Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage

My friend Nicole started a cooking blog, Ingredients for a Wonderful Life, at the beginning of this year and she has already posted a lot of dishes that I want to try! One of these is a recipe for baked pasta (of course) that caught my eye because it used precooked chicken sausge (although you can use regular) and had a creamy tomato sauce that didn't look too heavy.

This meal was delicious! You feel a little bit healthy with the spinach and although there is a 1/2 cup of cream it makes a light sauce that doesn't overwhelm you. And of course there is a lot of gooey cheese. Make a whole batch and freeze half for later if you aren't making this for a crowd!

I didn't change anything from the original, so I will link you to the recipe on Nicole's blog below. She originally found it on My Kitchen Cafe.

Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage

Roast Chicken Thighs

Warning: This recipe will probably get your oven dirty and possibly set your smoke alarm off. At least that's what happened to me! There was a lot of excess oil from the marinade that I left on the chicken once I transferred it to the roasting pan. I thought it would add flavor and perhaps make a nice pan sauce but it caused a lot of splatter in the oven and poured smoke out of the oven when I opened the door! So I would suggest you shake off as much marinade as you can before cooking these babies.

Oil, oil everywhere! I should have taken a picture of my oven!

Otherwise, it was delicious! Nice, crispy skin that adds a lot of flavor to the meat even if you discard it. And the lemon, oil, honey, and mustard all combine nicely. So much so that I suggested using our leftovers to make some quesadillas later in the week and Chuck was appalled that I would do that! He said the chicken was too good to waste on something like a quesadilla where the flavor would really be masked.

I found this in a magazine but there was really no recipe so I will link you to the magazine's web page. Additionally, the recipe did not state the temperature at which to roast these so I took a stab at 425 degrees and it worked out well. I also halved the recipe but wrote the original for you below. Enjoy!

Roast Chicken Thighs

from Everyday Food, March 2010 edition

Makes 8 servings

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

1/2 cup olive oil

juice of one lemon (about 3 tablespoons)

kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper

1 tablespoon grainy mustard

1-2 tablespoons honey

Toss the chicken thighs with olive oil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour and up to one day. (I like to put everything into a Ziploc bag for easy clean-up.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Oil a roasting pan big enough to give each piece of chicken it's own space. Transfer the chicken thighs to the roasting pan, skin side down, shaking off excess marinade. Roast 20-25 minutes; flip and roast another 10 minutes.

Stir together mustard, honey, and salt and pepper to taste. Remove chicken from oven and turn oven to broil. Brush the mustard mixture onto each thigh and return to broiler for 4-5 minutes. Watch for burning and serve immediately.

Just ignore the gourmet stuffing served alongside ;)

Crockpot Orange Chicken

Another slow cooker meal! This may be the last for awhile since warm weather has arrived and I associate slow cookers with warm, comforting winter meals. Although maybe not if I find something I absolutely have to make!

As I was making this in my 4-quart slow cooker, I was thinking, "There is not nearly enough food in here, it is going to burn". And sure enough, the chicken got a little bit tough, so much so that Chuck asked "What kind of meat is this?" To properly cook food in a slow cooker, it should be one-half to two-thirds full or else the food will dry out and burn. So if you are going to make this I would suggest doubling or even tripling this recipe for a 4-quart slow cooker and the meat should turn out just right. I liked the flavor of this but if you don't like a strong orange taste, just decrease the amount of orange juice concentrate.

As you can see, I served this over brown rice and mixed it with some steamed broccoli. I didn't change anything from where I found this on Sweet Tea in Texas so here is the link:

Crockpot Orange Chicken

Mexican Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas

The flavor of slow-cooked, shredded pork is so delicious, and I love using it in Mexican-style dishes. This recipe looked very simple to prepare for the slow cooker, so when I saw it on C + C Marriage Factory I saved it right away!

I didn't really make any changes to this recipe - except that I didn't feel like buying Adobo so I looked at the ingredients in the store and found it is just a mixture of garlic powder, tumeric, and salt and pepper. So I just used a combination of those while rubbing it into the pork.

You can use the shredded pork for any number of dishes: I used it in tortillas; when you click on the link below for the recipe you can see the Christina served it over rice.

Mexican Slow-Cooked Pork Carnitas

I served this with a side of Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Salad. And someone else wanted to say hi :)

Chicken Sausage, Pepper and Onion Pasta Fake-Bake

Hmm, pasta again, you say? Well, for pasta lovers like myself and Chuck, this is another easy, possible to make ahead dinner that tastes great and makes a lot of leftovers. As you will see when you look at the recipe, this has been designed to only seem like it has been baked in the oven. However, if you are making some of this to freeze, you can bake it no problem in the oven at 350 degrees to heat it. Also, if you can't find chicken sausage, regular sausage will work fine, you just need to cook it first.

I found this on my friend's blog, A Taste of Home Cooking, and she originally got it from Rachael Ray. Neither of us changed anything from the original so I will link you to it below!

Chicken Sausage, Pepper and Onion Pasta Fake-Bake

Cavatappi with Tomato, Spinach, and Feta

I like to call this an "elegant" pasta salad. It's a little different than the standard cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots and Italian dressing a lot of people think of when they hear 'pasta salad' because it combines a wonderful, garlicky tomato mixture seasoned with fruity olive oil and fresh spinach.

I have made several changes from the original recipe as will see if you click on the link - mostly for convenience and based on what is easier to find in my supermarket. There are a variety of pastas you can use, just make sure to choose one that vaguely resembles a corkscrew. This time I used cavatappi but I also like to use campanelle.

I often make this ahead of time and just add the spinach and feta right before serving, as the directions indicate.

Cavatappi with Tomato, Spinach, and Feta

adapted from Food Network

Makes 10-12 side dish servings

1 pound cavatappi or other corkscrew pasta

1/4 red onion, finely chopped

2 large ripe tomatoes (about 1 pound), diced

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon fresh chopped oregano leaves, or 1 teaspoon dried

1 clove garlic

6-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained and diced

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

5 ounces baby spinach, rinsed and dried

4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Salt and add pasta. Cook to al dente according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Put the onions in a small bowl of cold water.

In a large bowl, combine tomatoes with 1 teaspoon salt and some pepper. Chop the oregano with the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Use the flat side of a chef's knife to mash and smear the mixture into a paste. Sprinkle the garlic mixture over the tomatoes. Drain the onions, pat dry, and add to tomato mixture along with red peppers. Add the vinegar and olive oil and mix to combine. Add the pasta and toss well. Chill for several hours.

Just before serving (or bringing to your get-together) add the baby spinach and feta cheese. Mix gently and season with salt and pepper.

Creamy Ranch Chicken Pasta

As you can probably tell from my blog posts lately, dinner these days must consist of something fast and easy to put together. I need to be able to make something tasty and somewhat healthy while Abbie is either playing in her bouncer next to me or taking a nap of indeterminate length. This dish fits all of those criteria!

Not a lot of veggies in this dish, I admit, but add a green salad on the side and you have a complete meal. And if you are really pressed for time, use bacon bits (the REAL ones, please) instead of cooking the bacon and just cook the chicken in a little bit of olive oil instead.

Creamy Ranch Chicken Pasta

from Jo's Kitchen

Makes about 4 servings

6 slices bacon

1 - 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons dry ranch mix (you can find this near the salad dressings)

1 1/4 cups milk

8 ounces egg noodles

Parmesan cheese

In a large saute pan, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove from pan and save 2 tablespoons of drippings. Cook chicken in same pan with the drippings until tender and no longer pink, turning to brown.

Sprinkle flour, ranch mix, and milk over chicken. Stir to combine and continue stirring until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir one minute more. Stir in bacon.

Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and add to chicken mixture.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.