Who doesn’t love a good taco salad? This recipe is so easy and chockful of flavour! I love to add shredded cheese and taco seasoning to the meat!
Recipe Review:
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY – EASY
Steps: 2
Rating:Easy
Involvement
20 min. prep
Rating: Easy
Ingredients & availability
6 ingredients
All ingredients you can easily find at any grocery store
Rating: Easy
Equipment Required:
Frying Pan
Mixing spoon
Knife
Cutting board
Can opener
The Recipe
Time: 20 min. prep
Servings: 4
Calories/ 1 1/2 cups: ~ 672
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
4 cups torn leaf lettuce
1 large tomato, chopped
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup Catalina salad dressing
4 cups nacho-flavoured tortilla chips
Directions:
In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, tomato, beans and beef. Drizzle with dressing and toss to coat.
Arrange tortilla chips on a serving plate; top with beef mixture.
These homemade burgers are fantastic if you like mushrooms and butter! They are really juicy and full of flavour. I got the recipe from the LCBO magazine here. I thought they were fantastic! The mayo recipe is also a fun compliment to the burger. I made the patties with homemade hamburger buns (you can find the recipe HERE) and I thought they were great but they are a little dense. So if you don’t like a dense bun then I would buy them at a store. If you are looking for a new patty to try I suggest giving this one a whirl!
Recipe Review:
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY – MODERATE
Steps: 5
Rating:Easy
Involvement
20. min prep
Rating: Easy
Ingredients & availability
10 ingredients
Most ingredients you can easily find at the grocery store but porcini mushrooms you may not find at all stores.
Rating: Moderate
Equipment Required:
Knife
Cutting board
Mixing bowls
Whisk or spoon
Barbecue
Saucepan
Measuring cups/spoons
The Recipe
Time: ~20 min. prep+ 30 min. soak time for mushrooms + ~ 10 min. cook time = 1 hour total
Servings: 6 burgers (4 is way too big)
Calories/burger: ~ 312
Ingredients:
½ oz (15 g) dried porcini mushrooms
1 cup (250 mL) boiling water
3 tbsp (45 mL) unsalted butter
1 tbsp (15 mL) Japanese soy sauce
1½ lbs (680 g) medium ground beef
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
SESAME & GREEN ONION MAYO:
½ cup (125 mL) mayonnaise
½ tsp (2 mL) sesame oil
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp (5 mL) chili garlic sauce or Sriracha
1 tbsp (15 mL) toasted sesame seeds
Directions:
Make mayo: Whisk together the mayonnaise and sesame oil; stir in green onions, sauce and sesame seeds. Mayonnaise is best the day it’s made but will keep, covered and refrigerated, for 3 days.
Place porcini in a small heatproof bowl and pour boiling water over; let stand 30 minutes. Drain (reserve soaking liquid for another use if you like). Once mushrooms are cool enough to handle, squeeze dry over the sink; finely chop and set aside.
In a small pot, melt butter over medium heat; let cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until foaming has subsided and particles in butter are light brown. Add porcini and soy to pot, stir and immediately remove from heat. Let cool to room temperature.
Crumble ground beef into a large bowl; spoon butter mixture over. Gently mix to combine and form into 6 equal-sized patties (patties may be made up to a day in advance, covered tightly with cling wrap and refrigerated).
Season patties with salt and pepper as you would a steak. Cook over a high grill for 3 to 4 minutes per side or until no longer pink in centre.
I got this recipe from Half Baked Harvests cookbook. The recipe is also featured HERE. Homemade meatballs are sooo much better than store bought in my opinion. The first time I made homemade meatballs was in Italy. I’ve taken 2 cooking classes there and it’s still my favourite thing to do when I visit. Does anyone else feel like everything just tastes better when made in Italy? Well these weren’t made in Italy but we can pretend 😉 These meatballs are so soft, the sauce has the freshest tasting ingredients, and it’s topped off with soo much cheese. Yum….
Recipe Review:
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY – MODERATE
Steps: 5
Rating:Easy
Involvement
38 min. prep time
Rating: Moderate
Ingredients & availability
19 – 21 ingredients
All ingredients you can easily find at the grocery store
Rating: Moderate
Equipment Required:
Measuring cups/spoons
Can opener
Knife
Cutting board
Saucepan (for pasta)
9 x 13-inch baking dish
Mixing bowls
Aluminum foil
Time: ~ 38 min. prep. + 27 min. remaining cook time = 1 hour 5 min. total
fresh basil and oregano, chopped, for serving (optional)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with olive oil.
Place the bread in a small bowl. Pour over enough milk to moisten the bread and let it soak for 5-10 minutes. Gently squeeze out the excess milk, then crumble the dampened bread into a medium bowl.
Add the ground beef and egg and mix well with your hands. Grease your hands with a bit of olive oil and roll the meat mixture into ten to twelve 2 tablespoon size balls. Place the meatballs in the prepared baking dish and bake for about 15 minutes, until the meatballs are crisp on the outside but not yet cooked through on the inside.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the wine, crushed tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeño, dried basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes, and a pinch each of salt and black pepper.
Pour the sauce over the meatballs. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for about 25 minutes more, until the meatballs are cooked through. Remove the foil and sprinkle evenly with the cheeses. Return to the oven, uncovered, and bake until the cheese are melted and golden, about 10 minutes. Serve over your favorite fresh pasta, topped with fresh basil and oregano.
This dish is so flavourful and delicious!!! Ramen has become my new favourite thing to cook after discovering Half Baked Harvest. This homemade stir-fry is so so flavourful and colourful! It is fairly high on prep time due to the shredded and dicing of vegetables but the end result is soo soo worth it!
Time: 1.5 hours prep + cooking time
Yield: 8 servings
Calories/Serving: ~459
You can find this recipe in the Half Baked Harvest book on page 209 which you can purchase HERE.
Equipment Required:
Mixing bowls
Whisk
Measuring cups/spoons
Sauce pot
Wok or skillet
Cutting board
Knife
Grater
Mixing spoon
Tongs
Recipe Review:
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY – EASY
Steps: 6
Rating:Moderate
Involvement
1.5 hours total
Rating: Difficult
Ingredients & availability
20 ingredients
Not all ingredients were easy to find and I was unable to find white miso paste.
This is the easiest roast beef recipe you will ever make! It does not sacrifice on flavour and it turns out terrific every time. Roast beef doesn’t have to be difficult with this recipe. You could make it any day of the week!
Time: 15 min + 8 hours cooking
Servings: 10
Calories/Serving: 267
Ingredients:
1 (3 lb) boneless beef chuck roast (I have used blade and inside round cuts)
2 cans (284 ml each) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
