Creamy Oh So Delicious Pasta Salad

I've officially started the barbeque season this weekend. We celebrated my daughter's sweet 16 birthday by hosting a barbeque. A request that she made was for me to make my pasta salad. So I did. I love this recipe because I prepared it the night before so the flavors can blend and make the salad even tastier. And to allow me more time to focus on other last minute dishes.

I used Renee's half the fat greek salad dressing which is so creamy, flavorful and delicious.


Creamy Pasta Salad

1 pkg.             bowtie pasta, cooked and cooled down

1                     green pepper, chopped into 1/2" pieces

1 1/2 cups      shredded carrots

1 can             sliced black olives

3                   green onions chopped, stems removed

2 stalks         celery finely chopped

1 jar              Renee's Half the Fat Creamy Greek Dressing

salt and pepper to taste



This dressing gives the pasta salad a creamy texture

 Add all ingredients into the bowl and mix in the dressing. Refrigerate over night to let the flavors incorporate.



Make this the night before to allow the flavors to infuse.

The Most Amazing Banana Muffins

Don't throw those ripe bananas away! Peel them, place them in a baggie and freeze. Throw it in a smoothie or make these delicious muffins.

The large quantity of banana makes these muffins flavorful and moist.

Your family will thank you!


Amazing Banana Muffins

The Most Amazing Banana Muffins

Makes 1 dozen

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Grease or line your muffin pan with paper liners

1                          egg
1 1/2 cups           mashed bananas (3 or 4 large)
1/2 cup               melted butter
1 1/2 cups          all purpose flour
3/4 cup               packed brown sugar
1 tsp.                  baking powder
1 tsp.                  baking soda
1/2 tsp.               salt

1.   Beat egg, mashed banana and melted butter in a large bowl until thoroughly blended.

2.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to banana mixture and stir just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan.

3.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched.

I added 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. You can add 3/4 cup of cranberries or blueberries.

The riper the banana the better. One large banana should yield about 1/2 cup of mashed banana.

I'm concerned about fat so I reduced the butter to 1/3 of a cup. It was just as good.

      

                 

Capping Off A Nice Dinner

As you may know, Italians love to eat. We love food. I look at some of my mom's recipes that were passed down to her and I just cannot believe the work that went into preparing it. Fast and easy was not the norm back in the day. Women stayed home, would wake up have their espresso and a little bite and the chores began. They would start their meals from the morning by preparing the tomato sauce, or making homemade pasta. In a later segment I will post on how my mom makes pasta e fagioli (pasta and beans). Pasta e fagioli is another comfort Italian dish which is so delicious but labor intensive. But the joy that my mother had when making the pasta was priceless. She was making it with love. She turns on her Italian music and away she goes.

So when all this delicious food is served and thoroughly enjoyed, we cap off our meal with a nice espresso. It's an automatic given. We finish our meal, clear the table and the espresso machine is on the burner.

Italians do not serve dessert after a meal. Not usually. My mom would always prepare a platter of fruit, serve the coffee and that was it. So sugary indulgences. That was saved for special occasions. My dad likes to add a little Sambuca to his espresso for an extra punch. It adds a nice, sweet, anise taste to tone down the bitterness of the espresso coffee.

It just seems like modern life is so hectic. We wake up, rush to work, come home and rush to make something to eat. I know for myself, I really need to take it down a notch. Just to relax and enjoy the simple things in life like my parents do. It's so hard to do, but I am practicing one day at a time.

Pasta Al Forno

This recipe is one of my family's favorite dishes. Easy to make and a true Italian comfort food. I love making this dish when hosting a dinner party. I make it ahead of time and when I am almost ready to serve, I pop this baby in for about 45 minutes before serving time. Serve this with a side of salad and your dinner will be complete!

I used a rigatoni pasta with this dish. Penne would be a good substitute.

Pasta al forno translated in English means pasta in the oven. It's a classis dish using a meat sauce with your pasta and baking it the oven. I usually dedicate one day on the weekend to cook for the week since my week nights are so hectic. Make this ahead of time and freeze. Pop it out of the freeze the day of and bake when ready.

Pasta Al Forno

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Meat Sauce

1             garlic clove, minced

1/2         small onion or 1/4 large onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp.    olive oil

1 lb         extra lean ground beef or veal

1 can       pureed tomato

1 tbsp.     chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp        dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

1 pkg      rigatoni or penne pasta

1/4 cup   grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup   shredded mozzarella cheese

Sautee the garlic and onion with the olive oil

Add the ground meat and continue to cook until browned

Add your pureed tomato, parsley, basil, salt and pepper continue to cook for about 20 minutes

While your sauce is cooking, cook your pasta according to package directions. The pasta I used was rigatoni

Spoon a layer of the sauce in your baking dish, then top with the cooked pasta. Layer the cooked pasta, adding more sauce and mix until the pasta is well coated. If you have leftover sauce, place in a container and freeze for future dishes.

First add the parmesan and mix. Top with mozzarella cheese, cover with foil and bake in a 350 degrees F oven. for 45 minutes. Half way through the baking process, remove the foil and continue baking.

Buon Apetito!

Carrot Muffins

When my children were small, oddly enough they loved vegetables. But as they got older, green food became "not cool". They started not to eat fruits and vegetables like they used to. So, to improvise, I would sneak it in their food. I would puree the vegetables in soup so they would not see the chunks or would make healthy snack items. One of the items I usually make are these carrot muffins. Moist and so tasteful, it has become a hit here in our household. I use whole wheat flour for extra fibre. If you do not like the taste of whole wheat, all purpose flour can be used.

Carrot Muffins



Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

one or two 12-cup muffin pans, greased or lined with paper liners

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

3/4 cups raisins

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups peeled and grated carrots

3 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

Combine the flour, sugar, raisins, walnuts, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt in a large bowl. Stir well.

Beat carrots, eggs and oil. Add to dry ingredients all at once, stirring just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans, filling three quarters full for regular-size or full for large-size muffins.

Bake for 20 minutes for regular muffins or 27 minutes for large muffins or until tops spring back when lightly touched.

Variations:
Omit nuts if desired. My kids hate nuts so I make carrot muffins without the nuts.

Switch the carrots with shredded zucchini.

A healthy breakfast alternative. My son

Cheese Biscuits

I love cheese and especially in biscuits! Serve with tea, some grapes or a nice glass of wine. I cannot stop at one! Make little bite size sandwiches with these cheese morsels. I know when I bake a batch, the biscuits disappear quickly. I love to serve these as a finger food if I'm hosting an event.

Cheese Biscuits

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1 cup shredded old cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten (to brush the tops)


Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using pastry blender (or two dinner knives), cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs.

Stir in cheese. Pour milk over top and stir with fork to make soft, slightly sticky ragged dough.

With floured hands, form into a large ball. Turn dough onto floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead gently 10 times.



Form dough and knead gently 10 times

Gently pat into 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick round. Using a 2 inch (5 cm) floured cutter, cut into rounds.

cut into 2 inch round (1/2" thick)

Place on ungreased baking sheet. Gather up scraps and repeat dough; cut more rounds, pressing remaining scraps into final biscuit.

Place on ungreased baking sheet

Brush tops of biscuits with egg. Bake in centre of 425 degrees F oven (220 degrees C) until golden, about 15 minutes.

Brush top with egg wash

Let cool on rack.

Enjoy!