Soup Weather Again: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Hey Blog! Long time, no...write?

Anyway, it's December (can you believe it?) and it is so cold! On Monday, our high temperature was in the 50s; today, we'll be lucky if we hit the 20 degree mark. Brrr!

The upside: this is perfect soup weather! Not only is a hot bowl of soup so welcome on a cold day, but soup is also usually easy to make. Even more, the frugalista in me just loves what an inexpensive dinner soup can be. I love that I can whip up a big pot of soup for under ten bucks (or even five, in some cases) that will fill my family up at dinner and still have leftovers for lunch the next day.

Today, I thought I'd share a favorite of mine: roasted butternut squash soup.

And let me tell you, if you had told me that a squash soup would be a favorite of mine a few years ago, I would have said you were nuts.

For most of my life I've been squash-averse. I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe it was from the time my mom tried to trick my brothers and me by using squash instead of pumpkin in a pie. (The lady next door told her we wouldn't notice. We did. Mom had a surplus of squash so I can't blame her for trying.) Poor Mom. She would grow loads of squash in the garden but she was the only one who would eat it. I can remember times when I'd come home from school and the house would smell delicious. My brothers and I would run up the stairs to the kitchen to see what Mom had in the oven. To our disappointment, she was roasting squash. I have no idea why we turned our noses up at it when we thought it smelled so good. I mean, isn't that a pretty good indicator that it might be tasty?

My mom works at a restaurant and a few years ago, she brought me a cup of the popular butternut squash soup from there. As you can imagine, I didn't want to touch it.

With a little more coaxing, my mom got me to finally try it and, to my great surprise, I LOVED it. I wanted her to bring it every day she worked. It was sweet but not too much so and it had this subtle curry flavor to it. Since then, I've opened myself up to the world of squash and it's really not that bad. I'm thinking I might be planting a few butternut and spaghetti squash next year in my garden.

This week I finally made my own pot of that butternut squash soup and it was so easy -- I figured it'd be a nice way to get back onto this blog of mine. This recipe comes from the restaurant -- I was so happy when it was printed in their free newsletter.

I was going to do a step-by-step recipe with lots of photos, but I tell you, the days are getting so short and by 4:45 it was getting too dark to even get a good picture. But, seriously, this recipe is so easy, the step-by-step instructions aren't really that needed.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup 
serves 6

1 butternut squash (get one of the bigger ones at the store, I'd say),  peeled and medium diced
1/4 cup olive oil
Pinch salt and pepper
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 tablespoon butter
3 cups chicken stock (you could also do vegetable stock if you want to make this meatless)
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (none of that fake pancake syrup stuff)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (I used half & half and it worked fine)

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

In a bowl, toss the diced and peeled squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper until it's nice and coated. Put the squash on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until it's browned.

While the squash is roasting, place cook the onion in pot with butter until the onion is translucent.

Add the stock and roasted squash to the pot. Bring to a boil and cook until the squash is tender. Pour into a blender (you could also use an immersion blender, but it'll probably take longer) and puree until smooth.

Return the puree to the pot. Add nutmeg, cloves, curry powder, and maple syrup. Stir in cream. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve immediately. Optional garnish: top with roasted pepitas.

Avoid that bitter Arctic blast that's hitting most of the country right now. Stay inside and make a pot of this. It's for the best.

Note: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have disclosed.

Meatless Monday: Greek Salad-Turned-Sandwich

I'll just come out and say it: I've already done a post on this recipe. I wrote it back in 2010 and used some pictures taken in terrible overhead lighting, giving the pictures a weird, yellow-green hue that couldn't even be fixed in Photoshop. So, that's one reason I'm revisiting this recipe: the pictures just don't do it justice. Even the pictures I have for this new post probably won't do it justice because it's really, really good.

Reason #2 I'm revisiting this recipe: I've improved it! This time, I made the dressing (an Italian dressing, but it's very similar to Greek dressing) from scratch. Holy cow -- it was EASY! I'm embarrassed that I mentioned in the post that I was too lazy to make my own dressing and that I opted for the bottled stuff. In fact, I sort of want to punch myself for ever buying bottled Italian dressing.

Reason #3:  You have to make this meal this time of year when garden produce (whether from your own garden or from the farmers' market) is so fresh and perfect. The homegrown cucumbers and tomatoes (especially the tomatoes) in this recipe make it sing. 

Like I mentioned in the original post, there's no set-in-stone recipe for this dinner, except for the dressing. You just sort of guess how much food you'll need to feed the people at your table and just go with it.

To make this meal, you'll need:

• Spinach -- baby or regular (just tear it into smaller bites if you use regular)
• Tomatoes, chopped
• Onion, sliced (the restaurant recipe my mom recreated this from uses red onion, but I've always seem to use white)
• Cucumbers, sliced
• Pitas or flatbread (alas, I didn't do this from scratch this time -- just pita wraps from Costco.)
• Feta cheese
• Dressing (see recipe below)

First step: make the dressing.

The recipe I used to make this dressing comes from one of my favorite cookbooks (review to come soon), The Homemade Pantry by Alana Chernila.

In a pint-sized Mason jar (or any other jar that holds 2 cups), mix:

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1-2 lemons)

4 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley OR 4 teaspoons dried

4 garlic cloves, finely minced

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil OR 2 teaspoons dried

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

Black pepper, to taste

Balsamic vinegar (optional)

Screw the lid on the jar tightly and shake for ten seconds. If using dried herbs, let the dressing sit for 15 minutes to rehydrate the herbs. Adjust the black pepper to taste. 

Unless you're making a lot of salad, you won't use up this whole recipe. This dressing will store in the fridge for 2 weeks in a covered container (just be sure to shake before serving).  Like I said before, making your own dressing is seriously easy.

Once you've made your dressing, fire up your grill. Brush the pita bread lightly with olive oil and grill the bread for a minute or so, just so that the bread is warmed up and you get those cool-looking grill marks on each side.

Toss the spinach, cucumbers, onion, and tomato together in a large bowl. Drizzle the dressing over it and toss some more, coating the salad with as much dressing as you like. 

Pile the salad on one half of the pita, sprinkle with feta, crack a little bit of black pepper over it, and give it a splash of balsamic vinegar. Fold the other half over and devour. The husband and I were going nuts over this the other day -- even our five-year-old liked it.  It's such a healthy and easy recipe and just perfect for these late-summer evenings.

Note: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 

{This post is linked up to Homestead Barn Hop, Your Green Resource, and Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways..}

Summer Zucchini Bites

After sort of...well...hoarding zucchini recipes for about a month or so, I finally got my first zucchini from my garden a couple weeks ago. I didn't know what to do with it because I had so many options. Then I came across a recipe for zucchini bites and decided that they were a good way to start using my zucchini crop.

I found this recipe on a blog called The Way to His Heart and the author of that blog got the recipe from The Naptime Chef .  I realize that it's not so original on my part to be re-posting a recipe that was re-posted from another blog, but these little bites are so good and so easy to make that I had to share. They're a great addition to any meal -- you can serve them as appetizers, as a side dish, or as good finger food for kids. This was the first zucchini-laced recipe I've given to my kids and they both liked it. Even my husband who professes to not like zucchini (I say professes because he has liked everything I've made with them so far) liked them. Plus, they're meat-free, so they make a great addition to a Meatless Monday menu.

To make these zucchini bites, you'll need:

2 large eggs
2 cups grated, unpeeled zucchini
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup grated cheese (the recipe I followed called for cheddar, but I used colby jack)
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Butter a muffin pan (I say skip the cooking spray and use butter for this one - the butter gives them a nice flavor and it makes the exterior brown and crunchy).  You can either use a regular, 12-cup muffin pan like I did or you could use a 24-cup mini muffin pan.

I would like to state for the record that if you're going to be making a bunch of recipes that require grated zucchini (or grated anything, for that matter) that you should consider using a food processor. It makes the whole process take just a couple minutes. Way better than that old box grater.

Lightly beat the eggs with a whisk. (I just have to mention that these eggs came from my ladies in the backyard. Hooray!)

Add the zucchini, onions, cheese, parsley, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper to the beaten eggs. Mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. The mixture will be sticky and loose.

Using your hands (or a measuring cup if you don't want to get your hands messy), fill each muffin cup to the top. Not all of mine were to the brim of each cup -- it seemed a little bit of a stretch to fill all 12 cups of my muffin tin. Maybe my eggs were on the smallish size, who knows.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until tops of the bites are browned and set (the center of each shouldn't wiggle when the pan is shaken). 

Let the zucchini bites cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to let them cool completely. The egg, cheese, and zucchini combination is great -- this recipe has inspired me to try adding grated zucchini to omelettes and fritattas.

Such a simple recipe yet such a tasty end product!

Note: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 

{This post is linked up to Homestead Barn Hop, Little House Friday, Your Green Resource, and Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways.} 

Meatless Monday: Pasta Frittata

I'm terrible when it comes cooking pasta portions. I always cook too much. Always. If you peek into my fridge on any given day, there is a really good chance you'll see leftover spaghetti noodles in there. Over the years, I've tried to find ways to use up those leftovers (they don't really re-heat well in the microwave) -- sometimes I'll freeze them into single-serving spaghetti portions or whip up a batch of lo mein, but sometimes those noodles still languish away in the fridge until they get slimy and unappetizing. However, I've just come across a new, super-easy way to use up leftover pasta in An Everlasting Meal -- the pasta frittata. {Sidenote:  I don't know why, but every time I think "pasta frittata", it's to the tune of "Hakuna Matata".  Oh, the silly things that keep me entertained...}

This pasta frittata is so simple -- it only has a few ingredients and it takes almost no work.  It's also really adaptable -- this basic recipe would allow for a lot of variations with different vegetables (and meats -- just not on Monday, of course).  I also love serving eggs for dinner on Meatless Mondays, so I'm happy to add this frittata to my repertoire.

To make a pasta frittata, you'll need:

• 2-3 cups of cooked leftover noodles 
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• up to a 1/2 cup of fresh herbs, chopped (I used parsley.)
• a little bit of shredded Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

In the picture above, there is no Parmesan, salt, or pepper. This is because my noodles were the leftovers from a recipe for roasted garlic, brown butter, & Parmesan pasta (yum -- another great meatless meal), so it didn't need the added cheese or salt and pepper.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the eggs, pasta, herbs, Parmesan (if using), salt, and pepper (to taste). Note: In An Everlasting Meal, the author suggests this recipe as a good way to use over-salted pasta (my pasta just so happened to be slightly over-salted). If this is the case, don't add more salt to your frittata.

In an 8- or 9-inch oven-safe skillet (I used my cast-iron skillet), heat a little bit of olive oil (I did just a few glugs around the pan).  Pour the egg-pasta mixture into the skillet.  

Cook until the edges are set -- you should be able to lift up the edge and see that the bottom is cooked. Remove the skillet from stove top and put it into the oven. 

The frittata is ready when the eggs are cooked and the top is just-firm. Put a plate over the top of the pan and flip the pan over (not so easy with a 12-pound cast iron skillet) so that the frittata turns out onto the plate (the bottom of the pan will the the top of your frittata on the plate. I hope that makes sense. It's kind of the same idea as an upside-down cake.).  

Cut the frittata and serve at room temperature. If you need to refrigerate it, let it sit at room temperature a couple hours before eating it.  There's something so simple and satisfying about this meal. It's basic, uncomplicated, and it's delicious -- a perfect meal for a summer evening.

Note: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 

{This post is linked up to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways and Your Green Resource.}

Meatless Monday + Book Review: Homemade Vegetable Stock and 'An Everlasting Meal'

Before I start the post I intend to write, I must make a confession right away: I feel slightly embarrassed about some of my Meatless Monday posts.

There I'll be, typing away and listing the ingredients you'll need for a recipe. I'll throw in a few photos, some commentary here and there. I'll go back to read (and re-read) what I've written, only to realize that I've called for chicken stock in a Meatless Monday recipe. That's when I'll add, in parenthesis, that I used chicken stock because I had it on hand but that vegetable stock would work fine. It just seems like a cop-out. I mean, shouldn't I go all out and make it completely meatless?  What makes it even more of a cop-out is that vegetable stock is SUPER easy to make. You just need the bits, pieces, and ends of vegetables, some herbs, a little salt and pepper, water, and you're set. So, I figured, it's about time I made a batch of the stuff already.

Feeling better now. On to the post!

****

A few weeks ago, we harvested all of our peas.  

My older son was right there with me picking all the fat little pods from our garden (in his cowboy clothes, no less. Awesome.). He proceeded to take them inside, count every single one, and arrange them in a nice little pattern all around the kitchen table.

 The baby, who is at the into-everything phase right now, disrupted the arrangement a little.

Once he had counted every single pod (we got up to about 150, if I remember correctly -- it was a great counting lesson!), we both started shelling the peas together, just chatting and marveling at how full our bowls were getting.  It was one of those parenting moments when I feel like I actually know what I'm doing. They don't come that often, so I relish them when they do.

Which leads me to the two purposes of this post:

1. How to make vegetable stock.
2. A review of Tamar Adler's book, An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace

If I had to sum up Tamar Adler's book in word I would probably pick inspiring. Or lovely. Here's a passage that I just loved -- especially since it related to the aforementioned pea-picking and shelling:

"Children must help shell peas. In a world of things too big, getting peas from pods is a chance for pea-sized people to exercise authority. Always told to put things back where they found them, here, children have it right. Pea shelling goes only in one direction: dig, disperse, and never look back. Shell English peas by digging a fingernail in by their stems and sliding your finger along their seams, seam side down, over a bowl. Keep a second bowl for everything that isn't a pea."

That's exactly what we did -- peas into one bowl, pea pods into a bag.

But why keep the pea pods? For pea pod stock! I had already planned to do this and then I came across the suggestion in An Everlasting Meal, too. It was meant to be.

This pea pod stock captures not only the basics of vegetable stock making, but also the essence of Ms. Adler's book. In the frugal kitchen, very little needs to go to waste. Throughout her book, Ms. Adler shows how peels, skins, and bones can be used to make food better.  Meals can be made better if you approach them as something continuous, with a sort of flow to them. Yesterday's dinner turns into part of tomorrow's lunch; the stems of the parsley you chopped for dinner play a part in the stock simmering on the stove the next day.

A week ago, I made a batch of coleslaw for a barbecue with some friends (mmmm....slaw dogs) and I decided it was time to finally make a batch of vegetable stock (especially since I'd just read the part in the book about pea pod stock).  Into the pot went the stems of the parsley, the end and peels of the carrot, and the unused part of the onions -- all the remnants of the slaw preparation. Then I pulled the pea pods out of the freezer (since I'd saved them for this reason) and dumped them into the pot, too. I threw a few whole peppercorns into the mix, sprinkled it with some coarse salt, and added water (to about a couple inches over the vegetables). I brought it to a boil then let it simmer for about 45 minutes or so.

Let me tell you, I don't know if I've ever been so eager to boil a pot of water. That's what I love about An Everlasting Meal -- she makes the mundane seem graceful and beautiful (the first chapter is entitled, "How to Boil Water", after all).  The book made me even more anxious to get our first egg from our hens. The way she blends cooking and prose is elegant.  But I'll be honest, the book scares me a little. Maybe intmidates is a better word. Not in a bad way, but a sort of out-of-my-comfort-zone kind of way. I don't really know how to cook the way she cooks. I need recipes -- I rarely trust myself to make anything without one. I so want to cook like she does, though, and use all five of my senses to really get a feel for what I'm making in the kitchen.

So I tried it with this stock. Ms. Adler says to taste, taste, taste whenever you're cooking -- even tasting boiled water to see if it's salted enough. I kept tasting the pea pod stock to see if it was ready. The first time I could taste the pea flavor immediately, but it needed to boil down more and a little more flavor. I added some more salt and let it simmer.  Tried it again. Still needed more time. By the third taste, it was just right. It was simple. It was different than the chicken stock I've made time and time again. It had a clean, fresh taste. It tasted like vegetables! So, all the time I've said that chicken stock or vegetable stock is fine, as if they're interchangeable, isn't entirely true. Vegetable stock isn't chicken stock and chicken stock isn't vegetable stock. Each has its own flavors and contributions to whatever you're making.

Once the stock was cooked down to the flavor I wanted, I strained it and poured the stock into glass jars. I always freeze stock in glass jars (I just re-use jars from spaghetti sauce and other things). As long as you leave some space for the liquid to expand during freezing, they'll be fine. I've never had any trouble with glass in the freezer.

I can't recommend An Everlasting Meal enough. I'd say it is a sort of love letter to food and the preparation of it. The book has something for everyone, of every skill level, and it captures so well the way people have cooked for generations before us. Food doesn't have to be complicated or fancy. Food doesn't have to cost a lot or include exotic ingredients to be delicious. You can use the food you buy and grow to its fullest, without much waste.

And you should make some vegetable stock, too. It'll make you feel even better about going meatless -- even if you only go meatless on Mondays.

{Sidenote:  I have to include this link to a clip from Arrested Development. It kept coming to my mind as I read An Everlasting Meal. "Baby, you've got a stew going!"}

Note: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 

(This post is linked up to Homestead Barn Hop and Your Green Resource.)

Meatless Monday: "Navajo" Tacos

I put the word Navajo in quotation marks for two good reasons:

1.  I'm not sure how authentically Native American my recipe for them truly is. I mean, I do happen to be 1/32 Native American (Ute, to be specific), but the recipe I follow is more like the Navajo tacos sold in my beautiful hometown of Midway, during the annual festival called Swiss Days. Yes, there is actually a booth there (and the line is usually really long) that sells "Swiss Navajo tacos".  In fact, I spent hours in that booth every Labor Day weekend as a teenager, working in the assembly line, either stirring hot vats of beans, scooping salsa, or placing sliced tomatoes on top of the steaming fry bread (which my dad still helps make every year. If you peek inside, he's the handsome, bearded guy by the fryer.). Nothing says, "Let's celebrate our European heritage!" like a ginormous Navajo taco and a soda. Mmmmm.

2.  My neighbor and friend, Teresa, is Navajo. She makes the fry bread the way she was taught: using her hands as her only measuring tools. She even uses a special flour you can only buy in New Mexico. Teresa made Navajo tacos for my family after my baby was born last year. A-MAZ-ING.  The ones I make are not as good as hers. I've found myself tempted to sit across the street from her house with a cardboard sign that reads, "Will work for Navajo tacos". They were that delicious.

Anyway....

Navajo tacos are a great meatless meal because they are filling! The combination of the fry bread, beans, cheese, and vegetables makes a complete meal. It's also really easy and adaptable.

Let's start with the fry bread (or, as they're called in Utah, scones. Don't ask me why.):

To make the fry bread (adapted from this recipe I found a while back), you'll need:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup milk (not too cold; lukewarm is best)

Mix the dry ingredients and then add the milk. Once the dough has come together in a ball, turn it out onto a floured surface (if you need to add a little more flour to get to this point, add it).

Knead the dough until it is smooth and then divide into chunks. I split mine into four good-sized pieces. You can make yours as big or as small as you want or need to. Shape each chunk into a round, flattened piece, with the center stretched out thinner than the rest. (If you make a hole in the center of the dough while doing this, it's still fine.)

Lots of the recipes I've read recommend using shortening to fry the bread. Since I avoid the stuff as much as possible (though I do use non-hydrogenated shortening for a couple recipes that absolutely require it), I used canola oil and they turned out just fine. Heat the oil in a deep pot (no specific amount since it depends on the pot or pan you're using. My oil was around 2-3 inches deep).  I always use a trick I learned from Rachael Ray to tell if oil is hot enough for frying: stick the handle of a wooden spoon in the oil and if the bubbles rapidly roll away from the handle, it's ready.  Fry the dough until golden on both sides. Let the fry bread drain on paper towels. If you don't use paper towels (we haven't used them for years, but we happened to have some from my husband's stash that he keeps for oil painting), you can put them on a wire rack with a plate underneath.

Once your fry bread is ready, the next step is the toppings!

This is where this dinner gets really easy and adaptable because can you use whatever you have on hand, whatever your family likes, or whatever sounds good to you. For ours, we top the tacos with warmed beans (I've used meatless homemade chili, canned chili, and canned beans mixed with salsa, all with great results - again, use what you have), grated cheese (we like Colby-Jack), lettuce (this latest batch, though, had some spinach and Swiss chard from the yard on them), tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.

They may not be authentic, but they sure are tasty!

{This post is linked up to Homestead Barn Hop, Your Green Resource, Adorned from Above Blog Hop, and Little House Friday.}

Meatless Monday: Tara's Spinach Artichoke Pasta

It's that time of year again when food comes from the backyard! Can I get a HOORAY?! The first thing that comes out of my garden every spring is spinach and whenever I have fresh spinach it just so happens that I must make the following recipe. It's just too good.

Tara is my awesome neighbor/friend/fellow samosa fanatic.  She also happens to be a fantastic cook (check out her blog here). She's one of those people I envy that can make up her own recipes with success. So, with her permission, I'm going to share her recipe for spinach artichoke pasta. It's basically hot spinach-artichoke dip meets pasta. It also happens to be super-easy and super-fast to whip up, making it a perfect dish for those days when you don't feel like cooking or it's too hot to spend much time in the kitchen.

Tara's Spinach Artichoke Pasta

1 lb. pasta (I used spaghetti. Linguini would also be a good choice.)
1 can of quartered artichoke hearts (packed in water, not oil)
3 cups of fresh baby spinach leaves (Three cups is best, but I used a little less this time since I didn't have that much to pick yet. I also threw in a little Swiss chard. Worked just fine.)
4 oz. softened cream cheese
2-3 cloves garlic, minced (I went with three because I love my pasta garlicky!)
1/2 - 1 cup chicken broth (Oops. That makes it a little less "meatless". Vegetable stock would work just fine, though.)
1/2 - 1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Start by getting a pot of water boiling and then cook the pasta according to package directions.

While your pasta is cooking, get your cheese grated, your garlic minced (I always just use my fine grater for garlic), and the artichokes drained and diced into small pieces.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and return to original pot. Add the cream cheese and stir until it mixes in and melts (the heat from the pasta should melt it). Seriously, is there any food that cream cheese doesn't make better?

Add the artichokes, chicken broth to the consistency that you like (start with 1/2 cup and work your way slowly up to 1 cup, if desired), garlic, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

Add the spinach last so it won't wilt too much. I tore it into smaller pieces as I was adding it. (Also, please excuse the blurry photo. I'm just not so great at stirring and taking a picture -- in low light, no less -- at the same time.)

Oh, this dish is AMAZING. When my husband takes the leftovers to work and reheats it, he'll often get guys at work asking where he bought his lunch.  Nope. Just homemade (and homegrown) deliciousness. Well, until Tara opens a restaurant. When that happens, I'll be one of the first in line.

{This post is linked up with Your Green Resource.}

Meatless Monday: Broccoli Calzones

It's been a while since I've done a Meatless Monday post. It's not because I ran out of recipes. The real reason is that, as silly as it sounds, I can never get good photos around dinnertime in the winter months. The days are just too short for natural light photography in the evening then. So, with the warmer weather, longer days, and the loveliness that is spring (my lilacs are starting to bloom!) comes the return of the Meatless Monday posts.

I thought a great way to bring it back would be with an old stand-by from our vegetarian days: broccoli calzones. I used to make these a lot, but I sort of stopped when my first child was nursing -- something about broccoli in my diet made him really gassy. So I just shelved the recipe and forgot about it. A couple weeks ago, I rediscovered it as I was organizing my recipes into a new binder. Soon after I found it, I made a batch of these for dinner and everyone in the family loved them. The old stand-by is definitely back in our dinner rotation!

The recipe for these calzones is adapted from yet another torn-out page of a magazine, this time from Everyday Food, probably from a 2004 or 2005 issue. I wish I could be more specific, but I can't tell from the ripped out pages. That's how I did things before Pinterest -- tore pages from magazines and stuck them in binders.

Anyway, on to the recipe!

Broccoli Calzones {Adapted from Everyday Food magazine}
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 package (around 10 ounces) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 lb. of pizza dough (You can use any recipe or the store-bought dough, but the recipe I use for dough is beyond easy and fast. More on that later.)
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Prepared pasta sauce (For serving. Not required, but definitely recommended.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

When I made these calzones years ago, I always used store-bought pizza dough because I didn't want to take the time to make it myself.  Now I make my own dough whenever pizza dough is called for in a recipe. The recipe I use is simple and so fast -- click here for the details and recipe.  I just made one batch of my homemade dough and that was all that I needed for this recipe.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it gets soft, just a few minutes. Add the broccoli, minced garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally for about five minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl to cool.

Next, you want to divide your pizza dough into equal pieces and then stretch them (and roll them out, if necessary) into ovals. I divided this batch into four pieces and then stretched and rolled them out into 6"x8" ovals which made some pretty big calzones (one is big enough to feed a hungry adult; half was enough for me). You can make these calzones as big or small as you want to fit your family's needs and appetites. You could use the 6"x8" dimensions as a starting point and experiment from the there. It's pretty versatile.

Once the broccoli mixture has cooled a bit, stir the three cheeses into the mix. Season with a generous amount of salt and pepper.

On each round, scoop the filling on one half of the oval and spread it a little. The amount to put on each oval varies depending on how big you have made your ovals. For these calzones, I did about a 1/2 cup of filling on each oval.

Take the side without the filling and fold it over. Pinch the edges together to seal the calzone shut. Cut a slit or two on top of each calzone and transfer the calzones to a lined baking sheet.

Bake them for about 25 minutes until they are golden-brown.

Serve with a side of pasta sauce for dipping. Both of my boys skipped the forks and ate their calzone halves out of their hands. Or you can do what I do and smother the whole top of it with the spaghetti sauce. So filling and so delicious (plus it's a good serving of broccoli) -- you won't even miss the meat in this meal!

Meatless Monday: Sour Cream & Cheese Enchiladas

I love Mexican food. LOVE it. I especially love Mexican cuisine because the recipes are made of basics -- rice, beans, cheese, and the like -- which translates to a frugal dish. And because many delicious Mexican recipes feature things like beans, rice, and cheese, it's not too difficult to make a meal meatless.  Another reason I love Mexican food? It's soooo good, making it something the entire family will eat.

A few months ago, I came across a recipe for sour cream enchiladas on the Pioneer Woman's blog (love her.) and I knew I had to try them. As with every PW recipe I've tried (seriously, every recipe), it was absolutely delicious. These enchiladas have since become part of my repertoire of recipes. When I plan my dinners for the week and ask my husband what he'd like me to make, he'll almost always suggest these enchiladas.

I would just send you straight to PW's blog (really, if you haven't gone there, you must. MUST.) for the recipe and end this post right now, but I have tweaked it a bit to fit my family's tastes and preferences. The big difference is that I use flour tortillas, which may make them less authentic, but we just like them better. This also eliminates the need to fry the tortillas in oil as in the PW recipe.

That all said, here's our version:

Sour Cream & Cheese Enchiladas

Serves 6

6-8 flour tortillas (This number varies because of the size of the tortilla you're using, how much filling you put in them, and how many your pan can hold. I don't mean to be vague, but it varies for me every time. I say, start with six and go from there).
1 can (20 oz.) enchilada sauce
2 cups sour cream (I've used both regular and light with equally delicious results)
3 cups of colby jack cheese, shredded (I prefer this over cheddar. You can use any kind of cheese you want, though. One time I added a little shredded pepper jack and gave it a good little kick.)
1/2 cup chopped chives (If you don't have chives growing somewhere, you can use 1 cup of chopped green onions instead)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cayenne pepper
Pico de gallo (optional but highly recommended)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, combine the sour cream, 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese, chives, cumin, and cayenne.

To soften the flour tortillas, wrap a few (2-3 at a time) in a slightly damp paper towel or cloth napkin. Microwave for a just a few seconds until they become flexible. You don't want the tortillas to crack as you're rolling them. Sidenote: Lately, I've been using uncooked flour tortillas since so many of the other flour tortillas have preservatives and hydrogenated oils; the uncooked ones only have flour, canola oil, salt, and sugar in them. When I use these tortillas, I'll just quickly cook them up and keep them in a tortilla warmer until I'm ready to roll them into enchiladas.

In a medium saucepan, heat the enchilada sauce. Using tongs, dip the tortilla in the enchilada sauce, coating the entire tortilla well, and then lay it on a plate. Put a dollop (about a couple tablespoons or so) of the sour cream mixture on the tortilla. Roll and place facing down in a 9x13 baking dish. Repeat with other tortillas until sour cream mixture is used up. Pour any leftover sauce over the enchiladas. Top with the remaining 1 1/2 cups of cheese.

Bake for 15-20 until bubbly.  Serve topped with pico de gallo. You don't have to do this, but it is so good. For a great recipe for pico de gallo, go to this link from (who else?) The Pioneer Woman. Trust me, when it comes to cooking just about anything, she knows what she's talking about! Plus, with garden tomatoes ripening now, there are few things better than some fresh pico de gallo.