Zucchini Pancakes

I have a huge back-log of posts that I hope to get on the blog soon.  We'll see how successful I am at getting everything posted.  I kind of have a lot going on right now to keep me pretty busy.  Between being a mom of two now (one of which is 3-months old), being a wife, going to class at church one night a week, spending time with friends and family, starting up a small business, and commuting and working about 30 hours per week at work... I have been keeping myself quite busy.  :)  But I have still been trying to get healthful meals on the table everyday.  These paleo zucchini pancakes were a weekly item on menu this summer, while we were getting so many zucchini in our CSA.  They have continued to show up occasionally, as we are still getting zucchini in our weekly CSA share.  These are based off of the Barefoot Contessa's recipe.  They are delicious and so fast and easy to make.  We all love them. 

Zucchini Pancakes

2 medium zucchini (about 3/4 pound)

2 tablespoons grated red onion (or use a teaspoon of onion powder)

2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

6 to 8 tablespoons almond flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Unsalted butter

Grate the zucchini into a bowl.  Immediately stir in the onion and eggs.  Stir in 6 tablespoons of the flour, the baking powder, salt, and pepper. (If the batter gets too thin from the liquid in the zucchini, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour.)

Heat a large (10 to 12-inch) saute pan over medium heat and melt 1/2 tablespoon butter in the pan.  When the butter is hot, but not smoking, lower the heat to medium-low and drop heaping soup spoons of batter into the pan.  Cook the pancakes about 2 minutes on each side, until browned.


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Egg in a Basket (with Zucchini)

Have you ever heard of Egg in a Basket, or Hole in the Heads, or One-Eyed Jacks?  It usually refers to the idea of cutting a round hole in a slice of toast, placing it in a frypan, and cracking an egg in the center to cook.  I always called them Hole in the Heads, but I figured Egg in a Basket was a more appropriate reference.  Since we're not eating bread at our house these days, I decided to try them with zucchini and summer squash since we are getting so much of it from our garden.  It's a good use for those zucchini or squash that get ginormous overnight when you don't think they're quite ready to pick the day prior.  We really enjoyed these.  And you really can't have a simpler breakfast, lunch, or dinner. 

Zucchini Eggs in a Basket

1 large zucchini or summer squash
eggs
coconut oil or butter for frying
celtic sea salt

Grease your pan with coconut oil or butter.  Let it heat up. 

Slice your zucchini or summer squash into about 1/2"-3/4" slices.  Use a sharp knife to cut the seeds out of the middle, leaving a hole. 

Fry up both sides of the zucchini until tender.  Then crack an egg into the center.  Flip over after the egg has cooked on the first side.  Sprinkle with celtic sea salt, serve, and enjoy! 


This post is linked to:
Traditional Tuesdays @ Delicious Obsessions
Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade
Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS

Egg Salad Avocado Boats

Last week, I posted a recipe/method of serving tuna salad in avocado boats.  I mentioned in the post that egg salad is delicious in avocado boats, too.  I made these for lunch one day last week and snapped a picture, so thought I'd post it.  I make a very simple egg salad.  All three of us love it.  Carson often requests it, even.

Egg Salad in Avocado Boats

avocado, halved and pitted
hard boiled eggs
mayonnaise, preferfably homemade
dijon mustard
celery, diced

Chop up your hard boiled eggs into a medium sized bowl.  Add some mayonnaise and dijon to your liking and mix up.  Add diced celery to your liking and mix.  Spoon into avocado halves (a.k.a. boats) and enjoy!


This post is linked to:
Sugar Free Sundays at Flip Cookbook

Zucchini Lasagna

I've got a lot of zucchini coming in right now from the garden. Good thing we love the stuff! :) To use some up last night, I made a zucchini lasagna. I made this last year, too, but it never found its way to my blog. I wasn't going to post this one, either... because I forgot to take a picture and I'm already super behind on posts, but I figured I'd make a quick post about it. Just because it is so yummy! You can make it as healthy or bad for you as you want, I guess. I try to make it more healthy. And I usually make it without meat, but you could certainly put meat in yours. You could simply just replace the pasta noodles with thin slices of zucchini in your normal lasagna recipe and it'd be great! I'd like to try making this in the crockpot one of these days, but I've only ever baked it in the oven. Anyway, this is how I made mine last night:

Thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish.
Layer of thinly sliced zucchini (these are your "noodles")
Layer of veggies... last night I used all fresh veggies... yellow bell pepper, cauliflower, mushrooms, corn cut off the cob, and green beans
Layer of cheese... last night I used some really good, local cottage cheese and some grated raw milk mozzarella
Layer of sauce... you can use your favorite jarred sauce, or homemade (I used my home-canned sauce)
Then repeat the layers again and top with lots of cheese.

Bake it in a 375 degree oven for an hour to an hour and a half. And enjoy!

Sloppy Lentils

I tried a recipe from Passionate Homemaking on Monday for sloppy lentils. They are your typical sloppy joe, only meatless. And they are delicious! I liked them better than meaty sloppy joes, actually. Kevin and Carson loved them, too. Although, Kevin said he likes his meaty joes, too. :) I took some of the leftovers over to my MIL for a dinner for her and my BIL while my FIL was gone this week and they both really liked these, too.

These were fairly simple to make, as well. I actually cooked them on Sunday so we could just reheat them on Monday for dinner. My job is insane right now, so I'm finding I have to do more prep ahead than normal if we want to eat a decent dinner.

I'll update with a picture later on.

Sloppy Lentils

3 cups water
1 cup lentils, rinsed (I used brown)
salt to taste (optional)
1 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
15 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2-1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
3-5 tablespoons rapadura, molasses, or honey (I used honey)
1 Tbsp white vinegar
salt and ground black pepper to taste
4 hamburger buns, split

Soaking Step, optional (I did this): Allow lentils to soak overnight in warm filtered water with 2 Tablespoons acid medium (I used whey). Rinse and cook as described below.

Combine water and lentils in a saucepan. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The cook time may depend on the type of lentil you use, too... so keep that in mind so that you don't overcook them.

Meanwhile, cook the onions in olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until the onions have softened and are translucent. Add tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste, ketchup, mustard powder, chili powder, sweetener, vinegar, salt and pepper. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes until thickened.

Drain lentils and reserve cooking liquid. Stir lentils into sauce mixture, adding cooking liquid or water as needed to obtain the desired "sloppy joe" consistency. Serve on buns.

(I cooked my lentils, then drained and used the same deep pan to make the sauce so I wasn't dirtying two different pans.)

Creamy Pesto Potato Salad

I had some red potatoes that I needed to use up. I also still have some garlic scape pesto in the freezer to use up. So I decided to make a creamy pesto potato salad over the weekend. I remembered seeing a good looking recipe on A Good Appetite last summer, so I went searching for that. I found it and had all the ingredients, so I made it up quickly over the weekend. This was very tasty! I thought it might seem a little bland, with so few ingredients, but it wasn't at all. The garlic scape pesto just gives it so much flavor.

Picture to come soon.

Creamy Pesto Potato Salad

2 lbs waxy potatoes, washed & cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 - 3 T Garlic Scape Pesto
1/2 c sour cream
1/2 c mayonnaise
salt & pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork tender about 7 - 10 minutes. Drain.

Mix the pesto, sour cream & mayonnaise together. Season with salt & a generous amount of pepper. Mix in with warm potatoes.

Serve warm or chilled.

Crockpot Breakfast Risotto

I made another recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking. This time for a breakfast risotto. This was pretty good. It was kind of strange eating rice for breakfast, but it was tasty, at least. We all liked it. I'll make it again sometime and I'd like to try out some other variations.

I forgot to take a picture.

Crockpot Breakfast Risotto

1/4 cup butter
3 little apples
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg
1/8 t cloves
1/4 t kosher salt
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 cups of liquid. I used a tiny can of apple juice, and half and half for the rest (I used non-homogenized whole milk)
(I added a splash of vanilla)

Turn your crock to high and add the butter so it can start melting. Wash and cut up your apples while it begins to melt. Add the rice to the butter, and stir it around to coat it nicely. If the butter isn't completely melted, don't worry. Add the apples, and spices. Stir in the juice/milk. Cover and cook on high for 3-5 hours, or on low for 6 or so.

Quinoa Tabbouleh

I made this quinoa tabbouleh to take on our camping trip this past weekend. We were camping with the Gluten Free Girlie, so I had to make sure all of my food was gluten free. I have been wanting to make quinoa tabbouleh for about a year now, so I figured this would be my chance. I love tabbouleh! And this is a great way to have it if you're gluten free (and even if you're not!). Even Kevin liked this - and he doesn't normally care for tabbouleh. This was very quick and easy to make and is a great summertime healthy salad to take along to your bbq!

Quinoa Tabbouleh

2 cups water
1 cup quinoa
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tomatoes, diced
1 cucumber, diced
2 bunches green onions, diced
2 carrots, grated
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
(I added about 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh garlic)

Bring water to a boil. Add quinoa and a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature; fluff with a fork. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine olive oil, sea salt, lemon juice, tomatoes, cucumber, green onions, carrots and parsley. Stir in cooled quinoa.

Broccoli and Parmesan Egg Scramble

I've been looking for more ideas for breakfasts lately. Quick, healthy, tasty, filling breakfasts. The May 2010 issue of Fitness magazine featured ideas for each meal of the day. All of their breakfast ideas were under or at 300 calories. While we eat veggies in our scrambled eggs almost every week, I don't normally think to use parmesan cheese. I think I will start using it on our eggs more often, though. You get so much bang (of flavor) for very few calories. So anyway, this isn't really a novel idea of a recipe, but I wanted to post it anyway, in case their are others looking for little ways to eat a larger variety of breakfasts. This is very good. I love starting our day with a good dose of veggies, especially with the super-food, broccoli!

Broccoli and Parmesan Egg Scramble

2 eggs
3/4 cup chopped broccoli
1 1/2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Whisk together eggs; set aside.

Coat a frying pan with nonstick cooking spray and saute broccoli florets for 2 minutes.

Add eggs and scramble. Once eggs are cooked, sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Pesto Pea Salad

I saw this recipe on my SIL's blog almost a year ago now and have wanted to make it, but I always forget about it. We almost always have all of the ingredients on hand on any given day, so I can't believe it has taken me this long to make it. But like I said, I always forget about it. So anyway, I finally made this for our lunch today since I didn't have anything planned since we were thinking we'd be out in Holland. This salad actually popped into my brain as I was thinking of what kind of salad to make for lunch. This was delicious! And super simple and fast to put together. I think I will probably be taking this salad on a regular basis for my lunches. I didn't have any cooked chicken in the fridge, but it'd be great with chicken and other veggies, too.

Pesto Pea Salad

2 cups of frozen peas, thawed
2 Tbsp. crispy pine nuts
2 1/2 cups baby salad greens
grated parmesan (I forgot to put this on, but it was delicious without it!)
4 Tbsp. pesto, recipe follows (I used some that I had frozen last year)

To assemble, place the spinach leaves in a salad bowl. Sprinkle the peas and pignolis over the spinach. Add the pesto and toss. Top with cheese.

Pesto:
1/4 cup crispy walnuts
1/4 cup crispy pine nuts
3 Tbsp. diced garlic (9 cloves)
5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 cups good olive oil
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Place the walnuts, pignolis, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 30 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is finely pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Serve, or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.

Spinach and Chickpeas

I was going through my pictures and realized I never posted this a few weeks back. I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and thought it looked and sounded pretty tasty. It was! And I simplified several things to make it pretty fast and easy to make. This was a tasty, different meatless meal. The flavors were great and it was fun to eat on the little toasts. We all really liked it a lot.

Espinacas con Garbanzos (Spinach and Chickpeas)

1/2 pound dried chickpeas, cooked until soft and tender* or two 15-ounce cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
6 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound spinach, washed
A hefty 1-inch slice from a country loaf or about 2 slices from sandwich loaf bread, crusts removed and cut inset small cubes
1/2 cup (2 ounces) tomato sauce
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Lemon juice, to taste

Place a large saucepan over medium heat and add half the olive oil. When it is hot, add the spinach with a pinch of salt. Do in batches, if necessary and stir well. Remove when the leaves are just tender, drain in a colander and set aside. (I skipped this step at this point and just added the spinach at the end to wilt.)

Heat 2 more tablespoons olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry the bread for about 5 minutes or until golden brown all over, then the remaining tablespoon of oil and the garlic, cumin and pepper. Cook for 1 minute more or until the garlic is nutty brown. (I changed this step and just toasted my bread.)

Transfer to a food processor, blender or mortar and pestle along with the vinegar, and mash to a paste. (I skipped the food processor and just added the ingredients to te skillet.) Return the mixture to the pan and add the drained chickpeas and tomato sauce. Stir until the chickpeas have absorbed the flavors and are hot. Season with salt and pepper. (This is when I added my spinach to wilt down.)

If the consistency is a little thick, add some water. Add the spinach and cook until it is hot. Check for seasoning and serve with paprika on top, or on fried bread toasts (as the Spanish do).

Raw Lettuce Wraps

We have been eating more and more raw things lately. We've even had a few nights of all raw meals. We are loving these raw lettuce wraps and have had them a few times now. These pictured just have avocado, cucumber, and carrots. (Kevin has his without the avocado since it gives him an allergic reaction this time of year.) I've added tomato, green bell pepper, and sweet onion to them, as well. They were great both ways! These are a little awkward for Carson to eat, so I just dice up the veggies we're having and shred a little lettuce for him to just eat with a fork. We usually have these with a fresh, raw fruit salad for a raw dinner that is very tasty and very healthy!

Raw Lettuce Wraps

Romaine lettuce leaves
Avocado, smashed
Cucumber
Carrots
Any other veggies you like - bell pepper, mushrooms, tomato, onion, etc.

Wash your lettuce and lay out the number of leaves you need. Smash your avocado and spread on the romaine leaves. Use a veggie peeler or cut in small dices the remaining veggies. Layer them on top of the avocado. To eat, roll in the sides of the romaine leaf to make a wrap and enjoy!

Veggie Quinoa Salad with Pesto Dressing

I saw this salad posted on Food in Jars earlier this week and decided to switch up my original meal plans to make it since I already had everything on hand and it just sounded delicious. We had it for dinner last night and it was so, so, so good! A perfect warm weather, meatless dinner! We all loved it! I will definitely be making this a regular meal on our table! It'd be a great salad to take to a potluck, too, since it can be served slightly warm/room temp or chilled.

Vegetable-Stuffed Quinoa Salad with Pesto Dressing

2 cups quinoa (cooked in 4 cups water)
1 bundle asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 red pepper, chopped (I used a green one since that's what I had)
1/2 red onion, roughly chopped (I added some chopped chives from my garden instead)
1/2 english cucumber, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
6 ounces feta, crumbled
4 ounces of pesto
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
olive oil (some for roasting asparagus and some for the dressing)
salt
pepper
Toasted almonds (optional)

Cook the two cups of quinoa by combining it with four cups of water. Bring to a boil and reduce temperature. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until it is tender. When it is finished cooking, spread it out on a cookie sheet to cool.

Spread the asparagus out on a small cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Combine chopped red pepper, onion, cucumber, parsley and drained garbanzo beans in a large bowl.

Whisk the pesto, vinegar and a drizzle of olive oil together until runny. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add quinoa to the chopped vegetables. Gently stir to combine. Add the crumbled feta and dressing and fold in. Top with toasted almonds and serve. Can be made up to 24 hours in advance.

Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto

My friend, Kati, discovered she has celiac disease about 6+ months ago. Ever since, she's been living the gluten free life and is feeling amazingly different and better. She has started a website featuring lots of delicious recipes that are all gluten free. These are all family recipes or just recipes that have become favorites of hers and Ben's that are either naturally gluten free or that she has converted to being gluten free. She just started the site at the end of March, so it is growing every week or so. Check it out - even if you don't need to eat gluten free! She's the Gluten Free Girlie.

As I've mentioned, I've been trying to clean out some things from the pantry, fridge, and freezer for the last few weeks. When I came across this recipe for spinach and sun-dried tomato risotto on Kati's site, I knew we had to try it. Not only did it sound delicious, but I had some organic arborio rice, sun-dried tomatoes, and spinach that I needed to find some uses for. So I made it for dinner this week and it was absolutely delicious! After every bite, Carson declared it "deeee-wishous!" He loved it! I loved it! Kevin loved it! A definite keeper!

I'll update with a picture later on.

Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto

3 Tablespoons olive oil
4 cups spinach
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups risotto rice
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons basil, fresh and minced or dried flakes
1/2 cup grated asiago or parmesan cheese
1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese
Salt
Pepper

In a food processor, finely chop spinach with 1 tablespoon of oil. (I also added the tomatoes)

In a frying pan or wok, heat the oil and sautée the onion until transparent. Add the rice, stirring until the rice is a little transparent. Add the tomatoes. (I actually kept my tomatoes out and chopped them up in the food processor with the spinach.) Pour in the stock, 1/2 cup at time, continuously stirring. Do not add more stock until the rice absorbs the already added stock. After about 30 minutes the rice should be creamy.

Turn off the heat and stir in the spinach, ricotta, basil and cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let stand for 3-4 minutes before serving.

Crockpot Baked Oatmeal

I've been wanting to make this baked oatmeal for awhile, so I decided to make it for lunch today. This is another keeper from A Year of Slow Cooking. Very easy prep and super yummy!! I had never tried baked oatmeal, so I wasn't sure what to expect. This is so good, though! Even Kevin thought it was ok - and he doesn't like normal oatmeal. I think I may start making this regularly every other Sunday to have throughout the week. It will be fun to try different flavorings, too... different dried fruits, maple syrup and a little more brown sugar, applesauce and chopped apples, bananas and walnuts - yum!

Crockpot Baked Oatmeal

3 cups rolled (not instant) oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoon flax meal (optional)
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup dried fruit (I used some store-bought golden raisins and cranberries and some home-dried cherries and blueberries)

I used a 4 quart oval crockpot. You're baking this, but no need to vent the lid of the crock; keep all the moisture in.

Mix all the ingredients together in the crockpot. I dumped in all the dry stuff, then added the melted butter and milk. Stir well with a spoon. Make sure the baking powder gets dispersed evenly.

Cover and cook on low for 3-5 hours, checking every so often. This is done when the edges are brown and are beginning to crust, and the center is set. An inserted knife should come out clean. (Mine took about 4 hours and 15 minutes).

Let it sit in the cooling crockpot for at least an hour before attempting to cut. The longer you let it sit, the more set and brownie-like the pieces will be.

Crockpot Cream of Tomato Soup

On Monday, I made up a batch of cream of tomato soup in the crockpot. This recipe comes from my SIL Mary. This is a very good soup. It tastes as good as the last tomato soup I had tried (a Giada recipe), but its much simpler since everything is just thrown into the crockpot. We had a little for dinner with grilled cheese sandwiches and I canned the remaining soup into 8 pints. I'm very excited to have this on hand for quick lunches and dinners!

I'll update with a picture later on.

Crockpot Cream of Tomato Soup

(This cream of tomato soup is rich and hearty and very delicious. It can be used as a substitute for canned tomato soup with excellent results and cannot be beat when served with grilled cheese sandwiches. Mix and match any of the suggested herbs and spices for a marvelous soup. For a traditional blend we use 2 tablespoons Italian parsley, 1 tablespoon oregano, and 1 tablespoon basil.)

2 Tbsp. olive oil (I didn't add this)
1 large chopped onion
3 crushed garlic cloves
2 minced carrots (I just did a rough chop into slices)
2 pounds peeled and diced tomatoes (reserve and add all juices) (I used 1 large can of diced tomatoes and 1 large can of crushed tomatoes)
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock or broth
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Salt
Pepper
2-4 Tbsp. freshly chopped herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, savory, chervil, Italian parsley, mint, lavender) or 1-2 tsp. dried herbs or spices (Italian spices, basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme, cumin, curry powder, nutmeg)
1 cup heavy cream (or milk - I used 1% milk)

Combine the oil, onion, garlic, and carrot in the crockpot. Cook on high, stirring frequently, until the onion softens. This can also be done in a skillet. (I skipped this step.) Add the remaining ingredients except for the herbs and spices and cream. Cover and cook on low for 8-12 hours. Add the herbs and adjust seasoning. Cool slightly and puree in small batches (I used an immersion blender). Return to the crockpot and add the cream. (I just added the cream to the individual bowls and canned the soup plain). Reheat until piping hot, or else cool and chill before serving.

* Process at 10 pounds of pressure for 20 minutes if you want to can it.

Miso Soup

I made this for dinner last week. I had planned to make some salads with an asian ginger dressing, as well, but I gave up on that for lack of time and we just had this soup with some veggie stir-fry. It was a super tasty, very low-calorie, healthy meal! And pretty quick to prepare, too! Gotta love that kind of meal! :) This recipe is from my Biggest Loser 30-Day Jump Start book. I've always had miso soup at sushi or hibachi restaurants - they usually bring this out with a salad with ginger dressing before your main meal is brought out or prepared. Miso is such a simple, yet super tasty and warming soup - I love it! Kevin didn't think he'd ever had it and wasn't too sure what to think of such a simple soup, but he loved it, too. And Carson... wow, he totally loved it! He ate every last drop... drinking the broth from his bowl... and asking for more! I'll definitely be making this again very soon! Everything I used was organic.

I'll update later with a picture.

Miso Soup

1 Tablespoon olive oil or sesame oil
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 Tablespoon peeled, finely chopped fresh ginger
4 cups fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth (or veggie)
2 Tablespoons sweet white or yellow miso
4 ounces extra-firm tofu, cut into 1/4" cubes (about 1 cup)
1 cup fresh spinach leaves, cut in fine chiffonade
1 scallion, white and green parts, very thinly sliced

Heat the oil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add teh onion and cook for about 5 minutes, or until very soft, but not browned. Add the ginger and cook for 1 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil.

Whisk in the miso until it is dissolved into the soup. Add the tofu and spinach and simmer for 1 minute. Serve warm, garnished with scallions.

Makes 4 servings.

Per serving: 90 calories, 6 g protein, 4 g carbs, 6 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 360 mg sodium

German-Style Warm Potato Salad

This recipe comes from my February 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times. I had some potatoes to use up, I had most of the ingredients on hand already, and this sounded pretty good, so I thought we'd try it. This was a very quick, simple, easy-to-prepare, meatless meal... oh yeah, and it tasted pretty good, too! We all really liked it a lot. And like I said, its very quick to prepare - the entire meal from start of chopping to being ready to eat only took about 15 minutes... now that's my kind of dinner on a work night!! :) This is great as a meatless main dish - and this is actually vegetarian, too, which most of my meatless meals are not truly vegetarian. This would be a great side dish, as well. Everything I used was organic - which is pretty typical these days, but I just realized I never say what is and what isn't anymore...

German-Style Warm Potato Salad

8 oz baby red potatoes, cut into 1" x 1/2" pieces
4 oz green beans, cut in 2" pieces
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 green onions, white and pale green parts, chopped
2 Tablespoons white balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon or dill (I used dill)
4 cups loosely packed baby spinach leaves (I used a baby greens mix)

Cook potatoes in pot of boiling water, salted, for 8 minutes, or until tender. Add green beans during last minute of cooking.

Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet over medium heat, stir in vinegar.

Drain potatoes and beans. Toss with oil mixture, parsley, tarragon. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve warm on a bed of spinach.

Crockpot Baked Beans

I made baked beans today - they're currently pressure canning. I found a recipe that sounded good on AllRecipes. It utilized the crockpot, so I thought it was perfect - I could let them cook all day while I was working and then could finish them up, taste them, and can them when I got home. These were super easy! And they tasted great! Very similar to the Bush's canned beans. Although I made several changes to the recipe, so I guess I don't know what the original recipe tastes like... :). I made a double recipe of the one posted below and ended up with 7 pints.

Crockpot Baked Beans

2 cups dry kidney beans (I used Great Northerns)
5 cups water
1 onion, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 ounces cured pork (I used turkey bacon)
1/4 cup molasses (I used 1/4 cup for a double recipe)
4 tablespoons brown sugar (I used 1/2 cup, plus a few spoonfuls, to taste, for the double recipe)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 cup ketchup

In a slow cooker place beans, water, onion, salt and pork. Cover the pot and cook on low for 9 to 10 hours. (Mine were plenty done after 8 hours)

Drain beans, saving the liquid. Add molasses, brown sugar, dry mustard, ketchup and 1 cup of the bean liquid. Cover and cook on low for 1 hour.

(If you are canning the beans, cook them for 8-9 hours and do not cook them the extra hour after adding the sauce... they'll get too mushy otherwise. To can them, you'll want to leave 1-inch headspace and can for 90 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.)

Pad Thai

I made pad thai for dinner earlier in the week. We love thai food - even Carson does! I've made pad thai this way before, but have never posted it. Its super easy, since you just use a packet seasoning. I've been looking to make the seasoning on my own, but haven't been successful in finding a recipe yet. I made this meatless this week, but it is very good with chicken or tofu. This is a super quick work night meal, filling, and tasty!

Pad Thai

Pad Thai seasoning packet
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
Rice noodles
Fresh veggies of your choice (I used broccoli, green peppers, carrots, mushrooms this time)
1 egg

Chop veggies - or skip this step and use frozen vegetable mix... I like fresh veggies best, though.

Boil a large pot of water. Throw in the rice noodles, cover, and take off the heat..

Saute the veggies in a pan with some oil or water (I use water). When the veggies are almost done, push them to the edges of the pan. Crack an egg into the center of the pan and stir until scrambled.

Add the Pad Thai packet, water, and soy sauce (or whatever is recommended on the packet of seasoning that you use). Drain the noodles and add them to the frying pan, coating them with sauce. Toss everything together and serve hot.