Hawaiian Sausage and Rice Bake

I made this easy dish one evening this summer when it wasn't so hot that I didn't mind turning on the oven.  This dish takes a little bit of prep, but it gets assembled in the casserole dish in which it is baked, which saves me some time on clean up.  What I love most about this dish, though, is the flavor.  

I found this recipe in one of those small magazines sold near the checkout stand in the market.  This particular book contained recipes for casseroles and one-dish meals.  This dish gets all 8's on the Melnarik rating scale.

To a small saucepan, I added the water and butter.

I turned the heat on high and brought the mixture to a boil.

In the meantime, after preheating the oven to 375°F, in a 2 1/2-quart baking dish, I placed the Rice-A-Roni Fried Rice Mix (including the seasoning packet), pineapple preserves, kielbasa, onion, bell peppers, and the boiling water/butter mixture.  I apologize for not including pictures of chopping the vegetables and slicing the kielbasa.  The vegetables are standard chopping.  The kielbasa I cut horizontally, then cut into 1/4-inch slices.

Using a spoon, I stirred these ingredients until completely combined.

I then covered the casserole dish and placed it in the oven and baked it at 375°F for 45 minutes.

I removed the dish from the oven and took it directly to the table where it was ready to serve!

What Hawaiian flavored dish wouldn't be complete without a sweet Hawaiian roll on the side?  The pineapple preserves give this dish and unexpected sweetness.  Enjoy!

Hawaiian Sausage and Rice Bake

1 ¼ cups water

2 tablespoons butter

1 (6.2 oz.) package Rice-A-Roni Fried Rice mix

½ cup pineapple preserves

1 pound cooked kielbasa, halved lengthwise, cut into ¼-inch slices

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

1 medium red bell pepper, chopped

Heat oven to 375°F.  In small saucepan, bring water and butter to a boil.  In ungreased 2 1/2 –quart casserole, combine all ingredients including contents of seasoning packet and boiling water; mix well.  Cover.  Bake at 375°F for 40 to 45 minutes or until rice is tender.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Teriyaki Finger Steaks

It had been a while since I had made this tasty and tender dish, and with it being hot outside, I thought now was the perfect time to make these easy Asian-flavored steaks.

I tore this recipe out of a Country magazine way back in 1998 and they have received all 9's on the Melnarik rating scale every time I have made them!

I began by trimming any excess fat from the steaks and cutting them into 3/4-inch wide strips.

I then placed them in a gallon size zip lock bag.

In a 2-cup measuring cup (I find it easier to pour into the bag this way) I combined the soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, dried minced onion, vegetable oil, garlic, ground ginger and pepper; whisking to combine.

I poured this marinade over the beef and closed the bag.

Using my hands, I manipulated the beef strips in the marinade until I could see that all of them had been covered in the liquid.  I then placed the bag in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

About 10 minutes before I was ready to grill, I removed the strips from the refrigerator and loosely threaded them on metal skewers, and discarded the marinade.  If you are going to use bamboo skewers, soak them in water while the beef is in the refrigerator to prevent them from burning on the grill.

 

I then grilled them on a table-top gas grill over medium-hot heat, turning once, for about 10 minutes.

I put all of the skewers on a platter to be served family style, but the meat can be removed from the skewers before serving.  I served them with some white rice and a Crunchy Asian Salad (see post below), which was the perfect accompaniment to these tender steaks.  I've also served this dish as an appetizer at a party where all of the food was grilled.  Enjoy!

Teriyaki Finger Steaks

2 pounds boneless sirloin steak

½ cup soy sauce

¼ cup vinegar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons minced onion

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 garlic clove, minced

½ teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Tim fat from steak and slice length-wise into 3/4-inch strips; place in a zip lock plastic bag. Combine all remaining ingredients; pour over meat, seal bag and manipulate meat so every piece is covered in the marinade.  Refrigerate for 2 – 3 hours.  Drain, discarding the marinade.  Loosely thread meat strips onto skewers.  Grill over medium-hot heat, turning often, for 7 – 10 minutes or until meat reaches desired doneness.

Crunchy Asian Salad

I was grilling some Teriyaki Finger Steaks (see post above) and wanted an Asian-flavored side dish to accompany them.  I went to Pinterest to see if there was a salad I'd like to try and discovered this tasty sounding salad.  I will tell you that not all recipes I find on Pinterest are good, but this one was certainly "blog worthy!"

This salad is easy to prepare and assemble, plus it's crunch is somehow satisfying!  Although I found the recipe through Pinterest, it originated at kraftrecipies.com.  This Asian salad got one 8 and three 9's on the Melnarik rating scale!

As I didn't want the almonds to be added to the salad warm, I decided the first step would be to toast them.  I put them in a small, dry saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally at first.  I had to keep my eye on them, because once they burn, they have to be discarded.

When I began to really smell the almonds (toasting them really brings out the almond aroma) I began stirring constantly until I was satisfied with the amount of toasting.  If you compare the two pictures above, you can see that they have become more opaque and some have actually browned.  This is the perfect blend.  I removed them from the heat and spread them out on a paper towel to cool.

In a small bowl, I combined 1/4 cup vinegar, 3 tablespoons water and the salad dressing mix as directed  on the envelope of the Good Seasons Italian salad dressing mix.

To that, I added the sugar and soy sauce, mixing well.

In a large bowl, I placed the coleslaw mix and added the toasted almonds, the sunflower seeds and green onions.  Using salad tongs, I tossed these ingredients to combine them.  At this point, the majority of the nuts ended up on the bottom of the bowl, but I knew they would be distributed evenly once I added the dressing.

Next, I discarded the seasoning packets from the ramen noodle packages and broke up the noodles.  Then I added them to the cole slaw mix, tossing to combine.

Before adding the dressing, I gave it another quick whisk, as some of the ingredients had separated a bit, and tossed it into the salad.

This was the perfect side dish for my Teriyaki Finger Steaks, but would make a great dish to take to a potluck meal.  My son took leftovers to work the next day and said it was still crunchy!  Also, the ingredients can be prepared the day before and tossed the day you serve it to save you time!  Enjoy!

Crunchy Asian Salad

1 envelope (.7 oz.) Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix

½ cup sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 packages (3 oz. each) ramen noodle soup mix

1 package (16 oz.) coleslaw blend (cabbage slaw mix)

4 green onions, sliced

½ cup dry roasted or unsalted sunflower kernels

½ cup sliced almonds

Place almonds in a small saucepan and toast over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until almonds are lightly browned and the almond aroma is more pronounced.

In a small bowl, prepare dressing mix according to package directions.  Stir in sugar and soy sauce.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, place coleslaw mix, onions, sunflower kernels, and almonds.  Discard seasoning packets from ramen noodle packages and break up noodles; add to coleslaw mix.  Add dressing; toss to coat.

How to make ahead:

Prepare dressing; refrigerate up to 24 hours before using.  Noodles can be broken and placed in a zip lock bag with the sunflower kernels and almonds and stored at room temperature.  Everything is ready to toss together!