Black bean and sausage soup

This originally comes from a Weight Watchers cookbook, but I got it via a friend.

1 16 oz turkey kielbasa, sliced
1 green, yellow or red pepper, diced
1 can fat free, reduced sodium chicken broth
1 can black beans, juice included
1 cup salsa (depending on how spicy you want the soup you choose mild, medium, etc)
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute` kielbasa for a couple minutes in large pan.
Add pepper and cook another couple minutes.
Add chicken broth, beans and salsa. Bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to simmer for 5minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and optional cilantro.

This is super easy, yummy and a good "light" recipe for a cold day.

SUPER CHEESEY SAUSAGE QUICHE

3/4 pound Italian sausage

1/2 cup onion, thinly sliced or diced

1/3 cup green pepper, chopped

1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 tablespoon flour

1 9-inch pie crust

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup evaporated milk

1 tbs parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon seasoned or plain salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Brown sausage. Drain, reserving 2 tbs fat. Sauté onion and pepper in 2 tbs fat reserved from the sausage. Combine cheese and flour, toss. Stir in sausage, pepper, and onion (I freeze my sausage cooked so my sausage was cool when I stirred them together). Spread evenly in pie crust. Thoroughly combine remaining ingredients and pour into pie shell over sausage mixture.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 375°F for 40 minutes, until brown and set.

I double it and put it in a 9" deep dish and cooked it for about 60-65 min.

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

I have two recipes for this one. One is the original from Stove Top and the other is the perfected version...

I will give you both and you can make your own version.

Original:

1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pkg (6 oz) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced

1 tsp dried basil leaves, crushed

1 c mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place tomatoes with their liquid in medium bowl. Add stuffing mix, 1/2 c hot water and the garlic; stir just until stuffing mix is moistened. Set aside.

2. Place chicken in 13x9 dish sprinkle with the basil and cheese. Top with stuffing mixture.

3. Bake30 min or until chicken is cooked through.

My Version:

Same as above but double hot water (may substitute with broth), double stuffing (just one can of tomatoes still - "yuck...gross...ew!"), and last but not least double the cheese - of course. I also precook my chicken so it is done when the stuffing is crisp and golden.

Chicken Enchiladas with Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa

For the salsa: On a baking tray, roast tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapenos for 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the roasted vegetables and any juices on the bottom of the tray to a blender. Add the cumin, salt, cilantro, and lime juice and pulse mixture until well combined but still chunky.
Enchiladas: Meanwhile heat a 2 count of olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and caramelized - this should take 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin then cook for a further minute. Sprinkle in the flour and stir to ensure the flour doesn't burn then gradually add the chicken stock to make a gravey. Continue stirring over a low simmer until the flour cooks and the liquid thickens. Turn off the heat, add half of the roasted tomatillo chile salsa, some additional fresh chopped cilantro and fold in the shredded chicken meat. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Change the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees F and begin assembling the dish. Take a large baking dish and smear the bottom with some of the reserved tomatillo salsa. Now take the flour tortillas and briefly flash them over the stove-top flame (or put them briefly under the broiler if using an electric stove). Using a shallow bowl, coat each tortilla lightly with the

Spicy Black Beans:
2 cups (about 1 pound) dried black beans, picked over, soaked overnight 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 medium onion, diced 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 bay leaf Kosher salt freshly ground black pepper
In a large pot, soak beans overnight covered in water by 2 inches. Drain and set aside.

Taco Soup

This can be done stove top or crock pot.

1 can kidney beans

1 can black beans

1 can diced tomatoes (sometimes, if I really love my kids, I leave these out)

2 cans tomato sauce

1 can corn

1 pkg taco seasoning

2 c browned hamburger

Dump contents into pot (do not drain any of the cans!). Heat thoroughly. Serve.

Top with (otional):

sour cream

fresh chopped onion

cheese

corn chips

olives

salsa

guacamole

Tonight I made this w/o the tomato sauce. I also used real Taco Bell meat - yum. It is a very forgiving meal. Everyone eats it happily - except the 7 year old, maybe if it had a dollop of ice cream...

Easy Hawaiian Haystacks

*1 can Cream of Chicken Soup and 1 can Chicken Broth mixed together and heated for gravy.
*Add chopped cooked chicken to gravy.
*Toppings:
Tomatoes
Green onions
Celery
Pineapple
Coconut
Chow mien noodles (I didn't have these tonight so I used french fried onions)
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Chopped almonds

Layer everything on top of cooked rice. This recipe is quick, easy and for those picky eaters great because they can choose for themselves what to put on their own haystacks.

Mom's Chicken Salad with Pasta and Grapes

4 cups cooked,cube, cooled chicken

2-3 raw macaroni (cook , rinse in cold water, drain)

1 1/2 cups seedless grapes, halved

1 cup chopped celery

3/4 cup sliced green onions

3 hard boiled eggs, diced

1/2 cup silvered almonds, toasted (add just before serving)

Sauce:

1 1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

2 Tbs frozen orange juice concentrate

1 TBS prepared mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp celery salt

1/8 tsp dry mustard

1/8 tsp paprika

In a large bowl combine chicken, grapes, celery, onions, and eggs/ In another bowl make the sauce, stir until smooth. Pour over the chicken mixture and toss gently. Stir in almonds and pasta, then serve immediately or refrigerate and add the almonds and pasta just before serving.

Salmon Patties

Looking at a bare pantry and a few minutes too late in engaging my brain cells into answering the million dollar question, an old Grandma McCoy stand-by came to mind. Salmon patties.

We purchase canned salmon for our food storage, so it was handy. If fishy isn’t you’re thing, you still might want to give it a whirl.

So let’s start.

2 cans Pink Salmon

2 med. green onions

1 pepper (this is a banana pepper from our garden)

2-3 small cloves of garlic

Bread Crumbs seasoned or unseasoned

Pepper to taste.

It’s important to note that I remove any bones (though they are extremely soft) and skin from the salmon. Super easy to do. This is also the same salmon I use to make my Smoked Salmon Pâté.

Sliced and diced in a bowl; ready for the next step.

Add 1/2 tsp. of liquid smoke and a few good shakes of Cayenne.

Add nature’s glue, two please. Use a fork to fluff everything together. It’s easier than a spoon and flakes the salmon without it turning to mush.

Form into patties about the size of the palm of your hand and place onto a piping hot griddle sprayed with Pam, Crisco… whatever you have handy. Butter would be nice but I’m trying to be good. Grandma would fry them in two inches of oil using her well-seasoned cast iron skillet.

Let them brown, flip and wait some more. In the meantime, go fix a salad.

Grilled sourdough slices, leftover Cucumber-Cilantro relish to top it off and voila. The Poor Mans version of fancy-pants, grilled salmon steaks.

Grandma would also serve with fried mashed potatoes and collard greens. I’ll take the salad, thanks.

Salmon Patties

2 cans Pink Salmon

2 med. green onions

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 med. pepper (green pepper works too) minced

1/2 tsp. liquid smoke

Cayenne and Black pepper to taste

1 cp bread crumbs (more or less)

2 eggs

Mix all ingredients together and form into palm-sized patties. Brown and serve.

Cucumber-Cilantro Relish can be found at P.W. I made the Black Bean Chowder… delicious! Even the Farmers ate it.

Spicy Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

Here is a yummy Dinner....

2-3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts - cut into thin strips
8oz Linguine, cooked al dente
3 tsp Cajun Seasoning, divided
2-3 Tbsp Butter
3 1/2 cups half-n-half
2 green onions, chopped
2 Tbsp chopped sundried tomatoes, optional
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste....

Place chicken strips into large ziploc bag with 2 tsp cajun seasoning, toss to cover evenly. In a large, hot skillet place butter and chicken. Saute for 5-7 minutes.
Reduce heat, add half-n-half, remaining cajun seasoning and 1 of the chopped green onions. Simmer UNCOVERED until thick.
Serve over Linguine or any other pasta. Top with additional onion and parm cheese.

Corndogs

12 hot dogs
corn meal batter:
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 c milk
1/4 c oil or melted shortening
1 1/2 c corn meal
1 c flour
1/4 c sugar
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt

Dogs can be halved, quartered or left whole. Growing up we added a Popsicle stick for easy eating, but we didn't tonight. Mix corn meal batter thoroughly, dip dogs and immediately put into hot oil (365 degrees F) for 3 1/2 to 4 minutes. Carefully take out and place on a paper towel covered plate. We used a fry daddy, but we frequently fry in a wok or use a pot on the stove top. This was our first time so they look a little scary, but taste amazing. JP thinks that he will be able to perfect the look next time. Kids loved it, but weren't able to finish all of the breading (they ate two whole dogs though).