Spaghetti With Antipasto Salad, Artichoke and Garlic Bread

Gathering the Ingredients

Ingredients:

• Mild Italian Sausages 1 for each person
• 1 lb. Ground Beef
• Beef Salami Sliced
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Parmesan Cheese
• Butter
• 2 Cans Green Olives
• Vinegar
• Olive Oil
• 1 Can Spaghetti Sauce
• 1 Large Can Tomato Paste
• Red Wine
• Spaghetti Pasta-1 small package
• Fresh Artisan Rolls-Trader Joe's
• Salt 
• Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• Basil
• Oregano
• Onion
• 2 Garlic Bulbs-cleaned and cloves left whole
• 1 Head Romaine Lettuce
• Cauliflower-chopped into bite-sized florets
• Baby Zucchinis-chopped into bite-sized pieces
• Globe Artichokes- 1 for each person
• 1 Fennel Bulb-chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1 Carrot-grated
• Grapes-seeds removed and cut into fourths
• 1 Mini-Scoop 100% Organic Stevia Powder

Start cooking the ground beef and sausages in a large, thick sauce pot.  Brown them well.  Add chopped onion and whole garlic cloves.  Add grated carrot, chopped fennel and a handful of grapes. Add can of spaghetti sauce and can of tomato paste. Sprinkle in the stevia, garlic powder, dried basil and oregano.  Add red wine until the sauce is very thin.  Leave lid askew so that the liquid will reduce.  Let it simmer slowly over medium heat.

A Variety of Grapes to Wash

While the sauce is simmering make the Antipasto Salad.  Start by chopping the cauliflower, olives, zucchini and bell pepper.  Don't forget to stir the sauce every so often and be sure to scrape the bottom and put the lid askew.

Chopping the Olives and Veggies

Continue working on the salad by grating the mozzarella cheese and chopping the salami.

Gathering the Ingredients for the Salad

Finish up the salad by tearing up the romaine lettuce then drizzling olive oil and vinegar.  Sprinkle basil, oregano, salt and pepper and stir well.

Topping the Salad with Romaine and Tomatoes

Put the finished salad in the fridge to chill.

Tossing the Salad and Chilling

Clean and trim the artichokes.  Place them in a pot with a steam rack and  enough water to fill the bottom.  Add lid and place on high heat until it starts steaming.  Reduce heat to low and simmer gently for about 45 minutes.

Globe Artichokes Ready for Steaming

Continue stirring the spaghetti sauce.  When it is nice and thick you may place the lid on properly and reduce heat to warm, but continue to stir it at least every 5 minutes or so.

Stirring the Spaghetti Sauce

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut the rolls in half and place them on a cookie sheet.

Preparing the Garlic Bread

Boil some water for the pasta.  Add a sprinkle of salt and the pasta when water is at a rolling boil, reduce heat and simmer on medium/high heat for about 8 minutes.

Finish preparing the garlic bread by topping each roll with thin slices of butter, a sprinkle of salt, garlic powder and a pinch of parsley.  Turn heat up to 500 and pop the rolls in for about 3 minutes.  Turn off heat and leave rolls in to stay warm for the next few minutes while you prepare plates.

Garlic Bread Ready for the Oven

Add to your serving plate the drained pasta tossed with olive oil first.  Top with spaghetti sauce, a sausage and grated Parmesan Cheese.  Scoop a big serving of Antipasto Salad and add a couple pieces of garlic bread.  Serve the Artichoke on a separate dish with a big slice of butter and a sprinkle of salt.

Spaghetti with Antipasto Salad, Artichoke & Garlic Bread

It is nutritiously delicious!  Have a grape cooler for dessert!

Liver & Onions With German Potato Salad, Bacon Fried Brussel Sprouts, Pickled Red Cabbage and Buttered Mushrooms With Sliced Jalapenos

Gathering the Ingredients

Ingredients:

• Liver
• Bacon
• Vinegar
• Olive Oil
• Butter
• 2 Onions - 1 Chopped - 1 Sliced
• Garlic - 3 Cloves Chopped fine
• Brussel Sprouts
• White Button Mushrooms
• Jalapeños
• Red Cabbage
• Potatoes - I used Trader Joe's Baby Red, Gold and Purple- so cool!
• Garlic Powder
• Parsley
• Salt 
• Pepper
• Cornstarch
• Cold Water
• Stevia

Get the bacon frying.

Wash the Brussel Sprouts, Potatoes and Cabbage.

 Rinse and then clean the Brussel Sprouts by chopping off the end of the stem and peeling some of the outer leaves off.  Slice them in half and wash them again.  Rinse the whole head of Red Cabbage well, shred it and then rewash.  Rinse the baby potatoes (I love the red, gold and purple colors) and slice into 1/4 inch slices, place in cold water and set aside.

Pickled Cabbage

Prepare the Pickled Cabbage:

Sprinkle a good amount of salt and pepper,  then drizzle vinegar and olive oil over the shredded red cabbage and place in fridge to chill and pickle itself.

German Potato Salad

Once the bacon is done cooking, remove it onto a plate, retaining the fat in your pan.  Add the Brussel Sprouts to the pan and stir fry them very quickly, 1 to 2 minutes.  Remove them and keep in a covered dish to keep them warm.  Next add a few tablespoons of butter and the drained potatoes to your pan.  When the potatoes are tender add the chopped onion and the garlic.  Sprinkle a little garlic powder, parsley, salt, pepper and pour vinegar (1/4 cup to 1 cup depending on how sour you want it). Add 1 or 2 mini scoops of 100% Organic Stevia Powder to sweeten.  Just a few minutes before serving add 1 Cup cold water (with 1 Tbs. cornstarch stirred into it) to thicken up the vinegar/butter/bacon fat and to make a light sauce.

Adding the Onions to the Liver

About half-way through cooking your potatoes (above) add a few Tbs. of  butter to a heated iron skillet and throw in the liver.  Brown nicely on each side before adding your sliced onions.  Cover and let simmer.  Right before you add the cold water/ cornstarch mix to your potatoes, exchange the onions to the bottom of your pan and put the liver on top of the onions so that the onions will caramelize on the bottom of the pan.

Button Mushrooms with Jalapeños

In the meantime, rinse and clean the mushrooms by chopping a small portion of the stems off the end of the mushrooms and washing them well by gently cleaning each mushroom by hand.  Wash the jalapeños and chop into slices (you may remove the seeds if they are too hot).  Put them into a microwave safe bowl with butter and cook on high for 2-3 minutes.

You may want to pop the Brussel Sprouts in the microwave for a minute before serving.

Voilà:  Liver and Caramelized Red Onion with Mustard; Hot German Potato Salad with Red, Gold, and Purple Baby Potatoes; Bacon Stir Fried Brussel Sprouts; Buttered White Button Mushrooms with Jalapeño slices; Pickled Red Cabbage Salad.  Enjoy!

Liver & Onions with German Potato Salad, Bacon Fried Brussel Sprouts & Pickled Red Cabbage

Salad and Pizza

Yummy Salad

I was a hunkerin' for a very large salad last night.  I washed some mixed baby greens and guess what?  I found a very bad weed in my salad!  I always wash my pre-washed salads a few times and then run cold water from my +ChungHoUSA   Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration machine all over it to chill it immediately before serving. From now on I will be checking much more closely to make sure there are no weeds.

The family had ordered +Dalia's pizza and a few sandwiches.  I guess Dalia's is THE new order-out place?  A lot happens when you are gone for 4 weeks. Things change, sometimes for the worse and sometimes for the better. I did try a slice of their pizza with my salad and it was really good.  I was surprised at how good their crust was.  Everyone here loves their sub sandwiches, but now we know their pizza is good too.  They gave us little container of Parmesan cheese and dried red chili peppers too (my fave).  I love adding those little peppers to my pizza...yummy!

So after placing my washed greens in a large bowl, because I  like a large salad, I washed some Roma tomatoes and a +Haas avocado.  I chopped them up in bite-sized pieces (after giving a quarter of the avocado to my youngest son) and dumped them on top of the greens.  I drizzled some fancy olive oil, +Trader Joe's Apple Cider Vinegar and some spices; basil, garlic, salt and pepper.  I forgot to add the dried parsley, but it was spectacular anyway. Pizza and Salad are the BEST together!