chop chop, yum yum

Well this recipe has certainly been receiving rave reviews from many of my food blogging friends. Now that I’ve made it I understand why! Tyler and I were both raving about it as we gulped it down. Can’t wait to have leftovers at lunch tomorrow. Mmmm. I rarely make my own salad dressing but it’s a must for this salad, it truly makes the dish. I simplified the original recipe by using a bag of already washed and ready salad. I also made it as a side salad so I cut out the pasta and chicken so it would be lighter fare, I can’t wait to make it as a main dish though. This is definitely a salad I would serve company, in a heartbeat!

Ten Restaurant’s Signature Chopped Salad (original recipe from the wonderful Cast Sugar blog)

Ingredients:

1 bag green salad, with iceberg and romaine lettuce
6 bacon strips, fried and crumbled
1 c. diced tomatoes
1/2 c. green onions, chopped
4 oz. blue cheese crumbles

For the mustard vinaigrette:
1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. water
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 to 2 Tbsp. sugar, to taste
1/2 tsp. kosher salt, or to taste
1/2 c. salad oil
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Pinch of coarsely crushed black pepper

Combine the bag of salad, crumbled bacon, tomato, green onions and blue cheese crumbles in a large bowl.
For the mustard vinaigrette: In a small bowl, combine the vinegars, water, garlic, dry mustard, sugar and salt and whisk until blended. Pour in the oils slowly, whisking constantly until the mixture is emulsified. Whisk in the oregano, red pepper flakes and black pepper.

Pour as much of the Mustard Vinaigrette as desired over the salad. Toss to coat. Makes 4 main course salad meals, or 8 side salads.

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Spectacular Shells

Oh these were delicious and way less work that I imagined (although I did have Tyler do a lot of the prep since I was so sore from our afternoon hike!)  As I was perusing all the end of the year “best of” blog entries I kept finding amazing recipes that I knew I just had to try in 2008.  This one comes from Delish, a really fantastic and colorful food blog.  I had never made stuffed shells before, and buying the big box of pasta shells made me a bit nervous.  I was worried they would all break and I’d be out of luck when I went to make them.  Fortunately just enough shells make it through the trip home and the boiling process in one piece for me to make my meal.  I had just enough whole shells for my amount of filling.  This made a huge dish of food, which is great since it will give us leftovers for lunch this week.  You could easily freeze some of the shells and just reheat them later.

Cheesy Stuffed Shells (adapted from Delish, original recipe can be found here)

12 oz package pasta shells
1 lb ground beef
6 oz cream cheese
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup finely chopped onions
3 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce (26 oz, I use Tyler’s favorite Classico Spicy Tomato and Basil)
1/2 – 1 cup mozzarella cheese or italian cheese blend

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place shell pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a medium baking dish.

Place the beef in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until beef is evenly brown and crumbly. Drain grease from skillet. Add garlic, onions & herbs. Saute 5 minutes over medium heat. Remove from heat and add in cream cheese, ricotta, and 1/2 cup of marinara.

Stuff the cooked pasta shells with the beef mixture (I used my medium Pampered Chef scooper, made stuffing them quick and very easy!) , and arrange in the prepared baking dish. Cover evenly with the rest of the marinara sauce. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 15-25 minutes in preheated oven, or until bubbly.

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