This afternoon I decided I wanted to make some kind of new noodle dish. I thought an Asian style dish would be a nice change from our usual Italian pasta dishes. I found a recipe for Pad Thai that sounded simple to make and fairly quick, so I gave it a try. I made huge changes to it, since it really had hardly any vegetables in it, and I love vegetables.

The result was a super yummy Thai noodle dish! It was slightly spicy and very flavorful.

This was my first time cooking with rice vermicelli noodles, and I cooked them exactly according to the package instructions (place in boiling water, and remove the heat, let stand for 5 minutes, then rinse in cold water), but my noodles seemed fairly clumpy after. I used a fork to get them less clumpy, but I am still wondering if there is a trick to make the vermicelli noodles free of clumps. Any suggestions?

Here is one of my special ingredients: coconut vinegar!

Pad Thai Noodles
Adapted from allrecipes.com
*serves 4

8 oz rice vermicelli noodles
1 red bell pepper
½ small package lean ground turkey
½ lb precooked shrimp (peeled and shelled tails removed)
3 cloves garlic
3 green onion stalks
3 carrots
3 handfuls broccoli
2 stalks celery
½ vegetable bouillon cube  (dissolved in 1 cup boiling water)
½ cup organic ketchup
½ cup lime juice
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp coconut vinegar
Garlic powder
Ground black pepper
2 cups bean sprouts
Chopped peanuts to garnish

In a large frying pan brown the turkey. Meanwhile prepared all vegetables (dice and chop them). Add the green onions and garlic cloves to the browned turkey. Season with garlic powder, and ground black pepper. Add the precooked shrimp. Cook for a couple minutes. Add all the remaining vegetables (except the bean sprouts). Cook for about 5-10 minutes. Add the lime juice, ketchup, coconut vinegar, fish sauce, and dissolved bouillon cube  (in water). Stir to form a sauce. Sprinkle on more ground black pepper and garlic powder. Cook for about 15 to 20 minutes. In a large pot boil water. Once boiling at the vermicelli noodles. Remove from heat. Keep in the hot water for 5 minutes. Rinse well in cold water. With a fork separate the vermicelli noodles to get rid of any clumps. Now add the bean sprouts to the noodles (stir them in). Pour the sauce over the noodles and mix everything well. Serve hot!! ( I microwave mine again to make it steaming since the rinsing the noodles cools off the dish a bit too much I think). Garnish with peanuts.

]]> http://www.lisaopolis.com/my-first-pad-thai-dish/feed/ 0 http://www.lisaopolis.com/pizza-night-oh-la-la/ http://www.lisaopolis.com/pizza-night-oh-la-la/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:53:15 +0000 Lisa http://www.lisaopolis.com/?p=509 A few nights ago I decided it was time for another divine pizza dinner. I had a lot of the ingredients  on hand already so it just seemed like a logical and yummy thing to make.

I used my mom’s fabulous crust recipe that you might remember from this post: Homemade Pizza My Favourite
Her recipe makes two large sized zesty thin crusts.

Here is a photo of the crust before baking.

For the toppings I used: baby spinach, chicken breast (precooked), olives, red peppers, brown mushrooms, feta cheese, light mozzarella cheese, low fat marble cheese, and basil pesto sauce.

I varied the combination of toppings on each pizza.

Both pizza’s turned out very well, and all of it was gone within 12 hours. My dad who isn’t a big fan of olives loved both pizza’s and had a very generous portion.

Here are the pizza’s.

What is your favorite pizza topping combo?

The recipe comes from allrecipes.com . As mentioned in my pervious post, I loved this recipe, except I thought it didn’t make enough sauce. When I first made it a few months ago I had doubled the sauce recipe. This time I tippled the recipe for sauce (everything except the brown sugar which I used 3 tbsp). I also used way more carrots then when I made it the first time. I added red pepper as an experiment, and it was a worthwhile addition. Between tripling the sauce recipe, and adding way more vegetables then the first time I made baked pork chops, I ended up with a large amount of sauce. It was the perfect amount for my mountain of mashed potatoes.

For my mashed potatoes I used 6 medium to large sized potatoes. I boiled the potatoes on high for 15 minutes. I thought that would be long enough,  but two of my very large potatoes were still quite hard and difficult to mash (although with enough effort they were eventually mashed). Next time I make mashed potatoes, I would either cut large potatoes into smaller pieces or cook them for at least 20 minutes.

I made my own recipe for the mashed potatoes, and it turned out well, but I would have preferred them to be a bit more zesty.

Here is my recipe.

Cheese and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

About 6 medium to large potatoes (boiled and ready to mash)
To taste Garlic powder
To taste Black pepper
To taste Salt
2 tbsp Low fat cream cheese
1 cup Marble cheese
½-¾ cup Skim milk
2 tbsp Mayonnaise
2 tsp Dehydrated minced onion

Mash potatoes. Add all of the ingredients, and mix well. Use an electric mixer and blend until the potatoes are smooth and slightly fluffy. Serve warm.

Bon Appetit

]]> http://www.lisaopolis.com/baked-pork-chops-and-mashed-potatoes-for-dinner/feed/ 0 http://www.lisaopolis.com/spicy-ratatouille/ http://www.lisaopolis.com/spicy-ratatouille/#comments Fri, 29 May 2009 22:31:38 +0000 Lisa http://www.lisaopolis.com/?p=400 Recently my boyfriend has been taking about egg plant quite a lot. Ever since he went out for a Greek dinner with his parents, and had mussaka for the first time. All his talk of egg plant inspired me to make something that I have been wanting to try for a while ratatouille (which also has egg plant in it). I searched the internet and found a recipe that seemed appealing at: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ratatouille/Detail.aspx
I modified the recipe as usual and it turned out really well. The only thing I got a little carried away with was the cayenne pepper. I was sprinkling away when I realized what spice I had in my hand. Opps. Despite this the ratatouille turned out very well. To tone down the spices with the left overs I made the ratatouille into a pasta casserole with a whole large container of low fat cottage cheese.

Here is the ratatouille recipe with my modifications.

Spicy Ratatouille

Olive oil
3 cloves of garlic minced
3 tsp dried parsley
A few shakes of dried basil
A few shakes of dried oregano
1 large egg plant cut into small pieces
Salt (desired amount)
Rosemary (desired amount)
Thyme (desired amount)
Black pepper (desired amount)
Cayenne pepper (desired amount, I would go easy on this)
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup feta cheese
2 medium sized zucchini sliced
1 large onion
1 ½ -2 cups chopped fresh mushrooms
1 red pepper
1 can of diced tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat the bottom and sides of a large casserole dish with olive oil. Heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan or skillet over medium heat. Cook the garlic until lightly browned. Add the parsley, basil, oregano, salt, and egg plant. Cook until the egg plant is soft (about 10 minutes).

Place the egg plant mixture into your casserole dish in an even layer. Sprinkle with a few tbsp of parmesan cheese and feta cheese (and more of the same herbs if desired). Spread zucchini over top. Salt and sprinkle with more cheese (and herbs if desired). Continue layering like this with the rest of the vegetables (except add the tomatoes last).

(ratatouille before baking)

Bake in your preheated oven for about 45 minutes.

(ratatouille after baking)

I served the ratatouille with some garlic bread, and spicy sausages. It can also be served with pasta or rice.

( ratatouille on warm garlic bread yummy:P )

(ratatouille pasta dish (with the leftovers)

This afternoon a family member requested pork chops for dinner. I decided to volunteer to make them. I search the internet and found a recipe that I liked. The original recipe can be found on this website: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Marinated-Baked-Pork-Chops/Detail.aspx

 I changed just a few things when I made it, and doubled the recipe. However next time I think I would triple it because it just seemed like it would be even better with more sauce.

I served the pork chops with corn and mashed potatoes.

The mashed potato recipe came from fellow blogger myovenhates me at:  http://myovenhatesme.com/2008/12/02/sour-cream-onion-mashed-potatoes/

The recipe is magnificent! I did change things up a little bit.

First I used 9 potatoes since I was making it for a few people. I more or less doubled the recipe. I also used fresh chives instead of dried. There was not much sour cream left so I used about ½ cup sour cream and for the rest I used light mayonnaise. I also added a bit of garlic powder for extra flavor.

It was a hearty wholesome meal that was enjoyed by all.

This has to be my ultimate favorite pork chop recipeJ

Here is the pork chop recipe ( my morphed version).

Baked Marinated Pork Chops

2 tbsp soy sauce

4 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tbsp brown sugar

4 tbsp organic ketchup

1 white onion diced

3 garlic cloves diced

3 carrots diced

Salt

Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl combine the: soy sauce, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, and ketchup. Mix well. Place pork chops in a medium sized baking dish. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the pork chops. Drizzle all of the sauce onto the pork chops. Cover the meat and rest of the dish with the carrot onion and garlic. Bake for 30 minutes in your preheated oven. Now turn the pork chops over and bake for another 30-40 minutes (depending on your oven temperature). Serve.

I morphed the recipe greatly.

The soup turned out super yummy. It makes quite a big pot of soup. Enough for about 6 very large servings.

Cauliflower, Cheddar and Parmesan Soup

olive oil

2-3 white onions (diced)

1-2 stalks celery (diced)

2 cloves garlic (diced)

5 medium sized pealed potatoes

½-1 head cauliflower

2 vegetable bullion packages (made according to box)

4 cups boiling water

salt

pepper

parsley

basil

garlic powder

savory

Oregano

cheddar cheese (grated)

parmesan cheese (grated fresh)

Prepare all vegetables. In a large pot coat the bottom with olive oil. On medium heat place the onions and garlic in the pot. Brown. Add the celery. Cook for several minutes. Now add the potato. Prepare the vegetable bullion according to box directions (I used ¾ cup water for each package of bullion). Add your prepared vegetable bullion mixture to the cooking vegetables. Cook the vegetables for 10-12 minutes. Add all the spices and herbs (be generous with these especially the salt). Now add the cauliflower. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Pour the vegetable mixture into a blender or food processor. Whiz for a few seconds. Then place back in pot. Do this until all the soup has been in the blender (I used a separate pot to pour my blended soup into). Once all the soup is blended on low heat add the cheeses continue to stir until melted. Sample the soup. If it is zesty enough serve if not add more of the same spices and cook for several more minutes.

I served this soup with some home made tortilla chips, and some fresh vegtables.

Enjoy J

Yesterday I was feeling ambitious (in the kitchen that is). I decided to search for a recipe for chicken breast to make for dinner. I found one that I liked on this website: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Garlic-Lemon-Double-Stuffed-Chicken/Detail.aspx. The recipe is for garlic and lemon stuffed chicken. It is a unique recipe and super yummy.

As usual I morphed the recipe greatly. Here is my morphed version.

Garlic Lemon Stuffed Chicken

Olive oil (for baking dish)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (thawed)

4 tsp light cream cheese

4 medium thickness slices of cheddar cheese

¼-½ cup milk

¾ cup seasoned bread crumbs

2 garlic cloves minced

One white onion diced

1 tsp Garlic powder

Salt

Black pepper

Paprika

7 tbsp lemon juice

½ cup parmesan cheese

4 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a medium sized baking dish with some olive oil.

Slice each chicken breast in half horizontally, almost right through. In the middle of each breast place: a slice of cheddar cheese, cream cheese, a few pieces of minced garlic, and a few pieces of onion.

In a separate bowl place the milk. Coat each breast in milk (on the outside). Brushing them with milk might be a good way to do this.

In a separate bowl combine the bread crumbs, and parmesan cheese.

Now coat each breast with the bread crumb mixture. Place each breast in to your baking dished after it is coated.

In a separate bowl combine the 4 tbsp olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic powder. Stir. Drizzle the mixture over the chicken breasts. Sprinkle any remaining bread crumbs over this mixture. Finally sprinkle some paprika and salt on top. If there is any onion remaining scatter it around the chicken breasts. Also if there is any milk remaining drizzle it around the chicken breasts.

Place dish in the oven and bake for 40-60 minutes.

Serve with potatoes or rice. (I served mine with potato). J

The soup was a household hit! There were no left-overs.

Broccoli and Cheese Soup

1 lb fresh broccoli

Fresh grated cheddar

3 medium-large sized potatoes

2 white onions

1-2 garlic cloves

2 packages of vegetable stock (made according to package directions)

3 cups water ( and 2/3 cup water for each package of vegetable stock)

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Parsley (dried flakes)

1 tsp white sugar

Prepare all vegetables (peal and chop). Place the oil in a large pot and add the oil. On medium heat fry the onion and garlic in the pot until lightly brown. Now add the potatoes. Stir well. Add the prepared vegetable stock and all the water. Also add the tsp sugar and the salt, pepper, and parsley. Stir well. Let the mixture cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Now add the broccoli and add a little more salt and pepper. Cook for about 6-7 minutes. Now pour or spoon the mixture into a blender or food processor and whiz for a few seconds. Then pour your soup back into it’s pot. Now add your grated cheddar cheese. Heat on low for a few minutes and serve.

I served the soup with some garlic tortilla chips that I made.

Yesterday afternoon I wasn’t in the mood to have turkey dinner left-overs for dinner. I decided to instead make the turkey (a small part of it) into something more exciting. I made a zesty turkey casserole. This was my first time ever making a casserole. It turned out very well, and was super yummy. The recipe makes a huge amount. Enough for at least 6-7 people to have medium-large sized servings. Here is my recipe (I combined a few to make my own)

Zesty Turkey Casserole

8-12 oz elbow macaroni

Olive oil

1 cup chopped celery

1 red pepper chopped

1 white onion chopped

3 cloves garlic chopped

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

Left over turkey (what ever amount you desire)

I can of chicken broth or turkey soup

5 tbsp teriyaki sauce

A few tbsp vodka

½ tsp salt (or more if desired)

½ tsp black pepper (or more if desired)

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

1 cup low fat sour cream

¼ tsp paprika

Basil (to taste)

Oregano (to taste)

Parsley (several shakes)

A few shakes paprika (for the top)

Grated cheese (your choice, I used cheddar and mozzarella)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a large- extra large casserole dish with olive oil ( I used a cooking brush to do this). Cook the macaroni according to the package directions (about 8 minutes). Drain and set aside. In a large frying pan heat some olive oil. Now add the onion, and garlic. Brown. Then add all of the other vegetables gradually. Cut your left over turkey into small piece and put into the vegetable mixture. Cook for several minutes. Now add the spices and herbs gradually. Stir well. Cook for several minutes. Then add the chicken broth (or turkey soup). Also add the teriyaki sauce. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10-15 minutes. While this is cooking grate the cheese you will be using, and set aside. Finally add the sour cream to your mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes. Now combine your vegetable mixture with your pasta and stir well, until pasta is evenly coated. Add one layer of your pasta mixture to your casserole dish. T hen add a layer of cheese. Repeat this pattern a few times. Finish with cheese on top. Sprinkle some paprika over this. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy.

Today it was a snowy afternoon, so I decided to make a nice warm and spicy dinner.

I combined two pasta recipes from my Pasta Bible cookbook by Feni Wright, and came up with a unique recipe. Note it’s not for those with mild taste buds, this one is hot and spicy! I served the pasta with Pillsbury crescent rolls straight out of the oven. Both of my parents loved it. I liked it too, even though it was almost too spicy for me.

Artichoke and Sausage Egg Noodles

2 farmer sausages

4 cloves garlic

several stalks fresh chives

1 red pepper

1/3 cup vodka

1 white onion

Salt

Black pepper

Oregano

Basil

Parsley

Red pepper flakes

540 ml chunky tomatoes (I used the ones with garlic and olive oil)

Organic ketchup

parmesan cheese (grated)

Prepare vegetables, and chives.

Cook the sausage in boiling water until well cooked (several minutes).

Once the sausage is cooked remove from water, and cut into pieces.

In a separate large frying pan fry the sausage with the vegetables and chives until the vegetables are tender. Add all the seasonings, and spices ( to your taste). Let the mixture cook for several minutes. Then add the chunky tomatoes, and ketchup. Add more of the same seasoning you already added (if desired), and boil for a few minutes. Then simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Boil water (with oil and salt) for egg noodles. Add noodles and cook according to package (7-8 minuets). Drain. Serve hot. Sprinkle on fresh parmesan cheese if desired.