The sun has returned, I’m very happy about that and in celebration I had this chicken and kale casserole.

 

 

I can’t really think of any pasta I don’t like and when you add cheese it’s just got to be good. And it was.

 

 

I sliced up some garlic

 

 

and added some butter then waited for it to cook but nothing happened.

 

 

That reminds me, one time a friend of a friend actually forgot to turn the burner on. I don’t know what made me think of that.

 

 

Anyway, back to this little recipe. I eventually got the onions and garlic cooked

 

 

and then tossed in the kale. I cooked it until it turned bright green.

 

 

That’s when I realized I had forgotten to chop it before cooking it. So I chopped the cooked kale along with the parsley.

 

 

In a bowl I added chopped chicken, ricotta.

 

 

Then I zested a lemon. I’m sure you could get a little more zest than I did. Because I didn’t grate much, it really didn’t have much of a lemon flavor.

 

 

Then I added the onions, garlic, lemon zest, kale and parsley.

 

 

As I mixed it I had this sneaking suspicion that my bowl was too small.

 

 

A little salt and pepper

 

 

and parmesan. I mixed that together and the bowl seemed even smaller.

 

 

I tried to put the pasta shells in next but finally had to stop, this just wasn’t going to work.

 

 

I had to take about half of the cheese and chicken mixture out. I set it temporarily in the kale pan. I refuse to dirty another bowl. I will make this work.

 

 

I put about a cup or so of pasta shells in the cheese mixture.

 

 

Mixed it together and poured it into a small casserole pan.

 

 

Then I used the remaining cheese and chicken mixture with more pasta shells and filled a second small casserole pan.

 

 

Topped them with parmesan and a little shredded cheddar and baked at 350 for about 30 minutes.

 

 

Let it Cool on a wire rack

 

 

and served warm.

 

 

The second one went to the freezer for one day I want something ready to go.

 

 

Chicken kale and parsley casserole

adapted from Martha

Ingredients

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1/2 pound large pasta shells
• 1 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced medium
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bunch kale, tough stems and ribs removed, leaves coarsely chopped
• 1 fist full parsley chopped
• 2 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken (from 1/2 rotisserie chicken)
• 1 container ricotta
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 3/4 cup Parmesan, grated
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar

Directions

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain; return to pot. In a pan, melt butter over medium-high. Add onion and garlic; cook until onion is beginning to soften, 4 minutes. Add kale, cover, and cook until almost tender, about 5 minutes.

   In a bowl Stir in chicken, ricotta, lemon zest, kale, parsley, onions and garlic and 1/2 cup Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to a 9-by-13-inch or 2 smaller pans; top with 1/4 cup Parmesan and some shredded cheddar. Bake until top is golden, 30 minutes.

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If this isn’t the best way to eat quiche it certainly is a good way.

This quiche was severely adapted from Martha Stewart's  Goat Cheese Quiche with Hash-Brown Crust

 

 

butter well a 9”x 2 1/2 “ spring-form pan;  attach strips of waxed paper to the buttered sides of the pan, and trim paper to level with top of pan; and butter the paper generously.

The photos  on the right are accidentally reversed, please look at them counter-clockwise starting from the butter cube and every thing will be right.

 

 

 

mix one egg in a medium-size bowl, then add the drained potatoes and soft butter .

 

 

mix it all together:  the fork looks proper, but clean hands do a quicker job of it; mix in some salt and pepper, which I forgot until several steps later, oh, well.

 

 

line the pan with the potato mixture; in a warmed 375 degree oven, bake 20-25 minutes or until the top edge begins to brown nicely

 

 

while that cooks, mix the rest of the eggs in the same now empty bowl,  add drained cottage cheese

 

 

and the other cheeses

 

 

Grab some fresh parsley , chop it up

 

 

and the chopped parsley,

 

 

pepper,

 

 

and salt; mix well.

 

 

 

I should have let it get browner, but I thought it might get too brown on the second baking, but it did not

 

 

sprinkle bacon in pan.

 

 

then pour in the egg and cheese mixture

 

 

Return to the oven and continue cooking for about 45 minutes, or when eggs are set.

 

 

 

remove from oven, let cool a few minutes; then release sides of pan

 

 

 

and peel away waxed paper

 

 

Let cool

 

 

and serve.

 

 

 

Serve with zucchini ribbons if you like zucchini ribbons or just want something green on the plate.

 

Hash-Brown-Crust Quiche

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Goat Cheese Quiche with Hash-Brown Crust.

ingredients 

• 1 1-lb package frozen hash browns, liquid squeezed out
• 2 Tbsp. soft butter, plus more for the pan
• 1 cup cottage cheese, drained
• 1 cup mixed shredded cheeses: Swiss, sharp cheddar, mozzarella
• 1/2 cup crisp bacon, broken into bits 
• 8 eggs  
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley    
• salt and pepper 

 

Butter a 9"x2 1/2" springform pan; cut strips of waxed paper to fit pan and stick them to the butter, overlapping when needed and buttering the overlap; trim paper if needed.
   Crack one egg in a medium-sized bowl and beat; add drained potatoes, soft butter and a bit of salt and pepper. Then pat into pan; bake in a warmed 375 degree oven and bake 20-25 minutes, when the top edge should begin to brown.

Meanwhile mix the rest of the eggs in the same now empty bowl, add drained cottage cheese and the other cheeses, parsley, salt and pepper.

    Remove from oven, sprinkle bacon on bottom of pan and pour egg and cheese mixture over and smooth the top.
   Return to oven and cook about 45 minutes or until eggs are set
   Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes; then release sides of pan and carefully peel away waxed paper and Serve.

 

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This post is linked to the blog hop event, Cook like a Star, organised by some fun bloggers: Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Riceball from Riceball Eats. Do you love to cook or bake like Martha Stewart? To join, simply cook or bake any recipe from Martha Stewart's food website or cookbooks and blog hop with us for the whole month of December 2012. For more details, please see this.

Somewhere in the garden there is parsley, lots of parsley.

It’s just a matter of finding it. Nope, that’s basil.

Well once you find the parsley we can make parsley potatoes.

Wash it first, there always seems to be a little dirt on it.

Mince up the garlic too.

Cube potatoes.

Then put potatoes in with water, olive oil, parsley and garlic.

Boil until tender.

 

season with salt and pepper and serve immediately

 

Potatoes with parsley

• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2 cups cubed red potatoes

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Bring mixture to a boil Cover and reduce heat to medium-low; cook 20 min or until potatoes are tender when stabbed with a fork. serve immediately.