Stacked Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas

This is a wonderful non-meat dish.  I found it on Perry's Plate and immediately bookmarked it for a future meal.  We eat a meatless meal at least once a week and I've enjoyed the chance to try lots of different (and mostly successful) vegetarian recipes.  My husband, of course, will eat just about anything I cook so I'm fortunate to have a husband that doesn't need meat every night.

 

However, I think that even meat-lovers would still enjoy this dish! Cheese, roasted vegetables, tortillas and salsa.  Not too difficult to make although it does take a little time to roast the vegetables.  However, I think the roasting step could be done beforehand if you increase the cooking time for the entire dish.  

 

This enchilada casserole was cheesy and I loved all the colors from all the different roasted vegetables. You could also change it up with the vegetables used - to use up what was in my fridge, I left out the spinach, added broccoli and zucchini and substituted an Anaheim chile (I broiled it until the skin blackened and then took the skin off) for the poblano pepper.  I originally meant to serve this with a side of black beans but totally forgot.  So it would be delicious with a side of black or refried beans (this would also increase the protein in the meal) but we loved it on its own!

Stacked Roasted Vegetables Enchiladas
Taken from: Perry's Plate
Serves 4-5

• 1 poblano chile, cut into matchsticks (I substituted an anaheim pepper, roasted it and removed the skin)
• 2 red bell peppers, cut into matchsticks
• 1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into 1/2-inch chunks (I used half cauliflower, half broccoli)
• 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 medium onion, halved and slivered
• 1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
• Optional: I added a zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 3 T heat-safe oil like grapeseed or coconut
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 cups homemade or store bought salsa/pico de gallo
• 2 ounces baby spinach leaves (about 2 big handfuls although I omitted)
• 9-10 corn tortillas, halved (I used about 3-4 burrito sized flour tortillas instead, cut in large pieces)
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded cheese (I used a cheddar-mozzarella blend)
• Optional: sour cream and thinly sliced scallions (green onions) for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a large shallow roasting pan or rimmed cookie sheet.
2. Place poblanos, red bell peppers, cauliflower, sweet potato, onion, and corn kernels onto cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle the cumin and minced garlic over top. Add a generous pinch or two of salt and black pepper, then use your hands to mix everything together. After everything is coated well, spread the vegetables evenly in the pan. Roast for 30-40 minutes until vegetables are tender and begin to brown in spots, stirring or shaking the pan every 10 minutes for even roasting.  While the vegetables were roasting, I made this salsa. 
3. Remove roasted vegetables from oven and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
4. Prepare an 8x8x2 or 9x9x2-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray. In a small bowl, stir the cilantro into the salsa. Spread 1/4 cup of salsa into the bottom of the baking pan. Add a layer of tortilla pieces, to completely cover the salsa. Top with 1/3 of the vegetables, a handful of spinach, and 1/3 of the cheese. Make a second layer of tortilla, salsa, vegetables, spinach, and cheese. Top with with a layer of tortillas, salsa, vegetables, and cheese. Cover with aluminum foil.
5. Bake for 10-20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted and everything is heated through. 
6. Let it sit for 5 minutes and cut into squares. Serve with sour cream and scallions, if desired.

Shrimp, Asparagus and Radish Pasta

There are a few dishes or ingredients that I like so much, it actually pains me a little to try a new recipe with them.  Take polenta, for instance.  I love polenta - a little honey and a little butter is all I need. I actually can't bring myself to add cheese to it and the one time that I topped polenta with a delicious vegetable tamale concoction, I scraped off the topping and ate the two separate.  To me, the sum was just not greater than the parts.

Asparagus is another ingredient that I don't very creative with.  Ever since I was little, it's been one of my top ten favorite foods.  I love roasted asparagus and since we've been getting it weekly in our CSA box, I've been roasting it weekly.  So finally, I forced myself to try something a little different.  I had seen a recipe for shaved asparagus pizza and while I wasn't making pizza that night, I thought that shaving asparagus sounded like an interesting trick. 

Also, my dad had told me how much he had liked a shrimp and radish pasta that was in one of the recent Everyday Food magazine issues.  We finally got radishes in our CSA box so I knew I had to try that recipe.  Only I decided to throw in some shaved asparagus.  And use less butter.  And add a little of that leftover white wine.  And top it off with a little lemon.  While I ended up deviating quite a bit from the original recipe, it was still a delicious pasta that seemed like a perfect spring dish.  And I didn't have to scrape off any toppings this time.

Shrimp, Asparagus and Radish Pasta

Loosely adapted from: Everyday Food magazine

Serves 4-6

• 3/4 pound linguine or other long pasta (I used white whole wheat pasta)
• 2 Tbsp butter, divided (plus more to taste)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 bunch radishes, including greens
• 1 pound asparagus, trimmed
• 1 pound frozen large shrimp (peeled and deveined), thawed
• 2-4 Tbsp white wine (I freeze my leftover white wine in ice cube trays for recipes like this!)
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice (plus more to taste)

1. To prepare: Shave asparagus with a vegetable peeler into long, thin strips. Thinly slice or chop garlic.  Thinly slice radishes.  For the radish greens, rinse well and then give a rough chop.
2. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions.  When there is only one more minute of cook time left for the pasta, drop the shaved asparagus into the boiling water and let the asparagus and pasta cook together for 1 minute.  Drain pasta and asparagus, saving 1/2 cup of pasta water if possible.
3. While pasta is cooking, in a large skillet, melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic and radishes and cook, stirring occasionally, until radishes are crisp-tender, 3 minutes. Add radish greens and cook until wilted. 
4. Add 1/2 tablespoon of butter and the shrimp to the pan.  Season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp is opaque throughout, 4 minutes. Deglaze with white wine (I used approximately 4 tablespoons for a stronger wine taste in the dish).  Add pasta, asparagus, and remaining tablespoon of butter to the skillet and toss to combine.
5. Remove from heat and add lemon juice.  Add more white wine, butter, lemon juice, pasta water and/or salt and pepper to taste.

Lighter Shepherd's Pie

Since I am cheap frugal, I often check out cookbooks from the local library.  And the latest has been one of the best: Light & Healthy 2010 by America's Test Kitchen (the same people in charge of Cook's Illustrated).  I've made several of the recipes from this cookbook so far and they have been hugely successful! I still have several more to try before it's due back at the end of the month (apparently, I've overstayed my welcome and have to give the cookbook up). The recipes in this cookbook are a combination of naturally healthier dishes and lightened-up recipes (and bless them, they try to cut down on the cooking and prep time on the recipes, too!).

We recently tried their shepherd's pie recipe.  Shepherd's pie isn't exactly known for its light fare but with ATK's changes, they nixed 300 calories and 26 grams of fat.  It was delicious and quite honestly, you couldn't even taste that it had been lightened. In this recipe, I decreased the chicken broth to provide a slightly thicker sauce as ours was a bit too soupy.  However, Bryant still said it was one of the best he's had.  And just in time for St. Patrick's Day!


Lighter Shepherd's Pie
Taken from: Light & Healthy 2010 by America's Test Kitchen
Serves 6

•  3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 onion, minced (about 1 cup)
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 pound 90% lean ground beef (I used 93% ground sirloin)
• 5 Tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 cup chicken broth (preferable homemade and low-sodium)
• 3/4 cup beer (Sorry Guinness, ATK actually prefers amber beers for this recipe - O'Douls was their surprising number one choice!)
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme (I used 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup frozen corn

Topping:

• 1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (3-4), peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk*
  *A good substitute for buttermilk is pour 1 Tbsp of lemon or white vinegar in a 1-cup measuring cup and then fill the rest with milk

1. Adjust the rack to upper-middle position and heat the oven to 375.
2. Combine carrots, onions, oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt in 12-inch skillet (I used my dutch oven instead). Cover and cook over medium-low until the carrots and onion have softened, 8-10 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to medium, add the beef and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until almost cooked through but still slightly pink, 5-6 minutes. Stir in the flour, tomato paste and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook for 1 minute.
3. Gradually whisk in the broth, beer, Worcestershire, and thyme. (Start potatoes in step 4 at this point). Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened but still saucy, 20-25 min. Take off heat and stir in peas and corn, season with salt and pepper and transfer to broiler safe 2-quart casserole dish (my dutch oven was broiler safe so I didn't switch dishes).
4. While filling simmers,bring 2 quarts water, potatoes and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a simmer in large saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until the potatoes are tender, 15-20 min. Drain potatoes and return to saucepan. Mash potatoes with buttermilk until smooth, then season with salt and pepper.
5. Spread the potatoes over the filling (they recommend starting at the outside of the dish and spreading to the middle with a rubber spatula) and smooth the top.  Make sure that the filling completely covers the top. Bake until filling is bubbling, about 15 min. Turn on broiler and broil until top is golden brown, 3-5 min. Transfer dish to wire rack and let cool 10 min.

Stuffed Bell Peppers & Week's Menu Plan

Stuffed bell peppers was one of the first meals I ever made...actually, it was the first meal I ever remade, straying from the exact recipe and making my own changes to make the dish healthier.  Although most of my changes are now forgotten, I do remember one as switching from a combination of ground pork and ground beef to lean ground turkey (ground beef could work but just try to make it at least 90% lean).  I have no idea where the recipe was originally from but on the index card, I have the title as "Big John's Stuffed Bell Peppers."  Maybe Big John wouldn't be so big if he had made some of these updates! It's delicious as a one-dish meal and is a recipe that I keep coming back to. It's especially good now that bell peppers are in season here.

As I was making my farmers market grocery list for this coming week's meal plans, I realized that I'm using just about every vegetable that our market offers. While I didn't do it on purpose, I'm happy to fully take advantage of having such a variety of fresh vegetables while I can!

Stuffed Bell Peppers
Serves 6

• 6 bell peppers, tops removed and ribs and seeds removed (any color but our favorite is red)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• leftover bell peppers tops, diced 
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme 
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped 
• 3/4-1 lb. ground turkey, 93% lean (you could also use lean ground beef)
• 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 cup marinara sauce 
• cheese, if desired (we often grate a bit of mozzarella cheese on top) 

-Make sure to cook brown rice beforehand. 
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-In a large pot of boiling water, boil prepped bell peppers for 5-7 minutes until peppers are fairly soft.  Drain on paper towels and then put peppers in 9 by 13 baking dish.  Add water to the bottom of the baking dish until the bottom of the dish is barely covered.
-While bell peppers are in boiling water, heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add olive oil and cook garlic, onions and peppers tops until soft, 5-7 minutes.
-Add ground turkey, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, oregano and thyme. Cook until brown and all pink is gone, about 5 minutes.   Drain off extra grease.
-Add brown rice and marinara sauce.  Combine and remove from heat.
-Spoon mixture into bell peppers.  Cook for approximately 15 minutes.  Add grated cheese, if desired, on top and cook for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.
-Serve with additional marinara sauce.


Week's Menu Plan

Saturday: Spicy Chicken Avocado Sandwich with steamed artichokes

Sunday: Ratatouille

Monday: Chicken Piccata with summer Vegetables

Tuesday: Italian wedding soup

Wednesday: Broiled Tilapia with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce (served with steamed broccoli)

Thursday: Bryant makes dinner!

Friday: steak fajitas (pear butterscotch pie for dessert)

Saturday:  Chicken, Apple & Cheese Quesadillas