Steamed Salmon and Zucchini

Steamed Salmon and Zucchini

Zucchini is my all-time favorite vegetable. I know it may be strange, but its just so delicious and versatile that it gets my vote. My closest friend constantly kids me about this but I take it in stride as its always on my shopping list and I'm known to always have it in the house. 

Its a flavorful, low calorie vegetable that can be used as a substitute for pasta. 

Below, is a great dinner that is short on prep time but long on taste and presentation. 

Try it, you will certainly appreciate the ease of the before(prep), during(eating) and after(clean-up)!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

• 1 onion, thinly sliced

• coarse salt and ground pepper

• 1 salmon fillet (6 to 8 ounces)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fold a piece of parchment paper in half to crease it; open, and lay it flat.
2. On one side of crease, place zucchini; top with onion.  Drizzle with olive and season with salt and pepper. Place salmon on top; season with salt and pepper.
3. To close, fold parchment over salmon; to seal the open sides and tuck the edges underneath; place wrapped salmon on a lined baking sheet; bake for 18 minutes, remove from oven, let rest 10 minutes and serve. 

Enjoy!

Crock Pot Chicken Teriyaki

Chicken in any form is always a hit and keeps them coming back for more.
The recipe below is one of the easiest crock pot recipes that is always delicious!!

Crock Pot Chicken Teriyaki

1 pound sliced boneless chicken 

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 garlic cloves 

2 tablespoons corn starch

Directions

Place chicken in bottom of crock pot 

In separate bowl whisk together remaining ingredients except cornstarch, pour over chicken

Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low 6-8 hours

When chicken is cooked through remove crock-pot cover, stir corn starch into chicken and sauce until combined

Let cook until sauce thickens

Serve  with rice and green beans 

Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

My family loves soup!  It's a great way to start off any meal and sneak some extra veggies into the kids.  One of their favorites is butternut squash soup.  I love roasting the veggies first because it adds a real depth of flavor.

This recipe makes a big pot of soup, feel free to half or make it all and freeze the leftovers, they reheat wonderfully.

Ingredients:

2 32 oz boxes of cut butternut squash - I buy them at Costco
2 large onions chopped
2 green apples, peeled and chopped
64 oz of chicken or vegetable stock
8 oz apple juice
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lay butternut squash, onions and apples on baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast for 45 minutes until edges start to brown and caramelize.  Remove from oven and put into large stock pot.  Add broth and apple juice.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and use and immersion blender to puree until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3 Ingredient Dinners

Today I am just not in the mood to cook dinner, but I have a hungry hubby and starving kids to feed! So I'm going to make easy, no effort, ready in minutes food to feed the troops.


Ravioli Lasagna

Take frozen ravioli.  Layer them in a 9 x 13 pan.  Cover with 1 jar marinara sauce.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake in 350 oven until cooked.  DONE!!

Sausages with peppers and onions

Tonight I'm using the Trader Joe's meatless sausages.  Slice them diagonally.  Chopped up 1 red and 1 yellow pepper and 1 onion.  Add them all to a frying pan with EVOO and sauté until cooked through.
FINI!

Easiest dinner ever!

 

Pesach Rolls

It seems that the family is always hungry on Pesach and looking for something to eat.  I'm an early riser, so every morning I make a fresh batch of these rolls and they enjoy them for breakfast with cream cheese, butter and/or jelly or for lunch with tuna, egg salad or cold cuts.

They are most delicious fresh out of the oven!

Ingredients

1/2 cup oil
1Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
2 cups matzo meal
4 eggs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
In saucepan, bring water to a boil.  Add oil, sugar and salt and bring back to a boil.  Lower heat to low, add matza meal and beat vigorously over low heat until bater leaves the sides of the pan - I prefer to use a wooden spoon for this - takes a minute or two.
Remove from heat.
Beat in eggs, 1 at a time.

Shape into 8-10 balls 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 1 hour until golden brown.

Passover Blondies

Passover Blondies - YUMMY!

Let's talk about the P word - while like to Procrastinate unfortunately there is no time left - Passover is soon approaching and we need to start cooking!

The first few years of my marriage - we were lucky enough to spend Passover with both sets of our parents in many Catskill and Pocono Passover programs - I'm sure I am dating myself because most of these programs don't exist anymore - now there are exotic places and destinations for Passover programs - such as Italy, Spain, Vienna, Africa - anywhere you can dream of and far beyond the Catskill region. While the food is both plentiful and delicious, there is clearly no place like home.

The following recipe is a staple at our house now that we have been spending the holiday at home for the past fifteen years. I can honestly say that I have made this recipe at least 100 times. I am sure it will be come a family favorite of yours as well.

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup oil
3 tsp. vanilla
1 cup potato starch
3 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup ground almonds
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350.
Mix the eggs, sugar and oil.
Add the vanilla extract, potato starch, baking powder and ground nuts.
Pour this batter into a lined or sprayed 9x13 inch baking pan.
Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips. Push them down part way into the batter.
Bake for 45 minutes until it is done in the center.
Cut into squares when cool.