Tag: Quick

Brunch, Sweet Treats

Recipe—Raspberry Turnovers

Diva di Cucina

Over the summer my mom was coming for a visit and I was trying to think of something fun that we could do outside. I decided to take her, my husband, and son berry picking at Patrick’s Mountain Grown Fresh Berry Farm. It was a total blast!

We ended up picking 12 pounds of delicious raspberries and blackberries.

Within 24 hours of picking we made raspberry jam, blackberry jam, blackberry ice cream, blackberry cobbler, mixed berry hand pies, and these tasty raspberry turnovers. (Don’t worry, I will eventually get around to sharing all of those fabulous recipes.) We ended up making these for breakfast and oh my goodness were they tasty! The perfect balance of sweet and tart. While it may not be berry season right now, you can most certainly find some at your local market. So please, give these a try. They are the perfect treat for breakfast or dessert.

Note: If you don’t think you will eat these all in one sitting, no need to waste. Just freeze some of them! They freeze great and can easily be baked at a later date. Just place any extra unbaked turnovers on a wax paper lined sheet and freeze for at least an hour. Once they are frozen solid, transfer them to an airtight bag or container. When you are ready to cook them just place them on the parchment paper lined baking sheet for 15–20 minutes and then bake as directed below.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 c flour
1 package puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
1/2 c raspberry jam
1 1/4 c fresh raspberries
1 egg
1 tbsp water
2 tsp sugar

STEPS

  • Spread the flour around your work surface and unfold the puff pastry sheets.
  • Cut each sheet into either 4 or 9 squares. It just depends how small or large you want your turnovers.
  • In a small bowl mix together the jam and raspberries.
  • Place an even amount of the raspberry filling in the center of each square of puff pastry.
  • Fold each puff pastry square in half diagonally gently pinching around the edges to seal.
  • Carefully transfer the turnovers to a parchment paper lined baking sheet as you finish them making sure they are at least an inch apart.
  • Using a the prongs of a fork carefully press down along the unfolded edges “crimping the pastry dough.
  • Whisk together the egg and water and brush the egg wash over the top of each turnover.
  • Sprinkle the top of each with a little bit of the sugar.
  • Using a small paring knife cut one slit in the top to help with venting.
  • Place your baking sheet in the freezer for approximately 15 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 350º while the turnovers are chilling.
  • Once they are finished in the freezer and your oven is preheated bake them until they are a nice golden brown, about 18–20 minutes.
  • Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Soups

Recipe—Crock-Pot Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Diva di Cucina

Happy new year! How is 2014 treating you all so far? Hopefully absolutely fabulously!

First off I want to apologize for my absence over the past few months. Life has been super busy! I started a new job back in September managing one of the most awesome design studios and it has taken some time to find the right balance in life. My resolution for 2014 is to get back to some regular blogging so I have lots of great things coming for you. I have still been cookin’ up a storm while away so I have plenty of tasty new recipes to share. Now the question is, where to start!

Since it’s winter and we are all still recovering from the holiday madness how about one of my all time favorite soup recipes? It is a quick and easy crock-pot recipe that will be sure to warm you up.

When I was in high school I used to work in a little mom and pop owned coffee shop called Full O’ Beans. (People actually came in thinking it was a Mexican restaurant.) This coffee shop had the best soups and sandwiches! One of my all time favorite soups they served on occasion was the chicken and wild rice. It was delicious! I would have a big bowl at work and then fill up a big styrofoam cup to take home for later. It was one of those comfort soups that I just couldn’t get enough of. Well I finally put together this recipe that is out of this world good and reminds me of the coffee shop’s homemade chicken soup. This soup is easy, delicious, “souper” filling, and best of all it is made in the crock-pot. What more can a girl ask for? Now go make a big pot of this soup and snuggle up under a blanket on the couch while you wait for it to cook. Or do like I do, and just go to work. 😉

INGREDIENTS
4 c chicken broth
2 c water
1 box Rice-a-Roni long grain and wild rice
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 c carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, sliced
1/2 c butter
1/3 c flour
2 c half and half
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt

STEPS

  • In your crock-pot mix together broth, water, and rice (including seasoning pack).
  • Add in the chicken breasts, carrots, and celery.
  • Cook on low for 6–8 hours or on high for 3–4 hours.
  • Remove the chicken breasts from the crock-pot and break it up into pieces using a fork. Return the chicken to the crock-pot.
  • In a medium saucepan melt your butter over medium heat.
  • Gradually mix in the flour until well combined.
  • Whisk in the half and half and season with the salt and pepper.
  • Add the creamy base mixture to the crock-pot and stir until well combined.
  • Allow the soup to cook on low for another 15 minutes.
  • Try the soup and season to taste. If it is too thick you can add a little water to thin it out.
Side Dishes

Recipe—Cilantro Lime Rice

Diva di Cucina

Being frequent consumers of Mexican food we eat lots of rice. Rarely do we consume “plain” white rice. My go to recipes are my Mexican red rice (arroz rojo) or this cilantro lime rice. It just depends on what I’m pairing it with. This rice is very light and refreshing, a perfect complement to any spicy meat. If you have been to Chipotle before, you will recognize the flavors instantly as it is very similar to their recipe. Next time you are looking for a way to make your ordinary rice extraordinary, spend a couple extra minutes and give this flavorful rice recipe a try.

INGREDIENTS
1 c basmati rice
1 1/2 c water
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1/2–1 tsp kosher salt
1 lime
1/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped

STEPS

  • In a 2 quart saucepan combine the rice, water, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, and a 1/2 teaspoon of the salt.
  • Bring to a full boil over medium-high heat.
  • Cover and reduce heat to low.
  • Simmer for 16–18 minutes.
  • Remove from heat and let rice sit covered for 8–10 minutes.
  • Fluff rice with a fork.
  • Drizzle with remaining tablespoon of olive oil and add the juice from the lime and the chopped cilantro.
  • Stir to combine and add additional salt to taste.

Looking for more rice recipes? Maybe you will love these!

Mexican Red Rice (Arroz Rojo)

Tropical Macadamia Nut Rice

Rice Pilaf

Brunch, Dinners

Recipe—Mushroom and Swiss Cheeseburger Pie

Diva di Cucina

Finding family friendly low-carb recipes can be a struggle. One go to ingredient you can work miracles with are eggs. Yes, the incredible, edible egg! I love that you can mix in practically any ingredients with eggs, throw the mixture in a pie dish and voilá! Dinner is done! Call it a frittata, a quiche, a pie, whatever your heart desires. My son is a cheeseburger fanatic (what 3 year old boy isn’t?) so when I told him we were having a cheeseburger pie for dinner his little blue eyes lit up. (It amazes me that all I have to do to get him to try something new is give it a fun name. Now if only that trick worked with my husband…) When I initially made this it was for dinner, but I will tell you the leftovers make an awesome breakfast too. Who would have thought of throwing all your favorite hamburger toppings right into a pie dish? I will tell you who, this crazy diva!

INGREDIENTS
3/4–1 lb of lean ground beef
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 c slice white mushrooms
6 large eggs
3 tbsp milk
1 1/2 c shredded Swiss cheese

STEPS

  • Preheat oven to 400º.
  • In a large skillet cook the ground beef over medium high heat.
  • When the meat is still a little pink add in the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion, and mushrooms.
  • Cook until the onions are translucent and meat cooked through.
  • Remove from heat and drain off any excess fat.
  • In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, and 1 cup of the shredded Swiss cheese.
  • Add the cooked meat mixture to the mixing bowl and stir to combine.
  • Transfer the egg mixture to a greased pie dish.
  • Sprinkle the remaining Swiss cheese over the top.
  • Bake for 25–35 minutes or until set and no longer “jiggly” in the middle.
  • Allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
Dinners

Recipe—Caribbean Baked Chicken with Mango

Diva di Cucina

While there is nothing quite like being on a tropical island getaway, there are ways you can bring the tropical flavors to your very own kitchen. This easy baked chicken recipe combines some great jerk flavors with the sweetness of mango, refreshing flavor of cilantro, and a little bite of jalapeno. Spicy and sweet are classic flavors in Caribbean dishes. This recipe is flavor packed and light, a dinner perfect for the warm summer months. Get lost in your own little island getaway with this fantastic recipe.

INGREDIENTS
2 jalapenos, deseeded and deveined
1 white onion
1 tbsp garlic minced
1 slice of ginger, 1/2″ thick
6 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 mango, peeled and chopped
1/4 c red onion, diced
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

STEPS

  • Preheat oven to 450º.
  • In a blender or food processor combine the pepper, white onion, garlic, ginger, olive oil, vinegar, thyme, allspice, black pepper, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper.
  • Process the ingredients until smooth, adding more olive oil if needed.
  • Spread the blended pepper mixture over both sides of the chicken.
  • Place the chicken in a large greased baking dish and top with any remaining pepper mixture.
  • Bake for 35 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
  • Transfer the chicken to plates and top each with some diced mango, red onion, and cilantro.
Appetizers

Recipe—Southwest Turkey Meatballs with Creamy Cilantro Lime Sauce

Diva di Cucina

Every couple of months I get together with a fabulous group of ladies for a book club meeting. I don’t know why we really call it a book club meeting because about 20% of the time is spent discussing the book we read and the other 80% is spent drinking fabulous wines, eating delicious foods, and catching up with some good old fashioned girl talk. Maybe wine and food club meeting would be more appropriate? Either way, we always end with an awesome variety of the most wonderful treats. Our last meeting was on a Friday night right around dinnertime so I wanted to bring something filling and yet low carb (I try and cut out carbs from the food when I know I will be consuming plenty in the wine.) These were absolutely wonderful! They were light yet completely filling. The meatballs were packed full of wonderful Mexican flavors and they really complemented the turkey nicely. The refreshing creamy cilantro lime sauce is actually from a recipe I shared a couple months back for shrimp taco cups. I LOVED that sauce and wanted to make it again. I could put that sauce on everything. So tasty!

CREAMY CILANTRO LIME SAUCE INGREDIENTS
1/3 c mayonnaise
1/2 c sour cream
2 tbsp milk
2 oz. canned diced green chilies
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped

MEATBALL INGREDIENTS
1.25 lbs lean ground turkey
1 jalapeño, deseeded, deveined, and chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 c cilantro, chopped
1/4 c panko or breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp oregano
salt and pepper

SAUCE STEPS

  • To make the sauce combine all sauce ingredients except the cilantro in a blender and puree until smooth.
  • Add in cilantro and pulse until combined.
  • Refrigerate sauce until ready to use.

MEATBALL STEPS

  • Preheat oven to 400º.
  • In a large bowl combine all meatball ingredients.
  • Using your hands mix well.
  • Using a large spoon, scoop a spoonful of the meat mixture and shape into 1”–1 1/4” round meatballs.
  • Place the formed meatballs into a greased baking dish making sure they don’t touch.
  • Bake for 16–20 minutes.
  • Serve hot with the cool cilantro lime dipping sauce.
  • Enjoy!
Salads, Side Dishes

Recipe—Broccoli Salad

Diva di Cucina

Broccoli SAlad

Over the past several months I have been on a total broccoli salad kick. Whenever we go to the store I can’t resist getting some at the deli counter. I figured I might as well learn to make my own, and so I did. And it was the bomb diggity! This broccoli salad is the perfect balance of crunchy and creamy, and sweet and salty. I could seriously eat this as a meal all on it’s own, okay I did eat this as a meal all on it’s own. I ate it by the bowlful! It is the perfect summer salad. It’s super light and refreshing. I don’t care if you are a fan of broccoli or not, you will love this recipe. I will make broccoli lovers out of all of you yet!

INGREDIENTS
3 heads of broccoli, chopped into small pieces
1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 c craisins
1/2 c salted sunflower seeds
1 c mayonnaise
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp white vinegar

STEPS

  • In a large bowl combine the broccoli, bacon, red onion, craisins, and sunflower seeds.
  • In a small bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar.
  • Drizzle the dressing over the broccoli salad and toss to coat.
  • Cover the salad and place in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
  • Stir right before serving.
Dinners

Recipe—Chicken Tamale Pie

Diva di Cucina

Chicken Tamale Pie

I’m all for one-pot dinners that are quick, easy, and save me from washing any extra dishes. This dinner is all of the above and it is absolutely delicious. If you love tamales then you will love this recipe. Think tamales, but on steroids. The cornbread has so many wonderful flavors and great texture. And then you get way more meat than you will ever find in some little hand rolled tamale, plus cheese. Glorious cheese! If you have a family that loves all the flavors of Mexican food and you are looking for something new that will save you some time in the kitchen give this recipe a try. You wont regret it!

Del Real Shredded Chicken

Note: I love Del Real products. I frequently use them as a way to save me time in the kitchen. For this recipe I used a package of the Del Real Shredded Chicken. It shaved off prep time and their products are super affordable. You can also purchase a rotisserie chicken, or if you have time just boil 2 chicken breasts for about 20 minutes and shred them yourself.

INGREDIENTS
1/3 c milk
1 egg
1/4 tsp chili powder
14.75 oz creamed corn
8.5 oz package of Jiffy corn muffin mix
4 oz can diced green chilies, drained
10 oz can red enchilada sauce (I love Las Palmas)
2 c chicken, cooked and shredded
1 1/2 tbsp taco seasoning
1 c pepper jack cheese, shredded
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp Cotija cheese, crumbled

STEPS

  • Preheat oven to 400º.
  • Combine milk, egg, chili powder, creamed corn, Jiffy, and green chilies in a medium mixing bowl and stir just until combined.
  • Pour the cornbread mix into a greased pie dish.
  • Bake the cornbread for 23–28 minutes or until it is just cooked through and golden on top.
  • While the cornbread is baking toss the shredded chicken with the taco seasoning and 1/3 cup of the enchilada sauce.
  • Using a fork, poke a liberal amount of holes into the cornbread.
  • Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the baked cornbread.
  • Add the seasoned shredded chicken to the top of the cornbread spreading it around evenly.
  • Sprinkle the shredded pepper jack cheese over the top of the chicken.
  • Bake for an additional 15 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven and allow it to set for 5 minutes.
  • Sprinkle with the cilantro and Cotija cheese.
  • Cut and serve as you would a pie.
  • Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light.

Do you like using Del Real Products? Then perhaps you will love this fabulous recipe!

Chile Verde Stuffed Poblano Chiles

Chile Verde Stuffed Poblano Chilies

Dinners, Sandwiches

Recipe­—Italian Sausage Burgers with Garlicky Greens

Diva di Cucina

Italian Sausage Burgers with Garlicky Greens

I love a big thick juicy homemade beef burger just as much as any one else, but I also love coming up with tasty alternatives to the all American meal. When I saw a recipe for an Italian sausage burger on Huffington Post I knew I had to try it. I love the flavor of Italian sausage and like Popeye I love my greens. So I made my own little tweaks and made these fantastic Italian sausage burgers. They were awesome! They are definitely rich, but oh so tasty.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb bulk Italian sausage, formed into 4 thin patties
4 slices of provolone cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp garlic, minced
1 bunch chard, kale, or spinach, inner stalks stripped out and greens chopped
salt
1/4 c pesto
1/4 c mayonnaise
4 ciabatta rolls, cut in half

STEPS

  • Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat.
  • Add the sausage patties and cook until browned on the bottom, about 5–7 minutes.
  • Flip the patties and cook on the other side for an additional 5–7 minutes or until cooked all the way through. (Top each patty with a slice of provolone during the last couple of minutes.)
  • While the sausage patties are cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  • Add the garlic and chopped greens.
  • Cook until the greens are wilted and tender and season with salt.
  • Place the ciabatta rolls in the oven to lightly toast and heat through.
  • In a small bowl mix together the pesto and mayonnaise.
  • Spread the cut side of each roll with the pesto mayonnaise.
  • Place the cooked patty on the bottom bun and top with cooked greens and top bun.

Recipe adapted from Huffington Post.

Appetizers

Recipe—Bacon Jalapeño Poppers Wrapped in Puff Pastry

Diva di Cucina

Bacon Jalapeño Poppers Wrapped in Puff Pastry

Any recipe that has bacon, cheese, and jalapeños is a home run in my book. Wrap that up in a flaky delicate layer of puff pastry and it is a grand slam baby! These look like they would be heavy because they are good sized but the puff pastry is actually really light. These are the perfect appetizers for any occasion. The puff pastry takes what is an average appetizer and glamorizes them. Delicate enough for girl’s night in or macho enough for a guy’s night of watching sports. Either way, everyone will love them!

Bacon Jalapeño Poppers Wrapped in Puff Pastry

INGREDIENTS
9 jalapeños, halved lengthwise, deseeded, and deveined
1 package puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
8 oz cream cheese softened
1/2 c bacon, cooked and chopped
1 c cheddar cheese, shredded
2 tsp garlic, minced
salt and pepper
1 egg
1 tbsp water

STEPS

  • Preheat oven to 400º.
  • In a medium-mixing bowl combine the cream cheese, bacon, cheddar cheese, garlic, and some salt and pepper.
  • Stuff each pepper half with a heaping mound of the cheese filling and set aside.
  • Unfold the thawed puff pastry and cut each sheet into 9 squares.
  • Wrap each stuffed pepper in one of the pastry squares and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet as you finish them, making sure they are about an inch apart.
  • Whisk together the egg and water and brush the egg wash over the top of each popper.
  • Bake for 20 minutes or until the poppers are golden brown on top.
  • Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Recipe adapted from Reclaiming Your Castle.