Mexican Lasagna

1 (8 ounce) can Ro-Tel Tomatoes with chiles
2 (16 ounce) cans Hatch green chile sauce (with
    pork and tomatoes) or make your own green chile
1 (16 ounce) can olives, chopped
Shredded Co-Jack cheese, to taste
Flour tortillas
2 cups cooked chicken, cut into strips

Mix tomatoes, green chile sauce, olives and chicken together.

Spray a 13 x 9-inch pan with cooking spray. Tear tortillas in half (to fit pan). Put down one layer of tortillas, spoon on chile mixture (be generous), layer with cheese and repeat from tortilla layers. Top with cheese.

Cover and bake at 325 degrees F for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 15 to 20 minutes longer until brown. You can make this ahead of time and then bake just prior to serving.

Let stand for a few minutes prior to serving.

Greek Spaghetti

12 ounces spaghetti
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
Garlic powder or mashed garlic cloves

Burn butter until golden. Add garlic powder or crushed cloves and serve over cooked, drained spaghetti.

Greek-Style Lasagna

Serves 4.

9 lasagna noodles
8 ounces lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 (10 ounce) package frozen, chopped spinach, squeezed dry
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup sliced pitted black olives
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, divided
1 1/2 cups reduced sodium tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a medium baking dish with vegetable cooking spray; set aside.

Cook noodles according to package directions, but do not add salt. Drain.

Meanwhile, spray a medium nonstick skillet with vegetable cooking spray. Heat over medium heat. Add beef and onion. Cook, stirring, until browned, about 5 minutes. Place mixture on a paper towel-lined plate; drain.

In a medium bowl, combine spinach, ricotta cheese, feta cheese, olives and 2 tablespoons mint. Spread 1/2 cup tomato sauce in prepared dish. Top with 3 noodles. Spread some spinach mixture over noodles. Top with some beef mixture. Spoon 1/4 cup tomato sauce over beef mixture. Continue layering with remaining noodles, spinach mixture, beef mixture, and sauce. Cover with foil. Bake until filling is heated through, about 30 minutes.

Sprinkle with remaining mint. Serve immediately.

Greek-Style Penne with Fresh Tomatoes, Feta and Dill

Source: Bon Appétit - August 2002

For this warm-weather dish, a salsa cruda à la Grec - or uncooked Greek-style sauce - is combined with hot pasta and served at once. Be sure to use the ripest, juiciest tomatoes you can find, preferably from a farmers’ market or your own backyard.

4 to 6 servings.

2 pounds tomatoes, halved, seeded, chopped
1 cup chopped green onions (white and pale green parts only)
7 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
6 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces penne pasta

Mix first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Set tomato mixture aside.

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Add hot pasta to tomato mixture and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Fried Italian Ravioli

12 dozen fresh ravioli*
2 large eggs, beaten
Salt and cayenne pepper

* Fresh ravioli is usually available in the chilled section of your grocery.

In a large bowl beat together salt, pepper and eggs. Detach the raviolis one by one. Dip into the egg mixture, then deep fry for about 2 to 4 minutes — until golden and crispy.

Serve hot with tomato salsa as appetizer.

Serves 4.

Mexican Macaroni

From the kitchen of Janet in Georgia

2 cups small macaroni (cooked and drained)
1 (11 ounce) can Green Giant Niblets whole kernel sweet corn
1 to 3 small cans chopped black olives
1 medium-large yellow onion (chopped)
3 pounds ground beef
5 (10 ounce) cans enchilada sauce
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 to 1-pound block mild Cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large pot boil water for macaroni.

In another large pot brown hamburger and chopped onion. Drain meat mixture and return to same pot. Add corn, olives, enchilada sauce, garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste. Allow mixture to come to a boil then turn down and let simmer. Stirring occasionally. When water boils add macaroni and let cook till tender. Drain.

At this point add about 1/2 cup grated cheese to mixture. Stir till completely melted. Add macaroni to meat mixture. Scoop half macaroni/meat mixture into large baking dish. Spread a thin layer of cheese over this. Scoop remainder of macaroni/meat mixture over this. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 400 degrees F for 1 hour.

Serve with garlic bread and green salad.

Asian Spaghetti

3 tablespoons CRISCO® Oil, divided
1/2 pound spaghetti, uncooked
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 scallion or green onion, trimmed and thinly sliced

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil on high heat. Add 2 tablespoons Crisco Oil and spaghetti. Boil according to package directions until al dente. Drain.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon Crisco Oil in small skillet on medium heat. Add sesame seeds. Sauté 2 minutes, or until brown. Toss spaghetti with soy sauce, sesame seeds and scallion. Serve immediately.

Antipasto Pasta

12 ounces linguine
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 large (5-inch diameter) portobello mushrooms, stemmed,
    dark gills removed, caps sliced 1/4 inch thick
6 ounces 1/8-inch thick slices Genoa salami, cut into thin strips
1 cup sliced vegetables and 6 tablespoons marinade from 16 ounce
    jar antipasto salad with olives
2 cups grated Asiago cheese, divided
2 cups chopped fresh basil, divided

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid.

Heat oil in same pot over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; sauté until tender and brown, about 6 minutes. Add salami; toss 30 seconds. Add pasta, 1/2 cup cooking liquid, sliced vegetables, reserved marinade, and 1 1/2 cups cheese; toss until liquid thickens and coats pasta, about 3 minutes. Mix in 1 1/2 cups basil. Season with pepper. Transfer to bowl. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup basil; serve with 1/2 cup Asiago cheese.

Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Posted by Chyrel at recipegoldmine.com 5/11/02 5:12:57 pm

4 Anaheim chiles
1 pound ground beef
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 package shredded cheese
1 can enchilada sauce
1 medium to large baking dish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Brown ground beef.

While beef is browning, cut the top off the Anaheim peppers. Slice down one side of each pepper. De-vein and de-seed chiles to flavor (The more you leave in, the hotter it is!)

Add taco seasoning to beef when properly brown and prepare based on directions on taco seasoning package.

Place pepper, sliced side up, in a medium to large pan for baking. Stuff each pepper with meat and cheese. Cover all with enchilada sauce. Cover (or don’t - depends on who is cooking) dish and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve.

Carnitas

Posted by Chyrel at recipegoldmine.com 6/25/02 1:12:52 pm

Carnitas is a very famous Mexican dish. It consists of braised pork and can be eaten by itself (and tortillas, a chili sauce) or as the filling in tamales, tacos and burritos (yuk). The pork is first simmered for a long time to make it really soft and then braised in the oven to make it crispy. Since the recipe is very simple and does not involve any chili sauces everyone likes carnitas. You can add the heat on your own as you eat it.

 2 (16 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 (4 pound) boneless pork shoulder
1 tablespoon chopped coriander (cilantro)
1 tablespoon cumin (comino)
Corn tortillas
2 bay leaves
1 onion, quartered
Chili sauce, such as Pico de gallo, chipotle or whatever you like

Pre-cooking: Cut the pork meat in chunks and discard big pieces of fat, leave some fat as it adds to the flavor. Chop the cilantro if you need to.

Cooking: Set tall frying pan over mid-high heat. Add the pork, cilantro, cumin, onion and broth. If necessary, add water so that the meat is covered. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 3-4 hours or until the meat is very soft and pulls apart easily. Remove the meat and place it in a roasting pan, discarding the onion and broth, break apart the meat in smaller chunks. Bake for about 20 minutes at 450 degrees F, until the meat is brown and crispy.

Heat the tortillas and enjoy, you can serve it with your favorite chili sauce, chopped onions and cilantro.

Tips:

A pressure cooker really helps here. If you like making dishes like this one often you should consider the pressure cooker. It will cut cooking time to a half hour.

Heating tortillas on a microwave: To heat tortillas you can wrap them in a kitchen towel and put them inside a container. Microwave 15 seconds per tortilla.