Best Zucchini Bread

I use all the fresh summer zucchini and then freeze mine for the winter months!  Take it out at night and there breakfast is!!

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar  (or 2 1/4 cups all white sugar)
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugars together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Creamed Kale

1 bunch of Kale
2 cloves garlic minced
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (I use more)
1/4 of a lemon
water
salt and pepper


Remove and discard stems of kale.  Roughly chop.  
Heat about 2 teaspoons olive oil in pan on medium-high heat.  Add kale and 1/2 cup water.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring frequently for 2 to 4 min. or until kale has wilted and liquid is cooked off.  Transfer to a strainer.  Hold or rest the strainer over a bowl.  Using a spoon, press down to release as much liquid as possible.  Transfer kale to cutting board and finely chop (optional).  
Heat a little more oil in the pan, add garlic.  Cook, stirring frequently, for 30 sec. to a minute (till frequent).  Add kale, butter and 1/4 cup water.   Season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring frequently, about 3-4 min.  Until heated through and combined.  Remove from heat, stir in cheese.   Squeeze lemon as desired.  

Favorite Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients
2-3 cooked and shredded chicken breasts (I like to grill them)
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup Ranch dressing (or blue cheese)
3/4 cup buffalo sauce (Franks or Sweet Baby Rays)
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 bunch celery, cleaned and cut into 4 inch pieces
crackers for dipping

Directions

Heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. Mix in half of the shredded cheese, and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover, and cook on Low setting until hot and bubbly. Serve with celery sticks and crackers.

Crispy Tuscan Grilled Kale Chips

1 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 bunches Tuscan kale, washed and spun dry
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste


Preparation


Pre-heat the grill.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, vinegar, zest and juice of lemon and kale. Season with salt and pepper and gently toss until the kale is evenly coated.

Carefully lay the kale side-by-side in a single layer on top of the grill and grill until crispy, about 2 minutes. Turn over and grill on the other side for another 1-2 minutes.

Pile the kale in a big stack on a large plate or cutting board and serve immediately.

Curtesy: http://www.rachaelray.com/recipes/crispy-tuscan-kale-on-the-grill

Sticky Asian Chicken Spaghetti

Sticky Asian Chicken Spaghetti

Recipe from: Created by Cathy Pollak for NoblePig.com | Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken tenderloins, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon vodka*
• 1 Tablespoon Mirin (Aji-Mirin, Sweet Cooking Rice Seasoning, available everywhere)
• 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger (not chopped)
• 1 clove garlic (not minced)
• 2 cups broccoli, blanched or steamed (small florets)
• 12 oz spaghetti (uncooked)
• green onion for garnish, sliced

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine chicken, hoisin, soy sauce, vodka, Mirin, toasted sesame oil, ginger and garlic. Let sit for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare broccoli (you don't want this mushy so be mindful not to overcook) and spaghetti. Keep warm.
• In a large skillet, over medium-low heat, add chicken to the pan using a slotted spoon. Allow the marinade to drip through the slotted spoon back into bowl, reserving it for later use. I cooked the chicken in two batches, carefully turning each piece and evenly spacing them out to get the desired brownness; about 3-4 minutes.
• While the last of the chicken is cooking pour the reserved marinade into a small saucepan (you will not have a lot, but it will be enough). Bring to a boil and simmer over heat for 5 minutes.
• Stir cooked, reserved marinade into spaghetti noodles and top each serving with chicken, broccoli and green onion.
• Serve immediately.
• Note from Chef: *Why add vodka to a marinade (I almost always do)? Just like salt, alcohol brings out the flavor in food. Alcohol does this by evaporation and molecular bonding. Food is also the beneficiary of alcohol's ability to bond with both fat and water molecules. In this way, alcohol bridges the gap between our aroma receptors (which respond only to molecules that can be dissolved in fat) and food (which consists primarily of water). This is very important because most of the great "flavor" in food comes from aromas in the nose rather than tastes in the mouth. In terms of a marinade or a brine with both water and fat soluble ingredients, by taking the flavor compounds in certain aromatics such as garlic, herbs or other fat soluble ingredients, alcohol helps carry those compounds into the meat that's soaking in the marinade or brine. But alcohol also helps carry water soluble flavor compounds into the meat as well. Water soluble flavors would include sour, sweet, salty and bitterness. With alcohol's effort, the result is more flavor and aroma into the marinated food. Even one tablespoon of a neutral-tasting vodka considerably improves the flavor penetration of any given marinade. (Trust me on this one, it's my profession.)
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Inside Out (unstuffed) bell peppers

Un-Stuffed Pepper Skillet
Shared By: Two Healthy Kitchens


Yield: About 7-8 cups

Ingredients
1 pound extra-lean ground beef
1½ cups chopped onion (from about half of a large onion)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
½ teaspoon kosher salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
1 24-ounce jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon hot sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot) (can add to individual bowls if needed)
4 cups cooked brown rice (cook ahead of time or brown rice will not cook)
1½ - 2 cups green pepper, chopped into 1-inch pieces (from 1 large or two small green peppers)
additional hot sauce for serving

Preparation
Preheat a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat and add beef, onion, garlic, salt and black pepper. Cook until beef is browned and cooked through, stirring to crumble. Drain if needed (although if using very lean beef, you likely won't need to.)
Add spaghetti sauce, using water to swish the residual sauce out of the jar. Add hot sauce. Cook for 10 minutes to allow flavors to meld.
Add rice and green peppers, cooking just until peppers are hot and crisp-tender.
Serve immediately, passing additional hot sauce as desired.

Creamy tomato tortellini soup

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
Dash of crushed red pepper flakes (optional or in adult bowls after serving)
2 (28 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 (32 oz) container vegetable or chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 (9 oz) packages fresh or frozen cheese tortellini (we use Buitoni)
Grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil, for garnish, optional

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the bay leaves and crushed red pepper flakes.

2. Add the diced tomatoes and vegetable broth. Stir in fresh basil and season with salt and black pepper, to taste. Simmer on low for 15 minutes.

3. Remove the bay leaves from the pot. Use a hand immersion blender to blend the soup (or carefully transfer soup to a blender to blend and return to the pot). Stir in the Greek yogurt until well combined. Stir in the cheese tortellini and cook on medium-low until tortellini is cooked, about 7-8 minutes. Serve warm.

Cheeseburger Soup

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup diced celery
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
4 tablespoons butter, divided
3 cups chicken broth
4 cups diced peeled potatoes (1-3/4 pounds)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups (8 ounces) process cheese (Velveeta), cubed
1-1/2 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup sour cream

Directions

1. In a 3-qt. saucepan, brown beef; drain and set aside. In the same saucepan, saute the onion, carrots, celery, basil and parsley in 1 tablespoon butter until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the broth, potatoes and beef; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
2. Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt remaining butter. Add flour; cook and stir for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly. Add to soup; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the cheese, milk, salt and pepper; cook and stir until cheese melts. Remove from the heat; blend in sour cream. Yield: 8 servings (2-1/4 quarts).