Vegetarian Recipes I would like to try

This week I read Vegetarian Times Vegetarian Beginners Guide.  I think there are some good sounding recipes in there and I would love to give some of them a try as soon as I can.
Here are some that sounded good to me;
1.Fettucine with Black Olive Pesto and Scallions
served with Tomato and Mozzarella Salad with Vinaigrette
and garlic bread
2. Vegetarian Paella
served with Tomato and Orange Salad
and steamed sugar snap peas
3. Quick Minestrone
served with Sun-Dried Tomato, Veggies and Goat Cheese Pizza
and Mixed Greens with Olives
4. Vegetable Curry with Lentils
served with Basmati Rice
and Cucumber and Radish Raita
5. Black Bean Enchiladas
served with Orange, Radish and Onion Salsa
and Spicy Mexican Rice
6. Moroccan Vegetable Tagine with Couscous
Served with Cucumbers with Garlic Yogurt
and Pita bread
Other things that sounded good but I didn't like their whole meal choices were:
1. Apple Salad
2. Spicy Sesame Noodles
3. Cucumber and Dill Salad
4. Cincinnati Chili
I look forward to making and sharing these recipes with you in the coming weeks!!

First, here is a picture of the breaded eggplant ready to go into the oven for first baking.

Next, here is a picture of the eggplant baked once and ready for second baking.

Finally, a picture of the ready to eat Eggplant Parmesan.

The only complaint; more sauce.  We ended up warming up some extra sauce and pouring onto our individual plates.  If you don't like a lot of sauce, this will do but pasta is a little dry without a little added sauce. 
The kids aren't into eggplant yet.  I am hoping one day, they will be.  I am looking forward to making this over the summer with some eggplant from my garden beds. 
My friend Sarah uses her extra eggplant parm. as a pizza topping.  I might try that this week. 

Eggplant Parmesan

Back to Blogging....

I am making Eggplant Parmesan tonight.  I cannot believe I never posted this before.  I am using organic eggplant and homemade sauce.  This is such an easy recipe.

1 good-sized eggplant, not huge, not tiny
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg or 1/4  cup egg sub.
4 tsp. parm. cheese
mushrooms (optional)
1 cup or more of sauce, I used about 2 cups
1/2 mozzarella cheese
noodles, whatever you like, I used Heartland whole wheat spaghetti

directions:
peel and slice eggplant into medium slices
I salt the eggplant and line a colander with paper towels, then I top the eggplant with more paper towels and put a pot of water on top.  This weighs it down and gets the moisture out.  Leave this here for about 30 minutes. (You can cut up all your veggies for salad while this is sitting.)
 Then pat the eggplant dry and wipe off excess salt (if you wish).
put breadcrumbs and parm. cheese into a bowl
beat egg in another bowl
Dredge the eggplant slices on both sides first in egg and next in breadcrumb mixture.  Lay these in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Bake each side for 7 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Pour 1 cup sauce into baking dish, lay your eggplant down and top with another cup of sauce (if desired).  Then top with cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes and then broil for another 30 seconds to 1 minute if you want bubbly cheese on top, I do!
While the eggplant is baking, get your noodles cooked and your garlic bread toasted.


Gotta eat, will post pics and comments after dinner!!!

Easy Weeks ahead!

This week I have been doing more traditional and somewhat easy recipes.  I experimented on my family for two full weeks.  Now I want to remind them why they like my cooking so much and give them some of their favorites. 

Monday- Leftovers
Tuesday- Crock-pot kielbasa and sauerkraut with cheese and potato pirogi and salad.
Wednesday- Cheeseburgers on the grill, baked potato wedges and sauteed zucchini.
Thursday-BLTA's, broccoli soup.
Friday-Homemade pizza and salad.

The crock-pot kielbasa is so easy.  I used the rest of the jar of organic sauerkraut from the week I did Reuben sandwiches.  I added a can of low fat mushroom soup and some turkey kielbasa.  I cooked on low for several hours and then boiled pirogi and threw a salad together.

I was looking forward to cheeseburgers on the grill for some time.  I used pepper-jack cheese on two, swiss on one and colby-jack on another.
I cut some Yukon potatoes into wedges and sprayed with olive oil and baked at 425 degrees until browned.
Meanwhile, I tossed three sliced zucchini with 1 TBSP of butter.  This was yummy!

The BLTA's are another favorite.  Sometimes the kids use lettuce and usually use tomato.  I have an avocado that is ready to slice so I am adding that to the mix. 
I will also whip up some of the broccoli soup.  This will be a double batch since I have two bunched of broccoli to use.  That will leave plenty leftover for the weekend for easy lunches with sandwiches.

Pizza night never goes wrong here.  I will get fresh veggies from Door to Door tomorrow so will make the salad with whatever fresh stuff we get.

Enchilada Casserole

This recipe was taken from Cooking Light (Jan/Feb 2012, page 76)

Enchilada Casserole

1 pound ground sirloin
1 cup chopped onion
1 TBSP butter
1 TBSP mined garlic
1 1/2 TBSP all-purpose flour
1 cup fat-free, lower-sodium beef broth
1 TBSP 40%-less-sodium taco seasoning mix (such as Old El Paso)
1 8 oz. can no-salt-added-tomato sauce (I used tomato paste)
4 (8-inch) whole-wheat flour tortillas
1/3 cup (1 1/2 oz.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno peppers

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add beef and onion to pan; cook 6 minutes, stirring to crumble.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add garlic; saute 1 minute.  Sprinkle with flour; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly.  Add broth, taco seasoning and tomato sauce to pan.  Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add 1 1/2 cups tomato mixture to beef mixture; reserve 1/2 cup tomato mixture.
4. Place 1 tortilla in a 9-inch pie plate.  Top with 1 cup beef mixture.  Repeat layers, ending with tortilla.  Spread reserved tomato mixture over tortilla.  Top with cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until cheese melts.  Cool slightly.  Cut into 4 wedges.

Serves 4
calories-377, fat-14.6, protein-30.2, carbs-32.4, fiber-4.7

We all loved this!  It was really easy to make.  I would definitely make it again.  The kids shared one of the four slices so there was a slice left for lunch today.  Yum!

Philly Cheesesteak

This recipe was taken from Cooking Light (March 2012, page 134)

Philly Cheesesteak

1 (12 oz.) flank steak, trimmed
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 (5-inch) portobello mushroom caps
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 cup thinly sliced onion
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced green bell pepper (I was out of pepper so...  didn't use it)
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp lower-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk

1 oz. provolone cheese, torn into small pieces
2 TBSP grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 tsp dry mustard
4 (3 oz.) hoagie rolls, toasted

1. Place beef in freezer for 15 minutes.  Cut beef across the grain into thin slices.  Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper.  Remove brown gills from the undersides of mushroom caps using a spoon, discard gills.  Remove stem; discard.  Thinly slice mushroom caps; cut slices in half crosswise.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 1 tsp oil to the pan; swirl to coat.  Add beef to pan; saute 2 minutes or until beef loses it's pink color, stirring constantly.  Remove beef from pan.  Add remaining 1 tsp oil to pan.  Add onion; saute 3 minutes.  Add mushrooms, bell pepper and garlic, saute 6 minutes.  Return beef to pan, saute 1 minute or until thoroughly heated and vegetables are tender.  Remove from heat.  Stir in Worcestershire and soy sauce; keep warm.
3. Place flour in a small saucepan; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat; cook 1 minute or until slightly thickened.  Remove from heat.  Add cheeses and mustard, stirring until smooth.  Keep warm (mixture will thicken as it cools)>
4. Hollow out top and bottom halves of bread, leaving 1/2-inch-thick shell; reserve torn bread for another use.  Maybe homemade croutons).  Divide the beef mixture evenly among bottom halves of hoagies.  Drizzle sauce evenly over beef mixture; replace top halves.

Serves 4
calories-397, fat-12.4, protein-30.8, carbs-44.1, fiber-3.7

Chris and I liked this.  I should have used the French rolls instead.  I used the wheat sub rolls from Meijer deli and they were too sweet tasting.  The kids liked this too!  The cheese sauce was really good.  I could actually see myself revamping this recipe to a vegetarian one using extra portabello mushrooms in place of meat.  It would be really good!!

Cheesy Pasta Bake

This recipe was taken from the Cooking Light magazine (March 2012, page 114).

Cheesy Pasta Bake
14 oz. uncooked ziti or mostaccioli  (I used mini wheels)
12 oz. ground turkey breast 
8 oz. sweet turkey Italian sausage, casings removed  (I used Meijer chicken sausage, sweet Italian with roasted red peppers)
Cooking spray
1 1/2 TBSP olive oil
2 cups chopped onion

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup red wine
5 cups lower-sodium marinara sauce (such as McCutcheon's)  (I used homemade)
6 oz. whole-milk mozzarella, thinly sliced
2 oz. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided (about 1/2 cup packed)
2 TBSP small basil leaves or torn basil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and oil; drain and set aside.
3. Place turkey and sausage in a medium bowl, and mix well with hands to combine. 
Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  (I don't have a Dutch oven.  I just used a non-stick pan)  Coat pan with cooking spray.  Add turkey mixture to pan, cook 8 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.  Remove from pan.
4. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add onion and pepper; saute for 5 minutes or until onion is tender.  Add wine, scraping the pan to loosen browned bits, and cook for 4 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates.  Stir in pasta, turkey mixture, marinara sauce, and 1/2 cup basil.  Spoon mixture into a 13x9 glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Top with mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until bubbly and cheese melts and begins to brown.  Remove from oven; sprinkle with basil leaves and the remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

This serves 8.  I might half the recipe if I make it again, it was a lot!!
calories 492, fat 14.2, protein 30.2, carbs 88, fiber 2.4

Chris and I liked this a lot and thought that the chicken sausage added a lot of flavor.  The kids both ate it but I could tell it wasn't at the top of their list.