Side Dishes – Veggies – Page 5

Mini Veggie Potpies with Hats, Homemade Poultry Seasoning

Mini Veggie Potpies with Hats from The Family Fun Cookbook

(This cookbook is, by the way, a GREAT cookbook for families with young kids or for kids who are just beginning to cook on their own. The recipes are simple and universally appealing and there are lots of great, helpful tips and photos. I have used this cookbook for years and we are only just now beginning to “outgrow” it, and my kids are 12 and 14. I believe that there is a new, updated version of this book coming soon.)

1 small onion, chopped

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 1-pound package frozen mixed vegetables, such as peas, carrots, green beans and lima beans

1 10-ounce box frozen corn

1/2 red bell pepper, diced (optional)

2 10-ounce packages frozen puff pastry shells

Sauce:

2 cups water

1/2 cup cashew nuts

1 Tbsp poultry seasoning*

2 Tbsp flour

2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp brewer’s yeast (optional)

In a large skillet, saute the onion in the oil until transparent. Add all the vegetables and cook until heated through. Set the pan aside and cover.

Bake the pastry shells according to the package directions while you prepare the sauce. In a blender or food processor, blend 1 cup of the water with the cashews until creamy. Add the remaining water and ingredients, process until smooth, and pour the liquid into a heavy saucepan. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Add the sauce to the vegetable medley, mix thoroughly, and spoon into hollowed-out pastry shells. Use the crispy shell tops as “hats” for the vegetables. Serve immediately. Serves 6.

*Poultry Seasoning:

1 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves

1 tsp dried rubbed sage leaves

1 tsp dried marjoram leaves

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 small pinch nutmeg

These were quite yummy and surprisingly easy. Girl just ate this for her meal, but I added some sliced, grilled chicken for the Carni-boys. Gently flatten a boneless, skinless chicken breast with a flat mallet. Coat chicken with a VERY light layer of canola or olive oil (just a few drops) and then sprinkle/rub with a very generous coat of Baby Bam seasoning. Grill until cooked through. Allow to cool, off the heat/grill, for a few moments, then slice and serve.

Spaghetti with Roasted Cauliflower with Bacon Herbed Breadcrumbs

Recipe here.

This was REALLY delicious. To adapt for Vegetarian Girl, I just set aside a few of the breadcrumbs without bacon for her to use. I also added the parsley to the pasta, rather than to the breadcrumbs.

This made a HUGE amount of pasta. We ate this for dinner one night and lunch another and then I still had a bit left over that I froze for Hubby to have for lunch sometime in the future. There’s not a lot of cauliflower in each portion, because it cooks down so much as it roasts, so if you want more veggies and not so much pasta, I would use more (double?) the amount of cauliflower or add some other veggies (thawed frozen peas? chopped fresh spinach?)

Acorn Squash Stuffed with Orzo in a Sage Brown Butter Sauce

Adapted from this recipe on Herbivoracious.

2 changes:

I couldn’t find Delicata squash right now (I suspect it’s not in season until the weather gets a bit warmer,) so I used acorn squash, instead, and baked it before stuffing at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

I pan-toasted the orzo before boiling it.

This was really delicious, although a bit time-consuming (and dirty pan-intensive.) Surprisingly, all four of us liked it (even Hubby, who normally detests ANY dried fruit.)

Roasted Vegetable Couscous with Chickpeas and Onion-Pine Nut Topping

From January 2009 Cooking Light. Recipe here.

Another Girl-friendly vegetarian meal. I clipped this one out of Cooking Light magazine about a year ago and the kids plucked it from my recipes files at last week’s “family meeting/menu planning session.” I was worried that they were just tired and eager to get the meeting over with and weren’t being too careful about their choices. I was worried that I would spend an hour cooking it and they wouldn’t like it. Hubby doesn’t like raisins. Boy isn’t wild about large amounts of onins and Girl isn’t a fan of too-exotic spices. But…my fears were unfounded. They all liked this and it also proved to be much quicker and easier than the recipe, at first glance, would seem. After cooking this, I read some of the reviews of the recipe on Cooking Light’s website (Duh! I should be doing that FIRST, right?) and I agree with most of what’s written there, namely:

Don’t skip the onion topping. In fact, consider making extra. It adds a TON of flavor.

Add a bit more ras el hanout spice to the veggies before roasting. (FYI – if you have a hard time finding Ras el Hanout, try CostPlus World Market. It is possible to make your own, but most recipes call for some pretty exotic ingredients that you’re not likely to use for anything else…best, in my opinion, to buy it, if possible.)

I highly recommend this recipe and I suspect that it’s one that will hold its own as leftovers (probably will even freeze well, although I’m going to test that theory, as I made a larger-than-called-for batch and we have quite a bit left over.)

Hubby and I will be happily devouring some of the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Coriander-Crusted Pork Tenderloin, Sweet and Spicy Roasted Vegetables, Brown Rice with Walnuts and Golden Raisins

Coriander-Crusted Pork Tenderloin recipe link

Sweet and Spicy Roasted Vegetables recipe link

Brown Rice with Walnuts and Golden Raisins recipe link

Wow! This whole menu is from Dec’09/Jan’10 Fine Cooking magazine and it was OUTSTANDING. The kids loved the veggies and rice and the pork was really amazing. It was definitely the standout of the meal. The crust on the outside was a TINY bit too spicy for Boy, but he just cut the edges off and ate the “middle.” Hubby and I loved the crusty edges. Yum.

Fine Cooking’s website can be a bit persnickety, as it is a mostly-subscription site, but try these links and see what happens. If all else fails, you can try googling the recipe name and see if someone else (who is less afraid of copyright attorneys than I am) has typed in it.

Oh, also? This meal was really quick, easy and well thought-out. The fact that the veggies and pork cook at the same temp was really helpful. It’s a very simply executed meal, in terms of juggling all three dishes easily at the same time.

(Vegetarian Girl just ate the rice and veggies.)

Middle Eastern-Style Flank Steak and Orecchiette with Brussels Sprouts, Gorgonzola, and Brown-Butter Pecans

This dinner tasted a lot better than my stinky photo makes it look. I overcooked the steak a little bit and I undercooked the brussels sprouts a little bit, but both dishes tasted WONDERFUL. The pasta was very rich and cheesy and creamy and the steak had just enough spice on it. Girl, of course, only ate the pasta, and the meat was a tiny bit too spicy for Boy, but he still ate it enthusiastically. The leftovers would be great tucked into a pita with some tzatziki and lettuce.

I highly recommend d’Arenberg Stump Jump Shiraz with this. There’s a straight shiraz and there’s a shiraz-mourvedre-grenache blend. They’re both good, but the straight shiraz is better and the 2008 is better than the 2007, but even the 2007 blend is still pretty good.

These recipes are, again, from Fine Cooking’s website, but I’m including the links…just in case.

Orecchiette recipe here.

Flank steak recipe here.

Bobby Flay’s Orange-Glazed Grilled Acorn Squash and Mashed Potato Cakes

Acorn squash, with sauteed spinach, chicken-Gruyere sausage and a black-truffle mashed potato pancake.

This yummy squash dish (recipe here) was OUTSTANDING. It took a while to make, since you have to make the glaze separately and both bake AND grill the squash, but the investment of time is well worth it. My only other issue with this is that half a squash is just too much, because it’s VERY filling. I would say that one-fourth of a squash is a more appropriate serving size, so I’d recommend preparing them as in the recipe and just cutting them in half right before serving. Delicious, though, and a very creative use of an underutilized vegetable. If you’ve never cooked acorn squash before, this is a great recipe to start off with.

Mashed potato pancake recipe here. I adapted the recipe by using leftover truffle mashed potatoes. Fabulous.

Spring Rolls

Clockwise from top right: julienned red and green bell pepper, thinly sliced teriyaki chicken and halved grilled shrimp, shredded lettuce, sliced baby corn and red onion, avocado and bean sprouts (which I grew myself! how’s that for advanced meal planning!), julienned carrot and cucumber. Rice noodles in round center section.

This was an experiment, but has become a favorite family meal. Everyone loves to be able to customize and assemble their own meal and make it EXACTLY how they like it and it’s exceedingly healthy and low fat. This is a VERY popular meal with the kids. I usually am the person that’s on “wrapper duty” and make sure that there’s always a new wrapper soaking in the hot water, so that there’s one ready when someone needs it. We usually can eat at least three per person.

Basically, it can be anything that you like:

julienned or thinly sliced veggies: cucumber, bell pepper, carrot, lettuce, red onion, avocado

bean sprouts, baby corn, baby spinach

teriyaki-marinated grilled shrimp and/or chicken

thin rice noodles: I cut these into smallish pieces with kitchen shears and put them in a heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over them (I use an electric kettle) and let them soak a few minutes until they’re softened. Drain before placing in your serving bowl.

Assemble all of the ingredients and fillings on a platter, in whatever configuration you choose.

Pour more boiling water (again, I use an electric kettle and keep refilling it, so that we can dump out the water and replace it as it cools during the meal) into a shallow and wide, heat-proof bowl (I use the salad bowl of my everyday stoneware.) Place one rice paper spring roll wrapper into the hot water at a time and let it soak to soften for a few seconds (10-15.) Remove quickly (using a fork or small tongs, if necessary, to avoid a burn) and place on your plate. Fill the wrapper with veggies or proteins of your choice and wrap up like a burrito. The rice paper will stick to itself and seal your spring roll. Two important tips:

1. Place the fillings in a tight, compact line about 1 and 1/2 inches wide, just off the center of the wrapper, stopping at least an inch away from each edge.

2. Gently compress the fillings as you roll up the wrapper, to make the roll as tight as possible. This will help it stay intact as you eat it. No worries, though, if your roll does come apart…just grab a fork!

Serve with your choice of sauces (duck sauce, soy sauce, my great homemade sauce recipe here) for dipping and maybe edamame on the side. Oh, and some riesling!

Asian-Glazed Chicken Thighs with Rice and Roasted Broccoli

Monday we celebrated our wedding anniversary here at FYK. I asked Hubby if he had any special dinner requests and he asked for some kind of chicken thighs (his favorite,) so I decided to make this upscaled version of chicken, broccoli and rice. Vegetarian Girl skipped the chicken and added some edamame for protein.

Asian-Glazed Chicken Thighs, from Sheila Lukins’ (RIP, such a talented lady) final cookbook, Ten. Recipe here. I made rice to accompany, because I used the last of our rice noodles to make spring rolls recently and keep forgetting to buy more. The marinade/sauce in this recipe tastes EXACTLY like the sauce used in P.F. Chang’s Orange Peel Chicken (my favorite thing there,) so it would be easy to adapt this recipe if you’re trying to recreate that (just stir-fry bite-sized chicken breast chunks until crispy, reduce the sauce a little to thicken it and then add some thick strips of orange peel.)

Roasted Broccoli with Garlic and Red Pepper. Easy and surprisingly tasty and sweet. Recipe here.

Butternut Squash and Cheddar Bread Pudding

This hearty vegetarian main dish from November 2009 Bon Appetit magazine was filling and delicious. Vegetarian Girl ate it as a main dish and the rest of us had it as a side to some chicken. Very good, but the recipe (really being intended for a large, holiday gathering) makes a HUGE pan of the bread pudding, so if you’re only serving 4 to 6 people, I would STRONGLY suggest halving the recipe, lest you be condemned to eat the leftovers for 3 days.