Baked Eggs and Rice

Another Meatless Monday here.  I was going to make some stratas but discovered last minute that I didn't have any bread.  But I had leftover cooked rice.  Ok, let's give it a try.

It came out very good.  Kinda reminds me of a steamed Vietnamese dish made of eggs, mung bean threads and black fungus.  You can obviously use any combo of veggies and even ground meat in here, but this was tonight's version.

Baked Eggs and Rice


Ingredients:

• Smart Balance
• 1/4 onion, chopped
• 1/2 a container of mushrooms (approx. 2.5 oz.), chopped
• 1 large handful of kale, washed, dried and chopped
• about 1/2 cup cooked rice
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• 6 eggs

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease two large (I used 12-oz) ramekins with Smart Balance.  Set aside.
• In a sauté pan, sweat the onion with 1 tablespoon Smart Balance over medium heat.  Add the mushrooms, kale, and TSSS, then cook, stirring often, until everything is soft.  Add rice and combine.  Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, lightly beat the eggs with a fork in a separate mixing bowl.  Add the rice and veggie mixture to the eggs and combine.  Divide between the two greased ramekins.
• Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until eggs are set.

Squash and Chicken Stew

So it's a gazillion degrees outside and I'm feeling stewey.  (Mom...Mom...Mom...Mummy...Mum...Mummy...)  At least it's a one pot deal.

Butternut squash was on sale at the grocery store.  I love the creamy sweetness of butternut squash.  I also got a nice bunch of cherry tomatoes and two beautiful yellow squashes from my tiny garden. Into the pot!

Squash and Chicken Stew
Inspired by this recipe.


Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (about 3 cups)
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 2 medium yellow squashes, sliced
• 1 (5 oz.) container of sliced button mushrooms
• 1 (15 oz.) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken
• large pinch of dried oregano
• large pinch of dried basil
• large pinch of dried thyme
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• grated parmesan for garnish (optional)

Directions:

• Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.  Sauté the onion until soft and translucent.  Add the garlic and stir for a minute until fragrant.
• Add in the butternut squash, tomatoes, chicken broth and water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook, covered, until the butternut squash is almost tender, about 15 minutes.
• Add in the rest of the ingredients (except the parmesan).  Bring back to a boil, reduce to simmer, and continue to cook, covered, until the veggies are all tender, about 15 minutes.
• Ladle into bowls and top with grated parmesan.

Off Topic - Decorated Cookies - Ferrari Farms Ladybugs

July - cookies for Todd's work department potluck at Ferrari Farms; monogram and ladybug cookies
6 dozen 100% whole wheat vanilla sugar cookies with rainbow jimmies thrown in just for fun.

Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Sprouts has beautiful vine-ripened tomatoes on sale.  And I have a ton of roasted red peppers from their sale a couple weeks ago.  Pair that with some fresh homemade bread and you've got a yummy Meatless Monday meal.

Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Ingredients:

• 4 large tomatoes
• 2 red peppers, roasted, seeded and peeled
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• salt & pepper
• 1 can evaporated nonfat milk

Directions:

• In a large pot, bring some water to a boil.  Put the whole tomatoes in and boil for a few minutes.  Transfer the tomatoes to an ice bath.  This will help you to peel them.  Peel and chop the tomatoes, remove seeds.
• Place the chopped tomatoes into a clean pot.  Add the roasted red peppers, onion, water, dried basil and some salt to taste.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer.  Cook for about 20 minutes until the tomatoes are tender/soft.  (Cook longer if you want a really smooth soup.  I like mine with texture so the tomatoes are soft but do not disintegrate.)  Puree with a stick blender.
• Add the evaporated nonfat milk and continue to simmer until the soup is heated through again.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Stuffed Zucchini

Another use-what's-in-the-fridge night including another delicious giant zuke from Ferrari Farms (thanks, Cheri and Dorian!).  The marinara on top was an afterthought when the top of the filling looked dry as it was baking; next time I will probably either mix it in, or omit it but cover the tops with foil while baking.  Soooo good!

Make sure you drain the meat mixture and squeeze the spinach really dry.  Mushrooms and zucchinis put out a lot of liquid when cooked, and if your filling is too moist the whole thing will be soupy.

Stuffed Zucchini


Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 2 large zucchinis
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound lean ground sirloin
• 1 (8 oz. bag) trumpet mushrooms
• 1 large handful frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1/2-ish cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 egg
• a few tablespoons prepared marinara sauce (optional)

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a baking sheet with olive oil and set aside.
• Cut the zukes in half and remove the pulp, keeping a 1/2-inch border all around.  Chop and reserve the pulp.  Place the zuke halves cut side up on the sprayed baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with TSSS.  Set aside.
• In a skillet over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil until soft. Add the ground sirloin, some TSSS to taste, and brown.  Drain.
• Add the reserved zucchini pulp, mushrooms and spinach and continue to saute until the mushrooms are soft.  Drain.  Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
• Add the feta and egg and combine.
• Divide the mixture into fourths and fill each zucchini half.  Cover with foil (so they don't dry out) and bake for 25 - 30 minutes.  Remove the foil (and top each zuke with a little marinara sauce - optional) and continue baking for another 5 - 10 minutes until the zukes are tender (but not mushy).

Quinoa Lentil Chili

Today is Meatless Monday.  I've been doing Meatless Monday for several months now, where I cook meatless meals for dinner.  Part of it is health-driven (eat more veggies and legumes), part of it is eco-driven (lessen our footprint on the planet), part of it is spiritually-driven (don't kill, even animals), and part of it is to force myself to experiment with ingredients/methods/recipes I otherwise would not use.  Today's experiment was with quinoa, you know, that supergrain-that's-also-a-complete-protein that's been all the rage these past few years.

I'll admit it - I've never had quinoa before.  Wait, I take that back.  In the early 2000s I went on a training seminar for work, and my roommate introduced me to quinoa.  We were in one of those extended stay suites with kitchen, so she prepared it for dinner one night.  I don't remember how she prepared it, but it was awful, so needless to say it's taken me about 10 years to actually want to give it another try.

I have quinoa.  And I have some beautiful red lentils.  How about a vegetarian chili?  I browsed the internet for recipes.  There's a bunch out there, but I settled on a combination of this one and this one as my main guide.  And of course I used what was in my fridge and pantry.  I served it with a slice of toasted rosemary garlic sourdough; it was really good.  Hubby had it with Triscuits.

Next time I think I'll add a bell pepper and a can of kidney or garbanzo beans.

Quinoa Lentil Chili
Inspired by this recipe and this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup dried red lentils, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups water
• 1 (15 oz.) can of diced tomatoes
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 large zucchini, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

• In a large dutch oven, sweat the onion in the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir for a minute.
• Add the quinoa and lentils, water and diced tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook, covered, for about 20 minutes.
• Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil and reduce to simmer again.  Cook, covered and stirring occasionally, for another 20 - 30 minutes until lentils and vegetables are tender.

Off Topic - Decorated Cookies - July 4th Fireworks and Butterflies

July - More Independence Day cookies; USA and fireworks cookies; patriotic butterfly cookies
The square ones were for hubby's work (1 dozen triple vanilla sugar cookies), and the butterflies were for Claire's dance class (1 dozen vanilla sugar cookies).

Off Topic - Decorated Cookies - Tulips, Daisies, Butterfly, Retirement, Sea Turtles, 4th of July Flag with Star Spangled Banner

May - a Random Act of Cookie for the Werner family; daisy, tulip and butterfly cookies
1/2 dozen vanilla and 1/2 dozen chocolate sugar cookies.


May - Chu Long's Retirement / Welcome Home party; freehand happy face and wine glass cookies
3 dozen chocolate sugar cookies
 

June - Claire's Birthday; turtle cake and turtle cookies
She's been obsessed with baby sea turtles lately, so that was the theme of her party.  The cookies were for her classroom. Devil's food cake birthday cake, 3 dozen triple vanilla sugar cookies.


July - Independence Day; flag cookies
I didn't plan out the lettering as well as I could/should have so I ended up having to put in filler squiggles. Oh well. At least there are fifty stars in there. :-) 2 dozen vanilla sugar cookies.