The leading authority on basketball cupcakes and Basil-Lime martinis…
Recipe here.
This was pretty darned tasty vegetarian meal. I didn’t have Israeli couscous on hand at the moment (has anyone ever seen organic Israeli couscous?,) so I used orzo, instead. If you’re a die-hard carnivore, you could serve this as a side dish.
Recipe here.
A tasty and healthy vegetarian meal. Would also be a great side dish, if you wanted to serve it with a meat.
Recipe here.
Hubby and I had a very unusual week a few weeks ago when both kids were at different sleep-away camps at the same time, so we had the house to ourselves for a whole week. I decided that we needed to have something that we normally wouldn’t eat when the kids were around. I’d had my eye on this recipe for a while, so it seemed to fit the bill. It was quite tasty, although VERY peppery and spicy.
We made the leftovers (steak, potatoes AND spinach, with the remaining pepper cream sauce) into a frittata the next morning for breakfast. OUTSTANDING.
This was fantastic and came together much more quickly than I expected after a CRAZY night. It was inspired by this recipe in Cooking Light magazine, but I adapted it quite a bit to suit Vegetarian Girl and a preference for blue cheese over provolone.
1 large pre-baked pizza shell (I used Boboli)
1 small white onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large, ripe pear, thinly sliced
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese (I used Gorgonzola)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
4 cups baby arugula leaves
about 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Melt butter with olive oil in a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 10-15 minutes or until the onion is soft and lightly browned all over. Spread onions evenly over pizza crust.
Sprinkle cheese evenly over onions, then top with pear slices.
Bake pizza for 10 – 15 minutes or until cheese is thoroughly melted and crust is lightly browned.
Remove pizza from oven and top with toasted nuts.
Toss arugula with vinegar (you may not need all the vinegar) and place a nice layer of it over the top of the pizza.
Cut the pizza into wedges and serve with any leftover arugula on the side.
Adapted from this recipe.
Yum. This was a bit time-consuming because the quinoa, the greens and the mushrooms must all be cooked separately, but it was quite delicious and is healthy, almost in the extreme. Quinoa is a very healthy grain-like vegetable (it is possible to eat the greens, as well, but they are, as of now, uncommon outside of South America) , very high in protein, iron and fiber. It cooks very quickly and easily and has a nutty flavor and fluffy texture when cooked. Its flavor is neutral enough to easily accept the flavor of whatever stocks or seasonings that it is cooked with, so it lends itself to practically unlimited preparations. It is a great, gluten-free substitution for couscous or a healthier alternative to rice. Look for it in the bulk section of your favorite store. It is also getting popular enough that some stores are carrying it boxed, near the couscous and pasta and rice; look for a small, turquoisey-green box and know, in case you have to ask for it, that quinoa is pronounced “keen-wah.”
I intended to prepare this recipe as-is, but a lack of chard at my “everyday” grocery store, coupled with a whooping cough test (that’s a whole OTHER story) getting in the way of a planned, separate trip to the “gourmet” store to pick some up, caused me to go with an easy and already-on-hand Plan B: spinach. I just subbed a 10 ounce box of fresh baby spinach leaves for the chard and proceeded according to the recipe. I must confess that I am positively dogmatic about mushrooms, so this recipe took me MUCH longer than someone who is less obsessive. I LOVE thoroughly golden-brown mushrooms, so tend to only cook a dozen slices or so at a time, to insure that the mushrooms don’t crowd to much and soften instead of brown. The process is intensively time-consuming, but the pay-off is indescribable. If I ever open a pizza joint (who knows? it could happen!), I will offer super-golden browned mushrooms as a topping option. Too many times, when people cook mushrooms, they are more “steamed” than browned or sauteed. There should NEVER be a collection of liquid in the bottom of the pan. If there is, you’ve added to many to the pan at one time. In my opinion.
This, in my opinion, is what properly browned mushrooms should look like (NOTE: these are regular-old white, button mushrooms, so properly browned creminis will be even darker than this):
Note the golden-browned edges. Not a bit of sogginess and NO liquid in the bottom of the bowl. Mmm…somebody get me a fork.
So, back to the dish…
We all liked it. It was quite good and something that I would readily eat again. I love cremini mushrooms (which are the immature form of portabellas) and they give the dish a robust meatiness, even though it is completely vegetarian. I used some vegetable stock, instead of water, to cook the quinoa, just to give a bit more flavor. Quite nice.
Mini Veggie Potpies with Hats from The Family Fun Cookbook
(This cookbook is, by the way, a GREAT cookbook for families with young kids or for kids who are just beginning to cook on their own. The recipes are simple and universally appealing and there are lots of great, helpful tips and photos. I have used this cookbook for years and we are only just now beginning to “outgrow” it, and my kids are 12 and 14. I believe that there is a new, updated version of this book coming soon.)
1 small onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 1-pound package frozen mixed vegetables, such as peas, carrots, green beans and lima beans
1 10-ounce box frozen corn
1/2 red bell pepper, diced (optional)
2 10-ounce packages frozen puff pastry shells
Sauce:
2 cups water
1/2 cup cashew nuts
1 Tbsp poultry seasoning*
2 Tbsp flour
2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp brewer’s yeast (optional)
In a large skillet, saute the onion in the oil until transparent. Add all the vegetables and cook until heated through. Set the pan aside and cover.
Bake the pastry shells according to the package directions while you prepare the sauce. In a blender or food processor, blend 1 cup of the water with the cashews until creamy. Add the remaining water and ingredients, process until smooth, and pour the liquid into a heavy saucepan. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens, about 15 to 18 minutes.
Add the sauce to the vegetable medley, mix thoroughly, and spoon into hollowed-out pastry shells. Use the crispy shell tops as “hats” for the vegetables. Serve immediately. Serves 6.
*Poultry Seasoning:
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 tsp dried rubbed sage leaves
1 tsp dried marjoram leaves
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 small pinch nutmeg
These were quite yummy and surprisingly easy. Girl just ate this for her meal, but I added some sliced, grilled chicken for the Carni-boys. Gently flatten a boneless, skinless chicken breast with a flat mallet. Coat chicken with a VERY light layer of canola or olive oil (just a few drops) and then sprinkle/rub with a very generous coat of Baby Bam seasoning. Grill until cooked through. Allow to cool, off the heat/grill, for a few moments, then slice and serve.
Recipe here.
This was REALLY delicious. To adapt for Vegetarian Girl, I just set aside a few of the breadcrumbs without bacon for her to use. I also added the parsley to the pasta, rather than to the breadcrumbs.
This made a HUGE amount of pasta. We ate this for dinner one night and lunch another and then I still had a bit left over that I froze for Hubby to have for lunch sometime in the future. There’s not a lot of cauliflower in each portion, because it cooks down so much as it roasts, so if you want more veggies and not so much pasta, I would use more (double?) the amount of cauliflower or add some other veggies (thawed frozen peas? chopped fresh spinach?)
Adapted from this recipe on Herbivoracious.
2 changes:
I couldn’t find Delicata squash right now (I suspect it’s not in season until the weather gets a bit warmer,) so I used acorn squash, instead, and baked it before stuffing at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
I pan-toasted the orzo before boiling it.
This was really delicious, although a bit time-consuming (and dirty pan-intensive.) Surprisingly, all four of us liked it (even Hubby, who normally detests ANY dried fruit.)
From January 2009 Cooking Light. Recipe here.
Another Girl-friendly vegetarian meal. I clipped this one out of Cooking Light magazine about a year ago and the kids plucked it from my recipes files at last week’s “family meeting/menu planning session.” I was worried that they were just tired and eager to get the meeting over with and weren’t being too careful about their choices. I was worried that I would spend an hour cooking it and they wouldn’t like it. Hubby doesn’t like raisins. Boy isn’t wild about large amounts of onins and Girl isn’t a fan of too-exotic spices. But…my fears were unfounded. They all liked this and it also proved to be much quicker and easier than the recipe, at first glance, would seem. After cooking this, I read some of the reviews of the recipe on Cooking Light’s website (Duh! I should be doing that FIRST, right?) and I agree with most of what’s written there, namely:
Don’t skip the onion topping. In fact, consider making extra. It adds a TON of flavor.
Add a bit more ras el hanout spice to the veggies before roasting. (FYI – if you have a hard time finding Ras el Hanout, try CostPlus World Market. It is possible to make your own, but most recipes call for some pretty exotic ingredients that you’re not likely to use for anything else…best, in my opinion, to buy it, if possible.)
I highly recommend this recipe and I suspect that it’s one that will hold its own as leftovers (probably will even freeze well, although I’m going to test that theory, as I made a larger-than-called-for batch and we have quite a bit left over.)
Hubby and I will be happily devouring some of the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
Coriander-Crusted Pork Tenderloin recipe link
Sweet and Spicy Roasted Vegetables recipe link
Brown Rice with Walnuts and Golden Raisins recipe link
Wow! This whole menu is from Dec’09/Jan’10 Fine Cooking magazine and it was OUTSTANDING. The kids loved the veggies and rice and the pork was really amazing. It was definitely the standout of the meal. The crust on the outside was a TINY bit too spicy for Boy, but he just cut the edges off and ate the “middle.” Hubby and I loved the crusty edges. Yum.
Fine Cooking’s website can be a bit persnickety, as it is a mostly-subscription site, but try these links and see what happens. If all else fails, you can try googling the recipe name and see if someone else (who is less afraid of copyright attorneys than I am) has typed in it.
Oh, also? This meal was really quick, easy and well thought-out. The fact that the veggies and pork cook at the same temp was really helpful. It’s a very simply executed meal, in terms of juggling all three dishes easily at the same time.
(Vegetarian Girl just ate the rice and veggies.)
