Summer Salad

Hello everyone! :)

Sorry, I have been away for a while.! I was visiting family back home with my family :) We had a blast and I miss them so much already!

While I was there, I did this delicious salad.  I named it Summer salad just because I have no name for it haha! It was refreshing, and so full of color and life.. just like summer! :)

It is easy to make!  Hope you enjoy!

Summer Salad
Ingredients:

- 1 can asparagus
- 1 can beets
- 1 can palmito
- 1 can baby corn
- 1 can artichoke
- 3 tomatos, cut in medium sized cubes
- 3 cucumbers, cut in medium sized cubes
- 2 cups of lettuce, washed and cut for salad
- 1 cup of Parmesan cheese, cubed
- 2 avocados

For the dressing:
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Mustard
Honey (little)
Salt

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients but the asparagus and avocado.  Pour dressing and mix slowly.  Decorate with avocado and asparagus as desired.

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna

I love sweet potato, pumpkin, butternut squash.  The sweet tasty aftermath that is left in the mouth is scrumptious!  My family does not usually like it, so I still work hard on testing recipes to see if they will like it.

I came up thru this recipe while using Pinterest, and the mix of Spinach with the Butternut Squash got me drooling!  let alone Ricotta cheese in it, looked delicious!  and well fit for my meatless cooking day!  This also does well being a side dish since it is meatless and it is great for vegetarian people.

The recipe is a vegetarian lasagna that calls for creamy texture and sweetness added to it.  My family liked it so definitely it will be on my meatless meal list!  

Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna

Ingredients

Butternut Squash Filling:

- 2 cups butternut squash puree (see Instructions on how to do )

- 1 cup ricotta cheese

- 1/2 cup milk plus 2 tbsp

- 1/3 teaspoon of salt

- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Spinach Filling:

- 1 cup cooked spinach (8 oz uncooked)

- 1 cup ricotta cheese

- 1 cup mozzarella cheese

- 2 garlic cloves, minced

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- pepper, to taste

Other Ingredients:

- 10 oz lasagna noodles, cooked

- 1 and 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese (or more)

- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (Optional – I did not use)

- Paprika

Instructions

 - Preheat oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Butternut Squash Filling:

    - To do the butternut squat filling, you would need to cut in half one butternut squat, remove seeds, and close it up in aluminum foil.  Place in oven and bake for 30min or until it is soft.  Once cooked, spoon out the meat and blend it until pureed.  To complete the filling, blend 2 cups of butternut squash puree  with Ricotta cheese, milk, salt and nutmeg. Add more milk if needed (to make the butternut squash filling very creamy). Mix very well, taste and add more salt, if needed.

Spinach Filling:

   - Combine spinach, Ricotta cheese, mozzarella, garlic, salt and pepper.

Cooking lasagna noodles:

   - Bring a very large pot of water to boil, and cook lasagna noodles according to package instructions. Rinse in cold water, drain.

Lasagna assembly:

   - Grease the lasagna dish lightly with butter. Spread 1/3 of butternut squash filling on the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle lightly with mozzarella cheese. Top with cooked lasagna noodles without overlapping.

   - Spread half of spinach filling over the noodles. Top lightly with Mozzarella cheese. Top with cooked noodles.

   - Spread another layer (1/3) of butternut squash mixture, then sprinkle lightly with Mozzarella cheese. Top with cooked noodles.

   - Spread the remaining half of spinach filling over the noodles. Top lightly with Mozzarella cheese. Top with the final layer of cooked noodles.

   - Spread a generous amount of butternut squash filling (the remaining 1/3) over this final layer of noodles, sprinkle with grated Parmesan and remaining mozzarella cheese (about 1/2 cup of mozzarella). Generously sprinkle the cheese with paprika if desired.

   - Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 30 min. Remove foil and bake additional 10 minutes.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless chicken breast, cubed
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and pepper
• 2 egg, beaten
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup fine bread crumbs
• oil for deep frying

Directions:

• Place cubed chicken breasts into a food processor and blend until it forms a smooth paste. Transfer to a medium bowl and add parsley, onion powder, garlic powder , salt and pepper. Mix well. Put the flour in a bowl, season with salt and pepper. Put beaten eggs in another bowl and breadcrumbs in a different bowl. Place those 3 bowls close to the chicken mixture, to make it easier to work with. 
• Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Roll out the chicken into small balls, about 1 tablespoon each, and flatten them using the palms of your hands to form the nugget shapes. Cover each nugget with flour, then dip into the egg, and cover with breadcrumbs. Repeat the process with the remaining nuggets. 
• Fry the nuggets in hot oil, until the chicken is cooked through and turn golden brown (about 4 minutes per side). Remove from the oil and drain the excess grease using paper towel. Serve warm.

Tuna Pie (Done by using a blender/ food processor)

This pie made by a blender is very practical and very light, and most importantly QUICK!

This is the first time I get to do it, and found that if used by a food processor to do the dough it would be more practical as it got a little thick to allow the blender to work properly.  I tried to scrub the sides and help it blend but didn't work much.  If you have a heavy duty blender I am sure this would work great.

The filling is based on your taste.  Here I used tuna.. I bet it would taste great with chicken, or even only veggie! or you can just use what you have at home.

Worth checking out!

Tuna Pie

Ingredients

Dough
3 eggs
1 cup oil
13 tbsp of AP flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/3 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup milk
salt to taste


Filling
2 cans of tuna (I believe it can be reduced to 1.5 or even 1 if you don't want it heavy in the filling)
2 tomatoes diced
half cup of canned corn
3 tbsp of mayonnaise
1 tbsp of ketchup
pinch of salt


Method

Mix all ingredients for filling and keep in fridge until being used.

Heat oven to 180 degrees C.

Mix in a bowl the flour, baking powder, mozzarella and salt.

Blend the eggs, oil and milk. Gradually add the flour mix by scoops, until fully incorporated.  I saw later that the blender wouldn't mix mix anymore so I just moved the mixture and used a spatula to join in the ingredients.  Finally add the baking powder and mix slowly. . Place half of the dough in a baking dish, already buttered and floured.  Add to it half of the dough, then add the filling chosen and cover with the remaining dough and bake for about 1 hour or until you stick the toothpick and comes out dry..
 
Let cool, cut and serve.

ENJOY!