Half Assed Kitchen

Pizza with brie, prosciutto and mushrooms

Photo courtesy Alouette®  
 

The kind folks at over at Alouette® have generously offered Half Assed Kitchen readers free cheese! All you have to do is click over to Half Assed Kitchen Reviews and Giveaways to enter. Two readers will get two coupons for the Alouette cheese product of her (or his) choice.

In honor of all things cheese, we're posting a recipe swiped from Alouette. We haven't made it, but, boy, we're going to. And we predict:

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it

Prepared pizza dough (enough for one pizza)

8 ounces Shiitake or Oyster mushrooms

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cornmeal for dusting

4 ounces Prosciutto

7 ounces Alouette, Baby Brie Wedge, sliced

• Heat oven to 450 degrees F.  Heat a pizza stone in the oven for at least 30 minutes, or preheat a large baking sheet for 15 minutes 

Meanwhile, trim stems from mushrooms.  Place mushrooms in a bowl and sprinkle with oil, salt, and pepper.  Toss well to coat. Heat grill or skillet with a dollop of olive oil.

Grill mushrooms until soft and juicy looking, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side.  If you aren’t using a grill, sauté mushrooms in skillet over medium-high heat until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes

Dust pizza stone or baking sheet with cornmeal. Add brie, prosciutto and mushrooms to pizza crust.

Slide dough onto hot pizza stone or baking sheet and bake until crust is brown and cheese is bubbling, 5 to 8 minutes.  Cut pizza into 6 pieces and serve immediately.

*Add a little fresh basil to this for extra mmm*

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Fish tacos

 

Fish tacos. Easy. Light. Relatively healthy. Flaky and succulent. We love them for a quick weeknight meal. There are two routes we like to go: Baking breaded fish filets, cooking, slicing, and adding them to a tortilla with salsa, tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, shredded cabbage, sour cream, and lime juice.

Or following the instructions below, which entails using fresh (or thawed frozen fish) in a marinade.

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it

1 pound fresh cod, halibut, tilapia, whitefish, etc.

1 package Simply Organics Fish Taco seasoning (or make your own with paprika, cumin, garlic salt, black pepper and whatever else your heart desires).

Olive or canola oil

1/4 cup water (if using pre-packaged seasoning)

Toppings: Chopped tomatoes, sliced green onions, fresh cilantro, shredded cabbage, sour cream, salsa, lime juice, avocado.

Flour tortillas

Slice fish filet into narrow strips. In a medium-sized bowl, mix fish with dash of olive or canola oil. Stir to coat.

In separate bowl, add Fish Taco Seasoning to 1/4 cup water. (If using your own spices, just mix with fish.) Whisk together. Pour onto fish and stir to coat again.

In a skillet, pour in a little oil, add fish and pan fry until fish is flaky and tender (about ten minutes). Serve in warm tortillas with desired toppings.

Good paired with black beans with lime and cilantro.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

 

Macaroni salad with dill

  
 

We love us some macaroni salad. Especially this time of year with grilled chicken, baked beans, potato chips, cold beer, we could go on and on...

But we don't love macaroni salad that comes from our grocery store deli case. It's like eating a bowl of mayonnaise with a few noodles tossed in. So, alas, we make it ourselves. We make it lighter and yummier and fresher. And we're going to share our recipe with you (adapted from Food Network). That's what we're here for, after all.

Basic macaroni salad doesn't require many ingredients. But, of course, you can gussy it up with ham and cubed cheese to make a full meal. Try adding veggies you have on hand. Or leave it as is in all its carby, zippy goodness. Just don't skip the dill. The dill makes it.

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it (double to feed a big crew)

2 cups elbow macaroni

1/4 cup red onion, chopped and soaked in water for five minutes

1-2 ribs celery, chopped

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1/4 cup mayo (preferably light)

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup sour cream

1 Tablespoon dijon mustard

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Freshly ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons fresh dill, chopped (or 1 Tablespoon dried)

Other options: green onion, fresh parsley, broccoli, red bell pepper, ham, cheese, shredded chicken, tuna, hard boiled egg

Boil macaroni until al dente. Meanwhile, mix mayo, olive oil, sour cream, dijon mustard, salt, pepper and dill.

When macaroni has finished, drain it and rinse with cool water to stop cooking process. Mix with red onion, celery and peas. Pour dressing over the top (starting with half, increasing amount to taste). Mix well.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

We heart Facebook almost as much as food

This post is a little different than what you normally find here on Half Assed Kitchen. Consider it filed under Business. Things to mention before we can get back to eating.

HAK has started a Facebook page, which we're really excited about. See the box over there in the right sidebar. Yeah, under Categories. If you click on that it'll take you to our Facebook page. Where we're posting exclusive content, polls, and eventually contests and other cool stuff. Please Like us. It'd make us deliriously happy.

Or, you can follow this link. We already have about 1,200 participants who are carrying on scintillating conversation involving grilled artichokes and garlic butter. Lots and lots of mayonnaise and aioli may or may not be a topic as well.

Please join us. The more Likers we can get, the more awesomeness we can offer.

Hey, and even if you aren't a Facebooker or decide not to Like us (sob), thank you for coming to our blog. Stay tuned for Light(ish) Macaroni Salad!

Lemon cake mix cookies

 

Who likes cake? Who likes cookies? Who likes a super easy recipe that combines both cake and cookies? Yeah, same here. That's why, when we saw this ingenious pairing of the two, plus eggs and butter, we had to try it.

We're so glad we did. These soft cookies are fabulous and fresh. Anyone you make them for will moan their thanks (or curse you, depending on how weight-conscious your friends are).

Rating: 1/4 assed (absurdly easy)

Here's what you need and how you do it

1 box lemon cake mix

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter or margarine, room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease. Combine cake mix, eggs and butter in a large bowl. Stash in refrigerator for a half hour (otherwise dough will be too sticky to work with.)

Roll dough into walnut-sized balls and dredge through powdered sugar. Place on cookie sheet and bake 10 to 12 minutes.

Try other cake mix flavors too!

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.