Skinny Chicken Enchiladas with Spanish Yellow Rice

I'm a big fan of Gina's dishes at SkinnyTaste.com. The recipes are unique and inventive while maintaining an interest in staying on the lighter side. A few Sundays ago I made her Skinny Chicken Enchiladas and Spanish Yellow Rice to absolute rave reviews. My very picky family said it was one of the best meals they'd had in ages. I wish Gina could know what an accomplishment that distinction is! I'm also a fan of this recipe because, while very involved, each stage can be done separately and assembled when you're ready. The rice can be cooked completely while the enchiladas are in the oven, and everything is done at the same time. Win!

Creamy Vegetable Soup with Chicken

So, I've been trying to eat healthier, which often means many nights of grilled chicken with a side of salad, spinach or broccoli. Yawn. But really, none of those boring healthy options are really feasible for bringing to work for lunch. I will NOT re-heat meat in a microwave, unless it's in some sort of stew or soup, and salad prepared ahead of time for lunch gets wilty and stale too quickly. 

Luckily my mother-in-law came to visit last week and brought with her a batch of creamy vegetable soup with chicken. I took one bite and knew this was going to be my lunch for quite awhile. She left me the recipe, so I was able to make another batch once she left. While it wasn't as good as hers, it was still really tasty, healthy, and something that I'm not likely to tire of too quickly.

Project Meatball - Part 1

One of my fondest memories of growing up is my great-grandmother's meatballs. She came over from Italy in her 20s, and brought with her centuries of culinary traditions and techniques that still exist in my family today. Unfortunately, no one ever quite learned how to replicate her meatballs before she passed away. We've all tried, repeatedly, to get the right combination of soft texture and warm, savory flavor, and while each attempt has been delicious, none have that certain quality that we've been striving for. 

Mediterranean Steak & Cheese

This recipe was on the recommendation of my mother who was visiting, and follows Dede Med on Facebook. She was particularly intrigued by the Mediterranean Steak & Cheese recipe, so we tried it out, and it was really fantastic and unique.

Moussaka

Moussaka was a special request from John for his birthday. His parents and sister were visiting, it was hovering around 100 degrees in Albany that day, and we don't have AC. So making a dish that was somewhat involved, and required turning the oven on, was a bit of a challenge. But it was so, so, so worth it. One of the top 10 best things I've ever made. We got the recipe from a book borrowed from John's co-worker, who is Greek, so we figured she'd know where to find the best recipe for moussaka. She was right - I've had moussaka many times before, but this was by far the best.

Home-Ground Hamburgers

This will be a relatively short post, for a couple of reasons. First, it's less of a recipe and more of a quick "look what I made." Second, I'm really behind in my posts, but I've been cooking, so I have a good 3-4 posts I want to get written before I completely forget how I made them. 

Vegetable and Gruyere Pizza

If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time I've done a blog post about pizza. I don't often do traditional New York-style pizza, just because it's nearly impossible to recreate. So when I do make pizza, I tend to do more unique combinations of toppings, doughs, and cheeses. Hence my latest creation -- Vegetable and Gruyere Pizza. 

I had just gotten over a really nasty stomach bug, and wanted something a little light, with lots of vegetables, so I decided to make a vegetable pizza. I was cooking for my husband and my sister, and most of the vegetables I wanted to put on got vetoed, so the list got narrowed down to green peppers, mushrooms and red onions. Gruyere is quickly becoming my favorite cheese, and it goes so well with mushrooms, so that was an easy choice. Again staying with the healthy theme, I wanted more of a whole wheat dough. The grocery store had plain and whole wheat, but my eye caught a very seedy multi-grain dough that sounded fun. At least to me, it did. I brought it home to many moans and grumbles from the peanut gallery, who were quickly won over after the first bite.