Arancini casserole

Arancini casserole

Last night I made this wonderful casserole.  It is based on arancini, a fried, stuffed, Italian rice ball.  It was so delicious!  The sausage adds a spiciness that is mellowed by the rice.  The peas add a sweet little pop to each bite...yum!

I made two casseroles out of this recipe.  Each casserole is 4 servings.  If you need more servings, you could use a 9 X13 pan and make one big casserole, just adjust the cooking time to 20 min with the foil and 10 without.

• 3 bags rice
• 1/2 lb (8 oz) Italian bulk sausage
• 1/2 lb (8 oz) 90% lean ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped 
• salt and fresh pepper
• 4 oz frozen peas (1/2 container)
• 16 oz tomato sauce (I used Classico Roasted Garlic sauce)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup shredded parmigiano cheese
• cooking spray
• 4 T breadcrumbs
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella

Cook rice in water according to package directions. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, sauté sausage meat; cook until brown breaking up into pieces with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Add ground beef and onion and cook until browned, breaking up as it cooks. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then add peas and 8 oz tomato sauce and simmer on low, covered, about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°. In a large bowl combine rice, parmigiano, egg, and4 oz tomato sauce and mix well. Rice should be a bit sticky.

Spray 2 9X9 casserole dishes with cooking spray, making sure to spray sides too.

Take 1/4 of the rice mixture and cover the bottom of one of the casserole dishes,  pressing to form bottom layer.  Repeat in second dish.

Pour half of the meat and peas mixture in one dish and half in the other.

Sprinkle 1/2 c. of the mozzarella on top of each.  Take half of what is left of the rice mixture and spread it on top of meat mixture on one casserole, repeating with the second casserole.  Top with remaining 4 oz of tomato sauce (2 oz each), mozzarella (1/2 c. each), and breadcrumbs (2 T. each).

Cover with foil and bake 15 minutes.  REmove foil and bake 5 minutes more.

Enjoy!

Salisbury Steak with Onion Gravy

Ingredients:

 For the steaks:
          1 lb 93% lean ground beef
          1 yellow onion, finely chopped
          1/2 c. breadcrumbs
          1 egg

           1 T. canola oil

     For the gravy:
          1 15 oz can low sodium beef broth (Low sodium is important!  When we make                                                                       the gravy, the broth will reduce with the                                                                       soup mix and it can become too salty!)
          2 T flour
          1 packet Lipton onion soup mix

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the "steaks."  Divide into 6 patties.  They can be cooked right away, but the flavor will be better if you let them sit for about a half an hour (yes, they can be at room temperature).

In a large skillet or saucier, heat the oil on medium heat.  Add the patties and brown for about 5 minutes on each side.  Remove to a plate.

In a small container (I used a custard cup) add just enough beef broth to the flour so that it is fully dissolved.  Add the remaining beef broth to the hot pan and use a spatula to scrape the brown bits the meat has left behind off of the bottom of the pan.  Add the soup mix and stir to combine.  Add your slurry of broth and flour to the mix and allow it to boil just until it begins to thicken.

Add your patties back to the sauce.  Cover and cook for 10 minutes longer on each side.  I recommend serving with mashed potatoes.

Each salisbury steak is 5 WW points+.

Angry Shrimp

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces fresh linguine 
• 1tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound raw large shrimp, peeled and deveined 
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

Preparation:

1. Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and keep warm.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion, minced garlic, basil, and crushed red pepper to pan; sauté 1 minute. 
3. Add tomato paste and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes or just until sauce begins to thicken. 
4. Sprinkle shrimp with salt; add shrimp to pan.  Cook until shrimp are done (about 8 minutes, flipping after 4 minutes).
5. Serve over pasta.

 Makes 3 servings (1 serving=1c. pasta and 1c. shrimp mixture).

 6 WW points+

Chicken Aglio E Olio

I make chicken at least twice a week, so I am always looking for new recipes to make using chicken.  This one was so yummy with a bit of heat.

• 1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast, thin-sliced
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil (or whichever oil you prefer)
• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter
• 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 4 pickled hot cherry peppers, halved and seeded
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon dry breadcrumbs

Preparation:

•  Dredge chicken in flour.
• Heat oil and butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned. 
• Add garlic; cook 30 seconds. 
• Add peppers; cook 30 seconds. 
• Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until chicken is done. 
• Stir in breadcrumbs; cook until liquid thickens (about 1 minute). 
• Taste sauce, and add salt to taste (I added a few shakes of kosher salt to mine).

I served over pasta and sprinkle a little reduced fat parmesan cheese over it.

Makes 5 servings, each serving 5 WW points+.

Char Siu Pork Roast

This recipe was SO good, it reminded me a lot of the beef teriyaki at a Chinese restaurant near here called Asia Grill.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
• 2 pounds  pork shoulder, trimmed 
• 1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

Prep:

1. Combine first 7 ingredients in bowl of slow cooker, stirring well with a whisk. Add pork and coat. Marinate in refrigerator overnight.
2. Place pork slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
3. Remove pork from slow cooker using a slotted spoon; place on a cutting board or work surface.
4. Add broth to sauce in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 30 minutes or until sauce thickens. 
5. Shred pork with 2 forks; add back to sauce and mix together.

 I served this over rice with peas as a vegetable.


Makes 8 servings, 1 serving is 5 WW points+.

Monterey Chicken

This is a dish I used to always get at restaurants.  Eventually it dawned on me that it would be easy to make at home!  I hadn't made it in a couple of years now, but it was just as delicious tonight as ever!

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken breasts - I usually get the thin sliced, but the regular were on sale so I used them and just cut them in half so I ended up with 4 pieces instead of 2
1/2 c. barbecue sauce, divided
1 green onion, green parts sliced, white part discarded
1 c. reduced fat cheese, divided (A cheddar or mexican cheese would be preferable.  I used a monterey-cheddar blend.)
4 slices bacon (I used the pre-cooked that you just zap in the microwave)

On grill, cook chicken on one side for about 3 to 4 minutes.  Flip, then pour 2 T. of barbecue sauce over cooked side of each breast.  Lay your cooked bacon over the sauce, sprinkle with the green onions and 1/4 c. each of the cheese.  Cook about another 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to rest at least 5 minutes, preferably 10.

1 piece of chicken is 8 WW Points+.

Tonight it was raining, so instead of an outdoor grill, I used our George Foreman grill to cook this.  I served itwith frozen peas and a knorr pasta mix.

Slow Cooker Chicken

Tonight is a busy night for my family so I wanted something easy that requires as little prep as possible.  Before work this morning I quartered an onion and put it in a slow cooker with a whole oven-roaster chicken.  I let it cook all day on low.  When we were ready to eat, I made some instant potatoes.  And that was it.  I was a bad girl and didn't make a veggie tonight.

I pulled the rest of the chicken and it will be put to good use in a recipe on Friday night.