Crunchy Asian Ramen Noodle Salad

There is something about Ramen noodle salad that reminds me of my childhood.  I remember my mom making a similar dish to bring to potlucks and neighborhood BBQs and how I loved the crunchy of this salad. It felt so fancy to me even though the ingredients are quite simple. I have been craving this dish lately and when I came across this slightly more sophisticated recipe I literally squealed with delight. It does not disappoint.  It has all the ingredients that I remember loving as a kid plus a few new twists to make it interesting to more discerning palates. This is definitely my new go-to dish to bring to parties!

 

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Makes:  about 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

Salad Ingredients:

1 (16-ounce) bag coleslaw mix

2 (3-ounce) packages of ramen noodles, crumbled (you will not use the seasoning packet)
1 cup shelled and cooked edamame
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
1 mango, peeled, pitted, and julienned (or diced)
1/2 cup thinly-sliced almonds
1/2 cup thinly-sliced green onions (scallions)
Asian honey vinaigrette (see ingredients below)

Asian Honey Vinaigrette

2/3 cup vegetable oil (or any cooking oil)

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar

2 tsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp sesame oil

pinch of salt and black pepper

Directions:

To Make The Salad:

(Optional first step: Heat oven to 425 degrees. Spread the crumbled ramen noodles and sliced almonds out on a baking sheet, and stir a bit to combine. Bake for about 5 minutes, or until the almonds and noodles are slightly toasted and golden. Remove baking sheet, and give the mixture a good stir to toss. Then return it to the oven and toast for an additional 3 minutes. Keep a very close eye on the mixture so that it does not burn. Remove and set aside.)

To Make The Vinaigrette:

Whisk all ingredients together until combined.

Add ingredients (including the vinaigrette) together in a large bowl, and toss until combined.

Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. (This salad is much better eaten the first day, as the noodles lose their "crunch" the longer it sits, and the avocado may brown a bit. Still, it's perfectly edible and enjoyable even after a few days!)

Blueberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars

I am always on the look out for easy breakfast recipes that my kids will actually eat and will keep them going all morning long. This recipe is so easy and it is beyond delicious.  The bars aren't overly sweet and the blueberry flavor shines through beautifully - they would be a yummy treat any time of day. They take awhile to bake so make them ahead of time for a quick and easy weekday breakfast on the go. The only issue I had with these is the clean up.  The foil I used to line the pan ripped and I was scrapping blueberry goo off my pyrex for days.  Use two layers and spray with cooking spray to be on the safe side.

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: about 55 mins
Makes: 8 generous wedges

INGREDIENTS:
Crust and crumble topping:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned whole-rolled oats (don't use quick cook or instant)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
pinch salt, optional to taste

Blueberry layer:
12oz (2 cups) blueberries (fresh or frozen; I used frozen and didn't thaw)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cornstarch

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil (2 layers at least) and spray with cooking spray; set aside. Lining the pan helps with cleanup and is highly recommended.

In a large, microwave-safe bowl melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power. Add the flour, oats, sugars, salt and stir to combine. Mixture will be dry and sandy with some larger, well-formed crumble pieces. Set 1 heaping cup of mixture aside to be sprinkled on later as crumble topping.

Transfer remaining mixture to prepared pan, and using a spatula or your fingers, hand-pack the mixture to create an even, smooth, flat crust; set aside.  

In a large mixing bowl (same one used for crumble is okay), add all ingredients and toss to combine. If sugar hasn't dissolved fully that's okay because it liquefies while baking. Evenly distribute blueberry mixture over the crust. Evenly sprinkle the reserved 1 cup crumble topping mixture. 

Bake for about 55 minutes or until edges are set and center has just set. Crumble topping should appear set and golden. I used frozen berries without thawing and the pan was very cold going into the oven. If using fresh berries, baking time will be reduced. Bars may take longer than 55 minutes if berries are very juicy. Watch your bars, not the clock. Place on a wire race and allow bars to cool completely before slicing and serving. Bars will keep airtight for up to 1 week and in the fridge for up to 10 days.

Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti

Delicious chicken and ziti are tossed with a lighter alfredo sauce and baked up to cheesy perfection. Once you have all the ingredients prepped this dish is a breeze to make.  It would be a great to make with leftover chicken from another night. 

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves: 6-8

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken Baked Ziti Ingredients:

12 oz ziti (or any pasta shape)

2 cups shredded, cooked chicken (about 2 small chicken breasts)
1 batch alfredo sauce (see below)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I used 2% low fat)
Optional toppings: additional shredded Parmesan cheese, chopped fresh parsley

Alfredo Sauce Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup low-fat milk (I used 1%)

3/4 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

To Make The Chicken Baked Ziti:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cook the pasta al dente in a large stockpot of well-salted boiling according to package instructions. Drain. Return pasta to the stockpot and add chicken and alfredo sauce. Gently toss to combine until the pasta is evenly coated.

Pour half of the pasta into a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup of cheese. Layer the remaining half of the pasta evenly on top. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and just barely starts to turn golden. Remove and serve immediately, sprinkled with additional toppings if desired.

To Make The Alfredo Sauce:

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute one minute, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. Sprinkle with flour, and stir to combine. Saute for an additional minute to cook the flour, stirring occasionally.

Slowly add chicken broth, whisking to combine until smooth. Whisk in milk, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Let cook for an additional minute until thickened, then stir in Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper until the cheese melted. Remove from heat and set aside.

Tomato & Basil Chicken

Tomato, garlic and basil. Need I say more!?

Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Serves: 2

INGREDIENTS:
2 chicken breasts
kosher salt and black pepper
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
2 tsp minced fresh garlic
4 tbsp cold butter
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Season the chicken with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Add a couple of spoonfuls of extra virgin olive oil to your pan. While waiting for oil to heat up, get your water boiling for the pasta. When the oil is HOT, add chicken. After about 5 minutes, the chicken will be ready to turn. If the chicken breasts are massive, turn them around and cook them for another few minutes. They cook much faster if they are thinner, pounded out chicken breasts. Add pasta to boiling water.

Add in the fresh chopped tomatoes. Add the fresh chopped basil, butter, minced garlic, salt and black pepper to season the sauce. Now stir it all up. Turn the sauce down. Move the cooked chicken to a cutting board, and leave it to sit for a few minutes. Cut the chicken and portion the pasta into bowls, top each with chicken, sliced, and equal portions of tomato basil sauce. Top with fresh basil and Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Bacon Cheddar Chive Scones (small batch)

My husband loves to bake scones. What can I say? I'm a lucky girl! This is a very delicious savory scone recipe that has been halved from the original recipe (King Arthur Flour). The bacon and cheese make these pretty hardy and we served our with a fruit salad and coffee.  Enjoy!

Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 24 mins
Makes: 4 large or 8 tiny scones

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) All-Purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
2 oz very coarsely grated or diced cheddar cheese
1/4 cup snipped fresh chives or finely diced scallion tops (the green part)
1/4 lb bacon, cooked, cooled and crumbled (about 1/2 cup)
7 tbsp (3.5 ounces) heavy cream or whipping cream or enough to make the dough cohesive

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Work the butter into the flour until the mixture is unevenly crumbly, with some of the butter remaining in larger pieces.  Mix in the cheese, chives and bacon until evenly distributed. Add cream, stirring to combine. Try squeezing the dough together, if it's crumbly and wont hang together, or if there are crumbs remaining in the bottom of the bowl, add cream until dough comes together. Transfer the shaggy dough to a well-floured work surface.

Pat the dough into a smooth 7'' disk about 3/4'' thick. Transfer the disk to the prepared baking sheet. Use a knife or bench knife to cut the disk into 8 wedges, spreading the wedges apart a bit on the pan. Brush the scones with a bit of cream; this will help their crust brown. Bake the scones for 22-24 minutes until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the pan. Serve warm, or at a room temperature.

Pork Chops with Sweet and Sour Glaze

I'm not a big pork fan but my husband asked me to make pork chops this week, so I obliged.  To me pork is like the tofu of meat.  It doesn't have much flavor on its on and easily takes on any flavor you add to it. I was really pleasantly surprised how this recipe turned out. I loved the tang of this sweet and sour glaze and almost wished I'd doubled the recipe so I had more to pour on. I loved it so much I might even add it to our rotation!

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooke time: 10 mins
Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS:
4 (8-ounce) pork chops, bone-in, 3/4-inch to 1-inch thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tbsp unsalted butter


For the sweet and sour glaze:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp honey
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, optional
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Season pork chops with salt and pepper, to taste.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add pork chops and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Place into oven and roast until completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 140 degrees F, about 8-10 minutes.

To make the sweet and sour glaze, combine balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, oregano, basil, thyme and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan over medium heat; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Serve pork chops immediately with sweet and sour glaze.

Caprese Grilled Cheese

I found this recipe on Pinterest and almost fell out of my chair. I love Caprese salad I don't know why I never thought to put all the perfection into sandwich form! This Caprese Grilled Cheese is perfect for a warm spring or summer lunch, but I'd eat it any time. Made with fresh Mozzarella, tomatoes and fresh basil leaves.

It’s really easy to make too but I do have a couple of recommendations. Cook this grilled cheese on medium-low heat, that way it will take a little longer, giving Mozzarella a little more time to melt. Fresh Mozzarella takes a bit longer to melt and may not melt all the way in the center. It depends on how think you will cut it. Don’t salt the tomato, put salt on the cheese if you are planning on using any. Salting the tomato will make it give out juice right away and your sandwich will get soggy fast.

Definitely use fresh Mozzarella and fresh basil. So much more flavor!!

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 5-10 mins

Makes: 1 sandwich

INGREDIENTS:
2 sliced of Italian bread
2 oz fresh Mozzarella cheese
2 slices of tomato
4-5 basil leaves
1/2 tsp Balsamic vinegar
1/2 tbsp olive oil

DIRECTIONS:
Spread olive oil all over a saute pan and preheat it on medium-low heat.

Sprinkle balsamic vinegar over the bread.

Divide Mozzarella cheese in two.

Place one slice of bread in the pan. Cove it with half the Mozzarella, then tomato, basil leaves and remaining Mozzarella. Cover with second bread slice and cook on medium low heat until nicely golden on both sides. 

If the cheese still isn't as melted as you'd like, place in the toaster oven until its soft.

M&M Christmas Cookie

Tis the season for Christmas baking!  This cookie isn't something I would normally qualify as a Christmas cookie but I was looking for something that my toddler would enjoy making with me. She is obsessed with chocolate and the red and green M&Ms make it festive. The original recipe called for mini M&Ms but I couldn't find them at the store so I used the regular sized.  They worked out just fine but I think they would be better with the minis. Just a personal preference.  Anyhow, these cookies a delicious! They are very similar to a chocolate chip cookie with have a crunchy bite and yummy center. I didn't expect much from these but I was surprised by how much I liked them.  I'd even consider making them for a cookie exchange. I'm pretty sure Santa would be happy seeing them left out for him too!

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 12-14 minutes
Makes: 24 large cookies

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup salted butter, chilled and diced into cubes (about 1/2 inch)
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 (11oz) bag M&Ms

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend together butter and sugar on low speed until it starts to come together then increase mixer to medium speed and whip until creamy, about 3-4 minutes.  Mix in egg and egg yolk. Stir in vanilla. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combined (batter will be think due to the chilled butter). Mix in M&Ms (set aside about 1/4 cup of the M&Ms to lightly press into the tops of the cookies before baking so they show through more, totally optional).

Scoop dough out 2 tbsp at a time and shape into a ball, transfer to a silpat lined or buttered cookie sheet, fitting 8 per sheet. Press tops down slightly and add M&M topping.  Bake in a preheated oven 12-14 minutes until edges are lightly golden brown.  Allow to cool on baking sheet several minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.  Store in an airtight container.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Nothing soothes the soul like Chicken Noodle Soup and this creamy version will definitely fill up your belly. This was really simple to make but it did require a lot of dishes since you need to cook the noodles and make a roux. It was worth all the work! Serve with warm bread or crackers. Yumm!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4-5

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups dry medium egg noodles
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 medium)
1 1/3 cups chopped carrots (3 carrots)
1 1/3 cups chopped celery (3 stalks)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk (I used 1%)
1/3 cup heavy cream 

DIRECTIONS:
Prepare noodles according to directions listed on package (note that you want the noodles to finish about the same time the soup is nearly finished cooking) and drain.

In a large pot, heat 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and saute until tender, about 3 - 4 minutes, then add garlic and saute 1 minute longer. Add chicken broth, parsley, bay leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add chicken breasts and bring soup to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, cover with lid and allow soup to cook until chicken has cooked through, about 10 - 15 minutes longer (cook time will vary depending on thickness of chicken breasts). Remove chicken and allow to rest for 5 minutes, then shred into small bite size pieces.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, add flour and cook, stirring constantly, 1 1/2 minutes. While whisking slowly add in milk and whisk vigorously to smooth lumps (it will take a lot of whisking to smooth since this is a lighter roux - lesser ratio of butter to flour). Whisk in cream and bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Pour milk mixture into soup mixture and return chicken to soup along with cooked noodles and stir.

*If using thicker breasts, slice in half through thickness of breasts so they cook faster and more evenly.

Spicy Sausage Pasta

This is a skillet meal that is super fast to whip together and will likely please the most picky of eaters. It is very similar to the Smoked Sausage Skillet Pasta that I have also posted. Minus the spinach in the smoked sausage version it is basically the same dish. What can I say, I guess I liked it. You can use any pasta you like, but I used Campanelle pasta just because it looks fun. I found this dish to be a little runny but that was likely because I used a bigger can and didn't drain the tomatoes before adding them. You could play around with it to see if draining would help. All in all, a good weeknight dinner for hungry tummies.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb smoked sausage
1 1/2 cups diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chiles (mild, but its up to you)
1/2 cup heavy cream
8oz Campanelle pasta
1/2 tsp salt and pepper, each
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions

DIRECTIONS:
Add olive oil to an oven-safe skillet over medium high heat until just smoking. Add sausage and onions and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add broth, tomatoes, cream, pasta, salt and pepper and stir. Bring to a boil, covet skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1/2 cup cheese.  Top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with scallions. Broil until cheese is melted, spotty brown and bubbly.