Pesto Eggplant Parm on Rosemary and Sea Salt Bread

Ingredients:

• Wegman's rosemary, olive oil, and sea salt bread (pre-sliced!)
• Pesto (Wegman's has the best)
• Marinara
• Fresh buffalo mozzarella
• Fresh basil leaves
• Breaded eggplant cutlets (frozen works fine)

Directions:
Basically, get some breaded eggplant cutlets, bake as directed, add some fresh buffalo mozzarella at the end and let melt, put on some rosemary/olive oil/sea salt bread (courtesy of Wegmans) with some marinara and pesto (also courtesy of Wegmans), add some fresh leaves of basil, toast a bit, and you get this:


= what I've happily been eating for about a week straight.

Tri-Colored Fettuccine and Veggies in a Pesto Cream Sauce

Basically the same as the last post except I used "garden delight" fettuccine and added zucchini, yellow squash, diced tomatoes, and fresh basil to the sauce.

The result was fantastic.

Best Nachos Ever

Ingredients:

• Chips (Tostidos little bowl shaped chips recommended)
• Diced tomatoes
• Corn salsa (fresh or canned works fine)
• Handful or two of fresh cilantro
• Lots of shredded cheese ("mexican" or "taco" pre-shredded varieties work well)
• Can of black beans

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to about 350
• Spread chips out on a baking sheet and add all the toppings
• Heat until cheese is melted

Serve with guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and re-fried beans. Sangria also recommended.

=Vegetarian heaven. It was glorious.

PS- Thanks to Morgan for helping me make them!

Chicken Cheese Steak...Philly Style

It's hard to find a good version of a chicken cheese steak out there, so I figured for my non-red-meat-eaters out there (or those who generally avoid it), I'd throw you a bone.

As previously stated, I will make this basic.

Ingredients:
(Standard):
Ground chicken or some other cut of chicken (if the latter, frozen)
Cheese (I maintain that in Philly, only whiz or American are acceptable options)
A glug or two of vegetable oil
Fresh sub roll

Optional (but recommended):
About 1/4th a small onion, chopped (yellow's a decent option)
Salt/pepper
Condiments

Directions:
Lightly toast the roll
If using whiz, coat the roll
Add vegetable oil to the pan and fry up the onions for about 3-4 minutes
If using ground chicken,add to the pan and cook as usual, adding salt/pepper to taste (don't drain). Mince the ground chicken.
If using another cut of chicken, let slightly defrost, then cut VERY thin slices (shaved basically) and mince (you want a greater surface area to contact the cheese and other good stuff/not be dry)
Take the roll, open faced and put face down over the meat/onion mixture to enclose it in the roll (true philly style, if you're that daring)
If using American, apply last (along with ketchup if you're smart)

I recognize this picture doesn't do the cheese steak justice, but it really was GOOD.

Not a repeat, I swear...Tri-colored rotini in a pesto cream sauce

For the next few posts I will probably post the bare minimum to get across what I did and how it was made. Trying to catch up here; my apologies in advance. Let me know if you want more details and I'll post 'em.

Ingredients:

• About 1/2 box of tri-colored rotini (I think it's "garden delight" brand or something that actually uses vegetables and not just food coloring...those who know me well should be commending me about now)
• 3-4 T butter/margarine (I used margarine)
• 4-5 T pesto (Wegmans has the best, I maintain)
• A few splashes of light cream
• A few spashes of skim milk
• About 1/3 C or so of grated parmesan
• Pinches of sea salt, white pepper and ground black pepper
• 3 T or so of onion and chive cream cheese (if it's not Philadelphia brand, I don't know what to tell ya...good luck)
• About 1/4 a small yellow onion, chopped
• A few splashes of olive oil

Directions:

• Make the pasta, then toss with olive oil and set to the side
  
• In a separate pan, add the butter and melt, then add the onion for a few minutes stirring
• Add the pesto, cream, milk, cream cheese, and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 5 minutes or so
• Add in the parmesan
• Add in the salt/pepper to taste
• Stir it all up and keep simmering until the desired consistency is reached
• Add however much sauce to however much pasta you want...and you're golden

I actually think this was one of the best sauces I've made. Were I less lazy I would have chopped up the zucchini, yellow squash, and carrots I got, too. Next time.