Hearts of Palm with Beets and Blue Cheese

Source: Bon Appetit

Ingredients:
4 cups (packed) mixed baby lettuces
1/2 of a 14-15 oz. can hearts of palm, drained, each cut into 1/2 inch thick rounds
1/2 large red bell pepper, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
8 canned pickled beets, halved
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (about 3 oz)
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup bottled balsamic dressing

Directions:
Combine all ingredients except dressing. Toss well. Add dressing, toss again to coat.

Pumpkin Layer Cake

Source: Kraft Foods

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
1 15oz. can pumpkin, divided
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, divided
1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 8oz. tub cool whip, thawed
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
Heat oven to 350.

Beat cake mix, 1 cup pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs and 1 tsp. spice in large bowl. Mix until well blended. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9-inch round pans.

Bake 28-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans to cool rack, cool completely.

Beat cream cheese in medium bowl until creamy. Add sugar, remaining pumpkin and spice; mix well. Gently stire in cool whip. Cut each cake layer horizontally in half; stack on serving plate, spreading cream cheese filling between layers. (Do not frost top layer). Drizzle with caramel topping just before serving; top with nuts. Refrigerate leftovers.

Orzo with lemon, capers and herbs

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
6-7 cups beef stock or broth
2 cups orzo
Grated lemon peel (2 lemons)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup capers, rinsed and drained
1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (basil, oregano, parsley, thyme, rosemary)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
fresh ground pepper

Directions:
In a large saucepan, bring the beef stock to a boil. Add the orzo and continue cooking, stirring often to prevent sticking, about 8-10 minutes.

Turn off the heat, add the lemon peel. lemon juice, capers, herbs, and cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Stir until completely mixxed and the pasta is creamy. Serve at once or keep warm in a 250 degree oven, stirring well before serving.

Asian Coleslaw

Ingredients:
3 packs of Oriental Ramen Noodles
3 packets of Oriental Ramen Noodle seasoning (found in each pack)
2 bags coleslaw (they are usually found next to the fresh lettuce – not the bagged lettuce section for some reason..)
½ cup sugar
¾ cup olive oil
¾ cup rice vinegar
Lightly Salted Party Peanuts

Directions:
Break/crunch Ramen Noodles while still in the closed pack
Mix Ramen noodles and coleslaw together in large bowl
In a separate bowl, whisk together oriental seasoning, sugar, olive oil and rice vinegar. Pour mixture over coleslaw and noodles and toss – really toss until everything is coated. Add peanuts, toss again and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours before serving. Toss again before serving.

Its very easy – the key is to make sure you keep mixing everything so the wet mixture doesn’t just sit on the bottom of the bowl…

Cranberry Jell-o Salad

Source: My mom

Ingredients:
12 oz. bag of cranberries
6 oz. box of strawberry jello
2 cups boiling water
2 cups sugar (I only use 1 cup)
1 can crushed pineapple
1 orange
1 apple

Directions:
Peel apple and orange. Put both in blender with cranberries. Blend until fine.

Mix jello and water. Once disolved, add sugar and pineapple. Add cranberry mixture. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

Parmesan Tilapia

Ingredients:
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp. butter, softened
1 tbsp. low-fat mayonnaise
1 tbsp. lemon juice
¼ tsp. dried basil
1/8 tsp. onion salt
ground black pepper, to taste
1 lb. tilapia fillets

Directions:Preheat your oven’s broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.
In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, and onion salt. Mix well and set aside.
Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to overcook the fish.

**Baking directions: Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Jennifer Garner's Shrimp and Orzo

This dish was absolutely amazing! In fact, it is probably one of the best dishes I've ever made. We both loved it.

Source: Self.com
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup dry orzo
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 cup white wine
1 can (28 oz) whole, peeled tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon capers
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1 pound medium shelled and deveined shrimp
1/2 cup feta

DIRECTIONS:
1. Cook orzo in boiling water according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add wine and cook 1 minute. Toss in drained tomatoes (reserve 1/2 cup juice). Break tomatoes into chunks. Add reserved juice, parsley, capers, oregano, basil, black pepper, and red pepper. Simmer 5 minutes. Add shrimp and cook 2 minutes or until shrimp become opaque.
3. Add cooked orzo to skillet. Mix well. When pasta is thoroughly heated, stir in feta. Serve immediately.

Tilapia in Lemon Butter Sauce

This was amazing!

Source: adapted from http://www.cookinglight.com/

Ingredients:
3/4 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
2 tbl. capers
3 tsp. butter, divided
2 (6-oz.) tilapia fillets
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Combine first three ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Melt 1 tsp. of butter in a large nonstick skillet over low heat.
3. While butter melts, sprinkle fish fillets with salt and black pepper.
4. Increase heat to medium-high; heat 2 minutes or until butter turns golden brown. Add fillets to pan; sauté 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Remove fillets from pan.
5. Add broth mixture to pan, scraping to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil; cook until reduced to 1/2 c. (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat.
6. Stir in remaining two tsp. butter with a whisk. Serve sauce over fillets. Garnish with lemon wedges, if desired.