Roasted Radishes

I have to admit this recipe is a few weeks old, but it is too good and too simple not to share.

H and I are in our third year of garden attempts, and due to (what I think is) perfect placement as far as sunlight is concerned, raised beds, and a heck of a lot of critter proofing, this year is actually going pretty well. Third time is a charm, right? Our pumpkin, beans, cucumber, squash, and spinach seem to be coming along nicely, and we had a successful crop of peas and radishes a few weeks ago. Now, radishes are notoriously easy to grow, so this isn't a huge feat, but I am taking it as a good sign of things to come.

I enjoy radishes raw in salads, but since we had about 30 of them, I was looking for something different to do with them. I love roasting vegetables- asparagus, tomatoes, beets, carrots, potatoes, green beans, broccoli, you name it- I'll roast it :) So why not try it with radishes?

I am certainly glad I did, I will have to add radishes to my roasting repertoire! The roasting mellows the peppery flavor they have raw, and they end up almost tasting like a less sweet version of a beet.

Roasted Radishes

20-30 radishes, rinsed well, with tops removed and set aside
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

Directions: Preheat oven to 450. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil. Place radishes in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat.

Place radishes on the baking sheet, cut side down. Cook for 10 minutes, remove, and give the pan a light shake to mix them up. Place them back in the oven for another 8-10 minutes, or until they are slightly browned and wrinkly.

Slice a couple of the radish tops for a garnish and sprinkle on top of the radishes. Enjoy!

Very loosely adapted from bonappetit.com, original recipe here.

Creamy, Lighter Macaroni and Cheese

There is nothing more delicious and comforting than my mom's homemade macaroni and cheese. Now I know a lot of people make that very same claim, but I doubt most of them have ever tried my mom's recipe! I'm kidding, kidding, of course...

But while there are a hundred wonderful things that can be said about my mom's macaroni and cheese, "healthy" is just not one of them. So when I saw this recipe for Creamy, Light Macaroni and Cheese in the September issue of Cooking Light, I was skeptical, to say the least. I may have even scoffed at it a bit- "Really? Butternut squash? Macaroni and cheese is no place for pureed vegetables!"

But nevertheless, it had me intrigued, and I kept going back to it. I finally had to make it just to see if it could measure up. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised! It definitely held up to the claim of "creamy," which is something I have found difficult to achieve in macaroni and cheese without using Velveeta (which is something I try to avoid, since non-refrigerated cheese kind of icks me out!). The original recipe called for Gruyere and since I am not a huge fan, I replaced the Gruyere in the original recipe with a smoked Gouda. The flavor was incredible!

It didn't take two weeks for this one to reappear on the meal plan!

Creamy, Lighter Macaroni and Cheese
(serves 8)

1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
1 1/4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups of skim milk
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1 cup of fat-free plain Greek yogurt
6 oz. of Cheddar cheese, shredded
4 oz. of Gouda, shredded
1 teaspoon of dried mustard
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1 pound of uncooked pasta (cavatappi, shells, or some other kind that grabs the sauce)
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 oz. of Parmesan, shredded
1/2 cup of panko

Directions: Place the cubed butternut squash, broth, milk, garlic cloves, salt and pepper in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the squash is soft.

After the 25 minutes, preheat the oven to 375. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions.

Remove the squash mixture from the heat, and add the Greek yogurt. With an immersion blender, puree until smooth. (If you don't have an immersion blender, use a regular blender with the center part of the lid removed to allow steam to escape. Cover with a clean towel to avoid splatter, and pour back into the stock pot.)

Add the cheddar, Gouda, dried mustard, and paprika. Stir until cheese is melted and all is well combined. When pasta is done, combine cheese mixture and drained pasta. Stir to cover the pasta in the sauce.

Grease a 9x13 pan with a bit of olive oil. Pour the pasta and cheese mixture in. Top with the panko and Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until top is golden brown and cheese is bubbly. Enjoy!

Adapted from Cooking Light, original recipe here.

Mediterranean Couscous Bake

I'm a huge proponent of meal planning. I think it saves time and money, and helps keep one organized. It also involves making lists, which is something I'm strangely addicted to. However, I usually meal plan on Saturday for the following week and we go grocery shopping on Sunday. Having our CSA pick-up on Mondays sort of throws me for a loop. Since I don't know what we are going to get ahead of time, I am sometimes stuck trying to come up with a way to use something I totally wasn't expecting. And that is exactly how this dinner came about.

I have to admit that I'm particularly proud of this recipe. I wasn't going off of anything, just combining the vegetables that I needed to use up and keeping my fingers crossed. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The vegetables have great flavor without much added to them, and it is great as leftovers as well. I might have to try this one again! 

Mediterranean Couscous Bake
(serves 6 as a side, 4 as a main course)

2 green peppers, sliced
1 medium eggplant, peeled and chopped
drizzle of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 cup of dry couscous
1 Tablespoon of butter
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of dry oregano
1/2 cup of feta cheese

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 x 13 pan with a bit of olive oil.

Cook peppers and eggplant in a large pan with the olive oil and garlic until eggplant is cooked and peppers are soft. Put them in the greased pan, and add the chopped tomatoes. Stir to combine. Cook couscous according to package directions, with the butter and salt in the water. When couscous is done, add it to the pan. Add the oregano and feta, and stir to combine. Sprinkle a bit more feta on top, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil, and bake for 10 more. Enjoy!

Zucchini and Spinach Gratin

As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew I wanted to make it as soon as possible. I am one of those people who loves bacon a little too much, and I loved the veggies in it as well. I just had a feeling this one was going to be a winner!

It ended up being a great side for chicken and roasted tomatoes, and it worked great as leftovers too!

Spinach and Zucchini Gratin
(serves 6)

2 large zucchinis
pinch of Kosher salt
drizzle of olive oil
6 cups of fresh spinach

4 slices of thick cut bacon
1 handful of fresh parsley
1 white onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced

3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, shredded
drizzle of olive oil

Directions: Grate zucchinis in a food processor, and place grated zucchini in a strainer over a bowl. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible, sprinkle with Kosher salt, and allow to sit over the bowl for 30 minutes. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan, and add spinach. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until spinach is mostly wilted. Place in another strainer over a bowl, squeeze out as much liquid as possible and allow to sit for 30 minutes as well.

Meanwhile, heat saucepan to medium high and add bacon. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side and remove. Pulse the bacon and with the parsley in a food processor until it's well chopped and set aside. Add sliced onion to the heated pan with bacon grease and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add minced garlic, and cook for another 5 minutes. Place cooked onion and garlic in a large bowl, and add the bacon and parsley. Preheat oven to 350.

After zucchini and spinach are drained well, place them in the large bowl with the onion, garlic, bacon, and parsley and stir to combine. Add beaten egg and half of the Parmesan to the bowl and combine. Grease bottom and sides of a gratin dish with olive oil. Press vegetable mixture into bowl, and sprinkle the rest of the Parmesan cheese on top. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Enjoy!

Adapeted from Simply Recipes, original recipe here.  

Sweet and Spicy Chinese-Style Eggplant

One of my co-workers has a very plentiful garden. Our office is extremely lucky, in that she often brings the bounty in to share with the rest of us. She brings in eggplants, all sorts of peppers, heirloom tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and zucchinis. This past week, there was a large basket full of eggplant that I could not pass up. I definitely took a couple home with me.

We've had a number of Italian inspired eggplant recipes lately, so I wanted to do something a little bit different. This recipe definitely jumped out at me, and I was curious to try it. It's actually meant to be made with Chinese eggplant, but it still tasted delicious with just regular eggplant. I loved the sweet and spicy combination of flavors, and was a cinch to throw together!

Sweet and Spicy Chinese-Style Eggplant

1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into chunks (or 2 long Chinese eggplants)
1 teaspoon of salt

3 Tablespoons of soy sauce
2 Tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons of white sugar
2 teaspoons of corn starch
dash of red pepper flakes

1 Tablespoon of sesame oil

Directions: Place eggplant cubes in a large bowl, and sprinkle with the salt. Fill bowl with just enough water to cover the eggplant, and set aside for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, corn starch, and red pepper flakes.

Drain water from bowl with eggplant, and pat eggplant dry with paper towels. Heat the sesame oil in a large non-stick skillet or wok. Add eggplant, and cook over medium stirring occasionally until eggplant is mostly brown. Add sauce, stir to coat, and cook for another couple minutes. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Adapted from allrecipes.com, original recipe here.

Romaine and Purslane Salad with Tomatoes

I was searching for a different way to prepare the purslane that we had in our produce basket this week. I knew I wanted to saute it, to see what kind of flavor that gave it. When I found the recipe for this salad and saw that it also used zucchini, I knew it was going on the list to make!  

I loved the flavor in this salad, and the combination of the warm vegetables over the cold lettuce! It was very filling, and would even be perfect for a light, summer meal.

Spinach and Purslane Salad with Tomatoes and Zucchini

1/2 of a medium white onion, diced finely
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup of olive oil, plus extra for greasing pan
3 Tablespoons of lemon juice

1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon of parsely
pinch of salt and black pepper

1 large zucchini, sliced
6 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch of purslane, washed and thick stems removed
1 large head of romaine, washed and chopped

Directions: Pour a little bit of the olive oil into a saucepan, and heat to medium. Saute onions until mostly soft, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, and saute for about another 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Combine lemon juice, Dijon mustard, olive oil, salt, pepper, and parsley in a salad dressing bottle. Shake well to combine. Add onions and garlic from pan, and shake again.

Heat a bit more olive oil in the pan, add zucchini, cover, and cook until soft and slightly browned (about 5-7 minutes) and when it's done, place it in a large bowl.

Add purslane and chopped tomatoes to the pan vacated by the zucchini, and saute for about 1-2 minutes, or until purslane is slightly wilted. Then add to the bowl with the zucchini and stir to combine. Spoon tomato/zucchini/purslane mixture on top of romaine, and drizzle with the lemon Dijon dressing. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Adapted from Epicurious.com, original recipe here.

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

It's that time of year again, time to get out of the kitchen and outside grilling! I am always looking for new, lighter sides to bring to a big barbeque or just to make with an easy weeknight meal.

This one tastes great, is very healthy, and so easy to prepare. I can see us having it many times this summer, especially after tomato season is in full swing!

Tomato and Cucumber Salad
(serves 8)

10 italian tomatoes, quartered
2 cucumbers- skins left on, sliced thinly
1 medium red onion, sliced thinly

2 Tablespoons of olive oil
2 Tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt
dash of fresh ground pepper

Directions: Mix cut veggies together in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl, prepare the dressing (olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper). Drizzle dressing over vegetables, and stir to combine. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving cold. Enjoy!

Adapted from Rachael Ray for foodnetwork.com, original recipe here.

Cranberry Leek Quinoa

I recently bought a big bag of quinoa on a whim. It's a fairly new ingredient to me, so I am constantly looking for interesting ways to use it. I am quickly falling in love though, quinoa is so healthy, delicious, and versatile!

With the chicken stock, sage, and cranberries, this recipe kind of has the flavors of stuffing, which I LOVE! This would be great with chicken breast mixed in, as the original recipe directs, or as a side for a chicken main course.

Cranberry Leek Quinoa
Serves 4

1 1/2 cups of chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed and uncooked
1/3 cup of dried cranberries

1 Tablespoon of olive oil
1 leek, sliced
1 teaspoon of dried sage
1/4 cup of dry white wine

Directions: Heat chicken stock to a simmer in large saucepan. Add quinoa, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 15 minutes. When quinoa is done, remove from pan into a large bowl, and mix in dried cranberries.

Pour the olive oil in the saucepan, and add the leek and sage. Cook until the leek is wilted, about 5-8 minutes. Pour in the white wine, and allow to burn for about 30 seconds. Add the quinoa/cranberries back in, and allow to cook uncovered for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Adapted (loosely) from Cooking Light, original recipe here.

Roasted Balsamic Vegetables

This side dish is one that is very healthy and extremely versatile. I often serve it with light, Italian dishes. You can pretty much use any veggies (or herbs!) that you wish, or whatever you have on hand. I've used parsnips, red onion, other types of peppers and squash, even green beans in it, and it's always turned out well. Just make sure to put any harder, takes-longer-to-cook vegetable in with the first batch and others with the second (you'll see what I mean when you read the recipe!). The sweet potatoes seem like a strange addition, but I really like the flavor they give it. There's always something about that sweet/salty combo...

 

Roasted Balsamic Vegetables
Serves 4

1 Tablespoon of olive oil, plus more for drizzling

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 or 3 handfuls of baby carrots
2 red peppers, chopped
1 bunch of asparagus, chopped
1 large zucchini, sliced
2 portobello mushroom heads, sliced

1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of dried basil
black pepper

Directions: Preheat oven to 400. Grease bottom of 9X13 glass pan with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Put sweet potatoes and carrots in the pan, and roast for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and put peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, and zucchini in the pan and drizzle with olive oil. Return pan to the oven, and roast for 30 minutes more.

When vegetables are done, remove from oven and use a spatula to mix. Let cool slightly. In a large ziploc bag, mix balsamic vinegar, basil, garlic, and pepper. Place vegetables in, and shake to coat. Remove from bag, and place in serving bowl. They can be served warm, or room temperature. Enjoy!

I have been using this recipe for quite a long time, and am not sure where it originally came from. I tried to Google it, to see if I could find the source, but with no avail. Please let me know if it is yours, or you know where it came from!

Summer Vegetable Gratin

Welcome to the second installment of 101 ways to use up excess zucchini! I hope you enjoyed that zucchini bread :)

I can't even express to you how delicious this next recipe is. You're just going to have to take my word for it. Or make it for yourself! I highly recommend the latter. It is time consuming, but not at all difficult. And it's very, very worth the effort!

 
Summer Vegetable Gratin
(serves 4 as a side dish, 2 as a main course)

Ingredients:

1 extra large (or 2 smaller) zucchini
1 extra large (or 2 smaller) yellow squash
4 large ripe tomatoes
2 tsp. salt

1 large red onion
olive oil (about 5 Tbsp. total)
fresh ground black pepper

1 large slice of bread (I used regular, whole grain sandwich bread, white would work fine, Italian would probably be awesome)
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese (I used the green jar for this part)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. dried thyme

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Slice zucchini and yellow squash into 1/4" to 1/2" thick slices and place in large bowl. Sprinkle slices with 1 teaspoon of salt, and stir to mix it in. Pour mixture into a strainer, and place back over the bowl until about 3 Tablespoons of liquid is released- about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, place a double layer of paper towels over a baking sheet. Slice tomatoes to same thickness as squash, and arrange in a single layer on the paper towels. Sprinkle with other 1 teaspoon of salt and let stand for about 30 minutes.

Heat about 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan over medium/medium-low heat. Slice red onion, place in saucepan with a touch of ground pepper, and slowly let caramelize- about 20 minutes.

Heat oven to about 300, and place slice of bread inside until it dries out a little and becomes slightly crumbly- about 10 to 15 minutes. Grind the bread up in a food processor with the basil, oregano, grated Parmesan, and 1 teaspoon of the thyme. Pour into small bowl and set aside. Afterwards, preheat oven to 400.

Mix the minced garlic, other 1 teaspoon of thyme, and 2 Tablespoons of olive oil together and set aside.

Brush olive oil onto a 9 X 13 glass baking dish. When onions are done caramelizing, spread in the bottom of the baking dish.

When ready, use a double layer of paper towel to squeeze out any addition liquid from the squash, and toss with one half of the garlic/olive oil mixture. Spread the slices over the onions in the baking dish.

Using another double layer of paper towels over the tomatoes, squeeze out extra liquid there. Then, arrange tomatoes in a single layer over squash. Drizzle remaining garlic/olive oil mixture over tomatoes, and bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until tomatoes are drying slightly.

Mix about 2 Tablespoons of olive oil with bread crumb mixture to moisten slightly throughout. Remove baking dish from oven and spread bread crumb mixture over tomatoes, and grate Parmesan cheese over breadcrumbs. Heat oven up to 425, and bake until bread crumb topping is golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.


Adapted from Erin Cooks, original recipe here.

I've Been a Bad, Bad, Blogger... And a New Recipe Review

I've been a very neglectful blogger lately. I've been in a bit of a funk, I suppose.

It's a combination of a few different things. We've been really busy lately, for one. Busy with mostly good things, mind you- great times and celebrations, with wonderful friends and family. But combine that with stress and extra hours at work, life has felt very GO-GO-GO recently, and we've had little downtime. And downtime, for me, is quite the necessity.

Another thing that has been bringing me a down a bit lately is that sometimes it feels like we work and work and work on our house, both inside and out, and still don't see any real progress. It may be a case of not seeing the forest through the trees, but nevertheless, it eventually takes a toll on my motivation.

And finally, all those "great times and celebrations with wonderful friends and family" mentioned above usually include an abundance of good food and drink. And so, my "healthy eating objectives" has been, ah ... suffering, shall we say. And since I tend to be a bit hard on myself, that's contributed to my funk more than it's motivated me to work harder.

But now that all that is out in the open, let's move on. 

And let's start with something easy to get back into the swing of things- a new recipe. One of the new recipes I tried last week was Farmer's Market Potato Salad from Cooking Light magazine. This one caught my eye because I'm so used to the standard potato salad- mayo-based with potatoes, celery, and hard-boiled egg- you know, the classic. This one was something different, and a lot healthier. AND it called for fresh corn on the cob, which had just become available for the summer in our area and I was craving some like you wouldn't believe. 

It turned out really well! I didn't really make any changes, except instead of roasting the corn in the oven, we grilled it with some butter and Cajun seasoning. Also, I added asparagus to the salad, since there was some in the fridge that needed to be used up. I served it with Honey Mustard Grilled chicken, from allrecipes.com, which was also really good and went perfectly. Man, how I love grilling weather!!

New Recipe Review- Garden Risotto

Risotto is a treat I enjoy in restaurants, but never thought I would be able to make myself. You know, one of those things that just sounded too complicated to even bother. But when I received my May issue of Cooking Light and there was a whole section on risotto, and I was inspired to say the least. I ended up not making any of the recipes in that magazine, but I found one on FoodNetwork.com that sounded perfect for beginners ... OK, fine, it used stuff up that was in our fridge! Here is the recipe I used for my first attempt at risotto.

I followed the recipe to a tee, I was too hesitant to make any changes to something I've never made before. The only changes I made were to go completely overboard on the veggies (nothing wrong with that, IMO!)

Look at all those fresh ingredients!!

Sautéing some onions

Adding the rice.

Homemade chicken broth simmering away in the skillet

Don't stop stirring! I'll call this an action shot.

Um, I may have gone overboard on the veggies. Is there such thing?

And topped with fresh grated Parmesean Reggiano cheese. Yum!

The risotto part of it turned out awesome, I was so proud of myself! I felt that the rest of the recipe actually ended up being a little bland though. All the vegetables kind of had the same flavor, I felt like it needed more acid- tomatoes or lemon or something.

I served it with a salad of spring greens, grapes, goat cheese, and vinaigrette; and Fetzer Riesling- which was very good and only $8. Kind of tasted like sparkling cider, which is a good thing IMO!

(image from BevMo.com)