The Prettiest little veggie dish in town

*These are my pics! 

I am a serious Pinterest addict. I know that the first step is admitting I have a problem, but whenever I do that people are like, "Oh really? Have you found any good recipes on there?" and I have to tell them YES!

Like this one by Just a Pinch Recipes. Seriously the best vegetable dish I've ever made, and the prettiest. It was a work of art to my eyes and my taste buds. The hubs and I have already talked about a bunch of ideas to vary the recipe and possibly even add a protein, but I'm not sure I want to mess with perfection.

What you need:

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1 medium yellow onion
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow squash
1 medium potato
1 medium tomato
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp kosher salt and pepper to taste
1/4 C shredded cheese (I used a colby jack this time)
2 Tbsp shredded aged parmesan

Update 1/19/2014: I made this recipe tonight with just yellow and zucchini squash. It was delicious. You definitely can vary the veggies if you're feeling adventurous!

Update 3/6/2015: I made this last night with only zucchini squash (4 medium). I also used fresh basil (about 1.5 TBSP), and kosher salt. Finally, I used a very mild Parmesan cheese (BelGioioso, comes in a shrink-wrapped triangle wedge, tastes more like a moderately aged asiago than a parm). I didn't change the cook time or anything, just the ingredients. It turned out amazing.

What you do:

First up, preheat your oven to 400F. Take your favorite 8x8 baking dish and spray it with a non-stick, or oil it up in your preferred method. I used olive oil and a paper towel. Do your own thing.

I will admit the prep for this recipe is kind of long... especially if you are hand-cutting all your veggies. If you have a mandolin or a food processor that will slice thinly (and very consistently), by all means, go for it!

If not, cut up your tomato, squash, zucchini, and potato into thin slices. Try to make the slices of each veggie consistent with each other.

Finely dice your yellow onion. Be anal about this: make the pieces very small! It will pay off.

Heat the oil in the pan. Toss in your onion and garlic and sautée until they soften... Probably about 3-5 minutes. Don't brown the onions... just soften them.

Once they're done, spread the onion and garlic into the bottom of your 8x8. Try to keep it even so the flavors will spread out through the whole dish.

Next is the artsy part: stand all your sliced veggies up vertically in an alternating pattern. You'll probably get 3-5 rows of veggies into your dish. I used a little less tomato than the other veggies, so when I got to my last row I had to re-arrange a few slices here and there to get everything spread out evenly. The pattern itself doesn't matter, by the way... but if you keep it consistent, the flavors will all blend together in layers of awesomeness.

Once all your veggies are standing up pretty, sprinkle the salt, pepper, and basil over the whole dish.

Wrap it in foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Once the time is up, take the foil off and inhale deeply. Once you've done that a few times, sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the dish, trying to keep as much as possible over the rows of veggies. Repeat with the parm.

Throw it back in the over for another 15-20 minutes, or until your cheese looks brown and the bottom of the dish is bubbling. After the additional 15 minutes, I turned on the broiler and left the dish in there for another 2-3 minutes just to get it really brown at the top. This is optional of course.

Pull it out and let it rest for a few minutes. This would be great as a side, but we ate it as our main course and it was delicious and very satisfying. It was sad to break into the pretty rows to serve it (and messy too; we used a large spatula to select segments of the rows to serve them!), but oh em gee was it delicious!

Simply Shrimply Spicy Pasta

*I totally did not take this picture. As you can see by the watermark, it's from Budget Bytes.

I don't get a lot of "weird" food cravings, but when I do crave something I definitely get some serious tunnel vision about it. So, when I realized I'd been thinking about almost nothing but shrimp for over a week, I decided it was time to do something about it. 

I've only ever cooked shrimp once or twice before; I'm a little intimidated by seafoods in general, as they are so easy to under or over cook. Still, I decided I needed to be brave and give it a shot, and I'm glad I did. The ever-amazing and wonderful Budget Bytes provided the base recipe (here), and I messed with it a little until it tasted the way I wanted, which was freaking delicious. 

A few notes about this recipe: Your home will likely smell like garlic shrimp for a day or two after making it. It's worth it. Also, the recipe calls for fresh parsley; so do yourself a favor and use fresh parsley. You can get by making it with dried (I did it), but the burst of fresh herbs will add a flavor dimension to this meal you just can't get with dried, IMHO. When you're picking up the parsley, get some fresh basil too. Trust me. 

What you need:
1 (15oz) can of Diced Tomatoes

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Butter

4 Cloves Garlic, minced (or 3-4tsp of minced from the jar... or more, if you like it zesty!)

1/2 lbs Raw Peeled and Deveined Shrimp (I bought a 3/4 lbs bag of flash-frozen raw/peeled/deveined shrimp for like $8; they only take about 10 minutes to thaw by running them under cool waater.)

1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

1/4 tsp Chili Pepper Flakes (Hot, optional)

1/4 tsp Salt

Black Pepper to taste

A small handful of fresh Parsley (about 4T worth).*

A small handful of fresh Basil (see above)... (if you like basil. If you don't, just skip it.).*

8oz fettuccine or equivalent of your favorite long pasta (I use angel hair). 

What you do:

• Mince your garlic if you're using fresh. Tear or finely chop about 2T worth of parsley and basil and set aside. Roughly tear the rest of the parsley and basil to sprinkle on when serving. Set aside.
• Boil water for the pasta. Add the pasta. Cook the pasta. Got that? Once it's tender, drain it and set it aside. 
• Rinse your shrimp with cool water (unless you just thawed them under cool water, which would render this step unnecessary.) Be sure to drain the excess water. 
• While the pasta is cooking, add the olive oil and butter to a large skillet over medium heat. 
• Once the butter melts, throw the shrimp and minced garlic into your skillet. Sauté the shrimp and garlic for 3-5 minutes; just until the shrimp is opaque and slightly pink. Once done, remove the shrimp from the skillet and set it aside. Use tongs; you want to keep as much butter/oil/garlic in the skillet as possible.
• Pour the can of tomatoes, juices and all, into the skillet, along with your pepper flakes (both if using both), salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and then let the sauce simmer for 5-6 minutes; it should thicken slightly. 
• Once the sauce thickens, toss your shrimp back in there and simmer it all together for 1 minute. Then, add the drained pasta into the skillet as well and stir it all together. You want the sauce to coat the pasta. 
• Taste and adjust your salt/pepper if needed. Remove from heat. Sprinkle a little of the roughly torn parsley / basil over the skillet before serving, reserve a little if people want to garnish with more. 
• Serve hot with some fresh Parmesan cheese tossed on top. 

*Like I said, you can totally swing this recipe using dried herbs, as I did. I used about 1T each of dried parsley and basil in the sauce and didn't reserve any for garnish... next time, I will definitely use fresh, but in a pinch you'll be just fine. 

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

*yes, this is my image... I'm doing my best to resist gobbling it all up before the hubby gets home!

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

I'm seriously starting to think I need a Pinterest intervention. A Pintervention! Anyway, I have seen this recipe floating around Pinterest for ages and finally decided to give it a go. Some claim it's the awesomest Sweet & Sour chicken ever. Some say it's "addicting", which, incidentally, drives me up the wall. The word is addictive. As in "That chicken is addictive" or "These bath salts are addictive". Addicting? Not a word. Non-addicting is a word. It means you cannot become addicted to something... it isn't an addictive substance. Kapish?! 

Now then. The recipe is on Life as a Lofthouse's blog, so go check it out already! 

As usual, I can't follow the darn directions, so I substituted fresh minced garlic (you know, fresh from a jar in my fridge?!). I also added a few hefty shakes of chili flakes to my sauce, to spice it up a bit. I highly recommend you do the same, because it's awesome. 

Start out by preheating your oven to 325...

What you need for the chicken:

1 to 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, thawed, trimmed, and cubed.
Salt and pepper to taste

1 C corn starch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 C canola oil

What you do to the chicken:

As advertised: thaw it, rinse it, trim it, cube it. Put it in a bowl or whatever makes you comfortable. 

Add salt and pepper to taste. I used none, because that tastes best to me. 

Pour the oil into a large skillet and start it heating. 

Next, roll the chicken cubes around in the corn starch, ensuring they are completely covered. 

Dip the corn starchy chicken into the eggs, ensuring full coverage. 

*Fry your chicken until it is lightly browned and sealed, but not cooked through. 

Remove from skillet and place in a 9 x 13 baking pan, ensuring they're as evenly spaced as possible. 

*Confession: I don't fry a lot of things. Ok, this was totally the first time I've tried this. So one thing I learned is, you can't overcrowd your skillet or it makes turning your chicken really difficult... and you end up with uneven batter. So, if you used lots of chicken (more than a pound), or if you're a pan-frying pro, you'll know to do this step in two batches. I didn't, and it wasn't catastrophic, but I recommend you don't overcrowd your pan. 

What you need for the sauce:

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbs ketchup

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic salt (as mentioned, I used about the same of "fresh" minced garlic"... in my continued boycott of any dehydrated garlic products.)

What you do for the sauce:

Well, this is easy: Put the ingredients into a bowl. Whisk them together. Ta-da!

Pour the sauce evenly over the chicken. I was a little leery when I saw that my sauce wasn't going to actually cover the chicken, but it's ok... it works fine because you're going to be turning the chicken throughout the cooking process. I gave mine a few shakes once it was in there, just to ensure even-ness.

Place your baking pan in the oven. Close the door. Bake for 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes. 

I served mine with steamed white rice and steamed mixed veggies (broccoli, peas, water chesnut, carrots, etc... I think it's called "Asian Mix".) Well, I served what was left anyway. Some serious snacking occurred when the chicken came out of the oven. 

Coconut Chicken Strips

*Yes, this is my (gloriously blurry) image

Baked Coconut Chicken Strips

This was a Pinterest find, and I'm glad I found it! So easy, so yummy... a great upgrade to classic chicken fingers. It was originally posted on Back To Her Roots' recipe blog. Here is what you need:

What you need:

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (Or one package of pre-trimmed chicken breast tenderloins, 1 to 1.5 lbs)
3 C white flour
2 eggs
Splash of milk
Salt and Pepper
2 C each unsweetened shredded coconut and panko bread crumbs (I used coconut flakes, but I would recommend shredded if it's available.)
Oil spray (I used Pam).

Here is what you do:

Preheat oven to 400°.

If you're using whole chicken breasts, place them in a large zip-top bag and pound down to about 1/2″ thickness. Slice into 3/4″ strips.

Next grab three bowls, each larger than your chicken breast strips. 

Bowl 1: Just the flour, baby. 

Bowl 2: Whisk together eggs and splash of milk. 

Bowl 3: Mix panko and coconut in one bowl, season with salt and pepper.

Here comes the fun part! You can use any technique you like. I prefer a wet-hand / dry-hand system. 

You'll want to run your chicken through the bowls in order... first in the flour, then in the egg, and then press it into the coconut-panko mix. If you're using coconut flakes, like I did, you'll really want to press the chicken into the coconut-panko mix to get the larger flakes to stick. 

Place each strip onto a greased cookie sheet. 

Bake at 400 for 20ish minutes, flipping after 10. Let your strips rest for a few minutes before serving. 

I paired mine with President's Choice "Memories of Thailand" spicy chili dipping sauce. Unfortunately, it's only available in Canada, but if you can get it, it's worth it! If not, I think any sweet and spicy sauce would add a little zing to these yummy strips. 

Honey-Lime Pork Tenderloin

*Yes, this is my picture. Of my dinner. It was soooo good!

Honey-Lime Pork Tenderloin

I found this on Pinterest. It was originally from the Daily Herald... and since the first time we tried it in 

September, we've made it almost weekly since. I've made a few changes to suit us, but as always I suggest you do it properly the first time by following the original recipe. Then you can play. ;)

Making the marinade: 

1 lime, zested
1/2 C fresh squeezed lime juice
(normally I squeeze out the lime I zested, then add a little bottled lime juice to make up the rest)
1 1/2tsp coarse sea salt
1/4C honey
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped. (I use 1-2 tsp of the pre-chopped garlic in a jar. Way easier.)

Using your marinade to make awesome pork:

That's it. Easy right? Combine all the ingredients in a bowl to make the marinade, then pour it over 1lb of pork* in a freezer bag. Marinate the pork for anywhere from 4 to 24 hours before cooking. We always do this recipe on the grill, medium heat. 

I don't reserve any marinade for post-grilling. Instead, I tightly wrap the pork immediately after grilling and let it set for 5 minutes before serving. We often eat it with rice and veggies, but occasionally just with salad.

*we use either tenderloin or chops. We tend to like the chops best, but tenderloin is so cheap and delicious, it's hard to resist.