Samosa Pancake

One recipe Jane Brody multigrain pancake.
Samosa filling inspired by maayeka.

olive oil
one onion diced
curry powder
ancho chili powder
one cup broth (Better than Bouillon vegetarian as usual)
One small cauliflower chopped
two cooked potato (in this case, eighths that were boiled)
some cheddar
3 cups leftover NYT lentil soup
chopped cilantro to garnish
salt

saute onion in spices
add cauliflower saute
add broth and cover; cook to soften
add potatoes and lentil soup; warm through
knock a bunch of cheddar cubes in, more or less by accident.
Keep warm while finishing pancakes.

To serve: put a pancake on a plate, top with samosa filling, and garnish with cilantro.

Ribollito, Stale Bread Soup

Rachel Ray Ribollito

Fantastic for having food on hand that reheats quickly and is tasty as leftovers.  Very hearty.

My version:

Cook beans as I usually do.
In soup pot cook mirepoix as usual.
Add other vegetables and herb bundle
Add broth, tomato paste, and beans.  4 cups broth?

Do the cool Rachel Ray thing,  The soup is like a soup concentrate.  To serve, add 2 parts soup, 1 part more broth, and the bread.

1 pound of Maine Cattle Beans.  Soaked overnight and cooked.
broth--vegetarian Better The Boullion
3-4 garlic cloves crushed
1 onion
8 inches leftover french bread
Olive Oil
5 carrots
4 ribs celery
2 teaspoons CRP
Herb bundle of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme
1 bunch Tuscan Kale
2 zucchini, or was it one?
2 cans tomato paste

At the table: parmesan cheese, diced raw onion, olive oil

Cheesy broccoli potato soup

I made a double batch of Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup, which seemed just right on a rainy night after a heavy diner cheeseburger lunch.  In the interest of my own nutritional goals, I put in less than half the cheese called for, and served lots of shredded cheese for individuals to add.

I offered hot wheat rolls and corn chips as sides.  They went untouched, so perhaps everyone really was still full from lunch.  But I must do something in order to send them off to bed--dinner was already held off until 7pm.

The littlest one said she wasn't hungry and only ate one bite.
The middle one still has a sore mouth from new braces, bravely ate one bowl and then his leftover cheeseburger chopped to tiny bits in the food processor.
I liked it.  Other adults liked it.

Nevertheless, nine cups of leftover soup is kind of discouraging.  They all are going to have to find the love for this stuff over the next couple days.  Perhaps parmesan croutons on the leftovers when they're presented.

Accidently Overly Rich Mac N Cheese

Okay, it's not my first homemade mac 'n cheese.  Usually I make it with melted sliced american cheese.  This is my first attempt at this recipe: Classic Mac and Cheese from Homeroom in Oakland, CA.

It calls for four cups of whole milk, a stick of butter, 1/2 cup flour, 3 cups shred sharp cheddar, and 3 oz of shredded parmesan.

I don't have whole milk in the house, so I had about 1/2 cup cream and 3/4 cup half and half, and the rest skim milk.

Later I looked it up and 4 cups of whole milk would have been 32 grams of milkfat.
A tablespoon of heavy cream has 50 grams of milkfat.  So, a mere tablespoon would have MORE than enough to turn my skim milk into whole milk.

I had no idea heavy cream is that much richer than whole milk.  Whoops.

Spaghetti Squash Fritters

Cooking Light's spaghetti squash fritters.   I used kale instead of spinach.  I wondered about throwing in chopped onion. I had baked the spaghetti squash earlier to serve with marinara, but when it came time to put together dinner I.just.couldn't.do.it. These are more like squash latkes than fritters, but the joy of baked spaghetti squash is that it is effectively already shredded.

Lo Mein Sauce

from the back of Annie Chun's FreshPak Noodles

Sauce for one serving of noodles

3 TB soy sauce
2 TB sesame oil
1 TB rice vinegar
pinch of black pepper.

Roast Vegetables Enchiladas

Jack cheese, tofu, flour tortillas, canned green enchilada sauce.
Roasted zucchini,  red bell pepper, frozen corn kernels, mushrooms, red onion.

Nicole wherever you are, these are the granddaughters of the chicken enchiladas you taught me to make in 1995.

Watermelon
Spinach-craisen-almond salad. [edited to add 10/2014: 1. I make the enchilada sauce these days. 2. I've dropped the tofu and use whatever vegetables are on hand, and that usually includes my favorite kale. Yum Kale with Enchilada Sauce. 3. If I roll the enchiladas, everyone's happy. If I layer a enchilada casserole, which is easier and faster, I get complaints from children that they're facing a mexican lasagna. I make vegetable/pasta lasagna 3 or 4 times a month, so more lasagna is excessive--so they tell me.]

Yam Fries and Bean Burgers

Yam Fries (commercial, Alexis)
Black-Bean Chipotle Burgers (commercial, Morning Star) on bread slices cut into circles

fixins:
cheddar cheese
lettuce
kim-chee
ketchup, mustard, mayo

Quick Lunch Before Museum

Tomato Soup
Un-chickened noodle (spatzle) soup
grilled cheese
Spatzle

Lunch Pasta

The zucchini and mushroom needed a purpose, so I turned them into lunch with other goodies I had in the fridge.

chopped garlic
small red onion
1 zucchini
handful of mushrooms
sun dried tomatoes in oil
firm tofu, one slice diced
pesto
leftover cooked pasta
grated parmesan cheese

saute in pan, in the order you'd expect.  Served 2.

Idea for alternative: with kalamata olives and some oregano.

Italian choices dinner

antipasta: (cured olives; sopressata)
Artichoke Ravioli (purchased) with purchased marinara
Ricotta-stuffed baby bell peppers
green salad
grapes
bread and garlic-pepper dipping olive oil


Ricotta-stuffed baby bell peppers
    (a variation of ricotta stuffed baby bells at Birthday Dinner
saute spinach, remove from pan into bowl
mix in ricotta, salt, and chopped walnuts
stuff baby bells.
Bake at 400 F for 25 minutes

Kim Chee Breakfast Bowl

2 cups quinoa
2 TB olive oil
1 cup greens (spinach or kale or the like)
1/2  of a 15oz can of diced tomato
kim chee
2 eggs.

In iron pan, saute tomato and greens in olive oil.
In another pan, cook eggs overeasy.

To iron pan, add quinoa and stir fry.

Put quinoa mixture in cereal bowl.  Top with kim chee, and then top that with eggs.

Acorn Squash with Quinoa Stuffing

Acorn Squash with Quinoa Stuffing
Green Salad
Multigrain Rolls

Cut the acorn squash in half and bake in oven at 350.
Make quinoa in rice cooker.  Be sure and rinse it much first.

mix into quinoa:
Kale
tiny cubes of tofu
minced celery (food processor)
minced mushroom (food processor)
chopped walnuts. (food processor)
chopped apple (food processor)

Tasty, children were only mildly appreciative but I don't care.  We ate 75%.
The rolls were not vegan, actually.

Sunday Tortellini

Mushroom Tortellini (Rana)
Red Sauce (Bove)
Herb Salad (hannaford brand)
Caeser Dressing (Marzetti Simply Dressed)

The mushroom tortellini helped with the homesick.  The kids and I used to get the Safeway grocery store's brand frozen mushroom ravioli regularly.  Until tonight, I hadn't found mushroom ravioli in Vermont.

Cauliflower Soup with Harrisa

A real recipe for homemade harissa is here:
http://www.kitchencaravan.com/recipe/homemade-harissa-moroccan-spice-paste

saute in olive oil:
two spoonfuls of chopped garlic from jar
spoonful of dried red chilis
cumin
cinnamon

salt
canned roasted red pepper
fresh cilantro
lemon zest and juice

Serve with basic cream of cauliflower soup, made with yogurt instead of milk or cream.

Vegetable Soup with Pesto

Inspired by the Jane Brody Provencal Vegetable Soupe Au Pistou, in the Good Foot Cookbook, in a box of my still unpacked books.
Also inspired by Hamburger Soup that my mom used to make.

1 can organic diced tomato from Costco
1 zucchini
couple celery ribs
onion
Better than Boullion organic vegetable broth base

also good: leeks
also good: green beans
also good: potato

Pesto purchased from Healthy Living