Baked Salmon With a Lemon, Caper, Butter Sauce Over Risotto

Serve over Parmesan risotto
Ingredients:
2 pieces of salmon fillet
3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1-2 tablespoons of capers
1 tablespoon of butter
1/2 lemon
1 cup of white wine
Extra virgin olive oil
A pinch of salt
Pepper (to taste)
Fresh chopped parsley (to taste)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a small pan, brown garlic. Add white wine and reduce for 2 minutes. Add capers, salt, pepper, and half a lemon (zested and juiced). Cook for approximately 1 minute. Melt butter in. Remove from heat and add parsley. Line a baking pan with tin foil. Place salmon on foil with a little bit of butter underneath to keep from sticking. Pour the mixture from the small pan over the salmon. Cook for approximately 12 minutes.

Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Ingredients:
1 lb. fresh strawberries (washed and dried)
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
2 tablespoons skim milk

Directions:
Wash and dry the strawberries thoroughly.
Using low heat, melt the chocolate chips (while slowly adding the
milk) in a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water (double boiler
style).
Stir until smooth and remove from heat.
Hold the berries by their leaves, and dip them into the melted chocolate, covering them 3/4 way up.
Place the dipped berries onto a plate covered with wax paper. Allow to sit and cool.
Indulge!

My boyfriend and I discovered how to make these during our weekly date
nights. They are fun to make together and we can control the kind of
chocolate we're having as opposed to buying them and not knowing these
things. The strawberries maintain a delicious flavor and are still
decently healthy to eat. Hey, a little bit of dark chocolate is good
for the body! We don't feel guilty after dessert! Now we make them for family gatherings and everyone loves them!

Submitted by Annie

Toasted Chickpeas

Ingredients:
19-24 oz. chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 clove chopped garlic
1 dash of sea salt
1 dash black pepper or chili flakes
any desired seasoning
bunch of parsley (fresh or dried)

Directions:
Rinse and drain the chickpeas.
Add the olive oil to a medium-sized skillet.
Heat the skillet over medium heat.
Add the chickpeas to the skillet.
Add the garlic.
Heat on medium for about 15 minutes or until the chickpeas are toasted.
Lightly season with salt and pepper.
Add any other desired seasonings.
Toss the ingredients together.
Garnish with parsley.
Serve and enjoy!

This is a simple dish that my family and I enjoy cooking and eating
together. It's so quick and easy to make! We discovered it as an
alternative to unhealthy snacks. It can be served as a snack or a
side dish. I've even tried it over brown rice and drizzled with
balsamic vinegar and a bit of olive oil! Depending on the seasoning
that is added, the chickpeas take on a different flavor each time. It
keeps the dish interesting, adds variety, and has so much flavor!

Submitted by Annie

Cheesy Polenta with Sauteed Zucchini and Kale

Ingredients:
1 package of already cooked polenta (it is packaged like a log)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
1-2 zucchini (cut into chunks)
1 bunch of kale (roughly chopped)
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Red pepper flakes
Grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 tablespoon of butter

Directions:
Roughly chop up polenta and place in a microwave safe bowl. Add 1/4 cup of water to the bowl. Put in the microwave for a approximately five minutes. Every minute, take polenta out of the microwave and stir with spoon, crushing any lumps. Add water if polenta becomes too dry. Continue this process until polenta is no longer lumpy. Mix in butter and cheese (to taste) and heat in microwave until cheese melts (less than 1 minute). While cooking the polenta, sauté garlic, zucchini, and kale in oil. Cook approximately 5-8 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked to liking. Add salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste. Serve on top of polenta.

Even though polenta is served with many Italian dishes, I was not introduced to it until my college years. Since it is very easy to make, I find it to be an appropriate food to make when I do not have too much time. Polenta is cornmeal. For those of you who are not familiar with polenta, the creamy version (what is made in this recipe) is similar to the consistency of foods from other cultures, such as grits or boiled maize. Polenta can also be prepared fried.

Sweet and Savory Smokies

Ingredients:

• 1 pound bacon
• 1 (16 ounce) package little smokie sausages
• 1 cup brown sugar, or to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cut bacon into thirds and wrap each strip around a little sausage. Place the wrapped sausages on wooden skewers, several to a skewer. Arrange the skewers on a baking sheet and sprinkle them liberally with brown sugar.
3. Bake until bacon is crisp and the brown sugar melted.

Sometimes a meal amongst your favorite girlfriends can be a form of a family meal. This is one of the most liked recipes for Ladies Nights.

Submitted by Alayna

Spinach Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 (10 ounce) packages chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese
• 1 (4 ounce) package crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon dill
• 10 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
• CRISCO® Butter Flavor No-Stick Cooking Spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray an 8x8 baking dish with CRISCO® No Stick Cooking Spray. In a medium bowl, stir together first 9 ingredients.
3. Lay one sheet of phyllo in the baking dish, allowing edges to hang over. Spray completely with CRISCO® Butter Flavor No-stick Cooking Spray. Repeat with 4 more sheets of phyllo, spraying and alternating the direction of each sheet. Transfer spinach mixture to phyllo lined dish. Spray and layer remaining sheets as directed for bottom layer. Turn in edges to form a rim. Spray rim and top layer.
4. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 15 minutes before slicing into 4-6 pieces.

Growing up my father worked A LOT! Missing family meals a couple times a week and coming home past our bed times. This was a rough time but it has also made our family appreciate dinner time together. Anytime I have eaten dinner at someone else's house I felt I was infringing on special time because that is how it is at our house. I was very lucky to have time just to spend with my family around the dinner table discussing our day and the older I got the more rare it was to have someone miss a meal. Now due to my work schedule I have missed quite a few but it makes the times together all the more special. This is probably why Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday! Here is one of our favorite family meals that as you can see from the picture, we are sharing with the next generation.

Submitted by Alayna

Zucchini Boats

Ingredients:
Zucchini
Garlic (crushed)
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Italian style breadcrumbs
Grape tomatoes (halved)
Mozzarella cheese (diced)
Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise and slice a small bit from the bottom so that it lays flat in a baking dish. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon. In the spooned out middle, include crushed garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper (to taste). Place tomatoes in center and sprinkle breadcrumbs on top. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove and place mozzarella in between where the tomatoes are. Top with Parmesan cheese and bake until cheese is golden.

My mother would make these a long time ago in the summer, using her tomatoes and zucchini from the garden outside. I now make it for my daughter. It is a great side and perfect for the summer!

Submitted by Aurelia

Fried Eggplant Stacks

Ingredients:
1 eggplant
Italian style breadcrumbs
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Vegetable oil
2 eggs
Ricotta cheese (optional)
Ingredients for sauce... found here..(http://justcookingfamily.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-familys-classic-italian-tomato-sauce.html)

Directions:
Make tomato sauce (found in link above). Slice eggplant into 1/2 inch thick circles. Dip each individual eggplant into whisked eggs and then cover in breadcrumbs. Heat approximately 1/2" deep oil in pan and drop each eggplant round into the pan. Fry until one side is browned then flip, browning the other side as well. When it is finished cooking, place the eggplant on paper towels to drain any excess oil. Continue this process until all eggplant slices are completed. In a pan, carefully stack eggplant, mozzarella cheese, a dollop of ricotta cheese (if desired) and then another slice of eggplant. Pour sauce over the stacks and then finish off with some mozzarella cheese on top. Place in the oven at 350 degrees until cheese looks melted.

In my house, eggplant is made very often. This is actually just one of the many forms that we use it with. Other examples include eggplant rollatini, eggplant parmigiana, and pasta mixed with eggplant. As a child, I remember my mom frying eggplant at the stove. When she was not looking, I would steal one draining on the paper towel. She would eventually notice when I began eating them quicker than she could make them!

Submitted by Aurelia

Crispy Tofu

Ingredients:
Extra firm tofu
Extra virgin olive oil
Corn Starch
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take tofu out of package and wrap in paper towels and squeeze lightly to drain as much water out of it as possible. Cut tofu into approximately 1-inch squares and put in a large bowl. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper over them to lightly coat each piece. Carefully mix with hands (tofu tends to fall apart very easily). Finally, shake corn starch over mixture to also lightly coat the tofu (this is what will cause the tofu to have a crisp. Mix lightly with hands to make sure they are all coated. Lay out all the pieces on a baking pan and put into the over for approximately 30 minutes (you can leave them in for longer or shorter based on the desired crispness). I like to take them out half way cooked and drizzle just a little bit more olive oil over them and mix them around so that all side bake evenly.

This recipe is very easy to make. I made it up after realizing that frying the tofu used way too much oil. When I was a child, my mom used to give me a bit of tofu for protein. I have been eating it ever since. Although this recipe is listed as a snack, this can also be turned into a dinner by adding rice, vegetables, etc.

Mud Bars

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 TSP baking soda
1/2 TSP salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
1 TSP vanilla
1 egg
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
optional: 1/2 cup nuts, some kosher salt, colorful sprinkles

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Line 8 x8 pan with foil. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt together. In another bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add the egg and beat well. Gradually add flour mixture. Then stir in 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips, reserving the other 3/4 cup of chips. Add nuts if desired.

Bake about 25 minutes. When dome baking, pour reserved chocolate chips on top evenly. Allow to melt and spread over top. Add either kosher salt for that salty/sweet craving or colored sprinkles. And allow to cool. Cut into bars and enjoy!

My kids love to help make these mud bars. They say the sprinkles make them more festive. When I make them for a more adult palate, I add kosher salt on top- salty/ sweet perfection! There are never leftovers and everyone always asks for the recipe. This is a party mainstay at our house!

Submitted by Gina

Homemade Ravioli

Home-made pasta Ingredients:
4 cups flour (sifted)
3 eggs beaten
1/2 cup water
1/2 TSP salt

Home-made pasta Directions:

Add all ingredients to a mixer. Mix until the dough sticks together and comes away from the sides. Then take it out of the bowl and knead some more. You should almost get the texture of play dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it sit for about 30 minutes.

Filling Ingredients:
Chop meat
Italian bread crumbs
dried basil
granulated garlic
Romano cheese

Filling Directions:
While waiting for the dough, mix your meat. Take chop meat, add Italian bread crumbs, dried basil, granulated garlic and Romano cheese to taste. Mix well.

Cut a piece of the dough and begin to roll it out. I am lucky enough to have a pasta machine, which rolls at different levels of thickness. You CAN do this by using a rolling pin and lots of arm muscles, too!

After the pasta is made into thin sheet, I put the sheets into the ravioli cutter. Again, you CAN do this on your own. Cut the sheets of pasta into 2inch by 2 inch squares, put a teaspoon of meat in to the center. Then wet the perimeter, and cover with another 2x2 piece of dough. press edges firmly and viola, homemade ravioli!

Our family always celebrated holidays with homemade pasta, thanks to my grandmother (who was, funny enough German, but married my Italian grandfather). Meat ravioli was always my favorite. As I grew, I was able to help my grandma with more of the steps. before she passed away, my grandma taught my daughter to mix the meat filling. Now, my son, daughter and myself enjoy making home made ravioli. Sometimes we get creative with fillings, but we always come back to our traditional meat ravioli. Nothing says family gathering like a big bowl of grandma's ravioli!

Submitted by Gina

Apple Cobbler

Few and simple ingredients. Easy to make, no mixer necessary, and
absolutely delicious!

Ingredients for crumbs:
4 1/2 c. flour
1 c sugar
1 egg + 1 yolk
1 scoop vanilla sugar
1 c. oil

Crumble all the above ingredients by hand or with a fork until it forms
crumbs. Pour half of the crumbs onto the bottom of a 9x13 pan or pie dish
and press down with your hands to form a dough-like consistency. Bake the
dough on 350 degrees for about 7-9 minutes. In the meantime prepare the
apple filling.

Ingredients for apple filling:
10 McIntosh apples
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Slice the apples thinly into small pieces and add the sugar and cinnamon.
Mix until the apples are evenly coated. Pour the apples into the pan or
pie crust on top of the dough-like bottom. Sprinkle the rest of the
crumbs on top of the apple mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes
to an hour. The longer it bakes the softer the apples become.
For a nice display sprinkle confectionery sugar over the entire cobbler
prior to serving. Serve warm, room temperature, or even cold!

This food quickly became my 2 year-old daughter's favorite food from when
she began eating solids. She would ask me to make her "clobber" all the
time. When I was too busy on a regular weekday I would tell her that we
will make it on the weekend. The food quickly became our weekend
tradition. It's great to make with my daughter, she loves to sprinkle the
crumbs on top - a perfect age-appropriate kitchen helper! We bond every
weekend over making it and I love to watch her enjoy it. We look forward
to it every week. It has become our weekend tradition and who knows how
far it will carry... Oh, and did I mention, that there is no margarine or
butter involved?!

Submitted by Dassi

Swedish Meatballs in Burgundy Sauce

Ingredients:

2 Lb. meatloaf mix (beef, pork, veal)

1 large onion--grated on "fine"

1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 eggs (beaten)

Directions for meatballs:

mix all together and make into 1" or 1-1/2" meatballs. Fry in 4-6 tablespoons butter or butter substitute (like olivio or smart balance) for about 20-25min or until browned, turning frequently.

Ingredients for burgundy sauce:

6 tablespoons of butter

6 tablespoons of soy sauce

6 tablespoons of chopped chives (sold with spices)

1/2 - 3/4 cup burgundy wine (I use Gallo Hearty Burgundy)

Directions for burgundy sauce:

Heat sauce ingredients together in medium/large saucepan on low just to a low boil. Add meatballs and mix gently, keeping meatballs on low/warm until ready to serve. These can also be frozen for up to 3 months.

Serve as an appetizer with chunks of crusty Italian bread or serve as an entree over rice or noodles!

My sister created this recipe years ago and it has become a multi-family favorite, especially when we all get together for a holiday or special-occasion dinner. The best thing is that it can be used as an appetizer when served alone or with chunks of crusty italian bread; or a main dish when served over rice or noodles. Both of my children love them and used to take turns "mushing" the meatball ingredients. (happy memories!)

Submitted by Chris