Pots & Plots

This is one of those meals that’s good if you’ve got leftover rice–as we frequently do. I tend to batch cook brown rice because it reheats well and goes in a lot of stuff. It’s a good one to try on both the Sonoma Diet and South Beach Diet because it’s chock full of good stuff. Not pretty but tasty.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of lean ground beef
• 1 cup finely diced Portobello mushrooms
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• basil
• thyme
• oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes
• 2 cups finely grated cheddar (or cheese of choice)
• balsamic vinegar
• 3 large bell peppers
• 1 to 1.5 cups cooked rice (I prefer brown)

Directions:

1. Most people, when they make stuffed peppers, cut the top off and pull out the core and ribs of the pepper. This winds up being enormous (and as I am the only REAL pepper fan in our house, wasteful), so I cut them straight down the center, vertically and carefully scoop out the core, ribs, and seeds. Boil in salted water for 3 minutes, then remove to a clean kitchen towel to drain.
2. Brown the hamburger meat with the onion and garlic. Drain off any excess fat.
3. Add meat mixture, can of undrained diced tomatoes, rice, mushrooms a splash of balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tsp each of the oregano and basil, and 1/4 tsp of the thyme. Mix well. Add salt and pepper.
4. Overfill each pepper and place in a baking dish. Any leftover filling can go in the empty spaces.
5. Cover entire dish with cheese.
6. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

DH and I are on vacation in Colorado this week, so it’s been a matter of old standbys in the crock pot here at the rental cabin as we’re out and about. Today we went down to Steamboat Springs and had a late lunch at the Old Town Pub & Restaurant. The atmosphere was nice, the prices very reasonable, and as it was so late, not at all crowded. I had a fantastic grilled chicken sandwich that was marinated in some sort of teriyaki, topped with pepper jack cheese, a couple of slices of thick hickory smoked bacon, and an avocado dip on top. I’ll give it a shot at replication at some point. After lunch we walked down the street to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for dessert. Oh my dear God. I think I gained ten pounds from walking through the door. We picked up a couple of Irish cream truffles (to die for!) and for tonight’s dessert a couple of peanut butter buckets–which are essentially extra large, homemade Reece’s cups that are so much better. If you’re ever in Steamboat Springs I highly recommend stopping in.

So earlier this week I made bruschetta with roasted red peppers, tomatoes, and goat cheese for a small dinner party I was hosting. It was such a hit, I made a second batch for hubby and myself last night (and to save myself some work, I used a can of drained, diced tomatoes–I still think the fresh are better, FYI). I had the last of the bread with the bruschetta for lunch today, but I still had about half a cup of the topping remaining. So I decided to do some creative tinkering in the kitchen to see what else I could come up with to do with it.

Naturally, I wound up making pasta–because, let’s face it, almost everything is good on pasta in some form or another.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. dried pasta of your choice (I used cavitapi)
• 1/2 cup leftover bruschetta topping
• 1 whole medium zucchini, diced
• 1/2 cup baby portabella mushrooms
• 1 oz goat cheese
• 2 Tbsp light sour cream
• olive oil
• minced garlic

Instructions:

1. Drizzle olive oil in your skillet and heat over medium high.
2. Start your pasta water and salt.
3. Add garlic (your preference–I only used about a 1/2 tsp because there was loads of garlic in the bruschetta topping)
4. Add zucchini and mushrooms.
5. I also had some pre-grilled chicken (one of those rarely bought convenience foods that I don’t suggest–it’s never as good as when you make it yourself, but I bought it for my non-cooking spouse and then he didn’t like it–gotta use it SOMEWHERE) that I needed to use up that I tossed in, but this would be just as good without meat.
6. Dump your pasta in the boiling water.
7. Sautee veggies until zucchini softens.
8. Add bruschetta topping.
9. Turn down heat and add goat cheese and sour cream. Mix until cheese is melted.
10. Add drained pasta and stir well to coat.

It’s not really a pretty dish, but it was definitely tasty.

I was looking for something simple to cook for supper tonight. This came together with a lot of household staples and is like a bit more upscale version of homemade hamburger helper.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 package of fresh baby portobella mushroom
• 8 oz whole wheat extra wide noodles
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 can 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup

Instructions:

1. Brown the ground beef, drain and rinse.
2. Add can of mushroom soup and 1 canful of water back to the skillet. Mix well.
3. Add beef back to skillet.
4. Add mushrooms.
5. Add spices.
6. Bring to low boil and simmer on medium low until liquid is reduced by half.
7. Meanwhile, cook noodles to just before al dente (approx. 8 minutes)
8. Add sour cream. Mix well.
9. Add noodles and stir well, coating with the sauce and letting them rest for a few minutes as the sauce is absorbed.

Cook’s note: You can substitute stew meat or any cut up beef for the ground beef, and replace the can of water with a good red wine (your preference–I used merlot) to make the sauce more flavorful. Also, add a bit more of the wine and cook the noodles in the sauce for a richer dish.

This was a recipe born of needing to use stuff up before we leave on vacation. I had 2 roma tomatoes and a going to stale baguette, which isn’t quite enough to make bruschetta for more than one. So I decided to toss in roasted red peppers (which hubby will eat) and some of my favorite goat cheese.

Ingredients:

• roma tomatoes (I used 2 but I was making a very small batch)
• roasted red peppers (approximately the same quantity as the tomatoes)
• 1 tsp oil from a jar of sun dried tomatoes
• goat cheese
• basil (5-6 leaves, finely chopped–fresh is best, but dried if that’s not available)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• splash of balsamic vinegar (or more if you prefer)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 baguette

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Slice baguette on the diagonal, approximately 1/2 inch thick slices
3. Parboil the tomatoes for 1 minute to loosen the skin.
4. Using a sharp knife, remove the skin, then seed the tomato, also removing the stem portion.
5. Finely dice the tomatoes.
6. Finely dice approximately the same amount of roasted red peppers (this will vary depending on how many tomatoes you use!)
7. Peel and finely mince the garlic
8. Add tomatoes, red peppers, garlic, olive oil, oil from the sun dried tomatoes, the basil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper to a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
9. Arrange baguette slices on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. You may have to do this in batches.
10. Bake slices 5-6 minutes or until they just start to turn golden brown
11. Arrange bread on serving platter olive oil side up and top with bruschetta and crumbled goat cheese.