Chicken Corn Chili

From Food Network Magazine. I used half the jalapeno since we were served it to kids.

* 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 large jalapeno pepper (1/2 chopped and 1/2 sliced; remove seeds for less heat)
* 1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles, drained
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
* 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
* 2 15-ounce cans large white beans or pinto beans (1 undrained; 1 drained and rinsed)
* 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
* 1 cup shredded monterey jack or white cheddar cheese
* Sour cream and cornbread, for serving (optional)

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until slightly soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, chopped jalapeno, green chiles and cumin and cook, stirring, until the cumin is toasted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, chicken and beans along with the liquid from one of the cans of beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 15 minutes.

Using a potato masher, mash the chili until about half of the beans are broken up. Stir in the corn, cilantro and 1/2 cup cheese. Divide the chili among bowls and top with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese and the sliced jalapeno. Serve with sour cream and cornbread, if desired.

Garlicky Spinach Lasagna

Yum-O! From Rachael Ray. I thought this was rather good. Jon and Evan had seconds. Martina really wasn't into it, but that's OK--she's picky.
I used a little less spinach because I didn't see a need to buy more than one large-size bag, so I had only about 1 lb.
To lighten it, I used no-yolk egg noodles, skim milk in the sauce, light pesto, only 4 oz goat cheese, and whole wheat bread crumbs.

It's a long recipe--to streamline it, I filled the pot with water (instead of using only 2 inches), dumped in all the spinach, then fished it out and boiled the pasta in the spinach water. I used onions instead of shallots in the sauce, to use what I had on hand.

Because of the messed-up flash on the camera, my picture is blurry. I will attempt to take a pic of the leftovers with a different camera.

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 lbs. baby spinach
* 4 tbsp. butter
* 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
* Salt and pepper
* 8 oz. wide egg noodles
* 2 cups Creamy White Sauce (see recipe below)
* 6 oz. fresh goat cheese
* 4 tbsp. prepared pesto
* 1 1/2 cups coarse fresh breadcrumbs
* 2 tbsp. EVOO

Directions:

1.

In a large saucepan, bring 2 inches water to a simmer. Add the spinach in batches, stirring until wilted; cook until all of it is tender. Drain and let cool. Squeeze out excess moisture and chop.
2.

In a large skillet, melt 2 tbsp. butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir until golden, about 1 minute. Stir in the spinach. Season lightly with salt and pepper; remove from the heat.
3.

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a large saucepan of boiling, salted water, cook the noodles, stirring often, until al dente. Drain— but do not rinse—and return to the saucepan. Stir in the white sauce to coat.
4.

Lightly grease an 8-inch square glass baking dish. Layer in half of the noodles and press with a spatula. Dot with half of the goat cheese, spread the spinach on top and press down. Stir 3 tbsp. pesto into the remaining noodles and spoon over the spinach. Dot with the remaining cheese. Cover snugly with foil and bake until hot and bubbling, about 35 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes.
5.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt the remaining 2 tbsp. butter over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and cook, stirring, until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Combine the remaining 1 tbsp. pesto with the EVOO. Drizzle the lasagna with the pesto oil and sprinkle with the crumbs.


Creamy White Sauce
Ingredients

* 2 tbsp. butter
* 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
* 1/4 cup flour
* 2 cups milk, warmed
* 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
* Salt and pepper

Directions:

1.

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in warm milk; bring to boil and cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan and 1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper.

Candy Bar Apple Salad

This one is from Taste of Home's site. In the actual magazine, they halve the recipe. I think I prefer this one though--I now have 1/2 pkg of unused pudding mix, half a thing of whipped cream left over, etc.

I can't have the chocolate in the Snickers bars, so we used Payday bars. Worked very well. No complaints. Jon can't have raw apples, so I took out one serving before I added the apples and filled his with grapes.

Camera flash wouldn't work so I didn't take a picture, but it looks like lumpy yellowish whipped cream. Evan had many servings.

* 1-1/2 cups cold 2% milk
* 1 package (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix
* 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
* 4 large apples, chopped (about 6 cups)
* 4 Snickers candy bars (2.07 ounces each), cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Directions

* In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Fold in whipped topping. Fold in apples and candy bars. Refrigerate until serving. Yield: 12 servings (3/4 cup each).

Crab and Corn Chowda-Mac

From Rachael Ray. Kids absolutely loved this; cleaned their plates and had seconds.
I left out the red pepper because it doesn't agree with me, but if you can have it, I'd put it in. We can't find our cayenne pepper in our boxes of spices we haven't unpacked yet, so I had to leave that out. I also forgot the chives--I had dried ones sitting next to the stove, and completely forgot to garnish with them, but it was good either way. Jon wanted a little more salt, but I thought it was fine.

* 1 box large shell pasta
* Salt
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1 turn of the pan
* 3 slices bacon, chopped
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 2 ribs celery, chopped, with greens
* 1/2 small red bell pepper, chopped
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 cup chicken stock
* 1 cup milk
* 2 cups shredded sharp white Cheddar
* 1 (6-ounce) tub lump fresh crabmeat, flaked
* 1 cup frozen corn kernels
* 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
* Couple pinches cayenne pepper
* 3 tablespoons chopped or snipped fresh chives

Directions

Bring pasta water to boil and salt it. Cook pasta to al dente.

While pasta cooks, heat a large, deep skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil to pan with the bacon. Cook bacon 3 minutes. Add onions and celery and cook 3 minutes more. Add bell pepper and cook another minute or two. Add flour and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in stock, then milk. When milk bubbles, add crab and corn to heat through, another minute. Stir in cheese, thyme and cayenne pepper. Melt cheese into sauce. Drain pasta and toss with cheese, crab and corn sauce. Adjust seasoning. Ladle in bowls and garnish with chives.