Eggplant and Goat Cheese Sandwiches

I tried so many different eggplant recipes that I absolutely hated. It ust be a texture thing because I cannot stand it! Luckily, my friend introduced me to this scrumptious recipe that is quick and easy. Enjoy!

1 eggplant, sliced into very thin medallions
1 red bell pepper, sliced very thin
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, sliced very thin
1/3 C goat cheese
1 ball of fresh mozzarella (have not tried pre-shredded bags but would probably work in a pinch)
Good crusty bread (ciabatta or sourdough would be great!)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with PAM or other spray oil. Place the eggplant and bell pepper slices on the sheet and spray the tops with more oil. Salt the items and then place in the oven. Let cook until the eggplant is shriveled and the peppers are soft, about 15-20 minutes. Remove.

Cut the bread into sandwich halves, spread one side with goat cheese and the other with slices of fresh mozzarella. I was able to get about 4 sandwiches out of this amount of ingredients but it really depends on sizes. Top either side with the baked eggplant and bell peppers. Put both sides of the sandwich into an oven proof dish and bake until the cheese has started to melt (about 10 minutes). Remove from oven.

Take either side of the sandwich and bring them together to form, well, a sandwich! Eat heartily!

This recipe really is not that difficult and I love that it is so simple. You could probably add zucchini too, if you like.

Spaghetti Marinara

Ok, so this recipe is totally taken from Anthony Bourdain's TV show but it is the best spaghetti I have ever made or eaten! It tastes completely different than the canned variety, very light and airy...delicious! The only negative is the TIME it takes to make! Unless you have a friend helping you expect to spend about 1 hour on this baby.

• About 20 ripe plum tomatoes
• About 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Pinch of crushed red pepper
• 4 cloves of garlic, smashed
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbs. unsalted butter
• 1 oz. freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (about half a cup)
• 6 to 8 fresh basil leaves well washed and dried, stacked and rolled into a cylinder and cut thinly crosswise into a chiffonade (HINT:  this is the only reason why I have a basil bush growing in my backyard, if you do not have cheap fresh basil available you can use the dry. It just won't have the pow of basil flavor)
• 1 lb. spaghetti, either high-quality dry or homemade

 

To peel the tomatoes: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Have a large bowl of ice water nearby. Cut a small X on the bottom of each tomato. Ease about 5 tomatoes in the pot and cook. Let boil for about 15 seconds (or until the skin looks like it is going to come off) and then promptly move them to the waiting ice water, do this with the remaining tomatoes. Pull off the skin with the tip of a paring knife. If the skin sticks, put the tomato back into the water. Cut the tomatoes in half and use your finger to flick out the seeds. I also cut out any bits that are yellow and the top part where the stem was as they are fibrous and won't cook down well.
 Infused oil: combine 1/4 cup of olive oil, fresh basil, garlic, and crushed red pepper in a small sauce pan. Heat on lowest temp possible. You are infusing the oil with the flavors of the garlic, red pepper, and basil.

 

To cook the tomatoes: In a wide pan, heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Season generously with salt (about 1/2-3/4 T) as this will help draw out the water of the tomatoes.
Let the tomatoes cook for a few minutes to soften. Then, using a potato masher, chop the tomatoes finely. Cook the tomatoes for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tomatoes are tender and the sauce has thickened. Once finished cooking, strain the remaining oil from the sauce pan and slowly add it to the tomatoes until the sauce turns an orangish red color. This is really up to your own tastes, I usually ad about 1/8 of a cup. Refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze it for longer storage.

 

To serve: Bring a large pot of amply salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti until just shy of al dente. Reserve a little of the pasta cooking water. Add the pasta and butter to the sauce and cook over medium-high heat, gently tossing the pasta and the sauce together with a couple of wooden spoons and a lot of exaggerated movement (you can even shake the pan) until the pasta is just tender and the sauce, if any oil had separated from it, now looks cohesive (If the sauce seems too thick, add a little pasta liquid to adjust it). Take the pan off the heat and toss more fresh basil and cheese with the pasta in the same manner and serve immediately.

Note that the tossing of the pasta introduces air to the dish and makes it much lighter and tastier than the jarred version.

This recipe originally taken from this website with my tweaks:
http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/anthony-bourdain/articles/spaghetti-with-fresh-tomato-sauce-and-basil

Couscous with Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese

1T EVOO
2 C red onion diced, this seems like a lot but it will cook down
1 C couscous, I use Near East plain brand for this recipe: http://www.neareast.com/#products/couscous
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C crumbled goat cheese
1 C chicken or veggie broth, be sure to use good stock!I prefer Kitchen Basics unsalted chicken or veggie stock

1. Heat olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add diced onion and saute 7 minutes or until browned. The browning is key as it gives a lot of flavor and prevents the onions from having a slimy texture.

2. Once onions are browned add thegarlic powder, pepper, and salt to the mixture. Saute for 1 minute til ingredients are combined. Add the stock to the pan and let it come to a boil. Once boiling add the couscous and goat cheese and lightly stir for a couple of seconds to make sure the couscous is covered by the stock.

3. Turn off the heat and cover the pan with a lid. Let sit for 5 minutes. Uncover, fluff with spoon or fork, and serve.

I served this with some boiled corn cobs and it was delicious! The cheese really makes this a hearty meal that can be used as a main dish. Enjoy!

This recipe was tweaked from the originial seen here:
http://www.food.com/recipe/couscous-with-caramelized-onions-and-goat-cheese-468815

Roast Broccoli

This recipe is taken from http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2008/11/the_best_brocco.html and is absolutely delicious!

Ingredients:
4-5 pounds of broccoli
EVOO
salt/pepper
4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
lemon
parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Take 4 to 5 pounds of broccoli (I just got two large bunches), cut into florets (but relatively big ones.) Don't wash them if you want to get them crispy brown (aka delicious!). The heat of the oven will kill any germs.

Place the broccoli on a cookie sheet. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. (5 Tbs olive oil, 1 1/2 tsps kosher salt, 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper, or just eyeballed it.) Now add the 4 garlic cloves.

Roast in the oven 20 to 25 minutes, until “crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.”

I shook the pan around a bit as it went, but not sure that’s necessary.

When it’s done, take it out of the oven and zest a lemon over the broccoli, squeeze the lemon juice over the broccoli, add 1.5 Tbs more olive oil, and 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!



Very scrumptious, with thanks to my husband's sister for recommending!

White Bean Dip with Pita Chips

Don’t have tahini but still want a yummy dip/spread? Try this white bean dip that requires no tahini and is less tangy than hummus.

1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (as long as they are white beans your good, there are small white beans and bigger white beans if you can get the bigger ones they are meatier and make a better dip in my opinion)

2 cloves garlic
2 T fresh lemon juice (DO NOT use the ‘real’ lemon juice in the bottle, much too tart!)
1/3 C + 4 T olive oil
¼ C parsley leaves
Salt
Black pepper
6 pitas
1 tsp dried oregano

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the beans, garlic, lemon juice, 1/3 C olive oil, and parsley in a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cut each pita round into 8 equal wedges (think of it as cutting a pizza) with kitchen shears or a knife. Place the pitas on a baking sheet and pour the remaining olive oil on the pitas. Sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper. * Adding the oil/seasonings is not necessary to make a good chip, you can skip this part and bake them plain for less fat. Bake for 8-12 minutes or until toasted and golden in color.

You can also buy pita chips in the chip aisle of the grocery store but they are much more expensive than buying pitas in the bread aisle. Both versions are tasty and healthy.

This recipe taken from:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/white-bean-dip/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=white%20bean%20dip&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe

Couscous with Black Beans and Vegetables

1 C uncooked couscous (I always buy the Near East brand)

1¼ C Chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you are going vegetarian, I love the Kitchen Basics brand for the amount of flavor!)
3 T EVOO
2 T fresh lime juice
1 tsp red wine vinegar
½ tsp ground cumin
8 green onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
¼ C chopped fresh cilantro
1 C frozen corn kernels (I used fresh corn when in season, usually leftovers from whole corn ears the night before, just cut off 1 C of kernels from about 2-4 ears of corn)
2 cans of black beans, drained a rinsed (important! Be sure to rinse the blackbeans!)
NO salt needed, the beans have enough already!

Bring vegetable broth to a boil in a small pot, stir in the couscous. Cover the pot and remove from heat. Let stand for at least 5 minutes.

In a small bowl mix the lime juice, vinegar, and cumin together.

Pour the EVOO into a large sauté pan. Toss in the bell pepper and cook until starting to blacken, this means they are going to be soft and sweet! Throw in the corn and the marinate you just whipped up. Combine thoroughly and then throw in the rinsed beans (if you don’t rinse them the whole dish will have a black color). Once beans are warmed through toss in the couscous, fresh cilantro, and green onions. Serve!

This dish is so beautiful, like a fiesta for your mouth!

Kurt and I half this recipe because it makes quite a lot! We still had tons of leftovers which we made into quesadillas the next day…highly recommended!!!!

This recipe was inspired by:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/black-bean-and-couscous-salad/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=couscous%20black%20beans&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe

Couscous with Vegetables

1 package of Near East Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil Couscous
1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips about 1 inch long
½ package of fresh mushrooms, sliced thin
EVOO

In a lidded pan sauté the bell peppers and mushrooms in EVOO until fully cooked. I usually cook the bell peppers for a little bit and then add the mushrooms as they take less time.

Follow the directions on the package of couscous. Pour the water and spice packet in with the veggies and wait for it to come to a boil. Pour in the couscous, remove from heat, let sit, fluff with fork, and eat! I made this dish a couple of nights ago when we were low on food. It was wonderful and filling, no other dishes needed!

Note: Couscous does have gluten in it but I think I remember seeing gluten-free couscous some time ago. We eat quite a bit of couscous in our house as it is healthy, filling, and delicious! It pairs up well with meats and sautéed vegetables. I would recommend buying whatever veggies are on sale and making a meal out of them with couscous. The other nice thing is that couscous is kid friendly and if you puree the veggies and cook them as a sauce for the couscous they might be more willing to eat it!

Garlic Rice

This is a recipe from one of my friend’s in Japan, Christina Bowman. She brought it to a potluck and I fell in love!

EVOO

1 yellow onion, chopped fine
1 head of garlic (at least 10 cloves), grated with the microplane
2 cups of dried rice (preferably basmati or jasmine)
As much water as the package of rice calls for to cook that amount
1 bunch of green onion, cut into little rounds using cooking shears

Turn the burner on to medium-high heat. Put a decent amount of olive oil, ~2 tablespoons, in a sauté pan that has a lid. Sauté the onion in the olive oil for a few minutes, until starting to golden up. Add the garlic and dry rice and turn up the heat to medium or medium-high, until the rice starts to toast and turn slightly brown. Add the water per the directions of the rice and cook accordingly, with lid on, though you may want to reduce the water just slightly to what the directions say because the olive oil adds moisture to the rice.

Once it is done cooking, take the lid off and fluff with a fork and sprinkle green onion on top. I always add salt at the end too (fine salt) because it really brings out the flavor of the onion and garlic.

This is a great accompaniment to grilled shrimp kabobs/sauted or grilled veggies/basically any dish! Yum yum!

Black Lentils

This is an Indian dish that tastes a lot like Chili. It is one of our favorites and makes a lot! Great for a cold rainy day as it warms you up! This can be served with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, tortilla chips, and a salad if you want to make it more like a chili. If serving it Indian I would recommend eating with naan as this dish begs to be dipped into.  

3 C whole black lentils with skin (I can only ever find green lentils at the store which require less cooking time), cleaned and washed thoroughly – important! Don’t want to eat rocks!

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered (don’t worry about texture, it will be pureed later)
1 2inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 serrano chile (don’t worry! It won’t make it too spicy. If you are nervous add half of one)
2 bunches fresh cilantro, washed and chopped (about 2 cups)
1 T ground cumin
1 T ground coriander
1 T garam masala
1 heaping T salt
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chile powder
12 cups water
½ c heavy whipping cream or plain yogurt (I use the yogurt and get the thick Greek style)

Put the lentils in the slow cooker.

In a food processor, grind the onion, ginger, garlic, green chile, and 1 cup of the cilantro. Add this mixture to the lentils along with the cumin, coriander, garam masala, salt, turmeric, red chile powder, and water.

Cook on high for 6 hours (or when lentils are nice and creamy looking). Mix in the remaining cilantro and add the cream or yogurt, if you wish.

Note: you CANNOT leave out any of the spices. It will ruin the dish! Indian cooking is dependent on good quality spices. I can actually get most of my spices from the commissary nowadays but if you have trouble at your local supermarket try Whole Foods or venture out to your local tiny ethnic supermarket, you’ll be so inspired by what you find you will want to return again and again!

This recipe is from the following book, highly recommended!:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Indian-Slow-Cooker-Authentic/dp/1572841117/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342284436&sr=8-1&keywords=indian+slow+cooker

Vegetable Quesadillas

This dish can also be made using leftover chicken but because we are semi-vegetarian we leave it out.

 

2 zucchini (or 1 depending on the size)

1 cup of frozen corn

EVOO

1 tsp. fresh minced garlic

Salt pepper

½ tsp. dried oregano

¼ tsp. chile powder

1/8 tsp. granulated onion (you can also used chopped onion but I hate the texture)

8 oz. bag of shredded Mexican cheese (like Kraft or sargento, not real Mexican cheese!), it should have a combo of cheese like Monterey jack/pepper jack/etc.

Tortillas

Chop the zucchini to be a little bit bigger than the corn. I usually do this by cutting the zucchini in half lengthwise and then cutting one half lengthwise into four strips. Take these four strips and begin chopping widthwise, repeat with the other half. You should have pieces of zucchini that are about the size of a quarter.

Place enough EVOO in a skillet pan to cover the bottom and turn the burner on to medium high heat. When the EVOO begins to shimmer put the corn and the zucchini in the pan, careful as it may splatter a bit. Add the salt and sauté until the zucchini are cooked half way. Add the garlic, oregano, chile powder, and onion. Sauté until the zucchini is cooked all the way. Remove from the heat.

Spray a tortilla pan with Pam and place on a medium heat burner. Once it comes to temperature place you first tortilla on the pan. Sprinkle a small amount of cheese on the plain tortilla, this is the glue that will hold the veggies in place. Take the veggie mixture and place an even amount on the tortilla, leaving about ½ an inch around the sides so that the veggies don’t spill out when you flip it. After putting the veggie mix on immediately sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Place the second tortilla on top and cook until the tortilla on the bottom is browned. Flip with the help of a friend or if you are daring on your lonesome. Cook until the new tortilla is browned. Remove from heat, slice up with the help of a pizza cutter, and enjoy!

Way to make it healthy: buy spinach tortillas at the store. They are delicious and you can’t even taste the spinach!

Way to make it unhealthy: serve with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa. YUM!

The trick to making this taste good is cooking the veggies a long time. This gets out all the excess water so that the quesadilla is not soggy. Cooking the tortilla for the right amount of time is also essential to preventing a saggy quesadilla.

You can always use other vegetables but I strongly recommend the zucchini as it as a meaty texture and really lends itself well to the spices in the dish.

This recipe came from this book, a wonderful one!:
http://www.amazon.com/Webers-Way-Grill-Step---Step/dp/0376020598/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342284487&sr=1-1&keywords=weber%27s+way+to+grill

Hummus Pizza

This pizza is made with homemade dough and hummus. For a quicker version, buy store bought dough and hummus. I also grill the veggies but instead you can sauté them in a pan with some olive oil.

Bread:

1.5 C warm water
1 pkg active dry yeast
½ tsp. granulated sugar
4.5 C flour
3 T EVOO
2 tsp. kosher salt

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine the water, yeast, and sugar. Stir briefly and let stand for 5 minutes or until the top surface has a thin, frothy layer. Add the flour, oil, and salt. Fit the mixer with the dough hook and mix on low speed for about one minute or until the dough begins to come together. Increase the speed to medium. Continue to mix until the dough is slightly sticky, smooth, and elastic, about 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Turn it over to coat all sides and tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size, 1.5-2 hours.

Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Lightly brush eight squares of parchment paper on one side with oil. Using your fingers flatten each piece of dough on a sheet of parchment paper to create 8 rounds. Each round should be about 1/3 of an inch thick and 6-8 inches in diameter. Lightly brush the tops with oil. Let the rounds sit a room temperature for 5-10 minutes.

Heat the grill to medium. Brush the cooking grate clean. Working with four rounds at a time, place the dough on the cooking grate with the paper side facing up. Grill over direct medium heat with the lid closed as much as possible until the dough is well marked and firm on the underside, 2-5 minutes, rotating as needed for even cooking. Peel off and discard the parchment paper and flip the bread onto the other side. Cook the other side.

Vegetables:

1 red bell pepper
1 onion
Mushrooms
Garlic
EVOO
Salt/pepper

You really can use any veggies you like, the trick is to make sure they are all the same size so they cook evenly. We have a grill basket that we use for this part of the dish.

Line your grill basket with tin foil, making sure that the sides of the foil are high, this ensures that no veggies or oil spill out. Cut the vegetables into slices making sure they are cut appropriately for their size and firmness. Place the veggies, oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl and toss to combine. Spread them out evenly in the grill basket and cook over the grill until they are done to your liking. Do not flip the basket as the oil and moisture will be lost to the fire and you will get a lot of ash on your food.

Hummus:

There are a couple of different ways that I make hummus but this is the easiest.

2 C canned garbanzo beans

1/3 C tahini (cannot leave this out!!)
¼ C lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
2 cloves garlic
1 T olive oil
1 pinch paprika
1 tsp. fresh parsley

Place the garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, salt, and garlic in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley.

I only put parsley on top if I have it. The paprika I blend in with the rest of the mixture instead of sprinkling on top but it is an option. Fresh hummus tastes much better than the store bought variety but not everyone can get tahini in their local supermarket. Really none of the ingredients (except the parsley and paprika) can be left out. They are all essential to the flavor of hummus.

Making the pizzas:

Smear on hummus and put as many or as few veggies on top as you like. Variations include putting cheese on top and different veggies like asparagus, zucchini, squash, and others. Grilling is essential for this dish to have the best flavor profile.

Note: If you have leftover bread rounds (we usually do) freeze them and use them as sides to other dishes. I also use these rounds to make regular pizza. Put your favorite marinara sauce on the round, top with mozzarella cheese and bake in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Voila! Homemade pizza that is very quick and easy to make.

This recipe is a mish mash of ideas but the basic pieces came from the following books/web links:
http://www.amazon.com/Webers-Way-Grill-Step---Step/dp/0376020598/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342284487&sr=1-1&keywords=weber%27s+way+to+grill

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hummus-iii/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=hummus&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe

Introduction

Hello, my name is Sarah and after watching the movie Forks Over Knives with my husband we decided to go part vegetarian. We eat meat only on the weekends and usually at a restaurant. We can’t live without sushi, carne asada, or in n’ out burger, to name a few.

This eating less meat has led to lower grocery bills, lost pounds, and a general better sense of health. At first, we thought we would miss meat but since we get it on the weekends and I try to make dishes that taste like they have meat in them we have had no problems. Well, unless we watch food network’s “Diner’s Drive-In’s, and Dives”…that is not a good show to watch if you are trying to avoid meat!

We have started trying fake meat products and found that we really like the Morningstar brand of burgers and chik’n nuggets. Both are delicious, quick, and easy to prepare for the family on the go! But I would recommend you try other brands as well as we are limited at the commissary in terms of variety.

We have yet to try dairy-free cheese but I am excited to buy some the next time we go to the civilian grocery store. I think this has been my biggest challenge, I love dairy in general and letting it go has been quite difficult.

Dry beans, rice, and pastas are all staples as well as steel cut oats for breakfast and Kitchen Basics vegetable stock. I was buying the cheapest stock which I discovered tastes like water! Good unsalted stock has more flavor than salted stock! It is amazing! I would highly recommend this brand to anyone! 

My focus has generally been on cutting cholesterol and increasing foods that are known to prevent or lessen the chance of heart disease. Others might find some of these recipes failing for the diets that they choose and I hope that you can alter the recipes for your needs.