Super Salad

1/2 head of lettuce, shredded

1/4 c shredded cheese

handful of grape tomatoes sliced

1/2 onion diced really small

1 can ranch style beans, rinsed and drained

handful of Frito's crunched

Catalina dressing

Mix all ingredients together well. Serve!

Harira

Harira is a soup, traditionally served in North Africa at the evening meal during Ramadan. Regardless of its history, it's an amazing blend of flavors. This recipe is probably not going to be loved by everyone, but it was a hit for us. It comes from the Moosewood cookbook.

1c chopped onions
4c Vegetable broth/stock
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp turmeric
1Tb grated fresh ginger
1/8tsp cayenne
1c peeled and diced carrots
1/2c diced celery
1c undrained canned tomatoes, chopped
1 1/2c diced potatoes
pinch of saffron
1c cooked lentils
1c drained cooked chickpeas
1-2Tb chopped fresh cilantro
1Tb fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

In a covered soup pot, simmer the onions in 1c stock for 10 minutes. Combine the cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, and cayenne in a small bowl and add 2-3 Tb of the hot liquid to form a paste. Stir this paste into the pot along with the carrots, celery, and the remaining stock. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and potatoes and continue to cook, covered, for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Crumble in the saffron. Stir in the lentils, chickpeas, cilantro, lemon juice, and salt/pepper to taste. Reheat and serve immediately.

It turned out great, but my hunch is that leftovers will be even better.

Slow-Cooker Beef Stew

Thanks to the recent cold snap, I decided to make a beef stew. I would have prefered to make this myself and stimmer it on the stove, but alas, too busy. I used my crock pot instead. Nothing says "one dish meal" like a crock pot! Now, I am a cook who uses her crock pot, but I am very picky about what I make. To me, most things end up tasting like they are from a crock pot and I always have trouble with certain things that no one else seems to. I made several changes to this dish. I used chuck roast, added onions, celery, garlic, and cooked it on high for about 5 hours, then on the stove for an hour. Again, this one was ok, but I think it has potential. It would definately help if I sauted the onions, celery, garlic before hand. I cut my potatoes and carrots smaller than directed, but they still weren't done (thus the simmering on the stove), maybe even smaller next time? The broth was the real winner...thick and hearty. I am sure I can find a better beef stew recipe, but if you are short on time, this one will do in a pinch. Wonderful with crusy rolls.

Peanutty Noodles

This comes from the infamous wirrek cookbook. We made it last night and it was delicious. Many raves from DH.

2 carrots, peeled entirely with a veggie peeler
1 Tb veggie oil
2 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
1c chicken broth
1/2c peanut butter
1/4c low-sodium soy sauce
3 Tb rice or white wine vinegar
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
1/4 tsp salt
2c red bell pepper strips
1lb snow peas, trimmed
8c hot cooked linguine
1/2c chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat 1 tsp oil in small saucepan over medium heat. Add the ginger and minced garlic, saute 30 seconds. Add chicken broth and next 5 ingredients (through salt). Stir until well-blended. Reduce heat, and simmer 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and keep warm.
2. Heat 2 tsp oil in large non-stick skillet over med-high heat. Add bell pepper and snow peas. Saute 5 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat. Combine shaved carrot, PB mixture, bell pepper mixture, and linguine in a large bowl. Toss well and sprinkle with cilantro.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

One pot wonder - Risi e Bisi (part II)

We went way over our grocery budget this week, so I was trying not to go back to the store when I remembered this post from Robin saying she always seemed to have the ingredients for this dish on hand. After reading the recipe, I was happy to see that I did as well. I had to omit a few things...the procusito (both kinds, we went vegetarian) and the broth (I just used water). I think the original recipe leaves out the addition of the peas. I just stirred them in at the end. All in all, a satisfying, but light dinner, and all was made in one pot!

College Night

Do you ever crave Ramen noodles? How about Mac & Cheese? Well, we were craving that 50 cent box of Kraft Cheese and Macaroni for dinner last night, so we decided on college night. Oddly enough, it tasted so yummy, and was shockingly reasonable on the calories.

Directions -these are complex.
1. Cook Mac & Cheese. Leave out ALL butter. You won't notice.
2. While it's cooking, throw some chicken breast in a non-stick skillet with Salt & Pepper. Then cut into pieces.
3. Open can of Rotel
4. Mix all together and pretend you are in college again.

I realize it's not exactly "blog" material, but it sure did taste good!

Swiss-style Cheese Bake

I made this recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegatarian. My apologies to anyone else with this book who might have been planning on making this ;). I actually don't own the book, I just got it off of my cooking light message board. Love that board.

I used white potatoes, with peels, that had been roasted, and broccoli that had been steamed. I just used swiss cheese (what's it called? The long word that starts with and E?) and I did add the walnuts.

All in all, it wasn't a bad recipe. I think it would be great for leftovers, and I may even plan to make extra potatoes and broccoli one day to make this the next, but I don't think I would made it from stratch like I did. Couldn't help but think while I was eating it that it would make a great side with some simple grilled meat. It was super cheesey though...YUM!!