Caprese Salad

From here

Ingredients

• 2 cups balsamic vinegar
• 3 ripe tomatoes
• 12 ounces fresh mozzarella, thickly sliced
• Large bunch fresh basil leaves
• Olive oil, for drizzling
• Large pinch kosher salt
• Large pinch freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Measure the balsamic vinegar and pour into a saucepan. Bring it to a gentle boil over a low heat. Cook it until the balsamic vinegar has reduced to a nice thick glaze (but still pourable), about 15 minutes. Oh and one other thing, your house will stink. But it's a good kind of stink, it's a vinegary stink. Allow the reduction to cool to room temperature before you serve it.
2. When you are ready to assemble the salad, cut the tomatoes into thick slices. Arrange them on a platter, alternating them with the mozzarella slices. Tuck the whole basil leaves in between the tomato and cheese slices.
3. Drizzle on the gorgeous, almost black balsamic reduction. Then drizzle olive oil in a thin stream over the top. Finally, sprinkle on salt and pepper.

Comments

The balsamic glaze should be thick and syrupy.  It should be thick enough to coat a stirring spoon

Spinach Artichoke Dip

From here

Ingredients

• 2 10 oz packages of chopped frozen spinach
• 24 oz 2 12 oz cans/jars of quartered artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
• 2 8 oz packages of cream cheese
• 1/2 cup of sour cream
• 1/2 cup of mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 cups of shredded parmesan divided
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes optional
• Serve with pita chips tortilla chips, sliced baguette, or vegetables

Instructions

1. Place frozen spinach in a medium to large sauce pan. Cover pan and heat over medium-high heat until spinach defrosts.
2. When spinach has defrosted, add in artichokes.
3. Next, add in blocks of cream cheese. Stir until cream cheese melts and is incorporated with spinach and artichokes.
4. Then add in sour cream, mayonnaise, and 1 cup of parmesan. Stir until parmesan melts.
5. Add in seasonings.
6. You can immediately serve the spinach artichoke dip or place in an oven-proof baking dish and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes to melt cheese and form a delicious, crispy crust.
7. Enjoy with pita chips, tortilla chips, sliced baguette, or vegetables.

Minestrone Soup

From here

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 medium ribs celery, chopped
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 2 cups chopped seasonal vegetables (potatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, butternut squash, green beans or peas all work)
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 large can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, with their liquid (or 2 small 15-ounce cans)
• 4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 bay leaves
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup whole grain orecchiette, elbow or small shell pasta
• 1 can (15 ounces) Great Northern beans or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained, or 1 ½ cups cooked beans
• 2 cups baby spinach, chopped kale or chopped collard greens
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for garnishing (optional)

Instructions

1. Warm 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chopped onion, carrot, celery, tomato paste and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables have softened and the onions are turning translucent, about 7 to 10 minutes.
2. Add the seasonal vegetables, garlic, oregano and thyme. Cook until fragrant while stirring frequently, about 2 minutes.
3. Pour in the diced tomatoes and their juices, broth and water. Add the salt, bay leaves and red pepper flakes. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper.
4. Raise heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil, then partially cover the pot with the lid, leaving about a 1” gap for steam to escape. Reduce heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer.
5. Cook for 15 minutes, then remove the lid and add the pasta, beans and greens. Continue simmering, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until the the pasta is cooked al dente and the greens are tender.
6. Remove the pot from the heat, then remove the bay leaves. Stir in the lemon juice and remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Taste and season with more salt (I usually add about ¼ teaspoon more) and pepper until the flavors really sing. Garnish bowls of soup with grated Parmesan, if you’d like.

Comments

Used navy beans, potatoes and spinach

Jicama

From here

Ingredients

• 1 jicama root
• 4 limes
• Some chili powder (like tajiín)

Instructions

1. Peel and chop the jicama into slices, squeeze the limes, mix both in a container to coat the slices, sprinkle chili powder -- pretty self-explanatory

Macaroni and Cheese

From here

Ingredients

• 1 lb. dried elbow pasta
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 1/2 cups half and half
• 4 cups grated medium sharp cheddar cheese divided (measured after grating)
• 2 cups grated Gruyere cheese divided (measured after grating)
• 1/2 Tbsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. paprika

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and grease a 3 qt baking dish (9x13"). Set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When boiling, add dried pasta and cook 1 minute less than the package directs for al dente. Drain and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil to keep from sticking.
3. While water is coming up to a boil, grate cheeses and toss together to mix, then divide into three piles. Approximately 3 cups for the sauce, 1 1/2 cups for the inner layer, and 1 1/2 cups for the topping.
4. Melt butter in a large saucepan over MED heat. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. Mixture will look like very wet sand. Cook for approximately 1 minute, whisking often. Slowly pour in about 2 cups or so of the milk/half and half, while whisking constantly, until smooth. Slowly pour in the remaining milk/half and half, while whisking constantly, until combined and smooth.
5. Continue to heat over MED heat, whisking very often, until thickened to a very thick consistency. It should almost be the consistency of a semi thinned out condensed soup.
6. Stir in spices and 1 1/2 cups of the cheeses, stirring to melt and combine. Stir in another 1 1/2 cups of cheese, and stir until completely melted and smooth.
7. In a large mixing bowl, combine drained pasta with cheese sauce, stirring to combine fully. Pour half of the pasta mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with 1 1/2 cups of grated cheeses, then top that with the remaining pasta mixture.
8. Sprinkle the top with the last 1 1/2 cups of cheese and bake for 15 minutes, until cheesy is bubbly and lightly golden brown.

Notes

Substituted blended mix of cheeses for Gruyere/cheddar.  

Rather unexciting... could use some breadcrumbs, veggies, spices, etc.

Sautéed Calamari

From here

Ingredients

• 1 pound squid, cleaned, bodies cut into 3/4-inch-thick rings, tentacles left whole
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/4 stick)
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped Italian parsley leaves
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Instructions

1. Pat squid dry with a paper towel.
2. Heat oil in a large frying pan over high heat until smoking. Carefully add squid in a single layer, then add butter, garlic, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing frequently, until squid is opaque and cooked through, about 1 to 2 minutes (do not overcook). Season with additional salt and pepper, and serve with lemon wedges.

Comments

Delicious!  Not sure why you need to add to pan "carefully" if later you are "tossing frequently"...

Shrimp ceviche

Recipe from here

Ingredients

• Ceviche
• 1 lb shrimp (raw or cooked) peeled, deveined and diced
• 1 cup lime juice from 6 limes
• 1 cucumber peeled and diced
• 1 large avocado (or 2 small avocados)
• 2 roma tomatoes diced
• 1/2 red onion diced
• 1/4 bunch cilantro chopped
• 1 jalapeno seeded and minced
• 1/4 tsp black pepper or to taste
• 1 cup clamato juice (use "picante" version for spicier salsa)
• To serve
• 16 Tostadas (or a bag of tortilla chips)
• Hot Sauce (Tabasco or Franks Red Hot)

Instructions

1. Dice shrimp and place into a large glass (non-metamixing bowl. Squeeze 1 to 1 1/4 cups lime juice from 6 limes over shrimp. Stir to combine then cover and marinate in the refrigerator (marinate 1 1/2 to 2 hours for raw shrimp or until no longer translucent and marinate 15 minutes for cooked shrimp), stirring halfway through.
2. Chop the vegetables: cucumber, avocado, tomatoes, red onion, jalapeno and cilantro.
3. When shrimp are done marinating, add vegetables to the bowl.
4. Add 1/4 tsp black pepper or season to taste and gently stir to combine. Lastly, stir in 1 cup clamato juice, mixing just to combine. Serve with tortilla chips or over tostadas.

Comments

If using fresh limes, use gloves to squeeze them to prevent margarita burn

Would benefit from other types of seafood (squid, scallops, etc.); some spices would probably also help