Wonderpot - One Pot Dinner

So the weeknight dinners in our house are forever changed. Forever. This took less than 30 minutes. It was delicious. It had tons of veggies. It was SO easy! I'd seen this kind of thing floating around on the Internets, but I had yet to try it. I don't know why I was waiting. 

I changed this up quite a bit from all the recipes I found online, but the basic idea stayed the same - all components of the meal are plunked into a big pot and cooked together. It's like a super easy crockpot meal, but in less time than it takes to watch a Seinfeld rerun. Amazing.

Wonderpot: One Pot Dinner - adapted from Budget Bytes and the Internets
Serves 4+ in less than 30 minutes

1 pound of dried pasta - I used linguini
8 ounces mushrooms
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 large onion sliced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 6oz jar marinated artichoke hearts
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
10oz fresh spinach
crumbled feta cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place sliced onions, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, garlic, marinated artichoke hearts, pasta, spices, oil, chicken broth, wine and water into a giant pot. 

With a cover on the pot, let everything boil, stirring a few times to mash everything down and rearrange the ingredients. Turn the flame down to a simmer and replace the lid. While the pot simmers, stir occasionally to keep the noodles from sticking together.

When the noodles are done - about 5 or 6 minutes after the pot boils - put all of the spinach in the pot and stir to wilt and incorporate. 

Serve in bowls and top with feta cheese, ground pepper and salt. Enjoy!!

A few things about this recipe...
I found recipes for this with fewer veggies and more limited variety. I am always looking for ways to up the veggies and up the variety and this was a great one for extra veggies.
If you don't like using wine, forget about it. Use another cup of chicken broth or more water. 5 cups of liquid worked well for the amount of veggies and pasta I used. 
I think this has potential to be a thousand different flavors - kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes - pretty much anything I'd want on a pizza sounds good here!
One recipe listed canned, diced tomatoes - that sounds like a great alternative to the cherry tomatoes I used. 

Things made this time last year...
Hot Chocolate Mix with Dark Chocolate Bits - a perfect gift in a jar!!

Broccoli and Cheddar Soup - a great meal for a cold night... also a pretty quick dinner.

Pesto and Pea Salad and Watermelon Mocktails

I love summer. LOVE. IT. It's my favorite time of year. I love the smell of hot trees. I love the sound of sprinklers and kids. I love grilled food and fresh veggies. It's perfect! And the Pacific Northwest is in prime-time summertime. Our veggies and herbs are going nuts and we are trying to use them up as fast as we can. Ina Garten makes a wonderful pesto and pea salad, that I made with basil and parsley we are growing. We ate this with a roasted chicken and had watermelon mocktails swirled with mint we are growing. It was a really good dinner, and it was so pretty - just like summer!

Pea and Pesto Salad - from Ina Garten
Serves 2 (With left over pesto)

For the Salad
5 oz of baby spinach
1 cup of peas (I used frozen peas, defrosted in hot water)
1 lemon

For the Pesto
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts - divided
1 1/2 cups basil leafs
1/2 cup of parsley
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Defrost peas in hot water for a few minutes. While peas defrost, arrange spinach on a large platter and toast pine nuts for pesto and to top the salad.

In a food processor, pulse half the pine nuts and Parmesan cheese. Add garlic and pulse a few more times. Add in basil and parsley. While the food processor runs, pour in enough olive oil to make a nice paste. I used about a 1/4 cup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Toss spinach with peas and about half the pesto. Top with reserved pine nuts. Serve with sliced lemons.

Watermelon Mocktails
Makes 2 

6 cups chopped seedless watermelon
1/2 a lime, juiced
1 cup soda water
2 sprigs fresh mint

In a blender combine watermelon cubes, and lime juice. Pulse until well blended. Divide the juice between 2 tall glasses and top with soda water. Swirl with mint and drink up!

Enjoy some summertime!!

Made this time last year...
Veggie Hand Pies and Peach and Blackberry Galette

 
















Green Chili Turkey Burgers

Dirty Rice

Baked Ziti

We've been watching a lot of Chef Ramsey TV in our house and it's amazing!! One guy has described himself as "the Flavor Elevator" and another woman just pulled off her own hair. I'm telling you, it's amazing. It's hilarious and it's incredible and it's inspiring. I am loving it.

Anyway - we had company over last weekend and I made a huge baked ziti. When I read the recipe and it said it would feed 8-10 with just one pound of pasta, I was skeptical, but in fact, this thing was huge! And even better, it was delicious! Rich, cheesy and amazing!

Baked Ziti - adapted from Cooks Illustrated
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Really and truly serves 8-10

1 pound Italian sausage
16 ounce container whole milk cottage cheese (or ricotta)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese (divided)
1 1/2 cups frozen chopped spinach
1 pound ziti (or penne or other short tube pasta)
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves of garlic - minced
2 15 ounce cans tomato sauce 
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces mozzarella cheese - 1/2 of it shredded, 1/2 of it chopped into dice

Whisk cottage cheese (or ricotta) eggs, spinach and 1 cup of Parmesan in a large bowl and set aside. Boil water for noodles and cook until softened but cooked through - about 5 minutes. Drain the noodles and set aside. The noodles finish cooking while baking.

While noodles cook, heat oil in a large skillet. Take sausage out of the casings and cook with the minced garlic until browned, about 7 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and oregano and simmer until thickened - about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the basil and sugar. Taste and add salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, whisk cornstarch into heavy cream. In a heavy bottomed pan, simmer the cream until thickened and bubbling at the edges, but not boiling, about 3 minutes over medium heat. 

Stir this hot cream into the cottage cheese and spinach mixture prepared earlier. Add 1 cup of the tomato and sausage sauce and the diced mozzarella and stir to combine.

Pour the noodle mixture into a very large baking dish - the dish I used was an oval 9x13 dish that's about 3 inches deep - top with the shredded mozzarella and the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

A few things about this recipe...

This makes a HUGE casserole - it was dinner for 4 adults, 2 kids, and 4 more adult lunches. 

The sauce cooked with this was really simple, but really great - I'll use this as a base for other pastas sauces in the future.

While the tomato sauce was delicious, if you wanted to speed up this recipe, you could use a jarred marinara that you already liked.

Enjoy!  
Made this time last year: Whole Wheat Yogurt Pancakes and Turkey Spaghetti

Baked Gnocchi

Potato gnocchi is a dumpling that is most often made of potatoes and flour.  They are a great pasta substitute, with its ability to soak up almost any sauce and its chewy texture.  Potato gnocchi is available in the refrigerated pasta section of most grocery stores so it makes for a quick meal.  Or you can make your own like Sarah did here.

Giada de Laurentiis made this recipe on the Today Show last year.  I happened to see this recently and immediately said I had to make it.  It looked so yummy!  She tends to make this dish as a macaroni and cheese substitute.  After making it, I can see how this rich and creamy dish can be an easy stand-in for the comfort food favorite.

Clearly this isn’t very healthy with all of the cream and cheese.   I lightened it up slightly by using half and half instead of heavy cream (which is what the original recipe calls for).  It was so rich that I still think I could cut back some of the fat by subbing some milk.  Some other minor modifications I made was to use chicken stock instead of broth, adding more seasoning, and topping with Italian seasoning.  Personally, if you're on a diet, I recommend just cutting back the portion instead of the fat because it's worth every bit of it!

Baked Gnocchi

*slightly modified from Giada de Laurentiis

2-17oz packages potato gnocchi

3c half and half

1c chicken stock

¼ c flour

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp black pepper

½ tsp grated nutmeg

12 oz baby spinach

1/3 c crumbled goat cheese

½ c grated Parmesan

½ tsp Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 400F.

Place gnocchi in a 13x9” baking dish lightly coated in cooking spray.  Set aside. 

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the half and half, chicken stock, and flour over medium heat.  Continue whisking until the sauce is simmering and thickened, about 5 mins.  Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Stir and taste for seasoning.  Add seasoning as needed.  Add spinach and toss to coat in the sauce.

Note: I only had about 8 or 9 oz of spinach at home so I used what I had.  Therefore, the pictures may be a little lighter on spinach than what yours would be at home.  Next time I will definitely ensure I have enough spinach because it adds a flavor element and at least one healthy element to the dish.

Pour the sauce mixture evenly over the gnocchi and spread spinach out evenly.  Top with goat cheese, Parmesan, and Italian seasoning.  Bake until top is lightly golden, about 30 mins.

Turkey Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells

Okay so I don’t know about you guys but I am officially ADDICTED to Pinterest!  I have found so many recipes I want to try and I have to be careful when I visit because it’s easily a 2-3 hour endeavor.  It’s so fun finding cute crafts (especially DIY), great cooking ideas, and even better entertaining possibilities.  One of the recipes I was dying to try was from a blog called Inspired Taste.  It looks like a really cool blog that was started by a couple who is really into cooking and photography.  I’ll have to add that one to the reading list. 

Stuffed shells are very versatile.  You can stuff shells with just about anything.  I have another recipe for shrimp stuffed shells that I’ll have to post at a later date.  I slightly modified the original recipe from Inspired Taste because I prefer to not have pork when there is a near equal substitute.  Sausage is one of those things.  I never buy pork sausage anymore.  There are so many great chicken and turkey sausages out there that are healthier and often times, even taste better.  Other than that, I added a couple of different seasonings and onion, and (voila!) my own version of this great recipe steps on the scene. 

Stuffed Shells with Turkey Sausage and Spinach

Ingredients:

20 jumbo pasta shells

1 lb Italian turkey sausage links, casing removed

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ c chopped onion

1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes

1c frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

½ c ricotta cheese

½ c shredded Italian cheese blend

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

½ tsp crushed red pepper

Prep tip: Place thawed chopped spinach in between a couple layers of paper towels and wring out over the sink to dry.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook pasta shells according to package directions.  Once al dente, place shells in a bowl of very cold water until filling is prepared.

Tip: Soaking the shells in water stops the cooking process and also prevents them from drying out prior to baking.

Brown sausage in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Once sausage is near done, add onion and garlic.  Once all sausage is browned, add tomatoes, spinach, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper.  Stir until well mixed.  Remove from heat and stir in ricotta.

Fill pasta shells with sausage mixture and place in a shallow baking dish.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese.  Bake at 350F for 20-25 mins or until cheese and edges of shells start to brown.

I served these shells with a delicious spinach salad and roasted garlic bread.  When we sat down for dinner, we totally threw out the etiquette and ate these with our fingers.  It worked great!  Also, it gave me a great idea for a new twist on appetizers. 

When you make this recipe, don’t forget to post your pretty pictures on Instagram and use the #nopressurecooker.

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Sole

This was my first time making this dish and I must say that it was a major success!  For some reason, my experiments turn out to be my best lol.  Maybe it’s because I allow myself to not care as much about how it turns out.  No pressure, right?? 

I actually was inspired to make this by looking on Pinterest and I saw a pin that had a white fish rolled around some sort of filling.  I was like…who knew you could do that?  After all of the cooking I have done, you would think I would have learned that technique by now.  I’m telling you, when it comes to cooking, you learn something new everyday!  After some searching for different stuffed white fish recipes, I decided to combine spinach and feta to give this a Mediterranean feel.  To top it off, I gave it a little crunch by coating in seasoned breadcrumbs.

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Sole

Ingredients:

½ c onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp butter or margarine

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

4 sole filets

1.5 c chopped frozen spinach, thawed

1/3 c crumbled feta cheese

Seasoned breadcrumbs

Cooking spray

Lemon (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Drain spinach and squeeze out all liquid using paper towels or a dishtowel. 

Heat butter and olive oil in a small skillet set to medium-high heat.  Add onion and sauté for 2 minutes.  Add garlic and sauté until onions are translucent (another 2-3 mins).

Place spinach, onion mixture, feta, ½ tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper in a small mixing bowl and stir to combine.    Spread breadcrumbs out on a flat dish.  Lay all four filets on top of breadcrumbs.  Season exposed side of fish with remaining salt and pepper.  Spoon 2-3 tbsp of spinach mixture onto fish and roll each filet around the filling.  Place each roll into a square baking dish, coated with cooking spray.

Note: You can either buy seasoned breadcrumbs or you can season them yourself.  For this recipe, I seasoned plain breadcrumbs with Parmesan, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.

Spray the tops of each roll with cooking spray and cook at 350F for 20 mins.  If breadcrumbs are not browned at this time, turn on the broiler for a few minutes until breadcrumbs brown slightly.  Remove from oven and serve immediately.  Garnish with lemon.

Tip: For dishes that cook quickly and you have a breadcrumb topping, spraying the topping with cooking spray allows them to brown and get crispy in a shorter period of time.

To complete this entrée, I served the stuffed sole over lemon & Parmesan orzo with chopped parsley.  The entire meal was fresh, light, and healthy and I can’t wait to make it again. 

Now that I know how to use this technique, I’m looking forward to playing with many different types of stuffing mixtures.  If you can think of any interesting combinations, be sure to let us know!