I’ve been on a mission over the past several months to add some new recipes into our week night dinner routine. After a series of rejects (including the one where I thought I was making soup and it ended up being a paella type stovetop dish) I was ready to take a break. Along comes Speedy Baked Ziti to restore my faith in fast and delicious!
The special touch is the ricotta – Yummo! I served mine with a sliced baguette and olive oil & balsamic for dipping.
What are you cooking these days?
That looks good Kathy. What kind of recipes are you looking for? Cooking is an area that I am very good in and I’ve got hundreds of recipes. I might have something you’d like if you give me some ideas.
I’ve been especially interested in recipes that use 1 lb. of ground beef or a rotisserie chicken. Thank you Vicki!
Yummo is right! Salad Nicoise is a family favorite here and it comes together quickly. And you usually have all the ingredients for it. I’ve been getting fancy and grilling tuna, but good canned stuff works too.
Hmmm, that sounds delicious Michele. What’s your favorite salad dressing?
My go-to salad dressing is Barefoot Contessa’s creamy vinagrette. I usually doulbe it and have a small mason jar in the fridge with this. If i am not using all of it at the time I make it I leave out the egg yolk. It is just a perfect balance. And for Salade Nicoise add a good squeeze of lemon to it, shake it up and it becomes lemony. yum. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/green-salad-with-creamy-mustard-vinaigrette-recipe/index.html
OMG – I think that’s the salad dressing recipe I’ve been looking for all my life. I LOVE creamy dressings. Will give this a go soon. Thank you!
Thanks for the link!
Lately, if I have time, it’s all about warm, tasty comfort food and fresh vegetables. I’ve been making a lot of chunky potato cheddar soups and village-style salads…
I’ve been doing a lot of soup lately too, potato cheddar sounds really good!
Yum! I made a Korean dish called Bibimbap–rice, veggies, topped with a sunny side up egg.
Too fun that you mention that, I had never heard of that dish until I saw Alton Brown showcasing his favorite version of it on that ‘best food I’ve ever eaten’ series on Food Network last week. It looked delicious!
My version came from Everyday FOOD magazine. Love that magazine. There is a photo of the dish as well as a link to the recipe on my blog–funny but I titled the post Good Eats–isn’t that what Alton’s show is called?
too funny!!! I will click over – my family will love this!
Sadly no ziti for me! I’ve taken wheat out of my diet this year (and I feel amazing for it), so eating more fish, chicken and veggie dishes. I do miss bread a LOT, but it’s getting easier to go without every week.
We eat lots of fish here too, I need some fresh preparation ideas for salmon.
Ina Garten has a mustard roasted fish recipe that works well with salmon… great with a green salad. You can find the recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/mustard-roasted-fish-recipe/index.html
Wow, what a great weeknight meal. We’ve been getting some really meaty fresh red snapper over the past several months. Looking forward to trying this one out! Thank you!
This one is a hit in my family for salmon.
http://www.food.com/recipe/pecan-crusted-salmon-368875
Your recipe looks great I will have to give it a try. I will be making split pea soup and biscuits tomorrow.
Looks so good!
I made this Tuscan Bean Soup with Shrimp last week and it was fabulous. I misread the servings (8) or I would have cut this in half before making it for just the two of us, but it was so delicious that we happily ate the leftovers for days!
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/01/tuscan-bean-soup-with-shrimp/
another unbelievable recipe, thank you! I gave Greg frozen shrimp from the Cajun Grocer for his birthday. They’re delicious and would be amazing in this soup. I LOVE her pictures!
I’ve been making turnovers! Delicious, perfect every time, and easy because they start with frozen puff pastry dough. I got the recipe from a great book, Food Made Fast: Baking by Williams-Sonoma. I believe they have other versions for different types of cooking, and I’m going to check those out, too. It’s the rare cookbook that comes through every time, but I’ve made six or seven recipes from this one and haven’t found a clunker.
Ordered (I’m addicted to Amazon Prime shipping). We’ve been in a dessert rut lately too, perfect timing.
http://allrecipes.com/recipes/main.aspx?prop24=PN_2.0.0_TN.Recipes
Consider signing up for their daily recipe email. Everything I’ve tried has been really good, and many of the recipes are quite quick to prepare.
Like I need more e-mail but couldn’t resist. Looking forward to it. I’m hoping it doesn’t make me too hungry during the day!
Wow..the Ziti looks great. I love Italian food!
We’ve been trying to cook food ahead by making up two or more meals on Sunday and then re-heating them for the first few days of the week.
Today we make meatloaf (OMG it smells so good) and hamburger/potato casserole and beef stew.
We should be set for the next fee days which are really busy with sixth-grade basketball games and a band concert.
Planning ahead helps. That’s for sure!
Great idea. Last week pork tenderloins were on sale and I put two on the grill. We ate one sliced that night and the second as BBQ pork sandwiches a few nights later. It’s like having gold in the bank! Now about that hamburger/potato casserole…. yum
I made the Ziti last night-delicious! It is definitely going in my file. I also made an additional 1/2 recipe of it but changed the sauce to pesto (7 oz container from Trader Joe’s) and left out the onions and garlic. It was delicious too! (My 13 year old doesn’t like tomatoes, or onions much either).
Re ideas for salmon, I tend to go simple because (a) I love salmon by itself and (b) I’m impatient. My current favorite is a mango relish on top of easy broiled salmon.
I get the frozen, chopped mango – again, EASY – (use maybe 1/4 c. – I don’t measure anymore because I’ve made it so often) and combine it with a tablespoon of orange juice and some rough-chopped fresh mint. Mix the relish before you start the fish so the mango has a chance to thaw or make it a day ahead. I enjoy the chill of the relish against the hot, fresh from the broiler fish. Hope you do, too.
We’re having Tator Tot Casserole tonight.
1 1/2 lbs ground hamburger (we use ground round)
1 can Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 can milk
Tator Tots- frozen
1 can Veg-All
Salt and pepper
9″ x 9″ Corning Ware dish
Mix meat with some salt and pepper, pat into Corning Ware. Mix soup with milk, pour onto meat. Drain VegAll and sprinkle on top of meat/soup layers. Top with tator tots.
Bake 1 hour in 350 oven.
Add a salad and enjoy. Good leftover too.
The ziti recipe looks great! Try this easy recipe video I found on Pinterest for chicken parmesan:
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2008/02/end-of-chicken-parmesan-as-you-know-it.html
My modifications: cut the chicken breast into smaller pieces to better absorb all the delicious sauce; instead of jarred sauce, try making a quick marinara to go with this (YUM! and it only takes a couple of extra minutes: ask Carrie for her recipe), and use half the croutons whole and crush the rest (I buy Italian flavored, not garlic). I promise you will love this!!! Fast and no frying!
That looks really good – I love ricotta!
The Ziti looks yummy. I think I’ll try it soon – there’s a lotta pasta cluttering up the pantry
My latest recipe discovery is and Aprons recipe for Pub-Style Chicken with Carmelized Onions – here’s my post on it: http://createdforgoodworks.blogspot.com/2012/01/is-chicken-really-this-good-in-pubs.html