Category Archives: Dinner

Jul23

Roasted Red Snapper With Veggies

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Rachel

I love fish! There are so many people that tell me they love fish but that they’re scared to cook it or all they know how to do is fry it. Don’t get me wrong, I love fried fish, but there are so many healthier and just as delicious ways to enjoy our friends from the salty sea. This red snapper is a very mild white fish, and if you can’t find snapper where you are, a similar tasting fish would be grouper, flounder, or another mild white flaky fish. Halibut is delicious too, but it’s usually an arm and a leg, and I like to stick with the affordable stuff! Normally I do sort of a cooked pico de gallo recipe with this fish, but I had some bell peppers in my garden that were ready to pick, so those got incorporated into this dish and I was so happy I put them in there!

Ingredients:
1 fish filet per person
1 large tomato or a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes cut in half
1 handful chopped cilantro
As many chopped jalapenos as you can handle 🙂
2 bell peppers any color
2 chopped onions (I did one sweet and one purple because I had them both, but if you’re just picking one, go with sweet)
butter
2 chopped garlic cloves
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Your favorite fish seasoning (I like to use the GOYA brands I normally use on chicken which are the Seasoning Total and GOYA con pepper in addition to a few cracks of fresh black pepper from the grinder)

1. Using an oven safe skillet (hello cast iron!), saute with about 3 T of butter and a drizzle of oil your onions and peppers and season with salt and pepper. This will take about 10 minutes or so on medium high heat. Then add your garlic and saute for a few more minutes.

2. Turn the heat off and add your chopped tomatoes and cilantro and add additional salt if needed. Stir that around until everything is incorporated.

3. Place your seasoned fish filets on top of the veggies and place into a 425 degree oven for about 12 minutes. You’ll need to vary your time based on how many filets you have, the thickness, etc, but you get the idea that they’re going in and coming out pretty quickly. Also, I find it helps roast the fish and hold in the moisture if you drizzle the tops with a little olive oil as well as the seasoning you put on them.

4. I started checking my fish at 10 minutes and I could tell when it was done when the meat bounced back firmly and poked a fork in there and it was opaque. Remember, when you take it out it will continue to carry over cook, so there’s no need for you to cook the blazes out of it.

5. Plate that puppy up and serve with a twist of lime or a side of rice for a delicious and healthy meal!

Jul18

Chicken Spaghetti

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Rachel

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Who loves cheese? Well then this chicken spaghetti recipe is for you! It has an ooey gooey cheesy sauce that is absolutely delicious! Also, this is a great recipe to chop up veggies into tiny pieces and hide them in the sauce so your kids eat them. I’ve got lots of squash and parsley in my garden right now and my son had no idea either were in this dish. I think you could easily substitute zucchini, peas, chopped asparagus, finely chopped broccoli, finely chopped spinach, or any combination of those veggies into this dish easily!

Ingredients:

1 sweet onion finely chopped

1/4 c roasted red peppers chopped (or two jars pimentos)

Additional chopped veggies of your choice (I used one yellow squash and a few sprigs of chopped parsley)

1/2 lb linguine pasta (I used whole wheat)

4 oz Velveeta

1 can cream of mushroom

2 T cream cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 package boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 2 lbs)

Chicken bouillon cube

Salt and pepper

2 chopped garlic cloves

3 T butter

1 T garlic and herb seasoning

Additional mozzarella or other Italian cheese for topping

Italian breadcrumbs

1. First we’re going to season the water you’ll be using to cook the chicken (and later the noodles). Bring a pot of water with chicken bouillon and garlic herb seasoning to a boil and add chicken to pot. This will need to boil about 20-25 minutes.

2. Add chopped onion, chopped veggies of your choice, butter, salt, and pepper to a sauté pan. Cook until veggies become tender and add chopped garlic and roasted red peppers and cook a few more minutes on medium high heat.

3. Turn heat down to medium low and add cream of mushroom, cream cheese, mozzarella, and Velveeta. Stir and allow mixture to melt and come together.

4. Pull your chicken out of the boiling seasoned water and cut into bite size pieces.

5. Add chicken to sauce mixture.

6. Add linguini to the boiling seasoned water and cook using directions on the box. Once it’s done, add the drained pasta to the chicken and cheese mix.

7. Pour this into a buttered 9×11 baking dish and top with more cheese and sprinkle top with Italian breadcrumbs.

8. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Mmmmmm would you look at that beautiful masterpiece?! It’s delicious with a hunk of crusty garlic bread and large glass of red wine 🙂

Jul15

BBQ Chicken

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Rachel

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This is hands down the best BBQ chicken you will ever have! That’s right, I’m that confident in this BBQ chicken recipe and its deliciously sticky BBQ sauce. Mmmmm 🙂 While reading Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman)’s facebook page, I noticed she had put up a recipe for her BBQ chicken. She does hers with peach preserves and her favorite BBQ sauce (which happens to be one of my favorites as well), and I decided to change up the recipe a bit to make it my own. So essentially, it’s a mix of recipes. Let’s get started!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup mesquite/smoky/spicy bbq sauce (I used Head Country Orignial here because I love it and also because Ree Drummond used it in her original recipe)
1/3 cup sweet/mild bbq sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s here and Original or Honey BBQ would be delicious)
1/4 cup apricot preserves
1-2 garlic cloves finely chopped
salt and pepper
2 1/2 – 3 pounds chicken thighs/wings/legs

1. Whether you’re doing this on the grill or in your oven, you’ll need to spray a piece of foil with non-stick cooking spray to keep the chicken from sticking throughout this process. If you’re doing it in your oven, you can either spray a jelly roll pan with or without foil, or use a grilling rack. I used the grill for my chicken because the wind wasn’t trying to blow my house down that day, and it was nice to be outside.

2. Salt and pepper both sides of whatever chicken you’re using.

3. Combine both BBQ sauces, apricot preserves, and chopped garlic in a small sauce pot and place on the stove on low. Stir until combined, then you can turn off the heat once it’s all married up nicely.

4. You’re going to cook your chicken on the grill/oven for about 20-25 minutes before you start basting it with the sauce. If you’re using your oven, the first 20-25 minutes the temperature should be around 350. Once your time is up, turn up the heat to about 400, or just crank up your grill and baste the first side of the chicken, flip over, then baste the other side. Then allow it to cook another 7-8 minutes before repeating the process. You’ll do this several times until you run out of sauce and your chicken is done. Make sure you’re closing the lid of grill after each basting and also make sure not to lose any of the skin during the flipping process.

Doesn’t that look delicious? It’s ready to eat! Those apricot preserves and their plump juicy apricots really make this chicken amazing!

Jul7

Garden Vegetable and Shrimp Alfredo

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Rachel

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I am so happy when summer veggies start coming up in my garden and love to use them in tons of different recipes. This pasta I made tonight was so yummy, and it uses summer squash and zucchini as the vegetables, but really any veggie you could want would do great in here. Peas, broccoli, asparagus, carrots, etc would be tasty! I also added shrimp for some protein, but feel free to leave it out or substitute grilled chicken instead.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb linguini pasta
1/2 pint (1 cup) heavy whipping cream
5 oz shredded Romano cheese (or use Parmesan if you prefer)
1 zucchini sliced into 1/2 rings
1 squash sliced into 1/2 rings
1 lb shrimp that’s been peeled and de-veined
1 stick of butter
1 clove garlic chopped
1-2 T chopped fresh herbs (I used flat leaf parsley and basil from the garden)
Salt and pepper
Cayenne pepper (optional)

1. First get your water boiling for the pasta and get your veggies started in a separate skillet with 2 T butter. Oh hello there cast iron skillet! You know how much I love you 🙂

2. Saute on medium-high heat for a few minutes and season with salt and pepper, then add your chopped garlic and saute a few more minutes. Drain into a bowl and set aside.

3. Next, saute your shrimp in 4 T of butter and season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. The last minute they’re in there toss in your freshly chopped herbs. Remove pan from the heat and set aside.

4. For the sauce, just melt 2 T of butter in a small sauce pot over low to medium heat, and add your heavy whipping cream once it’s melted. Season liberally with salt and pepper, then add 3-4 oz of your shredded Romano cheese.

5. Once it’s thickened and melted, it will stick to the back of your spoon and become a deliciously sinful white cheesy sauce.

6. Combine your veggies, pasta, sauce, and shrimp all together and stir.

7. Top with more freshly chopped herbs and the rest of your shredded cheese, then serve with cheesy garlic bread for a yummy summer Italian meal!

Jun12

Duke’s Jalapeño Havarti Sliders

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Rachel

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You may or may not have drawn the logical conclusion that I’ve had a thing for sliders this pregnancy. It’s true! I’m currently obsessed with sliders and have made them several different ways, but I think this one is my favorite! This recipe uses ground turkey and deliciously creamy Havarti cheese, and they’re heavenly. Can’t find Havarti cheese? Pepper jack would work great here too.

Ingredients:
1 package ground turkey (the one I bought was 19 oz, so slightly over a pound)
1 chopped jalapeño (seeded and deveined)
About 1/4 c cubed jalapeño Havarti cheese
Your favorite burger seasoning
1 heaping T Duke’s mayonnaise

1. Combine mayo, ground turkey, jalapeños, cheese, and seasonings in a mixing bowl. I added about a tsp of seasoning into this mix, then sprinkled a little more on each patty after they were assembled. It’s important to note that every Southerner knows that Duke’s mayo is the best mayo you can buy and blows Hellman’s out of the water, so I highly suggest that’s what you use. However, if you can’t find it, any mayo you find will work.

* That one on the top right is plain for my 2 year old 🙂

2. You can either grill these or cook them on your stovetop. You may have heard me mention I live in a wind tunnel with a vortex that threatens to suck me up every time I step outside to approach my grill, so I did these on the stovetop. Don’t forget to spray your pan like I did, because these puppies stick!

3. Prepare yourself for the juiciest and most delicious slider ever! I highly recommend serving on a toasted slider bun with a kicked up creamy coleslaw and sliced garden tomato. For a quick coleslaw that’s only semi-homemade I used a creamy coleslaw mix and added a spoonful of Duke’s mayo to the mix, a splash of white vinegar, cayenne pepper, and salt & pepper. It really made it taste like it was totally from scratch and incorporated the Duke’s mayo theme I was going for. Yum!

Jun9

Pulled Pork Enchiladas

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Rachel

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Y’all know I love to buy meat in bulk and cook my fabulous meals on the cheap, but coming up with different recipes with the same meat can be tricky! Making 2-3 different meals with the same meat can help break up your dinners so it feels like you did the whole thing that night brand new. This recipe uses leftover pulled pork, and there are so many different things you can do with pulled pork besides BBQ sandwiches. This and my pork tacos are probably my two favorite Mexican themed dishes to do with leftover pulled pork. Also, there aren’t really measurements for this because each person will obviously have different amounts of leftovers, so I tried to take good pictures of the portions I used so you can get an idea for when you do yours.

Ingredients:
Leftover pulled pork
Tortillas (corn or flour. – both are great, but I used flour here only because that’s what my husband likes)
Caramelized onions
Green chiles
Sour cream
Mixed shredded cheese
Enchilada sauce
Salt and pepper

1. First put all your pulled pork in a mixing bowl. Pure guesstimate here, but I’ll say this looks to be about 4 cups of pulled pork.

2. Take a few handfuls of your favorite shredded cheese, a few spoonfuls of sour cream, caramelized onions, green chiles, and a little salt and pepper and put it in your mixing bowl.

3. Give it a big stir and it should look something like this:

4. Get your enchilada sauce and smear a few spoonfuls at the bottom of a baking dish.

5. Start stuffing your enchiladas by putting a few spoonfuls of the mixture in the tortillas. It helps if you warm them up a little first by wrapping them in a damp paper towel in the microwave for a little bit to prevent them from cracking.

6. Once your dish is full of enchiladas, pour your sauce on top and top with shredded cheese.

7. Cook in a 350 oven for about 40 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.

This is a side note, but if you’re one of those people that packs lunches for your husband or likes to have individual freezer homemade meals, I like to do a few individual enchiladas here to be placed in the freezer. Assemble, cover with plastic wrap, then a layer of foil and freeze. To cook later, remove foil/plastic wrap and place in oven/microwave for a tasty individual meal.

Jun4

Pork Chop Grenades

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Rachel

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This is one of those summer hits that people will be wanting your recipe for. A few years ago, I saw a recipe on one of those recipe chain Facebook posts for stuffed chicken breasts that used these same stuffing ingredients, and thus, eventually the pork chop grenade was born. At first, I made this recipe using chicken thighs, but it has expanded to the “other white meat”, and I’ve gotta say it’s pork perfection! But feel free to sub chicken or even pork tenderloin in place of a pork chop here – it really is versatile!

Ingredients:
Pork chops or pork steaks with bones removed
BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays here)
1-2 strips of bacon per grenade
1/2 jalapeño sliced per grenade
Your favorite grilling seasoning or just plain salt and pepper
About 1 T cream cheese per grenade

1. This recipe graduated from chicken to pork because these bone-in pork steaks were on sale for a steal at the store. See what being a savvy shopper can do for you? 🙂 I just cut out the bones of the steaks before using them. Obviously, the easiest thing would be to buy thin cut boneless pork chops.

2. Sprinkle your favorite grilling seasoning on your meat and put about a tablespoon of cream cheese on each chop.

3. Using either the back of a spoon or your fingers, mush the cream cheese out a little bit and place 1/2 a jalapeño on each. I like to keep a few seeds and stems in mine to keep them spicy! Please excuse the blurry pic 🙂

4. Now here is the messy part! You’re going to wrap these up into grenades using 1-2 slices of bacon each. Try to seal them up with the bacon because it helps keep the stuffing inside. I like to do a little fresh cracked black pepper on top of the bacon because it’s delicious and it looks pretty.

5. Now you can decide to either bake or grill these. Normally, I grill mine but now that I’m living in Amarillo AKA the US’s windiest city , I don’t particularly enjoy grilling in gale force winds, so I bake them. I use a grilling sheet I’ve sprayed with non-stick spray on top of a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan lined with foil for easy cleanup. Bake at 375 for anywhere from 45-60 minutes based on the thickness of your meat. Then take them out and turn the heat up to 400 or crank the grill up.

6. Now you’re going to baste them with your favorite BBQ sauce and put back in for 10-15 minutes. Again, you don’t want to overcook them, so keep in mind the thickness of your meat before you cook it.

7. Your grenades are ready to eat! Let’s cut into one of these babies and check out that creamy spicy perfection!

May23

BBQ Sliders With Caramelized Onions

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Rachel

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Hello! I am so glad to get to post this yummy recipe just before Memorial Day Weekend! I’ve been so busy lately with our big move to Amarillo I’ve hardly had time to cook anything worth posting a recipe for, but we are settled in now, so hopefully I can get back in the swing of things. Ok, let’s get started!

First, I want to be honest up front and say I bought the patties for these sliders from the butcher in our grocery store. A) I’m tired and need all the help I can get and B) They looked delicious. They’re jalapeño cheddar sliders, but any kind of slider you want to use here would be delicious. Just be sure to sprinkle a little of your own favorite seasoning on both sides before you use them. Also, tell everyone you made them from scratch and throw away the evidence before anyone else eats them. It’ll be our little secret 😉

Ingredients:

2 large sweet onions (1015, Honey Sweets, Videlia, whatever…)
1/2 stick of butter
7-8 sliders seasoned with your favorite burger seasoning
Your favorite BBQ sauce (for this recipe I used a spicy one)
Salt and pepper
Water
Slider buns

1. Dice up your onion and throw it into your large cast iron skillet. If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, consider yourself scolded and just use a normal skillet for now, but buy one as soon as possible. Season with salt and pepper and throw your 1/2 butter stick in there. Sauté about 15 minutes on medium to high heat.

2. After the onions are mostly Caramelized and smelling delicious, add your patties to the skillet right there on top of the onions and add about 1/2 cup of water. It’s going to steam those yummy patties.

3. I like to put a lid on at this point because it helps the steam. Check out my beautiful silicone flower lid! (You can use any lid that doesn’t seal)

4. Flip the patties after a few minutes and place the lid back on. After about 8-10 minutes, they’re essentially done with the high heat. Take the patties and set them aside for a minute on a plate.

5. Now stir those onions around and give them a give them a few healthy squirts of your favorite BBQ sauce. Turn the heat on low and after the BBQ sauce has been incorporated, add your patties back in and let them simmer in that yummy deliciousness for at least ten minutes before serving.

6. Serve these little medallions from heaven on toasted slider buns and top with your onion mixture. Personally, we like to add my Texas Coleslaw recipe on top and serve with a side of
favorite beans.
Notice I somehow ended up with the two bun bottoms instead of a top and bottom. Typical.

May23

Texas Coleslaw

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Rachel

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Y’all this coleslaw is so delicious and so good for you. Unlike creamy recipes, this one is vinegar based and has some heat. This is probably my most asked for recipe of anything I’ve ever made for a crowd. Here is the recipe for a single batch, but you can easily double or triple everything for large parties.

Ingredients:
10 oz bag of coleslaw mix (I’ve used broccoli slaw, original coleslaw mix, and even the new kinds with all kinds of different stuff in it like Brussels Sprouts and cranberries. But my favorite one is the mixed bag with original slaw and broccoli slaw mixed together.)
1/4 c white wine vinegar (No, this is not the same thing as white vinegar. No, you cannot sub other vinegar.)
1/4 c oil (olive, canola, or vegetable)
2 tsp – 4 tsp sugar
Juice of one lime
Salt and pepper
Pinch of cumin powder (optional)
A handful of those sweet baby bell peppers sliced into rings (yellow, orange, and red)
One sliced jalapeño with seeds
2-3 sliced green onions
A handful of chopped cilantro

1. Combine mix and all chopped ingredients into a mixing bowl.

2. Whisk together white wine vinegar, oil, lime juice, seasonings, and sugar. Give it a taste and see if you like the sugar content in it. It should be sweet and tangy. Start off with 2 tsp and go from there. Once it’s whisked together, add to mixing bowl.

3. Allow it to sit in the fridge a while before you serve it. I like to allow at least an hour. It’s delicious by itself or on top of sliders 🙂

Mar24

Pasta Salad

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Rachel

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Hey y’all! I bet you’ve been wondering where I’ve been and why I haven’t posted anything in a while. Well, that’s because I just finished my first trimester of my pregnancy and I am just now able to begin to look at food again. Seriously, looking at or smelling food in any way was a big no no up until now, so slowly but surely I’ll be coming back to post more Blonde Bitchin West Texas Kitchen recipes!

Here is my go-to pasta salad recipe whenever I’m going to a BBQ or even packing a picnic. It’s so yummy and kids love it too because of the string cheese surprise in there! Who puts string cheese in a pasta salad? I do 🙂

Ingredients:
1 box of pasta (spiral or penne works best)
1 cup Italian dressing (my favorite is the original Wishbone kind in the green bottle)
4 sticks of string cheese cut up into slices
1/2 bunch of green onions chopped
1/4 sweet onion finely chopped
1 cup total red and yellow cherry tomatoes chopped in half
*I also like to add whatever I have in the fridge that looks good and these are optional – chopped marinated artichoke hearts, chopped marinated green olives, sliced roasted red peppers marinated in oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1. First chop up all your ingredients and add them to a large bowl and add your Italian dressing and let that sit in the fridge while your pasta is boiling according to the instructions on the box.

2. Add your cooked pasta noodles to the yummy mixture you have in your bowl and add salt and pepper all over and stir together.

3. Place your pasta salad in the fridge and allow it to chill at least 1 hour prior to serving. So good!

Blonde Bitchin' West Texas Kitchen

Come for the food. Stay for the wine.

Category Archives: Dinner

Roasted Red Snapper With Veggies

Chicken Spaghetti

BBQ Chicken

Garden Vegetable and Shrimp Alfredo

Duke’s Jalapeño Havarti Sliders

Pulled Pork Enchiladas

Pork Chop Grenades

BBQ Sliders With Caramelized Onions

Texas Coleslaw

Pasta Salad