dinner Archives - Page 19 of 32 - Lovin' From the Oven

Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta

March 28, 2013 by kim 4 Comments

I’m so excited that it’s spring. That means we’re one step closer to avocado and watermelon season. Avocado truly is a food of the gods. It tastes great in so many ways! Remember the avocado smoothie I made a while back? Who would have thought that avocados go well in drinks?

It’s a pretty creamy fruit, so I figured mashing it into a pasta sauce would work. It tasted a little bland on its own, but throw in some pesto and you’ve got yourself a winner.

Heck, I even tricked my non-vegetable-or-anything-green-eating-DB into having a couple of bites! He just figured it was plain pesto pasta and gobbled it right up. It wasn’t until he saw the avocado peel sitting on the counter that he realized this wasn’t just pesto pasta and immediately spat out his bite.

Oh well, at least I got one step further than anyone else ever has. My DB ate avocados for the first time in his life!

I don’t understand how anyone can hate avocados. They’re just too good. My DB won’t eat them because they’re green, making them fall into the “vegetable” category even though it’s technically a fruit. What a sad, sad, life he lives.

This pasta is best served immediately, as avocados have the tendency to brown. Just because they’re mashed doesn’t mean that they won’t brown as a sauce. This sauce isn’t meant to be reheated, either (But don’t worry, I’ve tried it and it’s fine. It just browns a bit when you do, which might not be the best served for guests). Shhh… we’ll save the reheating for eating alone in our kitchens.

I could eat this for every meal and be content. Avocado, pesto, and pasta? That’s the secret to happiness!

Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta

Ingredients

1 avocado, pitted and ripened
1/2 lemon
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon pesto
8 oz pasta of your choice
water to boil the pasta

Directions

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package.
While the pasta is cooking, make your sauce by mixing all of the other ingredients in a bowl and mashing it with a fork until smooth. You could also throw everything in a food processor for quicker results.
Drain the pasta. Toss with the sauce and serve immediately.

https://lovintheoven.com/creamy-avocado-pesto-pasta/

Crockpot Orange Chicken

March 5, 2013 by kim 12 Comments

I had a reader comment the other day about how disappointed they were on my posts for sharing recipes that I didn’t love. Perhaps they didn’t read the comment above theirs, saying “I made these before and I thought they were great!”

I post recipes on my blog regardless of if they’re bad, okay, good, or spectacular. Why? Well, I initially started this blog to keep track of the recipes I loved and disliked. I test out a lot of recipes and it’s easy to forget if I’ve made a particular one before. If I post about it, I can recall my thoughts and process of making the dish.

I still have my blog for the same reason. I like to know what I’ve made and which recipes are worth repeating.

Not only that, but everyone has their own standards and palette in the kitchen. Some people may love a dish that others hate. For example, I can care less about the combination of peanut butter and chocolate, but others live for it. To me, every recipe with peanut butter and chocolate will always rate just a tad lower than ones with cinnamon sugar. Does that make any sense?

Sometimes, readers can tweak a recipe posted to make it just how they like. The recipe posted is merely a guideline for the readers’ creativity in the kitchen.

So, forgive me if you think that all the recipes posted should be nothing short of fantastic. You should probably look away now since this post will really ruffle your feathers. It’s another one that I didn’t care much for. The “orange” taste was a little off and the cooking time was too long.

That’s not saying the recipe is a complete dud. With an adjustment of cooking time for my large crockpot and finding a different substitute for the orange concentrate, there is potential.

Recipe from The Pursuit of Happiness.

Crockpot Orange Chicken

Ingredients

3-4 boneless chicken breasts, chopped into small chunks
1/3 cup flour
olive oil
1/2 T salt
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3 T ketchup
6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate (thaw or throw it in the microwave for 45 seconds)
4 T brown sugar

Directions

In a bowl, mix the orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and ketchup. Set aside.
Pour the flour in a small bowl. Cover the chicken breast chunks in flour and shake off the excess. Over medium heat, warm up the olive oil in a skillet. Brown the flour covered chicken.
Place the chicken into the crockpot and pour sauce mixture on top. Stir to coat evenly.
Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2-3.

https://lovintheoven.com/crockpot-orange-chicken/

Baked Salmon

March 2, 2013 by kim 3 Comments

I’ve been all kinds of adventurous lately. By adventurous, I mean in the kitchen. I made ice cream, worked with yeast, and now I’m cooking fish. I never ate much fish growing up because my dad hates it. When he was younger, he practically ate fish everyday because he was poor and fish was cheap. It was the poor man’s meal.

Now, my dad can’t stand the taste of fish. He’ll eat everything except for it. Since my mom never cooked fish growing up, I never had fish until high school. I loved it. I’d start ordering salmon at restaurants and going out for sushi whenever I could.

Unfortunately, salmon’s not the best dish for eating out since it’s so darn expensive. How hard can it be to cook salmon at home? Turns out, it’s just about the easiest thing ever.

Since my DB doesn’t eat fish (I know, that list is never ending), I didn’t want to buy or cook a huge chunk of salmon for myself. Trader Joe’s sells the perfect sized salmon for one in the freezer section. Problem solved! I just defrost a piece of fish overnight and it’s ready for me to cook for lunch the next day.

This salmon would be great over some quinoa and cooked spinach. Talk about a healthy meal!

Oh, also… I was kind of freaking out about the white stuff on top of the salmon after I cooked it. I never saw that on any of the salmon I ate at the restaurants. I googled it and apparently it’s just the fat oozing out of the salmon. Don’t worry, it’s good fat… the omega 3 stuff that your body needs.

I found the baked lemon to be a bit bitter, so I squeezed fresh lemon juice on top of the salmon just before serving. I am a little bit of a lemon fiend though, so you might be fine without the extra kick on top.

Baked Salmon

Ingredients

salmon
half a lemon, sliced thinly
2 teaspoons butter
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.
On a piece of foil, lay your piece of salmon onto sliced lemons.
Add the butter, salt, and pepper on top.
Wrap up the salmon in the foil and bake on a baking sheet for 25-30 minutes.

https://lovintheoven.com/baked-salmon/

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