigerated, this meal will go together quickly. In the time it takes to cook the rice, you can have the chicken skillet made.

Chicken Yakitori

Source: Cooking Light, December, 2012

Quesadilla Casserole

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Main Dish, Quick Meals and tagged with dinner entree, quesadillas, quick meal, recipe, Tex-Mex casserole February 15, 2013

Quesadilla Casserole

We really like quesadillas, but for me they don’t hold enough food or variety of food to feel like I’ve eaten a whole meal, To remedy that situation I combined some typical foods found in TexMex dishes with south-western seasonings and flour tortillas into a casserole and baked it. That provided us with a satisfying, filling meal with all the flavor and cheesiness you would expect. I got the idea for this from a recipe on the back of a package of McCormick seasonings. This is what we had for dinner on Super Bowl Sunday. My husband commented that he hoped I would make it often because it contained every thing he likes into one casserole dish.

The product I used for the seasoning is one put out by McCormick Spices. It is a little card with small amounts of different spices needed for a recipe. The recipe is printed on the back so that you can pick up any other ingredients you made need while you are at the grocery store. The spices used here are pretty commonly found in most kitchens so you may already have them. I know I did but I wanted to try the recipe so I bought the card.

The casserole turned out to be quick to make and really good!

You just need a few cans of vegetables; black beans, corn and green chilies, and a large can of tomato sauce.

Add a pound of ground beef, flour tortillas and some cheddar cheese and you will be all set to make an ooey, gooey, cheesy dish of yumminess.

QUESADILLA CASSEROLE

Ingredients probably already in your pantry

YIELD: Serves 6

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried minced onion
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed pepper (optional)
16 oz tomato sauce
1 can ( 15 oz. ) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can ( 8 3/4 oz. ) whole kernel corn, undrained
1 can ( 4 1/2 oz. ) green chilies, undrained
6 flour tortillas ( 8 -inch size)
2 cups shredded cheese; cheddar, Monterey jack, or pepper jack

1. Brown beef and onion in a large skillet on medium high. Add tomato sauce, beans, corn and green chilies. Mix well. Stir in all of the spices except the red pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. Add red pepper if desired.

Combine meat, vegetables, and spices in a large skillet.

2. Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on the bottom of a 13 x 9″ pan, previously sprayed with non-stick spray. Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed. Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture and 1/2 of the cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef an cheese.

Layer in baking dish with tortillas and cheese.

Top with more cheese.

3. Bake at 350*F. for 15 – 20 minutes till heated through and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Top with sour cream and guacamole if desired.

Serve it up, fragrant, cheesy and delicious.

SOURCE: McCormick Seasonings

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Main Dish, Quick Meals, Soups and tagged with chowder, clams, cod, Fish, New England style chowder, quick meal, recipe, seafood, Shrimp, soup January 30, 2013

Frigid, but beautiful.

Right about now, the thermometer reads 7 degrees, with a wind-chill factor of –18*!. We are in a deep freeze and this is day number 6 of it. Brrrrr! What’s a body to do to keep warm? First and foremost, stay indoors. If that’s not possible dress in multiple layers, covering ears, nose and fingertips.

What I love to do in this kind of weather is Make Soup. There is something soothing and warming just in making it, and then simmering away, it promises more warmth and comfort later when you eat it. Since I live in the Northeast, and this area is well known for its creamy New England style clam chowder, what I am making today is a variation of it called Fish Chowder (chowda, as we say).

Creamy New England Fish Chowder

New England style chowder is a cream or milk based soup that always contains potatoes, onions, and clams or other kinds of seafood. You can make it rich and thick using cream, or lighten it up with light cream or milk. I usually make mine with milk to reduce some of the fat, so that I can use bacon and its drippings for additional flavor and to sauté the onions and celery. You may have heard of another kind of chowder that is popular here. It is a clear broth soup served mostly in Rhode Island and parts of southeastern Connecticut. Rhode Island style chowder contains potatoes, clams, onions, lot of seasonings and a clear broth made from clam juice. Everyone seems to have their favorite kind and their own way of making it, believing that theirs is the best.

My recipe is one that I have had for a long time and I think it came from a community cookbook put out by one of the churches in the area. This version is easy to make and we all love it. Top each serving with some crisp bacon bits and a shake or two of hot sauce to add a little spice.

CREAMY FISH CHOWDER

Seafood. potatoes, and bacon crisped.

SERVINGS: about 8

INGREDIENTS:

3 strips of bacon
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large or 2 medium stalks celery
4 cups chicken broth
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 pounds cod or other firm white fish, cut into 1/2″ pieces***
1/4 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning, or to taste
salt to taste
ground black pepper
1 ( 8 0z.) bottle clam juice
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cream, light cream or milk

***I use 1 pound cod or other white fish and then add a can of clams with their juice, some bay scallops and small-medium shrimp to make the other pound of fish.

DIRECTIONS

1. In a skillet, cook the bacon crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels. Set aside till serving.

2. In a large soup pot melt the butter and olive oil, add bacon drippings. Add the chopped onion and celery. Sauté until tender.

Saute onions and celery.

3. Add chicken stock and potatoes; simmer for about 10 minutes.

4. Add the fish, and simmer another 10 minutes.

5. Season to taste with the Old Bay, salt and pepper. Mix together the clam juice and flour till smooth. Stir into the soup. Add the cream or milk and heat but do not boil. When heated through, serve in bowls, topped with bacon bits. Shake on a dash of hot sauce if you like a little spiciness.

Sprinkle with bacon bits to serve.

Enjoy a bowl of hearty hot chowder and stay warm, everyone.

Hearty fish chowder.

A Loaded Panini

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Main Dish, Quick Meals, Sandwichs and tagged with bacon, cheddar, dinner, lunch, Panini grill, panini sandwich, provolone, quick meal, recipe, sandwich, sesame rolls, smoked turkey breast January 15, 2013

By day #4 of not having a refrigerator, I’m really getting to the bottom of the barrel in terms of what I can create for a meal. This is what I have to work with: some deli sliced smoked turkey, sliced cheddar cheese and sliced provolone, a few strips of bacon, and a tomato. Does that sound to you like it could become a sandwich? That’s what I thought, too. EXCEPT we don’t have any bread. So, I had to cheat a little. I stopped at the grocery store and got a few rolls. So for dinner this evening we had Toasted Panini Sandwiches with Sweet Potato chips and pickles.

Grilled turkey, bacon, cheese and tomato panini.

A while ago I treated myself to a Panini//Grill pan. I’m so glad I did. I no longer use the electric sandwich toaster I had been using, choosing now to make grilled sandwiches on the stove top using the panini grill. Plus this grill pan is great for grilling burgers or steaks and chops quickly indoors if you can’t use the outdoor grille. Note that the pan comes with a weighted flat cover that is used to compress sandwiches, or anything else that you want to keep flat as it grills.

Panini Grill Pan

This is a little off today’s subject, but I also have a George Forman Grill that I don’t use. I’m not pleased with the results when I use it. Instead of getting a nice browned sear on meats, mine seem to steam-cook rather than grill. Am I doing something wrong? If anyone reading this has any suggestions for me I’d love to hear them. Thanks.

The rolls I purchased were sesame bulky rolls. So, starting with the rolls, slice each one in half, and spread each cut side with a little mayonnaise. Next start layering in the fillings: thinly sliced turkey breast, as many slices as you like, and sliced cheese.

Sliced turkey and sliced cheese placed on the split rolls.

Then lay on the already cooked bacon slices, and sliced tomatoes. A sprinkle of seasoned salt on the tomatoes is good, or regular table salt.

Lay on the bacon and tomato slices.

Lightly butter the bottom of each roll and place on the heated panini grill pan. Place the flat weight on top of the sandwiches to press them, and toast till nicely browned on the bottom. Now lightly butter the tops and flip over so the top get toasty and browned, the filling continues to heat and cheese melts. Be careful to keep the heat on low or the rolls will become too crisp before the fillings heat and melt.

This is what the sandwiches looked like while grilling,

Sandwiches grilling.

And this is what the finished sandwiches look like:

Plated sandwich with sweet potato chips and pickle.

Note the top side of the sandwich; it has grill markings on it, and the top is nice and toasty. I like to use sesame rolls for this because the sesame seeds get toasted and their flavor is more pronounced. Yum! Wish you could taste this—-it was great.

A great sandwich whether for lunch or a light supper.

Herbed Chicken Parmesan

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Main Dish, Quick Meals and tagged with Broccoli, cheese, chicken, chicken Parmesan, dinner, Pasta, quick meal, recipe, tomato sauce December 28, 2012

Sometimes I am in the mood for a comforting meal that’s filling and delicious, but don’t have a lot of time to prepare it. I’m sure you have the same experience on many occasions. Well, I am alway on the look-out for easy to prepare, quick meals, and when I find ones that look interesting, I dog-ear the page, or tear out the clipping. The problem with me is that I can’t remember where I saw it , or where I put the clipping. I just remember enough to purchase the necessary ingredients, and then go “where did I see that recipe? or,” where did I put that clipping?” I am developing a better system of recipe organization, but that story will wait for another time! This recipe meets all my requirements: quick, easy, well-balanced, not very fancy, but just plain good.

Chicken Parmesan

For the pasta, I recommend Orzo, because it cooks quickly; and tastes good with some sauce over it. To round out the meal add a vegetable like broccoli, which also cooks quickly, and looks great on the plate with the white pasta and red sauce. A side salad would go well with this meal, but not really necessary. I would, however, have a great white wine with it , like a Chardonnay!

Total time to prepare: about 30 minutes. Yield: 4 servings

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 pound chicken breast tenders
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups bottled tomato-basil pasta sauce, or better yet, your own homemade tomato sauce.
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup shredded provolone cheese

Combine 2 tablespoons of Parmesan, breadcrumbs, parsley, basil, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a shallow dish.
Place egg in another shallow dish. Dip each chicken tender in egg, then dredge in bread-crumb mixture.
Melt butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes on each side or until done. Set aside in the pan.
Combine 1/8 teaspoon salt, pasta sauce, vinegar, and pepper in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; vent. Microwave sauce mixture at HIGH for 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
Preheat broiler.
Pour the sauce over the chicken in the pan. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining Parmesan and all of the provolone cheese. Wrap handle of pan with foil, and broil 2 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Chicken Parmesan with Orzo and Broccoli

Source: slightly adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

Shrimp Scampi with Linguine

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Main Dish, Quick Meals and tagged with dinner, linguine, quick meal, recipe, seafood, Shrimp, shrimp scampi December 13, 2012

Shrimp Scampi over linguine is one of those meals that is quick and easy to put together and most everyone likes it. I’ve eaten it in restaurants many times and sometimes it is well seasoned and balanced but I’ve also had it when the philosophy of the restaurant seemed to be ” the more garlic there is, the better”. WRONG! This dish is not about how much garlic you throw on some shrimp and linguine and then serve it swimming in clam broth. It is about the blending of flavors that include shrimp, cooked just until pink, with a light touch of garlic, lemon juice, butter, olive oil, and parsley. Serve over linguine with a good quality Parmesan cheese grated over the top and you have a dish that tells you it’s right after the first bite, when you sigh and say, Ahhhh, good.

This is actually a quick pantry meal, if you keep frozen shrimp in the freezer. In addition to the shrimp you will need a package of linguine or thin spaghetti, a lemon, butter, olive oil, 2-3 cloves of garlic, and fresh flat leaf parsley.

SHRIMP SCAMPI WITH LINGUINE

EVERYDAY ITALIAN, Giada DiLaurentis

A few simple ingredients is all you need.

4-6 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 pound linguine
1 pound medium – large shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 Tablespoons Olive oil,
6 Tablespoons butter
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
pepper to taste
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Parmesan cheese to grate at the table

DIRECTIONS

1. For the pasta, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.

2. Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet, warm the olive oil with the butter over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

Saute garlic in butter and olive oil.

Add the shrimp and cook until pink, about 5 minutes.

Add the shrimp and cook until they are just pink.

Add the salt and pepper, lemon juice, lemon zest, and parsley. Toss to combine.

Add salt and pepper, lemon juice and parsley.

Turn off the heat and add the drained linguine, plus some pasta water; enough to make a loose consistency, but not too juicy.

Add drained pasta and toss to coat.

3. Toss again to coat the pasta with the sauce. Serve immediately, with parmesan cheese to grate onto each serving at the table.

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese over the top.

Delicious on a Dollar

Devoted to the preparation of healthy & economical foods that taste fabulous!

Tag Archives: quick meal

Eat out at Home—Steak Fajitas

Corned Beef Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Corned Beef Hash with Eggs

Shades of Green

Chicken Yakitori Rice Bowl

Quesadilla Casserole

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

A Loaded Panini

Herbed Chicken Parmesan

Shrimp Scampi with Linguine

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