Brushetta Chicken Bake

This one was a different twist to stove top stuffing. It would probably also be good as a pasta bake. Important lesson learned: Brown the chicken first! Recipe didn't specify, so I've added that line.

Makes: 6 servings, 1 cup each
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: ~40 min

Ingredients:
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 pkg (6 oz) Stove Top Stuffing mix for chicken
1/2 cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 400.

Brown chicken in a frying pan on the stove.

Mix tomatoes, stuffing mix, water and garlic until stuffing mix is moistened.

Layer chicken, basil and cheese an a 3 qt casserole dish.

Top with stuffing mixture and bake 30 minutes.

Nutrition:

300 cal, 7g total fat, 2g fiber, 75 mg cholesterol

Baked Eggplant & Turkey Rotini

Baked Eggplant and Turkey Rotini

1/2 pound lean ground turkey
6 oz whole wheat rotini or other short cut pasta
2.5 cups marinara sauce
1 cup onion, diced (I used red but white works just as well)
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 - 1 eggplant, chopped (mine was pretty large so I only used half)
2 T olive oil
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp salt (plus more for salting pasta water)
1/2 cup cheese, shredded (I used a mix of 1/4 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat a large pot of water over high heat until boiling. Add salt and pasta and stir. Cook until just al dente, do not overcook since you are going to continue baking. Drain pasta and add to a large bowl.

While water boils, heat a skillet over medium high heat. When hot add ground turkey and brown, crumbling with a wooden spatula as it cooks, add 1/2 tsp fennel seed while it cooks. When cooked through, remove from heat and transfer to large bowl and add marinara sauce.

In the same skillet, heat 1 T olive oil and add garlic and onion. Cook about 2 minutes and add green peppers. Add about half of crushed red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning and cook about 2-3 minutes more. Transfer to bowl with ground turkey. Add remaining olive oil to skillet and heat. Add eggplant, salt, and remaining fennel seed and Italian seasoning. Cook about 5 minutes until slightly softened and transfer to bowl. Toss mixture together gently until well combined and transfer to a baking dish (I used an 8x8 square pan but any similar size baking dish will do just make sure its 2-3 inches deep).

Top pasta mixture with cheese and bake for about 15 minutes until cheese begins to melt. At this point, I switch the oven to broil and let the top brown for a few minutes. You can also just continue cooking an additional 5-10 minutes if you prefer. If you do broil it, watch it carefully so you don't burn the tips of the pasta.

Smoked Mozzarella Risotto

Smoked Mozzarella Risotto

1 T butter
1/2 small white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup arborio rice
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
2 oz smoked mozzarella cheese (chop into small pieces)
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste

In a sauce pan, heat the 3 cups of stock over medium heat.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. When melted, add the onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir until well coated distributed. Toast the rice, stirring frequently for about 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook until reduced almost entirely.

Start adding broth, 1 ladle at a time, stirring the risotto frequently. Add another ladle of broth when the first addition is almost all absorbed. Continue this process until you've added all but the last of the broth. The rice should be creamy but still have a little bite to it. Add the sun-dried tomatoes with the last addition of broth and again cook until almost all absorbed.

Turn off the heat and add the cheese and all spices except the salt. Taste and add salt if necessary (I used low sodium chicken stock and between the stock and the cheese, didn't need anymore salt).

Smoky Mountain Chili

Smoky Mountain Chili

2 lbs ground beef
1/2 lb chorizo
1/2 lb Italian sausage
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz dark beer
1 green pepper, diced
3 jalapenos, finely diced
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup corn kernels (frozen)
1 T ancho chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp ground cumin

Brown meat in a large dutch oven or skillet over medium high heat, crumbling with a wooden spatula. Drain off grease and transfer meat to a bowl. Return pan to heat and add onions and garlic. Cook about 2 minutes and add beer to deglaze the pan, scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the pan and let the majority of the beer cook off. Transfer to a crockpot if desired. Reduce heat to medium-low and add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and beans and stir to combine. Add corn, peppers and spices and cook for at least 60 minutes covered on the stove, stirring occasionally or 3-4 hours on low in the crockpot. Stir in tomato paste as necessary to thicken to desired consistency.

Top with shredded sharp cheddar cheese, sour cream, Fritos, etc. as desired.

*I made this in April 2010. Two thumbs up. I used sweet sausage and really liked that part of it. Also added mushrooms since I had some handy. Good stuff.