Artichoke, Spinach, And Cheese Stuffed Shells With Spicy Tomato Sauce
Stuffed shells get a bad rap. Long sentenced to the frozen section of your local grocer, limp, unsatisfying manicotti has come to be the flagbearer for stuffed shells, and that, my friends, is a tragedy. When made right (ahem, like this recipe) they can be flavor-filled and fantastic. And they don't have to be bad for you -- substitute part-skim mozzarella and low-fat cream cheese for a lighter take on this recipe. I did and it was delicious.
Spicy Tomato Sauce
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 C pepperoncini peppers
28-oz crushed tomatoes
8 oz tomato paste
The first star of this recipe is the red sauce, a simple tomato base that gets a little kick from pepperoncini peppers. Chop up the peppers and mix them in with the tomatoes and oregano. Cook the sauce over medium heat for about ten minutes to thicken it up a bit and let the flavors meld. Then you can place it to the side until later. In fact, you could easily multiply this recipe and jar some of the extra sauce for another pasta. I'm kicking myself for not doing just that.
Artichoke And Spinach Stuffed Shells
28 jumbo shells
1 C mozzarella cheese
1 C feta cheese
1/2 C cream cheese
8 oz artichoke hearts
5 oz frozen chopped spinach (1/2 package)
2 garlic cloves
Next comes the shell filling. Mix the feta, two-thirds of the mozz, cream cheese, chopped artichoke hearts, and garlic cloves. Cook the frozen spinach and squeeze it dry before tossing it in with everything else. Boom, easy as that you have your filling.
Using a spoon, fill the shells one by one. Place them in a glass casserole dish until there's no more room. Then rearrange the shells and find room for a few more -- the more packed in they are the more you get to eat, so it's worth playing some pasta shell tetris.
Once they're all nestled in, pour the red sauce over the top and sprinkle the whole shebang with the rest of the mozz. If no one is looking, grab a little extra mozzarella from the fridge and add it to the top of the shells.
Pop the dish in the oven at 375 for 30 minutes. The sauce will get to bubbling, the pasta will cook, and the cheese will melt. And you'll have a great dish with some zip that will restore your faith in stuffed shells for years to come. 
Roast Chicken With Winter Root Vegetables
Confession time: I have never roasted a full chicken. Also, I visit my local farmers market far less frequently than I should. This past weekend, I addressed both of those points, in fine fashion. A huge bag of root vegetables for $4? Yes please, and thank you.
Armed with a bag of turnips, parsnips, diakons, rutabagas, beets, potatoes, and carrots, I decided to celebrate the onset of spring with a good old fashioned wintertime meal of roast chicken and root vegetables.
I won't bother with a recipe list for the veggies, since it's pretty much choose your own adventure there. Feel free to take out any of those vegetables if you have a particular aversion to them, since it won't mess with cooking time.
And there's Problem Number One: Root vegetables cook at different speeds, and I had no idea how to chop them. So I turned to the ever helpful Cooks Illustrated for some guidance on cutting the roots to cook evenly. And it delivered. Carrots, turnips, and daikon in sticks! Parsnips, rutabagas, beets, and potatoes in chunks! I kept the potatoes a bit bigger because they cook quickly.
Here's where the magic happens. Garlic sage butter. Yep. Not necessarily the healthiest component of the meal, but essential for the chicken and extremely tasty with the vegetables.
Roast Chicken with Garlic Sage Butter
1 oven-ready chicken
1 Tbsp fresh sage
3 Tbsp butter
1 garlic clove
As mentioned earlier, this was my first time roasting a whole chicken, so I went ahead and got a bird that was ready to go. No need to stack the odds against myself.
Start by making the garlic sage butter. Chop the sage finely and mince or press the garlic. Warm the butter a bit (15 seconds in the microwave should be fine) and then mash it all together with a fork.
Place the vegetables in a roasting pan, making a space in the middle for the chicken. Put the bird on top. As evidenced by the photos, I had far too many veggies to put in one pan, so I used two baking sheets plus the small roasting pan. Keep in mind that the vegetables with the chicken will cook more slowly, so you should keep an eye on the baking sheet veggies to make sure they don't burn.
To prep the bird, take one tablespoon of the mixed butter and work it in between the chicken skin and the meat. This might take a little finesse -- and your hands won't stay clean -- but it's worth the effort. Once that's done, take another tablespoon of the butter and spread it on the outside of the chicken.
Take the rest of the butter and dot the veggies with it. The stuff is so good I ended up doubling it and using it on all of the root vegetables I roasted.
Preheat your oven to 400 and, when it's ready to go, pop everything in the oven. Let it cook for 15 minutes, and then turn the heat down to 375. Keep an eye on everything, because cooking time will vary a little bit based on the size of your bird and the thickness of your vegetable cuts. I cooked the plain veggie trays for another 40 minutes. As for the roasting pan, I let that go for an hour after the original 15 minutes, until the bird's internal temperature reached 165. Then I took the chicken out and returned the roasting pan (and its vegetables) to the oven to cook for another 10 minutes, since the chicken juices slowed them down.
Aside from the chopping, it's really not too much work. And the end product is tough to beat. Warm, hearty, delicious -- the perfect meal to close out the winter and welcome spring.
Thyme-Rubbed Pork Chop With Pesto
I'll admit it off the bat here -- I cheated. I used pre-made pesto for this recipe. Like, out-of-a-jar pesto. I know, I know. But this is not a fancy recipe. This is a tastes like fancy but actually doesn't take very long so you can actually cook it on a weeknight recipe. We all need those, don't we? This is that. Let's get to it.
Thyme-Rubbed Pork Chop with Pesto
1 small bunch thyme
1 garlic clove
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lemon
olive oil
2 pork chops
pesto
This recipe is largely from Jamie Oliver's first cookbook (I added some fresh pepper) and it's really great. And did I mention it's easy? In a mortar and pestle, take a small bunch of fresh thyme, a minced clove of garlic, and some fresh pepper, and grind them together. Mix that paste with some lemon zest and a tablespoon of olive oil, and rub it the mixture on both sides of both pork chops. 
Rub the oil and thyme mixture on both sides of both pork chops, and let them sit for about 15 minutes. Once they've sat, throw them on the grill (or on a stovetop pan) and cook them until they get golden brown on the outside and you can't look at them without salivating. Top with as much pesto as you want, and consume with glee. See? I told you it was easy.
Fried Egg In Onion Rings
Putting eggs in/on things! It's practically an American pastime. It's definitely one of my pastimes. That's why when I saw a photo of an egg cooked inside an onion ring, I knew I had to do it. It's easy, it looks awesome, and oh by the way it tastes incredible -- like one of the easiest and best-tasting breakfasts I've made in a really long time.
Fried Eggs In Onion Rings
1 large onion
2 eggs
2 pieces of toast
1/4 C mozzarella cheese
dash of chives
your favorite spices
olive oil
Start by slicing an onion in half crosswise. Cut a slice about 1/2 an inch thick, and remove the two outer rings to use as your egg rings.
Oil a pan, put the onion rings down in the center, and turn the heat on high. Crack an egg into each of the onions and let it cook. Once the bottom of the egg is starting to solidify, use a spatula to occasionally loosen the edges so that the egg won't stick when you go to flip it. After about a minute or so, flip the egg and onion.
Once you've flipped the eggs, sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top, letting it melt as the rest of the egg cooks. Dust with some of your favorite seasoning -- I like Tony Cachere's Creole Seasoning or the more excitingly-named Slap Ya Mama.
When the eggs are done, take them off heat and put them each on a piece of toast. Top with a bit of fresh chive, for color and a little extra bite. Look at how yummy and delicious this looks, then taste how yummy and delicious it tastes. You done good.
Tomato, Basil, And Mozzarella Pasta
Around my family, this dish is simply known as The Pasta. We ate it so frequently when I was growing up it didn't need any other name. And with fresh, homegrown tomatoes and basil, it really can't be topped.
Tomato, Basil, and Mozzarella Pasta
1 lb plum tomatoes
12 oz mozzarella cheese
1/2 C fresh basil
6 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
12 oz rotini pasta (or penne if you can't find rotini)
salt and pepper
The recipe works best with plum tomatoes, although any tomatoes will do in a pinch. Cut the tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds. Then cut them into smaller pieces -- quarters or sixths work best.
Next, cut the mozzarella into approximately 1/2 inch cubes. Slice the basil into thin strips. Toss the tomatoes, cheese, and basil in a non-metal bowl and mix with the oil, vinegar, garlic, and red pepper. Feel free to add a touch more red pepper flakes if you things hot. Add a dash of salt and pepper, and mix everything thoroughly. Let everything stand at room temperature for half an hour.
When things have had time to marinate, cook the pasta. When it's done, strain and return the noodles to the pot. Add the cheese/tomato/basil mixture to the noodles and return the pot to low heat for around two minutes, so the cheese melts nicely. Eat, preferably outside with a beautiful view.
Kale Avocado Slaw With Chicken
Kale Avocado Slaw With Chicken
2 bunches kale
1/2 white cabbage
2 avocados
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 C almond slices, toasted
2 chicken breasts
I'm not going to lie, I'm not the biggest fan of raw kale. I like it cooked, sure -- like in Andre 3000's sauteed kale recipe or in these awesome kale quesadillas -- but the uncooked stuff usually tastes harsh and bitter to me. Until I met this recipe, from Skinny Scoop, that is. The kale is tempered with a good splash of citrus and cooled off with delicious avocado, and it makes an awesome and healthy side dish. Add some chicken, and it's a whole meal.
Start with half of a white cabbage and two healthy bunches of kale. De-stem the kale and chop it into relatively small pieces. Do the same with the cabbage and toss the two together in a big bowl.
Next, cut up two avocados into small pieces and toss them in with the kale and cabbage.
Here comes the fun part. Use your clean hands to mush everything together, massaging the avocados into the leaves until they're coated with delicious avocado goodness. No other binding agent needed!
Now that you have your base, it's time to put a little crunch and some protein in. Toast 1/4 C of almond slices (about 10 minutes on a baking sheet at 350) and toss them in. While the almonds are toasting, cook up two chicken breasts, chop them, and throw them in as well.
The last step is a light dressing to go on top of it all, to give the flavors a little more depth. Almost any balsamic-based dressing would do the trick here, I think. I went with the original recipe's recommendation of mustard, lemon juice, mustard, and balsamic vinegar. You can add a touch of honey to the dressing if you're feeling indulgent.
This slaw is straight-up delicious. Go make it.
Ferran Adria’s Catalan-Style Turkey Leg
A while back I found myself with the dregs of a bottle of dry sherry sitting around, and I decided to search out a recipe that called for a few splashes of the stuff. Luckily I stumbled across this awesome recipe in Ferran Adria's The Family Meal cookbook. The original recipe calls for vino rancio -- a Catalan fortified oxidized wine -- but the elBulli chef notes that you can easily substitute dry sherry. I did just that and was off to the races making a fancified version of the carnival turkey leg. It takes a good bit of time -- total cook time is over 2 hours, if you abide by the rules -- but it's a great meal for a day when you've got the time to hang out in the kitchen.
Ferran Adria's Catalan-Style Turkey Leg (for 2)
2 turkey drumsticks
1/4 cup raisins
3 Tbsp prunes
6 Tbsp dry sherry
1 red onion
1/3 C chopped tomatoes
2 Tbsp pine nuts
1 C water
splash olive oil
Start by putting the raisins and prunes in a small bowl with the dry sherry. Let them soak for 12 hours, if you have time for that. More likely, you forgot to start this recipe 12 hours before you wanted to eat it, so you might only have an hour or two. That's fine, too -- it just means the fruit will absorb a little less of the sherry.
When you're ready to start cooking, season the turkey legs with salt and pepper and cook them in a pan with olive oil over medium heat for around 10 minutes, until the legs are nicely browned. Once they've started to brown up, add in the onions, and cook everything for another ten minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions start to caramelize a bit.
Next, add the sherry (holding the fruit for later) to the pan. When most of the sherry has cooked off, add the tomatoes and cook everything for another 5 minutes or so. Then pour in the cup of water, reduce heat, and let everything simmer for half an hour.
After that, add the fruit to the pan, cover everything and cook for another 45 minutes or so. If you don't have that kind of time, I'm pretty sure everything would taste nearly as good in less time -- the extra cooking time just lets the sauce thicken up nicely and the turkey will get really tender and moist.
When the turkey is done, serve it covered with sauce and sprinkle pine nuts on top. You can toast the pine nuts for a little extra flavor, as well. Awesome, impressive, scrumptious.
Baked Potato Pizza Flatbreads
Inspired by a local pizza joint that makes an awesome baked potato pizza, I recently set out to bake a twist of my own. I wanted something loaded with potatoes and topped with the good stuff -- something that tasted even better than a baked potato, which can be chalky or bland. The result was these baked potato pizza flatbreads, or as I like to call them, slices of baked potato heaven.
Baked Potato Pizza Flatbreads
3 small potatoes
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp rosemary
1/3 C sour cream
1/3 C ranch dressing
6 pieces bacon
2 scallions
1 1/2 C mozarella cheese
1/2 C cheddar cheese
2 small flatbreads
Start by -- you guessed it -- baking your potatoes. It's easy enough to do in the oven. Just scrub the spuds clean, poke them a few times with a fork, and put them on a baking sheet in the oven at 450 for about 50-55 minutes. Take them out and let them cool.
While the potatoes are cooling, fry up your bacon however you like to do it. Microwave, stovetop, oven, doesn't matter. Bacon is bacon no matter how you prepare it, so it's tough to mess it up.
Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in quarters and scrape the meat off the skin. Combine the yummy potato bits with the butter, garlic powder, and rosemary. Chop half the bacon and one of the scallions and toss those in as well.
Next, mix up the sour cream and ranch dressing and spread that mixture on the flatbreads. I went with store-bought flatbreads because they looked tasty and I wasn't trying to get elbow-deep in flour. Feel free to use low-fat sour cream and light dressing, too -- it'll taste just as good and save a few calories that you'd rather use for cheese and bacon anyway.
Once you've spread the sauce, top the flatbread pizzas with the potato mixture, and then smother the whole things with cheese.
Bake the flatbreads in the oven for 7-10 minutes at 450, until the cheese is deliciously melted. Then top with the remaining bacon and scallion, and devour. Out of this world.
Simple Southwestern Chicken Guacamole
The other day I found myself craving guacamole, but with a little more oomph to it. I didn't want to just eat some chips and call it an appetizer -- I was looking for a more substantive dish that could serve as its own light dinner. So I took to the internet to see if I could come up with a recipe that uses leftover guacamole as one of the ingredients.
I now acknowledge my foolish mistake; no one has ever, in the history of the world, had leftover guacamole. So instead I freestyled a simple twist for a heartier version of the dip we know and love.
Simple Southwestern Chicken Guacamole
3 avocados
1 small tomato
1/2 C yellow onion, chopped
1 small jalapeño pepper
1/4 C cilantro, chopped
1 chicken breast
southwestern spice blend
1 lime
salt & pepper to taste
Start by pitting your avocados and tossing the delicious, delicious avocado meat into a bowl. Using a fork -- or a potato masher, if you have one hand -- work the avocado until it is nice and mushy, the way you like your guacamole. It's really tough to over-mash the avocado, so really get into it. When it's nice and mashed, chop up a small tomato, yellow onion, and jalapeño pepper, and toss them into the bowl as well. Chop your cilantro, and mix all the ingredients together until the onion, pepper, tomato, and cilantro are evenly distributed.
Next, the ingredient that really makes this dish stand out -- the chicken. Cook up a chicken breast and sprinkle it with a healthy dose of spice. I personally like Slap Ya Mama or Tony Cachere, but I'm sure you can find your favorite through a little experimentation. Make sure the chicken is fairly spicy, so it pops nicely against the cool avocado.
Cut up the chicken breast and toss it in with the guacamole. Mix in a little lime juice, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve with a boatload of chips. BOOM -- a classic reimagined. If you want to get crazy, add in some corn, red peppers, or black beans. Serve on its own, or with something like shrimp tacos or breakfast nachos. And don't worry about having any leftovers.
Andre 3000′s Sautéed Kale
As the poet Big Boi once said, “Shake it like some Texas Pete, dropping on your collard greens.” While he may like his greens collard and spicy, the other half of Outkast recently copped to preferring a different veggie. “Kale is also nutritious,” Andre 3000 told Bon Apetite. “By not boiling it to death like classic southern greens, most of that nutrition stays intact.”
I’ve always struggled to find good recipes for robust greens like collards and kale – especially healthy ones. And though in the past I’ve cooked them down to make a nice kale sautée with garden vegetables and collard greens two-cheese quesadillas, I’m always happy to expand my repertoire. I adapted Andre Benjamin’s recipe, and the result is so fresh and so clean clean.
Andre 3000’s Kale
1 head kale
3-4 garlic cloves
1 C water
2 tsp coconut oil
dab of butter or margarine
pinch cayenne
pinch black pepper
2 tsp herb salt
Herb Salt
1 cup sea salt
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dill
1 tsp sage
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp dried garlic
Andre’s recipe calls for a couple shakes of Herbamare – a seasoning mix made by Vogel. I didn’t have any on hand, so I whipped up some herb salt using some spice-rack mainstays and a mortar and pestle. After that, it’s all gravy, baby.
Start by stripping the kale leaves from their stems to be left with nice greens and no spines. Then, boil a cup of water and flash steam the kale leaves for three or four minutes. Drain, and then toss the kale into a pan and sautée it up with the coconut oil, butter, and garlic. The greens will wilt nicely without losing their flavor or substance. Sprinkle with some herb salt and dig in. Spottieottiedopdelicious.
