Meatless Monday Meal

Here is a great meal for a meatless Monday.  This bean and pasta bake recipe comes from Nikki & David Goldbeck's American Wholefoods Cuisine, published in 1983.  My sister-in-law gave me this cookbook, and I have used it for years.

This dish contains protein, carbohydrates, and vegetables.  All you need to add for a complete meal is a green salad. Note: The recipe calls for three cups of cooked black beans.  I have always used dried beans, but I suppose it would work with drained canned beans.  I expect the finished product would turn out a little mushier though.

Mexican Beans and Pasta Bake

from Nikki & David Goldbeck’s American Wholefoods Cuisine

1 tablespoon oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large clove garlic, chopped

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust amount to taste)

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 28-oz. can whole tomatoes, cored and rough chopped

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried cumin

1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni (can use whole wheat)

1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

3 cups cooked black beans (preferably from dried beans)

1/3 cup sliced olives

1 – 1 1/2 cups broken corn tacos or chips

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Heat oil in 2-quart pot over medium heat and sauté onion and garlic for 3 minutes to soften.   Add cayenne and chili powder and cook briefly.  Add tomatoes, oregano, and cumin, and bring to a boil.

Add pasta and corn and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes until pasta is just tender.  Stir in beans and olives.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Transfer bean mixture to a 2-quart casserole dish.  Top with broken chips and cheese.  Bake for 10-15 minutes to melt cheese and heat through.  If casserole is assembled in advance and chilled, increase baking time to 20-25 minutes.

Printable recipe

Last-Minute Home Alone Pasta

I've been on my own the last few days, and last night I had run out of leftovers, couldn't face a can of soup, let alone a trip to grocery store, and dinner was all up to me.  Here's my last-minute, what's-in-the-larder Home Alone Pasta.

Home Alone Pasta

1 3/4 cup dry rotini

2 tablespoons olive oil

2/3 cup halved grape tomatoes

1/4 cup sliced green olives

1/4 cup diced green bell pepper

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Fresh ground pepper to taste

1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons pasta water

1/4 - 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat water for rotini.  While water is heating, chop tomatoes, olives and bell pepper. 

While rotini cooks, heat oil in medium, non-sitck skillet over medium heat.  Cook tomatoes, olives, bell pepper, and seasonings until soft, about 5 minutes. 

Add tomato paste and mix well. 

When pasta is done, before draining, scoop out 2 tablespoons of the water and add to tomato mixture.  Mix well. 

Drain pasta and top with tomato mixture and shredded cheese.

Printable recipe

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Winter returned to our corner of the Midwest with a cold blast this week.  Here's a chicken cacciatore recipe to warm you up on chilly nights.

This dish is an Emeril Lagasse recipe that I have slightly modified.  It is not hard to prepare, but does require some time on the front end.  Once it is in the crock pot, though, you are home free.  Lagasse recommends serving this over pasta, but we most often serve it over brown rice at our house.

The recipe calls for bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs.  To save calories, you can substitute chicken breasts or use skinless thighs.  The flavor, however, will not be as rich.  I have tried both, and always come back to bone-in, skin-on thighs.  I do trim off excess skin and fat before cooking.

Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore

Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

8 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin on

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 1/2 teaspoons Emeril’s Original Essence (recipe follows)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 large yellow onions, sliced

1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2-3 tablespoons minced garlic (can slice or chop for larger chunks if desired)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 large or 2 medium bay leaves

1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, cored and rough chopped, with juices

1/2 cup dry white wine (can omit)

1/4 cup tomato paste

seasoned and ready for dredging

Trim excess skin and fat from chicken thighs.  Season both sides with salt and pepper and Essence blend.  Pat gently to make sure seasonings adhere.  Dredge chicken lightly in 1/4 cup flour.

Heat olive oil in large nonstick skillet.  Brown the chicken thighs until golden on both sides.  Transfer chicken to crock pot.

In same skillet, add onions.  Cook until softened and lightly carmelized.  Add red pepper flakes, garlic, oregano, rosemary, basil, bay leaves and 2 tablespoons flour.  Cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes.

sauce ready to go in crock pot

Add tomatoes, wine, tomato paste and stir to combine and heat through.  Pour tomato mixture over chicken in crock pot.  Cook on low for 6 hours or so, until chicken is cooked through and bones easily pull out.

Remove bones, skin, and cartilage.   Pull meat apart into chunks.  Serve over rice or pasta.

Recipe for Emeril Lagasse Essence

5 parts paprika

4 parts salt

2 parts: garlic powder

ground black pepper

onion powder

cayenne pepper

dried oregano

dried thyme

Printable recipe

Who Needs Green Bean Casserole?

Whew!  Thanksgiving is over.  We had such a great holiday with both kids home.  The weather was warm on black Friday, so we spent some time hanging outdoor Christmas lights.  Our son came up with a crazy notion to wrap tree trunks, so we did.  It looks a little unusual, but we had a lot of fun, working until well after dark.

Our Thanksgiving dinner was a real feast.  The local farm-raised turkey turned out juicy and tasty.  At our house, there are the usual dishes that we always have at Thanksgiving -- stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, and pumpkin pie -- but the vegetable dish is always up for grabs.  I will confess that I have never made nor eaten green bean casserole.  I like green beans, but the casserole just doesn't appeal to me.  This year, I made a kind of different vegetable dish, one that went perfectly with the sage and rosemary flavoring of the turkey and dressing.  I have also served this at Christmas because of the beautiful colors.  We got this recipe from our daughter's high school French teacher several years ago for a French Club dinner.  This picture is before the dish was baked.  Was too busy afterward to snap a picture of the finished product.

Zucchini and Tomato Bake

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 large onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped (I used 3)
1 pound tomatoes
1 pound zucchini
1 teaspoon dried herbes de Provence
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan or skillet over low heat and cook the onion and garlic for about 20 minutes until soft and golden.  Spread over the base of a 12-inch shallow baking dish.

Cut the tomatoes into 1/4 inch thick slices.  (If the tomatoes are ver large, cut the slices in half.)  Cut the zucchini into 1/4-1/2 inch thick slices.

Arrange alternating rows of zucchini and tomatoes over the onion mixture.  Sprinkle with the herbs, cheese, and salt and pepper.  (I omit the salt.)  Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for 25 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.  Serve hot or warm.

Mmmmm

I love, love, love this dish!  We're trying to eat healthy; I don't know if this qualifies, but it sure is delicious!  And isn't it colorful and gorgeous?  I've made this several times, and always love it.  This is Giada De Lauentiis' recipe for Penne with Brown Butter, Arugula, and Pine Nuts.  I alter the recipe by using toasted slivered almonds instead of the pine nuts and half the salt.  It's so easy to make, but it has complex flavors. One bite might be more buttery, another more tangy, depending whether you get a tomato or capers in that forkful.

You can find the recipe at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/penne-with-brown-butter-arugula-and-pine-nuts-recipe/index.html.