Minestrone (Reader Submitted)

Today’s recipe comes from Maurine! Thank you SO much, it sounds delicious, or should I say V-licious?

Minestrone

• 4 T. margarine
• 3/4 c. chopped onion
• 1/4 c. chopped celery
• 1/2 c. chopped carrots
• 1(19 ounce) can cannellini beans
• 1/2 c. shredded cabbage
• 1(14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 T. tomato paste
• 1 1/2 c. cubed potatoes
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T. dried parsley
• 1/2 elbow macaroni
• 1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
  

In a heavy pot, melt margarine. Add onion, celery and carrots, saute for a few minutes. Add beans, cabbage, tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, garlic, and parsley. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer about an hour or until veggies are barely tender.
Add pasta and simmer 30 minutes more. Serve with grated cheese if desired.

(The nice thing about minestrone soup is you can add or omit things you want to. I add fresh spinach, or substitute sweet potatoes for part of the potatoes, use whole grain pasta, etc. It’s such a versatile soup, so delicious, and good for you!)

A Quick Poll

Delicious Salad Recipe (Reader Submitted)

Sorry for getting behind on the recipes, but I am here and catching up! Keep sending in those great recipes!

Today’s recipe is submitted by Kate.  It’s a recipe she found on a blog she reads. The link to the blog is in the comment section on this post. Thanks Kate!

• Approximately 6 Cups Romaine Lettuce, torn into small pieces
• 1 Texas Ruby Red Grapefruit, peeled, extracted from the internal skins and cut into small sections.
• 2 Kiwi Fruits, peeled and sliced.
• 1 Tart Tangerine, peeled and sliced.
• 1 Slightly firm avocado, chopped.
• 1/4 Cup Red Onion, chopped.
• Poppyseed Dressing.

Toss all ingredients with poppyseed dressing.  There’s an excellent brand of dressing called Brianna’s, available in my neck of the woods, which I usually use, but of course you can also make your own if you’re ambitious. I usually serve this salad with roast chicken.

Country Style Salad (Reader Submitted)

Today’s recipe comes from Maurine.  It sounds wonderful, thank you so much for submitting it. She actually submitted two and I will be posting the other tomorrow for our recipe of the day. Please keep sending them in, I enjoy putting them up AND trying them out!

Country Style Salad

• 12 oz. Rotelle Pasta (cooked, rinsed and cooled)
• 4 Cups Broccoli Florets (Cooked until tender and crisp)
• 1/2 Cup Cubed Swiss Cheese
• 1/2 lb. Roast Beef diced (“I just buy a thick slab at the deli”)
• 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 and 1/4 Tsp. Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 1/2 Tsp. Spicy Brown Mustard
• 2 Tsp. Worcestshire Sauce
• 1/4 Tsp. Salt
• 1/4 Tsp. Pepper
• 1/4 Tsp. Thyme

In a small bowl toss everything except the roast beef and pasta. Combine, then pour over the broccoli and pasta. Chill at least 2 hours.

Maurine adds: “Usually I double the sauce ingredients. This recipe is pretty flexible as to meat/cheese. I never add the salt, pepper or thyme and it’s delicious!‘

Beef And Cabbage (Reader Submitted)

Sandy sent a recipe to my email and I want to share it with you. She says “All you need are a few ingredients. You can kind of add or take away from the amounts.” Thanks so much Sandy and I hope you will send many more! Sharing recipes is always so much fun. Visit Sandy at her Avon Store Online.

Sandy’s Beef And Cabbage

• 1 lb. Ground Beef
• 1 Head Of Cabbage (Chopped)
• 2 Small Jars Of Beef Gravy
• 1 Small Onion (Chopped)
• 1 Stalk Of Celery (Chopped)
• Salt, Pepper and any other spices you want to use.

Saute onions, celery and cabbage in a skillet until soft and transfer them to a bowl. In the same skillet brown the ground beef and drain off grease.  Add the cabbage mixture and the gravy, cook through until heated.  Serve with noodles, rice or mashed potatoes.

V’s Hot Chicken Wings

I love, love, LOVE hot wings and I have perfected my own recipe. The trick to nice crispy wings is refrigerating them AFTER you flour them, it makes them a bit “gummy” and when you fry them, they become crispy and delicious. You can use the wing sauce recipe I’ve included OR if you want you can use a bottled hot wing sauce–my favorite bottled wing sauce is Wing Time (medium or hot). You can order it online if you can’t find it in the stores and they have many delicious flavors!

When choosing the chicken wings, I go for the drumettes. It saves the time of having to cut the wings into pieces and you get more meat off of the drumettes. This recipe can be adjusted to make as many chicken wings as you need.  You can also use chicken breast tenders and make hot chicken strips! Just adjust the cooking time!

V’s Chicken Wings

• 20 Chicken Drumettes
• 1 1/2 Cups Flour
• 1/4 Tsp. Pepper
• 1/2 Tsp. Jalapeno Powder (find it in your spice aisle)
• 1/4 Tsp. Garlic Salt
• 1/4 Tsp. Paprika
• Oil for frying (Use your favorite)

Combine the flour, pepper, jalapeno powder, garlic salt and paprika in a large bowl. Rinse the drumettes well (don’t pat dry). Add a few wings at a time to the flour mixture, toss to coat. Place floured wings into a foiled lined 13x9x2 in. pan. When all the wings are coated, refrigerate for at least one hour. Heat your oil in a deep fryer or large pot on the stove. Fry wings a few at a time in the hot oil for 10 minutes or until brown and done through (don’t put too many wings in at a time, it will take longer for them to get done). Lay the cooked wings on a platter lined with paper towels to drain, then transfer to an oven safe dish and keep them in the oven set on “Warm” to keep them hot while you fry up the other wings. When all wings are done make the sauce (recipe is below) or use your favorite bottled wing sauce (make sure you heat the sauce before tossing the wings in it). Serve with ranch or bleu cheese dressing, carrot and celery sticks!

Hot Wing Sauce

• For mild sauce use 3/4 Cup Butter or Margarine and 1/4 Cup of your favorite Hot Sauce (not wing sauce), Frank’s hot sauce is the best, but you can use any kind like Tabasco, etc..
• For Hot use 1/4 Cup Butter and 3/4 Cup of your favorite hot sauce
• For Honey BBQ wings, mix together 2 Cups of your favorite BBQ sauce and 1/2 Cup of honey!

Cheesy Chuck Wagon Skillet

This one goes from stove to table in about 30 minutes. Always good for families on the go!

Cheesy Chuck Wagon Skillet

• 4 slices bacon
• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 2 Tbsp. Oil
• 2 1/2 Cups Frozen Hash Browns (thawed)
• 1 Small Can Mexicorn (Green Giant is the best)
• 1 (4 oz.) Can Green Chiles, drained
• 1/2 Cup Barbeque Sauce
• 2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1/4 Tsp. Salt
• 1/4 Tsp. Pepper
• 1 Can Grands Biscuits

Heat oven to 400. Cook bacon until crisp, drain on paper towel. Crumble bacon and set aside.  In large cast iron or ovenproof skillet, cook ground beef and onion over medium heat until beef is well done, stirring frequently. Drain grease. Place beef mixture in medium bowl and cover to keep warm. Add oil to the same skillet. Heat over medium-high heat until hot. Add potatoes, cook 3 to 5 minutes or until browned, stirring constantly. Add cooked ground beef mixture, corn, chiles, barbecue sauce, cheese, salt and pepper; mix well. Cook until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with bacon. Separate dough into 8 biscuits. Arrange biscuits over hot mixture. Bake for 16 to 24 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown and bottoms are no longer doughy.

Sangria

I LOVE Sangria and since it’s starting to heat up outside, I figured it would be nice to have some Sangria to sip while I sit on my balcony. I am including both Red and White Sangrias. So pick your favorite OR both and enjoy!

Tips to making the best Sangria:

• Don’t go for the most expensive wine. A good Merlot or any red wine will do the trick.
• If you want an extra “kick” you can add some cognac, Grand Marnier, Schnapps or Vodka.
• Change up the fruit! If you want something more tropical, add pineapple and mango. Fall you might want apples and citrus. Berries, of course, are always good! Plums, peaches, you name it! Have fun with it, there’s no set “rule” for the type of fruit in your Sangria.
• Let the fruit “soak” in the Sangria at least 8 hours or overnight to give the fruit that lovely “kick” of the wine.

Sangria (Red)

• 1 Bottle Of Your Favorite Red Wine (I use Merlot).
• 1 Lemon Sliced
• One Lime Sliced
• One Orange Sliced
• 2 Tbps. Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Orange Liqueur
• 2 Tbps. Orange Juice
• 1/4 Cup Grand Marnier (optional)
• 1 Cup Chilled Seltzer Water (optional if you want fizz)

Dissolve the sugar in the Merlot (or other wine of your choice) and Orange Liqueur. Add sliced fruit and stir to mix well. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.  If you want a more fizzy Sangria, add the seltzer when you are ready to serve. Pour and enjoy! Mmmm!

White Sangria

• 1 Bottle White Wine (Pick something fruity, not “oaky”)
• 1 Pear, Thinly Sliced
• 1 Granny Smith Apple, Thinly Sliced
• 1 Lemon Sliced
• 1 Lime Sliced
• 1/4 Cup Grand Marnier (Optional)
• 1 Tbps. Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
• 1 Cup Ginger Ale

Dissolve sugar in the wine and Grand Marnier. Add your sliced fruit to the wine. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or over night. Before serving, add the ginger ale.  Sip and enjoy!

Remember, add different combinations of fruit, experiment and make the recipe your own! If you come up with a super fabulous combination, email me and let me know! v.licious@ymail.com