Ingredients:

• 1 package oxtails, about 1lb
• 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped. 
• 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• One can (14oz ) crushed tomatoes
• ¾ cup chicken broth
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp salt
• Half to one bottle red wine, preferably Bordeaux

Instructions:

1. Sprinkle the oxtails with salt and pepper, heat olive oil in a large pot and brown the oxtails on all sides. Transfer to a plate
2. Add the onions and garlic to pan, and sauté until onions are tender, around 5 minutes.
3. Add carrots, then tomatoes with their juice. Add the oxtails back into the pot, and add the rest of the remaining ingredients. Add enough wine to cover the oxtails. 
4. Allow the pot to simmer for 2-3 hours until the meat is tender.
5. Now, at this point you can either serve the oxtails as is, or you can de-bone them and cut up the meat and serve with spaghetti. If serving with spaghetti, 
6. Bring the cooking mixture up to a boil and cook spaghetti directly in the juices. It allows the juices to thicken up a bit due to the starch from the spaghetti, making a wonderful sauce. After spaghetti is cooked until al dente, serve it with either whole oxtails, or the deboned oxtail pieces, salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with a sprig of parsley. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pastina pasta (or any small pasta)
• 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
• ½ cup cubed chicken breast (uncooked; bite-size pieces)
• ½ cup diced onion (any type of onion you prefer)
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice (I substituted this with marinara sauce)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (I omitted this)
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup bread crumbs (Italian bread crumbs add extra flavor)
• Salt and pepper for seasoning
• About 1 Tablespoon of butter

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cook pasta according to directions on package. Drain and put into a large mixing bowl.
3. Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for about 3 minutes (until chicken begins to brown). Stir in the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through. *I added about a ¼ cup of the dry white wine as the chicken, onion and garlic sautéed for extra flavor, and continuously seasoned the combination with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
4. Add the chicken mixture into the cooked pasta. Add the marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, parsley, and season more if needed. Stir to combine.
5. Place mixture in a 8x8x2 inch baking dish that you can either butter or spray with cooking spray, such as Pam. Sprinkle the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese evenly over the pasta mixture. Dot with small bits of the butter.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top of the mixture is golden brown.

*Note- Instead of chopping fresh garlic cloves, I use ready-to-use chopped garlic. It’s much easier sometimes.
*Note- you can always omit the chicken for a vegetarian dish or choose another type of meat of your liking.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients: 

• 1 pound ground pork (lean ground pork if you can find it)
• 1 pound ground lean beef
• 2 cups plus 3 tablespoons fresh bread crumbs
• 1 cup freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• Salt and pepper
• 8 ounces baby spinach leaves
• 2 carrots (full-size), cut lengthwise into 6 slices each
• 6 slices Prosciutto di Parma
• 6 slices Caciocavallo (if you can find it; Zingerman’s has it, for example) or other semi-soft cheese, such as provolone).

Instructions:

1. ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil. 
2. In a large bowl, combine the pork, beef, 2 cups of the bread crumbs, the pecorino, eggs, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix gently but thoroughly with your hands and then cover and refrigerate.
3. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
4. Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot and add 1 tablespoon salt. Dip the spinach leaves in the water just to wilt them and then immediately remove. Add the carrots to the boiling water and cook for 10 minutes. Then drain and set aside.
5. Combine the flour with the remaining 3 tablespoons of bread crumbs and heavily dust a wooden board or other work surface with the mixture. Pat the meat mixture into a ½-inch-thick rectangle about 16 inches by 6 inches on the dusted board. 
6. Lay the spinach leaves over the meat, leaving a 1 inch border on the short sides. Lay the carrot slices over the spinach, prosciutto and caciocavallo (or other cheese) over the carrots. (are you trying to lay the ingredients on top of the carrots or the carrots on top of the rest of the ingredients?) Starting from the long side, roll the meat up into a jelly roll, making it as compact as possible. It should be about 16 inches long. Dust the outside with flour.
7. Place the loaf on a rack in a broiler pan. Pour the olive oil down the length of the loaf. Bake for one hour, or until the loaf reaches an internal temperature of 165° F.
8. Transfer the loaf to a cutting board and slice into 1-inch-thick slices, and serve.

 
Adapted from Molto Italiano.

Serves around 4

Ingredients:

• 9oz (about a 1/2 lb) of chick pea flour
• 2 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil + extra for drizzling
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• Freshly ground pepper for topping

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to broil.
2. Mix all ingredients together with a whisk in a large bowl, eliminating all clumps.
3. Pour about 3/4 of a cup onto a pre-oiled (olive oil is the best) baking sheet.
4. Place under broiler until the top is browned. Don’t worry if some of it gets burnt.
5. Remove from the oven and drizzle olive oil and freshly ground pepper on top.
6. Cut into pieces and enjoy while hot!

In 7th grade I asked my mother if I could make dinner one night and she let me, thinking I was going to make grilled cheese or something else easy. However, after much searching among internet recipe databases I found this recipe. It was an instant hit among my family. It is now in my family as one of the staple recipes whenever we need a quick dinner. It’s an easy recipe to follow and straight forward.

Ingredients:   

• 2 tablespoons molasses
• ¼ cup of lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 8 skinned chicken thighs
• Cooking spray 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Garnish-

• Lemon wedge (optional) 

Instructions:

1. Combine first molasses, lemon juice, Worcestershire and garlic; add chicken. 
2. Preheat oven to 425.
3. Remove chicken from marinade; reserve.
4. Arrange chicken in shallow roasting pan coated with cooking spray.  
5. Pour reserved marinade over chicken; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
6. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes; baste chicken with marinade.
7. Bake an additional 20 minutes or until chicken is done. 

Recipe found on Cooking Light Recipes (Link attached to photo)

Serves 4-5 

Ingredients

• 4 cups cold cooked rice
• 2 large eggs
• 2 green onion stalks
• 10oz of frozen vegetable mix or:
1/3 cup each of fresh peas, corn, and diced carrots
• 1 small onion, diced
• 4oz of chicken/shrimp/beef/tofu, etc
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• if desired:Salt and pepper to taste


Instructions:

1. Lightly beat the eggs with salt and pepper
2. Heat a large frying pan and add 2 tablespoons of oil. When the oil is very hot, add the eggs.
3. Cook, while stirring occasionally until they are lightly scrambled in curds and are still slightly wet. Remove the eggs and set them aside in a bowl.
4. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan, sauté the diced onion for 1 minute alone, then add the vegetable mixture.
5. If using meat or tofu, add at this point and sauté all of them together for 2 minutes.
6. Add the cold rice to the pan and cook stirring occasionally to break up chunks of cold rice.
7. Drizzle soy sauce around top of rice and stir to incorporate. Cook for about 5 minutes or until rice is heated thoroughly. 
8. Add the vegetables and eggs back into pan, combining it all together with the rice
9. While rice is heating/cooking, wash and chop the green onion into little ringlets.
10. Immediately before serving, add green onion into the pan, cook for another minute and serve while hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste!

Read Cathy's Article on Fried Rice

Picture thanks to Catherine Morgan
www.catherine-morgan.com

Serves 4

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb of fettuccine pasta
• 1 stick of butter
• 4 oz of cream cheese, in other words half of a block (stick with regular, not low-fat, it’s definitely worth the extra calories)
• A handful (or few) of freshly shredded Parmesan cheese (NOT KRAFT BRAND)
• A small container of Vitamin D milk (a pint)
• Italian seasoning

 
Instructions:

1. Start cooking the fettuccine.
2. While the fettuccine is cooking, melt the butter in a small saucepan.
3. After the butter is melted, add the cream cheese and whisk together until it’s creamy.
4. Add about a 1/4 cup of milk at first and a handful of parmesan and whisk until the cheese is melted.
5. Taste the sauce and add either more Parmesan and/or milk until it tastes good and it’s a smooth and creamy consistency.  
6. Add a dash of Italian season, mix it in and pour on top of the cooked fettuccine.
7. Enjoy!