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Roasted Broccoli & Fregola Sarda

Ingredients

  • 1 lb broccoli, cut into small florets
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 Tbsp Za’atar seasoning
  • 2 eggs
  • ⅔ cup fregola sarda pasta
  • 2 Tbsps tahini
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1 oz. pecorino romano cheese
  • 3 Tbsps roasted almonds, roughly chopped
  • 1 bunch mint

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 450°. Spread onions and broccoli on sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and za’atar seasoning. Toss to coat and spread in an even layer. Roast 20-22 minutes or until browned and tender when pierced with a fork.
  2. Heat a small pot of water to boiling on high for boiling the eggs. Heat another medium pot of salted water to boiling on high for the pasta. Add pasta to medium pot and cook 14-16 minutes, or until tender. Turn off heat, drain thoroughly, and return to pot.
  3. Add eggs to small pot of boiling water and cook 9-10 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water for a minute. When cool enough to handle, carefully peel the cooked eggs. Thinly slice into rounds and season with salt and pepper.
  4. Combine lemon juice, tahini, 2 Tbsps water, 2 Tbsps olive oil and minced garlic in a bowl for the dressing. Whisk until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. To the pot of cooked pasta, add the roasted vegetables, chopped almonds, crumbled cheese, dressing, and a drizzle of olive oil. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Serve topped with egg and another drizzle of olive oil. garnish with mint.

Serves 2

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Vegetable Grain Bowl

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. Brussels sprouts, halved
  • 12 oz. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes (~3 cups)
  • 2 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 3 Tbsp. butter, melted
  • 1 Tbsp. curry powder
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • ½ tsp. black pepper
  • 1 ½ cups uncooked pearled farro, rinsed
  • ½ cup plain whole-milk yogurt
  • 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 1 cup toasted pecan halves

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 425°. Combine Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, shallots, butter, curry powder, garlic, pepper, and ½ tsp. salt in a large bowl. Toss to coat. Spread in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake until vegetables are tender and lightly browned, 20-25 minutes.
  2. Bring 4 cups water and ½ tsp. salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over high. Add farro, and cook according to package directions; drain.
  3. Mix yogurt, lemon juice and 1 Tbsp. water in a bowl for topping. Split farro into 4 bowls, and divvy up vegetables evenly on top. Add pecans and yogurt sauce.

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Green Man

Ingredients

  • 2 cups spinach
  • 2 cups unsweetened coconut milk or your favorite nondairy milk
  • 1 orange, peeled
  • 1 cup cooked sweet potato, chilled
  • 1 cup frozen pineapple
  • 1/2 inch fresh ginger, peeled
  • Juice of 1⁄2 lime
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp flax or some other hippy seeds or protein powders

Preparation

  1. Blend the spinach and coconut milk until smooth.
  2. Add the orange, sweet potato, pineapple, ginger, lime juice, and protein. Blend again.

Makes 2 good sized smoothies. Adapted (..ahem) from thugkitchen.com

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Hummus

Ingredients

  • 1 can chickpeas (16 oz)
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1/3 cup tahini
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced (3 Tbsp.)
  • 1 tsp. smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp. cumin
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • parsley, chopped

Preparation

  1. Toast pine nuts in a pan until brown. Remove from pan, drizzle w/ some olive oil and set aside.
  2. Blend all ingredients, except pine nuts, in blender until smooth.
  3. Place in bowl, add pine nuts to center, and top with pinch of paprika and parsley
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Corn Salsa

Ingredients

  • 4 ears sweet yellow corn, grilled or roasted
  • 2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
  • 1/2 red onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
  • 3/4 cup cilantro, chopped
  • the juice of 2 limes
  • Salt and pepper

Preparation

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired.

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Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients

Casserole

  • 1 cup canned fried onions
  • 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 10 oz cremini or white mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
  • 2 lb green beans

Topping

  • 2 slices white sandwich bread, torn into pieces
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 cups canned fried onions

Preparation

  1. Pulse canned fried onions in food processor until finely ground. Set aside.
  2. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper and cook until mushrooms release their liquid, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and cook until liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and ground onions and cook until golden, about 1 minute. Stir in broth and cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, ntil sauce is very thick and creamy, about 10 minutes
  3. Combine sauce and green beans in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until beans are tender, 5 to 6 hours.
  4. Meanwhile, pulse bread and butter in food processor until coarsely ground. Toast bread crumbs and onions in clean skillet over medium-high heat until golden brown, 3-5 minutes. Top green beans with bread crumb mixture.
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Quinoa Pilaf

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup quinoa
  • 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1/2 large onion, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted in a dry skillet over medium-high heat until golden brown, 2 minutes
  • 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Preparation

  1. Bring quinoa and broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to low; cover; simmer until quinoa absorbs liquid, about 15 minutes.
  2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium­high heat. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to brown, about 6 minutes.
  3. When quinoa is done, fluff with a fork and transfer to a serving bowl. Stir in onion, pine nuts and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Do it with Salmon Florentine.

From self.com.

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Pepper Jelly

Ryan’s:

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup hot pepper, halved and seeded
  • 3/4 cup green pepper, halved and seeded
  • 6 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
  • 1 bottle Certo ( 1 pack) (2 packs per container).

Preparation

  1. Add peppers, vinegar, and sugar to blender and blend.
  2. Move to large pot and boil (will come up)…
  3. Soon as it’s boiling  take off stove
  4. Let stand for 5 min. Add certo. Skim off top.
  5. Pour into glass jars and seal.

Version #2

Trying this tonight. Recipe courtesy of www.jasonandshawnda.com/foodiebride/archives/9775

Ingredients

  • 1 orange bell pepper, halved and seeds and stem removed
  • 1 lb red jalapeno peppers, seeds and stems removed (for a spicy jelly, use a couple of serranos and leave in the seeds to half/all of the peppers)
  • 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 6 cups sugar
  • 3 oz liquid pectin
  • 1 Tbsp butter

Preparation

  1. Put the peppers into a food processor and process for 7-10 seconds. Alternately, you can finely chop them by hand – wear gloves!
  2. Transfer the peppers to a large pot and add the vinegar.
  3. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
  4. Pour through a fine mesh sieve to separate the peppers from the liquid, you should have 1 cup of liquid. Simmer longer to reduce, if necessary.
  5. Return the liquid and as much of the pulp/seeds (more for a much spicier jam, less/none for a slightly spicy jelly) to the pot and add the salt and sugar until dissolved.
  6. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
  7. When the mixture comes to a rolling boil (one that cannot be stirred down), boil for one minute, and then add the butter.
  8. Stir the butter into the mixture and then add the liquid pectin, stirring to mix.
  9. Let boil for 3 minutes.
  10. Ladle into sterile jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
  11. To store jars at room temperature, you’ll need to seal them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Otherwise, let the jars come to room temperature, place the lids on them, and then store them in the fridge (the jelly will keep a couple of months this way).
  12. Refrigerate jelly after seal is broken.http://www.jasonandshawnda.com/foodiebride/archives/9775

Notes:
Tried version 1 above and did 1/2 cup japs, and 3/4 cup “sweet mini peppers” which were yellow, orange and red. Came out tasty, but color was a dark amber, almost brown.

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Couscous Tabbouleh

Ingredients

  • 1 cup couscous
  • 2 large heirloom tomatoes, seeded and chopped
  • 1 small cucumber, seeded and chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • ½ small red onion, cut into ½-inch pieces
  • 2 Tbsp pine nuts
  • 1 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • Juice from 1 lemon
  • ¾ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • ½ small jalapeño chile, seeded and finely chopped

Preparation

  1. Heat oven to 350°. Cook couscous as directed on package; let cool and set aside.
  2. Toast pine nuts on a baking sheet in oven until slightly browned, about 6 minutes.
  3. Combine tomatoes and cucumber in medium bowl. Add garlic and onion.
  4. Add cooled couscous, chickpeas, oil, lemon juice, parsley and jalapeño; stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper and stir again. Marinate at room temperature about 20 minutes before serving.

Do it with these chicken kabobs.

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Eggplant and Rice Dressing

Alone or stuffed in a bell pepper, this dirty rice is the real ish. Ron, upon tasting, said this rice was “mad light, but mad good”.

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1/2 lb. ground pork
  • 1/2 lb. ground beef
  • 1 cup onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup bell peppers, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 2 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. cayenne
  • 1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (~ 2lbs)
  • 1 cup water
  • 6 cups cooked long-grain rice
  • 2 Tbsp. chopped parsley

Preparation

  1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and brown the pork and beef. Add the onions, bell peppers, and celery and cook for bout 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are wilted. Add the salt, cayenne, eggplant, and water. Cook, stirring often, for about 10 minutes.
  2. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes, or until eggplant is very soft. With a spoon, mash the eggplant against the side of the pot.
  3. Add the rice and parsley. Mix thoroughly, breaking up any clumps. Heat until rice is warmed through. Serve Immediately.

Makes 8 servings