recipe Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Cruisin with the Colemans

Recipe of the Week – Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Tomatoes, and Pepperoni

Posted on July 16, 2018 by Cruisin Brian

Before you turn your nose up on this one, keep on reading. It doesn’t sound like its going to work, but it is actually really good and quite easy to make over the campfire itself, at home in the oven, or even on the grill.
The original recipe comes from the January 2013 issue of Women’s Day and you can find it here.
If you’ve been reading my recipes so far, you know that I don’t do a great job of following the recipe exactly, and this one is no exception so read carefully for my modifications. As always, I’ve cut the recipe in half during preperation since only two of us are eating and we don’t want leftovers. All of the quantities listed are the full amounts.
Start off by cooking 12 oz of your favorite short pasta. Shells or rotini would work best. We use gluten free pasta when we cook because Michelle is celiac. There is some debate about adding oil to your cooking water. Generally you SHOULD NOT do it but this recipe is an exception. When you pour the pasta out of the pan, the oil floating on the top of the water will coat the pasta which will help keep it from sticking together while it waits to be added to the grill. This is the same reason you should not do it normally, it will keep the sauce from sticking to the pasta!
While the pasta is cooking, cut up a smallish head of cauliflower into bite size flowerettes. If they are too big it will take longer to cook and you run the risk of burning the outsides. Also cut up a pint of grape tomatoes into halves. Throw it all onto a grill pan (or piece of heavy duty foil). Next give it all a drizzle of olive oil, salt (not too much), pepper, and garlic pepper. Finally top it with sliced pepperoni. Do not mix it up at this point.

By now your pasta should be done cooking. Drain it and put it into your serving bowl. If you didn’t add oil to the water, add a little now and mix it all together. Take everything outside to the grill.

On a medium grill, let things get good and hot and once you see that the edges of the cauliflower are browning and the tomatoes are giving up some juice, start to mix it up a bit. Now you just have to play it by ear. You want the cauliflower to get nice and browned and the tomatoes to get a good blister. I like it when the pepperoni get a little crunchy too, plus they will give up more oil which will lube up the veggies.
Once everything is to your desired degree of doneness, pour it on top of the pasta and mix it all together. Sprinkle with some parmesan cheese and fresh parsley or green onions and dinner is ready!
So my modification on ingredients was just the addition of the garlic powder and parmesan cheese. You could also add lots of other veggies if you want. I think zucchini, asparagus, or mushrooms would all make a great addition. If your not a pepperoni fan, smoked sausage, grilled chicken, or even shrimp could be nice.
Here’s my version, check out the link at the top if you want to cook the whole thing in the oven at home.

Pasta with Grilled Cauliflower, Tomatoes, and Pepperoni

1 small head of cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces
2 T olive oil, divided
Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
12 oz small pasta such as rotini or shells
1 pint of grape tomatoes
6 oz pepperoni
2 T parmesan cheese
chopped parsley or green onions for garnish fish (optional)

Cook the pasta with a little oil in the pot. While the pasta is cooking, layer the cauliflower and halved tomatoes on a grill pan or piece of heavy duty foil (on a cookie sheet to carry out to the grill). Drizzle the remaining oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cover with pepperoni.
Drain the pasta and take everything out to the grill. Grill the veggies for about 3-5 minutes before stirring to mix the pepperoni in. Let the cauliflower brown and tomatoes blister.
Mix the veggie mixture into the pasta and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and garnish.
Let us know what you think of this recipe by leaving a comment!

Recipe of the Week – Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Cruisin Brian

This week we’re making a quick one pot dish that can be made on the stove or over the fire that came from the Primavera Kitchen. Not only is it gluten free, but also healthy and super tasty!

In a pot or iron skillet (especially if working over a campfire) heat 2 T of olive oil and brown 1 lb of ground turkey and a 1 clove of minced garlic. I used 90% lean turkey, if you’re using a fattier ground, reduce the oil a little.

Once most of the liquid is cooked out and the turkey starts to brown, add 1/2 c each of onion and bell pepper (we love the veggies, so I just use a whole onion and pepper since they add almost no calories). Cook until soft and the onions start to brown a little. It’s important to make sure that the liquid evaporates from the turkey before adding the pepper. Sautéing peppers in liquid will make the skins bitter.

Next add 1 1/2 cups of diced sweet potato (that’s about 1 whole decent sized potato), salt and pepper to taste, and a pinch of red pepper flakes (for some reason I don’t have any in the RV so a added a splash of Crystal Hot Sauce, which is my favorite). Stir it all in and put the lid on it. Make sure that you give it a stir once and a while and monitor the heat. If it seems dry add a little water. Cook about ten minutes until the sweet potatoes are soft.
Finally give it a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese and put the lid back on to give it a melt. At home I toss it under the broiler for a minute to give the cheese come color.
If you wanted to vary the recipe a little, you could always use ground beef or pork. Substitute Yukon gold or red potatoes, or even butternut or acorn squash. A nice summer variation would be to throw in some zucchini or summer squash for the last few minutes of cooking (just make sure that things don’t get too wet and mushy).

Don’t forget the beverage pairing! We like Atwater Vineyards Dry Rosé of Cabernet Franc. Rosés go great with turkey at Thanksgiving dinner and they’re especially nice on a hot summer evening when you want something with a little more bite than a white wine.
If you make this recipe, snap a picture and tag #CruisinWithTheColemans on Instagram or post to the comments.

Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 lbs extra-lean ground turkey
1 tsp garlic clove, minced
½ cup onions, diced
½ cup bell pepper, diced
1 ½ cups sweet potato, diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A pinch of red chili flakes
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

In an iron cast skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.
Add ground turkey and garlic. Stir occasionally and cook for about 7 minutes.
Add onions and peppers and cook until onions are soft.
Add the sweet potato, chili pepper, salt, and pepper.
Cover the skillet and cook until they are tender. Don’t forget to stir occasionally. If necessary, add a little bit of water to cook the sweet potato.
While the sweet potato is cooking, preheat the broiler.
When the sweet potato is tender, add shredded mozzarella cheese and bring the skillet to the oven to melt the cheese* (see note below).
When the cheese melts, remove from the oven, and serve.

* You can just put the lid on the skillet for 5 minutes. The cheese will melt.

Recipe of the Week – Taco Dip

Posted on July 2, 2018 by Cruisin Brian

This week Michelle and I are getting ready for our oldest son Calvin and his fiancée Carla’s wedding and the recipe is one that we got from Carla (who I believe got it from her mom). This Taco Dip is pretty much like a traditional seven layer dip often served at parties, but we liked it so much we made it for dinner. The recipe given here would easily serve 6 people as a meal and many more as part of a party table of other munchies. In the pictures, you are seeing the recipe halved so we didn’t have too much left over.

Start out by browning a pound of ground beef and add a packet of your favorite taco seasoning. (Remember in the picture, this is inly 1/2 pound. I actually browned the entire pound and put half in the freezer for another meal later.) . Let the meat cool while you start the layers.

In a bowl or baking dish (we used a Tupperware container and made two), spread 1 can of refried beans. If you use the low fat variety, they are difficult to spread so it works better if you warm them up a little first.

Mix together one 8 oz block of cream cheese with 1/3 a jar of salsa (as spicy or mild as you like it) and spread it on top of the beans.

Sprinkle the cooled ground beef over the cream cheese mixture.

Top the ground beef with shredded cheese. We used a triple cheddar blend (we are in New York after all) but a Mexi-blend, taco cheese, Monterey jack, or pepper-jack would work well also. Now you get the chance to throw the garden at it. I added chopped green onion, but chopped tomatoes, red onions, shredded lettuce, cubed avocado, or sliced olives would all be good depending on your personal tastes.

We served the dip with a Cabernet Sauvignon-Cabernet Franc blend from JR Dill Winery and tortilla chips. The bowl in the picture is 1/4 of the recipe.
I was trying to come up with a variation and here’s what I think would be really good: Substitute Italian seasoning for the taco seasoning in the ground beef and then layer with smashed white beans, cream cheese mixed with marinara, shredded provolone and fontina. Serve with pita chips or toasted bread. Call it lasagna dip?
Here’s the breakdown of the recipe:

Taco Dip

1 lb ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can refried beans (regular full fat variety works best)
8 oz cream cheese
1/3 jar of salsa
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or blend to taste)
Variety of toppings to taste: green onions, tomatoes, onion, olives, avocado, shredded lettuce to top

Layer one – beans
Layer two – cream cheese and salsa mixture
Layer three – ground beef taco meat
Layer four – shredded cheese
Top as you wish.
Let us know if you try either the dip or the variation and tell us what you think!