Category Archives: Vegetarian

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

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I finally found a good recipe for baked sweet potato fries and I will not lose it!  We halved this recipe and it was a perfect amount for two people.  Go by weight versus number of potatoes as they vary greatly in their sizes!

INGREDIENTS:

  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • 4 medium sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled if desired.
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper
  • Snipped fresh parsley (optional, I did not use)
  • Coarse salt (optional)
  • OPTIONAL: You can add 2 cloves garlic, minced or 1/4 tsp. garlic powder with the oil.  I added a few dashes of garlic powder

 

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 400° F.  If desired, line two baking sheets with foil.  Lightly coat foil with nonstick spray, set aside.
  2. Cut sweet potatoes lengthwise into 1/2″ thick strips.
  3. Place potatoes in large bowl. 
  4. In a small bowl combine oil, salt, and pepper.
  5. Drizzle oil mixture over potatoes, tossing to coat. 
  6. Arrange sweet potatoes in a single layer on prepared baking sheets.
  7. Bake for 15 mins, turn potatoes over, bake for 10-15 more minutes or until golden brown. 
  8. If desired, sprinkle with parsley or coarse salt. 

 

Wild Rice Gratin In Cast Iron Skillet

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20131125_175258_resized  Wild Rice Gratin 11-2013

This is another Chef Kate recipe and it was very good!  We had just purchased a cast iron skillet and seasoned it and gave this recipe a try.  I will post the original recipe and the changes we made in purple.  I usually don’t make so many changes to a recipe, but we had our personal taste preferences and dietary issues.  This is a solid recipe that you can easily change to suit your needs.  For the wild rice preparation, we cooked it according to the bag’s directions, which was less water than stated below.  We bought the cheese in a chunk at the deli and shredded it ourselves.  Wild rice blends are fine too.  Enjoy! 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup raw wild rice (cooked in 2.5 cups water or vegetable stock)
  • 2 large sweet onions, sliced thin (We used 1/2 medium sweet onion)
  • 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 large Portabello mushroom caps, diced (We used orange and red bell peppers, about 3/4 of each pepper)
  • 4 large Swiss chard leaves, ribboned (We used 10 pieces spinach, ribboned)
  • 4 oz. Swiss cheese, shredded
  • 1 Tablespoon dried thyme
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock (We used vegetable)

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Cook the rice.  Preheat oven to 375°.
  2. In a large (10″ or larger) cast iron skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Saute the onions for about 15 minutes, or until they start to caramelize. 
  3. Stir in the mushrooms (or peppers) and let cook another 5-7 minutes.  Turn off the burner.
  4. Carefully stir in the cooked rice, Swiss chard (or spinach), Swiss cheese, thyme, salt and pepper.  Stir all together.
  5. Add in the last 1/2 cup of vegetable stock. 
  6. Top with bread crumbs.
  7. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

 

 

Homemade Red Pasta Sauce *

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This recipe involves the blender and simple simmering and reduction.  You can change up the spices as you like.  I used fresh oregano and basil from the garden.  I added garlic and onion powder and some generic Italian type seasoning.  For not having any preservatives or chemicals, this is a WIN!  Mix with some whole wheat pasta and you have a healthy side to your meal.    

 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4-5 medium tomatoes**
  • salt & pepper**
  • fresh or dried spices, as desired (such as oregano, basil, Italian seasoning, garlic/onion powder, etc)**

**Known IC irritants, tread carefully!

 

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Begin by cutting out a tiny amount of the tomato: cut out the top woody party of the tomato and a thin layer including the stem.
  2. Roughly chop remaining tomatoes and put in blender.
  3. Add salt/pepper and basic spices that you chose. 
  4. Pulverize in blender until smooth.
  5. Transfer to skillet and reduce this pink, liquidy mixture until it turns into a pasta sauce consistency, watching not to let it burn, about 20-30 minutes.

 

 

Cream of Broccoli Soup

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I have always wanted to make cream of broccoli soup and this was a great first try.  It was a little on the watery side, so if you prefer it thicker, you could just add less milk or add another thickener, in addition to the flour, like cornstarch, etc.  I used butter and reduced the amount to 1.5 TBSP.  I used a quarter onion and added 2 celery stalks and it was more than enough.  This was the first time I cooked with raw onion in about a year and a half.  I learned that I can eat cooked onion, but being around raw onion cooking still makes me feel off and sick.  So now I know!  Next time I will use onion powder and add more celery.  Very tasty, healthy, and full of nutrients!   Enjoy…. 

 

  • 4 cups water

  • 4 cups broccoli florets
  • 2 tablespoons margarine
  • 1 onion, chopped 
  • 1 large stalk celery, chopped
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon powder
  • 2 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Directions

  1. In a medium-sized cooking pot, add water and broccoli florets and bring to boil; reduce heat and cook for about 3 minutes. Drain, reserving all of the water.
  2. In a food processor or blender, process half the cooked broccoli until fairly smooth. Chop remaining broccoli and set aside.
  3. In a heavy-bottomed cooking pot, melt butter or margarine, add onion and celery and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes until soft. Stir in flour; cook, stirring constantly for about 1 to 2 minutes.
  4. Add reserved water and chicken bouillon granules, and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium; simmer, stirring constantly until thickened.
  5. Stir in milk, nutmeg, pepper, and processed and chopped broccoli, and heat through. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve garnished with grated cheddar cheese.

Crispy Rosemary Potatoes

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This is a very tasty recipe for baked rosemary potatoes.  My husband and I loved this recipe and will make it again.  It’s from the cookbook “Cook This!  Not That!”.  Fresh rosemary is best here.  Makes 4 servings. 

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 lbs. red potatoes, cut into 3/4″ chunks
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
  • Salt and black pepper, to taste

 

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
  2. Toss the potatoes with the oil, rosemary, and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
  3. Spread out evenly on a baking sheet.
  4. Roast until brown and crispy on the outside and tender inside, about 30 minutes. 

Zucchini Parmesan Chips *

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This is a great, healthy recipe off of Foodnetwork.com.  You simply slice up your zucchini, toss it in olive oil, and then cover it in your mixture of Parmesan/bread crumbs/salt/pepper.  Only at the last minute did I realize that it said freshly grated Parmesan like from a Parmesan brick of cheese.  Since I didn’t have that,  used the Parmesan in the container and mixed in some shredded mozzarella cheese; it still was tasty!  I will try it again with the preferred ingredient.  The near burnt cheese flavor was divine.  I used a metal baking pan with aluminum foil coated generously with cooking spray, nothing stuck!  I had to lessen the time slightly.  I had to make more Parmesan mixture as it wasn’t enough and/or I put too much mixture on, but it was worth it.

Ingredients:

  • Cooking spray
  • 2 medium zucchini (about 1 pound total)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan (3/4-ounce)
  • 1/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs, like Panko or plain bread crumbs
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
  2. Slice the zucchini into 1/4-inch thick rounds. In a medium bowl, toss the zucchini with the oil.
  3. In a small bowl, combine the Parmesan, bread crumbs, and salt. Dip each round into the Parmesan mixture, coating it evenly on both sides, pressing the coating on to stick, and place in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
  4. Bake the zucchini rounds until browned and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove with spatula. Serve immediately.