Leftover Stuffing Strata – A Great Use for That Leftover Thanksgiving Stuffing!!!

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Cooking, Dressing, Egg, Food, holiday, recipe, Strata, Stuffing, Thanksgiving leftovers

Leftover Stuffing Strata

I had a bunch of my Southwestern Cornbread and Chorizo Stuffing leftover from Thanksgiving. We had enjoyed some of it as is and I was ready to try something new. I had seen a different strata recipe on one of my favorite cooking shows (Food Network’s The Kitchen) and a lightbulb went off in my head! Why not use my leftover stuffing (or dressing!) as the bread component of a strata?!? This would be an awesome brunch dish for Black Friday!

I think this would work well regardless of the type of stuffing you made. You could change the flavor profile by changing up the veggies and cheese you use. I went with the Southwestern theme of my original stuffing recipe and this strata was fabulous!!! I have tried to write the recipe in a way that will help you work with what you have.

Enjoy!

Leftover Stuffing Strata

2 1/2 – 3 cups of leftover stuffing/dressing

4 small green tomatoes, diced (You could change this up to tomatillos, red bell pepper, or even leftover green beans!)

1/2 white onion, diced (This could also be red onion, green onions or leeks)

5 -6 eggs

1/2 cup half and half

1 – 1/2 cups grated cheese (I used pepper jack. If you had a more traditional stuffing recipe, jack, cheddar or even grayer cheese would be a great add)

Dash hot sauce

Paprika or hot Hungarian Paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet, cook veggie of your choice (I used green tomatoes) and onions in a tablespoon or two of oil or butter until softened. Drop spoonfuls of leftover stuffing/dressing into a greased casserole dish, leaving some space between spoonfuls. Spoon veggies from skillet over stuffing. Do not pack down. You want to leave room for the egg mixture to seep down into mixture.

In a mixing bowl, crack eggs and beat lightly. Add half and half, a dash or two of hot sauce (optional), grated cheese and a bit of salt and pepper. Mix together and then pour over stuffing and veggies in casserole.

Sprinkle a little paprika over the top of the casserole. Cover dish with lid or foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Southwest Cornbread and Chorizo Dressing – A Thanksgiving Staple!

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Butternut Squash, Chorizo, cornbread, Dressing, Friendsgiving, mushrooms, side dish, Stuffing, Thanksgiving

I love chorizo!!! So why not put it in your Thanksgiving dressing (or stuffing!)?!? The combination of fresh baked cornbread, chorizo and fresh veggies makes this stuffing a homerun. It is my absolute favorite dish on the Thanksgiving table.

You can find the recipe here.

Carne Asada Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing

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avocado, Carne Asada, Cilantro, Cooking, Dressing, Food, lime, recipe, salad

  
This salad was so fresh and delicious, but it was hearty enough to be a great entrée for our dinner last night. I had a bunch of great items from my organic produce shipment, so a salad was just begging to be made! I had thought of making fajitas with the carne asada, but we have been eating a little heavy lately, so I wanted to keep it light and use the beatiful produce I had on hand. This salad with the savory beef, fresh produce and tangy dressing was incredibly flavorful with a nice crunch!

I had some perfect green leaf lettuce, a perfectly ripe avocado, a nice firm tomato and green onions. I just love my organic produce!!! I also had some organic cilantro, so I decided to make my own dressing. I was really happy with the tangy result that added a ton of flavor to the salad!

I decided to marinade the carne asada for half a day before cooking. I had a few Frontera marinade packets on hand. I decided to go with what was actually a chicken marinade, but what the heck it sounded good! Since I was making a salad, I didn’t want to go with flavors that are super intense, like barbacoa. I had a few Frontera sauce packets in my pantry and I decided to go with the Roasted Garlic Chicken Skillet Sauce with Chipotle and Lime. The flavors sounded good and they did not disappoint! The flavors were light and bright and worked just fine on the beef.

Carne Asada Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing

Salad

1 pound carne asada beef

1 packet Frontera marinade (I used the flavor above, but they have several flavors, including fajita,that would work well)

1 head green leaf lettuce, washed, dried and chopped

6 green onions, sliced

2 tomatoes, diced

1 avocado, diced

Tortilla chips, crumbled

Dressing

Juice of 3 limes

1/2 cup cilantro leaves

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp peppper

Start by putting your meat and marinade in a zip-log bag. Mix well making sure all meat is covered with marinade. Store in fridge for a few hours. Next, make your dressing. I used my immersion blender to blend all the ingredients or you can put them all in a food processor or blender. Blend until well mixed and cilantro and garlic are in very fine bits.

Heat a pan sprayed with non-stick spray over medium high heat. Sear each piece of meat for a couple of minutes on each side. You don’t want to over cook carne asada or it will get tough. Once all meat is cooked, cut it into bite size strips. Put meat and remaining 5 salad ingredients in a large bowl. Top with some dressing and toss. Add enough dressing to lightly coat all salad. You may have extra left over depending on how much dressing you like. Sliced black olives would also be a good add, but I didn’t have any.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving – Tips, Tricks and Recipes for a Stress-Free Holiday

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Cooking, Dressing, Food, potatoes, recipe, recipes, salad, Sweet potatoes, Thanksgiving, Tips, Turkey

  
Thanksgiving is right around the corner and it is not too soon to start your preparations. This is a reminder that I have been posting a series of posts that can help you have a stress-free holiday. Please look back over these posts starting November 4 that include tips on menu planning, dish planning and preparation and recipes for all the basic (and not so basic!) Thanksgiving dishes including…

1. Barbecuing and brining your turkey
2. Cornbread Chorizo Dressing – This stuff is the BOMB!!!
3. Sweet Potatoes and Apples – Always a crowd pleaser!!!
4. Curried Carrot Soup – A delicious, healthy first course
5. The Joy of Mashed Potatoes!
6. Green Bean Casserole – Made from scratch with all fresh ingredients! Delish!
7. Festive Green Salad – Pear, apples and a homemade poppyseed dressing make this a tasty different green salad
8. Cranberry Salad – This may not be the healthiest salad, but with cranberries, green apples and mini-marshmallows it is so pretty!
9. Hummus – A light, healthy dip to keep your appetizers light and leave plenty of room for the main meal!
10. Platte County Pie – Like pie? Like chocolate chip cookies? You’ll love this pie!

I even covered some ideas for your leftovers!

• Making your own stock from your turkey carcass
• Layered Thanksgiving Lasagna

It’s not to late to review these posts and get your Thanksgiving dinner planning underway! I wish all of you a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving! Please feel free to send me comments with your questions. I’ll try and make time in all my cooking to get back to you ASAP. I am so thankful to all of you that take the time to read my blog!

Please let me know how your Thanksgiving dishes turn out!

Immersion Blenders – A Must Have Kitchen Tool

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appliance, blending, Cooking, Dressing, Food, immersion blender, sauces, soup, tool

  
Once again’ I fear I am a bit behind the times, but better late than never, right?!? Until recently, I did not own an immersion blender. Since I got mine, it has become one of my favorite kitchen tools. Why is it so great you ask? Well let me tell you!

1. They’re not very expensive. You can buy yourself one of these bad boys for about $30. Some come with extra accessories and cost more, but you can get away with a basic version.

2. You can blend stuff right in the container you want it in; the slow cooker, a sealable storage container, your serving container, or the pot you cooked it in! My blender came with a large measuring cup that came with a lid. For cold items of a smaller quantity, I put all my ingredients in there, blend it and put the lid on to store it in the fridge.

3. It’s a convenient size and easy to clean. It’s way smaller than a food processor and the blade attachment comes off easily and goes in the top rack of the dishwasher. If you live in a place with a small kitchen and limited storage, the immersion blender is a great tool that take the place of larger stand blenders and food processors.

What can you make with this handy dandy gadget???

• Soups – My friend, Rachel Showers, makes this awesome curried carrot soup. The first time I made it, I had to transfer this piping hot soup between my slow cooker to the food processor and back again in several batches. Not fun and frankly a recipe for disaster!!! If I can find a way to burn or cut myself in the kitchen, it will be done! With the immersion blender, I can cook my ingredients in the slow cooker until tender and then stick that blender right in the slow cooker and blend it until it’s incredibly smooth!

• Sauces – I haven’t used it as much for this, but back around New Year’s Eve I made crab cakes. I wanted a sauce to go with them and I made this lemon garlic aioli. I’ve never made my own mayonnaise, so I did not know the heaven that was to come when I blended eggs with oil! The lemon and garlic made this sauce the perfect, tangy accompaniment to my crab cakes! And this is just one example of a sauce you could make.

• Salad Dressings – If you read my earlier blog entries, you’ll see a couple of salad dressing ideas I’ve mentioned where you blend different ingredients with bottled ranch dressing to jazz it up; herbs, avocado, salsa, etc.

• Whipped Cream

• Smoothies

Anyway, if you don’t already have one or are looking for a space saving appliance to help with your blending needs, I highly recommend this tool. There are a variety of models available at Amazon.com. This would make an excellent, reasonably priced gift for any cooks in your life or a nice present for yourself!

Word of Warning!!! ALWAYS unplug your immersion blender before cleaning or putting your fingers anywhere near the blade!!!

Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe – An Easy to Make Low-fat Dressing/Marinade

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Balasamic Vinegar, Balsamic Vinaigrette, Cooking, Dressing, Easy, Food, healthy, low-fat, marinade, Olive Oil, Quick, salad, Salad Dressing

  
The great thing about making your own foods, rather than buying them, is you know EXACTLY what is in the food. You get fresher, healthier foods with less chemicals. You can also more accurately track the nutritional values of the food.

Today I thought I would share my super-easy to make Balsamic Vinaigrette recipe. It’s so tasty and versatile. In addition to using it on green salads, I’ve used it on my Southwestern Layered Salad (see previous post for recipe) and as a meat marinade on both chicken and beef.

Another great thing about this recipe, is that you can adjust the oil to vinegar ratio to fit your taste or fat content desires. I usually go 50/50, but at times I do use more vinegar to lower the fat content. Balsamic vinegar is such a mild vinegar, you can get away with doing this and still get good flavor.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Note: My recipe is based on the size of my salad dressing container. Adjust quantities to suit your needs.

3/4 cup olive oil

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 crushed and chopped garlic clove (I use my garlic press)

1 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped (can substitute 1 tsp dried basil, but fresh is best!)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Put all ingredients in your container, shake or whisk vigorously and enjoy!

Tip: When dining out, don’t be afraid to bring your own salad dressing. Dressings can be a diet killer! I do this all the time. I just order my salad with no dressing or dressing on the side. I take a little teasing, but hey! They don’t have to wrestle my bod into jeans!!!