It's been a while since I've made a multi-course Sunday night dinner, but tonight I had the opportunity so I went all out. Wanting to cook something special but also not too caloric, I was inspired by a recipe that came from September's Everyday Food magazine. While I altered some of the ingredients such as substituting beef for chicken sausage and using just one kind of squash, I followed the general directions, which resulted in something really delicious.
While I don't think this dish will satiate you on its own, I'd suggest making a fresh veggie salad or an easy side dish to go along with it. My side dish came in the form of stuffed tomatoes, which I filled with leftover squash that I sauteed with garlic and onions...but more on that later. Hope you enjoy this recipe and wash it down with a crisp glass of white wine.
Summer Chicken Sausage and Rice Casserole
Ingredients (serves 4)
1/2 cup of fresh breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan (I omitted this)
2 tbs of olive oil, divided
5 cups reserved quick meat sauce (I sauteed chicken sausage and combined it with tomato sauce)
1/2 cup long-grain white rice (I substituted with brown rice. Please note that the recipe tells you to not pre-cook the rice before mixing it with the other ingredients, but please do cook it or else it will remain extremely al-dente)
1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
2 zucchini or summer squash, very thinly sliced (I only used one of these, the yellow squash, and found that I only needed about a half of it)
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Combine breadcrumbs, parmesan and 1 tbs of olive oil. In a large cast iron skillet, bring meat sauce to a rapid simmer over high. Stir in rice and remove from heat. *Once again, please pre-cook your rice instead of putting it in raw.*
Top with onion, then carefully arrange zucchini in a single, slightly overlapping layer. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with remaining olive oil and top with breadcrumb mixture.
Return to heat and bring to a simmer. Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake until rice is cooked through and breadcrumbs are golden, about 10 minutes more. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe adapted from September 2012 issue of Everyday Food
Attending
a barbecue at my aunt Hela’s house for Father’s Day last week, everyone was
told to bring something. I like this
approach a lot because you get to taste dishes prepared in diverse styles, and
everyone gets their little moment in the spotlight.
Wanting to keep things light and refreshing, I went with a summery cole slaw
that I read about in the June issue of Everyday Food magazine. It appealed to me right away because it wasn’t
mayonnaise based, and therefore a lot lighter as well as because it used
refreshing citrus fruit such as oranges and mango. My favorite part of the dish, the fruit
really made an otherwise ordinary cole slaw shine - and because it was oil and
vinegar based, it felt light and vibrant.
I decided to add my special touch with some toasted pumpkin seeds, which
worked quite well, given the nice crunch they lent to each bite. Hope you get to try it as well, and feel free
to substitute the oranges and the mango with the fruit of your choice. I think apples and pineapples may work quite
nicely too.
Here's the recipe, I hope you enjoy!
We were astounded by how filling it was, and when we thought about it, it made sense - tortillas, mushrooms, beans, cheese...it's starchy, hearty stuff! We paired the lasagna with some simple salad that Michelle made, consisting of baby arugula, tomatoes, cucumbers, blue cheese and craisins. Together, it was perfection. Hope you get to enjoy it today.
Veggie Mexican Lasagna - Courtesy of Martha Stewart Everyday Food Magazine, January/February 2011 issue
Ingredients (serves 4)
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil (we used regular olive oil and it was just fine)
3/4 lb cremini or button mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Cooked black beans or 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
8 corn tortillas, warmed and halved (we used whole wheat tortillas that Kimberly contributed - thank you!)
2 cups of salsa (we used peach/mango salsa, which was sweet and delicious)
1 1/4 cups of shredded Monterey Jack cheese (4 oz) - we used a Mexican cheese blend, but you can really use any cheese of your choice
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until browned, 7 minutes. Add garlic and cayenne; season with salt and pepper. Add black beans and stir to combine. Cook until beans are warmed through, 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Arrange 5 tortilla halves in a 2-quart baking dish. Top with half the bean mixture and 1/2 cup of salsa, then sprinkle with one-third of the cheese. Repeat with another layer of tortilla halves, bean mixture, salsa and cheese. Top with remaining tortilla halves, salsa and cheese. Cover with foil and bake until center is hot and cheese melts, 10 minutes. Uncover and bake until cheese is bubbling, 5 minutes.
