Veggie Kabobs

       This is one of my favorite fast, easy dinners.  It takes a little forethought because you need a variety of veggies that aren't being saved for other meals to do it, but that's rarely a problem for Farmer's Market addicts like us.

       All you need is 4 - 6 different kinds of veggies, some Earth friendly re-usable skewers, a touch of olive oil (optional), and seasonings of your choice.  Last night, I used onion, zucchini, summer squash, broccoli, and cherry tomatoes.  I was really sad when I realized I forgot the pineapple chunks!  Other good choices include cauliflower, mushrooms, carrots, and all kinds of peppers.  That's another glory of this meal: it's so flexible that you can make it often, but it can always be different.  Especially if you have family members like MacGyver and Punky, who don't like to eat the same thing very often.

      Chop your veggies into hearty, bite sized chunks, keeping them big enough to easily skewer, but not too big to be bite sized.  I cut everything up into one big bowl so I can season it all together.

      I mist the veggies with just a touch of olive oil so the seasonings will stick.  Sprinkle with your chosen seasonings.  Last night I used garlic, pepper, garden fresh rosemary, and a touch of ground bay.  Be very careful with ground bay as it can cause upset stomachs. It's better to used bay leaves, you can even put the leaves on the skewers between the veggies.  Be creative with your spiced for variety.  I'm thinking of doing some Indian seasoning next time.

       Shake up the bowl to evenly distribute the seasonings, then just thread them onto the skewers in whatever kind of pattern you choose.  Older kids will enjoy doing their own, and littler ones can help pick their own veggies.

      Once your veggies are skewered, you can either throw them on the grill or broil them.  They are a great summer grilling out meal.  But last night time was my main concern, so I broiled them on a cookie sheet on high.  Broil for about 5 minutes (depending on your broiler), then turn.  Your goal is veggies that are just starting to brown all the way around.

      For even more variety, you can baste your veggies with a sauce.  Punky is a total BBQ addict, so as a special treat for her last night, I basted the veggies with BBQ sauce for the last couple minutes of cooking.  Use only sauces free of high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and artificial colors.

       You can also use Teryaki, curry sauce, korma, etc.

       These are fun to eat right off the skewer, but easier if you slide them off into a bowl. 

      This is a really great, all veggie dinner, and it only takes about 20 minutes to cook, including veggie chopping!

Black Bean Burgers with Veggies

       Tonight, I made the delicious Black Bean Burgers from Happy Herbivore.  The are fast, easy, and have very few ingredients.  I added onions and garlic to the recipe.

       On the side, we had some of the most beautiful swiss chard I've ever seen.  I just wilted in gently by sauteeing it with a touch of garlic.  It is from one of our two favorite farms at the Farmer's Market - organic, local, and totally sustainable. This one is a very small family farm.  And swiss chard is packed with nutrients.  I always feel great after eating swiss chard.  The camera on my phone doesn't begin to capture the vibrant colors of this chard.

       For our green bean casserole, we use vegan cream of mushroom and local, organic beans.  I recommend Amy's brand for the cream of mushroom.

Veggie Stuffed Flax Bread

      Delicious, veggie filled, and fancy looking; this dinner centerpiece is easier than it looks.

       I took the easy way out and bought the bread.  Buy (or make) the biggest, roundest loaf you can find. 

Filling ingredients:
- zucchini
- squash
- onion
- shitake mushrooms
- turnip
- red bell pepper
- basil pesto
- rosemary, pepper, garlic

      I can't give specific amounts because it depends on the size bread loaf you have.  I used one of everything and about 2/3 cup of diced mushrooms.

      Dice the onion and let it sit.

      Slice the zucchini, squash, red pepper, and turnip lengthwise into wide slices.  Lay the slices out on lightly oiled cookie sheets, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with rosemary, garlic, and pepper.  The red pepper should be skin side up.

       Broil on high until it starts to brown.  In the meantime, dice the mushrooms and sautee them with the onions until the onions start to become translucent.  Cut the top off the bread and hollow our the loaf.  Save that bread to make my delicious homemade rosemary stuffing later!  Spread the inside of the loaf, including the top, with pesto.

      Once all the veggies are broiled and the mushrooms and onions sauteed, you just layer everything into the bread (with tongs! Don't burn yourself!).  Once the bread is stuffed with veggies, put the top back on and bake at 350 for just a few minutes, you don't want the bread to get to hard.

       Slice with a sharp knife to show off your creation!

"Sausage" Casserole

      This started out as just a fridge clean-out meal and may become a comfort food favorite.

I used: 
1 med onion 
About 10 large shitake mushrooms, diced 
1 lb Gimme Lean "Sausage" 
1 cup steamed chopped kale or other dark leafy green 
1/2 lb steamed brussels sprouts 
3 med red potatoes, microwaved for 2 min then sliced (don't burn your fingers!) 
1/4 - 1/3 cup organic low sodium veggie broth 
Sprinkling of pepper, oregano, paprika, and chili power or BAM (by Emeril Legasse)

      First, I chopped the onions and let them sit for at least 5 minutes.  In the meantime, I diced up the shitakes (I found some at the farmer's market, bonus!), and started to fry up the sausage in a tbls or so of grapeseed oil.  Then I threw in about 3/4 of the chopped onion and all the diced shitake.
      
      While that sauteed, I put a layer of the sliced potatoes in the bottom of the casserole dish.  Once the "sausage" was heated through and the onions started to get transparent, I added the mixture on top of the potatoes. On top of that, I layered the last of the onion, the chopped kale (leftover from an earlier meal - any dark leafy green will work), and the brussels sprouts (which I cut in half).

      I then sprinkled the dish with the veggie broth and topped with another layer of potatoes.  Sprinkle on the seasonings, and bake uncovered at 375 until the potatoes start to crisp.  Makes an amazing comfort food  

      A note about "fake meats:"

      I have mentioned before that I am not a fan of “fake meat,” as you buy it from the grocery store.  To be sure, it is MUCH better than the inhumane, processed, chemical filled meat products from factory farms you find in the grocery store, but “fake meat” is still a processed food.

       But for all my ruminating and pronouncing on health and ethical eating, we still have our vices, and fake meat is one we’re not giving up just yet.  We eat some fake meat product probably once a week.  Most often, it’s “fake” breakfast “sausage,” like the Gimme Lean used in this recipe.

      I neither endorse nor indict fake meat products.  I use them, but I use them sparingly as they are a processed food.  Most of the time, if I need a “meat substitute,” or something to fill a meat-like role in a recipe, I try to do that with more whole foods like Tempah.  For a couple excellent uses of Tempah, please check out Sloppy Joes and Mexican Lasagna. 

Savory Squash Soup

    I love Fall and I love cooking seasonally.   I've already talked about pumpkin in a couple of posts, but squash is another wonderfully versatile Fall staple.  Plus, since it keeps for so long, it's easy to keep on hand. And this recipe turned out amazing. Seriously, I can't exaggerate it. This is a must try!

      A couple weeks ago, one of our favorite farms at the Farmer's Market had a beautiful selection of squashes, and we had to grab a few.  Since then, they've been making such a beautiful centerpiece all arranged in a great big bowl with some onions and sweet potatoes, I was almost hesitant to use them!  But I'm sure glad I did!  This soup is unbelievable.
      MacGyver has always been a big fan of squash soup.  Actually, MacGyver is really a big fan of soup in general.  I like to try to do a lot of different things with squash, but soup remains the standby.  We typically do two different squash soups: one savory one, which I'll detail here, and one sweet one that also has apples in it.  Both are delicious.
      Tonight, I used one butternut and one acorn squash, but you could use two of the same or incorporate any number of other fall squashes, though I recommend against using spaghetti squash. I cut the squashes in half and steamed them for 10-15 minutes to soften them up. In the meantime, I chopped up an onion and a large leftover sweet potato we got from the same Farmer's Market.  I went out and picked some rosemary and oregano from the garden.  I can't express how much I love garden fresh herbs and how happy it makes me to hop outside while I'm cooking and grab ingredients.

      I tossed the diced sweet potato, onion, rosemary, and oregano in a small amount of olive oil, spread them in a pan, and broiled them until the potatoes had softened and were just starting to brown.

      Once the sweet potatoes were starting to soften, I added the squashes to the pan and stuck it back in to bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or so.

      Once I felt that everything was nicely roasted and the squashes were cooked through, I transferred everything into the food processor (scooping the squashes out of their skins).

      I blended everything up, adding low sodium organic veggie broth until it reached the desired consistancy (I'd estimate about 3 cups of broth).

      At this point, you could serve straight from the blender/food processor since everything's still hot from broiling, but I moved it all into a pot to keep hot since it wasn't quite dinner time yet.

      This soup was a smash hit. I highly recommend it (as do MacGyver, Punky, and Flintstone). Steaming the squash at the beginning is not a necessary step, but I find it easier to scoop out the squashes that way. You could also cube the squashes raw in the beginning.

      You should totally try this hearty, healthy, delicious winter soup! And let me know if you do!

Spaghetti

       Spaghetti is a great go-to quick and easy dinner.  We pretty much always have whole wheat noodles and a couple jars of organic spaghetti sauce in the cupboard.  And if we really are dealt just a SUPER busy night with nothing prepped ahead of time, there's no harm in just throwing the two together and calling it good. But I'm pretty sure we all know that's not really my style.

       I honestly don't think we've had spaghetti that was just noodles and sauce in years.  It can still be quick and easy: If I'm pressed for time, I'll just throw in a can of beans and a bag of frozen spinach or other frozen veggies.  Boom, that's it. Still quick and easy, but definitely a more nutritious, satisfying, and rounded out meal.

      And if I have a few minutes, I like to dice up an onion and a couple peppers and some basil from the garden and sauteé them for a few minutes before adding the sauce.  And I always like to throw in some leafy greens. The nutritional benefits of leafy greens (kale, spinach, collards, mustard or turnip greens, chard, . . .), are so amazing that I see no reason not to slip them in at every possible point.  Note: like onions and garlic, kale benefits from being allowed to sit for a few minutes after being chopped and before being heated.

      Just ten minutes of chopping for a drastic improvement in flavor, nutrition, and texture.  And if your kids don't like chunky veggies in the sauce or bulk at the idea of greens in spaghetti, throw the veggies in the blender or ninja for a few seconds before stirring into the sauce. It really is just that easy.

      Last night we had spaghetti, not because we were particularly rushed, but because I was too lazy to invent something else (it's rare, but it happens).  I added an onion and, from the garden, a red pepper, a green pepper, and some fresh basil. I also threw in a good about three cups of chopped Farmer's Market kale.

       Lastly, I added some Boca fake meat crumbles. I don't like cooking with fake meat, because it's processed and sometimes has artificial colors, but MacGyver loves it once in a while and we happened to have some in the freezer. I'm also a big fan of Veggie Patch brand meatless balls (ok, they're called meatless meatballs, but I call them meatless balls in hommage to La Vie Boheme from Rent).

       What is your favorite quick and easy dinner?
       Do you doctor your spaghetti?

Halloween Stuffed Peppers

Orange bell peppers cut into jack-o-lanterns, stuffed with quinoa, kale, and just a little parmesan cheese and tomato sauce.   Peppers and kale from the Farmer's Market. Pictured on a bed of sauteed zucchini, japanese eggplant, and peppers also from the Farmer's Market.
Cook the quinoa according to the package directions. Chop up the kale and steam it until soft but not mushy. Mix the quinoa and kale with just enough tomato sauce and parmesan cheese to moisten the mixture. Fill the peppers and bake at 350 until the peppers just start to soften. Enjoy a delicious, fun, and very healthy Halloween dinner! As always, let me know if you try it!

Eggplant Tagine

      Tried a new Moroccan inspired recipe tonight, and it was a hit.  Eggplant, zucchini, and squash salted for 20 minutes, rinsed, and broiled for 20 minutes.  Onion, garlic, and mushrooms sauteed together and seasoned with cardamon, cumin, cinnamon, and turmeric a pot with tomato sauce, tomato paste, diced new potatoes (skin on), and chickpeas.  Throw in the eggplant, zucchini, and squash and enjoy!

      As always, please let me know if you try it!

Farmer's Market Ravioli

Tonight we had caprese ravioli we get from a guy at the Farmer's Market. I sauteed up zucchini and squash, also from the Farmer's Market, with a small onion in a little bit of grapeseed oil with some oregano and bam.  MacGyver made a delicious vegan sauce from almond milk and a bunch of basil and sweet red peppers from our garden. He roughly blended it all then boiled it down with a little sherry.  Delicious!