Vegetarian

Bruschetta

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Bruschetta makes me so wonderfully happy! It is one of those super simple meals that great ingredients just make amazing. I love making a big batch of this to use as appetizers, chicken toppers, pasta mix-ins and a healthy snack with pita chips. It is awesome for lake weekends and large groups. I like it cold and warmed up – will provide both methods below.

Cold Bruschetta

  • 1.5 pounds ripe, plum tomatoes – drained, seeded, chopped *some people remove skins – I skip this step
  • 4-7 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 cups julienned basil
  • .5 – 1 tbsp good quality balsamic vinaigrette to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • A small dash of Gerrard’s Champagne Light Dressing *optional
  • One french baguette or ciabatta loaf (I prefer ciabatta but the baguette is much easier to make appetizer portions with
  • High quality olive oil

In a large bowl combine all ingredients and mix well, adjusting amounts to taste. Set aside.

Slice bread into slices (between a centimeter and half inch thick depending on preference), brush with olive oil and place on a greased baking dish. Bake on 450 for 5 minutes (longer if more doneness is desired, shorter if using smaller slices than half-inch). Remove and top with tomato mixture. Serve immediately.

Warm Bruschetta

  • All the same ingredients, plus Fresh Mozzarella or Burrata, diced

In a large bowl combine all ingredients, plus mozzarella, and mix well, adjusting amounts to taste. Set aside.

Slice bread into slices (half inch thick depending on preference), brush with olive oil and place on a greased baking dish. Bake on 450 for 3 minutes. Remove, top with the tomato mixture and return to the oven for 3-4 minutes – until cheese is melty. Serve immediately.

Stuffed Swiss Chard

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One of my favorite sides. Really this can be eaten as a whole meal if you so desire. Healthy and satisfying!

Stuffed Swiss Chard

One bunch Rainbow Swiss Chard
One bunch Green Onions, chopped
1/2 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, whole
4 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 large shallots, diced
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella (or fresh balls)
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350. Steam the Chard in a large pot. Remove after Chard has become wilted, lay individual pieces out flat on a greased cookie sheet (I like to double them up to prevent tearing). Salt and pepper the inside of each chard piece.

In a small bowl, combine garlic, shallot, green onions, pepper, cheese, and tomatoes and mix well. Place a small amount of the mixture in the middle of each Swiss chard leaf then roll to create a packet. Seal with a toothpick if necessary. Brush the top of the chard packets with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Bake for about 14 – 20 minutes.

Sauteed Spinach

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I can eat sauteed spinach all day, everyday. It is super easy, healthy, flavorful and versatile. It can be used as a side, as a bed for a protein such as salmon, can be used as a stuffing, or as a whole meal. I crave this over and over again – hey I guess it is better than craving pizza!

Sauteed Spinach

Baby spinach leaves, washed and dried – you will need a good bit of spinach as its volume is significantly reduced after cooking
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 large shallots, thinly sliced
Crushed red pepper *optional, I tend to not add it
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Dash of white wine (sub chicken broth if you have no white wine)

Heat a dab of olive oil in a large, high walled skillet. Saute garlic and shallots (properly seasoned) until glassy then hit with a nice pull of white wine (depending on how much spinach you are using decrease or increase the amount of wine added). Once the wine cooks off, add the spinach to the pan and allow to wilt. Pepper and serve.

Scalloped Potatoes – Twice – Yikes

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Friday night. I have the flu. D and I go to my mom’s house so that she can take care of me and the boys can have man time with horseshoes. Mom tells me that she is making one of my favorite English meals – Bubbles and Squeak. 30 minutes later a phone call delivers the horrifying news that corned beef has been recalled and is incredibly hard to find in America (and that if it is found, we may contract some disease). Well crud! That was literally the only thing I wanted in the world. Plan B was pieced together from what she had already bought at the store preparing for Bubble and Squeak and their dinner the next night – steaks. Daddy was thrilled because he loves steak and potatoes. My Heart was broken. Somehow this whole “Andi is sick and needs to lay down and be taken care of” turned into Dalt and Daddy pleading with me to make scalloped potatoes and me scrounging through my parents pantry and fridge to acquiesce. Then, the very next day, D and I decided to stay the night again and I had to make an additional dish for me (I do not eat pork and that was on the menu for the evening) so we ended up at the Super S – which was like  a culture shock for me – and the pasta I was making turned into Dalton saying, ” You know if you wanted to make scalloped potatoes again, I would eat them.” So, for the second time in two days, I made scalloped potatoes – these were different than the night before, I have included both recipes. D was so excited about his leftover potatoes – Daddy only had me leave him enough for one small lunch serving so the rest went into a Ziploc for D. Alas, they were left behind (and yes this means that I have to make scalloped potatoes again in the near future to make up for it – those are going to have oven-baked onion rings on them).

Friday Night

  • Chicken Broth
  • 4 red potatoes – sliced up to a quarter inch thick
  • Mozzarella, Shredded
  • Cheddar Cheese (aged 2 years or more). shredded
  • Monterrey Jack, Shredded
  • Sherry
  • Shallots
  • Onions
  • Garlic
  • Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Thyme – to taste
  • Butter
  • Flour
  • 2 percent milk, Half and Half, or Cream
  • Mushrooms
  • Bacon Bits

In a stock pot, bring water to a boil (I like to use a bit of better than broth bouillon for extra flavor). Once a rolling boil has been achieved, add sliced potatoes and boil under fork tender. Strain and return to pot.

Melt butter, Saute garlic and minced shallots with flour and crushed red pepper. Once a light roux is formed, add sherry and cook until alcohol is just cooked out. Add a bit of broth and the milk and allow to thicken. Season with desired amounts of cayenne, salt, pepper, and the thyme. Add in cheeses a handful at a time allowing time for the cheese to melt into the mixture. Keep on low heat.

In another saute pan, heat butter or oil and then add mushrooms and sliced onions. Cook until glassy.

In a buttered, oven-safe dish begin to place one potato round down to cover bottom of pan. Spoon some of the cheese mixture over the bottom layer and spread to cover well. Add sauteed mushrooms, onions, and some bacon bits on top, then repeat this process (potatoes, cheese mixture, mushroom mixture) until the potatoes are gone and the layers are complete. Top the top layer with some shredded cheese and sprinkle with paprika.

Bake in the oven on 350 until bubbly and brown on top. I like to add a little bit of chicken broth around the sides to just keep the dish moist. Top with green onions (if you have – which I did not this night) after removal from the oven.

Saturday Night

It is a little interesting that one sauce seems more authentic than the other. This one uses a can of cheddar cheese soup and some freshly shredded cheddar cheese (I did not have either the night before) in addition to the ingredients from the first night. I also used Green Onions. I omitted as many mushrooms because I needed to save some for my dad for breakfast the next day.

To make this version, follow previous instruction adding the cheddar cheese soup to the cheese/milk mixture. Chop green onions and sprinkle in layers along with bacon, onion, and mushroom mixture. Everything else is fairly similar. In this version you can reduce the amount of flour that you use because the soup will thicken it.

Black Bean-Corn Salsa

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This is a versatile dip. You can add this to seven layer bean dip, use as a regular dip along side salsa, queso or guac, add it into tacos or enchiladas, etc. When I make enchiladas I serve them with a huge helping of this on the side – I am not sure why I do not put it inside the actual enchilada as it inevitably get mixed in and eaten with the enchilada. I suppose it is enchilada nostalgia.If you want to make shrimp enchiladas leave out the black beans and tomatoes. This is also the ONLY thing that I will eat bell pepper in. All of the ingredients listed below should be added in quantities according to taste preferences.

Black Bean-Corn Salsa

Black Beans
Red onion – small dice
minced garlic formed into paste (no more than 2 cloves is necessary)
Red Bell Pepper – small dice
Sweet Corn
Tomato – seeded, juiced, and diced
Lime Juice
Avocado
Red wine vinegar
Spices: powdered garlic, cumin, cayenne, adobo, salt
Cilantro to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add seasoning as desired.

Brilliantly Garlicy Guac

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I love making guacamole. I really do not like buying it pre-made because it just does not compare to homemade guac. And it is really easy. The name is inspired by my Sarah after I made semi-homemade guac (in the interest of time and money) to compliment my enchilada calzone creation. Note – if you do choose to buy guac buy Central Market pre-made guac in the chef-prepared bar and then add tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeno, and garlic to it — see why it is almost easier to make it yourself?

Brilliantly Garlicy Guac

Serves about Six

5 Large Hass Avocados- halved, cut into four sections, removed from skin with pit reserved
10 cloves garlic – minced (see instructions below)
2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
1 white or red onion – fine dice
1-2 tomatoes (dependent on taste preferences and size of tomato), seeded and juices drained
One bunch cilantro chopped (try to avoid stems)
Pinch of adobo spice (optional)
Pinch of garlic salt (optional)
Pinch of Salt – to taste
Black Pepper – to taste
Lime juice – squeeze from a half lime (to taste with lemon)
lemon juice – squeeze from a half lemon (to taste with lime)

Put minced garlic on a cutting board, sprinkle with a half tablespoon of Kosher salt, mash with a knife running the knife over garlic, then repeating. This will eventually form a loose paste of garlic. Add to bowl.

Combine garlic, avocados, jalapenos, tomatoes, cilantro, and onion in a large bowl. Mash with a potato masher (or large spoon). Once you have acquired the desired consistency (I like mine to have lumps of intact avocado in it but you can make it as smooth as you like – just keep mashing and occasionally stirring), sprinkle mixture with salt, pepper, adobo, garlic salt if using, and squeeze the citrus to taste. Stir mixture to incorporate the additional seasonings. Place pits in the guac to keep it green (can be removed during serving if you like).

Momma Joy’s Quiche

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So I have never made a quiche, but my Auntie Joy – who is an amazing cook – made quiches over Christmas that D loved. She was nice enough to share it with me and this morning I thought I would try my hand at it because I wanted to feed six people and it seemed like an easy, satisfying, and cost effective solution. Everyone seemed pleased with it=) I cannot eat eggs so of course could not participate. I made a couple of changes  – I used mozzarella cheese because I did not have gruyere. I also considered adding bacon, but ultimately did not feel like frying it. Additionally, I omitted the butter and used 1/3 whole milk and 3/4 cream because I had some whole milk that I needed to use up.

Serves 6-10

Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. olive oil
5 large mushrooms – sliced
4-5 large sliced shallots
1 bag baby spinach
2 Tbs. sherry
Sliced mozzarella, jack, gruyere, brie, fontina or cheddar
10 large eggs
1 cup whipping cream
1 pkg. Pillsbury ready made pie crusts

Makes 2 quiches
Prebake pie crusts per pkg instructions. (You will need to bring them to room temperature, pre-bake, then cool).
Heat oil and butter if using. Saute shallots (properly seasoned) in large frying pan approx. 10 mins .  Add mushrooms…..saute but donʼt overcook.  Add spinach and cook until just wilted.  Drain off any excess moisture.
Add sherry and heat to just cook off alcohol.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and cream.  Add salt and pepper.
Once pie crust is cooled, layer slices of cheese in the bottom of pastry, overlapping.  Divide spinach mixture
between the two and pour the egg mixture over the tops.  Bake uncovered at 375 for
about 35-40 mins.  Check with toothpick in center.
Let cool 10 mins before cutting.

Kale … the new Superman

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Kale is a superfood. It is a leafy, dark green that some people think is bitter. I happen to love it steamed and made into cold salads with red pepper flakes, garlic, and sesame oil. But it can also be roasted for a nice crunch that you can eat alone or add to pasta for veggies and texture! This sauteed version is also excellent.

Sauteed Kale

One bunch kale
Shallots – to taste – sliced thin
Garlic – to taste – slivered thin
White wine
Crushed red pepper
Olive oil
Tomatoes (diced) or cranberries

Saute shallots and garlic until glassy. Add about a half cup or white wine and reduce add a bit of chicken broth to mellow it out If desired . Add kale and red pepper and cook – stirring occasionally until wilted. Remove – salt and pepper to taste (add a squeeze of lemon if so desired).