Fully Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Well, as advertised, this soup tastes just like a fully loaded baked potato. You taste of course the potato, but also the sour cream, bacon, green onion, garlic, butter and cheese. This soup would be perfect on a day where you got some good exercise, if you know what I mean...

 

Ingredients:

2 large russet baked potato's, skin removed

16 ounces 2% milk

1 table spoon bacon bits

1/2 cup lite sour cream

2 green onions, diced

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon butter

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup shredded lite cheese

 

Preparation:

I made this soup in a Vita Mix which makes it really easy, but also the Vita Mix gives the soup the most wonderful texture.

 

Combine the cut up baked potato's, milk, bacon, sour cream, green onions, garlic clove, butter and a grind of salt and pepper to the Vita Mix. Place the Vita Mix on the soup setting and let it do its thing. After a few minutes the soup will be blended and piping hot. Yes, the Vita Mix actually heats the soup because the blades spin so fast. Add the cheese to the soup and stir with a large spoon to incorporate. Check the soup for proper salt and pepper and you're done.

 

To serve, place a portion of soup in a bowl and garnish with a few diced green onions and a sprinkle of shredded cheese. 

Bell Pepper Trinity Pasta Shells

I bought a packages bell peppers that had one green, one red and one yellow and all I had to do was figure out what to make with them. I had some pasta shells so I thought here's a perfect side dish. I rounded out the dish with yellow onion, garlic, salt and pepper and it was awesome.

 

Ingredients:

1 package Barilla pasta shells

1/2 bell peppers; green, red & yellow

1/2 diced yellow onion
2 cloves minced garlic
2 tablespoon olive oil
Diced green onions
Salt and pepper

Preparation:
Take a large stock pot and fill with water. Add 1 tablespoon salt and bring to boil. Cook the pasta according to directions which is usually 10 minutes to al dente which is firm to the bite. Drain the pasta and set a side.

 

Take a 12" sauté pan and heat to medium. Add the olive oil, onion, garlic and a grind of salt and pepper. Stir the mixture frequently adjusting the heat down if necessary to avoid burning the onion and garlic. 

 

Take the bell peppers and dice into small pieces about 3/8". Add the bell peppers to the sauté pan and cook until the bell peppers start to turn translucent. Add the pasta shells and toss well and you're done.  

 

To serve, place the bell pepper trinity pasta shells into a serving bowl. Garnish the dish with diced green onions, a grind of salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Chicken Cheese Burger with Blue Cheese Wedge Salad

Wow, this is so simple and so dang good. These are my classic burger ingredients; lettuce, tomato, red onion, mayonnaise and stone ground mustard. Put this on the list to make some day soon!

Ingredients:
Potato bun
1 pound ground chicken
Sliced Monterey jack cheese
Iceberg lettuce
Tomato
Red onion
Mayonnaise
Stone ground mustard

Preparation:

Ground chicken is really soft and kind of difficult to make into a patty. Use a sheet of wax paper to make your patties. Put a sprinkle of water on the wax paper and keep your hands wet with water as well. By doing this you'll keep the ground chicken from sticking to the cutting board and your hands. 

Heat a 12" sauté pan to medium high. Use a little spray canola so the chicken patty doesn't stick to the pan. Cook the chicken patty for about 4 minutes per side, longer if your make thicker patties. When you turn the patty, add a slice of cheese a couple of minutes before the burger is done. When the burger is done, your ready to assemble.

 

Take you fresh potato bun and start by adding some mayo to the bottom piece of bun. Next add the lettuce and then chicken cheese patty. Next add the sliced tomato and sliced red onion. Take the top bun and spread on some stone ground course mustard. Cut the chicken burger in half and serve with a simple salad

Kale and Vegetable Salad with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette Dressing and Shredded Blue Cheese

I like some of the prepackaged salad mixes because of the unique combinations of leafy greens and vegetables, but most of the time the dressing has too many calories and fat. Here's a salad that I really like that I changed up by adding Bolthouse Farms blue cheese vinaigrette dressing and shredded blue cheese. By shredding the blue cheese you're not really adding that much cheese, maybe a tablespoon and the dressing only has 3 grams of fat. This salad is rich tasting and really healthy. 

Ingredients:

1 package Sweet Kale vegetable salad

Blue cheese wedge
Bolthouse Farms blue cheese vinaigrette dressing
Fresh ground pepper

Preparation:
Place the contents of the salad mix in a large salad bowl. Dispose of the salad dressing that came in the package. Add 2 tablespoons of the Bolthouse Farms blue cheese vinaigrette per person and mix really well.

To serve, place a portion on a serving plate and grate some blue cheese over the salad. Finish the salad with a grind of fresh black pepper.

Chicken Raviolis with Eggplant and Cherry Tomato Sauce

This is simply fabulous. I've worked on this recipe for a while now and I have it just where I want it. If you're a fan of eggplant then this would be something you should try.

 

Ingredients:

Prima Pasta chicken ravioli's

1 eggplant
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup red or yellow cherry tomato's sliced in half
1/2 yellow onion diced
2 crushed garlic cloves
Parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper
Italian parsley

Preparation:
Peel and cut the eggplant into 1/2"x 1/2" pieces. Place the eggplant into a 12" sauté pan. Add a 1/2 cup of water, cover and simmer steam the eggplant for 10 minutes. Check every couple of minutes because you don't want the water to completely evaporate, so you may need to add more so the eggplant doesn't burn. After 10 minutes add the olive oil, onion, garlic, cherry tomato's and a grind of salt and pepper. Sauté on medium heat for 10 minutes. The sauce will be done when the cherry tomato's have completely broken down. Lastly check for seasoning, you may need to adjust the salt and pepper..

Take a large stock pot and fill with water. Add 1 tablespoon salt and bring to boil. Cook the ravioli's according to directions which is usually 10 minutes to al dente which is firm to the bite. Drain the ravioli's and add to the sauté pan, toss and you're done

To serve, place a portion on a serving plate and garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, fresh grated parmesan cheese, grind of salt and pepper and a dash of chopped Italian parsley. 

The Best Ever Red, White and Purple Potato's Fully Loaded

I made this recipe back in  May of '14, then I made it again recently, but in addition to the red potato's I added white and purple potato's, a few more toppings and it was awesome. I got this recipe from watching America's Test Kitchen. These potato's take in the garlic and bay leaf essence and they really are the best potatoes ever!

Ingredients:
1 pound red, white & purple potatoes 1" to 1-1/4" size
1 tablespoon butter
2 whole garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
6 green onions diced
1/8 cup shredded cheese
1/4 cup lite sour cream
Pinch red pepper flakes
Salt and Pepper


Preparation:

Wash the potatoes and slice in half. Place the potatoes flat side down in a 12" sauté pan. The potatoes will remain flat side down for the entire cooking process. By doing this you will end up with a crispy golden brown potato on one side and creamy in the middle. Next add the butter, garlic, bay leaf and water to just cover the top of the potatoes.

 

Cover the potatoes and cook at just below a boil for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and raise the temp to a slow boil and cook until all the water evaporates. Once the water has evaporated, remove the bay leaf and garlic cloves. Add a touch of olive oil, cook until the bottom side of the potato is golden brown.  Take the garlic cloves and rough dice them and toss on to the potatoes. To serve, place the potatoes on a plate or shallow bowl, top with the chopped Italian parsley, diced green onions, shredded cheese, red pepper flakes and sour cream. Finish the dish with a grind of salt and pepper

Avocado Cilantro Salad

Here's a really tasty salad using one of my favorite salad dressings from Bolthouse Farms, cilantro avocado. This is a yogurt based dressing that got a little kick to it.

 

Ingredients:

1 head green leaf lettuce
Bolthouse cilantro avocado yogurt dressing
1 avocado diced
1 Roma tomato diced
6 green onions diced
1/4 cup cilantro leafs
Sprinkle of shredded cheese
Crispy tortilla strips

Preparation:
Wash and dry the green leaf lettuce. Cut into bite size pieces and place enough for 2 servings into a large salad bowl. Add the avocado, tomato, green onion, cilantro and cheese and mix well. Add 2 tablespoons of dressing and mix the salad really well. Place a portion of salad on a serving plate and garnish with crispy tortilla strips.

Spaghetti with Chicken and Basil / Walnut Pesto Sauce

I really like fresh made pesto sauce. I've made a similar recipe without the chicken breast previously  and you can find the recipe on the blog. This time I found that there's a big difference in taste when using pine nuts verse other nuts such as walnuts. The pine nut adds bright and almost spicy taste and the walnut a rich, creamy and earthy taste. Overall, I prefer walnuts and will make that again in the future.

Ingredients:

1 pound Barilla spaghetti

1 chicken breast poached and diced

1 package fresh basil from Trader Joe's

4 garlic cloves

1/8 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the package. Barilla is my favorite pasta and their spaghetti cooks to perfect al dente in 12-13 minutes.

 

Remove the larger stems from the basil leaves and pack into the food processer. Add the garlic, walnuts and olive oil. Process until the smooth. If the pesto mixture is too thick add some more olive oil. When done set a side while the pasta cooks.

 

When your spaghetti is done, drain and put the spaghetti into a 12" sauté pan. Turn the heat on medium, add the diced chicken breast and then add 3/4's of the pesto and mix well. The pesto should be completely incorporated into the spaghetti. At this point you may want to add more pesto if needed. When the spaghetti, chicken and sauce heated, add 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, mix well and you're done. Place a portion of pesto spaghetti on a plate and top  with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, a few chopped walnut pieces and a grind of black pepper.