Thrifty Thursday: Cheesy Quinoa Broccoli Bake

1 head broccoli, florets and stems (peel the stems if skin is tough)
3/4 bell pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced (steam briefly if you'd like)
2 c. cooked quinoa

Steam the broccoli and cook the quinoa (you'll need 1 c. of dry quinoa). You want both slightly al dente. Chop the pepper and put it into a casserole. Put the broccoli and quinoa on top and toss.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Melt 2 t. each butter and olive oil (I used the stuff in the sun dried tomato jar) over medium heat.
Add 3 cloves of minced garlic. Stir until the garlic is soft.
Add about 1 T. flour and stir well.
Whisk in 1 to 1 and 1/2 cup of milk. Add 2-4 oz. cheese. I used Double Gloucester. Stir until smooth. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Pour over the ingredients in the casserole, then stir until coated. Pop in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Mmm.

Tubby Tuesday: Nachos

Today, I made some nachos. It's not so good for my "stop being plumpy" plan, but there you have it. Here's how:

Sauté one quarter c. of red onion and one quarter c. of chopped red bell pepper in a teaspoon or two of canola oil. Put in a couple of chopped garlic cloves if it's your pleasure.
Once they're soft, add a can of black beans (undrained)
Season with cumin, coriander, and cayenne. I also added some chopped cilantro stems.

Once it has thickened, it's done. Check for seasoning.

Put some tortilla chips on a plate. Top with half a cup of the bean mixture (or more) and a handful of shredded cheddar. Nuke it until the cheese melts, then top with some chopped cilantro leaves, a sliced scallion, some Tobasco sauce, and salsa. You'll probably need a fork.

Sunday Suppers: That's Borschit!

So my mom's taking a trip to Russia with her boyfriend later this week. As usual, I'm making dinner tonight. Mom wants to clean out the fridge. I am, as usual, happy to oblige. There are two giant roasted beets. So what's a girl to do? Borscht. Sort of.

I have had borscht a few times before. My favorite is the beet variety. 

The problem? No onions, which are required by most recipes. The solution? Dig into the frozen container of scraps for stock and pull out some old (but intact) bits of garlic. The leek was a failure. Leeks don't survive being frozen and then thawed.

Here's what you do: 

1. Heat a couple of tablespoons of canola oil over medium heat. Add a few halved cloves of garlic. You probably want between 1 and 2 T. Add 1 to 2 T. of minced green bell pepper if you have it on hand (which I did from the stuffed pepper I'm making... I'm sure it's fine if you don't have any). Allow to cook for awhile until fragrant and sizzling. 

2. Add 2 large cooked beets, peeled and cut into large chunks. You'll probably have about 1 1/2 to 2 cups. Add 1 c. hot broth, stock, or water, salt and pepper, and some dill. I also put in a sprinkle of vinegar and a 2 T. of plain tomato sauce (which I had on hand from the stuffed pepper). You'll be putting this through the blender, so don't worry too much about tasting it now. 

3. After it's simmered for about ten minutes (the beets should be very soft), remove from the heat. Put the whole works into the blender and process (put the lid on unless you want it to look like you murdered someone in the kitchen). You might need to add more water to get it to turn over. (Free tip: swoosh some water into the pot you were using to cook the veggies and dump it into the blender... you get residue). 

4. Give it a taste. I added the white part of a scallion, sliced. Mine also needed a bit more dill. Put it back into the pot and set aside. 

5. Now for the fun part. Grate a carrot or two and chiffonade some cabbage. Cook those in a skillet with a bit of oil until hot. Season with salt, pepper, and more dill. (I think caraway seeds would be good here as well, but I don't have any.)

6. Heat the soup back up, put it into bowls, and add a scoop of the cooked carrots and cabbages on top. If you have/like it, you can add a dollop of sour cream or drained yogurt as well. 

Sorry, no picture. We ate it. :-( It was tasty, quite earthy, and the most lovely shade of magenta. 

Yikes! It's been awhile. I'm bad. :-( 

Last Saturday was my thirtieth birthday. My Mom asked me what I wanted for dinner. Given my typical enthusiasm for cooking, she was probably surprised when I came up with a request: minestrone. Mom made a fabulous minestrone when I was younger and I wanted it again. I don't think she had made it since we lived in New Jersey (late 80's and early 90's). It did need some tweaking to get rid of the required chicken and beef broth, but it turned out great. I'll post the recipe later. 

However, I couldn't resist staying out of the kitchen. I made an olive tapenade and a mushroom and almond pate. The olive tapenade consisted of about 2/3 a c. each green olives and black olives, 2 T. of capers, and a couple cloves of garlic. I also put in some fresh thyme and cracked red pepper, plus olive oil for texture. Whir in the food processor until it's your desired texture and you're done! 

For the mushroom and almond pate, I followed a C'est La Vegan recipe, but added some of my own tweaks. Here is a link to the original recipe, which is great on its own: http://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/07/mushroom-pate/

I used a bit more of everything listed and added a few tablespoons of sherry. I didn't have fancy mushrooms, so I just used creminis. It tastes good the first day, but the second day, it's better (so hide it!).