Sauteed Swiss Chard

1 bunch Swiss Chard, chop stems into small pieces, leaves into bite size (~1 1/2 inches or so)
1/2 med Vidalia Onion
4 cloves garlic
Olive Oil
Butter
Black Pepper
Feta Cheese (optional)

Heat oil, melt butter, add onions and allow to soften for a few minutes. Add garlic, and stems of Chard first, then add leaves after a few minutes. cook 5 more minutes or so, until desired tenderness. Add feta and stir.

I read something about this being pretty at Christmas because of the red stems and green leaves and I guess the feta reminds you of snow...

Greek Zucchini

Zucchini and feta were definitely on the menu but I needed a recipe. The inspiration for this dish came from Veggie Mama. She posted a recipe for zucchini boats that looked and sounded delicious. I wanted something with a few less steps and did a little research to come up with this one... I also had some grape tomatoes that needed to be used up. Quite tasty for a clean out the frig dish! 

 2 med zucchini, sliced 1/2 grape tomatoes, sliced in half 3 cloves garlic Black Pepper Oregano 1/3 c feta cheese water Saute veggies, garlic, pepper and oregano in a little water with lid until just tender. Sprinkle with feta and allow to melt.

Summer squash is almost gone

Mom's Squash Medley

1 Zucchini, sliced
1 Yellow Squash, sliced
1/4 Green bell pepper, cut in 1 "x 1/2 slivers
1 Tomato, coarsely chopped
1 tsp Butter (optional) and /or a little water (if needed)
1/2 c Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Layer zucchini, yellow squash and bell pepper in skillet. Add butter if desired or water. After about 5 minutes add tomato.Cover with lid. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't brown. Saute on low heat until tender. You may need to remove lid near the end to allow liquid to evaporate or you may need to add more to prevent browning. Top with grated mozzarella, replace lid and remove from heat. Allow a couple minutes for the cheese to melt.

Note:

Depending on the freshness/moisture in the squash and tomato you may not need much if any water.
This is also good with fresh basil added.
Provolone works very well instead of mozzarella.

Sauteed Green Beans With Bacon and Mushrooms

Here is my new favorite green bean recipe.

This recipe is based on a recipe I found on Simply Recipes. The original recipe called for pancetta and shallots. Since I didn't have those ingredients on hand I substituted bacon and sweet onion and discovered that the addition of mushrooms makes it even better.

Sauteed Green Beans With Bacon and Mushrooms

2 slices of bacon, chopped
1 lb Green beans
1 sweet onion
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp of butter, optional
black pepper to taste


Brown the chopped bacon in frying pan. Saute the onions, mushrooms and black pepper until browned. Add green beans and butter if desired. Cook until green beans are as tender as you like.

Notes:

You can't have too much onion it adds a lot of flavor.

You can parboil the green beans if you don't like them too crisp.

I usually use white button mushrooms. I used a small can of mushrooms once and it was still quite tasty.

The butter is optional, but adds a nice silkiness and another layer of flavor to the dish.

Veggies, veggies and veggies

Here is one of my latest discoveries for healthy vegetable recipes...

Calabacitas



I first got the idea from one of my favorite new healthy cooking sites "Eating Well". Then I researched various recipes and made my version...




1 T Olive oil
1 whole sweet onion
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 cup corn
1/4c Roasted red pepper, chopped or cubanelle
1 can diced tomatoes ( 15 0z) including liquid
1 can green chilies, or fire-roasted green chilies
1/4 c Cilantro or more if desired
1/2 tsp Oregano
Black Pepper to taste


First saute the onions, garlic, squashes, corn and black pepper over low to medium heat in olive oil to soften, ~ 5 minutes ( do not brown).

Add remaining ingredients saute a couple minutes until everything is heated and some liquid has evaporated.

Serve...


Notes:

You can slice or dice the veggies. I think the slices might look prettier...

I used frozen corn but fresh would probably be even better (canned would be fine too, just drain).

I used Hunts Oregano, basil flavor diced tomatoes which were yummy. Some recipes said to omit the liquid but I included it. Also can use fresh tomatoes. I recently made this with fresh tomatoes and it was great.

I highly recommend Trader Joe's fire roasted green chilies, they gave it a nice amount of spice. Made this again with regular green chilis and a roasted cubanelle pepper. It was very good, after reheated the cubanelle pepper became spicier...


The next morning I made a breakfast burrito using the leftovers and egg with cheese wrapped in a tortilla.

The leftovers were great by themselves too...