Dining Alone

Lazy Lasagna

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:31:00 +0000

I really like Lasagna but don't want to make an entire pan just for me. The Lasagna soup I made was tasty, but it still wasn't the real thing. This recipe is about as close as it gets but still fits into my dining alone requirements. This recipe comes from the Taste of Home cooking for One or Two.

Get some water boiling and preheat your oven to 375 degrees and lets gather some ingredients.

You need some sausage, lasagna noodles, spaghetti sauce, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese and ricotta or cottage cheese.

Remove the casing from the sausage and chop it up.

Measure out your sauce.

Break the lasagna noodles up into pieces. Be careful, those suckers can fly if you break them wrong.

Now that you have everything chopped its time to cook. Get your sausage in the pan with some oil and get it cooking.

Drop the noodles in the water and grab some small casserole dishes.

Grease them up so none of your lasagna goodness sticks. I used 2 refrigerator dishes and they were perfect.

When your sausage is cooked get it into a sauce pan with the spaghetti sauce.

When the sauce is heated, stir in the mozzarella and ricotta cheese.

When your noodles are done drain them and then stir them into the sauce.

When its all combined pour it into your casserole dishes and top with the parmesan cheese. Get them into the oven, I used my toaster oven as its hot as heck here in Arizona. Its been over 110 degrees for days.

After about 20 minutes the lasagna should be bubbly and delicious.

This was so easy and was amazingly delicious. I have definitely found my Lasagna for one!

Carrot Au Gratin

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:12:00 +0000

After my Ham and Corn Au Gratin turned out so great I thought, I can make anything 'Au Gratin' and it would probably be good. So I went with this vegetarian version and it was delicious!! It is also from Taste Of Home Cooking for One or Two.

Ingredients:

* 3 medium carrots, sliced
* 2 tablespoons chopped onion
* 5 teaspoons butter, divided
* 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* Dash pepper
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
* 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
* 2 tablespoons crushed cornflakes

Directions:
Place 1 in. of water in a saucepan; add carrots. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 6-8 minutes or until carrots are almost tender. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, saute onion in 3 teaspoons butter until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until blended. Gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in cheese and parsley until cheese is melted. Drain carrots; add to sauce.
Transfer to a greased 2-cup baking dish. Melt remaining butter; stir in cornflakes. Sprinkle over carrots. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Yield: 2 servings.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (I used my toaster oven of course) and lets gather some ingredients. You need some carrots (or one giant one like I had) onion, butter, flour, milk, shredded cheese, parsley and corn flakes. I didn't have corn flakes so I just used crackers.

Chop up the carrot and the onion. Get the carrots in a sauce pan wiht about an inch of water and bring them to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let them cook for 6-8 minutes until tender.

Meanwhile, melt some butter and set it aside.

In another pan, get some more butter and the onion going until they are tender.

While those cook, combine the cracker crumbs or smashed corn chips in a bowl with the butter. I also added a little cheese because Cheese is delicious!

When the onions are tender, stir in the flour, salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in the milk. Do this nice and slow so your sauce isn't gritty or pasty. Let it cook for 1-2 minutes while stirring.

Remove from the heat then stir in the cheese and parsley.

Your carrots should now be done so drain those guys and we are ready to assemble!

Doesn't the cheese sauce look fantastic??

I didn't bother to combine the carrots and the cheese, I just got the carrots in a greased casserole dish. I also threw in the last of a bag of frozen peas. I used a great Pyrex dish, big surprise there.

Pour the sauce on and top with the crumb topping. Put it in the oven for 15-20 minutes and then you are ready for some tasty, vegetarian comfort food.

Doesn't it look delicious??

It tasted great, even better than the Ham and Corn Au Gratin I made before it!

Ham and Corn Au Gratin

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:17:00 +0000

Regardless of hot it gets here in AZ I still crave comfort food that requires an oven. This is where my toaster oven saves the day. This recipe is from Taste of Home magazine's Cooking for One or Two.

Ingredients:

* 2 teaspoons butter
* 5 teaspoons all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
* 1/8 teaspoon pepper
* 1 cup milk
* 1 cup diced fully cooked ham
* 1-1/4 cups frozen corn, thawed
* 2 tablespoons finely chopped green pepper
* 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
* TOPPING:
* 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
* 1/4 cup crushed butter-flavored crackers (about 7 crackers)
* 2 teaspoons butter, melted
* Paprika

Directions:
In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the flour, mustard and pepper until smooth; gradually add the milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
In a greased 1-qt. baking dish, layer the ham, corn, green pepper and onion. Pour sauce over top. In a bowl, combine the cheese, crumbs and butter; sprinkle over top . Sprinkle with paprika.
Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 10-15 minutes or until heated through and top is golden brown. Yield: 2 servings.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and lets gather the ingredients. You need, cooked ham, butter, shredded cheese, corn, flour, milk, onion, green pepper, paprika, ground mustard, salt, pepper and Ritz crackers. That seems like a lot of stuff, but it is pretty simple to make.

Chop up your veggies.

Smash the crackers in a ziplock bag. I tend to just beat the crap out of them with a rolling pin. Combine the crackers with the grated cheese and melted butter. Set this aside for now.

Melt the rest of the butter in a saucepan.

Stir in the flour, mustard and pepper and keep on stirring until its smooth.

Slowly add the milk and continue to stir until it is thickened.

While the sauce cooks grease a casserole dish, mine is a cute Pyrex of course, layer in the ham, corn, green pepper and onion.

Pour the sauce over the top of the ham and veggies.

Top with the cracker crumb mixture and then sprinkle with paprika.

Bake it for about 10-15 minutes and then you are ready to eat!

This is simple and was easily made in my toaster oven in no time at all. When you just have to have some good comfort food on a hot day, this is the way to go.

Toffee Peanuts

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:40:00 +0000

With the 4th of July coming up you may have some folks coming over for a BBQ or "cook out" as we called it growing up. This is a fun snack to put out while everyone waits for their dogs and burgers. The recipe is from Taste of Home and I cut it in half.

Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup sugar
* 2 tablespoons butter, melted
* 2 tablespoons corn syrup
* 1-1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 2 cups unsalted dry roasted peanuts

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, corn syrup, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Add peanuts; toss to coat. Transfer to a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan.
Bake at 300° for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown, stirring once. Cool on a wire rack; break apart if necessary. Store in an airtight container.

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees and lets get our ingredients. You need some peanuts, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, white sugar, butter and corn syrup.

Melt up the butter.

Get it in a bowl with the rest of the spices and sugars.

Stir in the peanuts.

Pour them out on to a baking sheet lined with non stick foil or grease it however you prefer. Put them in the oven for 20-25 minutes and give them a stir if you remember. I didn't and they turned out fine.

You can't imagine how good this smelled! Let it cool and then break it up and pop it into the fridge until its time to serve.

I will admit that these got served to just me, but not all in one sitting, I swear.

Spicy Beanless Chili

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:09:00 +0000

I have to admit that this meal was actually shared with my husband. He has discovered in the last 6 months or so that he actually likes chili, as long as it doesn't have beans in it. Rather than have him eat something out of a can, I decided to make some for him. The recipe comes from Taste of Home Cooking for 2.

Ingredients:

* 1/2 pound ground beef
* 1/3 cup chopped green pepper
* 2 tablespoons chopped onion
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
* 1 can (5-1/2 ounces) tomato juice
* 1/2 cup water
* 2 tablespoons chili powder
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/2 teaspoon paprika
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
* 1/8 teaspoon salt, optional

Directions:
In a large saucepan, cook beef, green pepper, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato juice, water, chili powder, oregano, paprika, cumin and cayenne and salt if desired. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes or to desired thickness.

You need some ground beef, onion, green pepper, garlic, tomato sauce, tomato juice, water, chili powder, paprika, oregano, cumin and cayenne pepper.

Chop up your veggies.

In a dutch oven or large pot, brown the beef with the veggies.

While that cooks, measure out your spices.

After the beef has cooked, drain off the excess fat or use some bread to soak it up. Add in the tomatoes, water and spices and give it a stir. Bring it to a boil then reduce the heat so its just simmering. Let it cook for about 45 minutes or until it is as thick as you'd like.

Once it is at the desired thickness, you are ready to eat!

I topped mine with a little grated cheddar cheese. The hubby also threw some Fritos corn chips on his. This is one of the few posts where I was not dining alone!

Tortellini Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:44:00 +0000

As I type this entry my computer tells me it is 106 degrees outside. This is definitely not the time to fire up the oven, but its a great time for fun and tasty salads. I found this one from Taste of Home Cooking for 2.

Ingredients:
1-3/4 cups frozen cheese tortellini
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green or sweet red pepper
1 small tomato, seeded and diced
1/4 cup julienned pepper Jack cheese
1/4 cup Italian salad dressing

Directions:
Cook tortellini according to package directions. Drain and rinse in cold water. In a bowl, combine tortellini with all of the remaining ingredients; toss gently to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Yield: 2 servings.

Start boiling some water and lets gather our ingredients. This is a super simple but filling and the ingredients can easily be varied. You need some tortellinis, cheese, italian salad dressing, red pepper, onion, and tomato. You can see my hubby in the background preparing his snack before band practice. He is definitely not a pasta salad guy.

Chop up the onion and the pepper.

I also remembered I had some snow peas in the fridge so I chopped those up too. Cut the cheese (har har) into bite sized pieces as well.

Get the tortellini in the boiling water.

Drain the pasta and give it a rinse after its been cooked.

Once they are drained, put them in a nice big bowl. I have a nice big Pyrex bowl of course!

Get the chopped items and the dressing in the bowl with the pasta.

Look at all the nice colors! Give everything a good stir to mix it up.

Refrigerate the salad for at least an hour and then you are ready to eat!

This was tasty and so easy. Nice and cool and crunchy for a hot summer day.

Rachael Ray's Lasagna Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:24:00 +0000

Since I cook for myself, making a whole pan of lasagna seems pretty ridiculous. I was very excited when I found this recipe for Lasagna Soup. The following recipe is for four servings but I cut it in half.

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 1 lb ground beef
* 1 large onion, finely chopped
* 2 carrots, peeled and grated
* 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
* 1 (32 ounce) box chicken stock
* 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
* 1/2 lb lasagna noodle, broken
* 1 cup basil leaves, torn (I had to use dried)
* 1 cup ricotta cheese
* parmesan cheese

Directions
1. In a soup pot, heat oil over med high heat.
2. Add the beef, season with salt and pepper and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Stir in the onion, carrots and garlic and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Stir in 2 cups water, the chicken broth and tomatoes; and dried seasonings -- if using fresh add later, cover and bring to a boil.
5. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 15 minutes.
6. Top with ricotta and parmesan and serve.

Lets gather up our ingredients. You will need some ground beef, onion, garlic, carrot, chicken broth, tomatoes, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, basil and some lasagna noodles.

Chop up the carrots, onion and garlic.

Break the noodles up, I used too many but it still ended up DELICIOUS.

Brown up the ground beef with some salt and pepper for 3-4 minutes.

Add in the chopped veggies and let them cook for 5-7 minutes.

While those cook, measure out your liquids.

Add them into the pot and give it a stir.

Pop the lid on and bring it to a boil.

Add in the noodles and give it a stir, let this cook for about 15-20 minutes until the pasta is cooked.

While that cooks grab your cheese and try not to eat spoonfuls of ricotta.

give the soup one final stir and add in your fresh herbs. You are now ready to eat!

Top with the cheeses and you are ready to enjoy this delicious variation on traditional lasagna.

Rachael Ray's Sunset Orzo with Shrimp and Sausage

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:03:00 +0000

This recipe comes from Rachael Ray's website and was also in her magazine. If you read often, which I know a lot of people do because of the wonderful comments you guys have been leaving, you know I love orzo. This meal uses a lot of stuff I regularly have in the pantry and freezer.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

* Salt
* 1/2 pound orzo pasta
* 2 pinches saffron threads
* 1 cup chicken broth
* 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
* 1/3 pound Spanish chorizo, chopped
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
* 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
* 1/3 cup green peas
* 1 pound medium shelled and deveined shrimp
* 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
* 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
* Juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the orzo and cook until just al dente. Drain and cover.
2. While the pasta is working, in a small saucepan, steep the saffron in the chicken broth over low heat.
3. In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon EVOO, 1 turn of the pan, over medium heat. Add the chorizo and cook until browned, 2 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic and turmeric and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the peas.
4. In another medium skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until pink and firm, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the parsley, paprika and lemon juice; season with salt. Remove from the heat.
5. Pour the saffron broth over the chorizo and vegetables. Add the orzo and toss for 2 minutes. To serve, top the orzo with the shrimp

Start boiling some water and lets gather our ingredients.

You need some peas, saffron, orzo, chicken broth, chorizo or sausage, onion, red bell pepper, garlic, turmeric, shrimp, parsley, paprika, and some lemon.

Chop up the shallots or onions. I love shallots so that is what I used.

Chop your garlic.

Chop the red pepper. Get your Orzo in the boiling water while you continue making the rest of the meal.

Get the saffron into a sauce pan with the chicken broth over low heat.

Keep an eye on your orzo as it will cook quickly.

While all of that goes on cook up the sausage or chorizo in some olive oil for about 2 minutes.

Add in the onion, pepper, garlic and turmeric and cook for 5 minutes.

Stir in the peas. If your shrimp is not cooked, grab yet another pan and get those cooking for 2-3 minutes. Drain your orzo and set aside.

I used cooked shrimp so I just tossed mine in the broth to warm through.

I added the shrimp, broth, parsley, paprika and lemon juice into the pan where my veggies were. Stir in the drained orzo and you are ready to eat.

This was a tasty and colorful meal that is a great way to use up some things in your freezer and pantry. I just want to say thanks again for all the wonderful comments and emails.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwich

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:20:00 +0000

As it is getting hot here in AZ again I have to resort to cooking in my toaster oven or crock pot on most days. I found a great and simple meal to make that will be perfect for a picnic or get together. I made just a small serving, but this can easily be done on a larger scale.

You will need some pork loin, onions, BBQ spices, garlic powder and some barbecue sauce. I didn't have any bottled sauce on hand so I made my own. I did the prep the night before so the next day I could just throw it in the slow cooker and be on my way.

To make the sauce I diced up some shallots.

I put them in a sauce pan with some ketchup, tabasco, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, garlic powder and some salt and pepper.

I gave it all a stir and let it simmer on low for 10-15 minutes.

While the sauce simmered I prepped the rest of the ingredients.

I sliced up the onion.

I put it in a Pyrex dish to store in the fridge overnight. Can you tell I am still loving my Pyrex?

I made a simple rub for the pork out of garlic powder, allspice and some BBQ powder from Penzey's spices.

I put some lime juice on the pork and then rubbed it down with the spices. I put it in a ziploc bag to store until the next morning.

I got my BBQ sauce out of the pan and put it in the fridge with the rest of my ingredients.

The next day I got everything out and did the last couple of steps.

I cut the pork into cubes.

And added a little bit of Scotch to the BBQ sauce for that little extra something.

I got the onions in the crock pot first.

Then topped it with the pork and BBQ sauce. I let it cook for 6 hours on low and then just used a fork to pull apart the pork. It was effortless after the time in the slow cooker.

I served it up on a nice roll and it was delicious!

Sesame Chicken Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 16:55:00 +0000

Its getting to be the season in AZ when you just don't want to cook because its just too hot. When it is this hot I like making filling salads that are tasty and unique. This chicken salad definitely fits that description. The recipe is from Taste of Home magazine.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup fat-free mayonnaise
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1-1/3 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup chopped fresh snow peas
1 small sweet red pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
4 lettuce leaves
1 tablespoon chopped cashews

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, soy sauce and ginger. Stir in the chicken, peas, pepper and sesame seeds. Serve over lettuce leaves; sprinkle with cashews. Yield: 2 servings.

The night before I was ready to make the salad, I defrosted some chicken breasts in a cute Pyrex refrigerator dish.

I put them in a ziploc steam bag and they cooked up perfectly, I am still loving those bags a lot.

I put them back into another Pyrex dish and let them chill out overnight.

The next day when I was ready to eat I got out the rest of the ingredients. You need the cooked chicken, snow peas, mayo, soy sauce, red pepper, almonds or cashews, ginger and lettuce.

Chop up the peas.

Chop up the pepper.

Chop up your chicken.

And finally, chop up your nuts.

After everything is chopped its time to make the dressing. Combine the mayo, soy sauce and ginger.

After that is combined, toast your sesame seeds in a hot pan. Keep an eye on them as they will cook up FAST.

When those are done get everything else in the bowl, the colors are so pretty!

Give it a stir and lay out your lettuce leaves because you are ready to eat!

Sprinkle the seeds on the top and enjoy! I love toasted sesame seeds and they add that little extra something in this salad that makes it special.

Soup Bowl Cabbage Rolls

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:06:00 +0000

One thing I remember loving when I was a kid is stuffed cabbage rolls, but it is really a lot of work for a single serving. I was very excited when I came across this recipe for a soup version.

The recipe comes from Taste of Home magazine. I cut the recipe in half.

You need some ground meat (beef, bison, turkey), Worcestershire sauce, tomato, rice, cabbage, garlic, chicken stock or water, onion powder, cayenne pepper, basil, salt and pepper and some parmesan cheese for garnish.

Cut the cabbage up into bite sized pieces.

Chop up your garlic and we are ready to start cooking!

Brown the ground beef with the garlic.

While that browns, measure out your spices and Worcestershire sauce.

When its nice and done, get it out of the pan and into some cute Pyrex if you've got some.

Drain out the fat, or use a piece of white bread to soak it all up like I do.

Add in the rice, seasonings, beef, cabbage and broth. Bring this to a boil and then reduce the heat to low.

Cover it and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the rice is cooked.

Now we are ready to add in the tomato and get eating.

Stir in the tomatoes and salt and we are ready to enjoy this simple soup.

Garnish it with a little bit of Parmesan cheese and enjoy! I was so happy with how this turned out and will be making it again.

Broccoli with Garlic Butter and Almonds

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:40:00 +0000

Sometimes I like to go meat free for dinner and this recipe is a quick and easy vegetarian choice. It is from All Recipes.com. The recipe below makes 2 side dish servings or 1 meal.

* 1/2 pound fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
* 1 tablespoon and 2-1/4 teaspoons butter
* 1 teaspoon brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon soy sauce
* 3/4 teaspoon white vinegar
* 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 2/3 clove garlic, minced
* 1 tablespoon and 2-1/4 teaspoons chopped salted cashews

1. Place the broccoli into a large pot with about 1 inch of water in the bottom. Bring to a boil, and cook for 7 minutes, or until tender but still crisp. Drain, and arrange broccoli on a serving platter.
2. While the broccoli is cooking, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Mix in the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper and garlic. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat. Mix in the cashews, and pour the sauce over the broccoli. Serve immediately.

Lets gather our ingredients. You will need some cashews or almonds, you could even use peanuts if you prefer. Soy sauce, white wine vinegar, brown sugar, butter, garlic, pepper and some broccoli. I also made some rice ahead of time to serve this over, you could also serve it over noodles or polenta.

Chop up the broccoli.

Chop the garlic and nuts.

Combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper and garlic.

The recipe calls to steam the broccoli on the stove with some water, I am using a steam bag instead.

While your broccoli steams, melt the butter in a pan over medium heat.

Stir in the soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil.

Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the nuts, drain your broccoli and you are ready to eat!

The sauce and almond combo over the broccoli was amazing. This is a filling meal that is so tasty I doubt you will miss the meat. Give it a try this weekend while you enjoy the spring weather. Thanks again for all the comments and emails, I appreciate them and I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to read my blog.

Smoked Paprika Roasted Salmon

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:20:00 +0000

I love salmon and I love paprika so I was quite excited to give this recipe a try. It is from McCormick brand seasonings.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and lets grab some ingredients.

I got a GREAT new cutting board that covers my entire prep area from Overstock.com. I love it! I love having such a large work area. On my new cutting board there is some OJ, salmon, olive oil, thyme, brown sugar, smoked paprika, cinnamon, and some salt. The recipe also calls for spinach but I didn't have any so I just steamed some veggies in my Ziploc steam bag while the salmon cooked.

First we need to make the marinade. Mix the OJ with the thyme and olive oil.

Send the fish in for a swim.

Refrigerate for about 30 minutes to an hour.

While the fish marinates cover a baking dish in foil.

Prepare your spice rub. Mine is in a great little Pyrex refrigerator dish. The rub is the paprika, salt, cinnamon, brown sugar and orange peel if you've got it. I didn't have any.

I also prepped some veggies to steam in my Ziploc steam bag.

After your fish is done marinating, get it out of the pool and into your foil lined pan.

Rub it down with the spice rub. Get it in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

While it cooked I steamed my veggies.

I sprinkled some of this delicious seasoning over them and gave them a quick toss with a tiny bit of olive oil.

The salmon came out smelling delicious.

I plated up the whole serving of salmon but ended up saving half to be stirred into a salad the next day. I really liked this dish and would love to play around with the spice rub some more to make different flavor combinations.

Sweet Potato Dip

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Thu, 21 May 2009 19:05:00 +0000

With Memorial Day weekend coming up you may be having friends and family over. This is a nice appetizer to serve that I had never heard of before.

The dip is sort of like hummus but with a sweet twist. I can't say enough how much I love sweet and savory food, so I was excited about this.

You need some tahini, sweet potatoes, onion, carrot, water, cumin and curry.

I made the sweet potatoes in my Ziploc steam bag, I totally love these things. Steam them, give them a quick peel and chop, and they are ready to go.

If you are not using the steam bag, get your sweet potatoes in some water and chop up the onion and carrot.

Get the onions and carrots in a pan with 1/2 a cup of water. Cook until softened, about 8 minutes.

While those cook measure out your cumin and curry.

When the onions and carrots were almost done, I steamed up my sweet potatoes and cubed them up.

When your veggies are nearly cooked get the potatoes, cumin, curry, some salt and the tahini in a food processor.

Give those a whirl until they are combined.

After those are mixed, add in the onions and carrot and give that a whirl. Toast up some pitas and you are ready to serve.

I garnished with some cinnamon and served it warm. It was a tasty appetizer and something a little different and colorful to put out for your friends and family.

Portobello Mushroom Sandwich with Tahini Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:29:00 +0000

I love Portobello Mushrooms and I love tahini so this recipe really caught my interest. This is a great vegetarian sandwich and you will not miss the meat, I promise.

This is super easy and quick. Preheat your broiler and lets grab our ingredients.

You need some portobello mushroom caps, a nice roll or bread, tomato, onion, tahini, ranch dressing, swiss cheese, milk, cajun seasoning and lemon pepper.

Toss the bread in the broiler to toast up.

You can definitely tell the food I am excited to eat because I tend to forget to take prep photos. Slice up your onions and mushrooms and get them in a pan with some oil over medium high heat. Let them cook for about 10 minutes.

While the mushrooms and onions cook, slice up the tomato. A couple of readers have asked about the cute pink knife I have been using on the blog for a while. It is a Kai Komachi "Meat" knife that I picked up at a close out store called "Tuesday Morning". I did just recently see them at Target and I really recommend it. It is inexpensive, sharp and very light. And its pink!

Mix the tahini, ranch and milk together.

After the 10 minutes is up stir in the cajun seasoning and the lemon pepper. You can also hit it with a little bit of salt. Let that cook for 2 minutes more.

While that finishes up spread the sauce on your bread.

Drop the onions and mushrooms on the bread.

Layer on the cheese and tomato and then put the top on!

You will not miss the meat in this filling and tasty sandwich.

Grilled Salmon with Balsamic Blueberry Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Wed, 13 May 2009 06:05:00 +0000

If you read my blog with any regularity, you will know I am a huge fan of savory and sweet. This salmon recipe from allrecipes.com caught my eye and I knew I'd have to try it. This uses the grill and the weather is just getting to be perfect for the rest of the country to start cooking outside. So preheat the grill and lets go!

INGREDIENTS

* 1/4 cup chicken stock
* 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 2 tablespoons orange juice
* 1/2 teaspoon honey
* 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
* 2 tablespoons chicken stock
* 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
* 2 (6 ounce) salmon steaks
* 1 tablespoon olive oil

DIRECTIONS
1. Pour 1/2 cup chicken stock, vinegar, orange juice, and honey into a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium. Dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup of chicken stock, and stir into the simmering sauce. Cook and stir until the sauce thickens and turns clear, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the blueberries and chives, and keep warm over low heat.
2. Preheat grill to medium high-heat.
3. Brush salmon with oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Grill until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Serve with blueberry sauce.

Ingredients assemble! You need some OJ, balsamic vinegar, honey, cornstarch, blueberries, chicken broth, chives, olive oil and the salmon.

Combine 1/2 cup chicken stock, vinegar, orange juice, and honey in a saucepan. Get it boiling then reduce the heat.

Combine the cornstarch with the remaining chicken stock. Feel free to admire my adorable little measuring glass.

Stir the mixture into the bubbling sauce. Let that cook for 1-2 minutes.

Stir in the blueberries and chives and keep it warm over low heat.

Get the salmon nice and covered with olive oil and salt and pepper. Get it on the grill and cook about 4 minutes per side or until done to your liking.

Give the sauce one final stir before you bring in the salmon and you are ready to eat!

I served this with a simple salad and it was delicious. The sauce was drinkable and I would not hesitate to make it again and put it on chicken or even pork. This is perfect for a spring or summer afternoon.

Simple Chicken Noodle Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Sun, 10 May 2009 20:16:00 +0000

I had never tried to make my own chicken noodle soup before and I found a recipe that made it look kind of easy. Granted I was not making my own noodles, but I was doing the rest from scratch. It turned out to be very simple!

The recipe is from Everyday Food.

You need some carrots, parsnips, onions, egg noodles, plenty of salt and a chicken.

Chop all the veggies up. I really enjoy prepping veggies but if you don't you could use a mandolin or a food processor.

Ok this is pretty much a 2 step meal. Put everything in a big pot.

Cover with water and add a fistful of salt and some pepper. I am not kidding about the salt, you need a lot. Bring it to a boil and then drop the heat to a simmer. Bring another pot of water to boil and cook your egg noodles.

After about 35 minutes your chicken will be cooked. Drain your noodles and get them in a bowl.

Get the chicken out and strip off some meat if you'd like to add some to your soup. Otherwise throw it in the fridge and use it to make some delicious chicken salad or sandwiches. Taste the broth and decide if it needs more salt and pepper. I added another shot of salt to mine.

Pour the veggies and broth over the noodles and you are ready to eat. This was so easy and is the most perfect comfort food.

Rachael Ray's Bison and Portobello Mushroom Minestroganoff

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:38:00 +0000

I have been enjoying some hearty dishes before it gets too hot here in Arizona. This soup comes from the Rachael Ray magazine.

I knew that I could get either coworkers or my brother to eat some of this so I made the full recipe. Plus it just looked good so I knew I wouldn't mind eating leftovers.

You need some olive oil, pasta, crushed tomato, shallots or onions, broth, portobello mushrooms, bison or ground beef and carrots. You will also need some sour cream for the finished product.

Lets get cooking!

Chop up the onion and the carrots.

Clean the underside of the mushrooms.

Chop them up, they will reduce in size as they cook so don't cut them too small.

I used ground bison instead of beef because I love it and because it has a lot less fat than ground beef.

Heat some oil in a dutch oven and toss in the carrots and onion. Let them cook for about 8 minutes or until softened.

Add in the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes, stirring every once in a while.

Get the veggies out of the pan for now.

Stir in the beef or bison and give that some time on the fire. Let that cook for about 3-5 minutes until browned and season with salt and pepper.

Add in the tomatoes, broth and the cooked veggies. Stir in the pasta and bring it to a boil.

Lower the heat to medium and cover it up. Let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

Grab your sour cream from the fridge when you are ready to serve.

Get the soup in the bowl and top it with a dollop of sour cream. This was delicious and I would definitely like to try some other variations with turkey burger and other types of mushrooms. I hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy the spring weather!

Beer and Onion Braised Chicken Carbonnade

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Wed, 06 May 2009 01:07:00 +0000

The last recipe I posted turned out so well I thought I'd try another recipe that used beer. This Chicken and Caramelized Onion dinner also produces some tasty leftovers so be sure to read to the end to see what I did with the extra!

The recipe is from Bon Appetit magazine.

You need some brown sugar, bay leaf, dijon mustard, vinegar, beer, onion, beef broth, butter and of course some chicken. I served this over egg noodles but it would be great over rice or potatoes also.

Slice the onions and cut off some butter. It is going to look like a ton of onions but they cook down.

I originally poured a New Belgium beer to use with this but didn't like the flavor for the food so I used Guinness. Don't worry the New Belgium got drank while I cooked. We do not abuse alcohol here by pouring it out.

You will need some allspice for the chicken.

Season the chicken with salt, pepper and the allspice.

Melt the butter in a pan.

Brown the chicken in the butter on both sides, about 4 minutes per side.

Looking good!

While the chicken browns, measure out the brown sugar.

After the chicken is browned, get it out of the pan and get your onions and sugar in there.

Give them a good stir and cover them and cook for about 10 minutes on low. Stir them every once in a while as they cook.

Don't freak out that you have so many onions. If you don't eat them all at dinner, they are great to have around to stir into pasta or to put on a burger.

Now that your onions are done, grab your chicken and get it back in the pan.

Get all of the rest of the ingredients in and bring it to a boil. Reduce to low, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Uncover and cook for another 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the sauce thickens. If you are serving with noodles or rice, get that cooking right now.

After everything is cooked, get it on to a plate and enjoy!

I have to admit that the onions were my favorite part of this meal. Don't get me wrong, the chicken was moist, delicious and flavored well but I just love caramelized onions.

I took the leftover chicken thigh and some of the onions and made a great sandwich. I reheated the chicken and onions and put them on a ciabatta roll and melted some monteray jack cheese over it. It was a great way to use up some leftovers.

BBQ Pork Chops

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Sun, 03 May 2009 20:00:00 +0000

I have several food blogs that I visit regularly, and most of them are in my links section. One of my favorites is The Crepes of Wrath. First of all, what a great name! The food and photos are always great and I have made quite a few recipes they have featured. This BBQ Pork chop recipe is perfect for a week night meal.

3 pork chops
1 tablespoon low-sodium steak seasoning
1/2 (12 fluid oz) can or bottle of beer
1 (9 ounce) bottle barbecue sauce
2 onions, sliced

1. Sprinkle the pork chops with steak seasoning and rub it in.
2. Heat olive oil or Pam in a dutch oven or shallow pot. Brown both sides of the pork in the pot. After the pork chops have been browned, remove them from the pan, place on a plate, and set aside.
3. Pour half of the beer into the pot. Stir it around beer until all of the particles on the sides have been incorporated. Pour in the barbecue sauce and place the pork chops back into the pan. Add onions and cover. Simmer on low for 1 to 2 hours. Serve with the sauce and onions on rice or vegetables.

I did a single serving for myself, since the hubby doesn't eat pork. Oh, he eats bacon and all the various sausage, salami and pepperoni type meats, but not delicious pork chops. I long ago gave up trying to figure out the method to his food madness. You need some pork, onion or shallot, steak seasoning, BBQ sauce and some beer. I used some Sierra Nevada because it was currently on tap in my kegorator. The BBQ sauce is a horseradish BBQ sauce I got at Sur La Table and boy was it good.

Heat some oil in a heavy pan.

Season your pork with the steak seasoning and some salt. Get it in the hot oil and let it sear up and get nice and browned.

While it browns, slice up your onion or shallots.

Flip that pork over and get it browned on the other side.

Once it is browned to your liking, get it out of the oil and set it aside.

Pour in the beer and get all of the yummy pork bits up off of the bottom of the pan. This is called deglazing.

Stir in the BBQ sauce.

Put the pork back in, add the onion and cover it up. Let it simmer for an hour and go put your feet up.

Just before the pork is ready you can make a side. Thanks to my sister I have discovered these awesome Ziploc Steam Bags. I promise I am not getting paid by these folks but these things are amazing. I have used the same bag my sister sent me about 5 times and it still holds its seal perfectly. I threw some potatoes in there and in 4 minutes they were perfectly steamed. Go grab some of these steamy wonders. They come in large sizes too.

Pull the lid off the pork and smell the BBQ goodness.

This was super easy and tasted like I slaved away for hours over it. Thanks again to the Crepes of Wrath for the great recipe idea!

Cowboy Hot Pot

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:25:00 +0000

I can't believe this is my 200th post! I am so excited to still have people regularly read the blog and leave me comments. I still enjoy doing this blog so much.

I am going to post a delicious meal that can easily be made vegetarian that I must admit was one of my favorite things I have made in a very long time.

1 onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 carrots, chopped
3 tablespoons canola oil or olive oil
4 ounces green beans, chopped
1 can (14 oz) baked beans
1 can (7 ounces) corn, undrained
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
4 ounces smoked cheese, cubed
1 pound potatoes, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter, melted
salt and pepper

1. Saute the onion, red pepper, and carrots gently in the oil until softened, not browned.

2. Add the green beans, baked beans, corn with liquid, tomato paste and seasoned salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer for five minutes.

3. Transfer the vegetables to a shallow ovenproof casserole dish, and scatter the cubed cheese on top.

4. Cover the vegetable and cheese mixture with the sliced potatoes, brush with melted butter, season with salt and pepper and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes, until potatoes are cooked and golden brown on top.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and lets get started.

You need some baked beans (get vegetarian if you want this to be meat free), smoked cheese or whatever cheese you like, corn, onion, pepper, potatoes, seasoned salt, tomato paste and some butter. You also need salt and pepper. The recipe also calls for carrot and green beans but I just didn't have any!

First thing you want to do is chop your veggies and then saute the peppers, onion, and carrot until they are softened.

While those saute, cube up the cheese. I used Monterey Jack.

Slice your potatoes.

After the veggies have softened add in the beans, corn, tomato paste and some seasoned salt.

Bring it to boil then drop the heat and let it simmer for five minutes.

After it has simmered, pour it into an oven safe casserole dish. I am using my Pyrex butterfly gold dish.

Add the cubed cheese on the top.

Melt some butter and grab a brush.

Layer the potatoes on the top of the casserole and brush it with the butter. Season with salt and pepper and pop it in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

My potatoes were not layered well enough, they were too far apart, and sort of sunk into the rest of the dish, but I wasn't too worried. It smelled so good I knew it was going to be delicious.

As you can see it was gooey and just bursting with different tastes and textures. I absolutely loved the flavors in this and it is very versatile. You can really add or remove any vegetables you would like to this. I will be making this again very soon.

Red and Gold Sweet and Sour Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:23:00 +0000

I think I have said before how much I love my slow cooker but I don't use it a lot because it is hard to cut the ingredients down to single servings. When I saw this recipe I realized that I could do a lot of variations on the leftovers so I just made the whole thing. The recipe is from the Mabel Hoffman Crockery Cookery cook book.

I did a lot of the prep work the night before so that I could just throw everything in the slow cooker the next morning.

You need a nice ripe mango, they should be slightly soft to the touch but not mushy.

If you don't know how to cut mango, here is a link to a great Youtube video that shows you a couple of techniques.

I cut the two sides around the seed.

Then cut almost to the the skin into even cubes.

Then flip it inside out and cut off the delicious mango flesh. It is so simple!

You will also need a red pepper. Chop it into bite sized pieces.

You will need an onion.

Slice it up as well into whatever size you like. I love onion so I don't mind large pieces.

The recipe calls for jicama, but I had apples on hand so I used those instead.

Cut them into nice match sticks. I put all of those prepped veggies in the fridge and went to bed.

The next day I got the remaining ingredients. Hoisin sauce, which is a sweet asian BBQ sauce. Corn Starch, chicken broth, brown sugar and some red wine vinegar.

I then got out my chicken, you will need about one whole chicken's worth of meat, but I used just thighs. I also got out my prepped onions from the night before. Both are looking stylish in my Butterfly Gold refrigerator dishes.

Combine the broth, sugar, vinegar, hoisin and some salt in a bowl.

Put the Onions and the chicken in the slow cooker.

Pour the liquid mixture over the chicken and onions and put the lid on the slow cooker and set it on low. You are now free to go about your business for the next 5 hours. Go read a book, play with your dogs, or do whatever it is that makes you happy. Do not do housework or anything stressful or it could seriously effect the outcome of the food. Really.

After the 5 hours is up it is time to thicken it up and add some more ingredients. Turn the slow cooker to the High setting and dissolve the cornstarch in some water. Stir that in and add in the red peppers. Put the lid back on and let it cook for 15 minutes. I also put some water on to boil so that I could cook up some egg noodles to serve this over.

When the 15 minutes is up, add in the jicama or apples and the mango. Let it cook for about 5 minutes more. Get your noodles in the water if you are serving with pasta.

Drain the noodles when they are done and serve with the delicious sweet and sour chicken. The flavors of the sweet fruit with the savory chicken and sauce was a perfect complement. After it had cooled I stripped the meat from the remaining chicken and made some stir fries with the remaining veggies and some rice. It is a great dish with a lot of leftover potential.

Grilled Bison Steak with Warm Shallot Vinaigrette

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 01:30:00 +0000

I really enjoy bison steaks and I traditionally eat them with just some salt, but I love shallots so I thought I would try this recipe. You can make this with regular old beef steak as well.

Preheat your grill and lets gather some ingredients.

You will need some Apple Cider Vinegar, shallots, mustard, parsley, Olive Oil, salt, pepper and a nice steak.

Slice the shallots and drop them in a small sauce pan with some olive oil.

Cook them on low for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Get your steak on the grill and then we can make the vinaigrette.

Pour them into a food processor or blender and let it cool for a few minutes and while it cools, flip your steak. Give it a whirl to combine into a nice puree.

Add in the parsley, salt, pepper and the vinegar and give it another spin.

I plated the steak over some romaine lettuce leaves and then smeared it up with the vinaigrette. It was a very nice change from my usual steak topping and I think it complemented the steak instead of overpowering it, like I had feared. I didn't do a great job on presentation because I was darn hungry after smelling that steak grilling and with as rare as I make my steak I wanted to be sure it didn't get back up and run away! I hope your weather is nice enough to try this soon. Have a great weekend!!

Wine Poached Salmon Done in the Microwave

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 23:21:00 +0000

This recipe came from the Betty Crocker Cooking for Two cookbook. It is actually made in the microwave and ended up tasting great. I was a little nervous as I have never cooked fish in the nuker before, but it turned out really well and dinner was ready in no time!

You will need some salmon, or any fish filet would probably work. White wine, water, lemon, salt and pepper, thyme and tarragon. I also got out some asparagus that I steamed in a pan of water on the stove and flavored with a bit of olive oil and some lemon.

Ok this is too easy. Put it in a dish, sprinkle with the wine, water, salt, pepper and herbs. Slice the lemon and place the slices on the fish. Cover with wax paper and microwave for 3-5 minutes. You are DONE!

Plate it up with a side and you have dinner in 10 minutes. How easy is that?? I will be trying this with other fish as well.

Dilled Fettucine with Whisky-Crab Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Dining Alone) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 04:20:00 +0000

My husband is definitely not a food lover, but he does love his Scotch. When I saw this recipe for pasta with a whisky-crab sauce, I knew I'd have some good whisky to choose from.

The recipe comes from Betty Crocker Cooking for Two. First things first, get some water boiling for the pasta.

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You will need some pasta, dill, artichoke hearts, cream, green onion, butter, crab and some whisky. If you don't have whisky or bourbon, you can use some chicken stock. I used some Speyburn, which is a pretty inexpensive but tasty Scotch.

Chop up your artichokes, green onion and get your crab ready. Measure out your cream and your whisky so you are all ready to start cooking.

Melt the butter in a small sauce pan.

Get your pasta in the boiling water.

Save a handful of green onions to garnish and add the rest to the melted butter and cook for 3 minute.

Stir in the dill, whisky and some salt and pepper. cook for about 3 more minutes or until half the liquid has evaporated.

Stir in the cream and keep stirring for about 3 minutes.

Stir in the crab and artichokes and heat through.

Drain the pasta and drop it in with the sauce and toss it to combine.

This is the first time I have cooked with canned crab and I didn't think it would be all that good, but it was surprisingly tasty. The sauce on this would actually make a delicious dip if you stirred in some cream cheese as well. I really liked this and was grateful to my hubby for sacrificing some of his whisky for my meal.