Rigatoni with Roasted Broccoli

This is another quick and easy recipe. I'm doing a bit of cleaning this week and part of that is reading through magazines that I haven't gotten to yet. In this case, it was Women's Day from February. Good news is that I found this great recipe. We all love roasted broccoli and here it's roasted with red onion and garlic. Add some pasta and bacon, what more could you ask for? This could easily be made vegetarian by leaving out the bacon.

Rigatoni with Roasted Broccoli
serves 4

4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 head of broccoli, cut into small florets
1 red onion, cut into 1/2" thick wedges
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 slices bacon
8 oz. rigatoni
1/2 c grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 425*. On a large rimmed baking sheet toss garlic, broccoli, onion, oil, and 1/2 tsp salt and pepper. Roast until golden brown and tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Arrange bacon on a second rimmed baking sheet, cook until crisp, about 12-15 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and break into pieces when cool. Meanwhile, cook pasta per package directions. Reserve 3/4 cup cooking water; drain pasta and return it to the pot. Add 1/2 cup reserved water, sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan, and toss to coat (add more reserved cooking water if pasta seems dry). Add roasted vegetables and bacon to pasta and toss to combine. Top with remaining Parmesan.

Garlic Beef and Broccoli Lo Mein

This claims to be a 20 minute recipe; I think it took me longer but it was still fast and easy to make. This was perfect for a Sunday after church when everyone who was home needed to get out of the house fairly quickly. No time to grill yesterday! This had good flavor, maybe needed more garlic or maybe some Siracha. Still, very good and Bob would have liked it if he had been home.

Garlic Beef and Broccoli Lo Mein
serves 5-6

8 oz lo mein noodles or spaghetti
3 c broccoli florets
1 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz flank steak, sliced against the grain
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium carrot, shredded
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c soy sauce
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp pepper

In a small bowl whisk together the brown sugar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, ginger, red pepper, and pepper.

In a large pot cook the noodles according to package directions. Add the broccoli the last 5 minutes of cooking and cook until tender. Drain the noodles and broccoli and put in a large bowl. While the noodles are cooking add the olive oil to a medium sized skillet. Cook the steak until no longer pink. Add the garlic and carrots and cook for a minute more. Add the steak to the bowl with the noodles and broccoli, give the sauce another stir and pour over the noodles and steak, toss to coat everything.

NOTES: I used angel hair pasta but I think if you're not going to use lo mein spaghetti would be a better choice. The recipe calls for flank steak which would have been delicious but I used pre-sliced stir fry meat. Any sort of meat, thinly sliced is fine.  

slightly modified from The Recipe Critic

Southwestern Salad with Avocado Dressing

I've seen several versions of this salad around, this is just the one I happened to print out and make the other night. It was really good. I also cooked some chicken tenders, sliced those, and added them for some additional protein but it doesn't really need them.

Southwestern Salad
serves 5

dressing
1 avocado, halved
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 c olive oil
1 Tbsp fresh cilantro
1 lime, juiced

salad
1 head lettuce, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped (any color)
1/4 c fresh cilantro
15 oz black beans (1 can)
1/2 red onion, chopped
15 oz corn (1 can)
1/4 c scallions, sliced
1 medium tomato, chopped

Add all dressing ingredients to a blender, blend until smooth. In a large bowl add all salad ingredients and toss to mix. Top with avocado dressing, toss to coat.

from Tasty

Blueberry Salad

I'm not sure where I got this one from, it may be a mix from a couple of recipes I saw online. An easy spring salad that stars one of my favorite fruits.

Blueberry Salad

10 oz spring mix lettuce
1 pint blueberries
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
6 oz. crumbled feta
4 green onions, sliced
balsamic dressing

toss the first five ingredients together. Add dressing when ready to serve and toss.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

I came across a Tasty post the other day on Facebook of cheap dinners that use one pound of hamburger and thought it would be great for Whitney. Next year she's moving into an apartment off campus and will be cooking, something that she's super excited about doing. We both looked through the recipes Tasty shared and many look really good. I had some butterhead lettuce in the fridge that I wanted to use up and the Asian lettuce wraps were a good use for them. This dish was really tasty, has a few options for serving, and only took about 30 minutes to make. I think we'll be checking out some of the other recipes over the summer so she has a few easy, cheap meals for the fall.

Asian Lettuce Wraps
makes roughly 10 wraps depending on how big the lettuce leaves are

1 1/4 lb lean ground beef
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1-inch piece ginger, chopped or a good squeeze of ginger in a tube
1 8oz can chopped water chestnuts
5 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
Bibb lettuce (or iceberg)
Optional toppings:
shredded carrots
roughly chopped peanuts
toasted sesame seeds
sliced green onion

Heat olive oil in a large skillet then add ground beef. If you're using fattier meat omit the oil. Break up the meat with a spoon, season with salt and pepper, and cook until no longer pink. Set aside on a separate plate. Wipe the hamburger grease out of the skillet and heat a bit more oil then add onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook for 3-4 minutes then add the hamburger and water chestnuts. Stir in the hoisin sauce and soy sauce and cook everything together for a few minutes. To serve, place some meat in the lettuce, top with carrots, peanuts, sesame seeds, green onion, and some extra hoisin sauce.

slightly modified from Apple of My Eye