Luau Turkey Loaf with Pineapple Chutney

One of my new Christmas cookbooks is Healthy Cooking for Two (Or Just You) by Francis Price. I immediately went through the entire book and marked recipes that I wanted to try, so when we were brainstorming the menu for this week I turned to the book and looked back at what I had marked. Kevin is always wanting meatloaf but I just don't care for it, but the flavors in this Luau Turkey Loaf actually didn't seem too bad. I had some leftover ground turkey in the freezer so on the menu it went. This dish actually was pretty good, though the pineapple chutney that accompanied it made the meal in my opinion. Kevin liked it pretty well so I have a feeling I will be making this again when the man wants some meatloaf.



Luau Turkey Loaf and Pineapple Chutney
Source: Healthy Cooking for Two (Or Just You) by Francis Price

For 2 servings:
1 tablespoon pineapple or orange juice
1 1/2 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped onions
1/8 small sweet green or red pepper, chopped
2 quarter-size slices fresh ginger
6 oz. lean ground turkey
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 large egg white

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a blender, combine the pineapple or orange juice, soy sauce, onions, peppers, and ginger. Process on medium speed until the vegetables are finely pureed. Pour into a medium mixing bowl. Add the turkey, bread crumbs, and egg.

Lightly coat a small baking sheet with no-stick spray. Blend everything well with your hands and pat the mixture into a loaf shape on the baking sheet. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the loaf is brown on top with no trace of pink in the center when you pierce it with a sharp knife.

Let the loaf stand for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Serve hot or cold.


Pineapple Chutney

1 can (8 oz) juice-packed crushed pineapple (with juice)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped red or green peppers
1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons golden raisins (I omitted)

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the pineapple (with juice), sugar, vinegar, onions, red or green peppers, ginger, and pepper flakes. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Stir in the raisins and microwave on high for 1 minute. Let the chutney stand at least 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm or cold.


MA! The meatloaf!!!
...sorry, couldn't resist ;-)

Chicken Enchilada Soup

One of my favorite snack foods every is Harry and David's Pepper and Onion Relish. Every year my mom and I split a case of the stuff and it usually lasts for a couple months. I usually just use it as a dip for chips, but there are 4 recipes on the jar I have always wanted to try. I finally got around to trying one this past week and while it was very good, I think I like the relish better just by itself! This recipe made enough for 2 bowls of soup, which we ate with warm crescent rolls.



Chicken Enchilada Soup
Source: Harry and David

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup Pepper and Onion Relish
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or stock (I just used the whole can)
1/2 cup cream (I used fat free half and half)
Salt to taste
3/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese
Optional: 1 cup cooked chicken breast, diced
My addition: 1 or 2 chopped scallions for garnish

Heat oil in a pot over medium heat and saute onion and garlic. Add relish and chicken broth and cook with pot covered for 15 min. over low heat. Add cream, salt, and chicken (optional) and simmer another 8-10 minutes over low heat. Stir in cheese and serve hot. Ladle into bowls and top with scallions.

Roasted Potatoes

I have had this Cooking Light recipe in a stack of "things to try soon" for about a month now, so I decided to make these for a side for my family's Christmas dinner at my grandma's house. There are about 30 people in the family so we eat a LOT! I made a 5 lb. bag of potatoes and they were gone in under 5 minutes... guess I didn't make enough because not everyone even got some! I know I for one could not wait to eat them, because for the hour drive to Grandma's house all I could think about was how my car smelled like Chicken Shack potatoes (which are amazing, for you poor people who never lived near Detroit and experienced them first-hand)!! I made the vinaigrette in a separate container and put it on the potatoes after I reheated them, right before serving. These were really good and I am making some for tomorrow night's dinner for Kevin and I to enjoy, since we only got a taste last weekend.



New Potatoes with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette
Source: Cooking Light, November 2008

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
7 garlic cloves, unpeeled
3 pounds small red potatoes, quartered
3 tablespoons minced chives
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (I omitted since I cannot stand any sort of mustard flavor, and used a dash of Worcestershire sauce and an extra dash of salt and vinegar instead)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, garlic, and potatoes in a roasting pan or jelly-roll pan; toss well to coat. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until tender, stirring after 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.
3. Squeeze garlic cloves to extract pulp. Discard skins. Combine garlic pulp, remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, chives, vinegar,, and mustard into a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add potatoes to bowl; toss well to coat.

Yield: 8 servings (about 3/4 cup)

White Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake

This cheesecake was inspired by the Cheesecake Factory's Peppermint Bark cheesecake, which is only available around the holidays. I couldn't find a recipe that was exactly what I wanted, but I found one that came pretty close and just made some minor changes to it. I don't think it as good as the Chubby Hubby Cheesecake that I made for Thanksgiving, but it was still very enjoyable. The red and green candy canes gave it a very festive touch. It also was the first cheesecake I made in my new springform pan that I got for Christmas! I ended up having to double the crust because there was no way a single recipe was going to cover the whole bottom of the pan!



White Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake
Adapted from RecipeZaar

Ingredients:
2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter, melted
4 tablespoons sugar
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat)
3 eggs
4 oz. white baking chocolate
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
Crushed candy canes for garnish (I used 1/2 a box, so 4 or 5 candy canes)

Directions:
1. Mix graham cracker crumbs, 4 tablespoons sugar and melted butter together to make crust. Press mixture into bottom of 10-inch springform pan. Bake crust at 325F for 10 minutes. Cool.

2. Mix cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar until just blended. Add peppermint extract and eggs, one at a time, mixing after each until blended.

3. Melt white chocolate in microwave or double boiler and stir into cream cheese mixture.

4. Pour mixture over cooled crust. Bake 45-50 minutes at 325F or until center is almost set. Cool completely, then refrigerate for (at least) 4 hours.

5. When ready to serve, spread a thin layer of whipped topping or whipped cream on top of cheesecake (if desired) and sprinkle with crushed candy canes. You can sprinkle with red and green sugar, too, if you like.

Quick Candied Yams

Since Kevin and I spent Christmas with just the two of us this year, I didn't go all out on the menu. We got some sliced ham from Heavenly Ham, and I served it with corn, peas, and these yams. (Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures, again!) It was a very nice day and it was the first time we had spent all of Christmas day together with just us. Like the title of the recipe implies, they are quick, easy, and tasty! I reduced the sugar because we don't like them to be overly sweet. I also added some cinnamon and nutmeg because I love those flavors together!

Quick Candied Yams
Adapted from the recipe on the side of the Bruce's Yams can

1 can Bruce's Yams (the medium size can)
2 TB butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup syrup from the can
Sprinkle of cinnamon to taste
Sprinkle of nutmeg to taste

Place Yams in a shallow baking dish. Combine syrup from can, sugar and butter in saucepan, stirring to boil to thicken. Pour sauce over Yams. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake in 350° oven for 20 to 30 minutes, basting frequently.

Hearty Christmas Pasta

My dad and I created this recipe together when I was home for a few days leading up to Christmas. I call it Christmas pasta because it is red and green. It is very filling and delicious, and has some unexpected ingredients that most people (myself included) don't tend to think of as going with pasta (such as the carrots), but worked very well. This could be made healthier by using lean ground beef and turkey sausage, but since it includes so many veggies already it isn't too bad. Since we made this up by tasting as we went along, I am going to try my best to recall this exactly how we did it, but I didn't take any exact measurements so keep that in mind.



Hearty Christmas Pasta
A Kelsey and Jeff original

1 box farfalle pasta, cooked
1/2 lb. ground beef
2 links italian sausage, casings removed
1/2 - 1 whole onion, chopped
3-4 cloves minced garlic1 1/2 green peppers, in a large dice
2 handfuls baby carrots
4-5 celery ribs with leaves, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste and 1 can of water
2 teaspoons Dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
Freshly ground salt and pepper to taste
Handful fresh basil leaves
Handful cherry tomato halves

Brown ground beef and sausage in a large skillet. Remove from pan and add onion and garlic. Saute for a few minutes then add the green peppers, carrots, and celery. Cook for 5 minutes or so until starting to soften, then add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, water, and seasonings. Add browned meat back into the pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 15-20 minutes or until sauce is reduced to the consistency you want. Make sure to taste the sauce as you go and adjust seasonings. Remove from heat, stir in basil and cherry tomatoes, and serve over the farfalle.

Green Beans with Bacon

I made this as a side dish for our Christmas potluck with Kevin's side of the family (sorry, forgot to take a picture!). The were yummy! I used onion instead of shallots and turkey bacon instead of regular bacon because that was what I had in my fridge, and also to lighten it up a bit. It was very good and I would make the recipe again, but it is nothing too special.

Green Beans with Bacon
Source: Cooking Light

Yields 12 servings (2/3 cup)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed
3 bacon slices
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:
Cook green beans in boiling water for 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and plunge beans into ice water; drain.

Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; crumble. Add shallots to drippings in pan; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add beans, juice, salt, and pepper to pan; toss to combine. Cook 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring often. Remove from heat. Sprinkle bacon over bean mixture; toss.