Goat cheese ravioli with tomatoes

Tonight I made ravioli using the leftover wonton wrappers I had frozen after making potstickers a while back. I just had to defrost them for a few minutes and they were ready to use. I bought a small container of the prettiest tomatoes at central market the other day so I used that for a sauce. I like this meal because I got to use up a lot of leftover items with this meal like the wrappers, the pecorino I bought for the Brussels sprout slaw, and the butter lettuce I bought for the turkey burgers.

I put apples, craisins, almond slices, and the rest of my baby spinach I bought for lunch in the salad and made a dressing with lemon, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Ingredients:
wonton wrappers (16)
1/4 cup goat cheese
1/4 cup grated pecorino
1 egg beaten
salt, pepper, dried basil
1 container small tomatoes
olive oil
1 tbsp butter
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
parmesan cheese, shredded

directions:
Mix cheeses together and season with a little salt, pepper, and dried basil. Put a small amount of filling on a wonton wrapper. Use your finger to egg wash the edges of the wrapper and then lay a second wrapper on top. Brush gently to get the air out and press down edges. Put in refrigerater with wet towel over them until ready to cook.
Heat the olive oil and butter in a sautee pan over medium low heat. Add garlic slices and sautee for a few minutes until soft. Add the tomatoes and season with salt, pepper, and dried basil. Stir over low heat until tomatoes are puckering and just starting to pop.
Meanwhile bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the ravioli in one at a time and cook until they begin to float. If necessary do this in batches. Remove and add to sautee pan. Stir to coat with sauce and then serve. Top with grated Parmesan.

Teriyaki Turger Burgers

Last night Blake and I made dinner together. We wanted to use the grill and some Soy Vay marinade so we decided to make teriyaki turkey burgers. I thought they were delicious and definitely not as heavy or filling as beef burgers. We served it with the leftover couscous from steak night and some sliced cucumbers with more of the teriyaki sauce as well.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 egg
1 cup breadcrumbs
Salt, pepper
Lettuce
Hamburger buns
Fresh pineapple slices
Havarti cheese

Directions:
Mix the ground turkey with the ginger, egg, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Shape into 4 flat and thin patties. Grill for about 5 minutes on each side until completely cooked through. Baste with the teriyaki sauce the last couple of minutes and then melt cheese over top when ready. Meanwhile, grill the pineapple and warm the buns. To serve, layer lettuce, then turkey burger with cheese, then pineapple on bun.

Ropa Vieja Dinner

Blake and I had planned to go to pilates in the park last night so I thought of making this dinner because it could cook while we were gone. I found a couple recipes online that looked good, but ended up kind of doing my own version. I couldn't find flank steak at the grocery store so I bought 2 smaller skirt steaks. The meat was extremely difficult to shred because it had so much fat and connective tissue. Next time I will use flank steak and hopefully that will be easier. I served it with black beans and a chicken fajita whole grain rice from a box. I also served it with slices of limes, avocado, and tortillas.

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs of flank steak
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded
1 carrot, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp pepper

Directions:
Put half the can of tomato sauce, water, red wine vinegar, pepper, and garlic into the crock pot and stir together. Add the sliced onions and then the beef on top of that. Press the meat down into the liquid and add a little more tomato sauce to cover the meat. Add on the carrot, bell pepper and jalapeno. Cook on high about 3 hours, moving the meat around once midway. When ready to serve, remove the meat and shred with 2 forks. Return to sauce before serving.

Broccoli Slaw Salad

I made this last Friday night to go with a dinner of filet and mashed potatoes that Blake was making. I made it at his house and didn't take a picture. We both liked it but it didn't keep well because the dressing makes it soggy.

Ingredients:
1 bag of broccoli slaw
toasted almond slices
1 package of chicken flavored ramen
sunflower seeds
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions:
Mix the broccoli slaw with the almonds, sunflower seeds and the ramen noodles, broken up into little chunks. In a small bowl, mix together the balsamic vinegar, seasoning package from the ramen, and sugar and then whisk in the vegetable oil. Add the dressing to the salad 10 minutes before serving and chill until ready. Serve immediately.

Chicken in mustard cream sauce with au gratin potatoes and brussel sprout slaw

Last night I made up this dinner without using a recipe. I had looked at one of Giada's recipes before that gave me the idea. I didn't measure anything, so the measurements below are just my guesses. I also tried to reproduce the brussel sprout dish at Dolce Vita and thought I did quite well. The potatoes were just out of a box.

Chicken Ingredients:

4 pieces of thinly sliced chicken breast
1 onion, sliced
1/4 cup marsala wine
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup dijon mustard
salt, pepper
olive oil
1 tbsp butter

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a pan over medium high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Sautee in pan a few minutes on each side or until brown and then remove and set aside on a plate. Add a little more olive oil and the butter to the pan and scrape up the little bits of chicken. Add sliced onion and sautee until soft. Add marsala wine to deglaze, then whisk in dijon mustard and milk. Return chicken to pan and simmer until sauce thickens a little.

Brussel Sprout Ingredients:
1 container of brussels sprouts, washed
olive oil
1 lemon
about 1 cup pecorino romano, grated
salt, pepper

Directions:
Pull the outer leaves off of the brussel sprouts and then shred on the mini mandolin. Add in grated pecorino romano, lemon juice and olive oil until slightly moist. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate before serving.

Baked Apples

For dessert last night I baked some apples in the mini cocotte.

Ingredients:
2 apples (I used 1 gala, 1 fiji)
juice of half a lemon
cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves
2 tbsp of butter

Directions:
Chop apples into small pieces. Mix with lemon to prevent oxidation. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves to taste. Butter the mini cocottes and add the apple mixture in. Pile them in as they will shrink when cooking. Top with some pieces of butter and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until apple pieces are soft. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Matzo crusted chicken with carrot salad and roasted potatoes

Last night I made this matzo meal crusted fried chicken that I saw on foodgawker. I forgot to serve it with the lemon wedges I cut up, but we ate it with ketchup anyway. I decided to make a carrot slaw salad because Blake liked it at another passover dinner recently. I made potatoes for another side.

Chicken Ingredients:
2 large eggs
2 cups matzo meal
salt and pepper
vegetable oil for frying
chicken tenders
lemon wedges

Directions:
Beat eggs in a bowl. Mix matzo meal with salt and pepper on a plate (I added some Parmesan cheese). Heat about a 1/2 inch of oil in a dutch oven over medium high heat. Dip chicken tenders in matzo meal mixture to coat. Next dip them in egg and then back in the matzo meal mixture. When the oil is hot, add a few pieces of chicken to fry so that you do not overcrowd the pan. When golden brown, flip over. Remove and drain on paper towels. Serve with ketchup or lemon wedges.

Carrot Salad ingredients:
1 bag of matchstick carrots
1 box of raisins
1.5 tbsp dijon mustard
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp mayonnaise
olive oil
salt and pepper.

Directions:
Add carrots and raisins to a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together mustard, mayonnaise, and lemon juice. Slowly whisk in olive oil until creamy and not too thick. Add it to the carrots and raisins and mix in. Season with salt and pepper and refrigerate before serving.

Potatoes Ingredients:
1 bag of red baby potatoes
salt, pepper, olive oil
ground rosemary

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Cut potatoes into quarters and add to a casserole dish. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and ground rosemary. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally so all sides get browned.

Matzo Pizza

Blake made me some good matzo pizza last week so Sunday I tried my own for lunch. I cooked it on the rack in the oven which is something I never do usually because I'm too lazy and worried things will fall in the oven. The broccoli I put on this was a little dry. Next time I might steam it a little first so it's softer.

Ingredients:
Matzo cracker
shredded mozzarella cheese
broccoli florets
goat cheese crumbles
shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Layer mozzarella cheese on a matzo cracker. Then layer on the broccoli and goat cheese. Top with a little Parmesan cheese and bake for about 10 minutes.

Korean BBQ Chicken Wings

Saturday night Blake had some friends over to watch a final four game so we made these wings for a snack. The recipe was out of Men's Health Magazine. There were 4 recipes to choose from but we had all the ingredients on hand for this one. I put the wings on the sheet skin side up first so when we turned them the skin got soggy in the liquid from the marinade. We had to turn the wings an extra time and broil them for a little longer to get the skin crispy. These were better after sitting for a while because they were a little sticky when they first came out.

Ingredients:
4 pounds wings, rinsed and patted dry
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp sesame oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 green onions, chopped
3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, stirring until the brown sugar is fully dissolved. Toss the wings in the mixture. Refrigerate the wings overnight or for at least 4 hours.
Preheat an oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with foil, brush it with olive oil, and spread the wings out on it. Bake the wings for 20 minutes, turn them, and bake for 20 more minutes or until the meat is no longer pink. Punch up your presentation with more chopped green onions and a shake of toasted sesame seeds.

Nutritional Facts per serving

CALORIES 251.9 CAL
FAT 9.9 G
SATURATED FAT 1.8 G