Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Last week I must have been in a Mediterranean Mood.

I made Mediterranean Chicken Salad and this Mediterranean Pasta Salad. I was looking for a recipe that was easy and flavorful and after looking through quite a few sites I stopped at RecipeZaar. My biggest regret with this is that I forgot to buy fresh basil and parsley so I was stuck using dried. Don't get me wrong, this was absolutely fabulous and full of flavor, but I can just imagine what fresh herbs would have done.

Besides the flavor from the dressing, I loved the all the veggies and feta, it was just so good. (sadly I didn't get a good shot of the veggies. Believe me, it was very pretty!) Oh and the artichokes, I just love artichokes. The process of making this is easy but long, it's not something to just throw together after work and eat for dinner. That's kind of a pain but it really allowed the flavors to marry. We had this the first night on a Tuesday and it lasted the rest of the week for lunches and dinner. The next gathering we go to I will definitely bring this. I think it will be a big hit with a crowd! It would also be wonderful with some chicken or steak - something I will definitely add next time.

Easy Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Source: RecipeZaar




1 lb shell pasta, cooked al dente, drained well, and tossed with 2 tbs olive oil (I used campanelli and didn't use 2tbsp olive oil, that just seemed ridiculous. I drizzled a tiny bit on the pasta and then tossed it)
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1 cup cucumber, chopped
1 cup zucchini, chopped
1 medium yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
Handufl of grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup pitted kalamata olive chopped (omitted, I don't like olives)
1 (4 ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and cut into quarters
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 (1 1/2 ounce) envelope tomato basil soup mix
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 cup crumbled feta cheese





In a large serving bowl, toss together the pasta, onion, cucumber, bell peppers, celery, olives, and artichoke hearts.

Refrigerate the salad up to 24 hours In a medium glass mixing bowl, whisk together the oils, vinegar, soup mix, black pepper, basil, parsley, and feta until well blended. (I only added 1/2 cup of the feta, I wanted some to crumble on top when I served the salad)

Pour 1 cup of the dressing over the salad and toss Refrigerate the salad for at least 6 hours.
When ready to serve, toss the salad with the remaining dressing.

Just for Nikki...

I received a comment on facebook today mentioning the fact I haven't blogged in forever. So thanks to Nikki I'm blogging.


We've been very busy traveling for Christmas and New Years since my family and my husband's family are both out of town. I've also been busy playing with my new kitchen goodies and trying to relax. My fav food related gifts:


Cuisinart 7 Cup Food Processor
An awesome food scale that weighs food and also gives the nutritional value.


I've become obsessed with weighing EVERYTHING. Who knew calorie counting could be so fun. I got some smaller kitchen gadgets too and I have some BB&B gift cards that are just burning holes in my pockets.


Anyhow, my friend Jamie gave me the Hungry Girl cookbook. I'm sure most of you know of HG. If not, go to her website. The book is full of easy low fat and low calorie recipes. Depending on who you ask, they aren't all exactly healthy seeing as she recommends lots of fat free/imitation type of ingredients. (She's not a nutritionist... just hungry!) I know for some people this is great while others would prefer using real ingredients. I'm right smack dab in the middle of this. My diet usually consists of both. I real ingredients like Butter as opposed to that mysterious margarine. But, I might eat a 100 Calorie Pack to satisfy a craving. In the future, I'm not sure if I'll follow every recipe to a T, but I'll definitely use it as a guide. The book is also good for portion control. It seems most of the recipes are for 1-5 servings. HG also includes little facts about food that will make you think twice before stuffing your face with a huge platter of nachos at the next happy hour.


I've tried a couple recipes and they've been pretty good. My favorite so far is the Big Fat Greek Pita. It's perfect for lunch. My lunches usually consist of some sort of raw veggie/hummus/pita type of concoction. This was a great way to change it up without ruining my eating habits for the day.


Big Fat Greek Pita
Source: Hungry Girl Book


Image from HG Newsletter 10/26/06


Ingredients


1 Whole wheat (or high-fiber) pita
2 oz fat-free plain Greek Yogurt
1 small onion - sliced
1/2 cup sliced red and green bell peppers
2 cups fresh spinach
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
S&P, oregano, and garlic powder, to taste
Optional: Red Pepper Flakes


Directions


In a small dish, combine yogurt with salt, pepper, oregano and garlic powder (season to taste). Add red pepper flakes for a super-spicy pita.


In a pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, cook onions and peppers over medium heat for 5 – 7 minutes.


Add spinach and tomatoes, and cook until spinach wilts


Remove from heat, and mix veggies with yogurt sauce. Cut pita in half and stuff with veggie mix

Homemade Marinara

It's official, I've become one of "them". The people that swears they will never buy another jar of marinara because homemade is just so easy and tastes so much better! My cousin gave us a bunch of tomatoes a few weeks ago. I noticed a few of them started to go bad, so I decided to make a some marinara while the majority of them were still good.

I turned to my good friend Jules because I remember her fabulous garden from the summer and have heard many rave reviews about how delicious her homemade marinara is. Especially at 3am. Sadly, some of us pass out right before the spaghetti is served. ;)

Anyhow, her recipe isn't exact and that's what I love about it. I used what I had on hand and it turned out wonderfully. Much better than Ragu and so easy. I stuck this in the freezer for future use, but I can not wait to try it over a big bowl of pasta. The few taste-tests I had while it was simmering exceeded my expectations and the hubster agreed!

Julie's Garden Fresh Marinara Sauce
Source: Jules



Ingredients:

Lots of tomatoes
Green Onions
Garlic
Herbs: I used Fresh Basil and Parsley and dried Oregano and Garlic Salt.
Salt & Pepper
Tomato Paste (if after cooking for awhile, the sauce does not thicken up for you, add a few Tbsp of tomato paste)


Blanch tomatoes & let cool. Then peel, degut, squeeze & dice the tomatoes. In a large pot, heat some olive oil & saute the onions & garlic. Add the tomatoes & remaining ingredients. Bring to boil, then reduce hit & simmer for at least an hour. Check the consistency & taste, adjust accordingly.

Comfort Food

With my leftover cheese from fondue night, I decided to make the most perfect fall comfort food: macaroni and cheese. Usually I have a hard time figuring out what to do with the left over Gruyere and Emmentaler and that stuff isn't exactly cheap so I hate for it to go to waste.

I based my recipe on Ina Garten's Grown Up Mac and Cheese. A recipe I spotted on quite a few blogs last month for Barefoot Bloggers. The result was phenomenal! I especially loved the hint of nutmeg in the dish - delish! I decided this is definitely a mac and cheese that would be ok to serve to company. :)

Macaroni and Cheese
Adapted from: Ina Garten



Vegetable oil
Kosher salt
2 cups shells
1 3/4 - 2 cups milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Gruyere, Emmentaler, and Sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (Combined, mine equaled a little over 2 cups.)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch nutmeg
Grated Colby Jack Cheese to taste
Panko Bread Crumbs to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. Melt the butter in a medium pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or 2 more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, Emmentaler, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well.

Pour into a 2 1/2 qt baking dish. Sprinkle Colby Jack Cheese over top of pasta, sprinkle bread crumbs over top Colby-Jack Cheese. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

Success!

I owe my friend Julie big for our fabulous meal last night. It featured her delish Chicken Enchiladas and her no fail fabulous Mexi-Rice. I'm a huge fan of minute rice. I just suck at regular rice, but this my friends, was a success. It's not only very good, but it's so easy. I made a few modifications and think this would just be great with some chopped red peppers in it too. I can't wait to have leftovers tonight for dinner!

Julie's No Fail Mexi-Rice
Source: Julie



1 Cup uncooked long grain white rice
2 Cup chicken broth
1/2 Cup tomato sauce
1/4 Cup chopped onion
1 can diced green chiles (I used two fresh green chiles - diced)
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbs vegetable oil
Cumin, chili powder, salt to taste
Fresh cilantro to taste

1. Heat oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add rice, onion, chiles, and garlic. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to boil.

3. Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer 25-30 minutes. DO NOT open lid while simmering, or the rice wont come out right. Fluff with a fork. Stir in fresh cilantro.

Fresh and Fabulous

Vegetables are my favorite food right behind chocolate. I love, love, love veggies. My lunch usually consists of raw veggies and some sort of crackers with laughing cow cheese or stuffed in a pita. I love 'em. [and with lunches like that I can afford to eat all of the sweets I make ;)] I was so excited when we moved into our house last fall because we're only 2 and half miles away from the OP Farmers Market. Unfortunately I've only been twice all summer thanks to my crappy work schedule.

After my most recent trip I decided I wanted to make some sort of Veggie Couscous with all of my fresh goodies. I turned to a couscous recipe I starred in my Google reader a while ago - Garden Vegetable Couscous with Simple Dijon Dressing. I adapted this a bit and the only part of the recipe I followed was for Simple Dijon Dressing. I served the couscous on Fresh Spinach and Arugula (also FM finds) and it was fabulous. I loved the contrast the spinach gave the cilantro and jalapeno and then the extra bite the arugula gave the entire dish. I highly recommend this!

Farmers Market Couscous with Simple Dijon Dressing
Adapted From: Picky Palate



*I didn't really measure my vegetable amounts... these are just estimates

1 box Near East Couscous (Plain)
1 bunch fresh asparagus, roasted
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 green onions, sliced
1 cup yellow squash, quartered
1 cup zucchini, sliced
1 - 2 red peppers, chopped
1/2 yellow pepper, chopped
1 heirloom tomato, quartered
1/2 cup baby carrots
1/2 cup broccoli florets
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 fresh jalapeno, diced

1.5 tbsp EVOO
1 tbsp Grey Poupon or spicy brown mustard
Pinch of Salt and Pepper

I prepare the Couscous as directed and then sauteed the onion and garlic until it was fragrant. Then I added all veggies (except the asparagus and tomato) and sauteed for just about 5 - 10 minutes. I added the asparagus and tomato in and placed a lid on the skillet and turned the heat down to warm.

Doesn't that just look so yummy!

To make the dressing, in a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, mustard, salt and pepper.

Combine the couscous and veggies. Stir in cilantro. Pour dressing over couscous and stir to combine. Serve over spinach and arugula if desired.

I ate this warm yesterday cold today. Either way, it tasted delicious.

Take me back to yesteryear...

I know this isn't exactly blog-worthy. If my blog was called Simply Gourmet, you wouldn't be reading about it right now. However, I felt i had to include it for 2 reasons:

1) It reminds me of my favorite Lenten Friday meal growing up.
2) My blog is called Simply Tasty and this is both, Simple and Tasty.

Lets talk about reason 1 first. Being catholic, I don't eat meat on Friday's during lent. I hated this growing up because so often that meant fish sticks. I hate fish, actually I won't eat anything that lives in the water. One Friday meal I loved was bagel pizzas. How cool is making your own mini pizza on a bagel when you're a kid? I loved it. This is the slightly more adult version of that (notice I said slightly).

Reason 2 - If slapping some Ragu, Kraft shredded cheese and veggies on a pita isn't good enough for you, you could always making your own sauce, make your own dough and shred the cheese to make this more more extravagant. However, my time is quite constrained lately. Ragu, Kraft, Pita, and Veggies work for me.


Without further adu, I give you.....


Veggie Pita Pizza





1 Pita
Tomato/pizza/spaghetti sauce of your choice
Chopped veggies of your choice( I like red and green peppers, onion, zucchini, and broccoli)
1/2 tsp minced garlic shredded cheese of your choice

1) Line cookie sheet with parchment paper
2) Place pita on parchment paper, spread sauce on pita. Sprinkle shredded cheese to taste.
3) Saute veggies in olive oil for 3 -5 min.
4) Sprinkle veggies on cheese
5) Bake pita pizza for 7 - 10 min @ 425 depending on desired crispiness.

Better than Panera

I love Panera's Black Bean soup. I've been searching for a black bean soup to make at home but haven't found one I liked enough to try. I can't remember where I found this recipe but I'm so happy I did.

Black Bean Soup
from ??

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 c. low-sodium chicken stock
3 cans black beans, undrained I drained and rinsed the beans to lower the sodium content of the soup
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 Tbsp cornstarch

1) In a pot, heat oil and add onion, celery, and carrot.Stir over medium high heat until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

2)Add bell pepper, cook for 1 additional minute and deglaze bottom of pan with chicken stock. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add can of beans, salt and cumin; cook for 5 minutes.

3) Lightly puree soup (easy to do with an immersion blender)Add the rest of the beans to the soup. I pureed quite a bit. It made the soup very thick.

4) Combine the cornstarch with 1 1/2 tablespoons of water. Add the lemon and the cornstarch to the soup; cook until thickened.

A dish Popeye would love

This is one of those recipes that doesn't come out like you expected but still tastes good. Rather than making spinach pockets, I seemed to have made spinach roll-ups. HUGE spinach roll-ups. The picture below is of one of the roll-ups cut in half. I found this on realsimple.com and wanted to try it but was hesitant because my husband doesn't like spinach. He'll eat spin-art dip, but not spinach. In order to make this more husband friendly, I doubled the cheese, and added artichokes. It must have done the trick because he liked these, as did I. We served them along side some Cheese Fondue. (which I didn't take a pic of...) This was also my first time using phyllo dough.

Spinach Artichoke Roll-Ups
adapted from realsimple.com - Spinach Pockets



1 pound cooked spinach, chopped
1 can artichokes, chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan I used 1 cup
1/2 cup ricotta cheese I used 3/4 cup
2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced I used 3 scallions
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt object
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper object
1 1-pound package phyllo dough, defrosted (12 sheets)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Heat oven to 400º F. In a large bowl, combine the spinach, Parmesan, ricotta, scallions, egg, salt, and pepper. Mix well and set aside. I did this early in the afternoon to save time in evening.

Fold 1 sheet of phyllo in half crosswise and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush the top with some of the butter. Top with another folded sheet and brush with more butter. Repeat one more time. Leaving a 2-inch border around the edges, place 1/4 of the spinach mixture at one end of the pastry. Roll up the pastry, tucking in the sides. Brush with more butter. Repeat to make 3 more individual pockets. I just rolled my dough up rather than following this step exactly.

Bake in the oven until puffed and golden, about 30 minutes.

This dish would also be good as an appitizer at a party by cutting each huge roll up into quarters or the filling would make an excellent dip.

Just like mom used to make

Except, I don't think my mom ever made homemade mac and cheese when I was growing up. I've really been craving some but was trying to find a "healthy" version of it. I was just about to kind of combine 2 recipes, one from Leslie and one from Nemmie, but then in the KC Star I found this.....

Pump It Up Macaroni and Cheese
8 servings





1 1/2 cups cauliflower florets
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups 1 percent milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
2 cups 2 percent shredded cheddar cheese, divided
7 cups firmly cooked elbow macaroni

1) Place cauliflower in microwave-safe bowl. Add 1/4 cup water and cover. Microwave on high power 5 to 7 minutes or until cauliflower is very tender. Carefully drain any liquid from cauliflower and place cauliflower in food processor. Add water a tablespoon at a time and pulse until mixture is smooth; set aside. (Cauliflower puree should be completely smooth.)

2) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in large saucepan. Stir in flour. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles and thickens. Stir in salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Add 1 1/2 cups cheese and stir until melted. Blend in cauliflower mixture. Add cooked pasta and spoon into a 2-quart casserole that has been sprayed with nonstick spray coating. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover and bake 30 minutes

Like I said, I found this recipe in the Star. It was with an article about sneaking veggies into your kids foods. If you want to read the article, click here.

A few changes I made to the recipe:
Instead of cheddar cheese, I used Velveeta. Also, on the top I sprinkled Monterrey Jack Cheese and bread crumbs. Since I used chunks of Velveeta I kept the sauce pan on low heat. Soooooo Good. I can't wait to make this again.

Per serving: 307 calories (24 percent from fat), 8 grams total fat (5 grams saturated), 21 milligrams cholesterol, 42 grams carbohydrates, 16 grams protein, 395 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber.

Recipe developed for The Star by professional home economists Kathryn Moore and Roxanne Wyss.

Even the Husband liked it!

I found this recipe in my Pampered Chef cook book. It was simple and very yummy. Even the husband liked it and he isn't really into meatless dishes.

Vegetarian Black Bean Burgers
Low Fat, Cholesterol, and Calorie



1 can (15oz) black beans,drained, rinsed, and mashed
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup whole kernel corn
1/4 cup thick and chunky salsa
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 tbsp snipped fresh cilantro or parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
2 egg whites, slightly beaten
4 whole wheat burger buns
Optional toppings: sour cream, salsa, lettuce, tomato, guacamole

1) Mash beans using nylon masher. Add chopped onion, corn, salsa, garlic, cilantro, salt and black pepper to beans; mix well. Add bread crumbs and egg whites to bean mixture, mix well. Form bean mixture into four round patties.

2) Heat 12 inch skillet over medium heat until hot. Lightly spray pan with nonstick cooking spray; cook patties 6 - 8 minutes or until lightly browned, turning once.

3. Place burgers on buns; serve with toppings if desired.


Like I said, these were really good. The only thing I question is the fact you don't cook them long and it has eggs in it. Hmmmmmm...


Calories: 280, Total Fat: 3.5g , Saturated Fat and Cholesterol: 0g, Carbohydrates: 49g, Protein 12g, Sodium 810 mg, Fiber: 6g

One Dish Delight

I found this recipe in my favorite Betty Crocker Cook Book. M didn't want to have anything to do with the recipe because it had the word tamale in it. Little did he know there isn't a tamale in it. (Not quite sure where the name comes from.) We both loved it. This recipe is simple but rates pretty high on my mess scale! My tiny kitchen was a disaster afterwards. I'm not quite sure why.

3 Bean Tamale Pie
Prep: 25 min Bake: 25 min Oven: 400 Makes: 6 main dish servings



Don't make fun of the "garnish"... I'll explain that in a second.

1 cup chopped green sweet pepper
½ cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon, cooking oil
1 15 ounce can kidney beans, rinsed, drained, and slightly mashed.
1 15 ounce can pinto beans, rinsed, drained, and slightly mashed.
1 15 ounce can white kidney beans, rinsed, drained, and slightly mashed.
1 6 ounce (2/3c) veggie juice
1 4 ounce can diced green chili peppers undrained
1 tsp chili powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 8.5 ounce package corn muffin mix
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup cilantro parsley

1) Grease a 2 quart square baking dish or 10 inch quiche dish, set aside. In a medium skilled quick sweet pepper, onion, and garlic in hot oil until tender. Stir in kidney beans, pinto beans, vegetable juice, chili peppers, chili powder, and cumin; heat through. Spoon bean mixture into prepared dish.

2) Prepare corn muffin mix according to package directions: add cheese and cilantro, stirring just until combined. Spoon cornbread mixture evenly over top of bean mixture. Bake uncovered in a 400 degree oven about 25 minutes or until golden. If desired, serve with salsa or sour cream.

Ok, now on to my garnish..... M loves to garden. Since we live in an apartment and can't have a garden, he has one at his brothers house. These teeny, tiny carrots are the fruit (ha, pun intended) of his labor. He pulled a couple carrots to see how they were doin. After he ate the carrots he wanted to throw the top of them away. I wouldn't let him and used the greens to garnish my dish!

A Family Staple

These two recipes aren't on my list below but, I already knew I was making the pasta tonight. It is one of my favs and everyone in my family loves it. Even my husband who hates broccoli loves this. The day before my wedding my grandma, aunts, cousins, and mom hosted a bridesmaid luncheon. This was one of the main dishes and everyone couldn't get over how good it was. It's an easy recipe, it just takes a bit of time.

Pasta Con Broccoli

1 Box of Large Pasta Shells (16 oz)

1 Bag Frozen Broccoli (16 oz)

1 Small Block of Velveeta Cheese (16 oz)

1 Can Cream of Celery soup

1 Can Cream of Mushroom soup

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 Can Milnot evaporated milk - DO NOT USE LOW FAT or FAT FREE!!!

1/2 Stick Margarine.

Garlic Powder or Garlic Salt to taste

Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook noodles per box directions. Cook broccoli per bag directions . Cut up Velveeta. In a roasting pan (ours is 10lb poultry pan) cut margarine in pieces. Add cooked noodles, cut up Velveeta, cooked broccoli, Milnot, and creamed soups. Mix well. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix again.

Cook at 375 for 40 - 50 minutes. In the words of my mom "you'll just know it is done".

In order to make this recipe a little bit healthier use Campbell's 98% fat free creamed soups and 2% Milk Velveeta (it has half the fat of regular Velveeta). If you use low fat Milnot this dish just doesn't taste the same. I guess if you have never had it you wouldn't know the difference but believe me, it is MUCH better with the full fat Milnot.

If you are planning on having this for a group of people it tastes great with garlic cheese bread and Pasta House Salad. (Tastes like salad from the Pasta House Co in St. Louis, similar to Olive Garden - but better!) I didn't make the salad tonight b/c it was just M and I but, here is the recipe:

Rich and Charlies Pasta House Salad

1 head of Romaine Lettuce

1 Head of Iceberg Lettuce

1 can drained Artichoke

1 can drained Heart of Palms

1 4oz jar drained Pimento

1 Purple Onion sliced

1/2 cup of Grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup of Oil

1/2 cup of Vinegar

Salt

Pepper

Tear lettuce in bit size pieces, add artichokes, heats of palm, pimentos, sliced onion, and Parmesan cheese. When ready to serve, add vinegar and oil and salt and pepper to taste. Pour over salad.....

The final step of adding the salt and pepper is key. You have to keep tasting/adding the salt and pepper until it's right.

The pasta serves roughly 6 - 8 and the salad may be around the same. I'm not sure. All I know is it is all delicious! :)