A New Twist to Ziti

I can’t say I am terribly fond of baked ziti. It tends to be dry and a bit tasteless to me. I am very find of Italian dishes but baked ziti seems to be very… American. lol. American style is great for a citizen watch or architecture, but I think American food tends to be a little boring. I prefer Italian and Chinese dishes which tend to be more flavorful. But baked ziti is dull dull dull!

So I am always adding little things to ziti to try and perk it up. This latest addition was pretty good– fresh kale.

I removed the stalks from the kale and ripped the leaves into bite-sized pieces. Kale is such a wonderful vegetable. A member of the cruciferous family, kale has plenty of vitamins and antioxidants that help destroy “free-radical” cells– the cells that cause cell mutations which can lead to cancer.

The ziti pasta will readily slurp up the moisture from the kale leaves during the cooking process, so I suggest adding a bit of water or additional tomatoe sauce to the mix. Cover tightly and bake. The kale added a nice tang to the otherwise bland dish.

How about you? Do you have any ideas for sprucing up a ziti dish?

Yummy Tuna Casserole– No, REALLY!

I have NEVER been fond of tuna casserole. My mom used to make it with some kind of nasty, pasty flour-y white sauce… and then she added PEAS to it!! *shudder* Even thinking about it again makes my spinal column quiver with queasiness. YUKYUKYUK

SO it took a team of horses to drag me into a tuna casserole recipe (this was a few years ago). I skipped the peas and the pasty sauce. Instead, I used cream of celery soup and cheese and lots of tuna… and YUMMMMM it was good.

Since that first brave casserole exploit 20 years ago, I’ve tried to improve the recipe somewhat with quirky additions here and there. I’ve added broccoli, used mozzarella or monterey jack cheese, dill, s video cables, Creole seasoning (OK, just kidding on the cables– who noticed that?)….

But today, my daughter made the most luscious tuna casserole I’ve ever had. HOW did she do it?? She’s so young!

Well, here’s her recipe. This was goooood stuff. It was so good that I never got the chance to snap a photo. And it was such a pretty casserole, too.

Yummy Don’t-Worry-There-Are-No-Peas Tuna Casserole
serves 6-8

4 cans of tuna, with juice
1 box medium shells pasta, cooked and drained
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 cup fresh kale, shredded into small pieces
2 Cream of Celery canned soup
1 1/2 shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning
minced white onions (optional)

Throw all the ingredients into a dish and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

It is SO GOOD. I think the kale is what does it for me. YUM.

Now if I can just get the daughter to improve my pot roast recipe….

Easy Shrimp & Chicken Garlic Pasta

Oh have I got a new recipe for you!! This is our new favorite. I’m sorry I don’t have any photos– the food is gone as soon as I cook it! It’s an easy to make, light meal that is very satisfying.

Easy Shrimp & Chicken Garlic Pasta
Serves 6-8 hungry people
1 5-lb bag cooked, frozen shrimp
3-4 chicken breasts, cubed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
3 handfuls of raw kale, de-stemmed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 pounds thin or vermicelli spaghetti
2 Tablespoons pesto sauce

Place the frozen shrimp in the sink and run under cold water, to thaw.

In a large wok, add the olive oil and toss in the chicken cubes. Turn on medium-high and simmer.

Remove the tails from the shrimp and toss them in the wok. Stir the chicken and shrimp until both are cooked/warmed well. Add the kale and garlic and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes, until the kale softens. Turn off the heat. Add pesto sauce and stir well. Serve over spaghetti.

Tip: Do not overcook the chicken or it will turn to rubber. Don’t add the garlic until last– you want it a little raw and not burned to a crisp.

This stuff is SO good, more filling than nitrix, I think. I’d eat it every night, if I could. It’s very good for you, too, because the olive oil, garlic and kale are very healthy.

Easy Quesadillas

I went to a Chili’s restaurant for the first time last week. I’m not terribly fond of Mexican food, and I admit I did hesitate a little when going in there. But I ordered some chicken quesadillas, and they were quite yummy. I was astonished at the portion sizes there, I couldn’t even eat half of what they served! I took the rest home for the kids to try. They thought it was Greek pizza!

Well, all this quesadilla eating started to make me want to try cooking some. So I gave it a shot. My concoction turned out pretty good– very basic but nutritious. I decided to add more veggies and less meat in mine, to pack a vitamin punch; not as potent as, say, prenatal vitamins, but pretty good. Of course, there’s alwats room for improvement. Here’s my basic recipe.

Easy Quesadillas

Chicken breasts- boned, skinned and thinly sliced
White onion
Water
Chili powder
Cumin
Fresh or frozen corn kernels
Red pepper, diced
Kale, destemmed and chopped
Shredded cheese
Tortilla wraps (smaller ones work best)
Butter

Cook the chicken, onion, and spices together in a frying pan. Add a little water if necessary. Add the vegetables and cook until just tender.

Butter one side of each tortilla. Place it on a griddle and sprinkle the cheese. Add a scoop of the chicken and veggies. Fry another tortilla and add a little cheese to that. Once the tortillas turn a golden brown, slap the two together to make the quesadilla. Repeat with additional quesadillas.

I served mine with salsa, but there’s also the traditional sour cream, too. These are even good as leftovers- I had one the next day for lunch, and while the tortilla was a little rubbery, it was still very good.

The Everything Casserole

While I am not a big fan of casseroles (making them or eating them), my daughter threw this together today and it was good!

We wanted to use up a lot of the leftovers in the fridge, and make something hearty, to boot. Here’s our potpourri of ingredients (sorry about the small photo, you practically need a barska to see everything):

The Everything Casserole

Made TWO casseroles, one for tonight, another for Sunday afternoon

Leftover vegetables (about 2 cups)
Leftover rice (1 cup)
Cooked pasta
Leftover or canned spaghetti sauce (about 30 oz or so)
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 boxes cooked and drained penne rigata pasta
1 pound cooked sausage
Some basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt, pepper to taste
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2-3 handfuls of fresh chopped kale

Stir the sauce and seasonings into the pasta. Add the sausage, rice, veggies, and 2 cups of the cheese. Stir and set in two casserole dishes. Top with the rest of the cheese.

It came out so delicious!

It’s also a great way to get more kale into the diet. Kale is so good for you. I eat some raw every day, and we add it to everything– rice, fish dishes, sandwiches.

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