One "Pot" Wednesdays: Tomato Feta Tart

A couple of weeks ago, I made this delicious heirloom tomato tart. I'm posting it for One Pot Wednesday since this was so easy....but technically there is no "pot" involved.

All you need is:
2 sheets of Puff Pastry
~15-20 cherry tomatoes, sliced (i used heirloom tomatoes)
1/4 to 1/2 cup of crumbled feta (guesstimate amount to our liking)
~ 10 leaves of fresh basil, sliced thin
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Lightly flour your working surface.
3. Make an egg wash with 1 beaten egg and about a tablespoon of water. 
4. Take one sheet of puff pastry and cut strips about 1 inch wide. 
5. Build a box like shown below with the strips around the edge of the 2nd sheet. Place each sheet on the side and brush each layer with the egg wash to make it stick better.
6. Use a fork to poke holes all over the bottom of sheet so it doesn't puff up. 
7. Place the slices of tomato on the bottom, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil. 
8. Bake in the oven for about 25-30 min, the pastry will be just starting to puff and brown. 
9. Remove from oven, sprinkle with feta.
10. Place back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes and remove once the pastry has puffed and browned and the feta is slightly melted.
11. Sprinkle with basil, drizzle with a little olive oil. 
12. Enjoy!

This tart was super easy to make and soooo delicious and a perfect use for the box of heirloom cherry tomatoes I had sitting in the fridge....give this a try and stay consumed! 

Pasta Salad

Every time I make this pasta salad it comes out a little different...it really just depends on what I'm in the mood for mostly....I have been having this weird craving for super fresh, sweet veggies....I say its weird because I'm really a carnivore...I mean CARNIVORE (lols)....but I have been totally craving veggies lately.

This pasta salad is always a hit at parties, and sooo easy to make! I usually use penne or rotini, this time I used Trottole. I really liked this shape, it was really good at catching the dressing.  This recipe is pretty simple. Basically boil the pasta, add the veggies, and other stuff, add the dressing and mix.

For this pasta salad I used some fresh mozzarella that I added a little salt and pepper and balsamic vinegar to, black and green olives, cucumbers, red peppers, and green peppers. For the dressing, I usually use some sort of Italian dressing--usually the Kraft Italian, this time I used the Kraft Roasted Red Pepper Italian dressing. Put it all in a bowl and mixed it well. You dont want too much dressing, so start with about 1/4 of the bottle and keep adding a little more as you need....it should be just enough to coat the pasta and veggies.

Alternatives: Sometimes I get a 1lb slab of ham, or turkey, or salami (get the deli to cut it in one big slice, rather than thing slices) and I cut it into chunks and throw it in the salad. Give this recipe a try, let me know what you think, and as always stay consumed!

After I was done, put it away in the fridge, then realized i forgot the tomatoes :P

I Think its Spring!

I have been having a weird craving for asparagus, green leafy veggies, and peas....I think its mostly because the weather here has been so wacky....warm one day, c-c-c-cold the next and I am soooo ready for it to be warm and sunny so I thought this recipe might help spring to come quicker :)

This easy, delicious recipe is inspired by 101 cookbooks. This is my ABSOLUTE ALL TIME favorite cooking/food blog.....her recipes are always delicious and she focuses on natural, whole foods so its even healthier for you :)

This one was quick and easy to do...I think it took me 5 minutes to prep and about 5 minute to cook it....and it came out delicious and so "fresh" tasting. Instead of using pea shoots I used spinach because that was what was available at the store....I also added some peas. I had that leftover chives from last week's salmon sandwich so i added it to the eggs. I didn't add the avocado on top because its apparently now too expensive for me to buy avocado (well it was $2.49 for ONE avocado...which is ridiculous!!). I think next week I am going to go to the Chinese grocery store where fresh veggies are like 1/3 of the price as the regular American grocery stores and try this again with some rapini or pea shoots and DEFINITELY w/ some avocado......in the meantime....this was pretty delicious.....give it a try and stay consumed!

Ingredients: 

8 ounces / 225 g cooked, leftover pasta
2 eggs
fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

3 big handfuls of sliced asparagus, and/or pea shoots, or tiny broccoli trees, or shredded greens - anything quick cooking and fresh

chopped avocado
chopped herbs


Directions: 

1. Use your fingers to fluff up the leftover pasta a bit, so its not clumpy or stuck together. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl crack the eggs and beat them really well with a pinch of salt.
3. In a big skillet melt the oil and butter over medium high heat. 
4. If you're using a vegetable that might take longer to cook than others, add those to the pan - for example, asparagus or broccoli. 
5. Add a couple pinches of salt, stir, cover, and cook for a couple minutes. Until the vegetables are bright, and just cooked. 
6. Now stir in anything that just needs a quick flash of cooking - in this case pea greens, but chopped greens would go in at this point if you're using those. 
7. Stir, and cook just until tender - a minute or so. 
8. Pull about 1/3 of the vegetables out of the pan and set them aside.
9. Now, add the pasta to the skillet, and toss well. 
10. Once the pasta is hot, turn down the heat, wait a moment, then quickly stir in the eggs. 
11. Stir well, then cover the pan, remove from heat, and let everything sit for a minute. 
12. Uncover, give everything another toss, the egg should be cooked through. 
13. Taste, and adjust the seasoning before serving. 
14. Top with the reserved vegetables, and some chopped avocado.

One Pot Wednesday: Crockpot Sundried Tomato Risotto

When I saw this recipe for making risotto in the crockpot on the Year of Slowing Cooking blog , I was rather intrigued....can you really make risotto in the crockpot??! I figured I would test it.

The recipe seems simple enough....4 ingredients:


1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil
1 1/2 cup Arborio rice
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese (to add later) {I couldnt help it...I used Parmesan instead...I mean its risotto!)


Directions: 

1. Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Put the sundried tomatoes into the bottom of your slow cooker.
2. Add the rice and swirl it around in the oil, until the rice is well-coated. 
3. Add the chicken broth. 
4. Cover and cook on high for 2 to 4 hours, or until the rice is tender (if you're out of the house, set the timer for 2 hours, then check when you get home so you don't end up with gummy rice--you can always flip it to high if the rice is still crunchy).
5. Remove the lid of your cooker and stir in the cheese. Turn off the cooker and let the risotto sit for 10 minutes with the lid off before serving.

You know I cant leave well enough alone lols...so i sliced up 2 portabello caps and drops those in about 10 minutes before the rice was done.  You have to watch it.....because it will get gloppy pretty fast. I really liked the way this tasted....but both my mom and my brother said they thought it was too sour...i guess there are a couple of ways to make it less sour: 

1. Use less sundried tomato....but that means less flavor...
2. Add some chicken (you could use rotisserie chicken so you dont have to cook it separately)
3. Add a little bit of sugar
4. Ive also read that you could add alternating pinches of baking soda and sugar until its not so sour, but you cant taste the baking soda (Sounds interesting...but I'm curious if it will work)

Or you could just cook it this way....I liked it...but then again....I like really tart things. 

You Don't Always Have to Go It Alone

So this blog is partially because someone, Goosey of Glamour of Tragedy, says she can never try my recipes or cook things I put up cuz they always have meat in them....sooooo.....this is an all vegetarian meal.

Although I have to be honest, I cheated....just a little bit....I let Wegman's help me out...but no one said everything on here had to be made from scratch right? Just delicious :P and this it was.

 I started with a box of Wegman's Mushroom Pierogies. I put them in salted boiling water for 5 minutes, take them up and put them in a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil. I also heated up some frozen mix veggies....












Doesn't it look delicious? The Pierogies were deelicious! The dough was not too thick, and perfectly flavored. I like pan frying them because it gives them a little bit of extra flavor and crunch....but you could just as well boil them and eat them like that. The filling consisted of mashed potatoes and mushrooms. The potatoes were smooth and had a fragrant mushroom taste and aroma.

The entire meal cost me about $5 AND i had enough left over for a 2nd meal (so really...the meal cost $2.5--score!) 

Goosey...go give this a try :) and here's to hoping you're all (all 6 of my subscribers...haha!) are consumed by life!