Tuna Noodle Casserole

The weather has been all over the place here lately.  From 70s and sunny to 45 and rainy in a day!  The changing weather has really put me in the mood for comfort food.  After Chicken and Dumplings, I think Tuna Casserole is one of my favorite comfort food dishes.  It’s easy, delicious, and makes me feel warm and noodly inside.  Yes, noodly, it’s a good thing, don’t worry.

I made tuna casserole with this recipe for the first time last year.  Two of my students were over hanging out and playing video games after they’d mowed my lawn and I made this casserole for dinner.  It was hilarious.  My roommates and I thought it was delicious, but I don’t think the boys liked it at all.  It was nearly as funny as earlier that day when we made them listen to Dave Matthews Band in the car (The Space Between has NEVER been funnier).  They looked at me like I was the craziest white lady ever, trying to feed them tuna casserole.  But, then, they also thought I was crazy when I offered to let them lick the spoon when I made cookies, sooooo I’m questioning their taste.

Ingredients (serves 6):

1/2 c butter, divided

1 (8 ounce) package uncooked egg noodles

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced

1/4 c flour

2 c milk

salt and pepper to taste

2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained and flaked

1 c peas

1/4 c green onions, sliced

3 tbsp bread crumbs

2 tbsp butter, melted

1 c shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a medium baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add egg noodles, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.

3. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Stir in the onion, celery, and garlic, and cook 5 minutes, until tender. Increase heat to medium-high, and mix in mushrooms.  Cook and stir 5 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated.

4. Melt 4 tbsp butter in a medium saucepan, and whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually whisk in milk, and continue cooking 5 minutes, until sauce is smooth and slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in tuna, peas, green onions, mushroom mixture, and cooked noodles.

5. Transfer the mixture to baking dish. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a small bowl, mix with bread crumbs, and sprinkle over the casserole. Top with cheese.

6. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until bubbly and lightly browned.

      

Shrimp and Pepper Stuffed Eggplant

I love our farmer’s market here in town.  It’s tiny, but my favorite part of the weekends is going to the farmer’s market on Saturday mornings before I go to the gym.  The last time I got a chance to go to the farmer’s market (and it was too long ago, really, I need to get up there again this weekend!), I bought quite a few eggplants.  I made eggplant parm with 1 and a half of them and used the other half of my second one in my potato curry.  But,I still had one more eggplant…and it really needed to be cooked like yesterday.  So tonight when I got home from school, I decided to make a stuffed eggplant dish.  I had some shrimp leftover from yesterday’s pad thai, so I decided to use that as well as some green and red peppers that I also had from the last time I was at the farmer’s market.

This recipe definitely makes more stuffing than will fit in the eggplant shells, but I also clearly spooned out too much of the eggplant initially (leave yourself enough of the ‘meat’ in the shells so they’ll hold their shape well)…they didn’t hold up as well as I would have liked.  But seriously, who’s going to be disappointed if they have more delicious filling than they can fit in their shells?  I just threw it on the baking sheet and cooked it that way.  Definitely not complaining.  If you’re a real stickler, than cut down on some of the ingredients, although I think it wouldn’t be quite as much of a problem if you use slightly bigger eggplants (like the ones you get at the store).  Regardless, these stuffed eggplants make a fabulous main dish.  Serve with a green salad.

Ingredients:

1 eggplant, cut in half lengthwise

1/2 cup olive oil, divided

salt and pepper to taste

12 medium shrimp – peeled, deveined and chopped

1 tbsp basil

1 tsp rosemary

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 cup green pepper, chopped

1/2 cup red pepper, chopped

1/2 cup white wine

1 green onion, chopped

1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided (approximately, essentially 1/4 cup plus some for topping)

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Scoop out the flesh of the eggplant, chop, and reserve. Coat shells with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper; set aside.

2. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Saute shrimp, basil, rosemary and garlic until shrimp turns pink, about 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved chopped eggplant and peppers. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in wine, and cook 5 minutes.

3. Transfer to a large bowl, and mix in the bread crumbs and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. If the mixture seems dry, stir in a bit more olive oil. Stuff mixture into eggplant shells, and sprinkle the top with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until eggplant is tender.

Pad Thai

If you read my entry about chicken in coconut sauce or potato curry, then you know that I love ethnic food.  You’ll also know that because I live in the Mississippi Delta, this love of ethnic food has to manifest itself in me attempting to make my own ethnic food, since there is a severe lack of interesting restaurants down here.  It works out though, if I was still living in the North I don’t think I would have attempted to make my own pad thai, I probably would have just gone out to get some, so it evens out.  Katie loves ethnic food as well (especially pad thai), so my adventures are encouraged, and luckily they have usually ended in success.

While there is a severe lack of interesting restaurants down here, there is also a severe lack of ethnic ingredients as well.  In making this pad thai, I had to use those rice stick noodles (the really really skinny ones) because I couldn’t find the flat rice noodles.  Oh well, it still turned out amazing!  If you’re a vegetarian, try substituting tofu for the chicken and shrimp and substituting water or vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package dried flat rice noodles

3 tbsp fish sauce (don’t let the nasty smell throw you off, it will taste delicious in the end)

1/4 cup lime juice

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 1/2 tbsp Asian chile garlic paste (basically the most amazing stuff ever)

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

8 ounces medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 eggs, beaten

4 cups bean sprouts (about 2 cans)

6 green onions, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1 lime, cut into wedges

Directions:

1. Fill a large bowl with hot water and place the noodles in it to soak for 20 minutes.

2. In a small bowl, stir together the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, oyster sauce, chile garlic paste and chicken stock. Set aside.

3. Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat and add vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, stir in garlic and cook for about 10 seconds. Add shrimp and chicken; cook, stirring constantly until shrimp is opaque and chicken is cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes.

4. Move everything in the wok out to the sides and pour the eggs in the center. Cook and stir the eggs until firm. Add the noodles to the wok and pour in the sauce. Cook, stirring constantly, until the noodles are tender. Add a bit more water if needed to finish cooking the noodles. Stir in bean sprouts and green onions. Remove from the heat and garnish with chopped peanuts. Taste for seasoning, adjusting the spice or lime juice if needed.

5. Serve garnished with fresh cilantro and lime wedges on the side.