June Recipes

Summer Squash Recipe

Ingredients
2 lbs squash and/or zucchini, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeds removed, sliced
2 small tomatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
(I used a can of Garlic and Onion diced tomatoes)
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and sliced
1 clove of garlic, chopped
Olive Oil
5 or 6 slices of Jack or Cheddar cheese
(I used shredded)
Basil, either dry or chopped fresh
Salt and pepper
Pasta (optional)

Put onion, garlic, squash/zucchini, bell pepper into a large saucepan with a couple tablespoons of Olive Oil. Put on high heat and brown the veggies slightly. While browning, sprinkle basil on veggies. When veggies are slightly remove from heat and add cheese. Cover pan.

In a separate stick-free pan, put the tomatoes and cook at medium to hi heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let the juice from the tomatoes evaporate some. After five minutes, add the tomatoes to the rest of the vegetables and stir. Salt and pepper to taste.

You can serve over pasta or as is.


Slow-cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
1 pound shredded, cooked chicken* (please look below for shortcut tip)
1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed*
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chili peppers (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
7 corn tortillas
vegetable oil
DIRECTIONS
Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup.
*Please note: Above is the complete recipe but where it is starred (*), I make some modifications. First of all, I do not precook and shred the chicken. I add two frozen chicken breasts and let it cook all day in the crock pot with the rest of the ingredients. At the end of cooking, I then shred and put back into the crock pot. Second, I buy a can of crushed tomatoes rather than whole and mashing myself. These two modifications cut my preparation time down quite a bit and I'm all about having things be easy!

Pizza Dough

2 c. warm water
1 Tbsp. active dry (or instant) yeast
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
5-6 c. all purpose flour

Place water, sugar, salt, and half of flour in mixing bowl. Mix slightly. Add yeast. Mix 1 minute. Add rest of flour a little at a time until dough leaves the sides of the bowl and is a bit drier than bread dough. Knead for about 8 minutes. Prepare pans with cornmeal and Pam. Makes about two 11x15 inch pans.

Cook at 375 for 20 minutes.


Spinach Salad

A bunch of spinach. Mine was fresh from my garden so I just threw a bunch in a bowl.

1 can mandarin oranges
1 cup dried Craisins
about 1 cup sliced toasted almonds
1 hard boiled egg, sliced

Dressing:

Apple cider vinegar, brown sugar and bacon.
I cut the bacon and fry it up then add a splash of the vinegar and as much brown sugar as you like to sweeten it. Add on salad before serving. Tastes great.