Archive for the '4 Stars' Category

Herbed Pasta Salad

I love pasta salad, and I especially love pasta salad that has bold delicious flavors.  This pasta salad certainly has bold delicious flavors. I’m not sure why it’s a common sentiment that a little bit of dried herb goes a long way, but I think that’s the furthest from the truth.  I think if you [...]

Thai Chicken Salad

This salad is really tasty and so easy to make, especially if you use a rotisserie chicken.  It’s a perfect summer dish.  The original recipe called for warm dressing, but since I’m not a fan of wilted lettuce, I let the dressing cool after cooking before adding it to the salad. The dressing would also [...]

The Bidens’ Pasta Caprese

I saw this pasta salad in the September 2010 issue of Food Network Magazine, and I knew I had to try it.  I’ve now made this quite a few times, and I’ve adapted the recipe to our liking. It is delicious, and I love the addition of the lemon zest.  It’s a great summer pasta [...]

Sangria

I had a cocktail party this weekend, and boy was it fun.  I made this interesting Sangria that went over really well.  Recipe adapted from Bethenny Frankel. Ingredients: 2-3 peaches, pitted and sliced 2 plums, pitted and sliced 1 c. green grapes, cut in half 2 bottles Prosecco (an Italian sparkling wine–I used a pink [...]

Tex-Mex Chowder

This chowder is quite tasty.  It’s vegetarian, which is nice.  Most chowder recipes have bacon or ham hock in it for flavor, so it was nice to find a recipe without those ingredients.  This chowder had lots of flavor too. This recipe comes from The New Vegetarian Grill cookbook. Ingredients: 1 lb. potatoes, peeled and [...]

Easy Peasy Hamentashen

This hamentashen recipe is so easy.  I’ve got a family recipe that calls for the dough to be refrigerated overnight, and whenever I look at that recipe I just want to make these cookies right now!  So this easy recipe is perfect and tasty too! This recipe is from allrecipes.com. Ingredients: 1 (18.25 oz.) package [...]

Curried Beef

This crock pot dinner is really tasty, and the leftovers were delicious too.  The recipe comes from the March 2009 issue of Cooking Light. I thought the original recipe called for way too much salt, so I didn’t add the salt, other than to season the beef prior to searing it, and boy am I [...]

Crock Pot Turkey Chili

This chili is so delicious.  It can be made completely on the stove or once assembled it can be simmered away in the crock pot.  I used my crock pot, and this chili is awesome.  It is thick and hearty and delicious.  I used ground turkey, but you could certainly use ground chicken or beef. [...]

Fried Rice

Here’s a great recipe for leftover chicken or turkey or use a rotisserie chicken. The leftovers are great too! The recipe is adapted from the November 2009 issue of Southern Living. Ingredients: 2 TBSP vegetable oil, divided 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 1/2 c. diced onion 1/2 c. diced red bell pepper 1 c. cooked [...]

Chili Gravy

This chili gravy is delicious and works well as a sauce for tamales or enchiladas.  The secret to this gravy is making your own chili powder. The recipe comes for Rob Walsh’s Tex-Mex Cookbook. Homemade Chili Powder Ingredients: 5 whole ancho chile pods, stemmed and seeded 1 tsp. dried Mexican oregano 1/2 tsp. garlic powder [...]




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