Fancy dinner, my girlfriend and I can cook for fun? Serious replies only!?!
Fancy dinner, my girlfriend and I can cook for fun? Serious replies only!?
My friend and I LOVE to cook! Were getting together this week to make dinner and I want something new, different, and something we can both really get our hands into. We love italian, bold flavors, nothing too easy. We already know your basic things people make for dinner, we want something new!
Answers:
These are a few of my fav's. The chicken lasagna is a bit labor intensive but very good. Hope you find something you like. I'm not sure how may courses you two want, but if you want any soup or appetizer, or more dessert recipes just e-mail me!
Baklava Salmon
Ingredients:
? cup melted butter
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard (or your favorite)
1 ? tablespoons honey
? cup dry breadcrumbs
? cup walnuts or pecans, finely chopped
4 teaspoons fresh parsley
4 (4oz) Salmon fillets
fresh ground pepper
kosher salt
1 quartered lime
Method:
1. In a small bowl blend butter, mustard and honey. Set aside. In another bowl mix together bread crumbs, nuts and parsley.
2. Place Salmon fillets in a shallow roasting pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Next brush with honey-mustard mixture, then sprinkle tops with crumb/nut mixture. If any remains, press into side of fish.
3. Bake salmon at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve with lime wedges.
Serves 4: 350 cals 21g fat 15g carbs 25g protein
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Chicken Lasagna
Ingredients:
10 uncooked Lasagna noodles
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (12 ounces) tomato paste
1 ? cups sliced fresh mushrooms
? cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 ? teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
3 cups 2% small curd cottage cheese
? cup egg substitute
? cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
? teaspoon pepper
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part skim mozzarella
Method:
1.Cook noodles according to package directions; drain and set aside.
2.Broil chicken 6in from heat until juices run clear; let stand for 15 min or until cool enough to handle. Shred chicken with two forks.
3.In a large non-stick skillet combine shredded chicken, tomatoes, tomato paste, mushrooms, onion, basil, ? teaspoon salt and garlic powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 25-30 minutes.
4.In a bowl combine the cottage cheese, egg substitute, parmesan cheese, parsley, pepper and remaining salt.
5.In a 13x9x2in baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray, place half of the noodles, overlapping them. Layer with half of the cheese mixture, chicken mixture and mozzarella. Repeat layers.
6.Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. Uncover and bake 5 minutes longer. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.
Nutrition: Calories 240 Fat 7g Carbs 17g Protein 28g Serves 12
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Crab Lasagna Roll-ups
*** I liked these a lot. They taste VERY good as heated up leftovers.
Ingredients:
1 carton (16oz) 1% cottage cheese
? cup egg substitute
? cup Grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon dried Oregano
? teaspoon dried basil
? teaspoon dried thyme
? teaspoon garlic powder
1 package (8oz) imitation crabmeat, flaked
12 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
2 can (8 oz each) tomato sauce
Method:
1. In a bowl, combine the first 9 ingredients. Add crab and mix well.
2. Place about 1/3 cup onto each noodle and roll up jelly-roll style.
3. Place seam side down in a 13x9x2 baking dish coated with nonstick spray.
4. Pour tomato sauce over rolls. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.
Makes 6 servings (2 roll-ups): 200 cals 3g fat 23g carbs 19g protein
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Berry Buckle
Ingredients:
Topping-
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons cold butter
Batter-
6 tablespoons butter, softened
? cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
2 eggs
1 ? teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ? cup all purpose flour
2 ? baking powder
? teaspoon salt
? cup fat free milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
16 oz frozen unsweetened sliced peaches (thawed and patted dry)
? cup fresh raspberries
? cup fresh blackberries
Method:
1. Topping: In a small bowl combine the ingredients for the topping and mix together until crumbly. Set aside.
2. Batter: In a large mixing bowl cream together butter and ? cup sugar. Then add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Finally beat in vanilla.
3. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly add to creamed mixture. Alternating the addition of the flour mix with the addition of the milk until all are combined into the creamed mixture. Set aside ? cup batter for later use.
4. Fold blueberries into remaining batter. Spoon this remaining batter into the bottom of a 13x9x2 baking dish coated with nonstick spray.
5. Arrange peaches on top of batter, then sprinkle with remaining sugar. Drop the reserved ? batter by teaspoonfuls over peaches.
6. Sprinkle with raspberries, blackberries and topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Serve warm.
Nutrition: (20 servings) 1 piece 180 cals 6g fat 28g carbs 3g protein
How about gourmet pizza, you can make the dough and buy fancy cheeses and meat toppings.
Stuffed pasta
Cabbage Rolls
Stuffed bell peppers.
Try Chinese, very intriguing and good.
Try this!: Italian Pepper Steak
INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided
1 pound boneless beef sirloin steak, fat trimmed
1 medium sweet red pepper, julienned
1 medium sweet yellow pepper, julienned
1 medium onion, julienned
6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
DIRECTIONS
1. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Rub mixture over both sides of steak; set aside.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, saute the peppers, onion and garlic in oil until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in the tomatoes and remaining Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in vinegar; keep warm.
3. Place steak on a broiler pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Broil 4-6 in. from the heat for 4-8 minutes on each side or until the meat reaches desired doneness (for medium-rare, a meat thermometer should read 145 degrees F; medium, 160 degrees F; well-done, 170 degrees F). Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing; serve with vegetable mixture.
PREP TIME: 15 Min
COOK TIME: 10 Min
READY IN: 25 Min
Try this menu! Sounds good to me!
http://meals.allrecipes.com/display/meal...
Go to the library and get an Italian cookbook by Marcella Hazan. She's wonderful. If you can find "Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan", she has a wonderful recipe for meatballs that is not easy, but very, very good.
If you are not red meat eaters, try Linguine with red or white clam sauce.