Zucchini Tomato Pizza

pita bread
Goat cheese with garlic and herbs
tomato slices
zucchini
pepper
Parmesan

spread goat cheese on crust. top with veggies. sprinkle with pepper and parm. bake til warm, a little browning is good.

Sauteed Chicken with Thai Basil
  (Pojanee Vatanapan's Thai Cookbook)
       w/ slight modifications

4-6 servings

1 T olive oil ( I use less)
5-6 cloves garlic
1 lb boneless chicken breast(cut 1"pieces)
1/2 c Thai Basil, chopped ( regular basil works well too)
!/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 fresh green (or red) chili peppers,sliced ( 1 for less heat)
1 1/2 T sugar
2 T fish sauce
1 1/2 black soy sauce

Heat oil in wok (or large frying pan);
add garlic, stir; add chicken, cook 6-8 minutes; add rest of ingredients, reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes, or until chicken is completely cooked. Serve with rice (Jasmine rice  goes very well with this.

 

Zucchini Frittata with Mushrooms (Or Quiche)

Large zucchini
1 sweet onion
4 oz mushroom
1tsp butter + 1 tsp
1 c parmesan
5 eggs
1/2 c half n half (maybe more)
black pepper
sea salt

season with pepper as you go :
saute onions in small amount of butter until they begin to turn translucent;
add mushrooms cook til they are soft;
lay zucchini in pattern if desired (can be tart like with overlapping  circles or ribbons or just chopped if you  prefer- pattern didnt really show in the end)
I put a few dots of butter on top this and cooked with lid until zucchini is pretty much cooked.
whip eggs with pepper and salt, then add cream, mix again, then stir in parmesan.
continue to cook on low until eggs begin to set.
then put in oven on 350  until puffy and nicely brown on top.

Notes:
add crust to make this a quiche.

Zucchini Frittata (or Quiche)

butter
½ -1 c chopped onion
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
black pepper
parmesan or romano cheese grated
chopped fresh basil
5 eggs
2 T milk
grape tomatoes, cut in half
shredded swiss cheese

Saute onions in butter. Layer zucchini, pepper, parmesan, then sprinkle chopped basil over top. Pour in beaten eggs (mixed with milk or water) over all. may need more eggs if needed to cover filling. Layer tomatoes, then sprinkle with shredded swiss. Put in over on high heat until eggs are done.

Note:
I also made this with a crust, making it a quiche.

Another options is to use roasted red pepper instead of tomatoes. 

I think  sun-dried tomatoes would be good too, but haven't tried it yet.

I want to try this with goat cheese as well.

Lentil-Sage Soup with Ham

1 T butter (optional)
1 sweet onion, chopped
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3-4 carrots thinly sliced
1 T tomato paste
1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes, crushed (or 28 oz of Hunts sauce and 14 oz of whole or diced)
4 c water
2 cups vegetable stock or broth or chicken broth
1 lb bag of dried lentils
1 ham bone, (with some meat on it)
1/4 cup minced fresh sage leaves (can use less)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp oregano
1 T parsley
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp Summer Savory
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh lemon (or lime juice) Optional
Sprinkle of crushed or ground red pepper (optional)

Melt 1 T butter in soup pot, saute onions, celery, carrots til onions are translucent.
Add garlic, tomato paste, stir saute a couple minutes.
Add canned tomatoes, water, broth, lentils, ham bone, herbs, pepper.
Simmer for 1 hour remove bone and let cool then shred/chop meat and add back to soup. Discard bone.

Great with corn bread.

Found original (vegetarian) recipe on Foodwine.com ( Lisa Ekus presents: Lentil-Sage soup- now in the archives ).
Choose whatever tomato products you have.  Some sauce and some pieces I think make the best combination.Today I didn't have any fresh sage so I just omitted it. I seldom use the whole 1/4 cup.
I never used to add the lemon, so that's optional, but now I like to add it if I have any on hand..
The more veggies the better.

Butternut Squash Soup With Ginger

Butternut Squash Soup with Ginger















2 tsp butter
1 sweet onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped

1" fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 butternut squash, peeled cut in 1" pieces
chicken broth
water
black pepper
dash red pepper (optional)
thyme
half-n-half  (or milk or cream)

Chop onions and saute over low heat while chopping next ingredient adding all but thyme and half-n-half. simmer til squash is softened 20-30 minutes. Use immersion blender or blender or potato masher if you like it chunky.  Add herbs and dairy and heat 5 minutes over lowest flame.

Notes:

As always salt can be added if you like. I used white wine last time and liked it but didn't open it tonight since i didn't want to drink any.

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...

Pesto chicken salad

 Bake: Chicken breast spinkle with lemon pepper /herb style seasoning.

 Chop: sundried tomatoes onion celery pesto mayo black pepper walnuts roasted red bell pepper spinach or lettuce

 bake chicken, remove skin, chop/shred mix with chopped ingredients. 

spread on bread or rolls

top with red bell pepper and spinach

Fruity Chicken Salad

 Chop: apple celery dried cranberries mayo Pepper pecans 

 Bake chick breast sprinkled with 5 spice powder and pepper. mix w mayo and chopped ingredients. 

Very good on foccacia.

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.

Braised Cabbage with Ham

The braised cabbage recipe I usually make is with bacon, so in the interest of better health I made it with ham today. Well okay we didn't have any bacon but whatever, its still healthier. Trader Joe's had a spiral sliced unsmoked ham (nitate free) on sale a couple months ago and we had just eaten a ham so there were lots of leftovers and I froze them. This is a great strategy. We have been pulling out ham to make omelets, breakfast sandwiches, Hawaiian pizzas (as well as other pizzas), Sugie added some to her pork and beans the other day (very tasty) and now braised cabbage. 

 1 whole sweet onion, cut up 1 cup of ham (more or less) torn in bite size pieces 1 medium head of cabbage, chopped roughly into 1 inch pieces 4 cloves of garlic butter olive oil black pepper to taste 1 c chicken broth (optional) 3 T white wine Brown the ham in a little butter, remove. Add onion , saute in a little olive oil til tender. Put ham back in cook a few more minutes, then add cabbage. Stir and cook a few minutes. Add Chicken broth and garlic. Cook for about 15 minutes til cabbage reaches the tenderness you prefer. Add wine, stir and cook for another minute or two. Serve with a nice french or Italian bread. Notes: I like to cut the onions "chinese" style: cut in half vertically (thru the root)remove peel and cut off root. slice from one end to the other so you end up with little wedges. The original recipe called for 8 ounces of bacon. I never used that much. Usually about 4 slices, sometimes less. The original recipe used 1 clove of garlic, I like a little more :) I use much less than the original 2 T of butter and a little less than the 1 T olive oil called for. The chicken broth is my own addition since al dente vegetables are scorned here. It also gives it a little sauce which is good. As usual I omitted the salt. I didn't miss it at all, especially since the ham provides plenty on its own.

Squash Mushroom Medley

Grandma Bressler used to make a squash casserole that I liked, unfortunately I never got the recipe from her but I suspect it was made with mushroom soup. I was looking for a similar recipe online but decided to shortcut and save calories with this improvised but tasty dish.

1 yellow squash, sliced

1 zucchini, sliced

2 mushrooms, sliced

1 slice of onion chopped

pepper

dash of butter

splash of milk

Sauté until veggies are tender, about 10 -20 minutes depending on freshness and thickness of slices.

Notes:

It was fine as is, but I might try some herbs next time.

I didn't brown them but you could if you like.

Watercress and Mushroom Omelet

I am currently looking for ways to eat watercress which happens to be in season right now too. I was curious to find out how to eat it (besides throwing it in a salad with other greens) and discovered that it is quite the little nutrition powerhouse and is apparently fairly inexpensive too. This recipe is delicious! I made this to serve two people.

1 tsp butter

3 mushrooms, sliced

2 scallions, chopped fairly small

about 1/2 to 3/4 c fresh watercress, stems removed and chopped roughly

3 lg eggs

1-2 T half n half

black pepper

swiss cheese

Reserve about 1/3 of the chopped watercress to add after cooking with the cheese.

Melt just enough butter to cover the bottom of a nonstick skillet.

Sauté mushrooms sprinkled with black pepper on low heat about 2 minutes, add scallions continue to sauté another 2 minutes, then add watercress and saute 1 more minute. I didn't brown any of these just softened them.

Combine eggs, black pepper, and half n half (or milk or water) in a bowl whisk them until well mixed. Pour over the softened veges and cook over medium to low heat. Flip and put cheese and reserved watercress on half then fold over. Turn off heat when eggs are done and allow to sit about one minute to melt the cheese.

Tropical Papaya Fruit Salad

2 c papaya

2 grapefruit

2 oranges

1 can of pineapple in its own juice

Mix and chill.

Note: I saved most of the pineapple juice for another use.

Pork with Apples and Sweet Potatoes

I had purchased a whole pork loin and froze 2/3 of it without cutting it first so then had to thaw all of and come up with several recipes to use it up. This was pretty easy and even tastier than I expected.

 

about 1 lb of pork loin

apple, chopped, not peeled

sweet potato, chopped

Orange wedges and juice

sprinkle brown sugar

drizzle of honey

crushed fennel seed

crushed rosemary

black pepper

garlic powder

water

The amounts will depend on how much meat you have and how many people you are feeding, and how much you like each seasoning. Go light on the brown sugar as this is meant to be a savory dish

Put chopped apples and sweet potatoes on bottom of 7x11 pyrex baking dish (or whatever) and rest roast in center sprinkle seasonings on vegetables and meat. 

Bake 40 -60 minutes depending on the size of the roast.

Note:

I like to crumble the fennel seeds and rosemary so you don't get to much in one bite...

I usually put a little water (or other liquid) in the bottom of the pan to keep things moist and prevent the juices from burning while baking.

I think I will try adding some chopped onions next time to give it a little more complexity.

Cuban Style Black Bean Soup

I am finally getting around to making my black bean soup for the first time this winter (well okay its Spring now but you get the idea). I am posting the recipe I have been using for years although I made a few change this time which i will note at the end.

1 pound bag of dried black beans (soaked)

1 large (or two small) sweet onions, chopped (yellow would be fine since the're being cooked)

3-4 stalks of celery, chopped

3-4 carrots, sliced (I used 1/2 of a 1 lb bag of baby carrots)

3-4 large garlic cloves (more if small)

1 large jalapeño, finely chopped

1 ham bone (with some meat left on it)

1 15 oz can Hunts tomato sauce

1 c low sodium chicken stock or vegetable stock

6-8 c water

3 T red wine vinegar

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp summer savory

1/8 tsp allspice

black pepper

drizzle of olive oil to sauté the vegetables

In large soup pot, drizzle the olive oil and heat on low. Add the chopped onions, chop the next vegetable, add, stir and so on until all are in the pot then continue to sauté until onions and celery are soft, taking care not to let them brown.

Add remaining ingredients and make sure the ham bone is covered by liquids. Simmer about 2 hours. Remove ham bone after 1 1/2 hours and pick meat off, shred and return to pot (discard the bone).

Serve with a dollap of sour cream and chopped cilantro. I like to serve with corn bread but had some tamales in the freezer and served them instead.

Notes:

I normally use crushed red pepper but put in jalapeño instead this time. I keep some in the freezer most of the time and it seems like a more traditional ingredient so I made that part of the main recipe.

I used a 29 oz can tomato sauce this time, 1 c chicken broth 1 cup vege broth and a little less water. It was a more tomato-ey soup than usual but was very good.

I want to try adding a green bell pepper next time but did not have one on hand today.

I happened to have about a cup of chopped butternut squash in the frig so I threw that in and it was very good, plus added a little color.

Asian Cole Slaw

Here is another of my favorite dishes from Franklins that I have been trying to replicate. Not only is it very tasty but since there is no mayonnaise it's much healthier too. I really think the sweet chili sauce is the secret ingredient I have been trying to figure out...

Asian Slaw

shredded red cabbage

shredded carrots

sweet chili sauce

grated ginger

splash soy sauce

splash rice wine vinegar

cilantro

splash lime juice

scallions

Mix and marinate if you can wait long enough.

Some ideas to try:

scallions

sesame seeds

sesame oil

maybe leave out the soy sauce to lower sodium content...

AND SUNFLOWER SEEDS!!! <---this div="" good="" idea...="" is="" s="" sounds="" vickie="">

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I am not quite sure if this qualifies as health food since it is somewhat high in fat but it does contain vegetables if thats any consolation. McDonalds is now offering broccoli soup and thats where I got the inspiration to make this recipe. I am quite certain that mine has lower sodium content since I add no salt... If you think its a little bland you may want to add some. This was my first attempt at this dish so some tweaking will likely need to be done.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 T butter

1/2 chopped onion

Black pepper

Nutmeg

Low sodium chicken broth

1 small head broccoli

2 c Milk

4 0z Cheddar ( shredded or cut in small pieces to facilitate melting)

Melt butter in medium saucepan. Saute onion and black pepper until soft, do not brown.

Add nutmeg and chicken broth (vegetable broth would probably be good here as well).

when almost done add milk, heat, add cheese, melt.

Notes:

Do not allow milk to boil or it will curdle. It will taste fine but the texture is somewhat repulsive...If this happens, sprinkle shredded cheddar on individual bowls of soup to disguise the texture.

It needed more cheese, so I sprinkled it on top of each bowl.

I may try adding garlic next time...maybe a combination of cheeses...

Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas

Move over Franklins, I finally made a chicken quesadilla as good as theirs! lol. Heres a good way to use up some of the adobo sauce from the chipotles. Super easy too.

chicken breasts

adobo sauce (from the chipotle in adobo)

oregano

cumin

garlic powder

tortillas

cheese

salsa

sour cream

cilantro

I cut up some boneless chicken breasts in to 4-5 long strips, coat with adobo sauce, sprinkle with seasonings, broil in toaster oven for about 5 minutes per side, chop in small bite size pieces.

Lightly toast tortillas, put chicken on one half, top with cheese, fold in half, place in toaster oven to melt, add toppings and serve with the yummy pinto beans (or whatever).

Notes:

Trader Joe's Whole Grain with oatmeal and flaxseed tortillas really went well with the smoky flavored chicken.

Tortillas taste much better toasted. The trick is to get them toasted enough to taste good without drying them out too much and making them brittle. Be careful to allow for the extra cooking time when toasting them since they go back in the oven to melt the cheese.

I have been using Greek yogurt in place of sour cream as a healthier alternative.

I also made this with an uncut chicken breast, which was easier, though not quicker since it took longer to cook, and did not have as much of the adobo flavor. It was fine though and I didn't have to dirty a cutting board, knife , etc. Lazy version takes more like 10 minutes per side. This went with the leftover beans for a quick Monday night dinner.

Chipotle Pinto Beans

I finally made another attempt at Pinto beans. Last time I made them similar to other bean soup recipes and they were a bit bland and I couldn't seem to figure out how to liven them up. The answer: chipotles in adobo. Smoked sausage adds a nice smoky flavor which helps too.

1 lb pinto beans, soaked

1/2 lb smoked sausage (like kielbasa), sliced thinly

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

3-4 carrots, sliced thinly

1-2 chipotles in adobo sauce, minced

1 can zucchini in tomato sauce

1 can whole tomatoes, smushed

1 small can tomato sauce (no salt added)

2 cups low sodium vegetable broth (or chicken broth)

2 cups water

black pepper

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp cumin

1 bay leaf

Brown the sausage in large soup pot. When almost done add onions and some black pepper and allow them to carmelize a bit too. Add bell pepper, carrots and garlic and allow to cook about 5 minutes or so (stir a few times) before adding liquid. Add remaining ingredients and allow to simmer about 2-3 hours or more (stirring occasionally) until the beans are softened.

I served these with chipotle chicken quesadillas (recipe will be in next post).

Notes:

I used 3 chipotles and it was a bit too hot. I will try 2 next time.

The zucchini in tomato sauce was just what I had on hand, but I liked it and will use it again.

The form of tomatoes you use can vary greatly. I prefer Hunts tomato products. the soups never taste right to me when I use other brands. (The zucchini was Del Monte). I am sure it just depends on what you are used to, as long as it is good quality.