Tortilla Pizzas

This was a hit in our home! I was also able to get my  9-year old involved in making dinner for the family, AND the best part is that it is SOOOOOO easy! Easier than the Quiche I made way back.

You will Need:

Flour Tortillas

A jar of pizza sauce

mozzarella cheese, grated

pizza toppings such as sliced mushrooms, chopped bell peppers, fresh basil leaves, sliced olives, mini pepperonis, chopped ham, bacon bits, pineapple tidbits, minced garlic, chopped onions, etc. – practically whatever you like! 

What to Do: 

Start by setting your oven to broil.

Then prepare your baking trays by spraying it with some non stick baking spray. Set the tortillas flat on the baking tray/s.

Spread about a tablespoon up to about a tablespoon and a half of pizza sauce over the flour tortillas.  

Top the prepared tortillas with some grated mozzarella cheese.

Top you tortilla pizzas with any combination of toppings that you like.  

Place the tortilla pizzas in the oven until just about the cheese gets melted and bubbly. Probably about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how you want your crust to be (chewy, toasted, or crispy… your pizza your choice really.)

Take them out and serve fresh from the oven.

I promise you will enjoy it.

Falala-Falafels

Falalala-falafels... that's what you'd be singing too if you've found a super easy way to make falafels.

So how did I happen upon this genius idea of mine? This was brought about by necessity.... the necessity to get rid of 2 - 8oz containers of hummus, without having to chip-dip myself until I no longer have the interest to chip-dip any longer. In short, I needed something different to do with hummus other than eat it with chips.

My internet search was not much of help. It only lead me to site after site of how to make my own hummus. I then typed in the words "ground chick peas" on the search field, and that's when I happened upon Falafels.

Falafels are a middle eastern dish of mashed chick peas with spices such as cumin, garlic, onion, etc. I figured I can whip up a short cut version of Falafels using hummus because essentially they are made from the same thing and the same spices have already been put in there for you. The best thing about using hummus to make falafels is that the chick peas are already pre mashed, so you won't need to soak them overnight and mash them up yourself. Essentially using hummus to make falafels is already half of the falafel making process done for you! Adding a few other ingredients... most likely something that you already have in your pantry, is taking the hummus all the way to falafel-hood! All the way to Falafel-dom! All the way to Falafel-ness! (I can't decide which tagline I like the best)

So next time you go to an appetizer party, do not hesitate to bring home that container of left over hummus with you as long as you trust that no one at the party had double dipped into the hummus.

Here's what you will need...

2 tsp baking powder
1 cup flour
4 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
2 8oz containers of hummus - I used one that was roasted pepper flavored and the other one was garlic flavored. 
oil for frying

Put the hummus, flour, chopped cilantro or parsley, and baking powder together in a bowl and mix until it forms a dough. Ball it up, leave it in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for about 4 hours. (I left mine overnight).

After refrigerating for a couple of hours, it is ready to be formed into balls. Scoop about a tablespoon of the mixture onto your palms and roll them in a spherical shape.

Then heat up some oil for deep frying. Fry your chick-pea balls until golden brown. You will end up making a little over a dozen falafels. Drain on paper towels.

Serve in pita with some lettuce and sliced tomatoes and top it with tzatziki sauce for a really great all vegetarian falafel sandwich.

My 9 year old boy loved it so much he ate a lot and thought it was made with chicken. Try it with your own kids and just maybe you can have them eat some chick-pea... I think we can make that count as a vegetable right?

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Ok, so here's the recipe also for the

Tzatziki Sauce
1 8 oz container plain yogurt - i recommend you use plain Greek yogurt
1 small English cucumber - because English cucumber does not have seeds
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves minced garlic or 1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1/4 tsp lemon juice
a dash of paprika (optional)

Chop the cucumber finely and mix with all the other ingredients. OR put all of the ingredients in a  food processor or blender. Put in small bowl and refrigerate for about an hour. The longer it sits in the fridge the more the flavors come out.

Serve with your falafels.

Taco Cornbread Casserole

We just had a small get together at our home where one of things we served our guests are nachos. Since taco meat is a popular choice item on the nacho bar, I made sure that I made a lot of them. I might have just made a little bit too much so we had a lot of meat leftovers.

Now what to do with the taco meat? This question prompted a search on the web for some left over magic ideas… which resulted to the Taco Cornbread Casserole being born from out of our kitchen for the first time!

You will need:

1 package store bought corn bread mix

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

½ cup milk

1 cup cooked taco seasoned meat

½ can Cream Corn (approx. ¾ of a cup)

• Preheat oven to 400F.
• Mix cornbread mixture according to package directions. Add the milk and corn. Pour half of the mixture on a prepared (greased) baking dish or pan. Layer on the hamburger meat and ½ cup grated cheddar cheese. Pour the remaining half of the cornbread mixture on top and add the remaining grated cheese on top.
• Bake in the oven. Do a stick test to see if it is done. Baking will take to about 30 minutes. 

Easy Cheesy Garlic Bread

So it is pasta night at our home and it is no question that I would also have to make some cheesy garlic bread on the side, because this is a sure winner with my kids.

You will need:

Bread rolls, sliced in half

1 stick of softened butter

1 tsp garlic powder

½ cup Italian cheese blend

1 tsp dried parley flakes (optional)

Mix together and spread over bread. Toast in the oven at 225F just until bread is slightly toasted and cheese is melted.

Might also be a good pairing for that Braciole I made awhile back.

Wine Infused Pasta

We got a lot of wine during the holidays. I like wine but I try not to drink it a lot. I do try to find other uses for it and one that I came across to on the internet is using wine to cook your pasta noodles. So I used a whole bottle of red wine mixed in with some water, oil and salt to cook some noodles and Voila! Wine infused pasta!

The noodles have a hint of that wine taste and all you need is to top or toss it with any sauce you like!

Pair it off with some easy home made cheesy garlic bread.

Braciole

Do you want something Italian but not pasta? Why don't you try making Braciole?

Braciole is a meat dish wonderfully cooked, drenched and stuffed with Italian seasonings. 

I found Giada de Laurentis' version easy to do, but made some tweaking of my own to save time and ingredients. I'm sure hers taste wonderful, but my short cuts didn't really make it come out too bad! 

Check out her video at the end.

What you will need:

1 (about a pound and a half) Flank Steak

1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

4 tbsp Olive Oil (2 tbsp for drizzling and 2 tbsp for cooking)

1 tbsp Garlic Powder

1/2 tbsp Parsley flakes

1 cup Grated Italian Blend Cheese

1 cup white wine (I used White Zinfandel because it's a tad sweet and it was the one I had at home)

salt and pepper

a jar of marinara sauce - about 3 cups ( I used one flavored with roasted garlic, onions and pepper)

You will also need:

butchers twine

foil

A cooking pan deep enough to hold a roll of meat and some sauce and can transfer from stove to oven

What to Do:

Preheat  your oven to 350F

Blend the bread crumbs, garlic powder, parsley flakes and cheese together in a bowl and set aside. 

Lay the flank steak flat on a surface and spread the bread crumb mixture on top of it. Drizzle with some olive oil. This will help keep the bread crumb mixture intact and held together.

Now starting with the short end, roll the meat to enclose the filling and secure with butcher twine. 

season all sides with salt and pepper.

Prepare your pan and heat up the left  over olive oil for cooking.

Place the meat and brown on all sides. 

Pour the wine on the meat and let it boil in the pan. 

Pour in the marinara sauce.

Remove from stove, and partially cover with foil. This will keep your sauce from reducing to a tomato paste consistency.

Put the pan in the oven. Cook for 1 hour. 

Check the meat at 30 minutes to baste with the sauce. 

Remove the foil cover and continue baking for another 30 minutes. 

Total cooking time in the oven is 1.5 hours. Don;t worry, this will make the meat so mouth watering and tomato-ey tender. 

Remove from oven. Take the meat out from the sauce and remove the butcher's twine. Slice to about 1/2 inch slices and serve by spooning some of the the sauce on top.

Enjoy!!! 

Here's Giada's Braciole Video from the Cooking Channel