My Perfect Marinara

My Perfect Marinara

1 Pound Ground Turkey
3 Tbs Olive Oil, divided
1 Shallot, finely chopped
1 Garlic Clove, pressed
1 (14.5oz) Can Diced Tomatoes, pureed in blender
1/2 tsp dry Basil
1/2 tsp dry Oregano
Salt

1. In a large frying pan, cook turkey over medium high heat until brown and then turn it on low to keep warm, stirring occasionally.
2. In a small sauce pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and add chopped shallot.  Cook only long enough for them to become translucent.
3. Add pressed garlic clove to shallot, stir quickly until mixed.  Scoop out about half of the mixture and put it into the turkey.
4. Add pureed tomatoes to shallot mixture, and stir until mixed.  Turn down to low and let simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Stir meat so that the scoop of shallot and garlic is evenly distributed and then add basil, oregano and salt (I used about 1/4 tsp).  Drizzle with last 1 tablespoon of olive oil and stir.
6. Once most of the water has evaporated from the tomatoes, stir one more time and add as much meat as you'd like (More meat? More tomatoes?  It's up to you!).  Add salt to taste and pour over your favorite pasta, and top with Parmesan cheese!

It has been waaaaay too long since I've posted on here.  Update?  My husband and I have been married almost 7 years, my son turned 2 recently, and I've got another baby joining our little family in Mid-August.  I've been cured of Thyroid Cancer, I'm working way less (as in, I haven't worked since October, but I'm still on-call for the most amazing little Oncology office ever), and I try every day to appreciate every moment I am blessed to be on this earth!  God is faithful, and I am so busy with real life that I tend to ignore the computer on a regular basis.

Anyway, I've been googling a lot of recipes lately, and to be honest, all the commentary at the beginning of each recipe blog post drives me absolutely bonkers because it takes forever to actually scroll to the bottom to find the recipe.  Soooo, I'm putting my commentary at the end...  No need to thank me, I know on that tiny phone screen that I just saved your day!

I made the above recipe for the first time tonight and my husband loved it!  I saw this video the other day and thought "I can do that! BUT, will it really taste that good?!"  I purposefully made too much meat because I wanted leftovers for another meal (and I didn't want to use too many tomatoes if my experiment was a dud).  It allowed me to make the tomato sauce extra meaty for my husband who prefers meat over tomatoes!  I didn't get a picture to make your mouth water, but I know I'll make it again and I'll just have to update this post.

Happy cooking!

Ranch Dressing, Please, Heavy on the Dill!

We ran out of ranch dressing a while back...  And, well, I just did not have it in me to run to the store that evening when I discovered I was out!  Dinner was on plates and headed to the table.  So, I did what I always do, and that was type "ranch dressing recipe" into my little search engine.  To be honest, it probably would have been faster to throw on shoes and drive the two blocks to the grocery store, but I figured "why put on shoes when I probably have all the ingredients...?!"  Plus, the store is usually a zoo around dinner time.

I found this lady's delightful ranch dressing recipe, and used what I had in my fridge.  That's what she'd do anyway, right?  So here's what I used, and I totally didn't measure...  I just scooped ingredients into my dressing thingy until it looked right and mixed it up:

Mayonnaise
Sour Cream
Milk
Fresh Green Onions
Dill (I can't get enough of this stuff!)
Pepper, lots of pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Dried Oregano
Dried Parsley
Fresh Garlic (pressed)
Salt

I stirred it up and tasted it, and poured it over our dinner that fateful night.  The hubby liked it, and I haven't bought it at the store since!  It's probably better for us anyway, right?  The salad pictured above includes fresh spinach, red bell pepper, feta cheese, leftover BBQ tri-tip, and of course, the dressing sprinkled with fresh ground pepper.  I served it with peas, corn and sourdough garlic toast.  I got the spinach and peas from a friend who was going out of town and couldn't use them before she left.  She got them from a local farm, and I have to say, they were really tasty!  The peas were still in the shell, so I had to pop them out and boil them, and that was a fun new experience.  I'm excited to change this recipe around and try using some more of my basil, that some may begin to consider a short tree!