Cheddar French Toast with Sizzzled Tomatoes

Yum! This recipe comes from Real Simple. Just tried it tonight for the first time and it was delicious. I'll definitely be making this again. This is a savory french toast, a great version for those who aren't fans of breakfast. It's also pretty easy to make, and a nice departure from the usual recipes I tend to rotate.

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups grated sharp Cheddar
1 tsp dried thyme
8 thick slices of country-style bread or Italian bread
4 tbsp butter
2 red or green tomatoes, thickly sliced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Whisk together the eggs, milk, and 1/2 tsp of salt in a large flat dish. Add the Cheddar and thyme. Soak 2 of the bread slices in the batter for 1 or 2 minutes, turning them once.



Melt 1 tbsp of the butter on a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. With a spatula, lift the bread from the bowl, allowing any excess batter to drip off, and transfer it to the skillet. Use a fork to transfer some of the cheese from the batter to the bread.



Cook the bread until golden, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining butter, bread, and batter.

Season the tomatoes with the remaining salt and the pepper. Wipe out the skillet and return to medium heat. Heat the oil. Add the tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes per side. Serve along side the french toast.



*I also served a side of asparagus, cleaned, trimmed, and seasoned with olive oil, salt and lemon pepper, broiled in the toaster oven.

Burrito bake!

This is a recipe that comes from Bisquick. My mother in law introduced me to this right after Sam was born. She made a big batch and left it for us so we wouldn't starve when we were home for the first week we were alone with Sam. Tripp loves it and we took it to a potluck party last night and it was a huge hit. It's really easy to make and a great comfort food.

Ingredients:
1 cup of Bisquick
1/4 cup of water
1 can of refried beans (I like to use the Goya Rancheros version, which adds a little bit of spiciness)
1 lb. ground turkey, browned and drained
1 cup of salsa
1 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded/grated

Heat the oven to 375. Grease a 9x9 inch baking dish. Mix the Bisquick, water, and refried beans. Spread the bean mixture into the prepared dish. Add the browned turkey on top of the layer of bean mixture, then add the salsa, and finally the cheese. Bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes. Serve with salsa and sour cream if you like.

*I also sautee about 1/2 cup of chopped onion and 1 chopped clove of garlic to the browning turkey for some extra flavor.

Modestine's peachy chicken

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Sylvia's Family Soul Food Cookbook (with some modifications). It's got an interesting mix of sweet and savory. It complemented the smoked turkey collard greens recipe really well. It's also really easy to put together, which is always great for weeknight meals.

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, rinsed and patted dry
1 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
One 16 oz. can sliced cling peaches in light syrup, undrained
1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tbsp. soy sauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the chicken breasts in a 9x13x1 1/2 inch baking dish. In a small bowl combine the lemon pepper, salt, and black pepper. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with the lemon pepper mixture, let stand for 20 minutes. Drain the syrup from the peaches into a small bowl, stir the lemon juice and soy sauce into the syrup. Pour over the chicken pieces. Bake for 45 minutes, uncovered, turning once. Add the peach slices and cook for 15 minutes more, or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve with yummy collards!

Collard greens with smoked turkey

OK, so you can probably tell that I didn't use all of that first bunch of collards I bought. But this recipe, which was a combination of three recipes I have, was DELICIOUS. I mean, I've never had collard greens in any southern restaurant that tasted this good. If you've got some collard greens lying around, you should definitely give this a try. You can eat these as a side to any meat, poultry or fish. I served this with the Peachy chicken recipe.

Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
2 tbsps. olive oil
6 slices of turkey bacon, chopped
1/2 cup of onion, chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 a bunch of collards (about 1/2-3/4 a lb.), washed and chopped
1/4 cup of water

In a large, deep skillet, heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil over medium heat. Add the turkey bacon and onion, stirring occasionally, until onions are transluscent. Once the bacon and onion are cooked, remove from the skillet, set aside. Add 1 tbsp. of olive oil to the skillet, add, salt, pepper, sugar, and pepper flakes to the oil. Add the chopped collards to the pan, pour the water over the collards. Cook the collards, stirring frequently, for about 5-10 minutes. Then, add bacon and onion to the collards, cover, turn heat to low, and allow to simmer for another 5-10 minutes, until the stems are tender and easily pierced by a fork. Serve!

Fried sweet potatoes, apples and onions

I'm a huge fan of sweet potatoes and Fuji apples so this is my new favorite recipe. Lots of vitamin A and fiber. It has a great combination of sweet and savory, which I love. This recipe works really well with poultry, I served it with sauteed chicken cutlets. It would probably pair well with some juicy pork chops too. My husband and I ate all of this, yes, all 4-6 servings worth, in one sitting. So, I guess you could say that we thought it tasted pretty good.

Fried sweet potatoes, apples, and onions:
Makes 4-6 servings

3 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1/4" thick
1/4 cup water
2 medium red apples, peeled and sliced (I tried this with Fuji apples)
1 cup sweet onion, sliced
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp. butter (I made it with SmartBalance)

Mix together the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a small bowl, set aside. In a large skillet heat the oil over medium-high heat, add the sweet potatoes and cook until browned, about 2 minutes. Flip the sweet potatoes and let brown another 2 minutes or so. Add the sliced onion, and simmer a minute or two until the onions are translucent. Add the water, sprinkle the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla mixture evenly over the sweet potatoes and onions. Add the apple slices, stir making sure that the sugar mixture is spread evenly. Dot with the butter. Cover and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.

When it's done the sweet potatoes, apples, and onions should be soft and simmering in a sweet and spicy carmelized sauce.

Grits pie and collard greens

My husband is a Southern' Boy and so I've had the pleasure of trying lots of yummy Southern staples, including grits and collard greens. I'd had them both before I met my husband but now I've had them many, many times in lots of variations. There seems to be an endless number of ways you can cook grits, this is an old staple that can be added to, subtracted from, and modified to suit anyone's tastes. It's a great way to make an inexpensive meal that goes a long way and tastes even better as leftovers. The recipe is pretty basic, I included potential add-ins afterward.

First the grits - you can cook the collards while the grits are in the oven.

Grits pie:
Makes 4-6 servings

12 ounces of breakfast sausage or bacon (I use turkey or chicken for both)
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 ounces of grated cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp. of salt
4 large eggs beaten
1 1/2 cups of cooked grits

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9 inch pie dish. Cook the sausage or bacon in a large skillet until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. I usually cook the onion with the sausage or bacon, and sautee until just cooked and translucent, you don't really want to brown them.


Remove the sausage/bacon and onion from heat. Mix the cheddar cheese, salt, and egg into the cooked grits until cheese is melted. Mix sausage/bacon and onion into the cooked grits. Pour the entire mixture into the pie dish.



Bake for about 40-45 minutes, until the top is puffy and browned on the edges.





Possible add-ins: shrimp, chopped jalapeno, chopped red and green bell peppers, green beans, chopped frozen okra, there are lots of options.

Collard greens:
Makes 4-6 servings

1/2 lb. of collards with stems that aren't too thick, washed and roughly chopped
1 14.5 oz. can of chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups of water
3 tsp. of sugar
1 tsp. of salt
pepper to taste
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Bring the broth and water to boil, add the collards, sugar and salt, cover and let simmer on medium-low heat for 30-35 minutes.



Once the stems are tender and can be easily pierced with a fork, drain the collards and move to a serving bowl. Toss with salt and pepper to taste, and red wine vinegar.

You can also toss with apple cider vinegar which I think is more common in Southern dishes.

Crock Pot Spanish Chicken

This is Nicole's friend Claudia... Nicole and Tripp got me a crock pot as a housewarming gift and I love it, I want to cook everything in it. I just tried this for the first time and it was delicious. It got the seal of approval from my boyfriend, probably the world's pickiest eater.

1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 to 1 tsp crushed red pepper (I used a little more)
1 lb turkey sausages, cut into 1 inch pieces (I used spicy turkey sausage - we like things spicy)
1 3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken halves, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, quartered, drained**
1 can (4 oz) sliced ripe olives, drained (black olives)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 packet of Sazon (the original recipe did not call for it, but I like it)

1. Mix all ingredients except artichoke and olives in slow cooker.

2. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, until chicken is cooked and tender. Stir in artichoke hearts and olives; heat through. I put the olives in for the last thirty minutes of cooking time, so that some of their flavor could be incorporated into the sauce. Serve over white rice.

**I am not a fan of artichokes, so I replaced them with green pimento (spanish olives) about 20 olives sliced into thirds.

Enjoy!