Giant Green Salad

I recently had this at a big family dinner.....and loved it!
It's great for winter - you only need fresh lettuce and a pepper.

The recipe is to serve 85 ! :)
In black is the original quantities.
In red is 1/4 of the recipe.

3 T. butter (2 tsp.- 1 T.)
4 cups walnut halves (1 cup)
1/4 cup sugar (1 T.)
4 bunches romaine lettuce (1)
16 cups torn leaf lettuce (4 cups)
6 cups dried cranberries (1 1/2 cups)
4 medium, sweet, yellow peppers (1)
4 cups (16 oz) crumbled feta (1 cup or 4 oz)

Dressing:
4 envelopes Italian salad dressing mix (1)
2 cups vegetable or canola oil (1/2 cup)
1 cup balsamic vinegar (1/4 cup)
3/4 cup water (4 T + 1 tsp)

In heavy skillet, melt butter. Add walnuts. Cover over medium until toasted, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar; cook and stir for 2-4 minutes or until sugar is melted. Spread on foil to cool.

Meanwhile, combine salad ingredients. In a jar with tight lid, combine dressing ingredients. Shake well. Drizzle over salad and toss to coat. (I only used about 1/2 the dressing.) Sprinkle with sugared walnuts.

Chicken spezzatino ( italian soup-stew)

This is a healthy favorite at our house. It's from Giada Delaurantis's Everyday Italian cookbook.

2 Tbs. olive Oil
2 celery stalks, cut into bite-size pieces
1 carrot, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1 (14 1/2 oz)can chopped tomatoes with their juices
1 (14 oz)can chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
1 Tbs tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
2 chicken breasts with ribs ( about 1 1/2 pounds total)
1 (15 oz)can kidney beans ( I like to use the little white canelinni beans)

In a heavy 5 quart sauce pan, heat the oil over a meduim flame. Add the celery, carrot, and onion, and saute until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the salt and pepper. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, basil, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme. Add the chicken and press to submerge. Bring the liquid to a simmer gently, uncovered , turning the breasts over and stirring occasionally, until the chicken isalmost cooked through, about 20 minutes. add the beans and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the liquid has reduced to a stew consistancy, about 10 minutes. Discard teh bay leaf. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes. Discard the skin and bones and cut the meat into bite size pieces. Return it to the stew and bring to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste if needed. I like to top it with parmesean cheese!

* I just use boneless chicken breasts. I also double the batch while I'm at it and freeze the rest

Sausage Stuffing

Since Thanksgiving is right around the corner, thought I would post my favorite stuffing recipe. I rarely get to make it, unless I go home for Thanksgiving, because my mom-in-law takes care of most everything for Thanksgiving. This one is so yummy, I could eat it alone for dinner. Enjoy!

Sausage Stuffing

1lb. sweet Italian sausage, casings removed

1/2c. Butter

3 cups onion, chopped

2cups celery, chopped

1T fresh sage, chopped

2T fresh parsley, chopped

6 cups plain croutons

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1/4c. real maple syrup (you don't want mrs. butterworth to be spread on this stuff) ;)

2 cups dried cherries or cranberries

1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

2 cups chicken stock, plus extra as needed

2 T fresh thyme, chopped

salt and pepper

Saute sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, crumbling sausage with the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Transfer sausage with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Discard sausage fat in pan. Add butter, onions, and celery to skillet and saute until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add to sausage, along with herbs and croutons, mix to combine.

In a medium bowl, combine allspice, maple syrup, cherries, and pecans, and chicken stock. Add to crouton mixture. The mixture should be moist, but not soggy. Add more chicken stock, if necessary. Transfer stuffing to a large baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour. Uncover and bake for another 20 minutes, or until top is golden

Chipotle-Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

 Hey Ladies! We are big fans of soup this time of year at our house. I have been craving pumpkin anything, and decided to try this soup from EveryDay with Rachel Ray Magazine. It was really good! And, super duper easy and quick to throw together. I baked 2 chicken breasts earlier in the day, and shredded them to add to the soup. (Around here, it's not much of a meal unless it has some MEAT.) It was a tad on the spicy side for the kids with a whole chipotle...I think next time I'd use a smidge less of that or at least leave out the seeds. They ate it, I just gave them a bit more  sour cream and tortilla chips to tame it down. I skipped the apple salsa, I'm sure it would've been good, but I just didn't do it. You could also skip the fancy cranberry sour cream and just use a dollop of regular sour cream or plain yogurt. It was good, but an ingredient you don't really have to have. It says it feeds 4, but we had enough for the two of us (we each had two bowls) and the two kids, and we each will have a bowl for lunch tomorrow. Yummy!

• 4 Servings
• Prep 10 min

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, finely chopped, 1 tablespoon sauce reserved
• 1 bottle Mexican beer, such as Negra Modelo
• One 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin (1/2 palmful)
• 2 pinches ground cinnamon
• Salt and pepper
• 3 cups chicken broth (I only used 2 cups, I like my soup a little on the thick side)
  
• One 15-ounce can black beans, drained
• 1 green apple, finely chopped
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeño chile, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro (a generous handful)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
• Corn tortilla chips (a couple of generous handfuls), lightly crushed (optional)

Directions:

1. In a soup pot, heat the EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the yellow onion, garlic and chipotle with its sauce and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add the beer and cook until reduced by half, 3 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin, cumin, cinnamon and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the chicken broth and beans and simmer for 10 minutes.
   
2. In a small bowl, combine the apple, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro and lime juice. In another bowl, combine the sour cream and cranberry sauce.
   
3. Serve the soup in bowls and top with the apple salsa, cranberry sour cream and tortilla chips, if using.
   

Tortellini Sausage Soup

I have a new favorite recipe blog, designed by our friend, Shannon....Our Best Bites! Love all the recipes on it. I've made this soup twice in the last week and we all LOVE it!

Click HERE for the recipe!

Easy Chili Pie

If you're not completely sick of beans after last week's rice and beans fast, this recipe is a perfect fall or winter meal. I got it from a Real Simple magazine a few years ago and it's been a favorite in our house ever since!

1 lb. sweet Italian chicken sausage, casings removed
1 T. chili powder
2 15-oz. cans of kidney beans in sauce (I usually use chili beans instead-not canned chili, just chili beans)
1/2 cup hot salsa
1 8-1/2 oz. box of corn bread mix, plus required ingredients (like Jiffy)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1.) Heat oven to 400 degrees.

2.) Cook sausage over medium heat in an oven-safe skillet (such as cast iron), breaking up the meat until it's no longer pink. Drain the fat.

3.) Add chili powder and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add beans and salsa. Heat to boiling.

4.) Meanwhile, prepare corn-bread mix according to the label directions. Stir in cheddar cheese.

5.) Remove chili from heat and spread corn-bread mixture over the chili.

6.) Place skillet in the oven and bake 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

If you don't have a cast iron or oven-safe skillet, you can also transfer the chili to a casserole dish before it goes into the oven.

Enjoy!

Lentils and Brown Rice

I thought this one looked good too!

http://www.recipezaar.com/Mujadrah-Lentils-and-Rice-141796