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Quick Linguine with Avocado and Artichokes Recipe

In the summer I like to make dinners that are quick and easy to put together. My oldest daughter is a vegetarian, and since she is living at home this summer I am trying to cook more vegetarian meals on nights she will be home for dinner. But my husband won’t eat things like tofu or couscous, so I have to balance his more traditional tastes with her preferences. This pasta dish is vegetarian and can be put together in the few minutes it takes to boil pasta. The artichokes, avocados and corn add a decent amount of vegetables and the jalapeno adds a little bit of spice.

I have never added avocado to a pasta dish like this before, but it was really good. It made the dish rich and creamy. The only disadvantage is that if you have leftovers the avocado will oxidize and turn brown, which makes it not look as appetizing. But we didn’t have any leftovers, so that wasn’t a problem for us!

Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

This is a quick and easy recipe that is perfect for busy weeknights. One of my roommates in college was Indian, and she introduced me to Indian cooking. The only problem is traditional Indian cooking is time consuming, and usually ends up getting most of the dishes in the kitchen dirt!. So this is an Indian recipe with some short cuts, like using canned tomatoes with green chilies, that ends up being fast enough for a weeknight meal.

Steakhouse Chicken with Mushrooms, Onions and Cheese

Pork Chops with Banana-Pineapple Chutney Recipe

I love to use fruit in main dishes, because it is any easy way to make a dish more exciting and more kid friendly, since most kids love fruit, like in this Banana-Pineapple Chutney to serve over pork chops.

Thai Coconut Salmon with Spinach Recipe

Lent is coming early this year, so it is time to start thinking about fish dishes. Growing up my mom always served tuna fish sandwiches on Fridays in Lent, which was not a very interesting meal. We eat try to eat seafood regularly year round, since it is healthy, and salmon is always popular. This recipe was inspired by a recipe from Cooking Light. It is one of my family’s favorites, and it is quick and easy to make. I especially like it because it is one of the few recipes with spinach that my kids will eat! It is also a good recipe for using frozen wild salmon fillets, which is a cost effective way to buy wild salmon.

Healthy Chicken Kebobs with Orange Sauce Recipe

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to eat better. I am sure I am not alone, that is probably one of the most common resolutions around. One of the biggest challenges for me is to find ways to make healthy meals that my kids will actually eat. I could make something very healthy like a Quinoa and Chickpea salad with peas, but my kids wouldn’t touch it, and my husband probably wouldn’t either. So since I don’t want to make two meals, I have to work with my family’s likes and dislikes. Something I know they like is Chicken Kebobs or as we usually call it Chicken-on-a-Stick. I decided to create a healthy kebob with Tyson Grilled and Ready Chicken Chunks, lots of vegetables, and an orange dipping sauce.

Easy Thai Pork with Coconut Galangal Sauce Recipe

The idea behind World Foods sauces is to provide a range of easy to use, economical sauces to make putting together a fantastic taste dinner quick and easy. My family loves Asian foods, but I don’t always have the Asian spices on hand to create authentic dishes. Sure, I could make a special stop at the local Asian food store, and pick up something like kaffir lime leaves, but the reality is I only do that a few times a year. It is much easier to let World Fusion do the work, and create a sauce from 100% natural, authentic ingredients.

Baked Chicken with Rice and Tomatoes Recipe

When I was growing up one of my favorite meals that my mom made was baked chicken, cooked on top of rice mixed with cream of mushroom soup.Â But I donâ€™t like to cook with cream soups, because they have so much fat and sodium.Â So this is a healthier version of that meal, using tomatoes instead of cream soup and adding more vegetables.

Chicken with Tomatillos Recipe

This is a nice chicken stew type recipe using tomatillos.Â Around here we only see tomatillos in the stores for a few weeks, so it is nice to make something using them when they are available.Â I got this recipe from my mom, although she usually makes it with pork and I like it with chicken.Â It is quick and easy, and can be make in about half an hour.

Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and Sausage

This is a quick pasta recipe with a little bit different taste. The tomatoes are roasted instead of sauted, which gives the dish a deeper flavor. I also like this recipe because it is easy to keep the sausage separate until the last minute, so I can keep it vegetarian for my daughter.

Butternut Squash Agnolotti with Grape Tomatoes

A few days ago I posted a recipe for Buitonis Chicken Marsala Ravioli, and today I have another Buitoni pasta recipe, this time using Roasted Butternut Squash Agnolotti. This recipe is even easier than the first one! When using these kinds of gourmet filled pasta I don’t like to make a sauce that is too complicated, because I want to be able to taste all the great flavors of the pasta.

The Roasted Butternut Squash Agnolotti is filled with butternut squash, impastata ricotta, aged parmesan, grana padano and is accented with amaretti cookie crumbs. I loved this pasta, I think because it had so much cheese, and in so many different varieties. The sauce I paired it with is a simple tomato and green onion sauce, and the key to making this is not to cook the tomatoes too much. You want the tomatoes to be warm, but not completely cooked. I used multicolored heirloom grape tomatoes for this, so it would be prettier, but it would be fine with all red ones.

Chicken Marsala Ravioli in Pesto Spinach Cream Sauce Recipe

Recently Buitoni sent me some of their new filled pasta to try out! They make all kinds of yummy refrigerated pasta that is available in many grocery stores. I like that their pasta is more exotic than standard boring pasta. Cheese ravioli is good, but there is nothing special about a dinner of cheese ravioli served with spaghetti sauce. Sometimes I want a pasta dish that is more exciting, and looks like I spent a lot of time making a special dinner.

I received this Chicken Marsala Ravioli, which was delicious. It is a filled pasta with white meat chicken, roasted portobello mushrooms, onions, ricotta, parmesan and asiago cheese accented with marsala wine. It almost seems like too many ingredients for one ravioli, and it certainly isn’t boring or ordinary.

Easy Summer Clam Bake Recipe

Grilled Beef and Potato Kebob Recipe

My family always enjoys grilling food outside this time of year. We have a long winter around here, so once the snow is gone and we can break out the grill we can hardly wait! Kebobs are one of my favorite things to grill because they have both meat and vegetables, so it is an efficient way to cook. We had perfect grilling weather this weekend, and I made this beef kebob for dinner on Saturday.

Kohlrabi Potato Curry Recipe

Last week I got a kohlrabi and the grocery store, and had to figure out a recipe to use it in. It is used frequently in Indian cooking, so I decided to use it in a curry. I basically made a standard potato curry and added the kohlrabi, and it turned out pretty well. The kohlrabi had a nice taste too to it, and added some variety to the potatoes.

Sausage and Broccoli Pasta Recipe

I enjoy cooking, my children’s schedule this year is making it harder for me to find the time to make complicated meals. Between dance and basketball it seems like there is usually something going on at dinner time that requires me to drive someone somewhere. So quick simple meals are a necessity for me right now. This sausage and broccoli recipe took less than 30 minutes to make, and it was delicious. I was surprised at how good it tasted, but the combination of the broccoli with the spicy sausage really worked. I will be making it again, and if you are looking for something quick give it a try!

Pork Sausage Chili Recipe

I love chili, especially this time of year. Chili is the perfect wintertime food, because it is warm and filling and spicy. Plus there are so many recipes and variations I rarely make it the same way twice. Sometimes I make Cincinnati Chili, sometimes I make Texas Chili, sometimes I make White Chicken Chili, and sometimes I make it vegetarian. The possibilities are endless. To help celebrate Chili season and its variations the Chili Appreciation Society International and Bruce Foods sent me some Mexene Chili Powder and Louisiana Hot Sauce to review.

Vegetarian Chili with Zucchini and Abodo Sauce

We have been eating more vegetarian food lately, partly because it can be healthier, and partly because my 18 year old is a vegetarian and she is still home on college break. I made this recipe for Vegetarian Chili earlier in the week, and it came out very tasty. I added in a little sauce from a can of chipotle chile in adobo sauce, and it made a huge difference in the taste. I didn’t add any of the chilies from the can, but just poured in about a teaspoon of the sauce. It added a rich smoky flavor to the dish. It is amazing what a big difference a small addition can make.

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