Category Archives: Main Dishes

Penne alla Boscaiola {Lumberjack Mushroom Penne} & a Giveaway!

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Veronica

A while back I was contacted by Ginny of Cooking With Chopin to participate in a blog tour for the A Family Farm In Tuscany cookbook (her mother published the book!). I agreed because 1) I love Italian food, and 2) I love free stuff and I would get a free cookbook if I participated. Just keepin’ it real, people. If you like free stuff too, keep reading because you’ll have a chance to win a copy for yourself!

Photo by Dario Fusar, Organic Gardening

This is a beautiful softcover cookbook by Sarah Fioroni that follows the activities on her family’s farm in Tuscany throughout a typical year, such as making prosciutto in January & harvesting saffron in November, and of course there are recipes for each month that include seasonal ingredients. This is more than a cookbook, it is the story of Sarah’s heritage and daily life on Fattoria Poggio Alloro (Laurel Hill Farm), and she includes many simple, delicious recipes that her family makes every day.

Photo by Oriano Stefan

I’m usually drawn to cookbooks that feature colorful photos of the finished dishes, and that was my only disappointment with this one. The book is filled with colorful, stunning photos featuring the family, the farm & monthly activities on it, along with a smattering of food photos. However, the more I looked through the cookbook, the less I cared about the meager food photos. I often read cookbooks like novels, and this one you actually can read like a book, as the stories shared in it flow along with the recipes from month to month.

I’ve been thumbing through this cookbook for several weeks and the longer I have it, the more I love it. The recipes are simple everyday recipes, which isn’t usually what I think of in connection with Italian food. I think of long hours in the kitchen and lots of ingredients. But these recipes aren’t meant to impress you with their length or the time it takes to make them. They are simple and they are good. Make that delicious. Everything I’ve made from the cookbook so far is just incredible. I honestly didn’t know recipes with so few ingredients could be so good.

Take this Penne alla Boscaiola, for example. (It isn’t a coincidence that I first chose one of the recipes that included a picture, though I have now ventured forth and tried one without a picture, the Tiramisu Poggio Alloro–do try it, it’s wonderful.) It is so simple, calling for just a few basic ingredients and only one spice. I did rewrite the recipe with my small changes, so I wanted to include a photo of the actual recipe so you could see what I’m talking about when I say this book is full of simple, delicious recipes.

Dennis’ reaction to this was, “This is really good.” *chew chew chew* “I mean really, really good.” *chew chew chew* “I’m almost shocked at how good this is.” I’m not sure if he meant my food usually isn’t this good, or he was just trying to express how incredibly delicious he found it, but either way, you get the idea of how much he enjoyed it. This is a man that rarely comments on the taste of anything I make and I have to pull the reviews out of him like teeth. Not this time. And I whole-heartedly agree. This pasta is shockingly delicious. Shocking because it is just so simple! How can it possibly be this good? You’ll have to make it to believe it. (And make it with the Green Salad from the cookbook, it is another shockingly simple & delicious recipe!)

Penne alla Boscaiola
{Lumberjack Mushroom Penne}

Printable recipe
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1/2 of a medium red onion, finely diced
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
16 oz. white mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced*
16 oz. pork sausage (I used Jimmy Dean Italian)
1 (29 oz.) can tomato purée
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

4-6 quarts water
1 teaspoon salt
12 oz. penne pasta (I used Ronzoni Smart Taste)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Cook the onion with the olive oil in a large pot/Dutch oven over medium heat for about five minutes, until softened. Add the mushrooms and cook until cooked down and browned, about 15-20 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute, then use your hands to break the sausage into smaller chunks and add to the pot. Cook for about ten minutes, or until the sausage is cooked through. Add the tomato purée, warm water, red pepper, and salt. Simmer for 30 minutes over medium-low heat.

In another medium pot, bring water and salt to a rolling boil. When the water is boiling, add the penne pasta and stir. Return to a boil and cook until pasta is al dente, about 7 minutes, using the package instructions as a guide. Remove and drain, then add to the large pan of sauce. Stir together and serve hot, topped with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Serves 6-8

*Veronica’s notes: I didn’t use fresh garlic because I didn’t realize I was going to miss it until I tasted the sauce without it, so I just added a teaspoon of garlic powder. It was wonderful this way, but I included instructions for using fresh garlic since that is more authentic and most likely would taste even better. Also, a full teaspoon of red pepper flakes did not make this spicy at all so do not fear. Lastly, if you are like me, you will be tempted to cook the sausage separately and drain off the fat before adding it to the sauce. But if you are like me, you will resist in the spirit of authenticity and be rewarded with delicious pasta that is surprisingly grease-free. I think the mushrooms absorb the fat, because there was absolutely no grease to drain after cooking the sausage with the mushrooms. Oh well, more flavor!

Recipe source: Adapted from A Family Farm in Tuscany.

~~Would you like to win a copy of A Family Farm In Tuscany?~~ Just leave me a comment telling me your favorite Italian dish (comments without this will not be counted in the drawing). For an extra entry, “Like” my Facebook page and leave me a separate comment letting me know you did or do. For a third entry, you can “Like” Sarah’s Facebook page and leave a separate comment telling me you did so. Giveaway is open until Wednesday (10/31/12) at midnight CST, and I will announce the winner on Thursday. Winner will have 24 hours to contact me or I will choose another winner. Good luck!

This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to the winner, Kelly D!

59 Comments

Posted in Announcements & Awards, Italian, Pasta and tagged A Family Farm in Tuscany, Cook, Fattoria Poggio Alloro, Italian, Italian cuisine, Lumberjack Mushroom Penne, pasta, penne, Penne alla Boscaiola, Sarah Fioroni. Bookmark the permalink.

Chicken-Fried Steak with Country Gravy

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Veronica

Living in Kansas, I say this so often that by now, it doesn’t really need to be said. But seriously, what is up with this weather? It seems like we went straight from summer into winter. It’s freezing, people. 40°F as I type this. And the weird thing is that the grass is still green and the leaves are still green on the trees and none of them have fallen off. But it’s shiver-me-timbers cold. It’s only the first week of October and I’m already pulling the ice hand in Dennis’ armpit trick.

All I know is, when cold weather hits, that’s when I start wanting hot, comforting meals. Chicken-fried steak was one such recipe on my bucket list (it also has other such common things as homemade chocolate pudding on it–seriously, I’ve never made these basics!) and I have Gina to thank for helping me get ‘r done. Bring on the homestyle cookin’!

Chicken Fried Steak with Country Gravy

Printable recipe
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1 ½ cups milk, plus more for gravy
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons seasoned salt, plus extra for steaks
½ teaspoon black pepper, plus more for gravy
5 tablespoons bacon grease or vegetable oil
4 cube steaks
Salt to taste (for gravy)

Pour the milk into a pie dish. Place flour in a separate pie dish and mix in the seasoned salt and pepper until well combined.

Heat bacon grease in a large skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, sprinkle seasoned salt over both sides of the steaks. One at a time, dredge the steaks in flour, coating both sides. Dip the floured steak in milk, flipping it over to get both sides wet, then dredge in the flour again, coating well. Once the grease is hot, place the steaks in the skillet. I place them in the skillet as I finish coating them, but if your skillet isn’t hot enough, you can put them on a platter until it is. Cook the steaks until browned on the bottom and juices are coming out of the top. Flip over and continue cooking until the meat feels tender when you poke it in the middle with a fork and doesn’t pull, and no juices run out. You may have to keep flipping the steaks over until they are done. Place finished steaks on a clean platter and tent with foil while you make the gravy.

Add the leftover flour from the breading to the skilled and stir it well to absorb all the grease in the skillet, stirring until no white flour is visible. Add remaining milk from breading the meat, approximately ½ to 1 cup, and stir until smooth. Add additional milk as needed to get a smooth, liquid consistency. Continue cooking until thickened, adding additional milk to thin as necessary, and seasoning to taste with salt and lots of pepper. Ladle over the chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes.

Recipe source: adapted from At Home My Way

37 Comments

Posted in Meats and tagged comfort food, country gravy, homemade chicken fried steak, homestyle cooking, mashed potatoes, winter food. Bookmark the permalink.

Southern Shrimp & Cheese Grits

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Veronica

Honestly I never intended to share this recipe, not because it’s not good (it’s amazeballs), but because when I made it, I was a MySpace blogger and the friend I got it from had already posted it on her own MySpace blog. We had the same group of foodie friends that all read each others blogs, so it seemed redundant to repost the recipe. Now I wish I had, as I now forget exactly how I did it. I like to give very specific measurements & instructions, but Cheryl gave measurements like, “a mess of shrimp.” You could never tell she’s from the south, right? :) I kept the instructions in her voice, but did change a few things for clarity.

To give you an idea of how good this dish is, Dennis, who refuses to eat shrimp, ate an entire plate and enjoyed it. He has only eaten shrimp in my presence on one other occasion (on this pizza, which is also amazeballs, if I do say so myself) and he told me he would never do it again unless it was these shrimp ‘n grits. I think that qualifies this as life-changing. :)

Southern Shrimp & Cheese Grits

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

5 slices of bacon
1 mess of fresh shrimp (I used a bag of frozen shrimp, thawed)
4-8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
3 scallions, chopped
3 garlic gloves
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Fresh cracked pepper
Salt
2 tablespoons flour (for roux)
A few slices of ham

2 cups of coarse home-style grits, plus ingredients called for on box
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, plus more for garnish

Start off by frying your bacon. While that’s going, clean and peel your fresh shrimp and set them aside.

Remove the bacon from the pan and set it aside. Drain all but 2-3 tablespoons of bacon grease from the pan, and add your mushrooms. Saute for a few minutes until starting to soften, then add the shrimp, scallions, garlic, and red pepper flakes, if using.

While that cooks, in another pot start your grits by the directions given on the bag. Cook until thick, stirring constantly (nobody likes lumpy grits-lol). Stir in the cheese, and set aside.

Meanwhile lets gets back to the Shrimp! After shrimp is done (it will turn pink), season with salt and pepper, then take it out and set it aside. Now we are starting on the roux (gravy). In the same pan add your flour then add your water and stir till thickened. I do this using a wire whisk or wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper.

Dice up your ham and break up your cooked bacon. I guess my mixture was watery (I remember adding the mushrooms to the skillet at the same time as the shrimp, and I think that prevented the water from them evaporating) and I drained it and added the ham, cooked bacon, and red pepper flakes while it was in the colander. If you follow these updated instructions, hopefully you won’t have to drain yours.

Add your grits to a plate, put your sautéed shrimp & mushrooms, ham, mushrooms, on top of grits then spoon gravy on top and top with shredded cheddar cheese. Enjoy!

Recipe source: Cheryl D.

31 Comments

Posted in Meats, My Favorites, Seafood. Bookmark the permalink.

Cheeseburger Salad

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Veronica

Usually when I want to enjoy a cheeseburger in salad form, I make a hamburger salad and just top it with some shredded cheddar. But I knew I had to try this Pampered Chef version when PW featured it a while back. So glad I did because it’s so much better than my old stand-by! I love how the sauce is mixed into the meat so that you don’t need dressing. Saucy, flavorful meat, crisp lettuce, pickles & onions, juicy tomatoes, cheddar cheese–this salad just can’t be beat!

OK, now Pampered Chef and PW get all crazy and actually turn hamburger buns into croutons by baking them. So cute, right? But grizzle, puh-lease! I may be crazy in certain ways, like adding way too much butter and sugar to my desserts to where they are literally swimming in evil, but I’m not the kind of crazy that likes to bake my own croutons in the summer for a simple salad. If I’m turning on my oven, it’s for something sweet, not for croutons. If you’re not my kind of crazy, you might want to just go to the original recipe for the crouton instructions. As for me, Texas Toast croutons suit my salad just fine.

But, truth be told, this is the way I prefer to eat my cheeseburger salad:

Sans croutons. I mean, the reason I like to turn hamburgers and cheeseburgers into salad is to get away from the bread because it gets in my way, and I like the veggies way more than the bread. Plus, I get enough carbs from sugar. :)

Cheeseburger Salad

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Printable recipe with picture

2 lbs. ground beef
1 ¼ cups ketchup
3 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 small red onions, one sliced into rings, the other diced
8 dill pickle spears, sliced
4 Roma tomatoes, quartered and sliced
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
16 cups chopped Romaine lettuce (about 2 heads)
Texas Toast croutons (optional)

Cook the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Remove from heat, drain the fat, and stir in the ketchup, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Add the diced onions and pickles (you can set some aside for garnish if you like). and stir to combine. Put 2 cups of lettuce on each plate, then divide the burger mixture between them. Top with cheese, tomato, onions and pickles if you set some aside, and croutons if desired.

Makes 8 servings.

Recipe source: adapted from The Pampered Chef

19 Comments

Posted in Main Dishes, My Favorites, Salads and tagged cheeseburger, cheeseburger salad, easy, fall, protein style, salad, spring, summer, winter. Bookmark the permalink.

Quick Veggie Quesadillas

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Veronica

This month for the Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned to Itzy’s Kitchen. Erica lives a healthier lifestyle than I’m living now (she’s a fitness instructor and has lots of yummy, healthy eats on her blog), so browsing her blog got me back into the “healthy thinking mode.” I wish I didn’t have a switch that was either turned to “healthy” or “totally heart-clogging, butt dimple-building unhealthy,” but unfortunately, this is my history. I have decided to ease myself back into healthier eating as I need to lose the fifteen or twenty pounds I’ve gained since going off the rails in March, and Erica helped me do that.

I have been making quick stove top meals often this summer, and I was happy to find her recipe for veggie quesadillas because they were 1) healthy, 2) quick, ad 3) easy. Perfect summer eating.

We really enjoyed these, especially dipped in salsa. They come together so fast and easy and I know I’ll be making this again. FYI, if you have leftover filling, it’s great as a hot dip mixed with salsa with cheddar melting on top. But maybe not as healthy if you use as many tortilla chips as I did. >:)

Quick Veggie Quesadillas

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1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed & drained well
1 (11 oz) can Mexican style corn (or 14.5 oz regular corn), drained well
1 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste
¼ teaspoon cumin
Optional: 1 cup additional vegetables
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
8 flour tortillas (soft-taco size)
Salsa & sour cream for serving

Mix the black beans, corn, chili powder & cumin. If you’d like to add any other vegetables (I added onions), cook them in a skillet until softened and stir into the bean & corn mixture. Place one tortilla in a skillet over medium heat (you can oil the skillet if you like, but I didn’t) and sprinkle no more than ½ cup cheese over it, then scatter no more than ½ cup of the bean mixture over the cheese. Top with another tortilla. Once the cheese is melted on the bottom, about two minutes, carefully flip the quesadilla over and cook for an additional two minutes to heat through and crisp up the other tortilla. Remove to a plate and cook the remaining three quesadillas. Cut each into 6 triangles and serve with salsa and sour cream, if desired.

Recipe source: adapted from Itzy’s Kitchen

A special thank you to my friends Kriss and Nicole for generously giving me the Japanese steak plates pictured in this post, along with many other dishes that will be gracing my blog in the future. They are moving their family to Japan this week and not taking much with them, so I was the happy recepient of much of their dishware. It’s hard to say goodbye and feel like I have to do it too often (Japan has already stolen one of my friends!), but I wish you guys the best!

41 Comments

Posted in Lighter Fare, Meatless, Mexican. Bookmark the permalink.

Tostada Pizzas

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Veronica

These are an insanely quick & easy lunch, coming together in less than 5 minutes start to finish. And so delicious, you will be amazed!

I was craving pizza but didn’t want to deal with rising dough or a hot oven on a sweaty summer day, so I came up with these when I spied the tostada shells on my counter. You only need your broiler on in the oven for a couple minutes and you’ve got hot, melty, crispy pepperoni pizzas. I bet these would be a huge hit with the kiddos, too. Bonus for those with gluten sensitivity: they’re gluten-free! Score.

Tostada Pizzas

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

You will need:
Tostada shells
Pizza sauce (here‘s a quick and easy recipe that requires no cooking)
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Pepperoni
Other toppings of choice*

Line a baking sheet with foil and set aside. Spread a tablespoon of pizza sauce over each tostada shell, then sprinkle with cheese and toppings. Broil on high for 1-2 minutes, keeping the oven light on so you can remove them before they burn. They cook quickly so do keep an eye on them-mine took just a little over a minute to get melty and hot. Serve immediately.

*Be careful with adding too many veggies as they could water out and make the crispy tostada shells soggy.

A Veronica’s Cornucopia original

24 Comments

Posted in My Favorites, Pizza and tagged easy, fast, pepperoni pizza, personal pizzas, tostada pizzas. Bookmark the permalink.

Greek Chicken with Tzatziki

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Veronica

I took the above photo on a cold day in February, when there was only about five minutes of daylight left. I’m sorry if it looks a little unappealing, it seems somehow off to me but since I started with this:

I can’t be sure. It was just so bad to begin with that I’m really happy I got it to come this far! lol

If the photo doesn’t entice you to try this, maybe it will help to know how delicious it is. I love the tangy yogurt sauce with the tender, flavorful chicken–it’s just perfect. And it goes great with the Greek Salad I posted yesterday! If you don’t want to heat up your kitchen, just slide the pieces of meat onto skewers and grill them. (If using wooden skewers, please soak them in water for half an hour so they don’t catch on fire during grilling.) Bet they’d taste even better off the grill!

Greek Chicken with Tzatziki

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Printable recipe with picture

Chicken:
1 ½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley
¼ teaspoon coriander
Salt and pepper

Tzatziki:
1 medium cucumber
1 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
2 teaspoons minced garlic
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Mix the oil, juice, vinegar, and seasonings together and marinate the chicken for 30 minutes but no longer or the texture of the chicken will change and won’t be as good.

While the chicken marinates, prepare the Tzatziki. Slice the cucumber in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and pulp and discard. Shred the cucumber (you should get about 1 cup of cucumber), then wrap in several layers of paper towel and squeeze it dry. Mix with the remaining ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, then place a cooling rack on top of it. Spray the rack with oil, then remove the chicken from marinade and place on the rack. Dab the remaining marinade over the top of the chicken pieces. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve with tzatziki and Greek Salad.

Recipe source: Eat Little, Eat Big

15 Comments

Posted in Lighter Fare, Meats, Mediterranean and tagged greek chicken, grill, tzatziki. Bookmark the permalink.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Veronica

I’m still on vacation but, SURPRISE! I had another blog scheduled. :)

This is one of the fabulous recipes I made on the first cycle of the 17 Day Diet, one that I would eat whether I was on a diet or not, and one I intend to eat again soon. I doubt it is any sort of copycat PF Changs recipe, but it is good, nonetheless, and doesn’t use any pre-made, packaged sauces for flavoring, which is the main reason I chose this recipe over others. I didn’t want the sugar you find in those sauces! I did think it needed a hint of sweet to compliment the other flavors, so I added some stevia, but that’s totally optional.

This recipe makes a large family-sized batch, and I took it for lunch a couple days. Eating lettuce wraps with a dipping sauce is a bit messier than I’d like for a work lunch, so I just put a bunch of lettuce in a bowl then heated the filling at work and dumped it on top, then drizzled the sauce over. And voila! Asian Lettuce Wrap salad. The easier way to eat lettuce wraps!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

2 teaspoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh shredded ginger
20 oz 97% lean ground turkey (or ground chicken breasts)
5 oz mushrooms, finely chopped
½ teaspoon kosher salt
4 cups bagged coleslaw mix or finely shredded cabbage
1 (8 oz) can water chestnuts, drained, and finely minced
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
¼ cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 packet NuNaturals stevia powder, or other sweetener to taste
1 lemon, zested and juiced
½ to 1 teaspoon sriracha (optional)
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1-2 heads iceberg lettuce

Dipping/Drizzling Sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons water
1 packet NuNaturals stevia powder, or 2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoons fresh shredded ginger

Heat an extra-large skillet to medium-high heat on the stovetop. When hot, add oil and then garlic and ginger. Saute for about 30 seconds, or until fragrant, then add the turkey, mushrooms, and salt. Cook for about five minutes, breaking the turkey up and stirring often until it is cooked through. Drain off the broth, and add the cabbage, water chestnuts, and green onions. Cook until the cabbage is wilted, about 2 minutes, then add the soy sauce, sesame oil, stevia, lemon zest and juice, and sriracha if desired. Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro.

To prepare the dipping sauce, combine all the ingredients and whisk to combine.

To serve, carefully remove each individual leaf from the head(s) of lettuce, place chicken mixture on the leaves and serve with sauce.

Recipe source: adapted from Our Best Bites

16 Comments

Posted in Asian, Lighter Fare, Meats and tagged asian lettuce wraps, dipping sauce, PF Changs. Bookmark the permalink.

Zucchini Spaghetti

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Veronica

**I apologize to subscribers for the weird “password protected” post that came to your inbox or feed early this morning! It was me just being a spaz, but I’ve got this “top secret” recipe now set to public visibility instead of password protected. Sorry to disappoint if you thought my zucchini spaghetti recipe must contain codes to reveal a huge conspiracy theory, but I hope you’ll find the delicious recipe is quite enough to get excited about in and of itself. :) **

Have you been wondering what ever happened to the weight loss contract and the 17 Day Diet? Join the club–I’m wondering too! :D We did save a good amount of money with the contract, though we only actually stuck to the agreements made in it for like a week. And we ended up with a bunch of emergencies (car stuff, etc.) that most of the money went toward. We did much better with the 17 Day Diet and stuck with it for over a month, but soon after got to the third 17-day cycle, which allows for a wider range of foods, we cheated our way into widening the range to all foods, and in great abundance. Soooo, I think I lost 15 pounds and gained most of it back. Story of my adult life. I pretty much diet half the year so I can eat like a pig the other half. It kind of works for me.

Anyway, this “spaghetti” was the romantic Valentine’s Day dinner I made while we were on the first cycle of the 17 Day Diet, which allows for no starches except for fruit. The lean meats allowed are minimal as well (turkey, chicken, and fish) and I was challenged to come up with a 17 Day Diet-friendly recipe that would be really delicious and impressive. Debbi posted her version of Kalyn’s zucchini spaghetti and I knew I had a winner. And wow, I was right! This was the most delicious thing we ate during the entire diet, and I would even say it’s one of the most delicious meals I’ve eaten in my entire life. The sauce is just spectacular (it would be great on real spaghetti, too) and the zucchini is perfect here. I always have thought zucchini was a vegetable best suited to Italian seasonings and this recipe further proves it. I can’t even tell you how much I love this dish!

A funny thing about the “spaghetti” strands. The only julienne slicer I could find was this one, which also has three other cutting blades. For some reason, I didn’t look at the owners manual and thought that the crinkle cutter was the julienne blade. I was so frustrated with the slicer, thinking that it was just a poor product, because every time I “julienned” a zucchini, I had to go back and cut the strands apart because the stupid julienning blade was just cutting crinkle-cut slabs. DUH! Seriously, I didn’t figure out my mistake until just this week when I finally opened the owners manual and saw that there was another blade that I had missed. The one for julienning veggies. DOY.

If you don’t have a julienne cutter, The Pampered Chef has a julienne peeler for $10.50 that I’d recommend–it won’t take up a lot of space and does a fabulous job of julienning your veggies. I got one and gave the other cutter to Goodwill because, well, you guys know I don’t even have room for my cake pans in this house, so I’m not about to give up good space for a bulky cutting tool when I could just use Pampered Chef’s fabulous peeler! Thanks, Tracy (my Pampered Chef consultant)!

Zucchini Spaghetti

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3 links low-fat turkey Italian sausage, hot or mild
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 large cloves of garlic, minced + 4 more to season the oil
pinch hot pepper flakes (optional)
1 (14.5 oz.) can roasted diced tomatoes with juice
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
2 medium sized zucchini (9-10 inches long)
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste (for seasoning zucchini)
freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving, if desired

Heat about 1 tablespoon olive oil in a heavy frying pan, then add turkey sausage, squeezed out of the links, and use a spatula to break the sausage apart and cook until it’s lightly browned, about 5 minutes. When the sausage is browned, add 3 cloves of minced garlic, and hot pepper flakes, if using. Stir together and let cook with the sausage about a minute, then add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, fennel, basil, and oregano. Turn heat down to low and let the sauce simmer while you prep the zucchini.

Use a julienne cutter to cut the zucchini into long spaghetti-like strands. (Cut off the ends, wash and dry the zucchini, and then cut into julienne strands. You can also do this with a knife if you’re patient.)

Heat about 1 tablespoon olive oil over high heat in a very large frying pan, add 3 whole garlic cloves and sauté until you can start to smell garlic, then remove garlic to another dish (you can discard it, but fried garlic cloves are delicious and you can add them to salad or even eat them straight!) Immediately add the zucchini strands to the hot pan and cook stirring a few times just until the zucchini is heated through, about 2 minutes. Season the cooked zucchini with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Divide between 2-4 plates, then ladle sauce over the top. Serve hot, with freshly grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

Recipe source: adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen, as seen on Debbi Does Dinner

19 Comments

Posted in Italian, Lighter Fare, My Favorites, Pasta and tagged 17 day diet, Atkins, healthy, low carb, pasta, south beach, zucchini spaghetti recipe. Bookmark the permalink.

Italian Roast Beef {crockpot recipe}

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Veronica

This Italian roast beef was inspired by Tami’s comment on my banana pepper roast, telling me she did the same thing but added a packet of dry Italian dressing mix, and that it made great sandwiches. Well, I’m all about making great things better, and all about sandwiches, so I decided to try it out. And it is even better than the banana pepper roast. And it does make killer sandwiches. Thanks, Tami!

Just as with the banana pepper roast, there is a pleasant piquant flavor from the peppers and the acid in the brine and the slow cooking makes the roast ultra-tender. The difference is that there’s even more flavor–garlic & onion and whatever else they put in those dressing mixes. I have tried making my own Italian dressing mix but I really want it to be exactly like the store-bought ones and so far, no luck. If you have one that’s close please let me know! I buy at least four of those packs a month (I make our Italian dressing with them, and things like parmesan garlic chicken) and I know it would be cheaper and probably healthier to make my own.

We ate the roast straight the first day (it’s so good with mashed or baked potatoes!), then made sandwiches with the leftovers. I’ll include my idea for sandwiches too, because it was so good! Can you tell I thought this roast was so good? ;)

Italian Roast Beef

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1 (5 lb) beef roast
1 (.7 oz) envelope dry Italian dressing mix
½ cup dehydrated red & green bell pepper (optional)
¼ cup dehydrated minced onion
1 (12 oz) jar banana pepper rings

Place beef roast in the bottom of a 6-quart crockpot. Sprinkle the dressing mix, red & green pepper (if using), and minced onion over it, then pour the jar of banana pepper rings over the top, juice and all. Cover and set to cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

Remove the roast onto a platter and shred with two forks. Return to the juices and mix well, then serve with mashed potatoes.

To make sandwiches, you’ll need:

Sandwich buns or rolls
Ranch dressing
Dried basil*
Italian roast beef, warmed
Fresh mozzarella or provolone cheese, thinly sliced
Tomatoes, thinly sliced
Other toppings of choice, such as shredded lettuce, sliced olives, chopped onion, etc.

To make sandwiches, split the buns and cover the insides with a generous smear of ranch dressing. Sprinkle with basil.*

*If you use fresh basil, add it along with the tomato at the end.

Doncha love those sweet Italian buns? ;)

Draining off as much juice as possible, put some roast beef on the bottom buns, then place a slice of mozzarella on top. Please slice your cheese thinner than this or you’ll have to practically burn the buns before it’s melted. Learn from my mistakes.

Broil open-faced on high, the top buns ranch-side up, until cheese is melted, 1-2 minutes. If your cheese is thicker *ahem*, it may take up to five minutes and you will want to remove the top buns before the bottom so that they don’t burn.

Even after five minutes, the cheese was barely melted. I have to show off the one I made when Dennis requested seconds. I got the cheese much thinner, so it only took about a minute for it to melt and I didn’t have to remove the top bun before the bottom was done. Look at this beautiful deliciousness!

Much better! OK, once it’s melted, top it with a slice of tomato, another sprinkle of basil, and any other toppings you’d like.

Cover with the top bun and enjoy warm.

It’s 3 AM as I finish this blog, and I nearly forgot to do the drawing for the cookbook. So without further ado….

Congratulations to Brandee Lake, you won P-Dub’s signed cookbook!

P.S. Some people were asking me why she’s called P-Dub. Dude, it’s because she’s a straight up gangsta! lol. P is for Pioneer and Dub is short for the “double u” that Woman starts with. And in my cousin Andrea’s comment, she gave me a gangster name so I can be hip like the Pioneer Woman. You can now call me “V-Dawg.” My little sister gave me the name “Throwback Vrak,” which I LOVE, but that would require too much explaining in order for it to make sense. So V-Dawg it is. Until further notice. Peace out, yo.