Vermicelli with Lemony Green Vegetables

It's summertime! You may be cooking with the harvest from your garden, enjoying someone else's harvest through Bountiful Baskets, or raking in garden goodies from a kindly neighbor. Or maybe you're just enjoying all the stuff that's in season from the grocery store.

And since we all like to cook on the skillet and avoid the oven as much as possible in the hot summer months, here's a satisfying skillet dinner by which you may put all those wonderful garden spoils to use:

Vermicelli with Lemony Green Vegetables

Ingredients:

1 package (7 ounces) uncooked vermicelli
4 cups mixed bite-size pieces green vegetables (asparagus, broccoli, Chinese pea pods, green beans, zucchini)
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1/2 cup milk
1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, cut into cubes and softened
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste




Directions:

Cook vermicelli as directed on package; drain.
Cook vegetables in margarine or butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender, about 7 minutes; toss with lemon peel.
Remove vegetables; keep warm.

Heat milk and cream cheese in skillet until smooth and creamy; stir in cheese, salt, and pepper. Toss with hot vermicelli. Serve vegetables over vermicelli and, if desired, with lemon wedges and coarsely ground pepper.

*My notes: I usually use whole wheat spaghetti, since it's what I have on hand. I don't always use the full amount of lemon peel - it can be kind of strong, especially if you are sensitive to lemon flavor, which I kind of am and my husband really is. I like to add just enough to flavor it a little, without feeling like I'm eating one of those LemonHead or Warhead candies. (Did your mouth instantly start watering when you read those candy names?)

Really, all the crisp, fresh veggies just make this dinner rock.

**Recipe found in my old Betty Crocker Vegetarian Cooking book.

Black Bean and Sweet Pepper Tacos

We all need to have a few quick, easy, healthy, tasty dinners in our repertoire. We deserve it! Life be crazy! This is one of mine - a go-to when I need dinner done in ten minutes, but I still want it to be healthy and yummy. We also deserve recipes we don't need to worry about following perfectly. I never actually follow the amounts for this one. And it's summer, and who wants to turn on the oven in the summer? Skillet all the way.

(I think we can all agree that vegetarian meals are prettier than meaty ones.)

Black Bean and Sweet Pepper Tacos

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil (I never measure the olive oil, and you could probably skip it and just sautee in water if you want to be extra healthy)

1 16 ounce package frozen stir-fry peppers (I use fresh peppers - I grab a couple from the store based on which ones are on sale - usually the green and red. Or if we have one of those bags of small sweet peppers for snacking and they're on their way out, I just use them up.)

2 cloves garlic, minced (Garlic is one of those ingedients you can almost always add more of, especially if you have the big jar of minced garlic in liquid)

1 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 teaspoon sea salt (I just sprinkle a little on, or omit it altogether)

2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice (I just take that little squeeze bottle of lime juice and squirt it around the pan a few times)

6-inch corn tortillas, warmed (I heat them on the stove, with or without oil, or if I'm pressed for time, in the microwave)

Shredded cheese for topping

(I also add brown rice mixed up with a little olive oil and Creole seasoning when the tacos are done.)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add peppers and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until peppers are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. Stir in beans and salt; heat through. Remove from heat and stir in lemon or lime juice.

2. Lay tortillas flat and divide pepper mixture among tortillas. Top each with cheese and serve.

*You won't find that your life is changed or your taste buds have never experienced a love like this before. It's a fairly simple-tasting dinner, which is why I add extra garlic and cook up some minute brown rice while the peppers are cooking and then add in a drop of olive oil and sprinkle in some Creole seasoning - I find adding the rice w/Creole helps give some flavor to the tacos and adds a little more oomph so I don't have to eat a billion tacos to feel full. So like I said, this isn't the most exciting dinner you ever had in your life, but it's easy and good and we all need easy and good sometimes.

Crispy Quinoa Sliders, Homemade Fries, and Fry Sauce

This is one of my favorite dinners. And it just seems perfect for summertime.

Thanks to my friend Laura for sharing it with me.

I think the original source's writer describes it humorously and perfectly, so I will just link you there:

How Sweet Eats: Crispy Quinoa Sliders

I quite enjoy her post. And for reference, recipe below:

Crispy Quinoa Sliders

YIELD: MAKES 12 SLIDERS (BUT ALSO DEPENDS ON THE SIZE OF YOUR BUNS)

PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES

COOK TIME: 20 MINUTES

TOTAL TIME: 45 MINUTES

ingredients:

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup freshly grated provolone cheese
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped carrots
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg + 1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
12 multigrain slider buns or dinner rolls
2 avocados, sliced for topping
1/2 cup chipotle mayo, for topping

directions:

Add quinoa and stock to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover, cooking for 15 minutes or until can be fluffed with a fork. You can do this ahead of time or even the night before (and store quinoa in the fridge) so the quinoa can cool.

While quinoa is cooking, slice the green onions, chop the carrots, mince the garlic and grate the cheese. Place it all in a bowl, then add panko and mix. Coarsely chop the chickpeas and add to the bowl. One quinoa is finished cooking, add it to the bowl and mix well until incorporated. If needed, let cool or place in the fridge for a few minutes to cool. Add in beaten egg + egg white, salt, pepper and mix well. Form into patties (I really squeezed a handful of quinoa together and smoothed it into a round, it may take some squeezing and form to get the patties to stick) that fit the size of the buns you have. <- this will differ!

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. Once hot, add 5-6 quinoa patties and cook until deeply golden brown and crispy, about 5 minutes. Gently flip and cook 5 minutes more. Remove and continue with remaining olive oil and patties. Serve with sliced avocado chipotle mayo!

My notes:

-I've said before that for most recipes, cheese is interchangeable, and it's true that I usually use cheddar for this recipe because it's what I have on hand, but the couple of times I've use provolone, I do think it tastes better.

-If you forget or don't have the green onions, it'll still be good.

-I don't use slider buns (or even make them slider size). Just whatever buns I have. We like those thin ones you can get at Costco, multi-grain.

-I have never used the chipotle mayo. And just those two words together make me shudder a little.

-For condiments and toppings I just do ketchup or even just the avocado is enough. We like to top these the way you top any burger - lettuce, spinach, pickles, etc.

-Sometimes they don't form patties very well, but as the original blogger explained, they're so good and versatile, I don't think it matters. I can eat this stuff plain with a fork or spoon.

-This freezes excellently. I freeze the leftovers and when it comes time, I just thaw it and cook it on the stove in one giant pile of mush (instead of trying to form patties) and then scoop some out to put in a sandwich.

-Depending on how you cook them, they may or may not be crispy. I cook them slowly on a medium heat and that helps them keep a patty shape. My hubby cooks them at higher heat to get it done faster, which leads to an awesomely crispy outside, but then they kind of crumble and don't stay in a patty form very well. Just play around with it. No matter its shape, it'll taste good.

Homemade Fries

Our Best Bites (what? I never reference them) has recipes for regular fries and sweet potato fries. I usually do some sort of combination of both. If you want the actual recipes, here they are:

French Fries

Sweet Potato Fries

What I do: 
Slice up some potatoes and sweet potatoes and toss them with some olive oil, cumin, oregano, coriander, parsley, salt, and pepper; then bake them on a cookie sheet at 425 for however long it takes.

My favorite part is that they are delicious and taste like french fries, but they are healthy. And my toddler loves them.

Fry Sauce:

This is probably the hardest part of this whole thing. Mix up ketchup and mayo together and then get dipping. 

I know, I know...I ask too much.

Mexican Lasagna

I'm short on time today, so it's fitting to post this quick and easy recipe that you can make when you're short on time, too.

Back when we were meat-eaters, this was one of our favorite dinners. There wasn't a single time we made it for company (and we made it for company a lot) that they didn't ask for the recipe (and sometimes they'd call me to get the recipe again every time they made it...yes I'm looking at you, Rory).  It was one of the few meals we really missed when we stopped buying and cooking meat. And then, one day it hit me: I can just make it without the meat. And so it goes. And now our tummies are abundantly happy. 

Ingredients:

Corn tortillas (you need 9-12)

Taco seasoning

Two cans refried beans

1 can black beans

1/2 can corn (or do I like do and eyeball with a few handfuls of frozen corn)

Salsa dobs (any salsa works, but when I want it to be REALLY tasty, I get a mango salsa or a peach pineapple - something like that)

Sour cream dobs

Grated colby jack cheese (I usually use cheddar because that's what I have on hand)

Directions:

In a 9x13 pan, layer tortillas (you can cut them in half and go 3 by 3, or if you are really short on time just lay them down whole - 2 rows of 3), refried beans, taco seasoning, black beans, corn, salsa dobs, sour cream dobs, cheese. REPEAT. Bake 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees to warm through. Let stand 5 minutes.

*I've never tried freezing this, but I assume it would freeze well.

*This is a great option for taking dinner to a neighbor who just had a baby or something. You can prepare it ahead of time and just leave a note for them to pop it in the oven for 20 minutes whenever they are ready to eat it. That is exactly what I did today.

***(If you really want to try it with the meat, cook a pound of ground turkey or ground beef on the stove and add the taco seasoning then. You would layer it right after the refried beans. Now that I omit the meat, I just sprinkle the taco seasoning between the refried bean and black bean layers.)

Spinach Enchiladas

Once upon a time, in 2011, it was Mother's Day, and I was pregnant with my first (and thus far, only) child.

Yes, go right ahead. "You glowed!" "So radiant!" I'll take it. I have not glowed or radiated since, and I suspect I won't glow or radiate through any subsequent pregnancy, because I will have a little person (or persons) I have get to take care of, whilst pregnant. 

That first pregnancy is where it's at.

So what I'm trying to say is, my sweet husband, Ryan, cooked for me that Mother's Day, and it was delicious, so without further ado:

Spinach Enchiladas

(This is the first thing that pops up when you google "spinach enchiladas." They'd go to the ends of the earth for you, they say...and then they only get as far as the top of the search results list.)

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spinach-enchiladas/

Ingredients:

1 tbs butter

1/2 cup sliced green onions 

(If you don't have enough green onions, it doesn't matter.)

2 cloves garlic, minced 

(Does anyone ever really stick to the recommended garlic amount? Can you really have too much garlic?)

Spinach 

(Recipe calls for 10oz frozen, thawed, drained and squeezed dry, but we have only ever used fresh spinach, and it's delicious. As I've said before, you weren't going to get through that Costco bag in time anyway. And we always add more than we think we'll need. Just chop up a bunch of fresh spinach, and then you don't have to squeeze it dry or anything.)

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

 (Or whatever you have. I think we used cheddar last time. A friend once told me: cheese is cheese. I have found that in most recipes, you can just use whatever cheese you have on hand.)

10 (6-inch) corn tortillas

1 19oz can enchilada sauce 

(If your can is smaller, like the classic 15oz variety, that's fine, you don't need a whole 19oz.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).

2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion; cook for a few minutes until fragrant, but not brown. Stir in spinach, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat, and mix in ricotta cheese, sour cream, and 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese (or whatever cheese you use). 

3. In a skillet over medium heat, warm tortillas one at a time until flexible, about 15 seconds. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the spinach mixture onto the center of each tortilla. Roll up, and place seam side down in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce over the top, and sprinkle with remaining cup of Monterey Jack.

4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until sauce is bubbling and cheese is lightly browned at the edges.

If you want a yummy side dish to go with it, we always have Near East Mediterranean Curry Couscous when we have this dish.

Yes, you might think that "Mediterranean curry" and "enchilada" don't belong on the same table spread. Totally different ethnic flavors. But it works. Or maybe I just think it does, because that's what hubby made for me that Mother's Day, and sometimes food becomes sentimental. Regardless of the why, we only ever eat these enchiladas with a side of this particular couscous. And it works. And we love it. And I've never actually cooked these enchiladas. It's sort of a tradition now that when we have them, Ryan makes them. Which makes them taste that much more delicious. 

I posted this recipe because we just had it this week. It literally just struck me this very moment that Mother's Day is this weekend. So maybe pass this recipe along to your hubby with a wink and a nudge.

Homemade Pizza! (That doesn't taste "homemade.")

I figured you were getting tired of beans. I mean, not that beans aren't fun...they are the musical fruit, after all. And yes, for my sixth grade science fair, my partners and I titled our project, "Beans, Beans, the Musical Fruit" and actually measured which bean produces the most gas. We put balloons on top of test tubes filled with beans and hydrochloric acid (stomach), then baked them in the oven at the temperature of the stomach, and measured how much the balloons blew up. As an intervening variable, we added Beano to some of the test tubes. Mock all you want, but science was painful for me and this, at least, is a good science-related memory, as well as a good story to tell, and now I know useful things, like that black beans give you the most gas and lima beans the least. But I have a feeling that this news does not shock you in the least. Life experience has probably given you what test tubes and balloons gave me. Which leads me to my real point here, which is...pizza.

I thought we'd fun it up, since the fun times are beginning to roll now that the weather is getting warm and wondrous. And homemade pizza is undeniably fun. Allow my sister and my son to demonstrate:

But have you ever noticed that when you make pizza, it's good and all, but to really enjoy it you have to keep it in a whole separate category from the pizza you would order from a pizza place? "Oh, this pizza is really good...for homemade pizza."

Well, for a couple years, I gave out a homemade pizza recipe that was all right, and I take it back. If I gave it to you, throw it away, because Our Best Bites has the best one, hands down. It might take a couple times making it to get it just how you want with the crust and all, but it's worth it!

Here are all the links you need:

Dough

(The best thing about this dough is it's versatile and, like they say in the book, it has magical powers.) My son begs for these breadsticks on a regular basis. You can use the dough for pizza, breadsticks, stromboli, stuffed pizza rolls, etc.)

Garlic Bread Seasoning

(You will need this for your sauce. But I have a tip: always, always have a batch of this is in your fridge, to sprinkle over your breadsticks, or to sprinkle over fish, grilled veggies, some people like it over chicken, etc. I go through a batch of this quickly, and you will, too.)

Pizza Sauce

(This sauce takes seconds to make, and tastes super fancy. Don't bother with all those work-intensive pizza sauces. You've got this recipe now.)

Make the Pizza

(I don't have a pizza stone or a french rolling pin, but mine still turn out great, so don't fret if you don't have all the stuff they mention. And listen to them when they tell you to brush the crust with olive oil and then sprinkle garlic salt. It truly does crisp it and keep it from getting soggy. And it tastes like delivery. This is the best pizza-making tip I've seen yet.)

(So I have created some weird traditions, it's cool. Also, it may not look that pretty, but I don't care about how pretty it looks - just how pretty it tastes.)

In my experience, if you don't want your dough too fluffy, you need to roll it out as thin as possible, thinner even than you think. I don't like thick, fluffy crust, except on the edges, so this took me a couple times to get down. Also, make sure and pinch up the edges so you have a nice thick crust on the edges there - like you ordered from Dominos or something.

If tomato sauce isn't your thing, their Guiltless Alfredo Sauce is excellent.

And if you're feeling extra fun, you can make Stuffed Pizza Rolls, a fun way to incorporate all of these individual recipes into one fun whole. Good for little hands, too. :-)

(I promise I'm not endorsed by Our Best Bites. I just think they're the best.)

Quinoa Chili & Vegetarian Chili (both slow cooker)

I intended to post this Tuesday. Twofer Tuesday. Tuesday got busy. Sorry. (I know you don't care when I post, I'm mostly just apologizing to myself for my little play on words not working out.)

I wanted to get my two favorite chili recipes up pronto because the weather is turning and I tend to think of chili as a cold-weather meal. (How could you not? It's pronounced the same as "chilly.")

I realize I've posted a lot of meals involving beans lately. But this is a meat-free blog, so you probably expected that. I'll work on it, though.

Quinoa Chili

First: 

1. This is adapted from Six Sisters Stuff (link here) by my friend Liz. Her M.O. is to add lots of spices to meatless meals to make things more interesting. I love her adaptations and only make it her way.

2. If you don't like quinoa, but still want to incorporate this superfood into your diet, this recipe is for you. All the flavors drown out the nutty taste. The nutty taste doesn't do it for me, either, but I love the texture of the quinoa in this chili.

3. This will make you dinner for three days. Perfect for company, or for a week you don't want to cook much. The leftovers are awesome as vegetarian taco fillers in a whole wheat tortilla with sour cream and cheese.

(The first time my toddler climbed into his chair and buckled it himself was when we were going to eat this. Coincidence? Doubtful.)

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes with Italian spices (undrained)
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies (undrained)
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can corn, drained (or use the empty bean can to measure out frozen corn, that's what I do)
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups of chicken stock or broth (I will use chicken or vegetable broth - whatever I have on hand - but the only veggie broth I love is the Pacific stuff. It's the best).

A little red bell pepper, chopped
Some baby carrots, chopped
A half or one minced onion
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp chili powder
Throw in a handful of spinach. Why not? Adds more color and you can never get through that Costco bag in time, anyway.

Directions:

Place everything in a 6-quart slow cooker and cook 5-7 hours on low. Keep warm until ready to serve. Garnish with cheese and/or sour cream.

*The nice thing about the quinoa chili is if you use veggie broth, you get to pretend you're vegan for a few minutes...until you load in the sour cream and cheese.


Vegetarian Chili 

(Adapted from this recipe, but really, do it my way. And that photo doesn't even look like it.)

Ingredients:

1 can (about 15 oz) Amy's Organic Black Bean and Vegetable Soup
1 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can vegetarian baked beans (do NOT drain...and I vote you get Busch's. I really like their vegetarian beans.)
1 14.5 oz can chopped or diced tomatoes in puree
Frozen corn, eyeball it
Half an onion, chopped
Some green bell pepper, chopped (eyeball it)
2 stalks celery, chopped (optional, just as good without)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder, or to taste
Dried parsley
Dried oregano
Dried basil (it calls for a tablespoon of each spice, but that's waaaay too much. Eyeball it. Maybe half a tbs? Really. Eyeball it. I trust you.)

Directions:

Combine all in crockpot, and cook 3 or 4 hours on high. The original recipe says 2 hours, but your vegetables will still be crunchy if you only do 2. So don't listen to those allrecipes powers that be. Listen to me. It's delicious with cornbread, too. Tastes even better as leftovers.