…Posts Tagged ‘bacon’…

Bacon Pea Pasta

I’m not going to lie to you – this is a boring recipe, but darn good. I’m finally paying attention to the bag of frozen, organic peas I’ve had in my freezer since… a VERY long time ago. I’m actually not a big fan of peas (they’re too sweet for me) but if you pair them with bacon, they really balance out the saltiness of it.

This pasta takes all of 15 minutes to make so it’s definitely a weeknight meal

Ingredients:

3 strips of center cut bacon
1 cup frozen peas
2 servings of whole wheat spaghetti
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cook pasta according to the directions on the box. You can use any kind of pasta!

Also cook peas according to package. Usually you just throw them in boiling water for 4 minutes. Heat a pan on medium heat and add bacon that’s been cut up in bite-sized pieces. Add peas.

Heat until everything is fully cooked and heated through. Add pasta.

Sprinkle cheese on top.

Devour.

Yum.

Bacon Chickpeas

In my quest to save money, I’ve been working on cleaning out my pantry. It seems my pantry contains a lot of canned beans. But you really can’t go wrong with beans – they are economical, delicious, and cheap!

After looking up a LOT of budget, bean recipes, I realized that a good amount of them required bacon. Bacon itself isn’t very cheap but you can use just a few slices to flavor a dish, like this Bacon Chickpea recipe I found somewhere (probably Cooking Light). Whenever a recipe calls for prociutto or even ham, I substitute it for bacon because…well…I love bacon (who doesn’t?!) and I never use a lot of it at once so I usually have some in my freezer.

This recipe is quick, easy, and so delicious.

Ingredients:

4 slices center-cut bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 -4 cups of cooked broccoli
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

Directions:

Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add bacon and saute until cooked through – about 4 minutes.

Add chickpeas, oregano, red pepper, salt, and pepper. After the chickpeas are fully coated in the bacon oil, add broccoli and saute until thoroughly heated.

Sprinkle with grated cheese and serve!

You can also add some chopped onions into this recipe if you’d like. Just add the onions with the bacon and then follow directions accordingly.

Red Beans and Rice

I’ve been trying to go through my pantry lately and I’ve found that I have enough canned beans to last me about… 4 years at the very least. I did a quick search on my favorite recipe website – myrecipes.com – and came up with a Cooking Light Red Beans and Rice recipe that I tinkered with a bit. The result was delicious and although each serving was about a cup and a half, it kept me surprisingly full through the day!

Ingredients:

3 servings

3 bacon slices

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped green bell pepper

1 ½ Tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 Tablespoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 cup chicken broth

1 can red beans, rinsed and drained

Directions:

Cook bacon in a large pot until crisp. Remove from pan and lay on paper towels. Reserve 1 Tablespoon of the bacon fat in the pan and drain the rest. I just used paper towels (holding it between tongs since it’s very very hot!) and soaked up the fat until I had about a tablespoon left. I started this process in a skillet and then remembered I should’ve started with a large pot instead of transferring halfway through.

With the pot on medium-high heat, add onions and bell peppers and cook until softened.

Just a quick aside – tomato paste that comes in a tube is a wonderful addition to your pantry (or refrigerator once it’s opened). I used to buy tomato paste in a can but recipes never called for the whole can so I ended up throwing it away because it would be a while before I used it again. I hear you can freeze it, but why go to all that trouble when you can buy it in a tube and just put the top on it? I def recommend getting this.

Add tomato paste, and stir until it’s evenly distributed.

Add the rice, oregano, cumin, and salt to the pot and cook until heated through.

Using kitchen scissors, cut up the bacon into little pieces over the pot and drop it over the rice.

Add the cup of chicken broth and stir until most of the liquid has evaporated – about 5 minutes.

Serve warm and enjoy!

This was another one of those meals that I made for lunches so the presentation isn’t very appetizing. Trust me when I say, it was delicious!

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