French Bread Pizza

We've started a new tradition in our family: Friday Night Pizza Night. We've done it for a total of two weeks now, and I'm really excited about it for a few reasons. 1. I love traditions. 2. I love pizza. 3. I love trying new recipes.

This past Friday, I had almost an entire loaf of Easy French Bread left to eat before it would start getting hard. My friend Amber had mentioned how much her family loves French Bread Pizza, so I decided to give it a try. I have to say that it's my favorite crust for pizza! It had great flavor and the right amount of crunch. You can use whatever toppings you like, but I'm pretty fond of the combination we had.

• 1 loaf of Easy French Bread
• olive oil
  
• pizza sauce
• 2 cups shredded cheese (I used a Four Cheese Italian blend of mozzarella, provolone, romano and parmesan).
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 small green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 small can sliced olives
• 1/2 package pepperoni
• Garlic Rosemary seasoning (This is one of those "bread dipping' seasonings. If you can't find this at your market, you can make your own by combining garlic powder and rosemary.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut loaf in half and place both halves on a cookies sheet. Brush with olive oil. Place in oven for 3-5 minutes so that the bread hardens a bit to keep the pizza from being soggy.

Carefully, pull the cookie sheet out of the oven. Spread pizza sauce on bread and sprinkle over with cheese. Then sprinkle on the onion, pepper and olives. Place pepperoni on top. Shake Garlic Rosemary seasoning over pizza to taste. Bake in oven for 17-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Glazed Carrots with Bacon and Pecans

This is another recipe I tweaked a bit from The Best Vegetable Recipes. This has to be my favorite way to eat carrots! It's probably not the healthiest due to the bacon in it, but I think the taste of it makes it worth it!

Ingredients:

• 3 ounces (about 3 slices) bacon
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1 pound carrots (about 6 medium), peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick on the bias
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. thyme
• 3 Tbsp. light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
• Ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook the bacon in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Transfer bacon to a paper-towel lined plate to drain. Crumble bacon.

2. Remove all but 1 Tbsp. bacon drippings from the pan. Add the pecans and cook until fragrant and slightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer the pecans to the plate with the bacon.

3. Add the carrots, salt,, thyme, 1 Tbsp. of the brown sugar and broth to the skillet. Bring to a boil, covered, over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are almost tender when poked with the tip of a paring knife, about 5 minutes. Uncover, increase the heat to high, and simmer rapidly, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced to about 2 Tbsp.

4. Add the butter and the remaining 2 Tbsp. brown sugar to the skillet. Toss the carrots to coat and cook, stirring frequently, until the carrots are completely tender. Off the heat, add the bacon and pecans and toss. Transfer the carrots to a serving dish, scraping the glaze from the pan into the dish. Season to taste with pepper and serve.

Oven Fries

I got this recipe from The Best Vegetable Recipes and tweaked it a little bit. I've tried to make oven fries a few times and they've always come out a bit limp. These have a few extra steps, but each step is worth it.

Ingredients:

• 4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2 by 1/2-inch lengths
• 5 teaspoons olive oil
• season salt and ground black pepper

1. Rinse the cut fries in a large bowl or colander under cold running water until the water turns from milky colored to clear.
2. Put 1/2 teaspoon of the oil on each of two rimmed baking sheets (I would recommend lining the sheets with foil. It took a while to get all the oil off the pan during cleaning). Use a paper towel to spread the oil evenly over the entire surface. Place both sheets in the oven (on the lower-middle and upper-middle racks) and heat the oven to 450 degrees.
3. Fit a large pot with a steamer basket and fill the pot with enough water to reach just below the bottom of the basket. Bring the water to a boil over high heat and add the potatoes to the basket. Cover and steam until the potatoes are glistening but still very firm, about 5 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the pot and spread them out in a single layer on two clean kitchen towels. Pat the potatoes dry using a third kitchen towel.
4. Toss the potatoes and remaining 4 teaspoons oil in a large bowl to coat. Season generously with season salt and pepper to taste and toss again to blend. Carefully remove one baking sheet from the oven and place half of the potatoes on the baking sheet so they are spread out and not touching each other. Place the baking sheet back in the oven and repeat the process using the second baking sheet and the remaining potatoes.
5. Bake until the potatoes are golden brown and have begun to puff, 25 to 30 minutes, reversing the baking sheets (from top to bottom) halfway through the baking time. Serve immediately.

Spice Rubbed Chicken with Tropical Salsa and Rice

In third and fourth grade I had a friend named Emily. We would play all sorts of little girl games, but one of our favorites was "cooking." Emily had the most amazing TOY food, and I loved to play with it. Little did I know at that time, that I would be browsing her recipe blog eleven years later for amazing REAL food (especially since we had lost touch with the many times each of our families moved)! Her blog is one of my favorites for grabbing dinner ideas. I have never tried one of her recipes and not enjoyed it. She has excellent taste and uses a lot of fruits and vegetables...I'm fond of this. I doubt you will be able to look over her recipes without having to try at least one.
This recipe I'm about to share is hers. I LOVED this dish. As I mentioned before, with the weather changing I am definitely getting out of my soup kick. The colorful salsa in this recipe, along with the grilled chicken was shouting at my taste buds and matched the warming up weather perfectly. Try it. You will love it.

Side note: In Emily's recipe, she made coconut rice, but I just did regular rice.
Chicken Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. chicken breasts., pounded to 3/4" thickness


• 1/4 cup sugar


• 1/2 tsp. chili powder


• 1 1/2 tsp. paprika


• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder


• 1/8 tsp. onion powder


• 1/8 tsp. dry mustard

Salsa Ingredients:

• 5 roma tomatoes, diced


• 2 mangos, diced


• 1 avacado, diced


• juice of 2 limes


• 1/4 cup cilantro


• 4 scallions, diced


• 1 tsp. vinegar


• pinch salt and pepper


• 1 jalapeno, diced with seeds and ribs removed

Rice:

• 2 cups white rice, prepared according to package directions
  

Directions:

For chicken:

In a bowl, combine sugar, salt, and all spices. Rub mixture onto both sides of chicken breasts. Allow to rest 30 minutes to absorb flavors. Grill or pan-fry till done. Chicken will develop a crust from the rub. Let chicken rest 1-2 minutes to allow juices to redistribute, then slice into strips right before serving.

For Salsa:

Combine tomatoes, mango, avocado, cilantro, onion, jalapeno, lime juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Serve chicken and salsa over the cooked rice.

Serves 8.

Untidy Josephs

I know what you're thinking...what the heck is an Untidy Joseph? Well, growing up my mom would add a can of Manwich to a pound of ground beef and slop it up onto a bun. Yes, you know this creation as the Sloppy Joe. While this is a functional meal, it just didn't cut it for me. I felt like it needed something more, so I went in search of more and found a recipe for Old Fashioned Sloppy Joes. The name worked, but there was nothing common enough in this recipe to have it be referred to as Joe. It's filled with vegetables and delish flavorings. It's much to sophisticated and intelliegent to go by "Joe," so I'd like to introduce you to Joseph. Despite his intelligence, he's still a little on the sloppy side...I'd like to think of it as organized chaos. So, without further ado, please PLEASE give it up for Untidy Joseph:

• 1 pound ground beef


• 1 medium onion, chopped


• 2 celery stalks, chopped


• 10-ounce package of mushrooms (button or baby bella), sliced thin


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 8 ounces tomato sauce


• 1/4 cup ketchup


• 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar


• 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce


• 1 Tablespoon sugar


• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper


• 1 tsp salt


• 8 hamburger buns

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the beef. Remove to paper towels and wipe the excess fat from the pan.
Still over medium-high heat, cook the onions in the beef fat until they are softened and translucent, about five minutes. Add the celery and mushrooms, and cook until the mushrooms have released all their moisture and turned golden brown in spots, about eight minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about thirty seconds.
Return the ground beef to the pan, and add the remaining ingredients.
Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning. If the sauce is too thin, simmer uncovered for another 5-10 minutes until the desired thickness is reached.Serve on hamburger buns.

Crescent-Topped Ratatouille Casserole

The ingredient list for this recipe may seem a little intimidating, but most of these items are standard pantry items. Usually, I'm not a casserole person. I don't have anything against casseroles, but I'm lactose intolerant and most casseroles include "cream of something or other" or oober amounts of milk and cheese. From my other recipes, I'm sure you'll note that I do use those things to cook, but they're usually recipes that have been given to me. I never intentionally go out in search of recipes loaded with milk. Anyways, back to this casserole...no "cream of anything."
Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 small eggplant, cut into 3/4-inch cubes (4 cups)
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 medium green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
• 1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves
• 1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 can (15.5 oz) dark red kidney beans, drained, rinsed
• 1 can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
• 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley, if desired

1. In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add eggplant, zucchini, onion, bell pepper and garlic; cook and stir 4-6 minture or until veggies are lightly browned.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, Italian seasoning and pepper. Cover; simmer about 10 minutes or until veggies are crisp-tender. Stir in beans; cook 5 minutes longer.
3. Meanwhile, remove dough from can in 2 rolled sections; do not unroll dough. Cut each roll into 4 slices; cut each slice into quarters. Place cheese in 1-quart resealable plastic bag; add crescent pieces, seal and shake to coat.
4. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray. Spoon eggplant mixture into baking dish. Arrange crescent pieces on top.
5. Bake 17-20 minutes or until crescents are golden brown. Sprinkle with parsley.

Smoked Sausage Sweet Potato Packets

• 4 12"x18" sheets heavy duty aluminum foil
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
• 2 medium Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 16-oz. package fully cooked smoked sausage, cut into 8 pieces
  

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray the top side of each foil sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place one-fourth of sweet potatoes and apples in center of each foil sheet. Sprinkle each with 1/2 tsp. garlic, 1/4 tsp. ginger, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. brown sugar. Top with 1/2 Tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces.
3. Place two sausage pieces on top of sweet potatoes and apples. Bring up the sides of the foil. Double fold the top and ends to seal the packets, leaving room for heat circulation inside. Repeat to make four packets.
4. Place packets on large cookie sheet and place in the oven for 40-50 minutes until sweet potatoes are tender.

Pasta with Roasted Summer Vegetables and Basil

One of my co-workers has a garden, and he occasionally will bring me a vegetable. This week's vegetable was a yellow summer squash. To be honest, I haven't ever used squash in any of the dishes I've made since I got married, or perhaps ever! This is embarrassing, I know! When I brought the squash home I got a response of "Ew" from my husband which gave me even more determination to use this squash and make him like it! In my searching for a recipe, I came across this recipe on the Martha Stewart website. It looked delish and quick (something I'm fond of when I'm cooking after work). I did a bit of my own tweeking to the original recipe and added zucchini for some color (why not just go on a squash fest since I've never been brave enough to use it?). Well, lets just say it was a hit and that hubby of mine even came back for seconds!

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow summer squash, sliced 1 inch thick crosswise, halved if large


• 1 zucchini, sliced 1 inch think crosswise, halved


• 1 pint grape tomatoes


• 1 medium red onion, halved and sliced 1/2 inch thick


• 2 garlic cloves, minced


• 1/8 cup olive oil


• salt and ground pepper


• 16 oz. short pasta (the recipe calls for campanelle or fusilli, but I used elbow macaroni because I had it on hand)


• 2-3 tablespoons butter


• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving


• 1 tsp. dried basil (the recipe calls for 1 cup torn fresh basil leaves, but my husband misunderstood my request for them when he went to the store. So, dried basil it was!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place squash, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, and garlic on a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil, and season with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Roast without tossing until tender and starting to brown, 30-40 minutes.


2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until al dente. Drain, and return to pot.


3. Add vegetables, butter, Parmesan, and basil to pasta; season with salt and pepper, and toss gently to combine.