Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed Shells

I got this recipe on foodgawker but it's really a Giada recipe. It made a ton of food and we were eating it all week. I might have used just 1 egg, but I can't remember. I also used a jar of arrabbiata sauce instead of making my own. Served it with some green salad and probably some bread.

Ingredients:
1 box jumbo pasta shells
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus 1/2 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/4 teaspoon
1 package frozen artichokes, thawed and coarsely chopped
1 (15-oz) container ricotta cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
5 cups Arrabbiata Sauce
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and partially cook until tender but still very firm to the bite, stirring occasionally. Drain the shells and set aside. I had to do this in batches.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and the garlic and cook until the onions are soft and starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the ground turkey, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is browned and cooked through. Add the artichoke hearts and stir to combine. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl combine the cooled turkey mixture with the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, basil, parsley, and the remaining salt and pepper.

Cover the bottom of a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking dish with 1 cup of the Arrabbiata sauce. Take a shell in your hand and stuff it with the turkey/artichoke mixture, about 2 tablespoons per shell. Place the shell in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining shells until the baking dish is full. Drizzle the remaining 4 cups of Arrabbiata sauce over the shells and then top with the mozzarella. At this point, you can freeze the shells for up to a month by covering the baking pan with plastic wrap then aluminum foil and placing it in the freezer.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Bake until the shells are warmed through and the cheese is beginning to brown, about 60 minutes for frozen shells or 20 minutes if you bake them immediately after prepping.

Mushroom Onion Quiche

I bought some frozen pastry shells and wanted to make some breakfast for dinner. I found a recipe to use as an example. I partially baked the defrosted pie crust before filling it, but I think I should have put some weights in it because that caused it to crack. Then when I baked the filling, part of it seeped through the cracks and made those parts of the crust soggy. Although the filling tasted pretty good, it was better the second day, so it would have probably helped to let it cool to room temperature before eating. I also can't remember what cheese I used. I want to say it was gruyere. I just served it with some green salad.

Ingredients:
1 thawed frozen pie crust
1 bag chopped mushrooms
1 red onion, sliced
3 eggs
milk
salt, pepper
butter
brown sugar
shredded cheese

Directions:

Thaw the pie crust, poke holes in it with a fork and blind bake for about 10 minutes at 350. Meanwhile, sautee the onions in butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar, and cook until softened before adding mushrooms until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Add mushroom onion mixture to the pie crust and top with shredded cheese. Beat the eggs with milk, season with salt and pepper and pour into the pie crust over mushroom mixture. Bake for about 20 minutes at 375. Add some cheese and broil before taking it out of the oven. Let it cool at least 10 minutes before cutting. Top with some chopped parsley.

Challah, Pot Roast, Cauliflower Soup

This challah is from a recipe I found online and cut in half. It came out pretty tasty, but there were a few problems with it, so I might try something different next time. First, the dough was so full of air that it made the top braid fall halfway over in the oven so the finished product wasn't very pretty. Also, when we let it rise the second time, it rose so much that it lost it's shape completely so I had to rebraid it, and it also stuck to the dish towel we covered it with so we had to throw that out.

Directions:
Challah ingredients:

1 cup warm water
1 pkg dry active yeast
3-4 cups bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 t. salt
2 tbsp oil
1 egg

1. In large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water (75-120 degrees.) Stir in sugar and salt. Add half the flour and mix well. Add oil and egg and mix well. Then add remaining flour. (The dough will be a little sticky but don't add more flour.)
2. Wet a clean dish towel and ring it out. Cover the bowl of dough with the towel. Put the bowl in the refrigerator and let stand overnight.
3. When dough is doubled in size, braid. (Make egg wash with additional egg and water, and brush over dough)
4. Arrange loaf on oiled or greased cookie sheet; cover and let rise in warm place until doubles in size. (Depending on your house temperature. Find a warm place.)
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook bread for about 35 minutes or until golden brown.


Slow Cooker Pot Roast

This was from a Martha Stewart recipe. It came out well, but was not the best pot roast I've ever had, so I also might make a different recipe if I tried to make this dish again. We added a bay leaf and a can of beef broth to the recipe because it seemed to dry without it.

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
2 medium carrots, cut into thirds
1 medium onions, each cut into 8 wedges
3 red potatoes, cut into 8 chunks.
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 beef chuck roast (1.5 pounds), trimmed of excess fat
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 can beef broth
1 bay leaf

Directions:

1. In slow cooker, stir together cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water until smooth. Add carrots and onions; season with salt and pepper, and toss.
2. Sprinkle roast with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; place on top of vegetables, and drizzle with Worcestershire. Cover; cook on high, 6 hours (or on low, 10 hours).
3. Transfer roast to a cutting board; thinly slice against the grain. Place vegetables in a serving dish; pour pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve, if desired. Serve roast with vegetables and pan juices.


Cauliflower Soup

I had leftover cauliflower from a previous dish, so I decided to make soup out of it for Shabbat. I ended up buying an extra head though because we had an extra person at dinner. The texture was not as smooth as I wanted, but it was an ok soup. I found the recipe on foodgawker and wanted to serve it with the parmesan crisps, but we used soup croutons instead. I also put thyme in it instead of nutmeg, because we didn't have any, and we added a lot more pepper.

1.5 heads cauliflower
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 box low-sodium chicken stock
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
ground thyme
1 tbsp butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Remove the leaves and thick core from the cauliflower. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook until softened, but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add the cauliflower and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the cauliflower is very soft and falling apart, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and using a hand held immersion blender, puree the soup (or puree in small batches in a blender* and return it to the pot). Add the Parmesan and stir until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pinch of thyme. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Tortellini Pesto Primavera

I bought some tortellini that I needed to use, so I found this recipe on foodgawker. I liked it because it was full of vegetables and not very heavy.

Ingredients:
1 package of refrigerated cheese-filled tortellini
12-15 spears of asparagus, washed and cut into 1″ pieces
2 big handfuls of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, sliced and reconstituted in water (soak for 10 min.)
1 cup fresh basil pesto (buy pre-made or click here for recipe to make your own)

Directions:
In a large pot of boiling water, cook tortellini according to package instructions. When they have about 3 minutes left to boil, throw the asparagus, spinach, and tomatoes into the water with the tortellini. Drain and return to pot. Add the pesto, tossing to coat.

Southwestern Chicken Soup with Rice and Pineapple Salsa

I found this recipe on the Real Simple website. I bought pinto beans instead of cannelini beans, and baked some chicken breasts in the oven to shred for it. Blake topped his with some cheese and chips. He liked the soup and pineapple salsa, but not the rice so much, which was just the 90 second Uncle Ben's Spanish rice.


Ingredients:
* 1 12-ounce jar salsa verde
* 3 cups cooked chicken pieces
* 1 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained
* 3 cups chicken broth
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 2 green onions, chopped
* 1/2 cup sour cream (optional)
* tortilla chips

Directions:
1. Empty the salsa into a large saucepan. Cook for 2 minutes over medium-high heat, then add the chicken, beans, broth, and cumin. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Top each bowl with a sprinkling of onions, a dollop of sour cream, and some tortilla chips.

Roasted Cauliflower and Eggplant Over Rice

This was a recipe I found on real simple's website. I made it as directed, but without the basil because the grocery was out. I just made the 90 second Uncle Ben's basmati rice, which made the perfect amount for 2 people, but there was leftover vegetables. We liked this for a vegetarian healthy dish and it was pretty quick and easy for me to make.

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups basmati rice
* kosher salt
* 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
* 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
* 1/3 cup olive oil
* 2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste (such as Thai Kitchen)
* 2 small or baby eggplants (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut lengthwise into wedges
* 1/2 head cauliflower (about 1 pound), broken into florets
* 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
* 2 cups bean sprouts
* 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn if large

Directions

1. Heat oven to 450º F.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together the garlic, ginger, oil, curry paste, 1 ¼ teaspoons salt, and ½ cup water. Toss with the eggplants and cauliflower.
3. Transfer to a roasting pan in a single layer. Roast until tender, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, adding the chickpeas during the last 5 minutes.
4. Remove the vegetables from oven and toss with the bean sprouts and basil. Place 1 cup of rice on each plate and top with some of the vegetables.

Baked Cod with Broccoli and Rice

This was from a recipe on the Real Simple website that I made to be eating healthy. I thought it was ok, but Blake did not like it. He thought it was boring and a little dry, which I agreed with. He would prefer me to make fish in a parchment bag or crusted, or just choose fattier fish that are tastier than cod. I had some leftover broccoli and a half an onion, so I cooked the onion down and then steamed the broccoli with it in some wine, and made some brown rice in the slow cooker to serve on the side.


Ingredients:
* 2 pieces Pacific cod or some other white fish fillets (such as halibut)
* 3/4 cup dry white wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc)
* 1/2 cup mixed olives
* zest from 1 lemon, cut into strips
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* kosher salt and pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F.
2. Place the fish in a small roasting pan. Add enough wine (about 3/4 cup) to reach halfway up the sides of the fish. Scatter the olives and lemon zest around the fish. Drizzle with the oil and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the red pepper.
3. Roast until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the parsley. Divide the fish among individual plates and spoon the olives and wine sauce over the top.