365 Recipes - #37 - Cheesy Broccoli

So here I was in the mood for some healthy broccoli... but I was in a cheesy mood... DING DING DING.... CHEESY BROCCOLI! I... for once... actually had all the ingredient at home, so this was an easy dish.

The Line Up:
Broccoli (enough for 2)
2tbs of Butter
Salt
Pepper
1 cup of 3 Cheese Mix

I cut up enough broccoli in to small bite size pieces for two people.

Then I took the 2tbs of butter and melted it down in the microwave.

I had a bag of pre-shredded 3 cheese mix left over from another recipe, this mix is very versatile, it has a sharp Cheddar taste and very stringy motz, and I believe there is some creamy provolone.

Then I mixed in some salt and pepper to the melted butter.

Here is my new steamer... I love this little thing, it was only $8 at the local BBB and I've only used it twice since I bought it, but wow! I LOVE it! Who knew steaming broccoli was going to be so easy!

WOW look at that wonderful color! 3 minutes this is what the broccoli will look like... YUM!

I mixed in the melted butter and salt and pepper...

Then dumped the cheese on top.

Can you say YUM? I popped this in to the microwave for about 1 minute on high.

OK, now I know you can say Y U M ! MMmmmmm This was so simple and easy and CHEESY !

Enjoy!

Recipe #37, 328 more to go.

365 Recipes - #36 - Raspberry n' Sunflower Seed Goat Cheese w/ Blue Agave

WOW LONG TITLE !

This fun party dish has it all... It's sweet, tangy, creamy, crunch, salty, and addicting. This year I have fallen in love with goat cheese... It's so creamy and yummy and you can do so much with it. I made this for a "Girls Night". There was only three of us so it's a small portion, but let me tell you, we could not gobble it up fast enough! (Sorry my lactose friend! I promise next time I will remember... I promise!)

The Line Up:
Goat Cheese
Fresh Raspberries
Blue Agvae Sweetener
Roasted n' Salted Sunflower Seeds

Not the best photo in the world, but those are the ingredients.

I started with a half of a log of Goat Cheese.

Then I rolled the cheese in a heaping amount of Roasted Salted Sunflower Seeds.


Then drown it all in Blue Agave Sweetener. This looks like honey, but it's not. I guess it's similar, but there are no little bees involved... only a cactus... a cactus that makes TEQUILA! Yes you read that right. The Blue Agave plant that produces Tequila also produces this very yummy very sweet "honey" like sweetener. I love it ! it's not as thick as honey, well at lease this brand is not, but it's very sweet... I've even use it in my coffee with wonderful results.... I'll have to do a full post on the stuff some time.

Then I sprinkled a handful of raspberries all around.

I forget what these crackers were... but they worked perfectly.... I'll have to ask and get back to you on that one.

A heaping amount of cheese and a raspberry rounds out this wonderful flavorful bite.


Mmmmmm blurry cheese! I highly suggest making this for your next party!

Enjoy!

Recipe #36, 329 more to go.

365 Recipes - #35 - Mini Chicken N' Sweet Sausage Quesadillas

OK.... Yes Yes... This is not a full recipe post... BUT... it does follow my previous post... so... there :-P



Basically you make everything I made in my previous post "Mini Quesadillas"

BUT

1. Instead of heating them up on the griddle.... just pile everything in to the tortilla round and enjoy! The heat of the fillings will melt the cheese.

2. along with the chicken you'll need to add one sliced sweet Italian Sausage link.... Make sure the Chicken and the Sausage are cooked all the way through then add the Mushroom and onion mixture.

3. I chopped up some Cilantro... because... what is Mexican food w/o Cilantro?!?!?

Mmmmmmm

YUM !

(Or should I say OVER STUFFED Quesadillas!)_

Enjoy!

Recipe #35, 330 more to go.

365 Recipes - #34 - Mini Quesadillas

I was in a SPICY mood.

There I was in the heart of the heavy hardy warm you up winter food months and all I wanted was a fresh Mexican Quesadilla. So... I made one :-)

The Line Up:
One Onion
A heaping handful of Mushrooms
Diced Chicken
Shredded 3 Cheese Mexican blend
Guacamole
Sour Cream
SM Tortilla Rounds
1 Plump Tomato
Taco Seasoning

I grabbed the only Onion I had, it was a little "aged" and "sad" but it was still good.

Ahhhh pre sliced Mushrooms!

I tossed a handful of the mushrooms and the diced onion in to a hot pan with a table spoon of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil.

Diced up a "blurry" tomato ;-) I put this to the side for later... oh and I also removed the "innards". What you don't see here is my shredded lettuce.

I found this pre cooked chicken breast meat at the local Trader Joe's... it was perfect....

This I found at Trader Joe's as well.

I didn't use the whole packet, maybe half?

Mmmm Look at those mushrooms! When they are ready and the chicken is browned a bit... toss them together.

I heated up my grill and laid out the tortilla rounds. When they were just about crispy, i loaded them up with some cheese and the chicken and mushroom mix. I folded them over and let the cheese melt for a bit.


Mmmmm I plated them with some shredded lettuce and the diced tomatoes and some guacamole and last but not least some sour cream (mmm I love that stuff... but that's for another day)

Enjoy!

Recipe #34, 331 more to go.

365 Recipes - #33 - Smoked Motz n' Spinach Chicken

FINALLY!

Finally I have found some time to start editing my food.... I've been so busy these days with school and work and snow and the Olympics and Archery, OH MY ! But here I am back again...

This recipe was brought to me by my mother, it started a bit intense... and ended up very YUM!

The Line Up:
Frozen Spinach (thawed and drained)
Chicken with skin (any part will do pick your fav.!)
3tbs of Butter
1tbs Nutmeg
Shredded Smoked Moz.
Salt
Pepper

I found this very yummy Apple Smoked Mozzarella cheese. I grated it with the smaller holes on my gaiter. I don't want big lumpy amounts of the cheese because the smoked flavor is sooo strong that I rather it be blended all the way around to give the dish a hint of smoky flavor. When I was grating this.... WOW the smoky flavor was so strong SO STRONG I was afraid it was going to over power the chicken... but don't worry, some how it works out at the end.

I thawed my frozen spinach and drained it out then plopped it in to my mixing bowl. I used one full frozen packet.

Then I added a cup of shredded Motz.

Next up was a table spoon of Nutmeg.

Mix it all up. Now... my spinach was a little warm because of thawing it in my microwave, and this melted the cheese... if that happens... It's all good... It's going to melt in the oven later !

Gently lift up one side of the skin on each piece of chicken.

Then spoon in a HEAPING amount of spinach. (I made 4 pieces here, but this recipe could have filled 6.)

Then I pulled the skin over nice and tight, we want to make sure the filling doesn't come out while cooking.

Use 1tbs of butter to grease the baking dish, then top each piece of chicken with a 1/2tbs of butter. Then grind a nice amount of fresh salt and pepper over the top.

In to the oven at 350 for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink and the skin becomes nice and crisp.

YUM!

I served this with some basil pesto tortellini... YUM

Look at all that filling! Remember that over load of smokey flavor? Well.... it all melted and penetrated the entire piece of chicken and actually became a hint of flavor... perfect!

I hope you enjoy it if you try it!

Enjoy!

Recipe #33, 332 more to go.

SORRY !!!

I'm sorry folks... I've just been really busy with work and school and the Olympics... yeah I was glued to my TV for the past few weeks... it was all so exciting.

Anyway... Very soon I'll post a whole bunch of recipes... Just give me a little bit...

THANK YOU !