This hearty and satisfying chili is the perfect quick and easy weeknight meal.
THE DINNER DILEMMA
“What’s for dinner?” That’s the dreaded question that faces many of us after a long and busy day when we have mouths to feed and only a little bit of time before “hungry” turns to “hangry”. The solution to this dinner dilemma is quick and easy meals that come together in a matter of minutes – meals like this 3 Ingredient Chili which can be prepared with ground beef, chicken, or turkey to create a hearty and satisfying dish with minimal effort. Add some aromatics if you like (suggestions below), pile on the toppings, and watch it disappear. Dinner solved!
Wild rice gives these delicious beef burgers an earthy texture while Gorgonzola cheese and fresh rosemary deliver a big punch of flavor. Best of all, they’re cooked in the oven and ready to eat in about 10 minutes! JUMP TO RECIPE
It’s universally accepted that the best method for cooking hamburgers is grilling, but for those occasions when grilling is not possible, you can still have perfectly cooked burgers by using the same oven roasting technique I employ when I make these delicious Oven Roasted Gorgonzola Wild Rice Hamburgers. Oven roasting is hassle-free and results in burgers that are more juicy than ones cooked on the grill because with oven roasting, none of the juices are pressed out with a spatula the way they typically are with grilled burgers. Although the cooking method used in this recipe is a little unorthodox, it’s the burgers themselves that really stand out. Wild rice gives them a wonderful, earthy quality while Gorgonzola cheese and fresh rosemary deliver a big punch of flavor. These are definitely not your average hamburgers, and, best of all, they can be cooked to perfection in about 10 minutes. (more…)
Recreate one of the most boring meals ever (meatloaf and mashed potatoes) and surprise your family with cupcakes for dinner!
If you’ve ever wanted to have cupcakes for dinner, here’s your chance! Blue Cheese Meatloaf Cupcakes with Mashed Potato Frosting is a fun way to jazz up what would otherwise be a pretty ordinary meal of meatloaf and mashed potatoes – blah. Surprise your family with these – the kids will love it! (more…)
The Recipe Redux is a group of like-minded food bloggers whose mission is to inspire the food lover in every healthy eater and inspire the healthy eater in every food lover. Each month members post recipes to their blogs following a theme set by the group moderators. This month’s theme is healthy sheet pan meals. Click the Recipe Redux link at the bottom of this page to see links to all the posts for this month’s challenge
Sheet pan meals are all the rage these days, and for good reasons. A well-balanced family meal consisting of a protein, vegetable, and starch, usually involves using not only multiple pots and pans for cooking, but more than one appliance. The idea that you can cook your entire dinner on one pan, using only the oven, is so appealing. Not only is clean-up easier, but there are no issues with timing because all the food is prepped and cooked simultaneously. This makes sheet pan meals ideal for busy families. However, the obvious challenge with sheet pan meals is that you must choose foods that have similar cooking times. This makes your choice of protein, veggie, and starch tricky and it can take a little bit of experimenting to get the right combination of foods for a successful sheet pan meal. My Basil Cheddar Quinoa Meatballs Sheet Pan Meal with Peppers and Potatoes contains foods that work really well together for a sheet pan meal. The meatballs take about 20 minutes to fully cook and the baby potatoes about the same. If the potatoes are on the larger side, they might take a few minutes longer, but that’s ok because the meatballs and peppers are a bit forgiving with their cooking times – meaning that if they cook a few minutes longer than needed, they will still taste great. (more…)
A unique, easy to eat, cocktail party appetizer bursting with savory flavor.
The perfect cocktail party hors d’oeuvre should of course be delicious, but it should also be bite-size and require only one hand to eat. In other words, you should be able to pluck it off the serving tray and pop it into your mouth in one fell swoop. Blue Cheese Wild Rice Mini Meatballs make the perfect cocktail party appetizer for these very reasons. They’re easy to eat and are absolutely bursting with savory flavor. Pretzel sticks are used in lieu of toothpicks as a serving utensil. This makes for a clever presentation and provides a fun (and edible) way for you to grab, dip, and eat. (more…)
The Recipe Redux is a group of like-minded food bloggers whose mission is to inspire the food lover in every healthy eater and inspire the healthy eater in every food lover. Each month members post recipes to their blogs following a theme set by the group moderators. Click the Recipe Redux link at the bottom of this page to see links to all the posts for this month’s challenge.
I’ll admit that initially I was a bit stumped when I first learned that this month’s Recipe Redux challenge was to develop a healthy and creative taco recipe. I’ve never been a huge fan of tacos and they aren’t something that I regularly serve to my family so, unlike other challenges, this one didn’t immediately spur any creative ideas. A few days later however, as I was perusing a new cookbook a friend had given me, I spotted a recipe for Savory Chickpea Waffles and that’s when the idea hit me – Chickpea Waffle Tacos! (more…)
An Argentinian inspired steak dish with a fabulous array of flavors, textures, and colors.
This dish has so much going for it! Steak with Prosciutto, Roasted Red Peppers, and Smoked Mozzarella is easy, delicious, unique, makes a gorgeous presentation, is great for entertaining, and can be served hot or at room temperature. In this simple recipe, flank steak is soaked in a savory, tenderizing marinade, then grilled and topped with classic Italian ingredients that create a flavor synergy you won’t find in many other steak dishes. The roasted red peppers are sweet, the prosciutto is salty, the mozzarella is smoky, and the fresh oregano leaves tie it all together beautifully. (more…)
I received free samples of Sabra Spreads mentioned in this post. By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by Sabra and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.
UPDATE: Sabra Spreads have been discontinued. Substitute your favorite flavor of Sabra hummus is these recipes instead.
Everybody loves sandwiches. There is something incredibly satisfying about a good sandwich, proven by the fact that approximately half of all Americans eat a sandwich every day. That’s why I was so excited, when, as part of a Recipe Redux contest, I received samples of Sabra Spreads, a recently launched line of refrigerated based sandwich spreads from Sabra Dipping Company. They’re the folks who popularized hummus, the Middle Eastern dip made from ground chickpeas and tahini. Sabra Spreads are a condiment that you can use in place of mayonnaise or mustard. These spreads, which are made from hummus, are available in three flavors – Honey Mustard, Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper, and Garlic Herb. All are gluten-free, non-dairy, non-GMO, and kosher, with no cholesterol or trans fats. The Sea Salt & Cracker Pepper, and Garlic Herb spreads are also vegan. I developed three, healthy, Almond Flour Flatbread Sandwiches using Sabra Spreads as both an ingredient in the almond flour flatbread, and a condiment on the finished sandwiches. These sandwiches are so delicious and satisfy a variety of dietary needs and preferences. (more…)
When a recipe title says that something is “stuffed” one immediately assumes that the dish will be decadent and delicious yet I have found most stuffed pepper recipes fall flat in this regard. The peppers are usually filled with a boring mixture of meat and rice and end up turning a pale shade of green when baked before toppling over in the casserole dish. Sometimes, however, a few simple tweaks to an otherwise basic recipe can transform a “ho-hum” dish into something truly extraordinary and such is the case with these Blue Cheese, Rosemary, and Wild Rice Stuffed Peppers. Traditional stuffed pepper recipes usually call for green bell peppers but in this recipe I use red, green, orange, and yellow bell peppers. The combination of colored peppers adds a visual vibrancy to the dish which is reason enough to use them, but I also like that the skins on the red, orange, and yellow peppers retain their brightness when baked, unlike the green peppers whose color becomes dull when cooked. (more…)
When I was researching how to start a food blog I learned that recipe titles are extremely important and that using the right recipe title can often mean the difference between someone clicking to read your post or passing it by. It’s tempting to name a recipe something unique or fun, but when you do that you’re not giving the reader a window into what the dish will taste like. Instead you’re forcing them to read through the entire recipe (if they’re even still reading) and decide for themselves what the dish will taste like, what flavors are prominent, etc. It’s far better to sum up the dish with an appropriate title. Even so, my initial inclination was to name this recipe “Not your Average Meatballs” because of its unorthodox ingredients, until it occurred to me that the more descriptive name is far more enticing. Blue cheese and beef is a classic culinary combination and the rosemary adds just a of hint of savoriness that complements the two ingredients perfectly. In this recipe the wild rice takes the place of bread crumbs as a filler and adds an interesting and pleasing texture. It also makes them gluten free. You can serve these meatballs with homemade ketchup or marinara, and while we don’t normally think of meatballs as finger food, my favorite way to eat them is straight out of the refrigerator, cold, with just the tiniest sprinkling of salt – no utensils required. The turkey, goat cheese, and sun-dried tomato variation of this recipe is equally delicious.
The first thing you need to do for this recipe is cook up some wild rice. To yield 1½ cups of cooked wild rice bring ½ cup of uncooked wild rice and 1½ cups of water to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until all water is absorbed.
Chopped fresh rosemary gives these meatballs an unbeatable flavor but if you can’t find fresh rosemary simply substitute 2 teaspoons of dried rosemary.
