Tortilla Roll-ups

Here's two of my favorite roll-up recipes - Mexican chicken and Italian roll-ups.  They're a great appetizer for a party, or you can slice them in bigger halves for lunch or a picnic.

Mexican Chicken Roll-ups

Source

Ingredients:
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 1/3 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 ½ tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
4 green onions, chopped
10 oz. can Rotel, drained
cayenne pepper to taste
salt to taste
half a bunch of cilantro, chopped (optional)

2 packages burrito sized tortillas

Directions:
-Mix filing ingredients together.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Spread 2 heaping spoonfuls of filing on each tortilla.  Roll up and cut into slices.

Italian Roll-ups

Source:  Midwest Living

Spread:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tablespoon chives
1 tablespoon chopped green onion
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, crushed
Salt and Pepper to taste

For wraps:
Ham
Salami
Pepperoni
Tortillas

Combine all ingredients for spread.  Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.  Let come to room temperature, spread a heaping tablespoon over each tortilla and layer with choice of meats.  Roll up and slice.

Pineapple Cheeseball

This is a really yummy cheeseball.  The flavors are so different and unexpected and it's very addicting.  It doesn't really have a name; I'm just calling it the pineapple cheese ball.  Anywho, it would be a great appetizer for all the holiday parties coming up!

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
small can crushed pineapple, drained (8 oz. I believe)
½ green bell pepper, diced small
2 green onions, chopped small
4 oz. diced pimento, drained
1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Combine all ingredients and chill in refrigerator.  It gets even better the longer it sits.  You can shape it into a ball or serve in a bowl with good snack crackers.

Source

Cajun Chicken Pasta

This is a great fall recipe; one of my favorites.  A mix of Cajun and Italian - who doesn't love that?  I made this last Sunday while we were watching the Cardinals.  It's also a really quick and easy weeknight meal.  I was surprised that I've never put it up on the blog because I make it a lot during the fall and winter.  Oh well.  Here it is now!

Courtesy of Emeril

Ingredients:

1 pound linguine pasta (I had spaghetti on hand and it worked just fine)
1-1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning (I use Slap Ya Mama!)
salt
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped habanero pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1½ cups Half n Half
1 cup canned diced tomatoes
½ cup white wine
½ cup parmesan cheese
chopped green onions, for garnish
chopped parsley, for garnish

Directions:

1. Cook pasta in a large stock pot according to package directions.
2. In a large skillet set to medium-high heat, add butter and olive oil.  Once butter has melted, add chicken and season with 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning and salt to taste.  Sear chicken until brown and cooked through.  Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Add onions and habaneros to pan and saute until lightly caramelized, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add wine, Half n Half, tomatoes, remaining tablespoon Cajun seasoning, and reserved chicken to the pan.  Cook until sauce is slightly reduced, about 2 minutes.
4. Add pasta to the sauce and toss with parmesan.  Serve with green onions and parsley.

Chipotle Chicken Tortilla Soup

Well, it is officially fall, and you know what that means....soup time!  Chicken Tortilla is one of my favorite soups so I decided that should be the first one I make this season.  This is a different recipe than I normally use, but I decided to try it because it uses those canned chipotle chilis that I love so much.  I always seem to have some extra I need to use up.  This soup is so so good and was really fast to prepare.  I cooked my chicken the night before so that made it even faster.  It is really spicy though, spicier than I thought it would be; but I don't mind spicy food, so something to think about if you don't like things really hot.  Maybe only use one chipotle.

Based off of Rachael Ray

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
4-8 cups chicken broth, depending on how soupy you like (I use closer to 8 cups because I like a thinner soup)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 chipotles in adobo, plus 2 teaspoons sauce
28 ounces canned fire-roasted tomatoes (I used diced)

For Serving:

Crushed Tortilla Chips
1 Lime, cut into wedges
Shredded Cheese
Sour Cream
Chopped Onion
Chopped Cilantro

Directions:

1.  In a soup pot, heat olive oil and cook onion and garlic for 5 minutes then stir in chipotles and tomatoes.
2.  Add in chicken and broth.
3.  Serve with crushed tortilla chips, shredded cheese, a squeeze of lime, and any other toppings you like.

DElish!

Penne with Five Cheeses

Original Source:  Ina Garten
Printable Recipe

Oh man.  This. Was. Good!  Who would have thought this dish was so easy and quick?!  Hubs liked it so much, he had his first serving and then started eating some more right out of the baking dish! 

I was a little concerned what the blue cheese would taste like in this dish, but it really wasn't overpowering since there is only 1/4 cup.  You can't really taste it at all, just an extra little salty bite.

I may add some chicken or sausage to it next time to make it more of a meal in itself.  We served this on the side of some grilled chicken. 

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• 2 cups heavy cream - I used Half n Half
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes in thick tomato puree - I used 2 cups
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano (1 1/2 ounces)
• 1/2 cup shredded imported Italian fontina (1 1/2 ounces) - I used Asiago
• 1/4 cup crumbled Italian Gorgonzola (1 1/2 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
• 1/4 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced - I shredded
• 6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1 pound imported penne rigate pasta
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
       
Bring 5 quarts of salted water to a boil in a stockpot.
       
Combine all the ingredients except the penne and butter in a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
       
Drop the penne into the boiling water and parboil for 4 minutes. Drain well in a colander and add to the ingredients in the mixing bowl, tossing to combine.
 
Pour mixture into a 9x13 casserole dish. Dot with the butter and bake until bubbly and brown on top, 7 to 10 minutes.

Chicken and Biscuits

Or, Chicken Pot Pie minus the Pie
Adapted from Southern Living, Feb. 2011

Printable Recipe
Ingredients

• Frozen or refrigerated biscuits
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 ½ cups frozen cubed hash browns
• 4 cups chopped cooked chicken, I used a rotisserie chicken
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup chicken broth
• ½ cup white wine
• 1 package cream cheese (you may not need the whole package, I only used about ¾ of it)
• 1 packet Italian dressing mix (I only used a little over half of the packet, season to taste)
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

Directions

1. Bake biscuits according to package directions.
2. In a large skillet, sauté onion in oil over medium-high heat until golden.  Add in hash browns and cook 5 minutes until slightly browned and heated.  Add chicken and next 5 ingredients, stirring frequently until cheese is melted and everything is thoroughly heated.  Stir in vegetables and cook 2 minutes until heated through.
3. Serve over biscuits.

This is a great quick and easy weeknight meal.  Very warm and comforting like Chicken Pot Pie, but in half the time!  Hubs really enjoyed it too, he had 2 big servings. That's always a good sign!

What’s for dinner?

This yummy, summery corn and tomato pizza!

I also made one with corn, chicken and red onions!

Jerk Chicken

Another great summertime meal!  Healthy too! 

I marinated my chicken overnight, so this was really quick to (have my hubs) throw on the grill after work.  (I haven’t figured the grill out yet.)

Printable Recipe

Source:  Paula Deen

For the marinade:

Combine the following in Food Processor and pulse until fairly smooth-

1 small onion – about 2 cups

5 cloves garlic

2-3 habanero peppers – however hot you want it

2 tsp. allspice

½ tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. ginger

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

1½ tsp. pepper

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Marinate 8 chicken breasts, for at least 4 hours or overnight, in the following:

Jerk marinade (reserve a little bit to brush on the chicken while its grilling)

1 cup fresh lime juice - about 6 limes

Grill the chicken until done (ours took about 15 minutes per side on our smoker).  Or you can bake in the oven at 350° for 45 minutes – 1 hour.

I served the chicken with Mango Salsa (or Pineapple Salsa is also really good) and Cilantro Lime Rice, and some steamed zucchini.

Mango Salsa

Printable Recipe

Source:  Bobby Flay

Combine in a small bowl:

2 mangoes, small diced

½ red onion, diced

1 jalapeno pepper

2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

3 Tbsp. lime juice

3 Tbsp. orange juice

Season with salt and pepper

For pineapple salsa, use 1 can pineapple tidbits drained, or 2 cups fresh diced pineapple instead of mangoes.  Skip the orange juice.

Cilantro Lime Rice

Source:  Joelen’s Culinary Adventures

2 cups hot cooked rice

Add in:

¼ cup lime juice

chopped cilantro

Tortellini with Prosciutto and Peas

Please excuse the picture, I guess I’m a messy eater!  But this was TAST-E!  Another fast recipe…this is from the “Weeknight Cooking” section from Food Network Mag.  Easy cleanup too.  Can’t beat that.  Because by the time I get off work and exercise, I don’t feel like making some time consuming thing with all kinds of steps.  But these quick meals are good and still kinda healthy…well healthier than order pizza or having mexican every night!  I did use Half & Half instead of cream, come on!  Plus there’s peas and we had a salad.

Source:  Food Network Magazine, April 2010

Printable

Ingredients:
1 lb. meat-filled tortellini, I used one with chicken
olive oil
4 oz. prosciutto, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
I also added ½ onion, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
¼ cup heavy cream (I used Half n Half)
1 cup frozen peas
½ cup parmesan cheese

1. Boil water in a large pot and cook tortellini according to package directions.
2. Cook prosciutto (and onions) in olive oil until crisp, 3 or 4 minutes.  Add garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant.  Add in a cup or so of the pasta cooking water and cream and simmer for 3 or 4 minutes. 
3. Drain tortellini and mix with the sauce.  Add in the defrosted peas, the pasta and sauce will heat them.  (I usually set mine out on the counter while I'm cooking so they're pretty much defrosted.)  Sprinkle in the parmesan.

Tasty Sositch Skewers

With couscous. 

This was a super quick and easy dinner and it was awarded the Cal Seal of Approval.  So you know it was good!     

Printable Recipe

Pesto:
¼ cup fresh parsley
¼ cup fresh cilantro
4 scallions, rough chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
S&P

1.  Puree the parsley, cilantro, scallions, olive oil and vinegar in a blender or food processor.  Season with s&p.

For the Skewers:

1 package smoked sausage, cut into 1" pieces
2 bell peppers (red, yellow, or orange), cut into 1" pieces
1 red onion, cut into 1" pieces
1 cup cherry tomatoes
Olive oil, S&P

2.  Toss the sausage, peppers, onions and tomatoes in a bowl with a little olive oil, s&p.  Thread onto skewers, alternating sausage and vegetables.  Grill for 10-15 minutes, turning occasionally.  Brush the skewers with some of the pesto while grilling.

1 box couscous
3 scallions, chopped

3.  Cook the couscous according to package directions.  Save a little of the pesto for a dipping sauce, and mix the rest into the couscous.  Season with s&p.  Also mix in the chopped scallions. 
4.  YUM!  This would be really good with chicken or steak too.  I also made a side salad.

Source:  Food Network Magazine, April 2010