Superbowl Nachos

My husband hasn't always been a big Superbowl guy. This year, however, was different. He is a BIG Colts fan. So this year, we made a bigger deal out of Superbowl Sunday and actually made a food associated with the Superbowl....NACHOS! He was SO excited to eat these. I made them with homemade corn tortilla chips. They are much easier to make than they sound. Plus they are baked and not fried like regular chips. You can top these with anything that sounds good to you. I used taco seasoned beef (you could easily use turkey), cheese, olives, diced roma tomatoes, guacomole, and salsa.

To make the chips, get a stack of corn tortillas. Cut them in half, then cut each half into thirds so that out of each tortilla you get six chips. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spread the tortilla triangles out on a cookie sheet and squeeze a lime swiftly over them. Next, spray them lightly with non-stick cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. Bake the chips until they get crispy and very light brown. About 8 minutes. Pull them out and flip them over. bake them again for an additional 4 minutes or so or until desired crispiness is achieved. Let them cool before serving.

After the chips are done, you can continue to top them with whatever you would like. These are always a big hit at our house.

Enjoy!

Dakota Smashed Pea and Barley Soup

There is no question that this soup has an unusual, somewhat concerning color. There isn't much that can be done about that. However, this is one of the best soups I have ever had. If you have ever had California Pizza Kitchen's Dakota Smashed Pea and Barley soup, then you know what this soup tastes like. This soup is every bit as good and just may possibly be better! The best part is that it is so easy and inexpensive! I have been on a serious budget kick lately. I have been trying to see just how many meals I can make on few ingredients. For whatever reason, I have not been wanting to spend money on anything...including groceries. That is unusual for me. Food is one thing that I usually don't hesitate spending money on...I justify it because it is a necessity. Anyway, I served this soup with a salad with grilled chicken and a whole wheat roll. DELICIOUS!!!

Dakota Smashed Pea and Barley Soup

2 cups split peas

4-5 cups water

4 cups chicken broth

1 onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2-1 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 cup barley (dried)-I used quick cooking

2 medium-large carrots diced

2 ribs celery, diced

salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the split peas. Add the peas, 4-5 cups water, 4 cups broth, onion, garlic, parsley, sugar, salt, pepper and thyme to a soup pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours or until the peas are soft. Cook the 1/2 cup barley according to package instructions. When the split pea mixture has become thick and the peas are soft, use a hand held immersion blender to blend the mixture to a smooth consistency. Add the barley, carrots and celery and simmer for another 20 minutes. Top with fresh diced green onions.

This soup thickens A LOT when it sits.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

I have never had buffalo wings before. My husband likes them, so I thought it might be fun to try this recipe out for a change. The sauce was spicy!!! If you like spicy, you will like this. It also gets a nice flavor from the tangy gorgonzola cheese. I made a few changes such as adding sliced red onions, olives, sliced red bell pepper, and shredded carrots. Other than that, I stayed pretty true to the recipe. I whipped up a double batch of pizza dough and froze the other half for another time. I guess I had better give proper credit for this recipe to Rachel Ray. Hope you enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

3/4 pound chicken breast cutlets

2 tsp. grill seasoning

pizza dough

2 Tbsp. butter (I used 1 Tbsp. Smart Balance)

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2-3 Tbsp. hot sauce (tobasco)

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 cup shredded cheese

1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles

3 scallions thinly sliced (I used sliced red onions)

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Drizzle chicken with olive oil and season with grill seasoning. Grill chicken. When chicken is cooled, thinly slice it and set aside.

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a sauce pan. Stir in worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and tomato sauce. Stir to combine and add sliced chicken.

Stretch the dough to desired size of pizza. Place on pizza stone or pizza pan and cook just unitl it is barely baked. Remove from the oven and top with sauce coated chicken, onions, and cheese (and any other toppings), and bake until the cheese is melted and crust is a light golden brown.

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

Confession. Three weeks ago I doubled this recipe and made 4 very large cookie dough logs so that we wouldn't run out of cookies for a while....they are already gone. Sad but true. If you like oatmeal cookies, you will like these. I added raisons, chocolate chips and walnuts. It may sound like a strange combination, but it tastes great together. Feel free to add or leave out any of the extra additions.

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup butter (I use Smart Balance, Whipped)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 cups white all purpose flour (I use half white, half wheat)
2 3/4 cups oatmeal
cranberries, chocolate chips, coconut, raisons, walnuts

Combine all the dry ingredients. Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and vanila and mix with electric mixer. Add dry ingredients a little at a time until dry ingredients are used up. Mix in cranberries, nuts, chocolate chips, etc.

Drop by tablespoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes or until lightly golden.

This dough also freezes really well.

Proscuitto Portobella and Artichoke Pizza

So sorry for the delay of posting this recipe. I have been a busy girl! This is a recipe that I got from my new cookbook by Curtis Stone. I love this book! My husband got it for me for Christmas. I am excited to put it to good use!

I am not going to give you the detailed recipe since I have posted several pizza recipes. I just used my regualr pizza dough recipe and topped it off with some marinara sauce, grilled portabello mushroom, cheese and artichoke hearts. Place the pizza back in the oven to cook until the crust is lightly golden. Remove the pizza and top with slices of proscuitto.

Since I don't eat pork, this pizza was for my husband. He love the pizza, but decided he is not a fan of proscuitto. He thinks it is too salty and doesn't know what the big deal about it is......I'll leave the final decision up to you.

Garlic Lime Quinoa Salad

We were pleasantly surprised by just how tastey this little salad is. It is now a requested dish in our home! It is so simple and flavorful to throw together. Quinoa is a wonderful grain. If you have not tried it, you should. It is packed full with protein and it has a very nice, somewhat nutty flavor. It is a great alternative to couscous or pasta. Make sure to rinse the quinoa well in a seive to remove any bitterness before cooking it. Also, cooking it in broth really helps to pump up the flavor. Feel free to throw in any other veggies that sound good to you. This was made when we had some slim pickins' in our house, so I had to use what I had. It was a great dish and very healthy too!

Garlic Lime Quinoa Salad
2 cups broth (I used chicken broth)
3/4 cup Quinoa, rinsed and drained
1 lime
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper
1-2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
3/4 cup frozen corn, defrosted
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
3 scallions, sliced

Bring broth to a boil. Add rinsed quinoa, cover and reduce heat. Simmer on med-low for about 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and keep covered. Meanwhile in a medium bowl, add the diced bell pepper, corn, scallions and cilantro. In a seperate bowl, combine juice of 1 lime, minced garlic and stream in olive oil while whisking. Season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste. Toss the quinoa in with the veggies and stir to combine. Drizzle the garlic lime dressing over the quinoa mixture and toss lightly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Steak Salad

Can you believe it is already January 2010? I can't. And in my opinion, Christmas break passed by much too quickly. I am not ready to go back to real life just yet. I have enjoyed sleeping in until 7:30 or 8:00 everyday and not having anything that I "had" to do such as go into the office. Tomrrow life starts again....real life. Not that real life is bad, but the break has been so nice. I often think that the most difficult part of any vacation is having to come back. The thing is, once I am back in the swing of things, life is great again. I guess it is just the anticipation of it all. Anyway, I am grateful for a job to go back to, and wonderful people at the office to greet me! I do truely love the people I work with! Anyway, I made a simple meal tonight because I have been a bit under the weather with a horrible cold. I was not in the mood to cook a large or complicated meal. For my husband, I made this delicious steak salad. The steak is rubbed with a combination of chili powder, cinnamon, salt and minced garlic. It may sound like a strange combination, but the flavor is unbelieveable!!!! It makes for some great steak or chicken tacos!!!! I also topped the salad with avocado, radishes, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and sprouts. I composed my salad with the same ingredients besides the steak. I seared some large scallops!!! Yum! I also made a delicious quinoa salad with a lime and garlic dressing and a big slice of potato rosemary bread! I will post the quinoa recipe tomorrow! Enjoy!

Chili Rubbed Steak (or chicken)
1-2 Tbsp. Chili powder
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Salt
2 Cloves of garlic, minced

Combine ingredients and rub all over steak or toss with chicken. If using steak, broil the meat until it is slightly pink in the middle. If using chicken, slice chicken and toss with mixture. Stir-fry until no longer pink.