Asian Noodle Bowls with Fried Eggs

Let me just get this out of the way: The main component of this dish is packaged ramen noodles.

Wait! Come back! Would it make you feel better if I told you that the first thing I do when I make these noodle bowls is throw away the high-sodium, artificially-flavored seasoning packet? Because it is the first thing I do. I replace the packet with fresh garlic and freshly-grated ginger, and I cook the noodles in chicken stock. There...will you at least hear me out now?

We all have those nights when: a.) we’re too busy to cook an involved dinner; b.) the meal we planned to make just doesn’t sound good; c.) we just really don’t feel like cooking; or d.) all of the above. This meal is perfect for a night like that. It’s literally ready in five minutes, and it tastes absolutely delicious. The ramen noodles cook in the yummy combination I mentioned above, and then each bowl is topped with a fried egg, green onions, and generous drizzles of sriracha and soy sauce. The add-ins for the noodles are endless: red bell peppers, sugarsnap peas, shredded cabbage or bok choy, mushrooms...the list goes on and on. The velvety egg yolk coats the noodles and turns into this lovely sauce, and the sriracha adds such wonderful heat.

I know it sounds weird, but just trust me on this one, guys. You’ll love these.

Asian Noodle Bowls with Fried Eggs

2 packages of ramen noodles (any flavor, the seasoning is getting tossed anyway)

1 teaspoon vegetable or peanut oil

3 cloves minced garlic

1 tablespoon freshly-grated ginger

4 cups low-sodium chicken stock

4 eggs, cooked to desired doneness

Green onions

Soy sauce

Sriracha

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and fresh ginger; cook and stir for 30 seconds. Add the chicken stock, raise heat to high, and bring to a boil. Add the ramen (discard the seasoning packet) and cook, stirring occasionally, until done (about 3 minutes).

2. Meanwhile, cook the eggs to desired doneness.

3. Add ramen to a bowl (with as much or as little liquid as you like). Top each bowl with an egg, a sprinkling of green onions, and soy sauce and sriracha to taste.

Chicken Tacos with Mashed Black Beans and Avocado-Sweet Corn Relish

Sorry for disappearing for the past week and a half! I've been busy planning a fifth birthday party for Andrew, which was (nearly) flawlessly executed this past Saturday. Between soccer, birthdays and birthday parties, preschool graduation, and kindergarten orientation, my oldest son has kept me extremely busy this month. But he's more than worth it, obviously, and we've had so much fun this entire month, even as busy as we've been.

Let's talk tacos today. I was originally going to pile all of this stuff on a tostada shell, but guess who turned off the oven when the tortillas were finished crisping, and then forgot to actually take said tortillas out of the oven, resulting in tortillas that were blackened and inedible? That's right, this girl!As delicious as a crispy tostada would have been, flour tortillas were a nice stand-in.

Honestly, I think I would eat this combination of ingredients on just about anything, though. I can't say enough good things about this recipe. The mashed black beans and chicken are so flavorful, and that relish! Seriously, it's only five ingredients (and one of them is just salt!), and I think it's probably one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. Ever. I can't wait to make it again later in the summer, when sweet corn is at its peak. This was such a delicious, light, and refreshing late spring meal, and one that I'll be making a lot going forward.

Chicken Tacos with Mashed Black Beans and Avocado-Sweet Corn Relish

For the chicken:

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast tenders

1 teaspoon each salt and chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon each garlic powder and oregano

For the mashed black beans:

1 onion, finely diced

Salt to taste

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can black beans, partially drained

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

For the avocado-sweet corn relish:

6 ears fresh sweet corn

2 roma tomatoes, diced

1 avocado, diced

Salt to taste

Juice of 2 limes

For the tacos:

Flour or corn tortillas, warmed

Queso fresco cheese, crumbled

Sour cream, if desired

1. Heat about a tablespoon of olive or vegetable oil in a large skillet. Coat chicken tenders evenly with spices. Add to skillet and cook, turning once, until browned and cooked through. Move chicken to a plate and cover with foil to stay warm.

2. In the same skillet, add the onion and season with salt (you can add a bit more oil if needed). When onion is softened, add garlic and cook and stir for 30 seconds. Add black beans, chili powder and cumin and heat to bubbling. Mash beans roughly with a potato masher. If they look too dry or thick, you can thin them out with a bit of water or chicken stock. Remove from heat.

3. To make the relish, cut kernels from ears of corn. Add kernels to a bowl along with diced tomato and avocado. Season with salt and sprinkle with lime juice.

4. To serve, spoon some of the black beans into the center of a tortilla. Top with chopped chicken, the avocado-sweet corn relish, and a sprinkling of queso fresco. Serve with sour cream.

Pickle Roll-ups

If loving these delicious little ham-wrapped cream cheese-blanketed pickle morsels makes me uncool...then I am supremely uncool. And I am absolutely okay with that. I've been eating these pickle roll-ups for most of my life, and I'm not sure if they're just a Midwestern thing or if everyone already knows about them, but I just can't keep the recipe to myself. Not that there's really a recipe involved -- it's just a pickle, wrapped in cream cheese, wrapped in ham. That's it. The only bad thing about them, I guess, is that they're dangerously, deliciously addictive.

Pickle Roll-ups

1 10-ounce package sliced ham

1 8-ounce container spreadable cream cheese

Refrigerated whole pickles

On a work surface, lay out two slices of ham so that they overlap in the middle. Spread with an even layer of cream cheese. Place a pickle on the top edge of the ham, then roll the ham around the pickle. Repeat as desired. Cut into slices and refrigerate until serving.

Rigatoni with Italian Beef Ragu

You're getting a two-for-one recipe today. Remember the amazing Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches I shared with you last month? Well, you really need to make them. And then you need to use the leftovers for this pasta.

What's great about both of these recipes is that they require so little time to prepare, because the Crock pot does all the work. You don't even need to make the recipes on consecutive nights; just have the sandwiches one night, and freeze the leftovers for later, which is exactly what I did. The meat tasted just as good after it had been frozen -- maybe even better!

I used a sturdy pasta with lines for this recipe to stand up to the robust sauce. Because the meat had already stewed in so many delicious ingredients, all I really had to do was make a quick tomato sauce for it, and the flavor was amazing. This dinner was a show-stopper, and definitely tasted like it took a long time to cook -- even though it was ready in the time it took to boil the pasta.

Rigatoni with Italian Beef Ragu

1 pound rigatoni or other sturdy pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups Italian beef with its juices

1 sprig thyme leaves, finely chopped

1 14.5-ounce can Italian-style stewed tomatoes

1 large can tomato sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Freshly-shredded parmesan cheese

1. Cook rigatoni in boiling salted water according to directions on package; drain.

2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large, high-sided skillet. Add onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the onion is softened and translucent. Add garlic cloves; cook and stir for 30 seconds. Stir in Italian beef with its juices and cook for a couple of minutes until heated through.

3. Add thyme and both cans of tomatoes to the pan and stir gently to combine. Heat through, then taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

4. Serve sauce over rigatoni and top with shredded parmesan cheese.

Grilled Steak and Chicken Fajitas

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the fact that Cinco de Mayo is coming up this weekend. Although it isn't a holiday we really celebrate, I am always looking for an excuse to eat Mexican food and drink Mexican drinks. These fajitas are a great way to celebrate both the holiday, and the fact that grilling season has returned.

I was initially going to just make chicken fajitas, but then I remembered the box of steaks in my freezer and decided to do both. (Remind me to tell you sometime about the poor steak salesman who came to my house around dinner time on a night of solo parenting, who was bombarded with questions from my curious children for 30 minutes, who finally gave in and sold me 12 total sirloin and T-bone steaks for dirt cheap, I think just so he could escape my house.) I made two different marinades for the meat: a Southwestern ranch marinade for the chicken and a chipotle brown sugar one for the steak, so you're really getting two recipes for the price of one here. And they're both absolutely delicious!

Grilled Steak and Chicken Fajitas

For the chicken:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup ranch dressing

Juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon each chili powder, cumin, and salt

For the steak:

2 sirloin steaks (or you could use a flank steak)

1/2 cup olive oil

Juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 clove minced garlic

3 tablespoons chipotle in adobo puree (or the equivalent of chopped chipotles in adobo)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

For the fajitas:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 large onion, halved and sliced

1 each red, green, and orange bell peppers, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup Mexican beer

Juice of half a lime

Flour tortillas

Shredded monterey jack, salsa, and sour cream for serving

1. Combine all ingredients for both marinades with the meats. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Let come to room temperature before grilling.

2. Grill chicken and steak until chicken is cooked through and steak is cooked to desired doneness. Let rest before slicing.

3. While the meat is cooking, heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and bell peppers, season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent and peppers are slightly softened. Add garlic; cook and stir for 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium and add beer, stirring until reduced. Remove from heat and sprinkle with lime juice.

4. Serve chicken and steak in flour tortillas, topped with the pepper mixture, shredded cheese, salsa, and sour cream.