Wednesday Recipes

Wednesday - half-way through the work week. Hope your end-of-summeris going well. In the meantime, here are today's recipes. Enjoy!

RASPBERRY DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE BARS

Peggy Trowbridge Filippone, About.com's Home Cooking guide, writes, “These rich bar cookies use two flavors of chocolate. Fast and easy to make due to the cake mix. Tried and true recipe brings raves." Prep Time: 15 minutes; cook time: 45 minutes; Yield: 24 to 36 cookie bars, depending on cut size

Ingredients:

Bottom:

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 egg, at room temperature

8 Tablespoons butter, melted, but at room temperature (1 stick)

1 box (18.25 ounces) chocolate devil's food cake mix

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Topping:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature

2 eggs, at room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup raspberry-flavored chocolate chips

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan with nonstick foil.

For the Bottom:Cream 4 ounces of cream cheese, 1 egg, and butter together on low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Blend in cake mix by hand until combined. It will be very thick (and give your arm a workout!), but piable like a soft dough. Using a spatula, press evenly into the bottom of the foiled pan. Evenly sprinkle on chocolate chips and press lightly into the batter with a spatula, but do not bury them.

For the Topping:

Place cream cheese, 2 eggs, and powdered sugar in a small bowl. Begin mixing on low speed until sugar is incorporated. Increase to medium speed and beat until smooth, at least 3 minutes or longer if need be. Spread evenly over bottom layer. Sprinkle on raspberry chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Carefully remove from pan, peel off foil, and cut into squares to serve.

Note: If you cannot find raspberry-flavored chocolate chips, substitute any other flavor or plain chips. Feel free to experiment using other flavored cake mixes.

“BETTER THAN THE DELI” MACARONI SALAD

This is from Kathy Kingsley, About.com's American Food guide, who writes, “Take your time, and use your sharpest knife to get a nice fine dice on the veggies in this classic pasta salad. When made right, this is a macaroni salad where every forkful bursts with flavor.” Serves 8

Prep Time: 30 minutes; Cook Time: 10 minutes; Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound dry elbow macaroni, cooked, rinsed in cold water, and drained well

1 1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup finely diced celery

1/4 cup minced red onion

1/2 cup sweet pickle relish

1/4 finely grated carrot

2 tablespoons finely diced roasted red pepper or pimento

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Preparation:

Whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and add the drained pasta. Toss to combine thoroughly. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

BANANA ORANGE BREAD

It seems that some days' blogs start off with quite a few posts from one site or another. This yummy recipe is from Elizabeth Yetter, About.com's Bread Baking guide. She writes, "It’s fun to give away freshly baked gifts that comes from your own kitchen and friends and family enjoy eating sweet breads that they otherwise might not be able to bake on their own. This easy recipe for banana orange bread makes 2 mini loaves or one regular loaf." Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 60 minutes; Total Time: 75 minutes.

To view online, click here.

Ingredients

2 bananas, mashed

1 small to medium orange, peel and juice

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tbsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

milk

Preparation

Grease two mini loaf pans.

Preheat oven 350 degrees F.

Mash bananas in large bowl.

Grate peel off one orange. Add peel to mashed bananas.

Squeeze orange juice into a small bowl. Remove seeds and pour juice into mashed bananas. Mix.

In separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.

Mix dry ingredients into wet.

Scrape batter into 2 mini loaf pans or one regular loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour or until inserted knife comes out clean.

Remove loaves from oven and turn out onto rack. Allow to cool.

When cool, mix confectioner’s sugar with just enough milk to make a glaze. Drizzle glaze onto loaves and allow to set.

POTATO AND ONION SOUP

This is from Roadfood.com. The send out emails periodically which are almost always interesting. This recipe, from Harry Caray's, starts off, “Cooking potatoes in beef stock gives the starchy vegetable a savor that all carnivores will appreciate. A sprinkle of Parmesan on each serving adds just the right zip.”

Preparation Time: 5 minutes; Cook Time: 30 minutes Servings: 6

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups peeled and sliced Spanish onions

3-1/2 cups homemade beef stock or equivalent amount of canned, low salt beef broth

3 cups peeled and cubed potatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan and add the olive oil.

Add the onions and sauté until they become clear and turn a light brown. Set aside.

In a large stock pot, bring the beef stock to a boil. Reduce the heat and add the diced potatoes. Simmer over medium heat until the potatoes are soft.

Add the onions to the stock pot and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Salt and pepper the soup to taste. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese on top and serve.

CROCKPOT VEGETABLE MINESTRONE

Linda Larsen, About.com's Busy Cooks guide, writes, “This hearty recipe has a very complex flavor. One of the more surprising parts of the recipe is that pasta cooks right in the crockpot.”

Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 8 hours; Total Time: 8 hours, 20 minutes

Ingredients:

4 cups vegetable broth or stock

4 cups tomato juice

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. dried basil leaves

1/8 tsp. pepper

2 carrots, sliced

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

1-1/2 cups uncooked rotini pasta

Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients except pasta and cheese in a 4-5 quart crockpot. Cover crockpot and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours until vegetables are tender. Stir in pasta. Cover and cook on HIGH setting for 15-25 minutes until pasta is tender. Sprinkle each serving with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. 12 servings

LIGHT SPINACH SALAD

Yield: 2 servings

View online: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/775.shtml

Source: Magic Menus for People with Diabetes

Book Info: http://diabeticgourmet.com/book_archive/details/3.shtml

Ingredients

4 cups torn fresh spinach

4 ounces cooked boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed

1 medium orange, peeled, seeded, and sectioned

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

1 small onion, sliced

2 ounces Cheddar cheese, cubed or in strips

2 tablespoons reduced-fat salad dressing

Directions

Combine all ingredients except cheese and dressing in a large bowl; chill. Before serving, add cheese and toss with dressing.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 302; Protein: 28 g; Fat: 15 g; Cholesterol: 422 mg; Dietary Fiber: 5 g ; Carbohydrates: 19 g; Exchanges: 3 Medium-Fat Meat, 2 Vegetable, 1/2 Fruit