Ranch-Baked Quesadillas

Last night's dinner was simple and absolutely delicious. Joe and I both really enjoyed these quesadillas. They were perfectly cheesy and gooey, and the Ranch dressing gave them a nice, creamy, unexpected flavor. I pan-fried two chicken breasts, which gave me about two cups of meat, so I just doubled the recipe (which was a good thing...Joe loved these and ate them all up!). I think rotisserie chicken would also work well for this dish. I mixed salsa and Ranch dressing together to serve as a sauce for dipping. These could easily be served as an appetizer. A very yummy dinner -- and since the quesadillas are baked, you don't have to feel so bad for going back for seconds!


Ranch-Baked Quesadillas
Source: Hidden Valley Ranch

1 cup shredded cooked chicken
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup Hidden Valley® Ranch dressing
1/4 cup diced green chilies, rinsed and drained
4 9-inch flour tortillas, warmed
Salsa, Hidden Valley® Ranch dressing and guacamole, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Combine chicken, cheese, Ranch and chilies in medium bowl. Divide chicken mixture evenly between each tortilla; fold in half to seal. Place quesadillas on baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Garnish with salsa, Ranch and guacamole, if desired.

Linguine with Lemon and Shrimp

I printed a bunch of recipes off of Williams-Sonoma's website last week, and this is the first of them we've tried. Joe and I both liked this dish, although I don't know if it's something I'll put in the regular rotation. The flavors are very simple; I even added some butter and Parmesan cheese directly to the linguine itself, and I still thought the outcome was a little bit bland. The dish could have used some something; I just can't put my finger on what that something is.

I loved the lemon flavor, which made the dish seem light despite of the heavy cream. Marinating shrimp was something I'd never done before, but I thought the marinade (a simple combination of lemon juice and chives) was very effective. This is definitely elegant enough to serve at a dinner party, yet simple enough to serve any night of the week! Now if only I could figure out what it was missing...


Linguine with Lemon and Shrimp
Source: Williams-Sonoma

2 lemons
1 cup heavy cream
1 pound small shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
2 tablespoon salt, plus more, to taste
1 pound linguine or fettuccine
1 tablespoon olive oil
Freshly ground white pepper, to taste

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.

2. Grate 1 tablespoon of zest from the lemons (I used 1/2 tablespoon of zest, and I thought that amount was perfect) and squeeze 3 tablespoons of juice. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the cream and lemon zest and heat until hot. Remove from the heat if the mixture begins to boil. In a small bowl, combine the shrimp, lemon juice and chives; set aside.

3. Add the 2 tablespoons salt and the pasta to the boiling water. Cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until al dente, according to the package instructions.

4. When the pasta is within about 3 minutes of being al dente, in a fry pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook, stirring, until they are opaque throughout, about 2 minutes. Add the warm cream to the pan and season the sauce with salt and white pepper.

5. Drain the pasta and add it to the fry pan. Toss the pasta to coat with the sauce and serve immediately.

Gravy-Baked Pork Chops

How can I describe last night's dinner? It was...it was like my grandma's house: pure comfort, tasting like the best food memories I have. These pork chops were delicious. Like the blurb says, they really did melt in our mouths.

The recipe was a great jumping-off point for these chops. I love that it called for them to be sauteed in butter before baking, because anything sauteed in butter is bound to be good. I seasoned the chops with garlic powder in addition to the salt and pepper, and after I'd cooked off the chops, I added one medium chopped onion to the skillet and let it caramelize in the pan drippings. I also omitted the water from the recipe and used more milk instead. The result: tender pork chops, creamy gravy...a comforting meal, tasting like it was straight out of a country kitchen.

I served this with mashed potatoes my normal way: skins on, with lots of butter, sour cream, milk, cream cheese and salt and pepper. I had some shredded carrots left over from a previous recipe, and I didn't want them to go to waste, so I added them directly to the potatoes and mashed everything up together. Joe was surprised at how good the potatoes were with the carrots in them, but I knew it would be a winning combination (hello, pot roast?). This was a great meal, and a good way to welcome some cooler weather that hopefully is here to stay!

Gravy-Baked Pork Chops
Source: All Recipes

4 (1 1/4 inch thick) pork chops (I used pork loin chops)
salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, chopped
3/4 cup milk (I used 1 cup)
1/4 cup water (I omitted)
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. Season pork chops with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute the pork chops in the butter for about 5 minutes per side.

3. Add onion to skillet and saute in pan drippings until caramelized.

4. In a separate medium bowl, combine the milk, water and soup. Place the pork chops in a 9x13 inch baking dish, top with onion and pour the soup mixture over the chops.

5. Bake for 45 minutes.

Thai Chicken Pizza

This meal was kind of a departure for us and definitely not something my husband would have chosen for us to eat. He's sort of a pizza "purist," if you will; he needs his red sauce and his oily cheese and his pepperoni. When he asked me what was for dinner on Friday night and I told him it was Thai chicken pizza, he was skeptical.

But, in the end, he really liked it; we both did. I followed the suggestion of a reviewer and added some lime juice to the sauce mixture, which added a nice tang, and I let the chicken stew in some soy sauce for a few minutes before I added it to the pizza. I will make some changes to this recipe if I make it again, though, like adding thin strips of red bell pepper to the toppings and using cilantro or basil as a fresh, fragrant garnish. Also, I'll use less sauce next time; there was just a little too much, and it sort of overwhelmed the flavor of the pizza.

I think bean sprouts are the culinary love of my life. This recipe called for them, so I bought a bag at the store, and thankfully I have plenty left over for snacking today at work. Yum!


Thai Chicken Pizza
Source: All Recipes

1 12-inch pre-baked pizza crust (I used a thin crust one, which worked really well)
1 7-ounce jar peanut sauce
1/4 cup peanut butter
8 ounces cooked skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into strips
1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 cup fresh bean sprouts (optional)
1/2 cup shredded carrot (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped roasted peanuts (optional) (I didn't use)

1. Preheat the oven to 400º.

2. In a small bowl, stir together the peanut sauce and peanut butter. Spread over the pizza crust. Arrange strips of chicken on top. Sprinkle on the green onions and cheese.

3. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is melted and bubbly. Top with bean sprouts, carrot shreds and peanuts, if using. Slice into wedges and serve.

And I just have to share this picture of my son with you, who "helps" me cook dinner every night. His little feet can just barely touch the floor in his Jumperoo, but distraction is the name of the game when you have a three-month-old and need to get dinner on the table, and this definitely helps in that department!

Baked Potato and Broccoli Soup

This soup was floating around on tons of food blogs last fall, about the time I started reading them. It must have sounded delicious to me even then, because I printed out the recipe and just recently rediscovered it in my "To Try" file. As soon as I looked over the recipe again, my mouth started to water, and I knew I had to put in on the menu this week.

Okay, so maybe it's a little early in the year to start making soup. Yesterday was probably an especially silly day to make it, since it was 90º here. But I'm sooo glad I made this, and I can't believe I waited so long to try it. This is an absolutely delicious soup. I did make a few changes to the recipe -- I added salt and pepper because it tasted a little bland, and I added sour cream in addition to the other toppings, which gave a delicious, tangy quality to the soup when I stirred it in. Absolutely yummy, and perfect with a grilled cheese sandwich! I can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch today.


Baked Potato and Broccoli Soup
Source: MyRecipes, originally in Southern Living magazine

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 14 1/2 ounce cans low sodium fat-free chicken broth, divided
3 cups peeled, cubed potatoes (I left the skins on because I love the taste, and it was fine)
2 cups broccoli florets, chopped (I used one bag of frozen broccoli florets)
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/4 cups 2% milk
1 8-ounce block 2% reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste
shredded cheddar cheese, fully cooked bacon, chopped green onions, sour cream for garnish

1. Whisk together flour and 1/3 cup chicken broth until smooth.

2. Combine remaining chicken broth and next 3 ingredients in a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Gradually stir in flour mixture. Cook, stirring often, 5 minutes.

3. Stir in milk and shredded cheese. Cook mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until cheese melts. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4. Top each serving of soup with cheese, bacon, green onions and a dollop of sour cream.