Penne Tricolore - Vegetarian or Not

I saw this and was worried by the lemon. However, it was delightful. For my lactose intolerant friends, leave out the cheese. One way we made this go a bit farther was adding chicken. I will place my chicken "recipe" at the very bottom after the notes for you who would like to add it in.

Penne Tricolore

(Optional: 1 - 2 chicken breasts cubed)
3/4 pound(s) penne rigate
*1 small zucchini, seeded and cut into 2-inch-long matchstick strips
*1 small summer squash, seeded and cut into 2-inch-long matchstick strips
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch-long matchstick strips
1/2 cup(s) Kalamata or other black olives, pitted
1/2 cup(s) chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup(s) grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/4 cup(s) olive oil
Grated zest from 1 lemon
1 1/2 tablespoon(s) lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
1/4 teaspoon(s) fresh-ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the penne rigate until almost done, about 11 minutes. Add the zucchini, summer squash, and carrots and bring back to a boil. Cook until the vegetables and penne are just done, about 2 minutes longer. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Drain the penne and vegetables.
2. In a large bowl, toss the pasta, vegetables, 6 tablespoons of the reserved pasta water, olives, basil, Parmesan, oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. If the pasta seems dry, add more of the reserved pasta water. Serve with additional Parmesan.

*Notes: Seeding Zucchini and Summer Squash: Because the zucchini and summer squash are boiled in this recipe, it's a good idea to seed them first. Otherwise, the pulpy seeds get water-logged. To remove them, cut the zucchini or squash into quarters lengthwise. Then simply cut off the seeds.

Chicken:

1-2 chicken breasts, cubed
1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
Lemon Pepper

Directions:

1. Put olive oil into skillet and warm up.
2. Place chicken into skillet and add Lemon Pepper to taste. By taste, this does not mean that I'm encouraging you to lick raw chicken. I use a lot of lemon pepper, but I didn't measure it. I covered the pieces thoroughly. If you like a lot of seasoning, put a lot. If you don't, don't.

Easy Blueberry Crisp

Easy Blueberry Crisp

2 cans (21oz each) blueberry pie filling
2.5 granola cereal
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. butter or margarine, melted

Directions:

1. Grease 3 to 4.5 quart crock pot.
2. Pour in pie filling.
3. Sprinkle remaining ingredients over the pie filling in the order listed above.
4. Cover and cook on low heat 3 hours

Makes 7-9 servings.

Easy Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas

Very good, very easy! Tomatoes not necessary.

Easy Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas

1 can (10.5 oz) Cream of Chicken Soup
½ c. sour cream
1 c. Salsa (recipe recommended Pace Picante Sauce)
2 tsp. chili powder
2 c. chopped, cooked chicken
½ c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
6 flour tortillas
1 small tomato, chopped
1 green onion, sliced

Directions:

1.Stir soup, sour cream, salsa, and chili powder in medium bowl.
2.Stir 1 c. of above mixture, chicken and cheese in large bowl.
3.Divide chicken mixture among tortillas. Roll up tortillas and place seam side up in a 2 qt. shallow baking dish. Pour remaining mixture from step 1 one over filled tortillas. Cover baking dish.
4.Bake at 350 F for 40 min or until enchiladas are hot and bubbling. Top with tomato and onion.

Eggplant Rollatine

This is a good, though involved meal. I have a picture below! I would recommend halving this recipe. Unless you decide you want two pans of this. We had left overs and really only used about one eggplant and about 3/5 of the stuffing. So if you hold back a touch on the stuffing you can do a full pan with a half recipe. I don't have a picture of a completely full pan, sorry.

Eggplant Rollatine

4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons garlic powder, divided
2 cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup vegetable oil for frying
2 large eggplant, peeled and sliced
1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 (28 ounce) jar tomato pasta sauce, divided

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.In a shallow mixing bowl combine 3 eggs, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 cup Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. In a separate, shallow dish or plate, pour the flour.
3.Heat oil in a large, deep skillet. Dredge eggplant slices in flour, then in egg mixture and fry slices 2 or 3 at a time in hot oil. Place fried slices on a paper towel lined plate to drain.
4.In a large bowl combine ricotta, 1/2 cup mozzarella, remaining 1 cup Parmesan, remaining 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 egg, parsley and spinach; mix well.
5.Spread about 1/3 of the pasta sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Place about 2 tablespoons of spinach mixture in the center of each eggplant slice and roll securely; place in prepared pan. Pour remaining pasta sauce over eggplant rolls and top with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.
6.Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.