Archive for May, 2017
May 29, 2017 · Filed under italian, pasta, salad, side dish · Tagged pasta salad, rica's pasta salad
This pasta salad never lasts long in my house. Everyone goes for a second helping, a third and a fourth. Before I know it, it’s alllll gone! This dish is a hit and a must have for BBQ’S get together parties. It’s really easy and a great dish loved by many.
Ingredients:
For the salad:
- 1 box (12 oz) tricolor rotini pasta
- 1 large red bell pepper (or you can use two small ones), diced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 lb pepperoni slices diced
- 1 small or medium red onion, diced
- Between 1/3 to 1/2 cup of sliced black olives (amount depends on your personal preference)
For the dressing:
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 3/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions:
- Cook pasta to instructions on box. Drain. Run under cold water to stop it from cooking and drain again.
- Mix all other ingredients in with the pasta in a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk all the dressing ingredients together and pour into the salad.
- Mix well.
- Use Saran Wrap to cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for at least 1-2 hours. The more it sits there, the more time it has to “marinate”. It tastes better that way.
May 12, 2017 · Filed under chicken, main course, mexican · Tagged quick salsa chicken
This recipe is quick, easy and cheap to make. It actually costs under $10 and it feeds a family of 4. You could serve this over some white rice or actually use this in burritos or enchiladas.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 jar (16 oz) salsa
- 1 can (15 to 16oz) black beans, drained and washed
- 1 can (15 to 16oz) corn, drained and washed
- 1 to 2 cups of shredded Mexican cheese
- olive oil
Directions:
- Add bite sized chicken pieces to the pan. Drizzle a little olive oil over it. Cook over high heat until the chicken is fully cooked.
- Add in black beans, corn and salsa. Stir and let it cook for another 1-2 minutes to make sure everything is warmed up nicely.
- Add in between 1 to 2 cups of shredded Mexican cheese. The exact amount to use depends on how cheesy you prefer your dish to be. Stir until melted.
- Serve over white rice or use in burritos, enchiladas, etc.
May 6, 2017 · Filed under casseroles, italian, main course, Potatoes, sausage · Tagged bake, italian sausage, onions, peppers, potatoes
This is an easy dish to make. It does make a great dish to bring to parties.
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs sweet Italian sausage, cut into half
- 4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced into chunky pieces
- 2 red bell peppers, seeded and sliced
- 2 green peppers, seeded and sliced
- 2 large onions, sliced into wedges (I used sweet Vidalia onions)
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cook sliced Italian sausage with little olive oil in a pan. Make sure the outside is browned all over before moving it to a baking dish. Don’t worry if it isn’t fully cooked inside, it will finish cooking in the oven.
- When the sausage is moved, throw in sliced potatoes in the pan. Add more olive oil if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Stir once in a while. Let it cook for approximately 10 minutes. Then move to the baking dish.
- Add peppers and onions to the pan. Add more olive oil if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. You can add in some minced garlic or garlic powder or even garlic salt at this point. I do that sometimes.
- Move peppers and onions to the baking dish. Add in chicken broth, Italian seasoning and the white wine. Mix well.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Tips: you could easily replace the Italian sausage with turkey sausage or kielbasa. You could also add in baby carrots or sliced mushrooms if you want to add more vegetables to the baking dish.
May 4, 2017 · Filed under chicken, italian, main course · Tagged chicken, chicken roll ups, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese
Nom nom! This is easy to make and it never fails my family. And what’s to love?! The cheese! I *LOVE* anything that has cheese in it!
Ingredients:
- 5 oz baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- drizzle of olive oil
- 1/2 cup Ricotta cheese
- 5 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (divided)
- 3 eggs, beaten (divided)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
- between 1 1/2 to 2 lbs of thin chicken breasts
- 1 cup of tomato sauce (it can be any kind, I personally use mariana sauce for this one)
- 3 to 4 oz of Mozzarella cheese, sliced (I bought the ball kind but you could probably use the shredded kind if you prefer
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Place the chopped spinach leaves in a large pan. Add in the minced garlic and drizzle olive oil over it. Cook over high heat for 2-3 minutes. The spinach leaves will wilt and shrink in size.
- Place the spinach mixture in a bowl. Add Ricotta cheese, 3 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese, 1 egg and season with salt and pepper. Mix all of this together well.
- In a separate bowl, whisk two eggs.
- In another bowl, mix 3/4 cup of Italian bread crumbs with 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese.
- Grease a 13″ by 9″ glass baking dish with olive oil spray and set aside.
- Lay your chicken breast flat and start with the smaller end. Scoop a small amount of filling and roll towards the bigger end of the chicken breast. Take the rolled up piece and dip into the egg bowl then dip into the bread crumb mix. You’ll want to make sure it’s fully coated before placing it seam down in the baking dish.
- Bake in the oven at 450 degrees for between 20 to 25 minutes.
- Take dish out of the oven and pour tomato sauce on top of the roll ups.
- Place the sliced Mozzarella pieces on top of the chicken roll ups and bake again for 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.
rica's recipes 