Pasta with Salmon, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Capers

Wow, is this amazing!

5oz whole grain spaghetti, linguine, angel hair or farfalle
2 salmon fillets, cubed
4oz sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine (or water with white wine vinegar)
3Tbsp lemon juice
1Tbsp capers
1 clove of garlic
3/4tsp italian seasoning
1/4tsp pepper
16 kalamata or black olives

Cook pasta according to package directions.
Heat the oil from tomatoes in a non-stick skillet.  Add salmon and cook until done.  Add all the other ingredients.  Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute.  Toss the pasta with the sauce.  Serve with parmesan.

P.S. This is as good or better as a similar dish I had at restaurants before!

Mexican Lasagna

Some time ago I realized that most of the time I liked my homemade Mexican food much better than the restaurant Mexican food. I don't like the excess of salty cheese and the lack of variety in vegetarian choices (typically, all you can get is cheese, refried beans, and rice) While my food may not be authentic, it offers more and it's good!

So, let me introduce Mexican Lasagna.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 lb zucchini, diced (about 3 cups)
• 2 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 can diced tomatoes with chilies
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 can (10 oz) mild enchilada sauce or salsa
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• tortillas
• 1 1/4 cup shredded Cheddar

Method:

Heat oven to 400F. Coat a 3-qt round dish with nonstick spray.
Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet; add onion and saute 5 minutes. Add zucchini and cumin, saute another 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, beans, corn, and sauce. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
Place a tortilla into the baking dish. Top with veggie mix (about 1 1/2 cup) and sprinkle with about 1/4 cup cheese. Repeat 4 times (or as many time as you dish size will allow). Cover with foil and bake 20-25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Usually, you can cut it into pretty neat slices. It looks cheerful and tasted great! 

Potato-Swiss Chard Curry

Turns out, having your recipes online is very helpful when you are far away from home! So here comes one more.

Ingredients:
3 potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1" pieces
oil
2 Tbs sugar
2 tsps ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3 cups chopped Swiss chard or Collard greens
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

Method:
Boil potatoes 4-6 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain. Heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat until hot. Add potatoes, sugar, spices. Cook 2-3 minutes. Stir in Swiss chard and tomatoes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 4-6 minutes or until the greens are crisp-tender.

From Cooking Pleasures magazine

Believe it or not, the first time I ever had collard greens was when I first made this recipe. Yes, I do live in Georgia.

The best blinchiki ever!

На блинчики:
3 яйца,
2 стакана молока,
1 1/4 стакана муки,
50 гр. растопленного масла,
1 ч. ложка сахара,
1 ч. ложка соли.

начинка:
500 гр. грибов,
400 гр. сыра,
1 большая луковица,
2 зубочков чеснока.

для соуса:
200 мл сливок 38%,
2 стол. ложки начинки

Fruit Pizza

Ingredients:

• 1 package refrigerated cookie dough 
• 1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1/8 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup whipping cream 
• 1 Tbsp of instant pudding (optional)
• 12-16 strawberries, sliced or cut in half
• 1 can (11oz) mandarin oranges, well drained
• a square of dark chocolate or some semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 tsp oil

Method:
Preheat oven to 450F. Shape cookie dough into a ball, place on a pizza sheet or a baking stone and roll into a large (about 12") circle. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until edges are set. Do not overbake! The cookie should still be soft! Remove from oven, and cool 10 minutes before moving to a platter.
Combine cream cheese and sugar in a small bowl. Mix well. Whip the cream with instant pudding, and gently fold into cream cheese mixture. Spread the mixture over the cookie.
Arrange fruit over the cream cheese mixture. Place chocolate and oil in a small dish, and microwave for about 30 seconds or until melted. Stir well and drizzle over fruit. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes before serving.

P.S. I made this "pizza" twice, and it was a hit both times. The original recipe asked for 1/4 of powdered sugar, but that was way too sweet for us. I don't really measure sugar for this recipe, I just add it a little at a time and taste for sweetness.

P.P.S. The recipe was adapted from "Fruit-Topped Triple Chocolate Pizza" recipe from The Pampered Chef recipe book.

Mexican Baked Fish

I found this recipe on the package of frozen cod and it became one of our favorites. It is quick, easy, and inexpensive.

Ingredients:
Frozen cod or tilapia fillet (cod works better for us)
Salsa
Corn chips
Shredded cheese

Method:
Preheat the oven to 400F.
I do not thaw the fish all the way - I just take it out of the freezer not long before I start cooking, put the pouches in a bowl under cold running water, and let it sit there while the oven is preheating.
Rinse the fillets in cold water and pat dry. Lightly grease a baking dish. Place the fillets in the dish, cover with salsa and cheese, and crumble corn chips on top.
Bake for about 15 minutes or until done.

We usually serve it with brown rice, sour cream, and avocado.

Salmon with Marmalade-Balsamic Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 lb salmon fillet
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1/3 cup orange marmalade
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup red onion, sliced or diced

Method:

Rinse salmon, pat dry, and rub the pepper into it. Place skin down in a lightly oiled casserole dish. Bake at 400 F for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the remaining ingredients. Boil, stirring constantly, until reduced to about 1/2 cup. 
Serve the sauce over the salmon. That's it!

Delicious, nutritious, and EASY!

Polenta Wedges with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp + 2 tsp oil
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
• 3/4 cup broth
• 2 Tbsp cream
• chilled cooked polenta wedges
• 1 lb asparagus, trimmed

Method:
Heat broiler, with rack 5 inches from heat. In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp oil. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Season. Add broth and cook until reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Stir in cream and cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Place a rimmed baking sheet in oven to heat, 5 minutes. Pat polenta dry and lightly brush both sides with oil. Toss asparagus with 1/2 tsp oil.
Place asparagus on one half of the hot sheet, and polenta on other half of sheet.
Broil until polenta is golden brown and asparagus is crisp-tender, about 6 minutes, rotating sheet and tossing asparagus halfway through. Serve polenta wedges with asparagus and creamy mushrooms.

This came out really good and quite filling. I was surprised, but one wedge + asparagus and mushrooms was enough for Shon!

P.S. recipe from Everyday Food

Tofu Parmigiana

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 5 Tbsp grated Parmesan
• 2 tsp dried oregano, divided
• 1 package extra firm tofu (firm will work, but it's prone to breaking)
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 jar your favorite spaghetti sauce (the original recipe calls for 8oz tomato paste, but it's not enough for us)
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4oz shredded Mozzarella (I only had Cheddar)

Method:

In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, 2 Tbsp Parmesan and 1 tsp oregano. 

Cut drained tofu into 1/4" slices, coat with bread crumbs mix.

In a skillet, heat oil. Cook tofu slices until crisp on both sides.

 Combine sauce, oregano, basil, and garlic in a small bowl. Cover the bottom of a pan with the sauce. Arrange the tofu in the pan. Spoon sauce over the tofu slices. Repeat. 

Top with Mozzarella and remaining Parmesan. Bake at 400F for about 20 minutes.

I served it with spaghetti, lettuce, and garlic bread. 

If you cut the tofu thinly enough, you can't even tell you are eating tofu! It tasted very similar to Eggplant Parmigiana, but I like this version much better, since tofu doesn't seem to soak up oil like eggplant does.

So this was our dinner last night. We enjoyed it!

P.S. The original recipe was found on allrecipes.com

Long Road to the Kitchen

In Captivating Stasi Eldridge writes:
"I somehow believed that upon saying "I do," I would be magically transformed into Betty Crocker. I imagined myself baking fresh bread, looking flushed and beautiful as I removed the steaming loaves from  the oven. [...] I had failed."
My housekeeping skills still need a lot of improvement, but, unlike Stasi, I have mysteriously turned into a cook. Not that I had any choice, having married a man spoiled by home cooking from scratch, who also happened to want to gain weight. Us being broke vegetarians and me being Russian didn't help much either. But here I am, with no pages left in my recipe book, having compiled a cookbook for my sister, and having menus for at least one week at any given moment. I even own an apron! Now, I am not a chef by any means. But I'm very good at following recipes!
I figured I could use this blog for saving the recipes I liked, since I can't afford a nice new recipe book at the moment.