Turkey and Artichoke Lasagna

Well, it was a rushed dinner here at the Wratten household. Mark had to go
into work early (yes, he's on the night shift again) and I was working till 5pm.
I had to rush out in the rain and pick up some old towels donated to the AWLFC
and get a few things for dinner. I had planned on having stuffed shells and a
good salad, but a trip that should have taken 45 min turned into 1 1/2 hours.
It seems no one remembered how to drive in the wet stuff...

So I changed my dinner idea into a lasagna and put lots of veggies in it. That
way I didn't have to make a salad....it turned out wonderful, and I felt healthy
at the end of it all.

I chopped an onion and a huge portabello mushroom, sauted it with garlic and
then browned my ground turkey when they were soft. I then added some chopped
red pepper and artichoke hearts (packed in water, drained). I added a lot of
dried basil, since I didn't have fresh on hand, some salt and pepper. Then I
sprinkled everything with a little flour. I cooked that till it got thick
and added some cream. Stired it up and wilted in my baby spinach and
added 1 can of italian diced tomatoes.

Meanwhile, I boiled my noodles to al dente.

In a seperate bowl I mixed together my ricotta cheese, parmesan, an egg and lots
of parsley.

Then I layered noodles, cheese mix, turkey sauce, shredded mozarella, noodles,
cheese mix, turkey sauce, mozarella. I finished with noodles on top. Sprinkled
with mozarella and parmesan, put a lid on it and baked it for 20 min.

It could have used another 10 minutes in the oven, taking the lid off to brown
the cheese, but as I said, Mark had to go. So we ate a rushed meal that had
most of my salad in it.

It was good and I will use this recipe again but perhaps tweak it a little.
Feel free to put your own spin on it, have a glass of wine and take the time
to enjoy it!

Thaish Chicken Salad

Well, I had a meeting last night right at dinner time, and many people traveled
from afar (including me) to attend, so I thought we could all use a little nosh-

I am calling this Thai-ish because I used Thai flavors, if some unconventional
ingredients.

I finely diced some roasted chicken breasts. I added finely diced red pepper,
petite matchstick radishes and cucumber, finely diced mango, thinly sliced
scallions and some alfalfa sprouts.

Here I could have added the dressing and served it in lettuce or cabbage cups
and it would have been delish! Instead I added some shredded baby spring greens,
dressed it with a thai dressing and stuffed it into mini pita pockets. It was
still delishious, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the light fare I provided.

Thai Dressing
A tiny bit of toasted sesame oil, olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, cilantro,
ginger, chinese five spice and a tiny bit of chili paste.

While I was making it and eating it later, I thought it would have been great with
salmon instead of chicken, and you could add cashews to make it even better!

Hope you all enjoy this spring dish as much as we did!

Rum Soaked Pork with Caramel Onions

Get a nice pork roast and trim any extra fat from it. Make a marinade with
rum, olive oil and a couple of prunes(squished). Add in herbs and spices such
as, sage, oregano, parsley, all spice, nutmeg, salt and black pepper. Let it sit
overnight in the frige.

Brown the roast off in a hot oven safe pan. Cover and put in a 375 oven for the roasting time you need. Meanwhile, thinly slice some onion and apple, let stand
in some cold water hit with a little lemon juice and rum. When the roast is done,
take out of the pan to rest; put the pan back on the stove and make your sauce
with the roast drippings. Brown the onion and apple slices in the pan(without
their soaking liquid). Since you are using the pan drippings, you will get nice
flavor, but if you think it needs anything, add it here.
Serve the sauce over your sliced pork.

As a side to this we had a basic scalloped potato and some steamed broccoli.
I tossed the broccoli with a little sesame ginger aioli and nutmeg.

Sesame Ginger Aioli
a little mayo, a drop of sesame oil and some olive oil, ginger, garlic, apple
cider vinegar, salt and pepper.

All Good Stuff!! Enjoy-

Mushroom and Spinach soup

This is a good bowl of comfort on a chilly spring night; packed full of vitamins and
nutrients straight from the garden. Eat it with a nice crusty bread for sopping
up the broth and you have one of the best things in life!

Take some shallots and carrot and brown them off in a soup pan in a little olive
oil. You can add a little butter here too, if you like. It brings a bit of
richness to the soup. Melt in some tomato paste and one or two anchovie filets.
Pour in some broth, any flavor you like and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat and add a bunch of small mixed mushrooms. Simmer.
Just before serving wilt in some baby spinach. Season with salt and pepper,
but be careful with the salt depending on what broth you use.

Wish I had some of this right now while I am typing....it's a little cool
here. This will surely warm up your insides!

Southwest Bacon Cheeseburger

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything. Sorry for the slackness.

Today's menu was very easy. Just combine your favorite southwest seasonings in
your ground meat (cumin, chili powder, garlic, smoked paprika, onion powder,
oregano, parsley and such). Mix well, form patties. Toast you buns with a slice
of chipotle cheddar. Top with onion slices, tomato slices, greens, and
roasted red pepper slices, maybe even some avacado slices.
Add ketchup, mustard or aoli.

Very easy, but very good. Mmm mmm mmm.

Turkey Panini

Nothing good to report. I had a lot of appts yesterday, so I was driving around
all over Maryland and did not get to eat a proper dinner. I did stop at
Zi Pani and had a good turkey club sandwich. And of course, that reminded
me of some turkey paninis I made quite a while back. I don't have a proper panini
press, so I just used my grill pan and squished them down with the back of the
spatula, like we all learned to do with a grilled cheese, before we knew we should
call it a "melted american panini".

I got a good french bread loaf and cut into slices. I had smoked turkey slices
from the deli. I had herbed havarti cheese and roasted red pepper slices (which
I drained). I made a honey mustard mayonnaise that I spread on both sides of the
bread. I put the cheese on both sides as well (it's the glue that holds it all
together). Then I stacked the turkey and roasted peppers. I think I also put
red onion on some. I sprayed the outside of the bread with olive oil,
then I just grilled them and smooshed them and called them paninis. Very tastey.
Very tastey indeed!

Spring Fresh Salad

Well, Mark was away for the weekend, so I had just gotten some safeway
brand fresh ravioli stuffed with 4 cheeses and added fresh bell peppers, baby
zucchini and a can of fire roasted tomatoes. I also added some garlic, oregano
and basil.....
I lived off that for 2 nights until we had Easter dinner with my sis, the kids
and my dad. My contribution was salad.

I had a mix of romain hearts and red leaf lettuce. I steamed some asparagus till
al dente, then hit it with cold water to keep it beautifully green, cut it in 1"
pieces, with a yellow bell pepper in 1" pieces, artichoke hearts (you got it, in
1" pieces) some red onion slices, some celery slices, some pumpkin seeds, a
sprinkle of dries mixed berries, some orange slices and a dressing made of orange
juice, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, allspice, salt, pepper, parsley and a touch
of orange blossom honey....

It was yummy, but the kids picked out most of the stuff- Oh well...they will learn,
eventually.....

Tonight Mark is still sleeping, and I haven't been 100%, so I ordered pizza hut.

I am hoping to bring you a terrific meal idea next time-
TaTa!

Jerk Burgers and Fried Green Beans

Well, I guess I need to tell you about my failures as well as my successes. In trying
for the TGIF Fried Green Beans, I completely failed. I made my batter, and it looked
and tasted good. I bought frozen green beans (so I didn't have to blanch them
first...thought I'd save a step) and thawed, drained and dried them. Put them in the
batter....all looked good at this point, but then....they hit the pan. Of course
I don't have a deep fryer, so I used my big pampered chef family skillet. I heated
my oil before dropping in my beans, but all the batter sank to the bottom, stuck,
and my beans got soggy, quickly. I ended up throwing the whole batch out.

I'll try those again some other time-

My Jerk Burgers however, were a success. I had a mix of half lean beef and half pork,
but I'm sure you could make it with chicken or turkey as well. I seasoned with salt,
pepper, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Then mixed it minced onion and garlic. Added
habenero sauce, a touch of oil, worcestershire, a splash of balsamic vinegar and
a little brown sugar. Formed into patties and grilled up.

I toasted my buns and melted monteray jack cheese on the bottom, slathered the tops
with a pineapple ketchup and stacked the burger up with fixins. Yum-oh!

The pineapple ketchup was made with tomato paste, a little white sugar, a splash of
apple cider vinegar, crushed pineapple and some juice with a sprinkling of salt.

I will ask my readers if you have a good recipe to share for fried green beans,
and if you don't mind, I will post it for others to see your success.

Hope you all enjoy the burgers with a nice, cool island drink. And don't make them
with habenero sauce if you don't like them hot!