Veggie Fried Rice

This is a super recipe for using veggies that are about to go bad.

Ingredients:

• A little bit of olive oil
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1/2 cup cooked sweet potatoes, diced (as best you can....they are a bit mushy)
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
• 3 mushrooms, sliced
• 5 green onions, sliced
• About 3 cups cooked brown rice (or any rice)
• 1/2 c. frozen peas
• 1/2 c. frozen corn
  
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 Tb. soy sauce

Directions:

First put a tiny bit of olive oil in a large frying pan and scramble the egg. Once cooked, remove it and set aside in a small bowl.

Then saute the sweet potato and carrot in a little more olive oil, about 5-7 min. Then add mushrooms, green onions and cook till just soft. Add rice, ginger, soy sauce, a little more olive oil, frozen peas and corn. Add the egg back into the pan.

Fry until the rice starts to brown and get a bit crispy.

Notes about this recipe:

1. All of the ingredients are up to you. Use what you have, add more if you like it, don't add it if you don't like it.

2. If you prefer you can fry it until the rice is warm. That's if you don't like it a bit crispy.

Spinach-Artichoke Stuffed Shells

This recipe was submitted by Vanessa H. She found it over at Rachael Ray's website. She says "Spinach and artichoke. The. perfect. combination."

Ingredients:

• Salt
• 20 large pasta shells
• 1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 7 to 8 leaves basil, torn
• Ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
• 1 10-ounce box chopped frozen spinach, defrosted or 3/4 pound fresh baby spinach, chopped
• A few grates fresh nutmeg
• 1 10-ounce box frozen baby or regular artichoke hearts, defrosted and chopped
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon thyme leaves, chopped
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Place a large pot of water over high heat to boil the pasta. When the water reaches a bubble, salt it well, drop the shells in and cook them to al dente according to package directions. Drain the cooked shells and shock them under cold water to stop them from cooking. Reserve.

While the shells are cooking, mash up the tomatoes in the bottom of a casserole dish. Stir in the butter, basil, some salt and pepper into the dish, and set aside.

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Add the garlic to the pan and cook until aromatic and light golden brown, about 1 minute. Add the spinach, and nutmeg to the pan, and cook to heat through.

Transfer the spinach to a large bowl and stir in the artichokes, ricotta, Parmigiano Reggiano, lemon zest, thyme, egg yolk, parsley, some salt and pepper. Fill the reserved pasta shells with the mixture, arranging them on top of the sauce in the casserole dish as you complete them.

Cover the casserole with aluminum foil and transfer to the oven. Bake covered for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and turn the oven up to 425˚F. Continue cooking until the filling is golden brown and bubbly, about 15 minutes more.

Makes 4 servings with 4 shells to each person topped with some of the sauce.

Notes about this recipe:

1. I have tried it with fresh basil leaves and with dried basil leaves. I didn't really notice a difference. So if you don't want to buy the expensive fresh basil, just use the dried stuff you have in your pantry :) Same goes for the parsley...
2. I have tried using the frozen chopped spinach and the fresh baby spinach. I hated working with the frozen chopped stuff, so it's fresh from now on.
3. I have yet to find frozen artichokes at the store, so I just use artichoke hearts out of a can.

Sweet Potato Smoothie

Are you ready for this? I didn't have any spinach or kale (staples when I'm making green smoothies) but I did have some baked sweet potatoes that needed to be eaten. I made my husband try and guess my "secret ingredient" and he couldn't figure it out AND he liked it. The sweet potato flavor was masked by my fruit (not that you need to mask it's flavor...they are so tasty on their own).

Ingredients:

• About 16 oz of liquid--1/2 water, 1/2 apple juice
• 1 1/2 cooked sweet potatoes
• 2-4 Tb. milled flax seed
• 8-10 frozen strawberries
• 1/2 banana

Directions:

Put the liquid and sweet potato in the blender, blend for about 30 seconds. Then add milled flax seed, strawberries, and banana. Blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Notes about this recipe:

1. If you want less of a fruity flavor add less strawberries.
2. I only added 1/2 of my banana because it was really ripe. Ripe bananas can become flavor hogs, just FYI.
3. You don't have to add flax seed. I do because it is so good for you. I'll do an FYI post on it soon.

Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe was submitted by Vanessa H. She found it at The Pioneer Woman. (If you like step-by-step pictures head on over to her website.)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups Dried Macaroni
• 1 whole Egg Beaten
• 1/4 cup (1/2 Stick Or 4 Tablespoons) Butter
• 1/4 cup All-purpose Flour
• 2-1/2 cups Whole Milk
• 2 teaspoons (heaping) Dry Mustard, More If Desired
• 1 pound Cheese, Grated
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt, More To Taste
• 1/2 teaspoon Seasoned Salt, More To Taste
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
• Optional Spices: Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Thyme

Directions:

Cook macaroni until very firm. Macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain.

In a small bowl, beat egg.

In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly. Don’t let it burn.

Pour in milk, add mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook for five minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low.

Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking eggs. Whisk together till smooth.

Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth.

Add in cheese and stir to melt.

Add salt and pepper. Taste sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed! DO NOT UNDERSALT.

Pour in drained, cooked macaroni and stir to combine.
Serve immediately (very creamy) or pour into a buttered baking dish, top with extra cheese, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

Notes about this recipe:

I think part of the reason I don't like a lot of the mac & cheese recipes out there is because you bake it. Ree's recipe can either be eaten right from the pan or transferred to a casserole dish and baked. I baked it this time, but next time I probably won't. I like it super creamy like Kraft-in-a-box.

Posted by Ree on August 4 2009

Greek Salad Pita Pockets

This recipe come from Deb. It was introduced to her by her mother.

Ingredients:

• 1c shredded romaine lettuce
• 1 tomato - chopped
• 1/2 c diced cucumber
• diced green onion
• 1 diced green pepper
• sliced black olives
• 1/2 T olive oil
• 1/2 T lemon juice
• pinch salt and pepper
  

Directions:

Mix together all ingredients and serve with pitas, hummus, and feta cheese.

Notes about this recipe:

The recipe is super easy and you can put more or less of whatever you like, the measurements are just a basic ratio.

Three Cheese Manicotti

This recipe comes from Vanessa B. She found it at Allrecipes.

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 ounce) package manicotti shells
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 2 (26 oz) jars of pasta sauce
  

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add manicotti and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. In a bowl, mix 3 cups mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, garlic, egg, and basil. Stuff cooked manicotti with the mixture.
4. Spread about 2 cups pasta sauce over the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Arrange stuffed manicotti in the dish, and cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.
5. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan, and continue baking 10 minutes, until mozzarella is melted and bubbly.

Total preparation and cooking time is 1 hour.
Makes 6 servings

Notes about this recipe:

It is just a basic Manicotti recipe, but I think the kind of sauce you use makes a difference. You could always make your own sauce if you don't want it from a jar.

Mushroom Ragout

This recipe comes from Vanessa H. Of the recipe she says, "This one was surprisingly delicious. You see this beautiful dish and expect it to taste like a savory pasta. But oh no, my friend! When you take a bite you get a surprise! It has a really yummy sweet taste to it!" She found it at Rachael Ray's website. (Also, if you are interested in seeing it made, Rachael Ray's site has the clip from her show.)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 pound cremini mushrooms, quartered
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 2 ribs celery from heart, finely chopped
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 to 5 garlic cloves, chopped or grated
• 1 cubanelle pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups red wine
• 2 cups mushroom stock (vegetable stock can be substituted)
• 2 15-ounce cans stewed tomatoes
• Worcestershire sauce, to taste
• 1 pound whole wheat penne
• 1 cup (about a handful) basil, torn
• Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions:

In a large sauté pan over high heat, add EVOO. When the pan is hot, add the mushrooms, allspice, bay leaf, marjoram and freshly ground black pepper.

When the mushrooms are brown, add a pinch of salt, the carrots, celery, onion, garlic and peppers, and cook 4-5 minutes, until softened. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, until it smells sweet.

Add the red wine into the pan to deglaze, scraping any bits from the bottom of the pan, then add the stock, stewed tomatoes and Worcestershire sauce. Bring up to a bubble and simmer about 10 minutes.

While the ragout is cooking, cook the whole wheat penne: Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add some salt and the penne, and cook to al dente according to the package directions.

When the pasta is done, toss it together with the mushroom ragout. Top with torn fresh basil and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Notes about this recipe:

1. I have used both cremini and regular mushrooms. Both are good, but creminis are more expensive...
2. I don't use marjoram that much in cooking, so I never buy it. I didn't use it in this recipe.
3. I just use two red bell peppers instead of a cubanelle.
4. I substitute apple juice for the red wine.
5. I just used chicken stock instead of mushroom or vegetable stock because that is what I had in the pantry.
6. Fresh basil is expensive, so I use the dried basil leaves as a garnish instead.
7. I let my sauce simmer longer than 10 minutes to get it a little thicker (and the pasta takes more than 10 minutes when you calculate in the time it takes to get the water to a boil).