Mediterranean Stuffed Tomatoes

 {Meatless Monday}

I found a couple new blogs last week and this recipe caught my eye!  It looked perfect for the end of summer with all the tomatoes coming off...and it has feta cheese, so it was perfect for us!
This recipe came from Cookie and Kate.  Head on over and check out all the other great recipes!

Here's what you'll need:

1 cup cooked red or black quinoa
8 medium tomatoes
1/3 can quartered artichokes, chopped
1/2 cup feta, plus extra for topping
15 kalamata olives, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
salt and pepper, to taste

I actually used some leftover short-grain brown rice instead of the quinoa.  It was just something in my fridge that needed to be used...and I thought it turned out great.  I have just started using short-grain brown rice and I love it.  It is much more palatable than the long grain variety.  My kids and I love it, but I still can't convince my husband!  : )

But if you are using quinoa...here's the directions for cooking it:
 Measure out 1/3 cup of quinoa, pour into a mesh colandar, and rinse the quinoa under running water for a minute. Pour the rinsed quinoa into a small pot and add 2/3 cup water.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from heat, let sit for a few minutes, and fluff with a fork. 1/3 cup uncooked quinoa should yield a little over one cup cooked quinoa.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 


Core the tomatoes by slicing off the top 1/8 inch of each tomato.   

Using a small knife and your fingers, take out the center of the tomato.

In a medium bowl, mix together the filling (cooked quinoa, feta, artichokes, olives, olive oil and garlic).  Add salt/pepper to taste. 

Spray your dish with cooking oil and brush the tops of the cored tomatoes with olive oil.  Use a spoon to stuff the tomatoes with the quinoa mixture.  Top each tomato with extra feta.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the feta starts to turn golden.

Serve immediately....mmmmmm.

Asparagus Quiche

{Meatless Monday}

This is a recipe that I made up one night for my book club.  It turned out so yummy, I thought I would share it here.
I basically just threw together some vegetables that I had already...asparagus, mushrooms, onions, and artichoke hearts...with some eggs, milk, and salt and pepper.

The first step to a good quiche is a good CRUST!  I use the basic recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook that is almost 20 years old...but I do have a few tricks that I think help it be flakier and therefore yummier! ; )

I use shortening for most of the fat, but then I add in about 2-3 T. COLD BUTTER sliced thinly.  Then cut it into the flour and salt using a pastry cutter.  Then I use ICE COLD water and only as much as you need to get it to just stick together.  And lastly, I roll it out between sheets of wax paper so I don't have to add any extra flour. 

I made my quiche by first sauteeing the vegetables to soften them up and give them a little flavor with some salt/pepper/garlic.

Then I cut them into small pieces for the quiche.

Mix together 6-8 (depending on the egg size and pie pan size) eggs with about 2 cups milk. If you happen to be using fresh eggs...like me...then reduce the milk down to about 1 1/2 cups.  Fresh eggs still have so much more moisture in them.  I have learned the hard way by having my quiches be a little too soft and watery.

Salt and pepper generously with your shakers.  Place veggies in the bottom of the uncooked pie crust (you can also precook the crust for just about 5 minutes to MAKE SURE it gets cooked well on the bottom, but I am often in too much of a hurry!)

 If you want, you can grate some cheese over the vegetables before you pour the eggs in.  Cheddar, mozzarella, or pepper jack would all work well.  I just used a little medium cheddar that I always have on hand.

Pour egg mixture over.  Bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes.  The baking time is pretty approximate.  It all depends on how many eggs vs. milk I throw in.  But it is never less than 40 minutes.  Just keep checking until it looks done and pretty much firm in the middle.  If your crust is getting too dark, you can always put foil strips around the edges.

We end up making quiche for dinner whenever we are getting stocked up on eggs from our little chicks!  ; )  You'll probably notice that whenever I make time consuming breakfast items (ie..anything other than cereal or oatmeal) I am making it for dinner.  I am just not that much of a breakfast baker...muffins every once in a while...but other than that, we have all of our pancakes/waffles/quiche etc. for dinner.  Most of the time when Dad is working late and the kids are ecstatic to eat breakfast for dinner...and it is super easy for Mom!

Greek Spinach Veggie Burgers

{Meatless Monday}

Just a super quick post tonight...I am in the middle of canning season and I have SO little extra time! ; )

We made these the other night and they were FABULOUS!!  Everyone liked them!  They are such a yummy veggie burger.  We used some of the Cajun mayonnaise that goes with the Southern Sliders...so yummy!

So...I am sorry to be completely lazy...but here's the link to the recipe.  My pictures definitely DID NOT turn out well on this one, so I thought you might like to see what they could look like! ;)

One change that I made....  I had some fresh spinach that needed to be used, so I chopped that up instead.  But I ended up adding another egg and some bread crumbs to hold them all together.

Roasted Vegetable Pizza

{Meatless Monday}

Hello, hello!!   I have got a SUPER yummy one for you today!  This one is off the Pioneer Woman's site.  I love it when she posts vegetarian ideas because I always know they will be amazingly delicious like everything else she cooks.

She actually grills the vegetables and therefore calls her recipe Grilled Vegetable Pizza.  But I don't have a grill...so I just ROAST! ; )  I also made a few other minor changes to the recipe.

I have fallen in love with roasted vegetables!  They are so flavorful...the roasting just really brings out the best flavor in the vegetable.  I have even tried Brussels sprouts...and they were SO good.  A LONG time ago, I posted the Roasted Vegetable Lasagna...if you haven't made that yet...you should!  Yum!

This is a simple pizza that I decided to make for my book club and it was so easy and such a great thing to make on a summer day.  I LOVE that it uses Pesto for the sauce.  We all love pesto and we always have our little frozen "pucks" ready in the deep freeze.  Here's the post about freezing our pesto. (Scroll down to the bottom for the pesto instructions.)

This was the first time I made her Pizza Crust recipe...and I really liked it.  It was easy and I liked the way it turned out.  I always use Whole Wheat flour that I grind at home and it wasn't too dry at all.

 Pizza Crust 
1/2 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast 
3/4 cups Warm Water 
2 cups All-purpose Flour 
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt 
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil 


Pesto 
3/4 cups Fresh Basil Leaves 
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese 
2 Tablespoons Pine Nuts 
2 cloves Garlic, Peeled 
Salt And Pepper, to taste 
1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

TOPPINGS: 
2 whole Zucchini, cut diagonally
2 whole Summer Squash, cut diagonally
Olive Oil 
1 whole Yellow Bell Pepper 
1 whole Red Bell Pepper 
12 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella, Sliced (I just used regular mozzarella cheese)
4 ounces, weight Goat Cheese 
Extra Basil Leaves, For Garnish 
Grated Or Shaved Parmesan Cheese

CRUST INSTRUCTIONS:
 Sprinkle yeast over 3/4 cups warm water. Let stand for a few minutes.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed, drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until the dough comes together in a sticky mass.  You don't want to add too much flour!  Just enough to be able to handle it a little.
Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Place ball in bowl and cover and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours.  ( I think I only had about 20 minutes and it turned out fine.)

PESTO INSTRUCTIONS:
 Add basil leaves, 1/2 cup Parmesan, pine nuts, and salt and pepper to a food processor. Turn machine on, then drizzle in olive oil while it mixes. Continue blending until combined, adding additional olive oil if needed. Set aside.

TOPPINGS:
 Brush zucchini and summer squash slices with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill over medium heat until vegetables are tender and have nice grill marks. Set aside. (Or broil for 10 minutes, then turn and broil until done.)

Place whole peppers on grill (or under broiler) and allow to blacken. Remove from grill and immediately place in a large ziploc bag. Allow to sit for 20 minutes or so, then remove peppers from bag and peel off blackened skin. Deseed peppers, then slice into strips. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Arrange a rack toward the bottom of the oven.
To assemble the pizza: Roll out pizza dough on a floured surface; get it as thin as you can. spread a generous layer of pesto all over the surface of the crust. (You might have a little left over; if you do, store in the fridge.)
Lay slices of mozzarella all over the pesto. Arrange grilled zucchini, squash, and peppers in a pretty pattern on top of the mozzarella.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly (watch to make sure cheese doesn't get too brown.)
Remove from oven and crumble goat cheese all over the top of the pizza. Lay basil leaves on top, sprinkle with Parmesan, and serve immediately.

This was most definitely a keeper!  I love that it uses zucchini and summer squash because we have been getting A LOT of those to use out of the garden!

Banana Crumb Muffins

This is a recipe that I found online this summer while visiting a friend in St. George.  She was gone to a dentist appointment and I wanted to use some bananas that I had brought with me.  I searched online and found this and it is a new favorite. 

Here's what you need:

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
4 mashed bananas
1 cup white sugar (I use about 2/3 cup)
2 medium eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted (I use about 1/4 cup black bean puree, then top it off with the butter)

Crumb topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 T flour
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 T butter

Preheat oven to 375.  Lightly grease muffin pan.

Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  Add all at once: mashed bananas, sugar, eggs, and melted butter/puree.  Mix just until moistened.  Spoon into 12 muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 T flour, and cinnamon. Cut in 1 T butter until it resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle over muffin batter and bake at 375 for 16-18 min.

Oatmeal Buttermilk Muffins

This is a new muffin recipe that I got off of New Nostalgia and it has replaced our old 50/50 muffins my mom always made when I was growing up! (Sorry, mom! ; )

I have changed the recipe so that it make 18 muffins.  With my size family, 12 is just never enough! ;)

Here's what you need:
1 1/2 c. oats
1 1/2 c. buttermilk
Soak these together about 30-60 minutes before you make these ( I rarely remember that far in advance and they always turn out! Mine probably soak for about 10 minutes most days. ; )

1/2 c. shortening/oil--I use FULL substitution with black bean puree
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Cream together shortening (puree) with sugar and eggs.  Add in dry ingredients and stir.  Add buttermilk mixture.  Stir until moist.  Can add blueberries, if desired. 

Bake at 400 for 9-11 minutes.

These are so delicious right out of the oven with my favorite strawberry freezer jam.  My kids (who you might see as totally brainwashed ; ) think these are a total treat.  I make them a lot for their after school snack.

I do firmly believe that you can change your family's "sugar-meter"...if they aren't pouring Pixie sticks down their throats all the time, then something like this muffin can actually taste sweet to them. 
Just so you know...my kids do enjoy a Pixie stick every once in a while! ;)  Just not very often.

Black Bean Puree

{The best oil substitute around}   Trust me!!

Over the years, I have tried many different techniques for cutting fat out of my baking.  For years, I used a lot of applesauce...which I believe works fairly well, but sometimes I wasn't happy with the change in texture that resulted.

Then, a couple of years ago I came across an online post about making brownies with black bean puree.  I tried it and really liked it and then I just started experimenting with most of my recipes.

If you are using canned beans, you have two choices.  You can totally just take the whole can and dump it in a blender.  It works great.  Or you can drain off the thick liquid on the top and fill it with tap water...and throw it all in the blender.

Either works great.  It makes it just about the same consistency as oil.  I store whatever I have left in a jar in the fridge for up to a week.  After it sits in the fridge, it thickens up into a paste-like consistency.  I simply stir in a little water just before I want to use it to make it a little runnier again.

You can use your own soaked beans too...you just have to play around with the amount of water to get the right consistency.  I have had to learn how much water to put with my own canned beans...but it's all good in the end!

I use it in tons of recipes: brownies, cupcakes, muffins, cakes.  Each of them needs a little different substitution.  Some of them can take a full substitution and some of them can only take about 1/2 substitution.  I have just learned by trial and error which ones work well and I will be posting all my recipes that work great with this puree.  As I post each one, I will put a link on this post so they are all in one place.

I love using this puree.  I just LOVE cutting out so much fat in my recipes.  AND adding protein--but NOT adding sugar (like applesauce)!  Most of the recipes that I use it in actually turn out better than ever.  They are so moist and delicious.  Try it...and see how you like it!

Recipe Ideas:

Banana Crumb Muffins
Oatmeal Buttermilk Muffins