Broccoli Bow-tie Salad

Dear Baci reader, 

Welcome back to my blog! I have taken a little hiatus, but I'm back and ready to share some new recipes in the upcoming posts.

Let's begin with a summer-time favorite. Recently M's parents were out visiting us and we started talking about this recipe: broccoli bow-tie salad.  M's mom usually makes it, in a larger batch, for the annual 4th of July picnic.  I had a hankering when I saw a similar version (pasta free) in the deli case at the grocery store. Plus I thought I could use up a shallot (we have an excess of shallots from our CSA - community supported agriculture - basket) and the leftover broccoli and bacon in the fridge. Here's a similar recipe without the pasta and with sugar instead of honey.

Ingredients:
small head of broccoli, chopped into bite-size pieces 
3-4 strips of cooked  bacon, cut into bite-size pieces
1/4 of red onion or whole shallot, diced into small pieces
handful of raisins or dried cranberries
bow tie pasta, cooked (enough for 4 servings)
several tablespoons of honey
about 1/4 cup mayonnaise
about 2-3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste 

1. In a large mixing bowl, add the chopped broccoli, onion, bacon, and raisins (or dried cranberries) to the cooked pasta. 
2. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the mayo, salt and pepper, vinegar, and honey.  You may want to add more mayo and/or vinegar depending on your taste and/or the consistency.
3. Add the mayo mixture to the broccoli pasta salad. Gently toss together.
4. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.  

Serves 4-6 people.

Note - Make this recipe your own - feel free to add more raisins/cranberries or skip the bacon if you want to make this a non-meat side dish. 

Leek Potato Soup with Bacon

Last year I posted a recipe for Leek Potato Soup with Coconut Milk.  This is essentially the same recipe, but with some organic ingredients, crispy bacon, and melted cheese.

For this recipe you'll need:
a few tablespoons of organic extra virgin olive oil 
3 cloves of garlic, minced
small onion, chopped
2-3 stalks of organic celery, chopped
3 organic leeks, cleaned and chopped
1 32-ounce container of organic chicken broth
6-8 ounces light coconut milk (I used what I had leftover from another recipe)
salt and pepper, to taste
2 potatoes, chopped in bite-size pieces, cooked
4-6 slices slices of crispy bacon
favorite shredded or grated organic cheese

Servings: Makes 6-8 bowls  

Directions:
1. In a stock pot, add the olive oil and sauté the onion, garlic, and celery for several minutes.  Salt and pepper this layer. 

2. Add the chopped leeks and sauté until they wither down. Again, add salt and pepper.

3. Next add the broth, coconut milk, cooked potatoes, and another dash of salt and pepper.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Remembering to stir often so the coconut milk does not burn or stick to the bottom of the stock pot.

4. Remove from heat and stir in a few bacon slices.

5. Just before serving, top with some additional chopped bacon and your favorite shredded cheese.  Enjoy!

bacon chocolate chip cookies

What's not to love about a bacon chocolate chip cookie?  It's sweet and savory in each bite.  First I placed six slices of bacon on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and sprinkled fresh ground black pepper and brown sugar on each piece. I baked the bacon at 350°F for about 15 minutes - checking every few minutes to ensure that I did not burn it. Next I followed the directions on the Nestle Toll House box, which stated it made four dozen cookies. However, I only had enough dough for two dozen; I made one dozen with bacon (using three strips of bacon). I usually pat the bacon dry with paper towels; but, for this dessert I added some bacon grease to the batter.  They were soft and chewy and much better than the "plain" chocolate chip cookies. 

Spinach, Red Pepper, and Bacon Quiche

Tonight for dinner I made a spinach, red pepper, and bacon quiche.  I used the base recipe that I usually use for quiche, with a few minor changes.  

Spinach, Red Pepper, and Bacon Quiche Ingredients:

10 ounces baby spinach

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 eggs

6 slices of bacon
1 red pepper diced, plus 10 slices for the top 
handful of fresh basil, chopped 

1/2 teaspoon thyme 

1/2 teaspoon oregano 

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste 

3/4 cup milk

8 ounces cottage cheese

1 pie crust

baking spray 

quiche dish, or pie pan 

Method:

1. Heat oil in saucepan.  Sauté onions, chopped red pepper, basil, and garlic. Add thyme, oregano, salt and pepper. Next add the baby spinach and cook until spinach is wilted. Set aside to cool.

2. While the vegetables are cooking, fry the bacon in a separate pan.  Or if you're like me, microwave your bacon on a microwave-safe dish in between paper towels.  Four minutes was the perfect time for six slices of crispy bacon, but that may depend on your microwave. Years ago, with a lesser-powered microwave, the rule in our house was one minute per slice.  

3. Beat the eggs in a large bowl.  Add milk, cottage cheese, and spinach mixture to the eggs. Stir until blended. Set aside. I add a bit more thyme, oregano, salt and pepper here too. 

4. Spray the bottom and sides of a quiche dish/pie pan and unfold the pie crust into the pan.  You may have to stretch it, depending on the size of the dish. Poke bottom of pastry crust with a fork.  

5. Pour the spinach mixture into pie crust and arrange the 10 slices of red pepper you saved for the top, like flower petals.

6. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes or until golden brown.  Enjoy!

NOTE - Do not forget to spray your dish before you put down the pie crust.  

Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pasta

For this dish you'll need:

1/4 box of pasta
olive oil
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 cup butter
1 cup cream
1 and 1/2 freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup cream cheese
Salt and pepper
red pepper flakes
1 can peas
2 cooked chicken breasts, chopped 
4 slices cooked bacon, chopped
handful of fresh chopped basil

Directions:

1. Boil your choice of pasta in salted water.  We used angel hair.  Drain and lightly toss is olive oil.

2. Saute 2 cups of sliced mushrooms and onions.  Set aside. 

2. In a separate sauce pan, melt a 1/4 cup of butter over medium heat.  Whisk in cream, freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and cream cheese.  Add salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes to taste.  Add a can of peas, cooked chicken, mushrooms and onions. 

3. Add cooked noodles to the sauce pan and toss to coat.

4. Plate and add crispy, chopped bacon and basil. 

Cooking note - The Parmesan cheese was challenging to melt.  Next time we might use a cheese that melts easier, like Provolone, an Asiago blend, or Gruyere. 

Bacon Pancakes

The Hash House A-Go-Go, a farm fresh over-the-top restaurant in Las Vegas and San Diego, serves bacon pancakes.  Not bacon and pancakes, but bacon IN your pancakes.  Actually, you only get one pancake at The Hash House.  However, it is 13" in diameter, no joke, with several strips of juicy bacon embedded in it.  I could not finish mine and had leftovers from breakfast.  What restaurant serves breakfast portions so enormous that you go home with a doggie bag?

They also serve other original flapjack and waffles like: Snickers, Blueberry Pecan, Blackberry Granola, Mango Coconut, and Strawberry Frosted Flake.  Check out their menu. 

My boyfriend and I enjoy cooking and eating.  This morning he had a hankering for bacon pancakes.  We decided to make our own bacon pancakes - inspired by The Hash House - but on the smaller side.

Once again, I microwaved the bacon in between paper towels on a microwave-safe dish for less than one-minute/slice.  I made about eight slices of bacon for six pancakes.  While the bacon was cooking, we followed the directions on the box of the Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancake Mix.   (We had been using Bisquick to make our pancakes - a suggestion from Baci - but lately they were lack-luster. Sorry, Baci, I know how much you love Bisquick; maybe our Bisquick mix is old.  If anyone has a delicious homemade pancake recipe they'd like to share, we'd love to try it.)

We cooked two pancakes at a time on our griddle and when the bubbles started to form in the middle and around the edges, we added a strip of bacon.  Some of the pancakes had a piece and a half of bacon.  Then we flipped them over and cooked until they were golden brown.  We repeated this process for the remainder of the batter.

These round whole wheat bacon breakfast cakes, were moist, fluffy, and what's not to love about bacon.  We topped our hotcakes with butter and real maple syrup.

If you are going to go through the trouble of making any type of pancakes or waffles, please do yourself a favor and use 100% pure maple syrup. It's more expense, but it is authentic, has no added sugars, and boy is it delicious!

Spinach and Mushroom Quiche

Quiche recipes usually call for a TON of eggs, which are high in cholesterol.  However, this quiche recipe is different.  You only use 4 eggs and it serves 8 people, which is less than 1 egg per person.  You could also substitute Egg Beaters, if you are watching your cholesterol. 

This is a delicious dish for an Easter or Mother's Day brunch.  Baci had two servings of it one Easter, which speaks volumes.  

Yesterday I made it with bacon and substituted the cottage cheese for an individual serving of  non-fat PLAIN Greek yogurt.  Make sure it's plain, not vanilla.   Also, check out MealsandMoves Blog, for all the uses of Greek Yogurt in your cooking. 

Spinach and Mushroom Quiche Ingredients:

12 ounces baby spinach

1 medium onion, diced

1 10-ounce container of mushrooms, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 eggs

4 - 6 slices of bacon (optional)

1/2 teaspoon thyme 

1/2 teaspoon oregano 

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste 

3/4 cup milk

8 ounces cottage cheese OR individual serving (about 4 or 5 oz.) of non-fat plain Greek yogurt 

1/2 cup shredded cheese (like mozzarella cheese)

1 pie crust

baking spray 

quiche dish, or pie pan 

Method:

1. Heat oil in saucepan.  Sauté onions, mushrooms and garlic. Add thyme, oregano, salt and pepper. Next add the baby spinach and cook until spinach is wilted. Set aside to cool.

2. While the vegetables are cooking, fry the bacon in a separate pan.  Or if you're like me, microwave your bacon on a microwave-safe dish in between paper towels.  Four minutes was the perfect time for six slices of crispy bacon, but that may depend on your microwave. Years ago, with a lesser-powered microwave, the rule in our house was one minute per slice.  

3. Beat the eggs in a large bowl.  Add milk, plain Greek yogurt, and spinach mixture to the eggs. Stir until blended. Set aside. I add a bit more thyme, oregano, salt and pepper here too. 

4. Spray the bottom and sides of a quiche dish/pie pan and unfold the pie crust into the pan.  You may have to stretch it, depending on the size of the dish. Poke bottom of pastry crust with a fork.  

5. Pour spinach mixture into pie crust. 

6. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes or until golden brown.  Enjoy!

NOTE - Do not forget to spray your dish before you put down the pie crust.