16 posts tagged “vegetarian”
We've eaten out a lot this week, and not on purpose. It just happened. So it was only natural that we felt like we needed to have a healthy meal last night. Why is it we stuff our bellies at restaurants, but not so much at home? Anyway, thanks to my Mom and Dad's garden (shame on us, we did not even attempt to grow our own food this summer), we were able to have a meal with six, yes six different vegetables.
I was lucky enough to find Crisp Tomato, Zucchini, and Eggplant Bread Gratin in the Sept. '08 Food and Wine Magazine (This month's issue is full of great recipes. I've already made three of them this past week). With this recipe, I'd use up some vegetables and the inside of the bread from the salami sandwich. When I was making the sandwich, I couldn't bring myself to throw out the extra bread taken from it's middle. Here was my solution.
I followed the techinique of the recipe, but not so much the ingredients to the letter, so I guess I should write out my version instead of theirs. You may get a different product with their recipe...although I'm sure it would be very good, maybe even better. I didn't have eggplant and I used summer squash instead of zucchini. I also used dried herbs instead of fresh. (Oh, the horror).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a colander, toss 1-2 small-medium sliced yellow squash with 1/2 t. salt and let stand for 20 minutes. Drain well and gently squeeze out any excess liquid.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together 2-3 T olive oil with 2-3 smashed cloves of garlic. Brush a bit of the garlic oil into an 8x8 inch square baking dish. Tear one 7-oz loaf or rustic bread with crusts removed into 2-inch pieces and line the bottom of the baking dish with bread, fitting the pieces tightly together. Brush the bread with more of the garlic oil. and season with salt and pepper. Crush some dried basil over the bread.
In a medium bowl toss the squash with some of the garlic oil and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle 2 small-medium tomatoes, sliced, with salt and pepper. Arrange squash and tomatoes over bread, overlapping if necessary. Sprinkly with dried thyme and basil. Drizzle with remaining garlic oil.
Bake the gratin for about 40 minutes, until the vegetables begin to brown and the bottom of the bread is golden brown. Remove the gratin from the oven and let stand until colled slightly, about 10 minutes. Serve.
Husband was required to take lunch into the office today. I've been told there's some sort of summer lunch rotation schedule. I live for these type of activities! As much as I enjoy it, it is a bit stressful. In a group of 12 or so people, there's bound to be a picky eater or two. Luckily, I'm not used to dealing with a finicky eater on a daily basis (it was one of my must-not-have's in a husband).
We decided on vegetable pizza as one of the menu items. Who doesn't love this pizza? It's basically a cheese ball on a croissant with a few veggies thrown in to make it appear healthy. I guess if you're not a vegetable person this could be a problem. Just shake them off. Or seriously, learn to like them! Vegetables are good for you. (Stepping off soap box).
In addition to making the huge pizza for the office, I made a personal size one for myself. It is a bit large for one person. I'd like to think it's not all going to be eaten today, but when you're home by yourself these types of things can happen...
Vegetable Pizza
(This recipe came from my Mom. Not sure where she found it).
(makes one 10x15 jelly roll pan, plus a little extra)
2 cans crescent roll dough
2 8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese
1/3 c. mayo (or miracle whip if you like that tang)
1/3 c. sour cream
1 t. dill weed
2 T minced green onion
1 t. garlic salt
1 c. shredded chedder cheese
assorted vegetables chopped finely (I think I had about 4 cups)
Spread out crescent dough in the bottom of a jelly roll pan. Press seams together, so that the entire bottom of the pan is covered and there are no cracks. Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes. Cool.
Mix together cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, dill, onion, and garlic salt. Spread out evenly on baked/cooled dough.
Top with cheese and vegetables. Press lightly to set into the cream cheese.
Serve.
When I left the grocery store yesterday, I was planning on ribeye steaks, German potato salad, and creamed spinach for dinner. The photo to the left was our actual dinner. What happened on the way home from the store?
Marriage. Though really wonderful, it's full of compromises and surprises. Who knew Husband would not be hungry for his favorite cut of beef?
His craving, manicotti, actually turned into a much easier meal for me to prepare. The steaks will wait in the freezer for another day. (Ah! We've got something to look forward to).
This was my first attempt at manicotti. Actually, now that I think about it, this is my second attempt at manicotti, but my first successful attempt. We've all had bloopers in the kitchen, right? ...left out ingredients, burnt food, greased a pizza pan with a slab of ham instead of PAM, etc.
Think back about 15 years. I was in high school and going to make manicotti for dinner. I went to our town grocery store, and there were no manicotti shells. This is a small town grocery store. It probably had never occured to them to stock this "foreign food." Thinking that I was quick on my feet, I grabbed the rigatoni pasta shells. They were basically the same shape, just a bit smaller. It was going to work. I don't think my mom had ever laughed so hard when I returned. She was right, I wasn't able to stuff these tiny shells. Even if I was able, it would have taken hours.
For this dinner I didn't follow any particular recipe, just looked at a couple before I got started. I have a feeling (once you have the right shells) it's fairly foolproof, so use whatever ingredients you have, I did.
Manicotti
(makes 1 9x13 or 2 8inch squares)
2 portabella mushroom caps, chopped
1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
3 small cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. basil
1/2 t. oregano
6 oz. (almost all) bag of spinach, chopped
15 oz. ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 1/2 c. grated mozzerella cheese, divided
3/4 c. grated parmesan cheese, divided
8 oz. manicotti pasta shells, cooked to package instructions
1 jar pasta sauce
Saute mushrooms, bell pepper, and garlic in 1/2 T. of oil until softened and mushrooms' liquid has evaporated. Add basil and oregano and season with salt and pepper. Add spinach and continue sauteing until spinach is wilted and liquid is evaporated. Cool.
Mix together ricotta, egg, 1 c. mozzerella and 1/2 c. parmesan. Add cooled veggies.
Spread 1/2 of pasta sauce in bottom of pan(s). Fill pasta shells with cheese mixture. (I used a ziploc and piped the filling into the shells). Placed filled shells on top of sauce in pans. When all shells are filled and in pan(s)(for me 12 shells), top with remaining pasta sauce, mozzerella and parmesan.
Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes.
*Big T (Brother-in-law) has many skillet scramble meals in his cooking repertoire. Maybe he'll make room for another.
We made it home last night, minus one suitcase, from our vacation. (After much lamenting, it did arrive safely late today). We had a great time! There are many stories to tell! It was a relaxing week, but what is it about traveling that makes one so tired? Today, we needed a vacation from our vacation. The unpacking, the laundry, the mail, emails, phone calls, the lawn...it all piled up while we were away.
Lunch time came quickly. Having rid the house of most food items before we left, there wasn't much to work with. That's what's so nice about the internet. Not expecting to find much when I googled "eggs and peas recipe," several websites popped up. I decided on this one. With only a couple of modifications, lunch was on the table. No one was more surprised than me that it actually tasted good too. If not for lunch, this would also make a great side dish for an asian inspired meal.
Curried Eggs and Peas Fried Rice
serves 2
1 T. cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 c. cooked rice
1/2 c. frozen peas
2-3 eggs whisked with 1/2 t. curry powder, scrambled
1 T soy sauce
salt and pepper
Heat oil in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Stir fry garlic 1 minute. Add onion and stir fry for 3 minutes. Add rice, peas, and eggs. Stir fry for 3 more minutes. Add soy sauce and season to taste.
This week has whizzed by! I, honestly, can't remember off the top of my head what we've even eaten for dinner all week. I do know that I only cooked one night. And that's because I was able to take 5 minutes in the morning to throw a roast in the crockpot. (Really, if you don't own a crockpot, you should invest. They are real time savors).
This particular evening, I took an extra 10 minutes to put together Asparagus, Tomato, and Green Pea Saute to go with my crockpot roast. This is a side dish we've been eating for years and love it.
Asparagus, Tomato, and Green Pea Saute
adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home
6 sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil) (if I don't have these, I leave them out)
1/2 c. boiling water
1 T. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
3/4 lb. fresh asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1/4 c. dry white wine (I've use white, red, chicken broth, and even vinegar with good results)
1 large tomato, diced (about 1 cup)
1 generous T finely chopped fresh tarragon (1 1/2 t. dried) (I always use basil)
1/2 c. fresh or frozen tiny green peas
salt and pepper to taste
crumble mild chevre (I've also used parmesan or feta)
In a small heatprrof bowl, cover the sun-dried tomatoes with the boiling water, and set aside.
Prepare all ingredients and have them within easy reach before you begin to stir-fry.
Heat the oil in a large skillet or a wok on high heat. Swirl the garlic in the oil for just a moment and then add the asparagus. Stir-fry for half a minute. Add the wine, cover, and let steam for a couple of minutes. Uncover and add the tomatoes and tarragon. Cook on high heat for 2-3 minutes to reduce the liquid. Drain and chop the sun-dried tomatoes, and then add them along with the peas. Stir-fry until the asparagus is crisp tender and the liquid is reduced to a sauce. Season.
Serve immediately, topped with cheese.
Caught a mouse. We assume he had been living with us for about a week and a half. We know because we saw it run across the kitchen floor. Eek! After a couple of different types of traps and a few days later, he was caught. Husband had left for work super early that morning, and didn't check the traps. I woke to find little mouse legs peeking out of the trap, much like the Wicked Witch of the East under Dorothy's house without the striped socks. I had two cups of coffee before I was able to do anything about it. It wasn't so bad. I was a big girl. I disposed of his body, and couldn't help but think of the cute little rat from last year's hit movie, Ratatouille. I wonder if our little intruder had been helping me out in the kitchen, just like Remy helped Linguini. Somehow my situation didn't seem as endearing.
Have you lost your appetite yet? This Ratatouille Tart from Food Network's Ellie Krieger was delish! Of course, I made a few minor adjustments. Had a whole wheat/oatmeal pizza crust in the freezer that I had previously made, so I used that instead of making a new crust. I also mixed up the veggies a bit. I used, eggplant, summer squash, tomatoes, garlic, red onion, and marinated artichoke hearts. It was light and tasty.
Few things mark the much anticipated arrival of spring: obviously the calendar, sprouts of daffodils and tulips out of the earth, birds chirping, the need for a sweater in the morning but not in the afternoon, and asparagus' sudden dip in price at the supermarket.
Thought I'd try an asparagus tart. I didn't have the one ingredient that would have made this tart spectacular...puff pastry. Despite that, this was a decent recipe. It looks much prettier than it tasted. Don't get me wrong it was fine, just not impressive. If you're going to try it, pack as many asparagus spears in as you can. The bites loaded with asparagus were 100% better than those without. Also, I left out the tarragon and used a dill havarti cheese instead of the recipe's parmesan. This was a good substitution in my opinion. Here's the recipe I loosely based the filling on:
Yesterday marked the beginning of the Chinese New Year. It's the second holiday this week that we don't really celebrate, but another excellent excuse to try something new on the dinner table.
I have a new cookbook that I hadn't tried yet, In Nirmala's Kitchen: Everyday World Cuisine. The author, Nirmala Narine, travels all over the world, and the recipes from her travels are in this book. I wasn't sure how good the book was going to be, after all I got it on a sale rack for $5.99, but both recipes I tried were delicious, so the book tastes like it's going to be a winner.
From the Chinese section of the book, I chose a recipe that Husband had been drooling over, Sichuan Peppercorn-Sesame Beef. Maybe it reminded him of his college days of grocery store Chinese? Now, what to serve with it? I personally love dumplings! The Tibetan section (Tibet is part of the People's Rebulic of China) of the book provided the perfect recipe for steamed dumplings. It was a good feast.
Maya's Tibetan Momos (Steamed Dumplings)
Adapted from In Nirmala's Kitchen: Everyday World Cuisine
2 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, grated
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 t. ground ginger
2 t. ground turmeric
2 t. ground cumin
1/8 t. ground cayenne pepper
2 t. soy sauce
7 cups shredded green cabbage (this was half a head for me)
1/4 c. firmly packed chopped cilantro
Approximately 40 wonton wrappers
Nonstick vegetable spray
In a large saucepan heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the turmeric, cumin, cayenne, and soy sauce; continue to cook for 2 minutes more, stirring occasionally.
Add the cabbage and cook, turning occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add cilantro, toss to combine, and allow to rest until cooled.
To make wontons, place a wonton wrapper on a work surface and lightly brush with water. Keep stack of wonton wrappers covered with a damp cloth. Place about 1 t. of filling in the center of each wonton. Moisten the sides of the wrapper with water and then fold in half diagonlly to form a triangle, squeezing out any air from the center. Press the wonton firmly all around to seal it. Moisten the corners with water and fold in so that they overlap each other. Transfer wontons to a baking sheet and cover with a damp cloth. Repeat until all of the filling has been used.
Fill a saucepan large enough to hold a steamer insert with 1/2 inch of water. Bring to a steady simmer over medium heat. Genersouly spray the surface of the steamer insert with nonstick vegetable spray. Place as many dumplings as will fit into the steamer in a single layer without touching each other. Cover and steam over medium heat for 10-12 minutes. Remove dumplings as they are done and keep warm. Repeat with remaining dumplings. Serve with chili sauce.
Husband and I like to flatter ourselves into thinking that we have a bit of a sophisticated palate. Who are we kidding? While we do enjoy "fine" foods, we equally enjoy the less than "fine." Just last night, I ate a half box of KRAFT Mac and Cheese for dinner. We enjoy the occasional Manwhich, Little Debbie Cake, Doritos...the list could go on and on. Don't forget "white trash" taco salad. You know, the kind with Catalina dressing. We love this.
When you're craving Mexican, try this casserole. While it's not healthy eating, you'll notice we paired it with a nice green salad. If you were to order this at your favorite Mexican Cocina, you'd probably be served endless chips and salsa. If your will power is a good as ours, that's at least 3 baskets of chips. Salad with a little full-fat ranch is a bit better for you, I think.
This really is a delicious casserole. It's not fine food, but food even a socialite could love, for this recipe was courtesy of a Junior League cookbook. Can you imagine the little ladies with the desiger clothing, sunglasses and a little sour cream dribbling down their faces? (Think TV character Anastasia Beaverhausen). Forget your disguise. Just dig in to this one.
Bean Tortilla Bake (recipe adapted from Women of Great Taste Cookbook, Junior League of Wichita)
1/2 onion, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
1/2 can diced tomatoes with liquid
1/4 c. plus 2 T picante sauce or salsa
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t. ground cumin
1 can refried beans (original recipe called for black beans)
1/2 lb. ground turkey, browned (optional)
6 ish flour tortillas, 6 inch
1/2 c. grated Monterey Jack cheese
2 or 3 dashes hot pepper sauce (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 dgrees. Grease a 8 or 9 inch square baking dish. In a large saucepan combine onion, bell pepper, tomatoes with juice, picante sauce, garlic, cumin and hot pepper sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Stir in beans and ground turkey. Spread a third of the mixture in a prepared dish. Place 2 -3 tortillas, overlapping as neccessary (don't be afraid of this), on top of beans and sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Repeat layers and top with remaining bean mixture. Cover and bake until thoroughly heated, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with remaining cheese and let stand for 10 minutes. Top with tomatoes, salsa, green onions, sour cream, and/or black olives.
(Some of the weird measurements above are the result of me cutting the recipe in half. The original makes a 9x13 pan).
I usually decide what's for dinner and then make sure I have the ingredients. (I go to the store a lot, even if it's just to pick up one or two items). Every now and then, I'm left with a hodge-podge of leftover ingredients. When I can come up with a menu using just these ingredients, I always declare, "This was a free meal." I know this is idiot mentallity, as we paid for these grocerys at some point. (We are not in the habit of stealing food). Using just what happens to be in the pantry makes me feel like I've made something from nothing.
Edamame and Sauteed Vegetable Soup is not the prettiest, but was a healthful and delicious soup. Husband said it had a rich deep flavor!
Follow the link above for the original recipe from Epicurious, or try my version below.
Edamame and Sauteed Vegetable Soup
1 T olive oil
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 c. frozen corn kernals
garlic powder
salt and pepper
1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth *
3/4 t. dried thyme
1/3 c. orzo
2 c. shelled cooked edamame beans
Heat oil in large pot. Add next 5 ingredients. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Saute until veggies are deep golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove and reserve 1 cup of chopped vegetables. Add tomatoes, broth and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until vegetables in pot are very tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Using an immersion blender, puree soup. Return reserved vegetables to soup. Bring soup back to boil and add pasta. Cook until pasta in tender, about 10 minutes. Add edamame and simmer until edamame is tender. Serve.
*I used a carton of chicken broth (4 cups), plus 2 cups water and 1 t. bouillion powder.
