Rotini and Cheese with Broccoli and Ham

Yes, I made a dish with ham. Before you fall over, true to form, I used turkey ham. I was at my local Whole Foods one day, spotted it and ended up bringing it home with me for some unknown reason. I make dishes using ground turkey, turkey bacon and turkey sausage but turkey ham? I don’t crave ham or really miss eating it but I ate it often as a kid. My mom would make ham and usually serve it with peas and either macaroni and cheese or some kind of cheesy noodle. I admit that when I was younger, ham was one of my favorite dinners. In fact, at Thanksgiving, we had both turkey and ham and I never ate the turkey. My how things have changed.

Rotini and Cheese with Broccoli and Ham seemed like a perfect way to use up the turkey ham. The ham is mixed with pasta, chopped broccoli and a creamy cheese sauce made tangy by the addition of dijon mustard. Use any cheese you might have lingering in your refrigerator if you don’t want to use Velveeta. With simple seasonings of salt, pepper, and garlic powder, this is a flavorful, jazzed up version mac-and-cheese that packs up well for workday lunches.

The ingredients:

Cook pasta according to package directions and add the broccoli when 5 minutes are left. Drain.

While the pasta cooks, spoon flour into a medium saucepan and gradually add the milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat 8 minutes or until mixture is thick, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat and stir in cheese, dijon mustard, salt, garlic powder and pepper.

Combine pasta mixture, cheese sauce, and ham and serve.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions:

  • Whole-wheat rotini
  • Reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Asian Chicken Salad

Unfortunately, I’m not a big salad person. I know some people who can eat a salad for lunch everyday but I’m just not one of those people as much as I wish I was. Every once in a great while, I’ll go through a salad phase, but that comes and goes with the solar eclipse. I just don’t enjoy chomping on lettuce. I love baby spinach but only when cooked or topping a sandwich. But recently I realized that I do like cabbage. Maybe because there is more heft to it. This is a realization for me because I never ate cabbage as a kid. Not even the little cups of creamy coleslaw that seemed to sit beside every sandwich at every restaurant.

But since this blog is making me expand my horizons a little, I boldly lifted two different kinds of cabbage into my grocery cart this weekend in order to make Asian Chicken Salad. Napa cabbage and red cabbage are mixed with chopped chicken and cilantro and tossed with a spicy, gingery, Asian dressing. The dressing calls for Chinese mustard (I got mine from a leftover Chinese food packet!) but if you don’t have any, I think dijon or even yellow mustard would work. The dressing gets heat from the chile paste and a slight sweetness from honey. Topping it all of are toasted almonds and Chinese noodles (I used chow mein noodles) which add a buttery crunch and sweet, juicy mandarin oranges. This is a great salad which will travel well for a picnic or, if you plan on eating it over a few days, toss the dressing when you are ready to eat to keep the cabbage from getting soggy. Don’t be intimidated by the list of ingredients in this recipe (which is one of Cooking Light Magazine‘s Superfast recipes) because if you use precooked chicken, it can be made in less than 20 minutes. This is one salad I won’t mind eating everyday.

The ingredients:

In a large nonstick skillet, sauté almonds in melted butter over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add in Chinese noodles and sauté for 3 minutes or until toasted. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, honey, Chinese mustard, ginger, and chile paste (sambal oelek) with a whisk.

Add in cabbages, chicken, and cilantro and toss gently to coat.

Top salad with oranges and noodle/almond mixture.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions:

  • Green cabbage
  • Chow mein noodles

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Orzo Salad with Corn, Tomatoes, and Basil

What is it about pasta salad that makes it such a good go-to dish to make when attending a warm weather get-together?  A few weekends ago, my friend had a few people over to swim at her pool and like the great hostess that she is, she had plenty of food and snacks waiting for guests upon arrival.  When I walked into her kitchen, I saw the biggest bowl of homemade pasta salad and turned to look at the friend I arrived with who was carrying her own container of homemade pasta salad.  We both just shrugged because, really, can you ever have too much pasta salad?  Ironically, earlier that morning, I had every intention on making Orzo Salad with Corn, Tomatoes, and Basil to take to the party but decided I didn’t have enough time.  Probably a good thing.

Even though pasta can sometimes be heavy, there is something about a cold, light pasta salad when it’s warm out that hits the spot.  This colorful pasta salad is made with orzo (rice-shaped pasta) and fresh ingredients of corn, tomatoes, and basil.  The whole mixture is livened up with a refreshing and simple vinaigrette of lemon juice, olive oil, and red wine vinegar.  I took a short-cut and used thawed frozen corn in place of fresh and didn’t really notice a difference.  I think canned would work here too.  Next time you think about making a pasta salad for a summer event, consider making this.  Just call first dibs on whose bringing the pasta salad.

The ingredients:

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.  While the pasta cooks, combine lemon juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and crushed garlic in a small bowl.  Set aside. 

Drain pasta and place in a large bowl.  Pour half of the dressing over orzo and toss.  Allow to cool to room temperature.  

Once pasta is at room temperature, add the remaining dressing, corn, tomato, and basil to pasta and toss to coat.  Let pasta salad stand for 30 minutes before serving to allow flavors to meld.

Additions:  None

Omissions: 

  • Red onion

Substitutions:  None

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

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