everyday food made simple

Last night while I took a break from studying, I decided to do a little meal planning for the weekend.

You see, when we get to have the weekend off together, I spend Thursday nights planning on what we should have for our weekend dinners, usually along with some sort of munchies or dessert.

Well, what I originally planned to be a quick 30 minute break turned out to be a 3 hour break – surfing the Internet, searching for new fun recipes to try, and this is one of them I was quite excited to try right away.

Other than burritos, enchiladas are probably one of my favorite Mexican dishes. I’ve made stacked enchiladas a few weeks back, and I also have a recipe somewhere for some yummy traditional enchiladas as well. Since it’s Friday night and I really don’t want to slave over the stove for hours making a meal, this enchilada casserole sounded like the perfect idea.

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Simply put, this dish is basically a deconstructed enchilada with everything mixed together, minus the tortilla.

Meat – check.

Enchilada sauce – check.

Sour cream – check.

Diced chiles – check.

Cheese – check.

Trust me, if you’re short on time but want something the whole family would like, this is definitely worth a try. The hubs loved it so much that he suggested to put this recipe into our “repeat” box.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
  • 4 ounces cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 10-oz can red enchilada sauce
  • 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
  • 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese, divided
  • 1 cup frozen corn kernels
  • 4 oz canned diced green chiles
  • 12 ounces egg noodles
  • Salt & pepper

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Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • In a large pot, cook egg noodles according to package instructions.
  • In a super large skillet (or as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I love using woks, so I used a wok instead), brown the ground turkey, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Drain excess fat, and add in the chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Stir to combine.
  • Add in the cream cheese. Stir until cream cheese is melted and thoroughly combined.
  • In a medium sized bowl, combine the sour cream, enchilada sauce, half of the two cheeses, corn, and green chiles. Stir to combine.
  • Add the sauce mixture to the meat mixture. Stir. Let simmer for a few minutes.

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Being in the healthcare field, I could come up with a few things this mixture reminded me of… but don’t let that deter you! I promise it smells AND tastes delicious, and it will look a lot more appealing in the end!

  • When the pasta is done, drain the pasta, then add it to the beef mixture. Make sure you give it a good toss to make sure all the egg noodles are all evenly coated with the sauce.
  • Pour in the pasta mixture into a large casserole dish and top with the remaining cheeses.

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  • Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese has completely melted.

Enjoy!

Deconstructed Enchilada Casserole
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Ingredients
  1. 1 pound ground turkey
  2. 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  3. 1/4 teaspoon cumin
  4. 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
  5. 4 ounces cream cheese
  6. 1/4 cup sour cream
  7. 10-oz can red enchilada sauce
  8. 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
  9. 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese, divided
  10. 1 cup frozen corn kernels
  11. 4 oz canned diced green chiles
  12. 12 ounces egg noodles
  13. Salt & pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. In a large pot, cook egg noodles according to package instructions.
  3. In a super large skillet (or as I've mentioned in previous posts, I love using woks, so I used a wok instead), brown the ground turkey, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Drain excess fat, and add in the chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Stir to combine.
  4. Add in the cream cheese. Stir until cream cheese is melted and thoroughly combined.
  5. In a medium sized bowl, combine the sour cream, enchilada sauce, half of the two cheeses, corn, and green chiles. Stir to combine.
  6. Add the sauce mixture to the meat mixture. Stir. Let simmer for a few minutes.
  7. When the pasta is done, drain the pasta, then add it to the beef mixture. Make sure you give it a good toss to make sure all the egg noodles are all evenly coated with the sauce.
  8. Pour in the pasta mixture into a large casserole dish and top with the remaining cheeses.
  9. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese has completely melted.
Adapted from Table for Two
Adapted from Table for Two
Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/
Have a great weekend and stay warm!

Recipe adapted from Table for Two

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As the weekend approaches, I start planning meals to bring to work. I usually like to go with something quick and simple to make – usually some sort of pasta, soup/stew, or some lean protein with brown rice.

Since I’m already going to make a zuppa toscana soup, I figured I’d stick with the Italian theme and make some pasta to go with it. If you like mushrooms, sausage, tomatoes, and pasta, I’m sure you’ll love this recipe!

The recipe says to make everything in a large skillet, but I made mine in a wok instead. When it comes to cooking, sometimes it’s hard to hide my Asian-ness.

You can take a girl out of Asia, but you can’t take the Asian out of her!

I think woks are a very versatile piece of kitchen equipment, and I think every kitchen needs to have one. You can use it for sauteing vegetables, , steaming dumplings, boiling pasta, making omelets… the possibilities are endless.

Back in Taiwan, our family does not own a skillet, a grill pan, any sort of saucepans, a food processor,  or an oven (we do, however, have a toaster oven)… everything either gets cooked in a wok or in a pot (and that’s only used when we make soup). In case you’re wondering, most household kitchens in Taiwan don’t have an oven, since many of our traditional cuisines are made on the stove top, not in the oven.

Okay, I’m going off a little off the subject here… this recipe is super easy – prep time and all, it probably only took me about half an hour to make.

Ingredients:

  • 12 ounces mini farfalle pasta (they’re the cute little bowtie ones)
  • 2 tablespoons of EVOO
  • 8 ounces hot turkey sausage, casings removed
  • 2 stalks green onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 cups cherry/grape tomatoes, halved

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I actually prepped all the ingredients the night before to save on some cooking time

Directions:

  • Boil pasta as directed on package. Drain and reserve 1 cup of pasta water.
  • Heat olive oil in a large skillet (or in my case, a wok) over medium heat. Brown sausage, breaking it up with a spatula/wooden spoon until thoroughly cooked. Take out and place on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb all the grease. Set aside.
  • Using the remaining oil in skillet, add the mushrooms, garlic, green onions, 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Saute until mushrooms begin to brown.. Add the grape tomatoes and cook until they are slightly softened. Add the sausage and pasta back into the skillet and toss to mix. If the pasta seems dry, add little bits of the reserved pasta water at a time. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Divide among bowls and top with grated Parmesan cheese if desired. (I omitted this step to make it healthier)

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Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine

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Chili.

Who doesn’t like chili? It’s perhaps one of the classic winter comfort foods – hearty, meaty, and flavorful.

You can also do so much with it (with the help of some cheese) – add it on a hot dog and you get a chili cheese dog. Add it to some fries and make some chili cheese fries. Or just eat it by itself with shredded cheese, sour cream, and some oyster crackers and you get a hearty meal all by itself.

Now, here’s something else you can add chili to: spaghetti.

Apparently “chili + spaghetti = “Cincinnati chili”. Why is it called Cincinnati chili? I have no idea. I’ve never been to Cincinnati before, but I love chili and I love spaghetti, so it automatically sounded like a delicious combo.

Turns out Cincinnati did create something great. We had friends over for dinner last night and everyone said it was amazing. If you love spaghetti and you love chili, this is definitely a must-try.

As always, I tweaked the recipe to make it a little bit healthier for everyone without sacrificing taste.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced
  • 1-1.25 pounds ground turkey
  • salt and black pepper
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 15-oz can of tomato sauce – I used the “no salt added” kind to decrease sodium intake
  • 2 medium tomatoes, diced
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup chili powder
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 16-oz spaghetti, cooked
  • a variety of toppings – pinto beans, extra onions, shredded cheddar cheese, oyster crackers…

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Directions:

  • Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Brown the ground turkey, breaking it up into crumbles, then add the onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Cook until turkey is no longer pink.
  • Stir in the garlic and cook for an additional minute or two.
  • In the mean time, combine the tomato sauce, vinegar, chili powder, paprika, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, cloves, and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl.

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  • Add sauce mixture along with 1 cup of water into the meat mixture. Stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, then turn heat down to medium-low and cook until the chili is slightly thickened, about 1 hour.

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  • Serve the chili over the spaghetti and top with desired toppings.

We chose to keep it simple and only topped it with some shredded cheddar cheese.

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Note: My husband, who helped me combine all the spices/tomato sauce ingredients together, secretly added twice the amount of cayenne in the mix. This is a great idea for those that love their chili with a kick (he didn’t tell me until I made a comment about how spicy it was). However, for those that aren’t a fan of the heat, keep it at 1/4 teaspoons – or none at all.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine

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If you saw the title of this post and said, “What?!” No fear, it simply means “spaghetti with garlic, olive oil, and chili peppers”.

I have those days where I’m starving for something quick, cheap, homemade, and healthy at the same time, as opposed to quick, expensive, and greasy takeout from some fast-food joint. That being said, this is probably going to be the easiest, simplest dish you’ll ever make. It only requires a few ingredients that most of us probably already have sitting around at home – and you can add extra ingredients to it depending on your mood (and what you have sitting around).

Traditionally, spaghetti aglio, olio, e peperoncino is only made with spaghetti, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Today I felt like changing things up a bit, so I added shrimp and broccoli to mine. The nice thing about this recipe is that you can substitute any kind of pasta you have sitting at home for the spaghetti. Like today, I went to the cupboard and found less than a handful of angel hair pasta left, so I used some campanelle pasta instead.

Just an FYI – if you happen to use fresh garlic, it’ll give your breath a nice garlicky smell after you’re done eating. Maybe have some gum handy, or enjoy the dish with a friend, that way they can’t complain about your garlicky breath :)

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 8 ounces of spaghetti (or your favorite kind of pasta)
  • 2 large cloves of garlic, minced – if a couple of the cloves you picked are a little puny and sad looking, add another clove or two to the mix
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup of olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon black pepper, depending on how spicy you want it
  • 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes – if you’re not a big fan of super spicy foods, you can either omit the chili flakes or just add a few pinches of it

Note: the ingredients above are what goes into a traditional dish. Today I also added 1.5 cups of broccoli florets and about 10-12 large shrimp.

Directions:

  • If you’re adding shrimp to dish like I did today, place them on a paper towel to absorb the moisture, then season it with salt and pepper. Sauté them in a skillet with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil under medium high heat, about 1 minute per side, until they turn nice and pink.

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  • If you’re also adding broccoli, sauté those under medium high heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil under they’re nice and crisp. Lightly season with salt.
  • In a small bowl, combine the salt, black pepper, and chili flakes.

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  • Cook the pasta according to its directions. Drain.
  • In a large skillet, heat oil under medium heat. Add the minced garlic to the pan. Stir constantly – make sure you don’t burn the garlic. Add the salt, black pepper, and chili flakes. Stir for about 30 seconds.
  • Add pasta to the skillet, gently toss until the pasta is evenly coated with the olive oil/pepper mixture.
  • Add shrimp and broccoli to pasta.

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Enjoy!

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