Zesty Italian Vegetables

My resolution for the new year is to organize my recipe pictures from the last seven years!  This is a huge task that I started this weekend on our 7 hour drive taking our middle daughter Bethany to graduate school at Texas Tech University.

If you know me, I love to take pictures and with the thousands I've taken my recipe one are scatted throughout them all. Ughhhh....  It's what you might call a 'gaudy goal' that may not be attainable...but I put a good stab at it this weekend and am feeling accomplished.

The Zesty Italian Vegetables is a recipe I forgot that there was a picture of.  It shows you the vegetables before they were cooked in the picture below, but you get the idea. 

This recipe is the only way my husband will eat green beans now and being creative I placed in some yellow squash along with the potatoes.   More times than I can count we've cooked our green beans this way with Zesty Italian Dressing.

If you want an entire meal from this dish, just add uncooked chicken thighs or breast or even pork chops in the center and cook.  It's a 'Ranchman Approved' recipe at our house and so simply that several of my daughter's friends cook saying it's the first dish of The Ranch Kitchen site they ever made.  That makes me the most proud when new cooks use my recipes. 

Click here for the recipe for Zesty Italian Vegetables

Stay warm, safe and enjoy this cold wintery weather.  Now I have to decide what to cook for dinner and this may just be the ticket!

Enjoy! 

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen

Vegetable Lasagna

Today I feel accomplished!  I put up 15 quart bags of our squash and zucchini from our garden and a quart of tomatillos to make into salsa later.  All by 1:30 today, I had the house cleaned, dinner almost cooked and enough squash to take us halfway through the winter months and to use for our favorite zucchini squares that I made each fall at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners! I could make a good housewife...

However, what I did forget about were all the shelled peas in my refrigerator at our barn from our friends the McAfees that needed to be bagged and frozen!  We discussed tonight when they brought another bushel for my youngest daughter to shell just how much we could get done if we didn't have to work!  I told her I thought boredom would set in pretty quick!  But, it sure was nice with the rain coming down today to be home, enjoy my sweet baby girl (who's 12) and feel like I was finally getting caught up on my house, gardening and freezing vegetables for meals in the future.

Tonight for dinner, or I should say this afternoon, I cooked a dish Scott says I've cooked before, but I have no remembrance of.  With the squash and zucchini that I got tired of freezing and some Ichiban eggplant cut into 1/2 inch spears, I layered them in a casserole dish (9x13 inch Pyrex dish).  To this I added cooked, ground pork that I'd added Hunt's 4 Cheese Spaghetti Sauce to along with Rotel Tomatoes and a few spices and cheese. 

The recipe has a few more steps as you'll find on the link below, but overall it was an easy dish to make.  My husband loved it and went back for seconds and actually said it was 'really good' a couple of times.  So, I'll take that as a compliment and for sure make it in another week or two because our squash shows no sign of slowing up in our garden! 

In the picture above and links here, you'll see my newest recipe for Vegetable Lasagna and also my Marinated Cucumbers and Onions and Zucchini Squares that can all be found on my www.theranchkitchen.com site.  I hope you'll give it a try as even my preteen ate this vegetable lasagna and didn't pick out the veggies! 

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen

The Ranch Kitchen's Summer Squash

The Ranch Kitchen's Summer Squash

Finally, finally, back to blogging and sharing my recipes!  Summer has been crazy busy...house flooded, car wrecked, two Hereford shows, braces, oral surgery, my almost broken arm, and then daughter's emergency appendectomy.  Life is good though and my glass is half full and not half empty, because through it all God took good care of us and we are all healthy.  

The above picture is of one dish I make very often in our house from the crazy amount of squash my husband's garden grows each year.  I have never really cared for boiled stove top squash, so this recipe I created is far better and allows this summer veggie to hold on to it's color and nutrients better.  

You can add any type of cheese over this squash recipe at the end right before serving or without it.  Either way, it's always one of my go to dishes when we grill or cook in the house.  It was  a huge hit at our recent Jr. National Hereford show in Kansas City and it helped bring a little bit of our garden to my annual Chicken Spaghetti for a Crowd feed that I do for our Texas crowd and other state friends. 

The Ranch Kitchen's Summer Squash

6 - 8 small yellow and/or green zucchini, cut in quarters 1/2 inch thick

1 medium to large yellow or sweet 1015 onion, sliced 

1/4 cup Canola oil or grape seed oil (or vegetable oil)
1 bell pepper, chopped (optional)

1 - 2 teaspoons of Cajun Season, All Seasoning Spice, garlic salt/pepper, lemon pepper or seasonings of your choice.

In Teflon coated pan or wok add oil and heat on low heat.  Add squash and onions cooking on low to medium heat covered, stirring constantly allowing vegetables to 'cook down' or reduce in size.  Covering your dish with a lid will help your squash cook faster.  Also, a lot of oil is not needed due to the water in the squash that will release as you cook.  Add Cajun Seasoning like Tony Chachere's or Zatarain's,  and/or All Season Spice as you cook, tasting to see if you need more or less.  You can also add lemon pepper or any spice you prefer instead.  Cooking time is usually around 20 - 30 minutes depending on the level of your fire or heat on your electric stove top.  I have also prepared this squash in a foil pack  a lot of the time when we are in a hurry by grilling outside or in the stove.  Just place your foil wrapped squash on top of a cookie sheet in case it accidentally breaks or you'll have a mess in your stove.  Also add 4 - 5 ice cubes to help maintain the moisture in your squash as they stove seems to dry it out faster even though it is sealed in a foil pack. Always wrap your foil in an upward curl on the sides so that you do not lose your juice from your squash.

Occasionally, I add grated cheddar like Parmesan, and/or Colby Jack cheese to the top of the squash as my daughters like it that way.  

I hope you enjoy this summer squash recipe as much as we do.  When I say we eat this squash a lot...that is an understatement.  My middle daughter says no more squash when she returns to college, but my oldest one requested this for dinner tonight as part of her recovery meal from her appendectomy surgery and healthy eating plan!  Promise it's good, healthy and great warmed up the next night in the microwave.  For that reason alone, I always cook it in abundance so I have some with my next meal!

Enjoy!

Alise

Scott's 3 Beer Potatoes

When you leave a man to the grill you never know what concoction they will come up with!  My husband is no exception to the rule and last night he created what he now calls '3 Beer Potatoes'!  His favorite after work beverage is a very cold Miller Light.  He's progressed over the years from Coor's Light when he was a young man and had a little cash in his pocket 'before' we got married...and then later to Shafer Light after we bought our first home and had 2 precious little girls while we were paying on the installment plan to finish my college degrees.  Then later in life as he has aged he has matured to Miller Light.  When in doubt or when he feels whatever he is grilling or smoking may be a little dry, in pops in a pour or two of Miller Light.  This time he used more than I expected, but honestly the result were some pretty tender potatoes with a really good taste. Along with the zucchini and yellow squash I had frozen from this past year's garden, Scott came up with a new staple potato dish right off our smoker. 

So today we ate the brisket and pork ribs he cooked to help his mom out with her annual lunch, all the while trying to make sure we had good luck in 2013.  I added my Granny's Wilted Cabbage (recipe on this blog and known in the south to bring you cash in the new year), along with the great black eyed peas my sister-in-law made and sour kraut and weenies (for luck), and Bethany's Surprise Cupcakes (I'll share that later), we had a very well rounded, full of good luck meal and hopefully cash filled new year!  To my delight, Scott smiled really big when I told him I had to put it on my blog.  I have to say that I am very, very lucky to have spent the last almost twenty five years with this great man, husband, and father of my three girls! We are very blessed to have him. :o)

Scott's 3 Beer Potatoes

1 5 lb. bag of red potatoes, chopped in one inch pieces
1 - 2 onions, quartered
2 cups zucchini, chopped
2 cups yellow squash, chopped
1/2 cup Grapeseed Oil or Canola Oil
Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning to taste
garlic salt to taste

Prepare red potatoes, onions, zucchini and yellow squash and place in a large roasting pan.  Pour oil over vegetables and toss to coat well.  Season with Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning and garlic salt, toss to coat.  Pour 3 beers of your choice on top of the potatoes.  Cover with foil.  Cook on 250 - 300 on a smoker for 2 hours or until potatoes are fork tender.  The alcohol will cook off and leave a slight flavor of beer on the potatoes.

***The next day for New Year's Day lunch I added one stick of butter in pats on top of the 3 Beer Potatoes, a little more Tony C's and garlic salt, and cooked on 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  In the last 5 minutes I added grated cheddar cheese to the top and let it melt and ooze down the potatoes.  

Well exciting things do happen to little ole house moms every once in while that are just fun for us!  The other night..I just wanted some down time....you know...me...just me and my chair and my computer/tv!  So I sat there and browsed one of m favorite sites www.thepioneerwoman.com  and once again looked at her Tasty Kitchen site that you can get to from her webpage...I decided then and there that 'Rustic Chicken Noodle Soup' just had to be on there!  So I burned the literal midnight oil and learned how to type in recipes using her system...and it was relatively easy.  I was thrilled to see the next day that my recipe had made the blog and was on the first page of the soups page and 4 days later...it was still there!  It was euphoria...I was estatic...my husband was estatic....my dog was estatic!  Heck - I almost jumped out of my chair! 

So today I thought it's time I share the Tasty Kitchen site, give a shout out to Ree Drummond and poste my unconventional Rustic Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe here on my blogs for you!  It has yellow squash and new 'red' potatoes that make this so very filling!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we have.  It snowed here in our part of Texas ONCE AGAIN last week...so I was in the soup mood and with a little hinting from my husband I made chicken noodle soup - my own way!

This is copied straight off the site...cause I am lazy!  So enjoy...make it - rate it and hopefully I will get some thumbs up!

Oh...and thats my first food pic...my husband told me my lace tablecloth was too white...so he suggested some color...tell me what you think?

Rustic Chicken Noodle Soup

***Not your ordinary chicken soup. Add the noodles but don’t forget the fresh squash, onions, and red potatoes!

•  Prep Time 30 Minutes

• Cook Time 1 Hour
• Difficulty Easy
• Servings
• System US Metric

 Ingredients

• 1 cup Choppped Red Potatoes
• 1 cup Onion, Diced
• 1 cup Sliced Yellow Squash
• 4 Tablespoons Oil (vegetable Or Canola)
• 2 cups Chicken, Cooked And Cubed
• 4 cups Water
• 1 can (10.75 Oz. Can) Cream Of Chicken Soup
• 2 cans (14 Oz. Can) Chicken Broth
• 2 teaspoons Cajun Seasoning
• ½ teaspoons Garlic Salt
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Pepper
• ½ teaspoons Pepper, Ground
• 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
• 4 Tablespoons Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
• 3 bunches Angel Hair Pasta, Crumbled Into 2 Inch Pieces

Preparation Instructions

Chop potatoes, onions, and the yellow squash. Cook on medium heat with the oil. Pan fry until vegetables are just tender then remove from heat and set aside. While your potatoes, onions and squash cook, chop the cooked chicken into 1-inch cubes. In a large stew pot add the water, cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, Cajun seasoning, garlic salt, lemon pepper, ground pepper, and Italian seasoning. With a with whisk, stir until blended. Add chicken, squash, onions and potatoes. Bring soup to a boil and then bring down to a simmer then cover. Add lemon juice. Cook on a low simmer for 20 minutes. Add angel hair pasta and continue to cook until pasta is tender. Add extra water as needed if soup thickens too much.

Serve with toasted French bread.

This is a warm comfort soup that is unconventional, but oh so good!

Enjoy!

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This was great with bread buttered and toasted on my paninni press...yum.

Get cooking!

Alise