Tag: dinner

Tuna and Asparagus Pasta

I feel like when most people see canned tuna fish they think either tuna sandwiches or tuna salad. But canned tuna can do so much more than that! I really like adding canned tuna to pasta sauces because it adds a totally different flavor than chicken or beef or pork but is still so good and so filling.

Last week I had canned tuna and some frozen asparagus so I threw together a quick pasta sauce. It was SO good and super easy and healthy too! Plus this is another recipe where you can throw in whatever veggies you have! I’ve made this same sauce before but with bell peppers and Cannelini beans, but you could also throw in zucchini or mushrooms or spinach. It’s so versatile.

All you really need here is tuna, olive oil, some vegetables, crushed tomatoes, spices, and pasta! And you’ve got a dinner that comes together in about 20 minutes and makes enough to give you lunch the next day.

A note: it can be really hard sometimes, especially as a college kid, to justify buying lots of fresh vegetables because they often go bad before you get the chance to eat them. ALDI has really awesome frozen veggies, so I generally buy half and half of fresh vs frozen veggies. And if you’re turned off of frozen veggies because you associate them with microwaved steamed veggies– they can be so much more! Just sauté in olive oil and garlic and salt and you’re golden. I cook all my frozen veggies like this and I promise, they’re so much better than steamed veggies in the microwave 🙂 Watch the blog cause I’ll probably post my veg recipe soon.

Anyway, here’s the tuna and asparagus pasta I made last week! Let me know what you think of it and what vegetables you threw in, I’d love to know what combos you like.

Tuna and Asparagus Pasta

Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves: 2 (or leftovers!)

Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • About 8-10 stalks of asparagus, chopped into chunks (or use vegetable of choice!)
  • 1 can white albacore tuna
  • About 1/3 size can crushed tomatoes
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Red pepper flakes
  • 8 ounces of pasta, cooked
  • Cheese

Instructions

  1. In a pan over medium high heat, saute the garlic and onion in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil for about 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper.
  2. Add asparagus (or other vegetables) and tuna and saute for about 5 more minutes, seasoning again to taste.
  3. Add the crushed tomatoes and cook about 10 minutes until bubbling. Serve topped with cheese!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Spinach and Egg

It is so. cold. in Pittsburgh right now. On Wednesday it was so cold with the windchill (-38°F!) that they cancelled classes. Which was honestly a blessing since I had an ochem test today but anyway.

This week has been freezing and I’m exhausted and last night I really didn’t feel like cooking dinner. Which let’s be real, happens to a lot of us. And most days it feels so much easier to go out to eat but that’s expensive and not always healthy and yesterday all I wanted to do was get in bed and not study ever again. But, we must power through and I ended up cooking last night.

My best advice for nights like that is to just make something easy and something you really like. And as we all must know by now, I really like sweet potatoes. So I turned on the oven (which warmed up my apartment!) and roasted some sweet potatoes and onions. And then I had a bit of a fridge clear out: I had half a bag of spinach that was on the edge of going bad, and we have so many eggs at the moment that I don’t know what to do with all of them. So I fried an egg, I sautéed some spinach. I grated some cheese (because everything is better with cheese). And in about 40 minutes (cause we wanted those sweet potatoes and onions nice and soft and caramelized) we had a bowl of warm (healthy!) goodness.

This recipe is remarkably similar to something my mom made a lot for us when I was younger, giambotta. Technically giambotta is an Italian vegetable stew, but it’s what my mom called it when she threw vegetables and chicken and sausage in a pan and roasted them until soft and delicious. That’s probably why this dish is such a cozy comfort food for me 🙂

So here’s the sweet potato bowl I made yesterday. Like a lot of things it’s so easy to put in whatever you have in the fridge. Bacon or sausage? Bell peppers? Broccoli? Chicken? Just roast it all and top it with an egg and life is good.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Spinach and Egg

Cook Time: About 40 minutes

Serves: 1-2

Ingredients

  • 1 medium sweet potato
  • 1 medium onion
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Half a bag of spinach
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 egg
  • Olive oil
  • Cheese (I used sharp white cheddar)

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 400°F.
  2. Dice your sweet potato and onion and place on a sheet pan. Toss with salt and pepper and roast until soft, about 30-35 minutes. Stir periodically to prevent burning.
  3. After about 20 minutes, in two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat, start to cook the minced garlic. Add the spinach and salt and pepper to taste and cook until wilted.
  4. Move the spinach aside in the pan and crack an egg. Cook to desired temperature (I like over medium).
  5. Take the vegetables out of the oven and place in a bowl. Top with the spinach, egg, and grated cheese and serve.

Note: It’s so so easy to add more vegetables or even meat to make this more substantial. Just dice and add to the pan with the sweet potato. Some of my favorites: regular potatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, Italian sausage, and chicken.

Easy Frozen Burgers

I’ve shared a few posts that are my go-to’s when I have zero time for dinner. This semester, I have a class that ends at 4:15 and then a 4 hour ochem lab at 6, so on Mondays I need something quick.

This recipe is super basic, but I wanted to share it anyway because it’s an excellent go-to when you have 15 minutes to cook but want something substantial and filling. Cue frozen burgers!

Frozen burgers are honestly the best. My roommate and I ALWAYS have a bag of them in the freezer because whenever you need to, just plop one in a pan, season with salt and pepper, and you’re good to go.

Depending on what I have on hand, I’ll top my burger with sautéed onions, avocado, tomatoes, spinach, etc. I’ll also sometimes sauté vegetables to go on the side, or make a little salad. It all just depends on what you have in your kitchen!

So make sure you always have frozen burgers on hand for the best 15 minute dinner!

Easy Frozen Burgers

Serves: 1

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 frozen burger patty (I like 85/15 meat to fat ratio)
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic powder
  • Veggies of choice (spinach, tomatoes, onions, avocado)
  • Cheese of choice (sharp cheddar is my favorite)
  • 1 bun (don’t have a bun? Eat it without!)
  • Ketchup, mustard, mayo etc.

Instructions

  1. In a pan over medium heat, cook frozen burger about 5-7 minutes per side, or to desire doneness, seasoning both sides with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
  2. Toast bun in a toaster over, toaster, or under a broiler.
  3. Place cheese on top of burger after flipping.
  4. Once burger is done and cheese is melted, assemble burger as preferred: add ketchup, mustard, mayo, top with vegetables of choice.

Note: Serve with anything you have on the side! A salad, sautéed vegetables, tater tots, the possibilities are endless.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

One of the things I miss most about home is my parents’ cooking. Both my mom and my dad are excellent cooks (and bakers!) and I’m SO lucky I grew up getting to eat so many different things. But man do I miss my dads sausages with peppers and onions or sautéed mushrooms and my moms peanut butter cookies or spaghetti and meat sauce.

Before I moved into my apartment, as a birthday gift (since my birthday is in July) my mom gave me a recipe book full of all of our favorite family recipes as well as some of her easy go-to’s when she was in her 20s. It was the most thoughtful gift and now I can make her peanut butter cookies whenever I want 🙂 (although let’s be real they’re never as good when you make them yourself).

One of the recipes in this book is my mom’s pulled pork recipe. Since my roommate and I had kind of been in a food rut of eating the same things every week, I decided that I’d pick up a pork butt at the grocery store and we’d have pulled pork this week.

Now I feel like the phrase “homemade pulled pork” may be intimidating, but I promise it’s not! This was pretty much the easiest recipe ever because you make it in the slow cooker! All you do is season and brown the meat, cut off the twine that may be tied around it, and then stick it in the slow cooker with some stock. THE easiest meal prep.

It’s difficult to tell, but this is pulled pork atop tater tots and cheese. AKA life changing

I will say, I’ve only used a slow cooker once before and now that I’ve made this pulled pork I am a slow cooker convert. There’s nothing better than dumping a bunch of things in a pot and letting it cook for 6 hours while you get on with life.

The recipe my mom wrote calls for 3 pounds of pork butt, which feeds 9-10. I intended to buy 1-2 pounds to feed us for the week but all they had at ALDI was 5 pounds… so now we have plenty of pulled pork in the freezer 🙂

Lemme know what some of your favorite slow cooker recipes are, I’m on the hunt now that I’ve seen how easy it makes meal prep!

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder (butt)
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl, combine chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper. Rub mixture over all sides of meat, pressing to adhere
  2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the pork and brown on all sides, 6-8 minutes. Transfer meat to the slow cooker.
  3. Add broth to the skillet, scraping any browned bits. Add broth to slow cooker, cover, and cook until pork is very tender, 6-8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.
  4. Once finished, shred and serve: on its own, with barbecue sauce, as a sandwich, in a taco, or on tater tots!

Tuna and Bean Salad

Some days I get home and I have a sum total of 20 minutes to eat dinner before I have to go off to club meetings or band rehearsals or study sessions. On days like this it’s tempting to just pick up takeout, but that gets expensive quickly and it rarely the healthiest option.

On these days, I have one recipe that’s my go to. It literally takes 5 minutes to make and it’s super healthy and super delicious. It’s my Tuna and Bean Salad. When I first moved into my apartment and was grocery shopping with my mom, she told me that this is something my dad made a lot and it’s great because it’s cheap, quick, and easy. As a busy college kid I was immediately on board, so thanks mom and dad 🙂

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This is another recipe (there’s clearly a theme here) where you really just use what you have. I always have canned tuna in my pantry, which is my starting point. Usually I’ll use Cannelini beans, but the ALDI where I grocery shop didn’t have any, so I bought garbanzo beans instead. What you do past that is up to you! This is delicious with diced bell pepper or cucumber, and sometimes I even mix it with pasta, but this time around I decided to just put the beans and tuna over spinach.

However you decide to make this, it’s a wicked easy, filling, and delicious lunch or dinner that has very quickly become a go to.

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Tuna and Bean Salad

Cook time: 5 minutes

Serves: 2 (perfect to bring for lunch the next day!)

Ingredients

1 can of solid white albacore tuna

1 can of beans, drained (Cannelini or garbanzo are best)

Olive oil

Salt

Garlic powder

Red pepper flakes

Spinach

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, break up the tuna into small chunks with a fork
  2. Add the can of beans (and any other diced vegetables you decide to add)
  3. Drizzle with about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, or until moist
  4. Season with plenty of salt and red pepper, and garlic powder (be careful with the garlic powder, it’s super potent so a little goes a long way).
  5. Top spinach (or pasta or rice) with half the tuna mixture and serve

My Fave Easy Dinner: Sweet Potatoes

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I absolutely love sweet potatoes. Not in sweet potato casserole with all the marshmallows and brown sugar, I like my sweet potatoes with lots of salt and savory spices. I’m a big fan of just improvising in the kitchen, and with some inspiration from a Buzzfeed article, I came up with this super easy recipe.

The best part about this recipe is how versatile it is. It’s vegetarian, but if you want to add meat you can! Or take out the egg and cheese to make it vegan! Or throw in other vegetables based on what you have in the kitchen. These are my favorite kinds of recipes because you can never get bored of them. Plus, this recipe makes two to three servings, which gives you lunch for the next day! We’re all about easy meal prep here.

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You want your sweet potatoes to be diced pretty small so they cook quickly

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One for now…

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… one for later!

Easy Sweet Potato Dinner Bowl

Cook time:

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small onions, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes, diced

1 15 ounce can of beans (black, kidney, or pinto are best)

Salt

Red pepper flakes

1/2 cup uncooked rice (I prefer brown)

2 eggs

Cheese of your choice (cheddar or Colby jack are my favorites), shredded

Instructions

Sweet Potato Bowl

  1. In about 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium high heat, sauté the onion and garlic until translucent and soft, and season with about 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and red pepper flakes.
  2. Add the diced sweet potato to the onion mixture with another 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and red pepper flakes, turn the heat down to medium, and cook the potatoes until they’re soft.
  3. While the potatoes are cooking, cook 1/2 cup of uncooked rice according to the package directions
  4. Once the sweet potatoes are soft, pour in the can of beans (undrained), add more salt to taste, and cook about 7 minutes until the mixture becomes thick.

Soft or Hard Boiled Eggs

  1. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil
  2. Add in both eggs and cook to desired consistency (6 minutes for soft boiled, 8 minutes for hardboiled)
  3. Transfer both eggs to a bowl of ice water to halt the cooking process and peel when ready to eat.

Serve rice with 1/3-1/2 of the sweet potato and bean mixture, top with one egg and as much shredded cheese as you’d like!

Improvisation: Sausage Pasta

IMG_1103One of my favorite things to do is improvise dinner based on what I have in the fridge. It’s liberating to not have to follow a recipe and do whatever I want, and this dinner I made the other day was SO good. Seriously.

I know most people don’t know where to start when it comes to improvising dinner, so I’m gonna share my thought process every time. Past that, it really just takes practice and learning what tastes good to you. I always look through my fridge and first find some protein source (meat, beans, tofu, egg, etc), figure out what vegetable I have, and then decide on some carb (rice, pasta, potatoes). Which these three categories you could make a rice bowl, an improvised pasta sauce, or eat chicken and potatoes like my easy chicken recipe from last week.

I promise, improvising dinner can be really easy, you just have to be a little creative! And use plenty of salt.

So this recipe I made last week was a total improvisation. My roommate and I had Italian sausages in the freezer that we wanted to cook, so I knew those would be my starting point. I also had some leftover plain pasta from the weekend, so that was step two. I decided to use a bell pepper, and onion, and some cherry tomatoes (they were starting to get soft so I figured I’d better cook them) to improvise a pasta sauce! With plenty of cheese at the end, it was amazing. And made enough for lunch the next day!

Feel free to make this recipe as is, or put whatever else you want in it! Any meat or vegetables work, and that’s the beauty of improvisation 🙂

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Sausage Pasta

Cook time: about 30 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 Italian sausages

1 bell pepper, diced

1 onion, diced

About 1- 1 1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Salt

Red pepper flakes

Pepper

About 1-1 1/2 cups of cooked pasta

Cheese, shredded (mozzarella, parmesan, etc)

Instructions

  1. In a medium pan on medium low heat, in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil, cook the sausages until done, about 15 minutes. Make sure to turn periodically so all sides cook.
  2. Remove the sausages from the pan and cut into chunks.
  3. In the sausage pan, in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, cook the onions, peppers, tomatoes, and garlic. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and cooke until onions are translucent, peppers are soft, and tomatoes have burst.
  4. Add the chunks of sausage and the pasta and cook until everything is combined and warmed through
  5. Top with desired amount of cheese, and serve.

Mama’s Italian Wedding Soup

I am the biggest soup fan. I love cold weather and being cozy, so soup goes along with that perfectly. Canned soups are always a go to because they’re easy, but homemade soup is even better. And surprisingly easy!

My mom makes this Italian wedding soup for us at home and it is SO good. It’s hearty, it’s got some spice to it, it’s wicked easy, and it’s delicious.

Pro tip- this recipe makes a lot, so you can put a bunch of it in a Tupperware in the freezer and save it for later! Which is great when you get back to your apartment after winter break and actually have zero food.

Pro tip number 2- for the minced garlic, don’t buy a jar of pre-minced garlic; it’s way more expensive than buying whole garlic and mincing it (chopping it into tiny pieces) yourself.

Mama’s Italian Wedding Soup

Cook time: approximately 35 minutes

Serves: 12

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Ingredients

1 cup yellow onion, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup carrot, diced

1 cup ham, diced

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

6 cups chicken broth

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

1 bay leaf (if you don’t have this that’s okay! I didn’t and it still tasted great)

30 uncooked cocktail sized meatballs

1 (15 ounce) can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups (or more if you’d like) of whole spinach leaves

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (a few tablespoons of dried works also!)

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. On medium high heat and in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, cook the onion, celery, carrot, ham, and garlic until the onion is translucent and everything is soft.
  2. Add the chicken broth, oregano, red pepper flakes, and bay leaf and simmer for about 10 minutes.
  3. Drop in the meatballs and cook for 7 minutes.
  4. Stir in the beans, spinach, and parsley and cook until the spinach is wilted and the soup is simmering again.
  5. While the soup is simmering, combine the beaten eggs and parmesan cheese. Take the soup off the heat and add in the egg mixture.
  6. Top with extra parmesan cheese and serve, or freeze and enjoy later!
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