Family Goulash (I call it "Deliciousness on a Plate")

Family Goulash

So, I'm having a little trouble with the word "goulash." It sounds disgusting to me. And this dish is far from that. I tried to come up with a better name for it, and all that kept coming into my head was the word "delicious," so that explains the title up there. You can call this meal whatever you like, but you MUST make it. It's too easy and yummy not to.

Ingredients: 

1 lb. Lean ground beef

1/2 cup sliced onion

1 small clove garlic, minced

1 cup water

1/2 cup ketchup

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

2 t. brown sugar

2 t. paprika

1 t. salt

1/2 t. dry mustard

dash ground black pepper

1 T. cornstarch or flour blended with 2 T. water

6 cups American Beauty Extra Wide Egg Noodles, uncooked (can you tell where this recipe came from?)

Directions:

In large skillet, brown beef; drain. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until onion is tender.

Combine water, ketchup, Worcestershire, brown sugar, paprika, salt, mustard, and pepper; stir into meat mixture. 

Cover; simmer 15 minutes.

Add cornstarch and water to meat mixture. Cook and stir 5 minutes or until sauce thickens and begins to boil.

Cook noodles according to package directions; drain. 

Serve goulash (shudder at the word) over hot cooked noodles. Makes 4 servings.

Husband's reaction: This is very good. Thanks, honey. (He sounds way more polite in writing than he is in real life sometimes).

I was surprised  by how much I enjoyed this. I substituted a little onion powder for the onion (I didn't have one on hand) and some barbecue sauce for the Worcestershire sauce. I used cornstarch in the second to last ingredient. And I can see how this recipe could work with many other substitutions: different noodles, no mustard, more salt and pepper to taste, different spices if you're feeling adventurous, etc. I love recipes like that, and this one is a keeper!

Pasta with Fresh Spinach

Pasta with Fresh Spinach

*recipe adapted from the recipe "Elbows with Fresh Spinach"

Ingredients:

8 ounces pasta
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
10 ounces spinach (fresh or frozen)*
4 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes (or a few regular tomatoes cut up)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

*I could not figure out how much 10 oz of spinach would be. I looked it up online, and it said about 6 cups of fresh spinach leaves would be about 10 oz. But I really don't know. I used 3 cups of fresh spinach picked from our garden, and I think that was about the right amount. Normally, you'd probably just use frozen anyway. But! If you ever need to get rid of fresh spinach that you don't know what to do with, this recipe is great!

Directions:

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, sauté garlic in olive oil for 3 minutes.
3. If using fresh spinach, coarsely chop. If using frozen spinach, thaw and drain. Place spinach in sauté pan and cook until wilted, about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Toss spinach with tomatoes and hot pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Nutrition information per serving (1/6 of recipe): 193 calories; 8 g protein; 10 g digestible carbohydrates; 7 g fat; 1 g saturated fat; 3 mg cholesterol; 111 mg sodium; 4 g total dietary fiber.

This recipe was so easy and simple...and it tasted really great. It tasted healthy, because it was! But it was a delicious-fresh-summer-lite kind of healthy...not a boring-no fun-diet kind of healthy. Really.

Husband's reaction: I honestly don't remember. It was a few days ago. But he liked it. I told him he needs to start giving more creative reactions. He usually says, "This is really good, honey." or "This is good." or "I like it." Yeah, boring. :)

Angel Hair Pasta with Lemon and Garlic (from In the Kitchen with Rosie: Oprah’s Favorite Recipes)

Lemon Pasta
Serves 4

1 tsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup chopped tomato (1 medium tomato)

8 ounces angel hair pasta

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

2 Tb freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat and maintain at a boil.

Put the olive oil and garlic in a sauté pan and cook over medium heat just until the garlic begins to brown.  Stir in the lemon juice and tomato.  Remove the pan from the heat.

Place the pasta in the boiling water and cook to desired doneness.  Drain the pasta and put it into a warm serving bowl.  Add the basil, Parmesan cheese, and black pepper, along with the tomato mixture.  Toss and serve immediately.

This recipe originally calls for white wine, but of course I deleted that part. J Perfect recipe for summer, when tomatoes are fresh and you want something light. You can use dried spices and bottled lemon juice, but fresh tastes so much better.


Husband's Reaction: "I LOVE it this way [as he piles it on top of the garlic toast I made to go on the side]. It's like a pasta sandwich!"

Pasta Carbonara

Pasta With Carbonara Sauce

My dad served a mission in Italy, and he brought this recipe back with him. Nobody ever complained at our house when we had this for dinner.

4 eggs

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup whipping cream (I used half and half again)

1/2 lb. Bacon, cut up (I used two strips...it was all we had left. Use as  much/little as you want.)

1 lb. Fettuccine or spaghetti

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Pepper

Parsley (to garnish--optional)

1-Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Let eggs, butter or margarine, and cream (half and half) stand at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours.

2-In a skillet, cook bacon till brown. Remove bacon and drain on paper toweling. 

3-Heat an oven-proof serving dish in a 300 degree oven.

4-Meanwhile, beat together eggs and cream (half and half) just till combined. Add pasta to a large amount of boiling, salted water. Cook 10-12 minutes or till tender but firm; drain well. 

5-Turn hot pasta into the heated serving dish; toss pasta with butter. Pour egg mixture over and toss till pasta is well coated and the egg is cooked. *If you are worried about the egg being cooked well enough, you can put the pan back in the oven to heat it up some more or do this step on the stove in a hot skillet. The pan should be hot enough to cook the egg if you everything around in it.*

6-Add bacon, cheese, and parsley; toss to mix. Season to taste with pepper. Serve immediately.

Tossing in the hot pan to cook the egg and cream mixture.

Husband's Reaction: "New favorite!" 

Me: "Really???"

Husband: "At least for today, yeah."

But really, it really was so so good.