Tomato, Basil, and Brie Pasta

As part of the Wisconsin Whisk group, I willingly participate in the "All Whisked Up" blog challenge. How this works is that I am sent another Wisconsin Whisk member's blog, spend a little time getting to know them and their style and select a recipe to recreate. You can see my previous challenges here and here.

For February, I was provided the Wisconsin From Scratch blog. Sarah is actually one of the founders of Wisconsin Whisk and I have tried a few of her recipes before. She focuses on using fresh, local ingredients in her recipe creations and she also loves the science behind the food, being an engineer. In her more recent posts, she made many Asian inspired dishes. They look great and I hope to make some of them in the future.

But being an absolute pasta fanatic, I selected Tomato, Basil & Brie Pasta as my recipe to recreate. I love all of these ingredients but have never tried Brie in a dinner. My main experience with the creamy cheese is a Brie en Croute that my sister-in-law makes for holidays.

The recipe seemed simple to prepare, which is perfect for my busy schedule lately. Though it was easy to put together, I knew it was going to have great flavor. I chopped up the basil and tomatoes and got those marinating.

The toughest part of this entire recipe is removing the rind from the cheese. I didn't want to lose too much of the cheese so I had to be careful to slice thin. And then just chop it up and add it to the tomato mixture.

I popped a bottle of Rare Red to enjoy with this meal and took a sip or two while the noodles boiled. It was really good for an under $10 bottle of a red blend.

I purchased a loaf of asiago foccacia bread and warmed that up in the oven to serve with the dish. It smelled heavenly when I pulled it out of the oven.

Once the noodles were done, I added the tomato mixture and stirred until the brie was melted by the heat of the noodles. I realized I should have chopped the cheese a little smaller as it took some time to melt, but soon enough it became nice and creamy.

I served up a plate for both myself and my fiance and we sat down to enjoy. Though the cheese flavor was light at first, the tomatoes slightly blistered in the heat and brought great flavor. The basil added a freshness that I long for in winter. I can't wait to either grow my own plants this summer or pick up fresh ones from the farmers market and make this again. It will be even better!

This will definitely go on my "to cook again" list - it was even better as leftovers when the flavors had a little longer to meld. I didn't realize it at the time, but I did purchase light brie cheese--it was all they had at the store. I'm not sure if that affected the flavor, but it can only get better with full fat brie, right?

Wisconsin From Scratch has provided me another successful meal and I can't wait to try more of her recipes soon.

An InLinkz Link-up

Southwest Pasta Dinner in a Hurry

With my life changing in the next few weeks when my guy and his little ladies move in with me, I decided I needed to create more meals in a hurry. I typically eat later at night after I wind down from the work day, but the little ladies eat pretty much right when they get home. So with my guy and I both working full time, I needed to find meals that work in a hurry that are yummy.

I have had a recipe for Southwest Pasta pinned to my The Main Event board on Pinterest. I used this as a base for my meal, but made a lot of adjustments to make the dish go farther and add more flavor.

I doubled the recipe to start and boiled an entire bag of tricolor noodles. Then I browned an entire pound of meat with 1/2 a purple onion. Then I mixed in 3/4 of a can of sloppy joe mix, a can of black beans (drained and rinsed) and a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies. I added some garlic powder and cumin.

Then I added the noodles with the rest of the sloppy joe sauce. This helps break the nood
les apart after they are sitting for a bit. And I added in 1 cup of shredded cheese.

At this point, I served myself up a bit to try. The flavor was amazing but soon the green chilies overpowered my tender taste buds and I wished I had some sour cream in the house.

Alas, I was out, but I found a package of 1/3 less fat cream cheese. I chopped up the block and mixed it into the entire dish. I knew that letting it sit would only increase the flavors so I didn't worry if this was too much.

I added a small bit to my plateful and it turned out perfectly. I am very happy with this dish and maybe using regular diced tomatoes will help bring the heat lower for the little ladies too! But I think this dish will be something they will like. 

This entire meal took about 20 minutes to put together. Boiling the noodles and browning the meat takes the longest, the rest is just opening cans and mixing things together.

Pasta Sarah

A few weeks ago, my creative juices were flowing and I decided to make a pasta dish for dinner. I didn't really know what I wanted to make, so I just grabbed some ingredients out of the fridge and let the magic happen. 

I had some Italian sausages from Sorgs Quality Meats and Sausages so I chopped them up and decided to pan fry them. browned them and made sure they were cooked through and then removed them from the heat and set them on the side.

 I boiled up some Fettuccine noodles in salted water.

 Then I grabbed some zucchini, gold and red cherry tomatoes and chopped them up.

I put them in a pan with a little EVOO and sauteed them for a few minutes. The spinach wilted really nicely.

Then it was time to put it all together. I chose to cut up the sausage a bit more to 1) make more pieces in the dish and 2) make the pieces more bite size. I received a small tasting of Tomato & Basil cheese from World Market and decided to shred it up and add it to the dish.

I added just a bit of the leftover pasta water to keep it from gluing together and then added some grated Parmesan to complete the dish. In a matter of 10 minutes, this meal was done.

This came together really quickly and smoothly and I think the cheese is what made the meal have such great flavor. I'm sure I won't be able to make this meal taste the same again, but I'm really proud of my creativity. I shall call this Pasta Sarah.

Michael's Restaurant

Michael's Italian Restaurant has been a staple in Waukesha for over 35 years. I have enjoyed many meals here since moving to the city and it's one of the places that I make sure to mention when giving food suggestions to friends looking for a good bite in Waukesha. 

My parents, my guy and myself got together for a dinner earlier this year on a Saturday evening. The restaurant was bustling with people but we were able to get a table right away. If we wouldn't, the bar area is nice to wait in. It reminds me of a supper club with mirrors on the walls and seating all the way around the bar. 

My parents are big fans of Michael's pizza and I would have to agree and say it's one of the top pizzas that I have had in Waukesha. My parents ordered a pizza and the antipasto salad to share.  I didn't get a picture of the salad but it's very big and definitely feeds two people with a lot of variety. (From the website: Crisp lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onions, vinegar peppers and olives with salami, pepperoni, and provolone topped with house Italian dressing.) And they chose to order a large pizza so they could take home leftovers. It was delicious as always! 

I just absolutely love pasta and I'm always looking for something different to try. I love their wild mushroom ravioli and the goat cheese ravioli special. I hope they continue that as a special - it was divine. 

This time I chose the Cheese Tortellini with Beef Ragu - Tender slices of  beef  sautéed with garlic, shallots, mushrooms and fresh basil finished with Madeira wine sauce over Tortellini. When it arrived, I knew I made another great choice. The beef was so tender and flavorful and really added to the pasta. The fresh basil and Madiera sauce pulled this plate together wonderfully and I will go on record to recommend this dish to all pasta lovers. 

My guy chose the Blackened Salmon and the this too was a great dish - Sauteed on a bed of  angel hair pasta, drizzled with pesto sauce. The salmon was nice and flaky and the pesto had amazing flavor. This helped counter the blackened spices for me, but my guy thought the fish was perfectly seasoned.

None of us had room for dessert after all this food, but we left so happy with full stomachs and another great memory of Michael's.

Saturday: A Cooking Day

If you follow me on Facebook, you already know that I spent a Saturday cooking up a storm in my house to get meals set for myself for the week.

I had a lot of ingredients to use up in my house and started cleaning out my freezer. I had things in there I didn't even remember buying but am glad that I did.

Every good soup starts with some onions and this Broccoli Cheese was no exception. I found it via Pinterest and decided to try it out. 

 I deviated from the recipe slightly in that I used Half & Half instead of Heavy Cream and added carrots and ham for more flavor. This turned out wonderful!

Then I started organizing my cookbooks and found a recipe for an acorn squash and sweet potato soup. I didn't have acorn squash but had a leftover part of a butternut squash that I needed to do something with. Into the oven with a little EVOO and I roasted those up with  scallions and garlic.

 I had never roasted squash in my oven before and it definitely adds another layer of flavor to the soup. I brought some for lunch today and can't wait to have it.

 Then it was time to make gyro meat in the crockpot. I found the lamb that I bought a few months back and realized now was as good a time as any to cook this up. So simple and the crockpot basically does all the work. Again this recipe was found via Pinterest, but I specifically hunted this one down after having these at a friends.

After two hours in the crockpot, I got a tortilla ready with a cucumber dill greek yogurt dip, pilled on the tomatoes and meat, topped with lettuce and feta cheese and was in business!

It was just as delicious as I remember.

 I also found a packet of Pesto mix that I forgot about. After making it the deliciously fatty way with butter and oil, I saw that you can sub any amount of butter you choose for water to lighten it up. Oh well, you only live once right? It was really tasty and coated my noodles nicely. I had enough for two meals with this and could take some to work then.

 As you can see, all my containers are ready to go for the week - 4 containers or Squash soup, 2 large containers or Broccoli Cheese soup and the chunk of Gyro meat - this girl is set.

Healthy Living Week 1

Week one of healthy eating has come to a close and I briefly wanted to share with you how it's going.

SPECTACULAR

That's about the best word I can sum up to tell you how I'm feeling about things.

1) I haven't had a soda (minus two mixed drinks made with Dt. 7up instead of seltzer) and I think that is realy helping. I have replaced soda with seltzer, flavored water (like Crystal Light) and iced tea. 

2) I have been working out and it's paying off already. I checked out a few DVDs from the library and completed one of them so far. I also found a few workouts on Pinterest and did some squats, pushups, crunches and jumping jacks. I definitely want to increase the length I hold a plank for! That is an additional goal for the next few weeks.

3) I went running!!! It felt so amazing to get back at it after a forced hiatus due to Polar Vortex after Polar Vortex! But I ran up in Appleton and pushed out 2.36 miles without a lot of pain or wheezing. The time wasn't pretty but at least I did it right?

Then I ran on Monday here when it was 50 degrees out. I had to be really careful as there were puddles everywhere, but I made the best of it and had a blast. Again, not a great time but I did it.

Notice the left shoe is darker - soaked!

4) I made plenty of food on Sunday to get me through the week and I'll share two of those recipes now with you. Making food in advance is a great idea. I have a variety for the week and don't get so bored with my choices.

5) I realized that I don't need chips and dip while I am having a few drinks. Popcorn and veggies do the trick as well. They keep the hands busy in between trying to win at Kings Corners, trying to one-up each other with the best song with can find on YouTube, sing along horribly to said songs and enjoying a drink or two.

Looking forward to another week of feeling great, eating healthy, shedding pounds and toning up.

Taco Casserole - idea taken from my cousin using all her leftovers to make an easy dinner.

1 lb. Ground Turkey
1/2 medium onion, finely choppped
3 mini sweet peppers, chopped (or half a red/orange/green pepper)
1 packet Taco Seasoning - low sodium preferred
2/3 cup water
1 tsp. cumin
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup salsa
1 can mexican corn, drained

1 cup uncooked quinoa, cooked to directions on package
3/4 cup cheese, divided
3 dashes of green chile sauce (or any of your favorite hot sauces)

In a large skillet, cook ground turkey over medium high heat until cooked thru. Drain off any grease. Add taco seasoning, cumin, chile sauce, water, onions and peppers and simmer until onions are soft (about 5 minutes)

In a large mixing bowl, add beans, salsa, mexican corn, quinoa and 1/4 cup cheese and mix together. Add the turkey meat mixture and cooked quinoa and stir together.

Transfer contents to a large casserole dish and sprinkle remaining cheese over the top. Cover and place in oven at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until cheese has melted and edges are bubbling.

Makes 6 servings.



Pasta with Asparagus, Cherry Tomatoes and Shrimp
adapted from here

Instead of Penne Pasta, I used Tofu Shirataki noodles. They have always made me curious and now I am a HUGE fan. They taste identical to regular pasta. You do need to rinse them and dry them very thoroughly and then cut them up. But for 20 calories and 3g of carbs per serving, you cannot go wrong!

I only had 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, so I chopped up a Roma and added it to the mix.

And I didn't have fresh basil, so I used Penzey's Pasta Sprinkle and some dried basil in the sauce.

After I finished the recipe and plated, I quickly pan grilled some shrimp with salt, pepper and garlic and placed them on top of the pasta dish.

Voila!

Makes 4 servings but you might need two bags of noodles if you are really into having them in the meal.