Chocolate White Chocolate Raspberry Brownie Bars

 Yield: one 9x13 pan
Kristen W 

10 TB butter
2 c. white chocolate chips (good quality)

3 large eggs
2/3 c. granulated sugar

2/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
½ tsp almond extract

3/4 c. raspberry jam

sliced almonds (or chopped...whatever you have!) Enough for topping

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray and flour a 9x13 pan and set aside.

Add the butter to a saucepan and heat until melted. Add the white chocolate chips. Stir once or twice to submerge the chips in the melted butter, but that's it. Don't keep stirring!

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, whip the eggs on high speed until foamy. Add the sugar, and continue to mix for 1-2 minutes until the mixture has lightened in color.

Stir in the butter and white chocolate chip mixture, flour, salt, and almond extract. Mix until well-combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes until just set throughout.

While the base layer bakes, make a brownie batter...use a homemade recipe or a box brownie mix. I use a box mix because it's easy. Set batter aside.

Place the raspberry jam in a ziploc bag and cut the corner. 

Immediately out of the oven, pipe the raspberry jam over the top of the cooked bar base. Try to pipe it evenly over the entire surface so you don't have to spread it.  

If you use a spatula, you can pull it out of the brownie batter with thin sheets hanging off of it. Gently lay those thin sheets over the raspberry jam layer, eventually covering the entire thing in a pretty thin layer of brownie batter. Sprinkle with sliced almonds (or sprinkle half of the pan with almonds!)

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the batter on top is set (a toothpick should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs). Pipe melted white chocolate in thin lines across the top (put chips in a ziploc, place the open ziploc upright in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave in 15 second increments) 

Cool completely before serving.

Tex Mex Tamale Casserole

Tex Mex Tamale Casserole

Yield: one 9x13 pan, about 8-12 servings

Adapted by Kristen from Mel's

• 1 TB olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 medium red or green bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
• 1 large poblano chile, diced
• 1 c frozen corn kernels
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced

• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 TB chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 2 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 (15-oz) cans beans, drained (I do one black, one pinto)
• 1 TB fresh lime juice

• 1 ½ lbs cooked ground turkey (or cooked chicken)

• 14 corn tortillas cut into fourths
• 1 c cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 c Monterey jack cheese, shredded
• Chopped cilantro for garnishing

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9X13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and stir in the onion, bell pepper, poblano, corn and garlic. Cook until the veggies are softened, 3-4 minutes. 
• Stir the flour, chile powder, cumin and coriander into the vegetable mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the chicken broth, whisking constantly. Bring the mixture to a boil, then stir in the beans, cooked meat, lime juice and season with salt and pepper.
• Place a thin layer of the mixture in the bottom of the 9x13. Then layer with 1/3 of the tortillas, 1/3 of the sauce mixture and then sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheeses. Repeat that process again twice more ending with the cheeses (make sure the top layer of tortillas is fully covered with sauce, otherwise the bits showing will get hard).
• Bake the casserole until hot and bubbly, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes or so before serving. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with sour cream and avocados.

Butternut Tortellini with Veggies

 Butternut Tortellini with Veggies

Yield: 6-7 servings

Adapted from Mel

2 tsp olive oil

½ c dried chopped onion (if using fresh onion, saute before adding to slow cooker)

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

¼ tsp minced dried rosemary

¼ tsp dried thyme

¼ tsp dried sage (optional)

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

2 lbs butternut squash, about 4 cups (peeled and cubed)

3 c low-sodium chicken broth

4 to 8 oz fat free cream cheese

1 lb refrigerated tortellini 

Additional veggies: cooked broccoli, cooked cauliflower, cooked green beans, etc, or meat such as rotisserie chicken

Place the butternut squash in a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker. Add onion and spices, then pour the chicken broth over butternut. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.

Add the cubes of cream cheese to the slow cooker. Stir until mostly melted. Using an immersion blender in the crockpot, blend the mixture until smooth. Stir in the tortellini. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until the tortellini are tender (with time constraint, you can cook these on the stove as indicated on the package then just add them to the butternut sauce and serve). Add any additional cooked veggies as noted above.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with Parmesan cheese as topping.