FROZEN LIME CREME PIE

Frozen Lime Cream Pie

The other day I was watching The Nate Berkus Show and his guest was Katie Lee. She made an awesome looking Lemon Creme Pie. I got the recipe and adapted it to lime juice instead of lemon only because I had limes in the house and used real eggs. It is so easy to make and delicious. For a party you could make small tart size pies.

Ingredients:
For the crust:
2 cups finely crushed graham crackers crumbs
1/3-cup sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
One 14  ounce can sweetened condensed milk
4 extra large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons grated lime zest
¾ cup fresh lime juice

Whipped cream , optional


Directions
For the Crust:
Preheat the oven to 350°F
In a medium bowl, combine the graham crackers crumbs, sugar, and salt. Stir in the butter. Transfer to a 9-inch pie pan. Evenly press across the bottom and up sides to make a crust. Bake 12 minutes. Let it cool completely.
For the Filling:
In a large bowl, combine the condensed milk, egg yolk, sugar, lemon zest, and juice. Whisk until all the ingredients are completely blended. Pour the filling in to cooled crust. Freeze for at least 2 hours.

Top with whipped cream..

Serves 8

CREAMED SPINACH WITH VIDALIA ONION

Creamed Spinach with Vidalia Onion

Ingredients:
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 small Vidalia onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/4 teaspoons Seasoned Salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 cups milk

Directions:
Drain spinach well and squeeze out excess moisture with hands; chop finely and set aside.
Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil till golden brown on medium heat.
Add flour, seasoned salt and pepper.
Blend thoroughly. Lower temp to simmer.
Slowly add milk, stirring constantly until thickened.
Add spinach; heat thoroughly.

ITALIAN CHICK PEA SALAD

Italian Chick Pea Salad
Ingredients:
1  15.5 oz can chick peas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
1 small red or sweet onion, finely chopped
1 tbl balsamic vinegar
3 tbs olive oil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried oregano
salt & pepper
Directions:
Toss all together and chill. I like to have the flavors meld together for at least a half hour and serve.
Serves 6

PENNE CHICKEN AND RADICCHIO

Penne Chicken and Radicchio

This is a quick and easy meal to prepare. Just pickup a pre- cooked chicken from from grocery store deli. This is so delicious.

Ingredients:
1 pound whole-wheat penne pasta
1 head radicchio, torn into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 2-pound roasted chicken, skin discarded, meat removed from bones and shredded
1/4 cups balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 cups chopped walnuts

Directions:
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes or according to package directions.
Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Place radicchio and the reserved liquid in the pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the pasta, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, oil, chicken, vinegar and pepper and continue cooking until the cheese starts to melt, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve the pasta garnished with walnuts and the remaining cheese.
Serves: 6

ITALIAN MACARONI SALAD

Italian Macaroni Salad
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb box of elbow macaroni
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups Mayonnaise
1/2 bunch of green onions, chopped
1/2 ea. red, orange, green and yellow peppers, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
celery salt

Directions:
Cook Macaroni in salted water. Drain noodles.
While noodles are still hot, mix in mustard and mayonnaise in large bowl.
Mixture should be wet, but not creamy. Stir in Onions and peppers and salt. Mix well.
Coat top of salad with a Sprinkle  celery salt on top of mixture and stir in.
Cover and refrigerate a few hours to allow onion and pepper flavors to meld together.
Serve cold.