Yummy (and easy) Recipes

I try out a lot of new recipes, my poor husband is always the guinea pig.  A lot of my recipes are from the magazine Real Simple.  Although I've been using Pinterest to find some new things to try as well.  Three nights in a row I made new dishes and they all turned out good!  Since I found some keepers I thought I would share those recipes with you.

Steak Fajitas with Sweet Potato and Poblano: 

2 TBS. Olive Oil
1 Large Sweet Potato (peeled and cut into small pieces)
1 Medium Onion, thinly sliced
1 Small Poblano Pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 1/4 Lbs. Skirt Steak, cut into strips.
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1-2 Tsp. chopped chipotle chilies in adobo sauces
Flour Tortillas, warmed.

So... before I begin telling how to cook it, which is really easy actually, I wanted to tell you that I made a few substitutions for what I had available.  I did not use a Poblano- I used two jalapeno peppers (I left the seeds in and thinly sliced them.)  I also did not use the chipotle chilies, although it sounds good.

Basically in a skillet put the oil, potato, onion and pepper with some salt and pepper on medium heat and cook until tender. (I added a few extra spices, a dash of chili pepper, a little nutmeg and a little brown sugar)

The recipe calls to broil the steak with some salt and pepper on it for 3-4 minutes on each side.  My broiler is broke so I simply grilled the steak... turned out just fine I think.

You can add the chilies to the sour cream or just use plain sour cream.  Throw it all together in a tortilla and enjoy!


Gingery Peanut Noodles with Chicken: 

(This recipe is for left over rotisserie chicken.  I bake a whole chicken and have some of that with...whatever... and then I use the leftovers for a different recipe.)

In a blender, blend together 1 Cup Water, 1/2 Cup Peanut Butter, 3 TBS. Rice Vinegar (I ran out so I used White Wine Vinegar), 3 TBS. Soy Sauce, 1 TBS Brown Sugar and 1 Tsp. grated Fresh Ginger.

Toss with 8 oz. Spaghetti (I used Angel Hair, I thought it went better with this dish), 1 1/2 cups Shredded Chicken, 1 sliced Red Bell Pepper, 1/2 English Cucumber (cut into strips) and 2 sliced Scallions.  Sprinkle with chopped up Peanuts.  (I cooked the pepper and cucumber in a skillet for a few minutes so that it was hot and little tender...I skipped the scallions, simply because I forgot.)

It was like eating home made Thai, really.  :)


Roasted Pears with Goat Cheese:

I made these little "treats" to have at the end of my dinner.  It wasn't really a dessert, but I would at least save it for last.  I had grilled pork chops and steamed broccoli to begin... but there are probably better options to make along side this recipe.

2 Ripe, Firm Pears
3.5 oz. Goat Cheese
3/4 oz. Pine Nuts
1 Sprig Rosemary
2 TBS. Honey
2 TBS. Butter

Slice the pears, remove core and seeds and leave a well for the filling.   Preheat oven to 350. Place the pears in an oven-safe dish, pour melted butter on top.  Add 1/2 cup water to the bottom of the pan.  Bake for 10-15 minutes.  Toss the cheese, rosemary and nuts together.  Sprinkle the mixture into the pears and bake for another 10 minutes.  Remove pears and drizzle with honey.  (Since there are only two of us we halved this recipe and just used one pear...etc.)


Happy Cooking!  Let me know if you have any good recipes that you've made lately.  Cheers!