Oven-Roasted Green Beans

Oven-Roasted Green Beans
From Cooking Light, November 2005

2 lbs green beans, trimmed
4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 425.

Place a jelly-roll pan in oven for 10 minutes. Place beans in a large bowl. Drizzle with oil, salt, and pepper. Toss well to coat. Arrange green beans in a single layer on preheated baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 8 minutes or until crisp-tender.

Serves 12.

No pictures for this one either.

Quick and tasty! Mine were a little on the crisp side, so next time I might leave them in for a few more minutes.

Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells
Adapted from Cooking Light, October 2007

2 cups pasta sauce (I used Ragu Tomato, Garlic, and Basil)
Cooking spray
2 1/2 cups part skim ricotta (I used light Harris Teeter brand)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
1 large egg yolk
1 garlic clove, minced (I used bottled garlic)
24 jumbo pasta shells, cooked

Preheat oven to 350.

Spread 1/2 cup pasta sauce over bottom of a 9x13 baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Combine ricotta and next 8 ingredients (through garlic) in a large bowl, stirring well. Spread about 1 1/2 TBS filling into each pasta shell. Arrange stuffed shells in prepared dish; spread with remaining 1 1/2 cups pasta sauce. Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 6.

Again, sorry for the lack of pictures. I'm sure you can imagine what stuffed shells look like though! :)

This is a tasty, and healthy, vegetarian stuffed shells recipe. Just a good, easy, basic recipe. I made it about 4 hours ahead and it's a definitely a make-ahead meal I'll have again!

Mixed Greens with Goat Cheese, Cranberries, and Walnuts

Mixed Greens with Goat Cheese, Cranberries, and Walnuts
Adapted from Coastal Living, December 2006

16 cups mixed greens
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries (I used Craisins)
1 cup toasted walnut halves (I used untoasted walnut pieces
Lemon-Maple Vinaigrette
1 11oz pkg feta cheese, crumbled

Combine greens, cranberries, and walnuts in large bowl. Just before serving, toss with 2/3 cup Lemon Maple Vinaigrette, and top with feta cheese.

Makes 8 servings.

Lemon Maple Vinaigrette
From Coastal Living, December 2006

1 TBS dijon mustard
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (I used bottled)
2 TBS maple syrup
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Makes 1 1/2 cups.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but this was served last night when my parents and sister were over for dinner. I completely forgot to take pictures!

This salad was really good, and we got more than 8 servings out of it. The dressing is slightly sweet and is a good variation on a vinaigrette. I substituted feta cheese for goat cheese because it's cheaper, and didn't toast the walnuts. A good fall salad!

Fall Cookies

Cookies for Santa
From Gooseberry Patch Christmas Cookies

2/3 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 TBS + 1 tsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups + 2 TBS all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt



Preheat oven to 375.

Blend butter, sugar and milk with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Add flour, baking powder and salt; mix to combine. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut with cookie cutters; arrange on ungreased baking sheets and bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.



This sugar cookie dough was very easy to roll out and cut. It didn't require extra flour, and didn't stick to the rolling pin. However, they didn't come out very sweet. I iced them with powdered sugar and milk icing, so hopefully that sweetens them up.

Cranberry-White Chocolate Cookies

Cranberry-White Chocolate Cookies
From Southern Living, December 2005

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups white chocolate morsels
6 oz dried, sweetened cranberries

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; set aside.

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition.

Add flour mixture to butter mixture gradually, beating at low speed until blended. Stir in white chocolate morsels and cranberries.

Drop cookie dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets.

Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned on bottom. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

These cookies aren't super sweet, but the combination of white chocolate and cranberries is wonderful. I'm not a huge fan of white chocolate, but these are definitely a hit. I imagine this recipe will end up as a regular in my Christmas cookie baking.

Slow-Cooked BBQ Chicken

Slow-Cooked BBQ Chicken
From Gooseberry Patch Harvest Kitchen

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 lemon, thinly sliced
18 oz bottle barbecue sauce
3/4 cup cola

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker; cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Shred chicken; stir back into sauce. Serves 4-6.



Fast and easy! This is a great weeknight meal that you can put together in the morning and cook all day.

Turkey Enchilada Casserole

Turkey Enchilada Casserole
From Sunset, September 2002

1 1/2 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 TBS minced garlic
1 TBS dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp canola oil
1 29 oz can enchilada sauce
salt (I omitted)
12 6-inch corn tortillas (I could only find packs of 10 or 20, so I only used 10)
2 cups shredded reduced-fat jack cheese

Preheat oven to 425.

In a 5-quart or 6-quart pan over high heat, stir turkey, onion, garlic, oregano, and cumin in oil until turkey is crumbly and no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Stir in 1 cup enchilada sauce. Add salt to taste (I omitted this step).

Meanwhile, cut tortillas in half. Arrange a fourth of the halves evenly over the bottom of a shallow 3-quart casserole, overlapping to fit. Sprinkle a fourth of the cheese evenly over the tortillas, then top with a third of the turkey mixture and a fourth of the remaining enchilada sauce, spreading each level. Repeat to make two more layers of tortillas, cheese, turkey mixture, and sauce; top with another layer of tortillas and sauce, then cheese.



Bake at 425 until cheese is melted and casserole is hot in the center, 18 to 20 minutes. Yields 6-8 servings.



Yum! I'd like to know if reduced-sodium enchilada sauce exists because this is a pretty salty casserole, and I even omitted some of the salt the recipe calls for. Overall very good and very easy. It could be made healthier by cutting down on the cheese to 1 1/2 cups rather than 2.