Home » Kid-friendly Recipes » main dish » Page 14

Category: main dish

California BLTs

We had yummy sandwiches for dinner last night. This is another recipe from my Barefoot Contessa cookbook. It’s hard to call it much of a recipe…basically a BLT with avocado. But I’ll post her recipe anyway. I didn’t add the lemon juice, salt and pepper. I just didn’t have time and didn’t think it was necessary (maybe I’ll try it some other time). These were soooo good. I’ve always loved BLTs. But with avocado…even better! I used sliced grape tomatoes since that’s what we had on hand. A little harder to eat, but still good. And I even got Justin to try a little tomato…and he admitted that he kind of liked it! He’s slowly changing his mind about tomatoes 🙂 I served our sandwiches with a small salad. This was a perfect meal for a warm, sunny spring day.California BLTs

6 thick-cut slices smoked bacon
4 slices good white bread, cut 1/2-inch thick
4 Tbsp. good mayonnaise (recommended: Hellman’s)
4 to 8 tender green lettuce leaves, washed and spun very dry
1 ripe Hass avocado
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 large ripe tomato, sliced 1/2-inch thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a baking wire rack on a sheet pan and arrange the bacon on the rack in a single layer. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until the bacon is browned and crisp. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

Place the bread slices on a sheet pan and toast them for 5 minutes. Turn the slices and toast for 1 more minute, until all the bread is evenly browned.

Place 2 slices on a cutting board. Spread each slice with about 1 Tbsp. of mayonnaise. Cover the slices with a layer of lettuce. Place 3 slices of bacon on top. Peel the avocado and slice it 1/2-inch thick. Toss the avocado slices gently with the lemon juice, and arrange on top of the bacon. Add a layer of tomato slices on top. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Spread each of the remaining 2 slices of toasted bread with 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise and place, mayonnaise side down, on the sandwiches. Cut in half and serve.

*I cooked my bacon in a pan on the stove…I don’t have an oven proof wire rack.
*I toasted my bread under the broiler.
*I made a full sandwich for Justin and a half for myself. We use Meijer organic whole wheat bread…and the slices are quite large.

Guacamole Salad

We are having our Easter dinner tonight. So I decided to make a light meal for lunch. And I had planned this for last night’s dinner anyway. We didn’t have it since we went out for dinner at the last minute with some of my family. This is a Barefoot Contessa recipe from her BC at Home cookbook (great cookbook, by the way). This was very good!!! It tasted like summer to me 🙂 Of course Justin’s first reaction was, “are those tomatoes?” Yes dear, you can pick around them. And after eating it, “I like it, but I’d prefer it as a side dish.” It would make a very good side dish. But I like it as a main dish too. Very healthy. I added frozen corn and peas to ours. And the peppers were from our garden…that I had thawed. This is very simple. And we usually have most of the ingredients on hand. Plus you can prep it ahead (I made it all this morning and just added the avocado right before serving). I’ll keep it in mind for summer meals and gluten free meals. I only made a half recipe. I served it with corn muffins. I’ll use the leftovers tomorrow to make taco salads. It would be good in tortillas as well.

This is linked to the Whole Foods for the Holidays progressive dinner – salads course.

Guacamole Salad
serves 6
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 yellow bell pepper, 1/2″ diced
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained (in place of canned beans, soak organic dry beans over night, rinse and cook)
1/2 cup small-diced red onion
2 Tbsp. minced jalapeno peppers, seeded (I didn’t add this)
1/2 tsp. freshly grated lime zest
1/4 cup feshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper (I didn’t add this)
2 ripe Haas avocados, 1/2″ diced

Cook beans ahead of time.

Place the tomatoes, yellow pepper, black beans, red onion, jalapeno peppers and lime zest in a large bowl (add corn and peas here if using). Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and cayenne. Pour over vegetables. Toss well. (I made the dressing first in the serving bowl and then just put the veggies on top and tossed…no need to get another bowl dirty).

Just before you’re ready to serve the salad fold the avocados in. Check seasoning and serve at room temperature (ours was chilled).

Drive-In Walnut Burgers

I tried a Semi-Homemade recipe last night for walnut burgers. I saw SL make them on tv and they sounded interesting…and meatless 🙂 Plus I had walnuts to use up. And I got to use my new food processor!!! I took a picture of the food processor…after I used it 😛 So it’s a bit dirty. It worked great! I’m excited to use it more often. I just need to figure out where to put it now.

I thought the burgers were great!! I love meals with nuts and beans. I’ll take that in place of meat just about any day. They were super easy to make. Came together in a few minutes (I prepped them ahead and put them in the fridge until dinner time.) and then cooked them in a grill pan for about 10 min. I topped mine with grilled onion, avocado, ketchup and honey mustard. Justin wasn’t too thrilled about the burgers. He said he’s willing to have the leftovers for another meal, but he’ll have to dress his burger appropriately…plenty of cheese, mayo, ketchup, pickles, etc. 😛 They don’t taste like a hamburger (I don’t think they’re supposed to). But they have good flavor. I used a barbeque grill seasoning. I think that really gave them a good flavor. I used some of my homemade whole wheat hamburger buns. Those are quite dense (using up the ones I made…hoping to make a new batch that turns out better). And the burgers are pretty dense (not super moist). So it was a hearty meal. I like the idea of making a burger out of other things. I’ll have to experiment and try other recipes…see if I can come up with something that even Justin likes 🙂 I still have to try my SIL’s recipe for lentil burgers. Maybe he’ll like those better. But I’ll definitely keep this recipe on file. I took a picture of the whole burger and with a bite taken so you can see the inside.

And I’ve adjusted my meal plans for the 3rd time this week so that we can use up the leftover burgers and jello. I had chickpeas left from the burgers that I put in a veggie cheese soup in the crockpot this morning. It’s a total experiment (just throwing a bunch of stuff from the freezer and pantry together). We’ll see how it turns out. I made a new batch of granola yesterday (added chopped walnuts, dried cranberries, cherries and raisins and sweetened it with pure maple syrup and agave nectar this time…can’t wait to try it!). I baked 2 more cake layers yesterday and one this morning. Just one small chocolate layer to go tonight or tomorrow morning. Just found out yesterday we are closing on our house (refinancing) tomorrow afternoon, so that means less time to get stuff done…and another reason for meal adjustments (no time to cook this week). And now I have to go to Meijer today, else I won’t have time until next Monday. The office is cleaned now. I’m making good progress on my weekly goals already. I think the cake is about the only thing left to finish.
Drive-In Walnut Burgers

1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup canned garbanzo beans, drained
1/3 cup plain dried bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. grill seasoning (recommended: McCormick)
1 tsp. smoked paprika (I left this out)
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (I left this out)
1 Tbsp. cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large egg
4 hamburger buns
Lettuce, tomato, avocado
Honey mustard

Set up grill for direct cooking over high heat. Oil grate when ready to start cooking. (I used a grill pan on the stove with a little EVOO in it.)

In a food processor, combine walnuts, garbanzo beans, bread crumbs, grill seasoning, paprika, pepper flakes, oil and vinegar and pulse until coarsely ground. In a small bowl whisk egg, add to food processor and pulse for 10 seconds, just enough to incorporate egg. Divide into 4 equal-size parts; roll into balls, and flatten with the palm of your hand into 3/4-inch-thick patties. Place burgers on oiled grill. Cook 4 minutes per side.

Serve hot on toasted buns with lettuce, tomato, avocado and honey mustard.

Cranberry Walnut Quinoa Salad

I squeezed in one more grain this month 🙂 I made a quinoa salad last night. The recipe is from Food Network. I think it’s meant to be a side dish, but I served it as a main dish and our meatless meal for the week. The reviews…I thought it was awesome!!!! I wanted to eat the whole bowl 😛 Justin liked it, but not as a main dish. He said he couldn’t eat a huge quantity at once. I kind of figured that would be the case. So, I had seconds and Justin didn’t finish what was on his plate. That doesn’t happen very often. This was our first taste of quinoa. Very good. And super easy to make. I just wish it wasn’t so expensive. This was a very light and healthy dish. And since I shaved a little paremsan cheese over top it had something from every food group in it! This is a very good base salad. You could add different veggies to it. And feta cheese crumbled on top would probably be good too. The other nice part is that you make it ahead of time (since it’s a cold salad). Always a bonus to be able to prep ahead. I only made a half batch and it made plenty. I’m excited for leftovers 🙂

This post is linked to the Whole Foods for the Holidays progressive dinner – salad course.

Cranberry Walnut Quinoa Salad
serves 10

1 cup quinoa
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup frozen green beans, defrosted (I cut them into bite size pieces)
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (soaked and dehydrated)
1/4 cup green onions, sliced (I left these out since I didn’t have any)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
(crumbled or shaved cheese for topping)

Combine quinoa with 2 cups water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and continue cooking until all water is absorbed. (I cooked it for 12 min. Then left it covered for 15 min. off the heat.) (To make this easier to digest soak the quinoa over night, then proceed with recipe)

In a medium bowl, combine cooked quinoa, dried cranberries, green beans, walnuts, and green onions until well mixed. In a small bowl, whisk the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and garlic until well blended. Pour over the quinoa mixture. Toss until well blended. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Add cheese as desired.

Beef Stroganoff

Last night I made an old classic for Justin – beef stroganoff. I think this is a Kraft recipe. I’ve made it many times. Very quick and easy. This is a skillet dish, so it’s all in one pot. I make a veggie to go with it. I also have a beef stroganoff recipe from Justin’s mom. I’ve only made it once since it takes a long time to make. I’ll post that too. It’s better than the quickie version, but I don’t have time most days to cook something for several hours. Justin’s mom doesn’t have exact measurements for all of the ingredients…just do what seems right 🙂 I think I added more onion than the recipe says too. There is also some stuff crossed out on the recipe…I think the crossed out stuff would be better than the way she made it. I’ll add that in parenthesis.

Skillet Beef Stroganoff

1 lb. ground beef (I only use 1/2 lb. and think it’s plenty)
3 cups egg noodles (dry)
1/2 lb. (8 oz.) Velveeta, cut up (I just slice it)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cups water
pepper

Brown meat in skillet. Drain. Add water. Bring to boil. Add noodles, stir. Reduce heat, simmer 8-10 min. Add Velveeta, soup and pepper. Cook until cheese is melted.

Beef Stroganoff

round steak, cut in small cubes (any beef or stew meat will work)
1/3 can mushroom soup (mushrooms, sliced – original ingredient)
1/8 onion, chopped
butter
flour
salt
pepper
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup beef bouillon (any form of beef broth)

(Saute mushrooms and onion in butter.) In (separate) skillet melt butter. Coat meat with flour and brown meat and onion in skillet. Add salt, mushroom soup and broth. Simmer, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours. (Add mushrooms and onion.) (Serve over noodles.) Serve over mashed potatoes.

Butternut Squash Risotto

Yesterday’s dinner was meatless and a new grain! And it was so so so good!!! This was my first attempt at making risotto…my first time eating real risotto. Wow! So creamy and yummy. I had to keep myself from eating too much :p Justin really liked it too. He would prefer it as a side dish instead of the main dish, but he didn’t have any complaints 🙂 I’ve always been afraid to make risotto…sounded tricky. But it wasn’t hard at all. It does require constant attention. But other than that it’s pretty easy. And it’s actually fairly quick. Only takes about 20 min. I used a Rachel Ray recipe. Her recipe is almost identical to most of the recipes I looked up. But I chose hers because is uses frozen pureed squash instead of fresh. And I have plenty of squash in the freezer 🙂 I didn’t use wine since I didn’t have any…I just used extra chicken broth. I used organic red onion. I didn’t add the sage. And I only made a half batch. I may have to change some meal plans this week so I can have the leftovers for dinner one night 🙂
Butternut Squash Risotto

One 32-ounce container (4 cups) chicken broth (I’m sure veggie broth would work to make it totally vegetarian)
2 Tbsp. EVOO
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
2 cups arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
One 12-ounce box frozen butternut squash puree, thawed (I used cooked squash from our garden…I didn’t measure it…just added what looked/tasted right)
Nutmeg
Salt and pepper
1 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
10 leaves fresh sage, slivered
In a large saucepan, bring the chicken broth and 1 cup water to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn the heat to low.

In a large skillet (I used a large saucepan), heat the EVOO , 2 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. When the oil is rippling, add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 2 minutes. Add the rice and toast for 3 minutes. Stir in the wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until mostly evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes.3. Add 2 ladlefuls of the warm chicken broth to the rice and stir until the liquid evaporates. Repeat with the remaining broth, cooking the risotto until creamy, about 18 minutes. During the last 3 minutes of cooking, stir in the squash; season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. During the last minute of cooking, stir in the cheese and butter. Top with the sage.

Slow Cooker Italian Chicken Lentil Soup

I tried a new Betty Crocker recipe today. I needed an easy crockpot meal…always do on Sundays. And I had some organic lentils that I bought a while back I’ve been wanting to try. It was really good! Justin and I both loved it. We got home from Flint late last night so I didn’t have any time for prep. I just threw the chicken breasts in mostly frozen this morning. And I used peas instead of zucchini because I didn’t have time to get the zucchini out of the basement freezer this morning. I added most of the tomatoes at the beginning so they would cook more. Justin doesn’t like raw tomatoes. I didn’t quite do a full batch and there was plenty for our lunch and a couple lunches for Justin this week. I’m hoping to use lentils more often. I love them, they cook quickly and they are a good substitute for meat. Rebecca tried a little of this. She seemed to like the flavor, but she wasn’t very hungry.

Slow Cooker Italian Chicken Lentil Soup
1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs (I used 2 breasts)
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup) (I used organic red onion)
1 medium zucchini, chopped (2 cups) (I used frozen organic peas)
4 medium carrots, sliced (2 cups) (I used 1 large organic carrot)
1 cup dried lentils (8 oz), sorted, rinsed
4 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (3 oz) (I didn’t add these)
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained (I only used a half can since Justin doesn’t like a ton of tomatoes)
1/4 cup chopped fresh or 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves (I left this out…forgot 🙂
Shredded Parmesan cheese, if desired (grated fresh parm over each bowl)

Remove fat from chicken. In 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix onion, zucchini, carrots, lentils, broth, salt and pepper. Add chicken. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 5 to 6 hours. Remove chicken from slow cooker. Use 2 forks to pull chicken into shreds. Return chicken to slow cooker. Stir in mushrooms and tomatoes. Cover; cook on low heat setting about 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with basil. Sprinkle with cheese.

Fried Chicken

This chicken recipe is from my mother-in-law. It’s not really fried, bit it tastes like it is.

“Fried” chicken is very easy to make and tastes very good. I’ve been making it since before we got married!

I love that it requires very little hands on time. You just brown the chicken, cover and let it cook for an hour.

My whole family really enjoys this chicken. It can be made with just about any kind of flour. And it pairs well with just about any sides and sauces. Perfect.

Fried Chicken
 
boneless, skinless chicken breasts (as many as you need)
~ 1/4 cup flour per chicken breast (I just put some in a bowl…however much looks right)
salt and pepper to taste
~1 Tbsp. olive oil
 
Trim any fat off chicken. Mix salt and pepper into flour. Coat each chicken breast in flour. Heat oil in pan. Place chicken in pan top side down. Cook about 5 min. – until browned. Flip chicken. Cook another 2 min. Reduce heat to very low. Cover and cook for 1 hour. About 5 min. before serving take lid off pan and flip chicken to re-crisp the top side.
 
Serve as is, with dipping sauce (sweet ‘n’ sour, bbq, etc.) or topped with sauce (pesto, etc.).

Roasted Root Vegetables with Pesto

I tried another recipe from my SIL Shannon yesterday. It’s originally from Cooking Light. We have kind of mixed reviews about it. I thought it was great!! And it’s more just an idea than a recipe to me. You can use any kind of veggie and any kind of pesto. So I’m sure I’ll try it again and adjust things more to our liking. Justin wasn’t too crazy about it. But part of that was because I used some homemade parsley pesto, which he didn’t care for. He might have liked it better if I had used spinach, basil or pea pesto (he likes all of those). Also, most of the veggies were new to us. It usually takes Justin a few tries to get used to a new veggie. This was my first time trying parsnips. I thought they were great!! So sweet. Yum. Justin picked most of them out. I used one turnip. Neither of us were crazy about it. It had too much of a bite for me. This was my first experience with brussel sprouts too. I thought they were pretty good. Justin didn’t mind them. I want to try roasting them on their own sometime to really taste them well. I left out the shallots because I didn’t have any. I served this over some spinach ribbons…new Eden Organic pasta that I got yesterday. That was really good too. I made some leftover pork for Justin to go with this. So it was more of a side dish for him. I added a few beans to mine and had it as a main dish. And we grated fresh parmesan over top. I didn’t make the full recipe. That would be a lot. And I used pesto from our freezer. I didn’t try the pesto recipe that comes with this.

Roasted Root Vegetables with Pesto

 

3 cups (1 lb.) carrot, sliced 1″ thick
3 cups (1 lb.) parsnip, sliced also
3 cups peeled, cubed turnip
3 cups (1 lb.) trimmed, halved Brussel sprouts
2 shallots, peeled and quartered
1 large onion, cut into 8 wedges (I used organic red onion)
cooking spray
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

 

Pesto:
2 cups basil
1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan-reggiano
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
4 tsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1 garlic clove, pressed

 

Process in food processor or blender.

 

Veggies:

 

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Place veggies on baking sheet. Coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss. Bake 1 hour, or until browned. Transfer to a bowl and toss with pesto.

 

*My veggies cooked faster than 1 hour. I had to turn the heat down a bit so that they weren’t done before the rest of dinner. I’d say 45 min. is plenty at that temperature, maybe even less. I tossed them a few times during the roasting so that they browned on all sides.

Zucchini Casserole

I made a new recipe last night. I got it from my SIL Sara. It was my first attempt at a meatless meal this month 🙂 I thought it was great!! And so easy to make. Plus I felt good, like I was eating healthy/doing something good for my body. Meat is about the hardest thing for me to digest, so this was a great meal for me. As expected Justin was so hesitant when he heard that there was no meat in the dinner :p I reassured him there were eggs in it…they are in the meat group :p He is not a huge zucchini fan, so I didn’t expect him to love it. But he ate plenty. If I make it again I’ll probably cut back on the zucchini (for his sake) and maybe add some broccoli. I did add red and green peppers and green beans this time. And I’d like to try yellow zucchini sometime too, like Sara did. I made a smaller version of the casserole since I knew Justin wouldn’t want to eat too many leftovers. And I made a few mods. I’ll mention them in the original recipe.

Zucchini Casserole

1 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup grated cheese (I used about a cup of a mix of shredded cheddar and mozzarella)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used a mixture of milk and water instead of the oil)
4 eggs
3 cups thinly sliced zucchini (I added some peppers and beans)

Mix all ingredients and pour into greased 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. (I then turned the broiler on low for about three minutes to brown the top a little.)

*I used about 3/4 cup Bisquick, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup cheese.
*I used a 9″ square pan.
*I turned up the temp towards the end because it wasn’t quite setting in the middle.
*I sprinkled cheese on top and put it under the broiler for a few minutes at the end…made it nice and brown on top.