BLT Pasta

The first time I made this, it was good. Tonight was the second time I made it and with a few adjustments, it was great. Th
is recipe is my version of a recipe from Food Network Magazine.

12 ounces penne

6 ounces applewood smoked bacon, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 pints grape tomatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 cups arugula

1/2 cup asiago cheese, finely grated

Cook the penne in salted water until al dente. Reserve about a cup of the cooking liquid. Drain.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon over medium heat until just crisp. Drain the bacon on paper towels and reserve 3 tablespoons of the drippings. In a large saute pan, heat the 3 tablespoons bacon drippings over medium high heat and saute the onion about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic. Saute 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 12 minutes stirring often. Add the cream and cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly. Add the pasta, bacon, and 1/4 - 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Stir in the arugula until it is wilted. Stir in the asiago cheese. Remove from heat and serve. Serve with additional grated asiago cheese. Makes about 4 servings.

Roasted Beet Salad

Beets are so nutritious, but I always hated them and wished I didn't. I've been really into roasting vegetables lately. It's an easy way to make vegetables taste really good. It's not really quick, but I don't care. So, I was really excited when I saw a section in the October 2011 Food Network Magazine about roasting root vegetables. I used their ideas to come up with a really good salad which is heavy on roasted beets. I also have never liked gorgonzola cheese, but now I like both beets and gorgonzola cheese together in this salad.

8 beets

5 ounces mixed greens

6 - 8 tablespoons crumbled gorgonzola

1/4 cup pistachio kernels

olive oil

red wine vinegar

salt and pepper

Wash the beets. In a large bowl, toss the beets with olive oil and salt and pepper. Wrap each beet in foil and roast for about 45 minutes at 425 degrees. Let the beets cool until you can handle them. Peel the beets and cut into wedges.

Combine the mixed greens, beets, gorgonzola, and pistachios in a large salad bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and add a splash of red wine vinegar. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Toss and serve. Makes 4 large servings.

Bacon and Leek Quiche

I made this for the second time tonight and I'm now satisfied with my recipe. The original idea came from Food Network Magazine. A friend recommended the magazine and I've now bought two issues. I like it, so I think I'll subscribe. Anyway, the September issue had a section with 50 things to do with bacon. I liked the basic ingredients for their bacon quiche idea, but I thought the custard part of the quiche would be too rich for me, being made with cream and all. Here's my version:

6 slices applewood smoked bacon, chopped

2 leeks, sliced

0.4 lbs gruyere cheese, finely grated

1 cup milk

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

freshly ground pepper

9-inch frozen pie crust

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook the bacon until crisp and slightly browned in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Drain the bacon over paper towels on a plate. Reserve the bacon drippings. Add 2 tablespoons bacon drippings back to the skillet. Saute the leeks in the bacon drippings over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Spread a small amount of the cheese on the bottom of the pie crust. Spread the leeks over the cheese. Add a small amount of cheese over the leeks. Add the bacon over the cheese. Add the remaining cheese over the bacon. Whisk the milk, eggs, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper together and pour evenly in the pie crust. Bake for 35-40 minutes until center is set. Let quiche cool and set for 10 minutes before serving. Makes 6 servings.

Lentil Vegetable Soup

I have nothing to write about this soup except that it's healthy and delicious. The original recipe is from Cooking Light from maybe ten years ago.

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, finely diced
2 - 3 carrots, finely diced
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
1 cup dried lentils
5 oz baby spinach
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons whole grain Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
finely grated parmesan or asiago cheese

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion, celery, carrot, and bay leaves; saute for 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste, salt, and minced garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add vegetable stock, water, and lentils; bring mixture to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer mixture for 25 minutes. Stir in the spinach, parsley, vinegar, mustard, and pepper; cook 15 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Ladle soup into bowls; top with cheese. Makes 6 servings.

Broccoli Quiche

This is probably my recipe for dinner with the fastest prep time. It's a recipe that until now had scribbled on a piece of paper. The instructions probably make no sense to anyone but me. It's one of several recipes from my mother that I took down when I moved into my first apartment. My one change is the addition of a small amount of cayenne pepper.

As I mentioned in a previous quiche post, I barely made quiche because I was so hung up on making everything from scratch for the longest time. I do still think that my homemade crust is best, but the all-natural frozen crusts I've been buying are good enough for a quick dinner.

1 9-inch frozen pie crust

2 cups shredded colby jack (or cheddar or just monterey jack...) cheese

10 ounces frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained

1/2 cup slivered almonds

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the eggs and mayonnaise. Whisk in the milk, black pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle a little cheese on the bottom of the pie crust. Spread the broccoli over the cheese. Spread the rest of the cheese over the broccoli. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the cheese. Sprinkle the almonds over the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until center of quiche is set. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Makes 6 servings.

Cold Peach Soup

I never end up taking a picture of this soup and it's probably because I'm too busy wolfing it down to grab my camera. Maybe next time I'll remember and add a picture. This soup can be served as an appetizer or as dessert. We usually enjoy it as a dessert. I made a couple small changes to my mother's recipe, which may have come from bon appetit in the '80s. Here's how I make it:

7 large peaches, pealed and quartered

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Optional: 1/4 cup peach schnapps

Puree the peaches and sugar in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate. Makes about 6 servings. Garnish with peach slices.

Peach Cobbler with Rum-Pecan Ice Cream

I've got this in the oven as I type. I've made it a few times in the past and it's really quite wonderful. It was originally from a 1999 Cooking Light issue. I've made a few minor changes.

Rum-Pecan Ice Cream

1.5 quarts light french vanilla ice cream (I use Eddy's Slow Churned), softened

1/4 cup rum

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Combine ice cream, rum, and pecans in a bowl. Cover and freeze. (I generally just put the ice cream back in the package that it came in.)

Cobbler

Crust

2 cups flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup flaked, sweetened coconut

6 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup evaporated 2% milk

2 large egg yolks

Filling

4 to 4 1/2 pounds peaches, pealed and sliced

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Dash of salt

1 tablespoon sugar

Combine 2 cups flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to blend. Add coconut and butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine evaporated milk and egg yolks. Remove 1 tablespoon of milk mixture and set aside. Add remaining milk mixture to the food processor and pulse just until combined. Press mixture onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form a 6-inch square. Wrap with additional plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Roll Dough between two sheets of plastic wrap into a rectangle about 9-inches by 13-inches.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine peaches and next five ingredients in a large bowl. Spread evenly in a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish. Remove plastic wrap from dough and place on top of peach mixture. Brush dough with reserved milk mixture and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake 35 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before serving. Serve with a scoop of rum-pecan ice cream. Makes 16 small servings. We are pigs so it's about 8 servings for us.

Zucchini Bread

I have made zucchini bread a couple times this summer and decided that I would share the recipe I found. It's available online.

I made two minor changes. The first is that I reduced the white sugar to 1 cup and added 1 1/4 cups brown sugar. I like brown sugar and I think it adds nice flavor to sweet breads and muffins. The other change I made was to use pecans instead of walnuts. Walnuts irritate my mouth a little, so I usually swap them out for a different nut. Pecans are usually my first choice.

One other note: when you grate zucchini, there's a lot of liquid. Pour it in.