Sauteed Asparagus with Dijon Vinaigrette

I saw this recipe in Martha Stewart's Living magazine. I like asparagus and thought that this recipe is easy and fast so i should give it a try. And i am sharing it with you guys! :)

• 2tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp red-wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 pound thin asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2 1/2-inch lengths

1. Whisk together mustard, vinegar, and 1 Tbsp oil in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat remaining 1 Tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add asparagus, and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring frequently, until asparagus are just tender, 10 to 12 minutes. (If the spears begin to brown, reduce heat to low.)

3. Transfer asparagus to a serving dish. Drizzle with the vinaigrette, toss and serve immediately.

serves 4.

Yogurt Muffins

I found this recipe online on some blog and decided to try it out. It turned out pretty good. Emma can eat these muffins all day long :)

1 egg 
1 c yogurt (i used stonyfield farms organic fat free french vanilla just because i bought some for emma this week) 
2/3 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla 
3 Tbsp canola oil (or try applesausce instead) 
2 c flour
1 Tbsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp salt 
1/2 tsp baking soda 
extras (i used 1c of cut-into-pieces plums, mini chocolate morsels and also some almonds)

Combine and stir the wet ingredients, then sift dry ingredients together, fold the dry into the wet until just incorporated (do not overmix) and stir in your extras - fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, oatmeal, zucchini, whatever. Put batter into muffin tins and bake at 400 degrees for about 12-15 minutes (baking time may vary depending on the moisture level of what you've added)

makes 1 dozen muffins 

Raisin Bran Muffins

Mom requested I post this - these are pretty good muffins. The get a little crunchy on the top and taste really good warm.

1 1/4 Cup Plain Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Sugar
3 Cups Raisin Bran Cereal
1 1/4 Cup Milk or Buttermilk
1 egg
1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil

Begin by placing cereal in the bowl with the milk to soften. Stir in the egg and the vegetable oil into the cereal and milk mixture. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Makes about 18 muffins.

BBQ Chicken Salad

Again, this is another favorite dish of mine from the Cheesecake Factory. This tastes pretty identical and it really easy to make. We eat it all the time! The ingredients below are just what we add to the salad - feel free to add your own and in whatever quantity you need.

Chop all the following:

Romaine Lettuce
Tomato
Cucumber
Red Onion
Cilantro
Chicken

Add:
Black Beans
Corn (defrost some frozen Corn)
French Fried Onions or we like the BBQ spiral Fritos in the salad too

Toss Salad with Ranch Dressing and BBQ sauce.

Hot Bean Dip

I don't know how this didn't make the original recipe book (I didn't see it in there) but this is a Wilson family favorite.

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 (16 ounce) cans refried beans
• 1/2 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
• 5 drops hot pepper sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 (8 ounce) package shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, blend the cream cheese and sour cream. Mix in the refried beans, taco seasoning, hot pepper sauce, parsley, green onions, 1/2 the Cheddar cheese and 1/2 the Monterey Jack cheese. Transfer the mixture to an 8x12 inch baking dish. Top with remaining Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses.
3. Bake in the preheated oven 20 to 30 minutes, until cheese is slightly browned.

Simple Chicken Pot Pie

Another really easy main dish. I love chicken pot pie and I make this one a lot. The cheese in the sauce sounds a little weird but it is yummy. If you are a Martha Stewart like mom then you would probably make your own pie crust - I am too lazy/not talented so I use the store bought kind :).

• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
• salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease and flour a 2 quart casserole dish.
2. Place chicken breasts, onion, and poultry seasoning in a medium saucepan and add enough water to cover. Simmer over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Drain and dice chicken.
3. In a large bowl, combine chicken, onions, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, Cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, mixed vegetables, mushrooms, and salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.
4. Lay one sheet of pastry in bottom of greased and floured pan. Pour chicken mixture over pastry. Cover with second sheet of pastry. Seal edges of top and bottom pastries. Cut steam vents in top.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes, until pastry is golden brown.

Thai Chicken Pasta

This turns out to be exactly like the dish of the same name at the Cheesecake Factory. It is pretty spicy so if you don't like really spicy food, don't use as much of the red chili garlic sauce. This is one of my favorite meals and it is pretty easy to make. I like to one and a half the sauce part of the recipe because I like it a little bit more saucy. Also, if you don't have sesame oil or you aren't a fan of it (I am not really) you can use vegetable or canola oil to saute the carrots.

12 ounces linguine

Cooked, Cubed Chicken (I usually use 2-3 chicken breasts)

Sauce:
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1 cup finely shredded carrots
3 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
1/2 tablespoon ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 tablespoon chili-garlic sauce

Cilantro and Green Onions to Garnish


Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water according to package directions.
Drain and return to pot. Set aside.

Heat 1 TBSP sesame oil in heavy pot over medium-high heat.
Add green onions, carrots, garlic and ginger.
Saute until vegetables soften, about 4 minutes.
Mix honey, peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar and chili-garlic sauce and add to vegetables. Mix well. Add Chicken. Simmer sauce 2 minutes. Pour sauce over pasta and toss well. Garnish with chopped cilantro and green onions.

Bacon, Cheese, & Chive Strada

This is really good.... it makes a ton though. So if you are only feeding a few people you probably want to cut the recipe in half and put it in an 8x8 inch pan. :) Tanner and I usually eat this for dinner then have the left-overs for breakfast. They are good as left-overs too.

Ingredients:
1 Lb sliced bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 small onion chopped
8-10 slices white or french bread, cubed
1 cup hash browns (I just use the frozen cubed ones)
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (12oz)
10 eggs
3 cups milk
1/4 cup fresh chives
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
sea salt & pepper

In a skillet, cook bacon until done. Remove from skillet, leaving drippings in pan. Add onion to fat. Cook and stir until onion is tender, drain grease. Combine bacon and onion in a bowl. In a greased 9x13 inch pan layer half the bread cubes, hash browns, and cheese. Top with the entire bacon mixture. Repeat with another layer of bread potatoes, and cheese. Beat eggs; Add milk, worcestershire, chives, mustard, salt and pepper. Pour over bread. Let sit for at least 30 min.* Bake uncovered @ 325 for 65-70 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
*You can also prepare the night before and leave in the fridge overnight.

Suggestion Box

Hey guys, i was just thinking that it would be helpful to tag the posts, so we can find the recipes easily when we need it. For example make up some tags like salads, dessert, casseroles, etc. What do you think?
If you don't knoww how to do it then it's very simple - when you make a post there's a little field in the right bottom corner in the post window that says Labels for this post. You write your label there and that's it. It will be easier to sort the recipes this way.
SO if you like this idea, then please go back and edit your posts. Just click edit by the post you posted and put the tags in. Thanks a lot!

Bread Video

There are some videos on Youtube from the authors of the book telling all about this dough recipe. I am posting one video that i found helpful:

Arisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

I don't know if you heard of this bread or not, but it's pretty cool. I am not a yeast dough person. Dough doesn't like me. But this recipe is very simple and the cool part is that you can put the dough in the fridge up to 14 days and just make bread whenever you feel like it. The more it stands in the fridge the more sourdoughy it gets.

There is a book about all this dough and they have more recipes like that. The book is "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.

So here's the recipe that i found on the New York Times website, but now you have to register in order to view the recipe.

Time: About 45 minutes plus about 3 hours resting and rising

1 1/2 Tbs yeast

1 1/2 Tbs kosher salt (it's about 2 1/4 tsp of normal salt)

6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, more for dusting dough

3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees)

Cornmeal

1. In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into lukewarm water. Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

2. Bake at this point or refrigirate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigirate it.

3. Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.

Yield: 4 loaves.

Variation: If not using stone, stretch rounded dough into oval and place in a greased, nonstick loaf pan. Let rest 40 minutes if fresh, and extra hour if refrigirated. Heat oven to 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Place pan on middle rack.

Dasha's notes: You don't have to do the broiler thing on the bottom of the oven. I forgot that with my second loaf anf the bread still turned out crusty and tasty. I read that some people just put the bread on parchment paper and on the cookie sheet and it still turns out well.

and here's the picture of my two loaves that i made yesterday.