Easter is next weekend, and if you want something a little different but still scrumptious, impressive, and within your budget, you may want to try our
Easter Feast for a family gathering of 12 for
under $50!!A succulent Cumin-Honey Pork Roast with caramelized onions, baked Idaho potatoes fanned with crispy cheese topping, fresh green beans with a bacon balsamic glaze, plus light and lively lemon dill carrots and fresh bakery rolls on the side. Oh, but it doesn't end there. It all begins with a luscious fresh spinach salad with hardboiled eggs, crisp bacon and sliced strawberries tossed in a fresh orange vinaigrette, and finishes with a fabulous decadent Hummingbird Cake with cream cheese frosting decorated for the special occasion!
All the recipes are
easy to make, so you will be enjoying the day with your family and friends as you feast on fantastic food!
Let's see how this
Easter Feast adds up --- recipes follow!
TALLY:Fresh Spinach Salad with Egg, Bacon, & Strawberries Tossed a Fresh Orange Vinaigrette
12 Cups Fresh Spinach 5.58
4 Cups Strawberries 5.00
12 Slices Bacon 1.87
12 Hardboiled Eggs .88
¾ Cup Orange Juice .49
½ Cup Vinegar 1.23
¼ Cup Oil .16
Total for 1st Course: $15.21 Honey-Cumin Roasted Pork Loin with Caramelized Onions
4-5 lb. Pork Loin 9.10
3 Tabs. Honey .89
1 Tab. Lemon Juice .12
2 Large Onions (2 lbs.) 1.98
1 Cup Chicken broth .68
Total: $15.37 Baked Fanned Potatoes with Crisp Cheese Topping
12 Idaho Potatoes 1.00
½ Cup Butter .65
1 Cup Shredded Cheddar 1.19
½ Cup Shredded Parmesan .74
Total: 3.58Green Beans with Bacon - Balsamic Glaze
2 lbs. Green Beans 3.45
¼ Cup Shallots .73
2 Slices Bacon .31
¼ Cup Vinegar .61
Total: $5.10Lemon Dill Carrots
2 lbs. Carrots 1.49
½ Cup Chicken Broth .34
2 Tabs. Lemon .20
2 Tabs. Fresh Dill .29
Total: $2.32
12 Fresh Bakery Rolls $2.49Hummingbird Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
3 Cups Flour .36
2 Cups Sugar .39
3 Large Eggs .22
1 Cup Canola Oil .65
8 oz. can Pineapple .95
3 Bananas .88
8 oz. Cream Cheese 1.00
½ Cup Butter .65
16 oz. Confectioner Sugar .69
Total: $5.79Grand Total $49.86------------------RECIPES----------------------
Spinach Salad with Egg, Bacon, and Strawberries Tossed with a Fresh Orange Vinaigrette
12 Cups Fresh spinach
4 Cups Sliced Strawberries
12 strips Bacon, browned, drained, and crumbled
12 Hard cooked eggs, quartered or sliced
Fresh Orange Vinaigrette
¾ Cup Fresh orange juice
½ Cup White balsamic vinegar
¼ Cup Canola or Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Arrange spinach on 12 plates and drizzle orange vinaigrette over spinach leaves. Arrange slices or wedges of hard cooked eggs and slices of fresh strawberries on each plate. Top with crumbled bacon.
**If you are using almonds on the green beans, you can also top with toasted almonds and if you have extra oranges, you could also add orange slices. Nice topped with crumbled feta or goat cheese if you have some in the refrigerator --- just make this your own!
Vinaigrette: Combine juice, vinegar, and oil in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
Yield: 12 servingsHoney-Cumin Roasted Pork Loin with Caramelized Onions
1 3 ½ -5 boneless pork loin roast*
3 Tabs. Honey
1 Tab. Fresh Lemon Juice
1 Tab. Ground Cumin
1 ½ Tsp. Kosher Salt
¼ Tsp. Ground Red Pepper (Cayenne)
2 Large Onions (about 2 lbs.) - each onion cut into 8 wedges
1 Cup Less Sodium Chicken broth, divided or ½ cup broth & ½ cup white wine
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Trim fat from pork and score a diamond pattern on top of the pork roast.
Combine honey and the next four ingredients (through cayenne pepper) in a small bowl. Combine 2 tablespoons of this honey mixture and the onion wedges, toss well to combine.
Place pork roast on a rack of a roasting pan. Arrange onion wedges around pork. Brush remaining honey mixture over the pork.
Bake at
375 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until thermometer registers 155 to 160 degrees - the temperature of the roast will increase 5 degrees upon standing. Place the pork on a platter and cover with foil. Allow roast to stand 10 minutes for the pork to reabsorb its juices prior to carving.
Remove rack from roasting pan. Add ½ cup broth or if you prefer, ½ cup white wine, to the drippings in the pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Combine drippings mixture and ½ cup broth in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.
Cut pork diagonally across grain into thin slices. Serve with onions and sauce.
Yields: 12 servings * I purchased a large boneless pork loin roast and cut the thicker end, approximately 4-5 lbs, for the Easter feast, leaving me extra meat to slow cook and shred for BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches or Mexican Seasoned Shredded Meat for tacos, enchiladas, and burritos. A bargain for 2 plus meals!!!
Green Beans with Bacon - Balsamic Glaze
2 lbs. Green beans, trimmed
2 bacon slices
¼ Cup Shallots, minced
3 Tabs. Coarsely chopped almonds (optional)
¼ Cup White Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tab. Brown Sugar
Cook beans in boiling water 6-7 minutes or just until crisp tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain well. Set aside.
Cook bacon in a small skillet over medium high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, and crumble.
Add minced shallots to the bacon drippings in pan; sauté 1 minute. Add almonds (if using) and sauté 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and cool.
Add vinegar and sugar to pan, and stir until sugar dissolves. Add crumbled bacon.
Pour mixture over beans, tossing gently to coat.
Yield: 12 - ½ cup servings.Lemon Dill Carrots
2 tsp. Olive or Canola oil
6 cups Diagonally sliced thin Carrot, about 2 lbs.
½ Cup Fat-free less sodium chicken broth
2 tsp. Grated lemon rind
2 Tab. Fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. Kosher salt
¼ tsp. Freshly ground pepper or to taste
2 Tab. Fresh dill or 2 tsp.dried dill
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, add carrots; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in broth, lemon rind, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Cover and reduce heat to medium low, and cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in dill.
Serves 12 - ½ cup servingsBaked Fanned Potatoes with Crisp Cheese Topping
12 Idaho Russet Potatoes
1 stick Butter
Salt and Pepper to Taste
½ Cup Shredded Parmesan
1 Cup Shredded Cheddar
Scrub potatoes and slice each potato crosswise (the short way) into ¼" slices, leaving about ¼" on the bottom (not cutting through) to connect all the slices. (I use two wooden spoons - one on each side of the potato I am cutting to prevent slicing through the potato - works like a charm!)
Place on baking tray and slightly fan slices open - they will open more as the bake. Drizzle potatoes with melted butter - lightly salt and pepper the potatoes (or you can use Montreal Steak Seasoning if you have it).
Bake in a preheated
425 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle the russet potatoes with shredded Parmesan and Cheddar or a favorite shredded cheese. Put baked potatoes back into the oven for another 10 minutes or until tender and the cheese crisps --- yummy!
NOTE: You can put the potatoes in a 375 degree oven with your roast 15 minutes after you put roast in. After adding the cheese, cook the potatoes another 15 minutes or until tender.
Yields: 12 servingsHummingbird Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Hummingbird Cake is a traditional Southern specialty and apparently got its name from "as hummingbirds flock to the sweet nectar --- so everyone to this cake". It is a beautiful three layer cake with the consistency of a carrot cake, but with the flavors of bananas and pineapple and held together by a delectable Cream Cheese Frosting - yum!
You can bake this cake as a three layer cake, a two layer cake, a Bundt cake, or a sheet cake. Just adjust the cooking time! Tint the icing a pretty pastel color and decorate the cake with candy bunnies and eggs for Easter --- a real crowd pleaser!
Hummingbird Cake3 Cups All-purpose Flour
2 Cups Granulated Sugar
1 Teas Ground Cinnamon
1 Teas. Baking Soda
1/2 Teas. Salt
3 Eggs, well-beaten
1 Cup Canola or Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 Tsp. Vanilla
1 - 8 oz. Can of Crushed Pineapple in Juice, undrained
2 Cups Chopped Ripe Bananas --- approx. 3
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans or Walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two or three 9" cake pans. (see notes above)
Combine first five (dry) ingredients, flour through salt, in a large bowl.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the well-beaten eggs and oil, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not Beat!
Stir in vanilla, pineapple, bananas, and pecans if using.
Spoon batter into 2 or 3 greased and floured 9" cake pans.
Bake at
350 degrees for 30 minutes or until pick in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans & cool completely.
Spread frosting between layers and on top & sides of cake.
Cream Cheese Frosting1 8oz. package of Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 Cup Butter, softened
1 lb. box Confectioner's Sugar, sifted, or more to reach consistency for spreading
1 Tsp. Vanilla
Combine cream cheese and butter, beating with electric mixer until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy, adding more sugar if needed to get the consistency you want. Depending on whether you bake a two or three layer cake and how much frosting you like, you may need to make additional frosting.
If you make this as a Bundt cake (350 degrees for 1 hour or until pick inserted comes out clean), you make simply want to top it with a glaze of melted butter, some of the pineapple juice from the canned pineapple, and sugar - can still tint it and decorate!
So, staying on your budget, go ahead and prepare a fabulous Easter Feast for your Family and Friends!!!
HAPPY, HOPPY EASTER TO ALL!Jungle Jim's Margie Potts
