Tomato Salad

This is super simple to whip up. I like to use the packaged bacon bits because it don't get soggy like traditional bacon in the dressing. And it has a good flavor,  as long as they are real bacon bits. Just make sure they are cooled before you add them or the mayo dressing will get slimy. 

I like to eat this in a pita, but it's also great on a hamburger or grilled chicken.

Salad

2 packages cherry tomatoes, quartered

3 green onions with greens, sliced

1/3 c. Hormel real bacon bits

Dressing

1/2 c. mayo

1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1-2 tsp sugar

pinch salt

Black pepper

Heat the bacon bits in a non-stick skillet until fragrant and crisp, watching carefully so as not to burn. Remove from heat and set aside. 

Meanwhile, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Toss with the vegetables. When the bacon is cool enough to touch add to the salad.

Pea Salad

This is such a simple salad and yet it taste to wonderful. It rounds out an meal nicely. It's my moms broccoli salad recipe adapted for my non broccoli eating husband. The sweet peas and crunchy romaine were great together. This recipe doubled easily or can be cut in half just as easily. 

This salad can be made in advance. Just throw everything together except for the romaine, it' will get soggy and  limp in the dressing. Slice and store separately, just stir in right before serving.

12 oz. frozen peas, thawed

1 heart of romaine, very thinly sliced

1/4 c. real bacon bits

1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 carrots, grated

3/4 c. mayo

2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp. sugar

Dash black pepper

Salt to taste

Whisk together the mayo, vinegar, and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. 

Stir in remaining ingredients. Chill for 30 minutes.

Corn and Orzo salad

8 oz. orzo (or 2 c. cooked quinoa)

2 large onions, chopped

2 lb frozen corn kernels 

1/2 stick butter

1 Tbsp. Turbinado sugar (or white sugar)

Salt to taste

4 oz. cream cheese, softened and cubed

4 chipotles in adobo, chopped

4.5 oz real bacon, bacon bits

Fresh chopped parsley (optional)

Cook the bacon bits in a large non-stick skillet until they are crisp. Remove from pan and set aside.

In the pan you cooked the bacon in, without cleaning it out, melt the butter and add the onions. Saute over medium heat until he onions are translucent. Add the corn, sugar, and salt and continue to cook on medium until the corn is thawed. Turn the heat to medium high and cook only stirring every few minutes or when the corn and onions on the bottom of the pan start to brown. Cook until the corn and onions are caramelized

Meanwhile cook the orzo in salted water until al dent. Drain and toss with a little oil to prevent sticking.

Toss together the caramelized corn, cooked orzo, and cream cheese. Stir to combine. Add the bacon bits and the chipotle. Top with the fresh parsley for color if using and serve.

Pizza Macaroni and Cheese

 My Grandma made this once while visiting as a kid. I thought it would be fun to recreate for my family since everyone loves pepperoni. Any type of prepared macaroni and cheese makes a great base for this and bottled pizza sauce can also be substituted to make this even faster. Leave off the pepperoni and add peppers, olives, and onions for a supreme pizza. Or bacon and ham for a meat loves. This is a great way to use up leftover macaroni and cheese or meat or vegetables left in the fridge. 

Presto Pasta Nights 265 is at The Crispy Cook. 

2  - 3 boxes macaroni and cheese (with cheese sauce)

1/2 c. sour cream

1 can diced tomatoes

1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black peppers
1/4 tsp. granulated garlic
1/4 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. marjoram
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. thyme
pinch rosemary

1 8 oz. bag Italian cheese

Pepperoni

Cook the pasta according the package directions. Drain and mix with cheese sauce packets and sour cream. Pour into a 9x13 in baking pan.

Drain the tomatoes really well and puree. Mix in the seasonings and carefully spread on top of the macaroni and cheese.

Sprinkle the Italian cheese evenly over the top and then top with pepperoni. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until the cheese is melted. If the pepperoni is still not crisp broil for 3 - 4 minutes until it is.

Garlic Dijon Chicken

1/2 lb bacon

3 - 4 chicken breasts, cubed

3 - 4 potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 in. cubes

Seasoning salt (I like Kirklands)

2 Tbsp bottled minced garlic

1/2 tsp. dijon mustard

1 1/2 c. chicken broth

1/3 c. milk

Cut the bacon into pieces and then saute until crisp. Remove from the pan and drain on a paper towel.  Add the chicken to the pan and season with seasoning salt. Cook until no longer pink. Add the potatoes and continue to saute until the potatoes are starting to get slightly translucent around the edges. Add the garlic, stir once, and add the remaining ingredients. Simmer over medium heat until the potatoes are just tender, still slightly firm. Reduce the heat and continue to simmer until the potatoes are very soft. 

Sprinkle the bacon over the top and serve

Brussel Sprouts

 Sorry the picture is not all that inviting

My kids love brussel sprouts. They ask for them every time we are at the store. Just try and picture the strange looks I get in the store with three kids begging for brussel sprouts. And the even stranger looks I get when I tell them "not this time". They particularly like the frozen ones in the Green Giant packets with the butter sauce. These are similar but start from fresh, don't get all mushy and I can make as many or as few as I want.

 

1 lb brussel sprouts

6 Tbsp unsalted Butter

2 Tbsp. Flour

1 c. water

1 chicken bouillon cube

Cut the ends off the brussel sprouts and cut the large ones into quarters and the small ones in half. 

Heat the butter in a large skillet, add the brussel sprouts and cook until browned in spots and glossy looking. Sprinkle the flour over the top stirring to combine. Cook while stirring for one minute. Add the water and chicken bouillon. Cover and turn the heat down. Cook until the brussel sprouts are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve immediately.

Optional and tasty: Saute 6 strips of bacon and remove from the pan. Use the drippings instead of butter and continue with the recipe as above. Just before serving crumble the bacon and sprinkle on top.

Honey Cornbread

 I found cornflour in the Hispanic section, I used a bag of Maseca masa. I love to make tamales with their tamale flour, it's slightly courser ground.

1 c. flour

1 c. finely ground cornflour

1/2 c. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/3 c. oil

1/4 c. honey

1 egg

1 c. milk

Preheat oven to 400

In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients. 

In a separate bowl whisk together the honey and oil. 

Whisk in the egg and then the milk.

Mix the two together and stir until fairly smooth,

A few lumps are normal.

Grease your muffin pan really well or use paper liners.

This makes exactly 12, so divide the batter between the cups and bake

for 15 - 17 minutes until golden brown on top

Variations I have tried: (and liked)

Saute 2 chopped jalapeno peppers and add to the batter

A handful of shredded cheddar cheese

Soak 1/2 c. raisins in water for an hour, pour water and raisins 
in a blender until chopped a bit but not pureed, 
drain and add to the batter with a dash of pie spice

1/2 can corn, drained

Garlic powder

Bacon, cheddar, and sauteed green onions

Bacon Spatzle

I saw someone mention not too long ago that they had bacon spatzle. Enough said, it had to be done. 

I would normally add sauteed onion as well but I can't stand them right now. Whole chopped or green would both be great.

I served this with a side of steamed kale drizzled with Italian salad dressing. Don't salt or season the chicken and go really light on the salt in the water when cooking the spatzle. Between the bacon and the kielbasa there is more than enough.
Look for this at Presto Pasta Nights over at Briciole this week. 

1/2 lb bacon

1 kielbasa, sliced thin

1 chicken breast, cut into tiny cubes

4 c. hot cooked spatzle

1/4 - 1/2 c. half-an-half

Saute the bacon until crisp, remove and crumble. Pour off all but 2 Tbsp of the drippings.

Add the Kielbasa to the pan and cook until browned around the edges

Push the kielbasa to the side and add the chicken, sauteing until cooked through.

Turn the heat to medium low, and add the hot spatzle and stir. Continue stirring until the juices from the pan are mixed in and the spatzle starts to take on their color.

Add the half-an-half to taste and stir in.

Top with the cooked, crumbled bacon and serve.

Chocolate-Caramel-Bacon Bark SRC

It's the Secret Recipe Club reveal today! And as I perusing my assigned blog, Cheap Ethnic Eatz, I ran across a post entitled "Bacon Chocolate Bar". 

I knew I was done looking. 

Well not done looking, I don't think I will ever been done looking, she has tons of great looking recipes and is adding more, maybe even working on a cookbook, but I knew I had found my test recipe. I had to make two changes though. I wanted to add caramel, and I wanted the bacon to show, so that people who might not be appreciative of the flavor combination would not touch my candy.

I used dark chocolate in this recipe but I think milk would be really good too, and since the chocolate flavor isnt as strong as with dark the bacon would stand out more. With the caramel sauce you want one that is thick at room temperature so it doesn't run out of the candy when you cut it.

This was my first time baking bacon, and it turned out perfect. I just put it on a metal tray and baked at 400 for 10 - 15 minutes until crispy and then drain on a paper towel.

1 bag chocolate chips

2 - 3 Tbsp. caramel sauce

6 strips bacon, cooked until crispy and then crumbled

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler. If using the microwave, only melt until most of the chips are soft and stir to melt the rest of the chocolate.

Spread half of the chocolate on wax paper into a 6 to 8 inch circle. Drizzle with the caramel sauce and stick in the freezer until the chocolate is set and the caramel is thick, about 15 minutes. I actually did that while cooking the bacon. 

When the chocolate and caramel are firm, spread the remaining chocolate on top and sprinkle with the crumbled bacon. Return to the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Remove and chop off pieces as you want to eat them, the caramel gets soft and runs out if you cut it all at once. This is good for about 2 days afterwards due to the bacon getting soggy if you leave it. 

But why would it last that long?

Pizza Bites

 (They don't look like much, don't let that fool you)

These are simple little pizza bites that are great for a fun kids dinner, a picnic, or as an appetizer. We LOVED them. Feel free to play around with different toppings in the center. Whatever you normally like on your pizza will be good. Next time I am going to try meat lovers, and add sausage and bacon. 

I also want to freeze some and see how they do. I will update later with the results. If it works this would be a great treat to have on hand to pull out for quick snacks. UPDATE: They worked great frozen. I froze them overnight and then I microwaved one from frozen and it got hard as a rock. But I defrosted the rest, and that only took 30 minutes, and then microwaved it for 20 seconds and it was warm and soft. So it takes a little pre planning to eat them from frozen, but not too much.I just put them flat on a tray and froze them until they where solid, about 2hours, and then put them in a freezer safe plastic bag.

You can use whatever dough and sauce recipe you prefer but I have included mine as well, just in case. 

I don't remember the pkg size of the pepperoni, it said it had 90 pepperoni. After the 48 reserved, I think it was about 3/4 c. chopped.

1 batch pizza dough

1 Batch Sauce

1 1/4 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 1/4c. cheddar cheese, shredded

2 pkg pepperoni

1/4lb deli sliced turkey pastrami

 1/2 bell pepper, chopped

Reserve 48 pepperoni's. Chop remaining pepperoni and turkey pastrami. Mix the mozzarella, cheddar, pepperoni, pastrami, and bell pepper. When the sauce is cooled add it to the cheese mix. 

Roll the dough out really thin and cut into 2 inch squares. Spray 4 mini muffin pans with cooking spray. Press one dough square into each muffin cup. Fill with cheese and sauce mixture. Top each cup with one reserved pepperoni. 

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or just until the dough looks cooked. Let cool in pan ten minutes before removing.

Makes 4 dozen.

Red Beans and Brown Rice

I started my first blog , Bean Basics, in July of 2009, long before I started this blog. It was pretty specific though, it had to be a bean recipe. But since I was cooking with mostly beans, as a meat replacement at the time, it wasn't a huge deal. In fact it was really fun to write down all the creative things I came up with. This was the first recipe I posted there, it wasn't something I came up with on my own by any means, but it was one of my favorite recipes ever. My mom used to make it all the time when I was a kid. It's cheap to make, really simple to throw together fast, and it tastes like bacon. Don't let the simplicity of it not intrigue you, this is really fantastic, nothing else tastes quite like it.

What's not to love?

1 lb bacon

2 cans red beans

1 small onion, coarsely chopped

2 heaping tbsp. flour

1 tbsp. dried parsley

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. chili powder

1 - 2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. black pepper

Dash Mortons Natures seasons (optional)

Dash Tabasco sauce

3 or 4 c. cooked brown rice

Cook bacon until nice and crispy and then remove from pan. Saute the onion in the bacon grease until tender. Whisk in the flour and cook until thickened. 

Combine the liquid from beans and enough water to make 2 cups, add to the pan and whisk in. Cook until thick and bubbly. Add the beans and remaining ingredients and simmer 10 minutes. Top with reserved crumbled bacon and serve over brown rice.

Since beans have a lot of protein on their own I don't actually crumble the bacon on top like my mom did. We have BLT's for lunch and reserve just the drippings for dinner.

Bacon and Cheese Stuffed Chicken

So I got a fun opportunity yesterday to do an impromptu test for the Secret Recipe Club. And as I was looking through the blog, Connors Cooking, I ran across a recipe that was chicken, stuffed with cheese and bacon. Which to me is nothing short of genius. Because I think anything with bacon is genius.

Except these, those are an abomination.

So here is the original Bacon and Cheese stuffed goodness

And then my variation

2 oz. cream cheese
5 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
16 oz. bacon (yes, use the whole package!!)
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 tsp Dried Paprika
1 tsp. parsley

(I didn't do, yet, this but I think some crumbled blue cheese might be great in the filling too)

Cook the bacon and crumble, make sure it's really crisp, even if you like your bacon softer, cause when you mix it with the cheeses and bake you don't want it to get soggy. Combine bacon and remaining ingredients.

3 large or 6 small chicken breasts

Seasoned Bread Crumbs

My chicken breast were large enough to cut in half and then half again, but most aren't.

"With a sharp knife, cut a pocket into the thickest side of each chicken breast. Stuff each with 1/4 of the bacon and cheese mixture. Seal with a toothpick (or as many as you need to hold it all together. Coat in bread crumbs (I also brushed the outside with bacon grease to make the breadcrumbs stick). Bake, covered in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until done."


This recipe was so easy to make, used ingredients I usually always have around, and was fast to assemble. From there I just let it bake. I will defiantly be making this quite a bit in the future.


UPDATE: 8/18/11 - I think this would be really cool if you made them mini using small pieces of chicken and served them as appetizers.



I also got invited to send this to Cast Party Wednesday

German Fried Potatoes

My mom always made this with leftover cooked potatoes and leftover ham. She fried them up with butter and onions and some Nature seasons for good measure.

Leftover cooked potatoes, sliced OR really thinly sliced potatoes
Butter
Chopped onion
Leftover ham chopped, or a can crumbled

Saute the onions in the butter until translucent. Add the ham and potatoes and saute until heated through and browning, if using raw cook over a lower heat for a longer time to cook the potatoes and then turn the heat up to brown the potatoes.

Season with salt and pepper or Nature Seasons, and I like to top mine with a little cheese, while it's still hot to melt it.

Crepes

(I filled mine with key lime curd, fresh sliced strawberries, and Chantilly cream)
(Also the seam is supposed to be on the bottom so it looks prettier, it doesn't change the flavor though so don't worry if you forget)

The first time I ever had a crepe was at my friend Susans house. Since then I have had a lot of fun experimenting with different fillings. By far my favorite is still a little lemon juice and powdered sugar on top. But other ideas include

Fresh Strawberries
Whipped Cream
Lemon Curd
Nutella
Strawberry mousse
Pumpkin Chiffon
Caramel, chocolate, whipped cream and pecans
Really anything you think sounds good

Then there are all the savory fillings you can use
Eggs and bacon
Asparagus
Chicken and ham in an herb cream sauce
Also a fun way to revamp leftovers

But anyway, here is the basic recipe

1/2 c. water
1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
pinch salt
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 c. flour

I blend all the ingredients but the flour together until smooth and then blend in the the flour.

Heat a no stick pan until hot. Add about 1/4 - 1/2 c. batter to the pan and swirl to thin the batter. Cook just until it doesn't stick to the pan, flip and cook another 10 seconds or so.

Remove from pan and keep warm

The pan is really important here, it has to be a no stick pan.

Rosie Chicken or Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Chicken and Prosciutto Rolls

I made this for my daughters birthday but didn't know what to call it, and since i'm not a fan of names that are actually descriptions, I decided against naming it "Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Chicken and Prosciutto Rolls" Since the child in question is named Rosie, it is now Rosie Chicken. I didn't think of it till after I had eaten it, but I think a little fresh chopped rosemary might be good in the spinach mix. Other cheese might be great too.

I am also going to send this as a second submission to Presto Pasta Nights #225 hosted by Ruth at "Once Upon a Feast"

And over to "Double Takes" Spinach and Cheese Challenge. At Double take we take two ingredients and make anything you want with them, then post the collection of everyones spin on the same two ingredients.

3 Tbsp butter
4 handfuls of fresh spinach, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1 large or 2 medium Boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 large slices Havarti cheese
5 slices prosciutto

1/2 c. flour
2 tsp 5th Season seasoned meat tenderizer
large dash black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder (NOT onion salt)
Seasoned Bread Crumbs

Oil for frying

8.8 oz pasta

Heat the butter in a large skillet. Add the onion and saute until tender. Add the spinach and saute until dark and wilted. Remove from pan and set aside

Remove the fat and any other inedible parts from the chicken. Cut in half lengthwise and the in half in the middle. You should have 4 squareish pieces of chicken when you are done.

Divide the spinach evenly on top of the chicken. Take one of the pieces of havarti and break into fourths. Mine was about 5 inches square, so each piece covered the top of the chicken.

Place a piece of prosciutto on your work surface, place the chicken with the spinach and cheese on top and wrap the sides up around and over the top.

Combine the flour, tenderizer, pepper, and onion powder.

Brush with just enough water to moisten the sides and dip in to flour coating both the bottom and top. Repeat until all four are coated in flour.

Mist with a little water and dip in the bread crumbs.

Place in really hot oil chicken side down first and cook until dark golden brown. Flip and cook until browned on both sides. Drain on a paper towel.





While all that was going on you should have cooked your pasta and then drained it when tender.I cooked the remaining 2 slices of proscuitto in a little butter until crisp and added 3/4 c. half and half and the remaining havarti cheese. once it was melted in and had formed a sauce I tossed it with the pasta

Breakfast Pasta

I made macaroni and cheese last night for dinner, the kind with the flour thickened sauce (from the vitamix cookbook) that you pour over the cooked pasta and then bake until hot and bubbly. So this is my revamp of the leftovers

I made my macaroni and cheese with a can of ham in it, but you could just use leftover ham or skip it.

Presto Pasta Nights 225 is at "Once Upon a Feast"

(This is before I added the cheese so you could really see the pasta itself)

1/2 package of bacon
6 sausage links
1/2 onion
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 eggs
2 Tbsp milk
Salt to taste
3 - 4 c. leftover macaroni and cheese
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Cook the bacon until crisp, crumble, and set aside. Remove all but 3 Tbsp of the bacon drippings. Cook the sausage in the bacon drippings until browned. Remove from pan and chop. Add the onion and peppers and cook until both are tender.

Whisk together the milk and eggs and some salt to taste.

Push the peppers to one side of the pan and cook the eggs in the other until set. Chop the eggs into small pieces and toss with the peppers. Add the macaroni and cheese to the pan and toss with the veggies and eggs. Keep stirring to heat through without it sticking to the pan.

Add the sausage and bacon and mix in.

Sprinkle with the cheese and stir to melt the cheese

Serve

Chicken and Spatzle with Herb Butter

There are so many ways you can change this up a bit, but just make sure if you do, that you still crisp the vegetables, that's where a lot of the flavor comes from.

Cook a half pound of bacon reserving the drippings. Use half drippings and half butter. Sprinkle the bacon over the top right before you serve it

Skip the chicken and add a can of white beans for a vegetarian dish

Leave the chicken breasts whole when you cook them, serve over a bed of the spatzle and veggeies or just use the spatzle and veggies as a side dish to something else

The next day serve as a chicken spatzle soup, just boil some chicken broth and add the mix, heat until warm throughout.

Add a little milk for a creamy soup

It freezes great in broth too

I really like the spatzle here, but any small pasta would do

Presto Pasta Nights 224 is going to held at Truth Personified


1 stick unsalted butter (yup, the whole thing)
1 lb skinless chicken breasts,cut into small cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/4 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. granulated garlic
7 oz frozen petite green beans, thawed
1 c. frozen corn, thawed
1 large carrot, diced
8 oz dried spatzle

Cook spatzle in boiling salted water until tender.

Place the carrot in a bowl and cover with water, microwave until tender, about 3 minutes.

Melt half the stick of butter in a large skillet. Add the chicken, season with salt and pepper and cook until cooked through. Turn the heat up to high and continue to cook until starting to brown. Add the onion, celery, basil, rosemary, celery seed, and granulated garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add the carrots, green beans, corn, and remaining half of the stick of butter. Cook over medium high heat until the veggies are starting to brown a little bit on the bottom and get crisp. The key is to brown the vegetables, but not so uch they taste charred. Add the cooked and drained spatzle and toss to mix.

Serve immediately

I only used half the bag, so a little over 8 oz.

Tourtiere

John lived in Quebec for 2 years and while there learned to love tourtiere, a French Canadian Thanksgiving dish. I've made several different versions, but this is my favorite. I suspect every cook has her own version, there is no "right" way to make tourtiere.

2 round pie crusts
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 Tbsp Canadian steak seasoning
1/2 onions
4 medium potatoes
3/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp. real bacon bits
1 tsp JD's Bacon salt

Peel the potatoes and cut into small chunks. Cover with water and boil or microwave until tender. Drain and mash but no not add anything, butter, milk, etc...Set aside

Combine the beef, pork and Canadian steak seasoning. Cook in a large skillet until the meat is cooked. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the potatoes and mix well. Add the cheese, bacon bits, and bacon salt. Stir to combine again.

Lay one of the crusts in the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan. fill with meat mixtures and top with remaining crust. Crimp the edges to seal. I find that this is easier if I roll the bottom crust out a bit to stretch it before I put it in the pie pan. Prick the top a few times to let the steam escape. Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for 20 - 30 minutes until top crust is browned.

Serve hot.

After you put the top crust on, but before you bake it, It can be covered in saran wrap and put in the fridge until ready to bake. I made this in the morning and then just baked when we wanted dinner

Broccoli Salad

You only want to blanch the broccoli, not cook it. Feel free to add whatever you want cauliflower and sunflower seeds are good. And I have a friend that loves raisins in hers.

1 bunch broccoli florets, chopped into bite size pieces
1/2 lb bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled
1 small red onion, chopped
1 c. grated cheddar cheese
3 or 4 green onions, sliced
1 carrot, grated

3/4 c. mayonnaise
3 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Boil a large pot of water. Add broccoli and cook 30 seconds. Drain well and rinse with cold water.

Whisk together mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar.

Toss broccoli with dressing and remaining ingredients except bacon. Cover and chill several hours. When ready to serve top with crumbled bacon and stir once to mix the bacon in slightly.

Summer Corn Pasta

This recipe is a combination of two other recipes. The first one being the test recipe for one of my online cooking groups that reminded me a bit of the second recipe, a soup my mom makes when fresh corn is in season. I like to add the cobs to the cooking liquid a little to give the sauce a really fresh corn flavor.

I also plan on sending this to Presto Pasta Nights host this week by Helen at Fuss Free Flavors.

This can very easily be made without the chicken by skipping the chicken, just cook the onion in the bacon drippings right after removing the bacon and add a can of white beans.

Summer Corn Pasta

6 oz. bacon

3 chicken breasts

Lawreys Season Salt

8 oz. rigatoni or penne

1/2 onion, chopped

2 large carrots, grated

1 c. water

2 chicken bouillon cubes

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 medium zucchini

4 ears corn

2 1/2 c. half-an-half

2 tsp. flour

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and butter to prevent sticking.

Saute bacon until crisp. Remove from pan.

Remove fat from the chicken and fillet. Sprinkle with the lawrys seasoning and cook in the bacon drippings until browned on both sides. Remove from pan

Without cleaning out the pan cook the onion and carrot in the bacon drippings.

Add 1 cup of water to the pan along with one of the chicken cubes and the lemon juice.

Cut the zucchini into quarters lenghtwise and the then slice 1/4 inch thick. Add to the pan with the carrots and onion. Cut the corn from the cob. Add the cobs to the simmering zucchini. When the zucchini is tender remove the cobs from the pan and add the corn, half-an-half, pepper, and remaining chicken cube.

Combine the flour and enough water to form a thin pasta. Stir into the half-an-half and vegetables in the pan. Heat, stirring, until thick.

Slice the chicken, and add the chicken, pasta, and bacon to the pan. Add more half-an-half as needed to thin out the sauce.

After I took one shot of it on the plate I tossed it all together to serve for dinner.