Mexican Stew

A friend had pinned this recipe on her Pinterest board; since she is also the friend who made the blueberry oatmeal bake, I looked over the recipe and was intrigued. I’d already decided 2015 would be the year I would master cooking butternut squash and I figured I might as well get an early start.

I have a red enchilada sauce recipe but in this case because I was short on time, I opted for the canned stuff. I used beans I’d cooked, but they didn’t have any extra seasoning in them, and in the interest of convenience, I used the prepackaged taco seasoning—this is box cooking at its finest! Otherwise, it’s an easy dish to make and also cooks up pretty fast in the slow cooker. It’s a stew, not a soup.

Updated to add that I get better results if I cook the quinoa separately from the rest of the stew, then add it in at the end.

Ingredients 

• 1 pound butternut squash, cubed
• 1 can corn
• 2 C cooked black beans
• 1 C uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• 1 large can fire-roasted petite diced tomatoes (29 ounces)
• 1 small jalapeno, optional
• 1 batch enchilada sauce (about 29 ounces)
• 1 cup vegetable or chicken broth, or water (I use water and rinse out the cans)
• 1 packet (1.25 ounces) taco seasoning

Directions

• If your slow cooker isn’t non-stick, consider using some kind of cooking spray.
• Assemble all the ingredients except the quinoa in the slow cooker.
• Stir well.
• Cook on high for about four and a half hours (no clue what the time would be if you did it on low).
• Follow the package directions to cook the quinoa.
• Add to the slow cooker and stir. 
• Enjoy!

Dragon Noodles

We like spicy dishes and generally add more spice than called for just to get that lovely heat. But in this case, we've hardly changed the amount of spice because it's really tasty as is. We're still playing around with the butter combo. As originally written, this recipe calls only for butter but I thought that was too buttery for the dish (coming from a butter slicker like me, that's saying something). So we've subbed in a tablespoon of canola oil for one tablespoon of butter.

This dish also makes a great lunch; as written we get about six generous servings.

Ingredients

• Two 12 ounce packages Udon noodles
• 7 T butter
• 1 T canola oil
• 1 t crushed red pepper 
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 3 T brown sugar
• 3 T soy sauce
• 3 T  sriracha (rooster sauce)
• Diced fresh cilantro for topping

Directions

1. Cook the noodles according to package directions.
2. While the noodles cook, melt the butter and add the oil to the butter when it’s melted.
3. Add in the pepper flakes and cook briefly.
4. Whisk the beaten eggs into the butter/oil mixture on the stove and basically scramble them until firm and in small pieces. If the eggs are done before the noodles have finished cooking, remove the skillet from the heat.
5. Once the noodles are done, drain and add to the skillet with the eggs.
6. Add the siracha sauce and stir until the noodles are fully coated. If there’s a lot of moisture, cook briefly until the extra moisture evaporates.
7. Place in bowls and sprinkle with the diced cilantro.
8. Enjoy!

Smitten Kitchen's One Pan Farro with Tomatoes

[Picture soon]

A friend introduced me to this Smitten Kitchen recipe – in a very unusual twist for me, I’ve made no changes. But because I find the font on the web site horrible to read and because the directions are sort of scatted around and difficult for me to follow, I’ve posted it here. I served this to my folks on a recent visit and the dish was a complete hit.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup semi-pearled farro
• ½ large white onion
• 2 cloves garlic, put through a press
• 9 ounces grape or cherry tomatoes
• 1 ¼ t kosher or coarse sea salt ¼
• About ¼ t red pepper flakes
• 1 T olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• Few basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons
• Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions:

1. Place water and farro in a medium saucepan to pre-soak while prepping the rest of the ingredients – add each to the pan as they are prepped
2. Thinly slice the onion so that it’s in quarter moon slices
3. Add the garlic
4. Halve or quarter the tomatoes
5. Add salt, pepper flakes and olive oil
6. Set a timer for 30 minutes
7. Bring uncovered pan (no lid necessary) up to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally. 
8. When the timer rings, the farro should be perfectly cooked and the cooking water almost entirely absorbed. If necessary, cook longer till the faro is more tender. 
9. Transfer to a wide serving bowl, scatter with basil and Parmesan and enjoy.

Spicy Vegetable Soup

You control how spicy this soup is—if you like it hotter, dice the adobo peppers finely and use two or three. If you don’t want it hot, then use one and either don’t dice it at all or cut it into large pieces. The heat comes from the seeds in the pepper and when they get diced, they get hot. The adobo sauce isn’t (or shouldn’t be) hot; it’s just flavorful. I’ve also found that the Lacostena brand is hotter than the Hernandez brand. I prefer Hernandez for the flavor.

As written, this soup makes about eight to 10 servings, depending on how much water/broth I add.

Ingredients:

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes (we use fire-roasted)
28 ounces chicken broth or water or a combination
2 C frozen corn OR one can corn, drained
1 pound carrots, peeled and diced
1 pound celery, diced
1 small or ½ large white onion, diced
3 or 4 small red potatoes, diced
1 to 3 adobo peppers, diced or a packet of taco seasoning
1 can pinto or black beans, drained

Directions:

• Saute all the vegetables, beans and potatoes in a skillet (I use a bit of canola oil) until the onion and celery are softened.
• Stir in the beans.
• If you are using the taco seasoning, sprinkle over the vegetables and stir. Cook just a bit longer til bubbly. 
• If you are using the adobo peppers, add to the skillet and stir. 
• Put the vegetables in the slow cooker and add the tomatoes and broth.
• If needed, add water to almost fill the slow cooker. 
• Cook on high for about eight hours.

Go here for nutritional information per serving.

A Nameless Appetizer

"What can I bring?" I asked.
"Bring a healthy appetizer to go with the Pinot Noir we'll be sipping as I fix dinner," she said.
"Uh sure thing!"

But I was using up all the food in the fridge because we were leaving on vacation soon and then I had another trip to see family the following week. So I had to make something out of what I had on hand, and what I had on hand wasn't much. Plus she requested that the dish be healthy and also go with red wine. So with those restrictions in mind, this is what I made.

Ingredients:

1/4 C feta cheese crumbles
1/4 C balsamic vinaigrette (I used Paul Newman's Own Lighten Up version)
about 1/2 C each diced cherry tomatoes and sliced mushrooms
Finely sliced red onion, about two or three slices; then cut the slices into smaller pieces
1/3 to 1/2 C cooked pasta (I used my favorite Gemelli)

Directions:

• Cook the pasta according to package directions; drain and allow to cool.
• While the pasta is cooking, prep the vegetables.
• Assemble the vegetables, feta crumbles and dressing in a bowl large enough to hold everything. Toss well.
• Once the pasta is cool, add to the bowl and toss again.

Note: Obviously you could use Parmesan cheese but again, I had to go with what was on hand. This is a basic pasta salad and can be gussied up with whatever you like. If I'd had any, I'd have put artichoke hearts in there too, and also roasted red peppers. But I didn't have any.

Tortellini Salad

I got this recipe from my mother; the original recipe actually calls for goat cheese. However the first time I made it, I didn’t have any on hand, but I did have feta. I think you could use either kind and get good results; I’m just used to using feta. I like the flavor combination.

Ingredients:

1 pound tortellini, cooked, drained and cooled (I use cheese tortellini)
6 sundried tomatoes, diced
6 roasted red peppers, diced
3 T olive oil
5 T balsamic vinegar
1—2 T oil from the sundried tomatoes (optional; I usually add just 1 T for extra flavor)
7 fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 ounces crumbled feta or goat cheese
Parsley to taste

Directions:

• Combine the oils and vinegar and whisk til thoroughly mixed.
• Pour the oil/vinegar mixture over the pasta.
• Mix in the rest of the ingredients.
• Chill before serving.

Macaroni and Cheese

When my younger son was little, I bowed to the tyranny of a two year old and made mac & cheese from the blue box. But honestly that stuff is expensive and full of strange ingredients. Plus I dislike using canned soups a great deal. In fact, you could say I downright hate it. Fortunately this mac & cheese recipe doesn’t rquire cans of anything.

Ingredients:

2 cups pasta (we prefer gemelli but if you like elbow macaroni, have at it)
4 T butter
¼ C all-purpose flour
3 C milk
2 C shredded semi-hard cheese (cheddar, Gouda, Monterey Jack—whatever you have on hand and feel free to mix it up)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2/3 C freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions:

• Preheat the broiler.
• Cook your pasta OR follow my "no humidity added to the house" method described below. Drain well.
• In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.
• Whisk in the flour until a paste forms.
• Gradually whisk in the milk until smooth.
• Bring the sauce to the boil over moderately high heat, stirring or whisking constantly, until thickened.
• Remove the pan from the heat and add in the shredded cheeses until melted (not the Parmigiano-Reggiano just yet).
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Stir in the cooked pasta and then put the mixture into a 9 x 13 glass or ceramic baking pan.
• Top with the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
• Broil about four inches from the heat for about four minutes or until richly browned.
• Let the dish sit for about five minutes before serving.

*Bonus no-humidity method for cooking pasta:

• Bring the water to the boil in a covered saucepan.
• Add the pasta, cover and immediately turn off the heat.
• Let sit, covered, on the stove for 20 minutes.
• Drain and enjoy your humidity-free home.

Caveat: Angel hair pasta doesn’t really need the full 20 minutes and gemelli may take up to 25 minutes.

Amazing Tomato Soup

I love soup for lunch when the weather gets cooler. When we lived in Boston, I improvised a tomato soup very loosely based on a recipe from Food & Wine. This is a quick soup and is ready in less than an hour from start to finish. It makes four to five servings as written.

Here’s a tip—you don’t need to peel your garlic cloves before you put them through your press. In fact if you don’t peel them, your press will be a lot easier to clean up.

Finally, I almost never add salt and pepper while cooking something. I prefer to add them at the table.

Ingredients:

1 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 small or ½ medium white onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, put through a press
2 t smoked paprika (it makes a difference to the taste so get smoked paprika)
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes (I prefer fire roasted tomatoes)
3 T tomato paste
1 ½ C water
1/3 C light cream
1 sprig of thyme or about ½ t dried thyme
1 bay leaf

Directions:

• Melt the butter and oil together in a pan large enough to hold all the ingredients.
• Add the finely diced onion and garlic to the pan and sauté until tender and translucent, about five minutes.
• Add the paprika and stir well.
• Add the tomatoes with their juice, the tomato paste, the water, the thyme and bay leaf.
• Stir well and simmer for about 15 to 30 minutes.
• Remove from heat and stir in the cream.

Lentil Soup

Looks like mud but tastes oh so good

This lentil soup isn't spicy-hot; I'd categorize it as spicy-flavorful. If you're worried that it will be too hot for you, you can always cut the cayenne in half. But I think you'll miss the flavor. As made, I got eight servings of soup from this recipe.

Ingredients:
16 ounces lentils
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely diced
2 celery stalks, coarsely diced
8 cups water or broth, or a mixture plus more water if needed
2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, put through a press or otherwise mashed
1 16-ounce can chopped tomatoes
½ C minced cilantro leaves
½ t cayenne
1 t ground cumin

Directions:

• In a large stock pot, combine the lentils, carrots, celery, and water or stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low.
• Cover and cook until the lentils are done, stirring occasionally. My lentils take about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a small skillet and sauté the onions and garlic until soft.
• Add the cayenne and cumin and stir well. Cook for about a minute.
• Add the tomatoes (including the juice) to the skillet, and cook for a few minutes.
• When the lentils are done, add the mixture from the skillet to the large stock pot and stir well (this is where you may want the extra water or broth).
• Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. We prefer a fairly smooth texture; if you like your soup chunkier, just blend a little bit.

As made, I generally get about nine or 10 servings. Nutritional information is here.

Sliced Baked Potatoes – Two Versions

Version 1

Version 2

How do you find new recipes? I find a lot of mine while eating out or surfing the web. I ran across an image for this recipe a couple of weeks ago on Pinterest. Well I like potatoes, and these seemed pretty interesting so I thought I’d give it a try. We tend to go meatless a couple of days a week and this looked like a hearty, meatless entrée to me.

I googled sliced baked potatoes and found a handful of recipes so I sort of combined them all together to create my own.

Be warned, neither version is a hands-off recipe. You’ll need to tend to your potatoes about every 10 to 15 minutes until they are cooked.

Ingredients:
2 large baking potatoes, scrubbed and with the skin on
4 T butter, melted
½ C shredded cheese, your choice (I use cheddar/jack cheese from Costco)
Italian seasoning to taste
Directions:

Version 1

• Preheat the oven to 400F.
• Place two wooden spoons on a cutting board about as far apart as your potatoes are wide. Use the handles to hold your potato in place as you slice the potatoes and to keep you from slicing all the way through. You want the bottom of the potato to remain intact. Also, slice thinly—my slices are about ¼ inch wide.
• Place the sliced potatoes in a baking pan. I use cooking spray only because I wanted an easier clean up session afterwards.
• Carefully open your sliced potatoes and drizzle the melted butter across them. Don’t worry when it runs out the sides—you will be basting the potatoes with this butter throughout the cooking process.
• Sprinkle the Italian seasoning on the potatoes and try to get some inside the slices.
• Bake for a total of 60 minutes. Important! About every 10 minutes, pull the potatoes out and re-baste with the butter. Also turn them over. That will let all the skin get a butter bath.
• After 60 minutes, remove from the oven.
• Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the potatoes and return to the oven for about 10 minutes.
• When done, place each potato in a shallow bowl. Pour the remaining melted butter over the potatoes.

Version 2

• Preheat the oven to 400F.
• Slice the potatoes into thin slices, preferably about ¼ inch wide.
• Pour about half of the melted butter into a large baking dish (9x13) that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Tilt the pan around until you’ve coated the entire bottom of the pan.
• Place the sliced potatoes in the so that the slices are in no more than two layers. Ideally you want just one layer of potatoes.
• Drizzle the melted butter across the slices.
• Sprinkle the Italian seasoning on the slices.
• Bake for about 60 minutes. About every 15 minutes, pull the potatoes out and flip them. This helps a lot with ensuring the potatoes brown evenly.
• After 60 minutes, remove from the oven and sprinkle the shredded cheese over the potatoes. Bake for another five minutes or until the cheese is all melted.
• Serve with sour cream if you feel decadent.