I saw a recipe for Baked Greek Shrimp on the NY Times Cooking site by David Tanis and he was my inspo for this recipe. I made a few changes to the original to make it my own and I think it was wonderful . So thanks to David Tanis and the NY Times Cooking site which I absolutely love.

This is Greek Shrimp and not Italian mostly by the fact that obviously the Greeks don’t mind adding cheese to their seafood and I have to say it all tastes rather delicious.

I made it for the two of us this past xmas eve and this is what I did.

Ingredients:

2 large shallots, minced ( use a mini processor if you have one)

4 garlic cloves, minced

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes– drained

a nice size pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

1 1/2 lb. of large shrimp, peeled and deveined and tails off

app. 4 oz. of crumbled feta cheese or block that you crumble

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions:

I use my mini food processor and I mince the shallots and the garlic together. If you don’t have this little machine I suggest purchasing it it’s a life saver in terms of chopping and mincing garlic and onions. Put 4 Tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat . Add shallots and garlic, season with a little salt and pepper and cook till softened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Stir around to keep mixture from browning. Add drained can of diced tomatoes to the pan, season with salt and pepper to taste and add a large pinch of crushed red pepper. Cook stirring, until mixture is juicy and tomatoes have softened, about 10 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Put shrimp in a mixing bowl and add 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil, season shrimp with salt and pepper and stir to coat. I used about 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt and a little black pepper.

Transfer tomato mixture to a shallow baking dish ( not metal) glass , ceramic or earthenware. Add shrimp in one layer over tomato mixture in one layer. Crumble cheese over surface and sprinkle with oregano.

I baked for about 15 minutes , you’ll want tomatoes to be bubbling and shrimp to turn pink and curl a bit and cheese has browned slightly. Put under broiler for the last 3-4 minutes till cheese browns up a bit. Remove from oven and let sit for a minute or so.

I cooked up some orzo and served shrimp over the orzo and it was perfect. Served with a nice light green salad as well.

I had some Butternut Squash in the house and usually I just roast with some olive oil and salt and pepper. This time I added a bunch of spices a little Maple Syrup and some fresh Orange Juice. It was very yummy . I am writing this up for 2 lbs. of butternut squash , feel free to cut this recipe in 1/2 . Please use pure maple syrup for this one and a fresh orange for the juice. This recipe would also be wonderful on sweet potatoes!

We loved it and it was a wonderful new side dish and one I will repeat often.

Now that you can buy butternut squash pre-cut there’s no excuse not to make this wonderful healthy vegetable more often.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

app. 2 lbs. butternut squash cut into 1 inch pieces ( pre-packaged is the way to go here)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

Pinch of cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons pure Maple Syrup–grade A is what I use

Juice of one fresh orange–app. 6 Tablespoons

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

I sprayed a large baking sheet with Cooking Spray — you must or use parchment or aluminum foil for easier clean-up . Just a little note– I used Bakers Joy cooking spray I find sometimes it works best on this type of recipe. I absolutely love this cooking spray for baking so why not for sticky gooey recipes? Clean up was a snap. (just saying)

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix together . I let it sit for a while before I roast, I find the oil and spices meld together nicely so if you have the time I would recommend doing this for maybe 15 minutes or longer.

Pour onto baking sheet. Roast in the oven until butternut squash is tender about 45 minutes, halfway through I removed and tossed .

Remove from oven when browned up and smelling delicious. (app. 45 minutes)

Serve it up.

This is one of those delicious easy to make super comforting soups. Of course I may have lost some of you with the Cabbage and if you hate it you hate it but if you’re willing to give it a shot this is a super cozy kind of soup which we can all use a little bit of these days. Made this for Joel and I and had 2 quarts left over for 2 more meals. Perfect dinner served with a nice green salad . I used pork sausage because that’s what I had in the house feel free to use chicken or turkey sausage whatever works best for you. I used a spicy italian pork sausage . I also used a frilly-edged Napa Cabbage . This cabbage is nice and soft and breaks down quickly . If using regular green cabbage you’ll have to cook a bit longer — probably another 15 minutes or so. Of course you can be flexible with your pasta , I used orzo but you can use any small pasta such as ditalini, mini elbows or mini farfalla .

Enjoy this most satisfying soup which is just perfect on a cold wintery day or night.

Stay safe folks.

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 pound Italian sausage, mild or spicy remove casings

2 cloves garlic minced

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

Kosher Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper, start with a pinch , plus add more to taste

1/4 cup Tomato Paste

1 large Napa or Savoy Cabbage, trimmed , quartered and thinly sliced

4 cups Chicken Stock

4 cups Water

1 cup Orzo

1 -2 Parmesan Rinds

*grated Parmesan for serving

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large heavy bottomed Dutch oven type of pot.( Le Creuset works well here) over medium heat.

Add sausage in a single layer and break up into smaller pieces, stirring occasionally until sausage is cooked through and no longer pink. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon, leaving the rendered fat in the pot.

Add the chopped onion and several big pinches of kosher salt and black pepper. Saute the onions for about 5 minutes then add the garlic and continue cooking for a few minutes. Lower the heat and add the tomato paste and continue to cook stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pot. Onions will start to caramelize in about 3 minutes.

Add the cabbage, chicken stock, water, orzo , Parmesan Rinds, and add another big pinch of kosher salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 15 minutes. Continue stirring so pasta doesn’t stick to bottom of pan. Add sausage and continue to simmer for about 15 more minutes or until pasta and cabbage are tender.

Remove an discard rinds. I couldn’t find one of my rinds and it is no big deal. If you use larger ones they’re easier to find. You may find when you spoon out the soup!

Taste for Salt and Pepper

I then turned off heat and let soup sit on the stove till we were ready to eat dinner. I brought to a low simmer and served in bowls with grated Parmesan.

If you do freeze you’ll probably need to add some water/stock to it because it will thicken up considerably.

Here’s the thing– I love Stuffed Peppers but it’s a lot of work to make. This soup satisfied my yen for Stuffed Peppers without all the work. It’s really delicious and this is how I made it. I actually used a whole package of Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice which worked perfectly. I also used ground beef but obviously you can use ground turkey or chicken as well. I just wanted to stay as true to the recipe for Stuffed Peppers as possible. Of course you don’t need to sprinkle the cheese on top but it added another layer of flavor .

Enjoy this hearty and easy meal in a bowl.

Paired with a green salad and some nice crusty bread it’s perfect.

*probably 6 -8 servings and you can freeze leftover soup.

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

4 medium green bell peppers, diced. Mine were giant so I used 3

1 medium yellow onion, diced

Kosher Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper or use coarsely ground black pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

4 cups Beef Broth

14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes

14.5 oz. can crushed tomatoes

3 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

1 package Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice you obviously don’t have to use ready rice but I did and I used Jasmine. Any Rice will do and if you don’t want 2 cups use 1 cup rice– you’ll want the rice cooked so if you have leftover rice use it!

Shredded Chedder for topping and serving

Directions:

In a large soup pot ( think Le Creuset) a heavy stock pot which will be large enough for this soup. Heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add the diced peppers, onion, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper ( app. 1/4 teaspoon) you’ll get another chance at seasoning so just start out small. Cook, stirring occasionally, until veggies are soft. Approximately 10 minutes.

Add the ground beef and cook breaking up the beef as you stir with a large wooden spoon. Cook till no longer pink , approximately 5 minutes.

Add the minced garlic and oregano and cook for a minute or two. Add the 4 cups beef broth, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, Worcestershire Sauce, and add a little more kosher salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil . Reduce heat and simmer until all flavors are blended. I like my soup to simmer for a long time. At least a half hour and preferably longer. If you find it too thick add a little water. Mine was perfect and sat on stovetop for a few hours. Second hour just sat on warm.

Before serving I heated to a boil, brought back down to a simmer and added rice until warmed through. Taste for S and P but should be fine.

Ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle with some Chedder .

I held my breath because I wasn’t sure about Joel’s response to soup but he totally enjoyed and ate a big bowl.