Mom's Favorites: Eat Your Veggies

Who among us got sick of hearing dear old Mom say "you have to eat all your vegetables." With my intense dislike of most all cooked vegetables growing up, this got to be an interesting adventure pretty quick.  I stuck with carrot and celery sticks and all things salad related. It was much safer.

In the meantime, sometime in my teens I discovered eggplant courtesy of the Chateau restaurant. Oh what I wouldn't give for some Chateau bread right now, but that's a whole different blog post! I ate eggplant parmesan by the truckload.  I had a friend tell me once while we were having a birthday lunch that I didn't have to eat it just because it was cheap. I laughed....I would take eggplant parm over chicken parm any day of the week!

So, here's a different spin on eggplant, still in the Italian family.

Eggplant Calabrese

Ingredients:
1 eggplant, peeled and cut into 1 in. pieces        1/2 tsp. salt                      1/3 c. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter          1 small onion, chopped        2 garlic cloves, minced    1 pkg mushrooms 
35 oz. can crushed tomatoes with basil              1 lb. bow tie pasta, cooked and drained
1 c. shredded mozzarella

Directions:

1. Place eggplant in a bowl and sprinkle with salt, stir to coat.
2. In a skillet, heat the oil and butter over medium heat.
3. Add onion and garlic and saute until lightly browned.
4. Add eggplant, mushrooms, salt and pepper.
5. Cook for 25 minutes, until tender.
6. Add crushed tomatoes - stir to combine and simmer for 20 minutes.
7. Pour eggplant mixture over pasta.
8. Sprinkle cheese on top.

A tasty treat with no meat! As always, have fun!   

Kid Friendly Vegetarian

Most kids love burgers, spaghetti and meatballs, hot dogs, pizza, chicken fingers etc. The thought of making them eat a vegetarian meal might make you quake and quiver. Vegetables are not fun! They don't taste good! And of course they are healthy! What are we thinking? Well, with feeding a family, sometimes you need to make your meals stretch and your grocery budget would be helped out quite a bit by one night a week not having to pay pesky meat prices.

So, I give you a casserole with a lot of flavor and a lot of ways to keep the budget under control as well as keep it healthy.

Tomato Sour Cream Casserole

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped                               2 tbsp. oil              1 lb. 12 oz. can of tomatoes
1 pkg. mexican style sloppy joe seasoning     4 oz. green chilies, chopped
5 1/2 oz. package Doritos, slightly crushed    3/4 lb. monterey jack cheese, grated
1 c. sour cream                                               1/2 c. cheddar cheese, grated

Directions:

1. Saute the onion in oil.
2. Add tomatoes, seasoning mix and green chilies.
3. Simmer, uncovered, 10-15 minutes.
4. In greased, deep 2 qt. casserole dish, layer ingredients in the following order: sauce, doritos, jack cheese, sauce, jack cheese.
5. Top with sour cream.
6. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.
7. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and bake 10 minutes longer.

Ways to make it healthy:

• Use fresh tomatoes instead of canned to cut your salt intake.
• Use lowfat cheese
• Use lowfat sour cream.

Ways to spice it up:

• Switch up the sloppy joe seasoning with chipolte or hot spices.
• The original recipe recommends nacho cheese doritos but I say use your favorites.
• Use pepper jack cheese.

As always, have fun!

Grilling Time

With that headline, I'm sure you are expecting BBQ chicken or ribs or burgers or something equally yummy on the grill. I'm starting small with mushrooms. 

Why mushrooms you ask? They are yet something else I learned to like when I got older. I have had a lot of people poke fun at me for my weird food issues, but mushrooms remind me of a time where I had some fun of my own. The jerk that I'm thinking of this time used to just push my buttons for the sheer thrill of it. So, one night, we were playing the "What vegetables does Alyson eat?" game and yours truly belted out a convincing argument that mushrooms in fact a vegetable even though we all know they are a fungi. Boy did that irritate him! Anyone who knows me would have figured out pretty quick I was just sticking to this lame argument because I was getting a reaction. I just can't help myself - I have a sick sense of humor!

Ok, so back to my yummy mushrooms .....

Grilled Wild Mushrooms with a Teriyaki Dressing

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. fresh shitake mushrooms                    1/2 lb. fresh wild mushrooms        
10-12 scallions, cut into 1 1/2 in. lengths       bamboo skewers, soaked in cold water for 1 hr.

Dressing:
1/2 c. soy sauce                  1/3 c. rice wine          3 tbsp. water           2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil   1 1/2 tbsp. minced fresh ginger

Directions:

1. Trim the stems of the mushrooms, rinse lightly and drain thoroughly.
2. If the caps are particularly large, cut them in half.
3. Thread 2 mushrooms and 3 scallion sections alternately on each skewer, starting and ending with scallions.
4. Arrange skewers on a cookie sheet.
5. Combine the dressing ingredients in a saucepan.
6. Heat until boiling, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
7. Use 1/3 to liberally brush the mushrooms and scallions with the sauce.
8. Pour the remaining 2/3 in a serving bowl.
9. Once your grill is fired up, make sure the grate is about 3-4 inches from the heat.
10. Arrange the skewers and cook, turning frequently, about 4-5 minutes or until golden brown and slightly crisp at the edges.
11. Arrange on a serving platter and serve the dressing warm for dipping.

Now that the weather is nice, I'll be posting more grill recipes and fresh fruit desserts. There's nothing better. As always, have fun!

Did You Know I Eat Broccoli

Well, some broccoli anyway. Like this recipe and one other. But that's a start right? In this case, I'd say the cheese probably helps a lot!

Hot Broccoli Cheese Dip

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter               2 onions, chopped                2 4 oz. cans of sliced mushrooms, drained
1/4 c. + 2 tbsp. flour  5-6 oz. garlic cheese, cubed 2 cans of cream of celery soup
2 10 oz. pkgs. of broccoli spears, chopped            french bread cubes and bell pepper strips

Directions:

1. Melt butter in skillet.
2. Add onion and mushrooms and saute until translucent.
3. Stir in flour and cook 2-3 minutes.
4. Place mixture in crock pot.
5. Stir in soup, cheese and broccoli.
6. Cover and cook on high until cheese is melted, stirring frequently.
7. Turn to low and cook for 2-4 hours or until ready to serve.
8. Serve with french bread cubes and bell pepper strips.

As always, have fun!

Veggie Soup I Like

With my fear of all cooked vegetables growing up I didn't eat a lot of vegetable soups. In fact, most I wouldn't even try. I'm enjoy fresh produce in my soups now though - and the more unusual ingredients seem to win me over more! Usually, they are pretty quick to make too which is an added bonus.

Zucchini & Tomatillo Soup

Ingredients:

For the zucchini:    2 c. chopped zucchini       1 c. vegetable stock      2 garlic cloves, minced

                              4 sprigs fresh thyme

For the tomatillos:  1/2 lb tomatillos, husked and cleaned         1/2 small red onion, cut in half

                               2 tbsp. olive oil                                            salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400.
2. In a medium pot, combine the zucchini, stock, garlic, thyme.
3. Bring to a simmer and cook 20 minutes. R
4. Remove thyme and discard.
5. Place the tomatillos and onion on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.
6. Toss with your hands to coat all sides.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Roast until golden but not charred, 20-24 minutes.
9. Put the tomatillos and onion along with any remaining oil in a blender.
10. Add a spoonful from the cooked zucchini mixture and blend until smooth.
11. Keep doing this until everything is blended.
12. Pour everything back into the pot and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes.
13. Can be served warm or chilled.
14. Garnish with cilantro if you want.

I've only tried it warm. I haven't been too adventurous with cold soup but it seems like it would be a perfect summer dish. Fresh from the garden produce into a cool soup to stay cool in the hot summer sun. Win win!

As always, have fun!

Grab Your Dip in Bite Size Pieces

Do you often struggle when you make a dip, wondering what you should serve with it? Bread? Crackers? Vegetables? Chips? Well here's a thought ... why not build your dip and your "dipping stick" together so that it's just one easy bite at a time? 

I'm sure at some point you've had a monkey bread. This is a different spin on that ... rather than a sweet breakfast bread, this recipe is a savory appetizer that you can serve at any dinner party or even just as a standalone munchie on a Sunday afternoon. And, just think, you could even dip it in some of that homemade tomato sauce that you made and froze so many months ago. It's the gift that keeps on giving!

Spinach Dip Pull Aparts

Ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened              2 minced garlic cloves        1/4 tsp. pepper
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry                1/2 c. mozzarella
1/4 c. parmesan cheese                       1/4 c. mayo                         2 tubes buttermilk biscuits

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, garlic and pepper.
3. Stir in spinach, cheeses and mayo.
4. Separate biscuit dough.
5. Cut each biscuit in half horizontally.
6. Wrap each half around 1 tbsp. of spinach mixture, pinching to seal and form a ball.
7. Layer in a greased 10 inch fluted tube pan.
8. Bake 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Cool in pan 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate.
10. Serve warm with marinara sauce if desired.

As always, have fun!

Rainy Days Bring Breakfast for Dinner

Spring is headed our way finally. The snow banks are slowly melting away, getting some help from the rain today. Of course rain when it's still mildly cold is kind of grey and depressing.  A perfect excuse for a nice warm "breakfast for dinner" night. Nothing fills you up like pancakes and this recipe is certainly no exception. I'm not a huge pancake girl but I like this because it's sort of a deep dish pancake instead of those flapjacks that immediately come to mind. No syrup necessary!

German Apple Pancake

Ingredients:
4 eggs                3/4 c flour                  3/4 c milk               1/2 tsp salt             1/4 c butter
2 medium apples, thinly sliced            1/4 c sugar              1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400.
2. Put 2 9 inch round cake pans in oven.
3. Beat eggs, flour, milk and salt on medium.
4. Remove pans from oven.
5. Place 2 tbsp. butter in each pan and rotate until it covers bottom and sides.
6. Arrange half the apple slices in each pan.
7. Divide batter evenly between pans.
8. Mix sugar and cinnamon.
9. Sprinkle 2 tbsp. over batter in each pan.
10. Bake uncovered 20-25 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.

Simple, yes?  I agree but oh so tasty. I find you really can't go wrong with breakfast foods.

As always, have fun!

Bake Your Pasta

I used to think red sauce was the only thing you put on pasta. I sure loved my spaghetti and meatballs! As I got older, I discovered the joys of white sauce. In fact, I even eat Donato's "Chicken Spinach Tomato Alfredo" pizza!  This particular recipe can be a relatively easy fix for those who don't love to cook or you can tweak some of the ingredients and really make it your own. The hardest part is stuffing the manicotti shells.  It takes both red and white sauce, so you are already off to an interesting flavor!

Three Cheese Manicotti Florentine

Ingredients:
1 jar marinara sauce (or your fabulous homemade sauce)         12 uncooked manicotti shells
1 jar creamy Alfredo sauce                  1/4 c. water                      1 c. shredded mozzarella

Cheese Filling: 15 oz. ricotta cheese      2 c. chopped spinach       1 c. shredded mozzarella
1/2 c parmesan     1 egg, beaten            1/2 tsp. salt                       1/2 tsp. black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375.
2. Spread marinara sauce over bottom of a greased 9x13 dish.
3. Combine filling ingredients and put in a gallon food storage bag.
4. Press out air and seal.
5. Push filling toward bottom corner of bag
6. Snip off corner and squeeze mixture into manicotti shells.
7. Arrange the manicotti in the baking dish.
8. Combine alfredo sauce and water; pour over manicotti.
9. Sprinkle with 1. c mozzarella.
10. Cover with aluminum foil. 
11. Bake for 60 minutes; uncover and continue baking for 10 minutes.
12. Let stand 5 minutes.

Easy, right? If you wanted to add some fun .. sub in red pepper flakes for the black or add some garlic to one or both of your sauces.  You could even try and make your own alfredo sauce to go along with your fabulous homemade red sauce. This recipe is high in yum factor!

As always, have fun!

Food Phobia

How many of you out there have stories about the one food you just can't stand? Or perhaps the time some tricked you into trying something you thought you hated, only to find out it was really yummy? Or maybe you just have a list of "no way" foods because they just sound, look or smell gross to you? Yes, you guessed it; you have food phobia!

My food phobias come from all sorts of places. I don't do Cheez-Its just because of the story of me eating too many of them when I was little and getting sick. All I have to do is smell them and it grosses me out. I also have a ton of foods I don't like because they are creamy. I truly believe having to eat oatmeal after it making me gag and my mom not believing that I wasn't faking it has helped contribute to that one. It's not all creamy foods - but oatmeal and mashed potatoes are still on my "no way" list.

One area where I've slowly come around is cooked vegetables. I used to be all about salad and carrot sticks and even raw string beans and peas. Nice and crunchy and tasty too! Now mind you, there's still some vegetables I won't eat but all in all, I've discovered I need to retry them now to know for sure. I think it all started with a tasting at the downtown Marriott with our incoming President Pat Williams. I wish I could remember exactly what soup they served but it was totally delish! It has some sort of bean in it and I'm pretty sure it was cream of asparagus or artichoke or something equally weird. I loved it...she loved it...we served it at her Inaugural to rave reviews. My mom was stunned I ate it.

So here we are at tonight's recipe. I'll have plenty more that involve stuff no one ever thought I'd like, but I thought I'd start with a pizza. For my friends who are picky eaters or have kids who are picky eaters, a pizza is a great way to throw some toppings on that you want to try but you don't want to "ruin" your meal if you don't like them. You cut your vegetables or meats in small pieces that can be easily picked off if absolutely necessary, but I bet you won't!

White Pizza with Artichoke Hearts

Ingredients:
1 c. mozzarella         1/4 c. chopped onion       1 tsp. minced garlic        1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. oregano       1/2 tsp. cumin                   1/4 tsp. paprika              1/8 tsp. black pepper
8 cherry tomatoes    14.75 oz. marinated artichoke hearts, drained        1 c. feta cheese
3/4 c. swiss                2 oz. sliced havarti          1 tbsp. basil                    1 pizza crust

Directions:

1. Prepare and measure all ingredients.
2. Oil a large cookie sheet or pizza pan and dust with cornmeal.
3. Spread prepared crust evenly.
4. Sprinkle mozzarella. 
5. Saute onion and garlic in oil about 3 minutes.
6. Stir in seasonings and then sprinkle over cheese.
7. Quarter the tomatoes and spread both them and the artichoke hearts next.
8. Layer with feta, swiss and havarti.
9. Sprinkle basil all over.
10. Bake at 400 for 8 - 10 minutes until crust is lightly brown and cheeses are all melted.

I have to confess. This is my version of the recipe. There are some of my food phobias I'm not quite ready to give up. The author recommends a 4.75 oz can of black olives too. I just can't do olives!

What foods do you hate? What do you love? What do you think you might want to give another chance?

As always, have fun!

Is It Spring Yet?

I thought it was when I stepped outside today. While my friends and family in Massachusetts are getting dumped on yet again, we here in Hoosier country are getting a small reprieve this weekend with temperatures soaring into the low 50s. It got me thinking of lighter meals and healthy ones at that since at some point we all will be trading in parkas for shorts and sandals.

Salads. Everyone likes a good salad for the most part, but they can get kind of boring. Lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, carrots....what do you like in your salad? You do realize that you can get creative and not just chop some veggies and pour some store bought dressing on top right? In fact, you don't need lettuce at all - I like romaine a lot but for the most part I find lettuce to be a filler .Here are two non lettuce salads with homemade dressing that you can't screw up!

Shredded Carrot Salad

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. lime juice     1 1/2 tsp. honey     1/2 tsp. salt     1/3 c. olive oil     3/4 lb. carrots, shredded
1 tart green apple, cut into 1/4 inch dice                       2 tbsp. parsley

Directions:

1. Combine apple, carrot and parsley in a bowl..
2. In a 2nd bowl, whisk juice, honey and salt.
3. Drizzle in oil, whisking constantly.
4. Toss dressing with the fruit and veggies.
5. This can be made ahead - Cover and refrigerate up to 12 hours.

Green Bean and Walnut Salad

Ingredients:

3 lbs. green beans     3/4 c. chopped walnuts     1/3 c dried cranberries     6 tbsp. olive oil

6 tbsp. red wine vingegar     3 garlic cloves, minced     1/2 tsp. salt      1/2 tsp. pepper

Directions:

1. Cook green beans in boiling water for 4-7 minutes or until crisp tender and drain.
2. Combine walnuts, cranberries and beans.
3. Whisk olive oil and vinegar togethre.
4. Stir in garlic, salt and pepper.
5. Toss with green bean mixture.
6. Refrigerate until serving.

It's no surprise that I would pick a carrot salad. Back when I was a much pickier eater, my mom often brought carrot and celery sticks with her when we went to family dinners to ensure I'd have something to eat. I absolutely love carrots. I also love green apples; they are nice and tart. The dressing gives a perfect sweet component to this tasty dish.

As for green beans, I've discovered as an adult I do like them cooked! I would always eat them raw when I was younger, but very rarely did I ever eat a cooked vegetable as it was often too mushy for me. Cooking vegetables to crisp tender has opened up a lot of options for me now!  Though I have to say I still don't eat broccoli or cauliflower. Sometimes you find it really is just the taste of something that is the turnoff!

As always, have fun!

Super Bowl Eggplant?

My weird food issues are legendary. I've already written about mashed potatoes and cooked vegetables and the fact that I didn't eat eggs or tuna until my teenage years. I won't grace these pages with either my cheez-its story or oatmeal. 

But one thing I've always liked was eggplant. In fact, eggplant parmesan was one of my favorites at the Chateau! As I've gotten older, I find myself trying eggplant in all sorts of dishes. I even got Jeremy to try and like it! That brings me to the vegetarian's favorite dish for Super Bowl!

Grilled Eggplant and Garlic Dip

Ingredients:
2 medium eggplants (app. 2 lbs.)     2 tbsp. lemon juice     2 large garlic cloves     
2 tbsp. plain yogurt       1 jalapeno, seeded        tsp. salt     1/2 c. parsley        2 tbsp. tahini

Directions:

1. Broil eggplants 2 minutes on all sides. The skin will darken a little and begin to smell smoky, adding lots of flavor to the dip.
2. Turn broiler off, but do not remove eggplants from the oven. Heat oven to 375 and roast eggplants 25 to 30 minutes, or until very soft. Cool 10 to 15 minutes until easily handled.
3. Process the garlic, jalapeno and parsley until minced.
4. Add the flesh of the eggplants. Discard the skin.
5. Add tahini, lemon juice, yogurt and salt.
6. Process the mixture until just combined.
7. Serve immediately.

 It goes great with pita chips or flatbread or pita bread. You could even use crackers if you wanted. My personal preference is pita chips. I find them very addictive!

As always, have fun!

Another Lite Night

Another Lite Night


Soup and salad are a perfect combo when you aren’t sure what you want, but don’t want to get into a heavy casserole or worry about getting a roast in the oven. They also usually guarantee leftovers as you are doing two decent sized recipes.


Fiesta Pork Soup


Ingredients:
1 lb. ground pork     1 14.5 oz. can chicken broth     1 8 oz. jar picante sauce
1/8 tsp. cumin     1/8 tsp. ground pepper    1 c. tortilla chips, broken
1 11 oz. condensed fiesta nacho cheese soup     1/4 c. sour cream


Directions:
1. In medium saucepan, cook and stir pork until browned. Drain.
2. Add chicken broth, picante sauce, cumin and pepper. Bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
4. Stir in cheese soup and simmer until heated through. Do not boil.
5. Pour in serving bowls – garnish with tortilla chips and sour cream.


Summer Corn Salad


Ingredients:
5 tbsp. olive oil, divided     1 tbsp. lime juice        1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce
1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen corn, thawed     1 1/2 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 c. finely chopped cucumber     1/4 c. red onion
2 tbsp. minced fresh basil or 2 tsp. dried basil     1/4 c. feta cheese


Directions:
1. In a small bowl, whisk 4 tsp. oil, lime juice and pepper sauce. Set aside.
2. In a large skillet, cook and stir corn in remaining oil over medium high heat until tender.
3. Transfer to salad bowl and cool slightly.
4. Add tomatoes, cucumber, onion and basil.
5. Drizzle with dressing and toss to coat.
6. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving or refrigerate until chilled.
7. Sprinkle with cheese just before serving.


I had a fairly difficult time picking the “right combo” of recipes for this one. Soup and salad is almost cliche as a pair. What immediately comes to mind for me is your regular garden variety salad and either a tomato soup or a french onion soup. I’m not sure why this is the image in my head, but I just feel like there are far more possibilities. It’s yet another chance for you to get creative. What are your favorite veggies? Do you have a salad dressing you can’t live without? How about your soup? Does it need meat? Is it chock full of ingredients or is it simple bisque?


As always, have fun.

New Year's Resolution

Ok, I know you are thinking – “Alyson, how can you post such great dessert recipes and then follow up with a question about my New Year’s resolution?” How many of you have already broken yours? Well if yours is to lose a few pounds, don’t despair. You can still cook fun, flavorful dishes that are healthy for you.

Today’s pizza recipe is a great recipe to help you keep on track.

Flat Bread Veggie Pizza with Garlic Aioli

Ingredients:

1/2 c. light mayo or Miracle Whip    4 flat breads or 2 Naan breads

1 14.5 oz. can diced tomato with garlic and olive oil, drained

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese     1 medium bell pepper

1 tbsp. fresh chopped basil

Directions:

1. Combine mayo and diced tomatoes to make the aioli.
2. Preheat oven to 425.
3. Spread layer of garlic aioli on the bread.
4. Sprinkle with bell pepper and top with cheese.
5. Bake 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.
6. Just before serving, sprinkle with fresh basil.

If you have to have a protein on this pizza, you can add grilled chicken breast when you add the pepper. Or, change up the veggies. You can use a low fat cheese along with the light mayo to help keep it on the healthy side. Simple, healthy and yummy to boot! Could you ask for more?

As always, have fun!

Duke of Zuke

A very wise woman once told me “if you have to buy a zucchini at the store, it probably means you don’t have many friends”. HA I think she may have been a little biased as she was from a very small town in a rural area which also happens to be home to the Vermont State Zucchini Festival. Yes, Christa, you’v been outed so to speak.

After a Facebook discussion with my very dear friend about gluten free and casein free recipes, I looked at my recipe boxes in a whole new light. I’ve never had to deal with any kind of food allergy for myself, but know plenty of people with those kind of restrictions. I found plenty of chicken with x sauce or fish with x vegetables recipes. However, most casseroles I make either have wheat, dairy or both. It was so much easier dealing with these types of issues at our work functions when I was just making sure the kitchen knew of a restriction. It’s a lot different when I have to suggest recipes for home use. What’s a girl to do?

I settled on zucchini cornbread casserole, partly due to knowing that Ludlow Vermont is home to the Zucchini festival and partly because it seemed like a good recipe to adapt.  After all, I would say most grocery stores have a gluten free option for the corn muffin mix. As for the dairy items, eggs do not have gluten or casein and the cheese could easily be substituted with a vegan cheese that you like.

Zucchini Cornbread Casserole

Ingredients:

4 c. shredded zucchini     1 onion, chopped     2 eggs, beaten

1 8.5 oz. pkg. corn muffin mix     1/2 tsp. salt     1/4 tsp. black pepper

8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350.
2. Grease a 2 qt. casserole dish.
3. Mix together the zucchini, onion, eggs, muffin mix, salt and pepper.
4. Stir in 1/2 the cheese.
5. Spread in your greased casserole dish.
6. Top with the remaining 4 oz. of cheese.
7. Bake for 60 minutes.

I realize after writing out the instructions to this recipe, it also qualifies under some of my other objectives for this blog. It’s relatively simple and not time consuming to put together. It’s a vegetarian dish, so you can make it relatively quickly, without worrying about defrosting meat before heading out for a jam packed day. Finally, for those who have kids, it’s a pretty kid friendly in the kitchen dish. You may have to shred the zucchini and chop the onion but they can do the rest of the measurements and the mixing. You’ll slide it in the oven for them and in an hour, you’ll be able to enjoy a meal together that everyone helped with!

As always, have fun!

Veggies - Love Them or Hate Them?

Again, for those of you who know me, my likes and dislikes regarding vegetables are legendary. Give me a salad any date but when you start with the cooked vegetables, you have to be careful. My mom always told me to take a spoonful of anything to be polite, which has gotten me into some fun predicaments such as Thanksgiving mashed potatoes with the biggest drink of soda behind it to ensure no weird gagging!

My issue with most cooked vegetables is consistency. I don’t like mushy or creamy, but, if I like the flavor of the vegetable, I can usually find a way to cook it to ensure it stays pretty firm. Or if the other flavors in the dish are stronger, it often helps with the “offending” vegetable. In this spirit, we've tried to incorporate a non-meat meal once a week. After all, veggies are healthy! This dish could stand alone (just adjust quantities) or be a nice side dish with a steak or maybe some pork chops. You decide.

Sugar Snap Pea & Mushroom Saute

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. vegetable oil     10 oz. mushrooms     10 oz. sugar snap peas

3 scallions                      4 garlic cloves            2 tbsp. soy sauce

Directions:

1. Warm oil over medium high heat until shimmering.
2. Add mushrooms, peas and scallions.
3. Stir constantly until peas are bright green and mushrooms have released their liquid (3-4 minutes).
4. Add garlic and cook until golden (app. 30 seconds).
5. Add soy sauce and cook for 3-4 minutes more, stirring until snap peas are crisp tender.
6. Another advantage to having an all veggie recipe on hand is it can be a time saver. Perhaps you forgot to defrost meat that morning Or maybe your kids have a busy after school schedule that gets you home late. With a recipe like this, dinner time is far less stressful for sure!

As always, have fun!