Wild Rice and Barley Salad

This makes a nice lunch salad and is a tasty way to eat barley. The raisins offer a slight sweet surprise. I made this as part of the food I brought in to work this last Saturday. People seemed to really like the flavor, and the salad was gone by the end of our workday.

I did not use toasted almonds - just got lazy and did not feel like adding the almonds this time around. I am sure they are quite tasty in the salad, but not required if you want to skip this ingredient.

Wild Rice and Barley Salad found in Cooking Light

1 3/4 cups veggie broth

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice

1/2 cup uncooked barley

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/3 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup sliced green onions

2 TBS white wine vinegar (red wine vinegar is fine too)

1 1/2 TBS olive oil

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 TBS chopped fresh basil

2 TBS slivered almonds, toasted

1. Combine the first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat, simmer 45 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, let stand covered 5 minutes. Spoon into a medium bowl. Add chickpeas, raisins and green onion.

2. Combine vinegar and next 4 ingredients through pepper in a measuring cup. Stir with a whisk and pour over barley mixture. Toss well. Cover and chill 2 hours. Stir in basil and almonds.

**I am not so good a reading instructions sometimes and ended up putting the basil in before chilling and it came out just fine!**

Breakfast Casserole

Yummy!!! I made this dish the first time for book club a few months ago, and the ladies loved it. I made this casserole the second time for work this past Saturday, and again, my co-workers ate with pleasure and complimented my cooking. It is easy to make and delicious. Any of you who may have taken a taste of this breakfast dish, feel free to leave a comment.

Breakfast Casserole

12 oz Morningstar breakfast style sausage

2 cups 2% milk

2 cups egg substitute

1 tsp dry mustard

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

3 large eggs

16 oz slices hearty white bread, crust removed

1 cup shredded cheddar

1/4 tsp paprika

1. Heat oil in  skillet over med-high heat. Cook sausage until browned. Remove from heat.

2. Combine milk and next 6 ingredients through egg in a large bowl. Stir with whisk.

3. Cube the bread and add sausage, cheddar, and paprika to the egg mixture. Let mixture sit for about 15 minutes before pouring into baking dish. 

4. Pour into a 13 X 9 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

** The original recipe says to let the mixture sit overnight in the fridge, but I missed this part the first time I made it, and it turned out fine. I did not refrigerate overnight the last time either and it seemed yummy as ever. **

Indian dinner 2 - Roasted Veggie couscous with chickpeas and onion pine nut topping

So, this is the other dish I served for Indian night. The spice mix the recipe calls for is a conglomeration of many individual spices. This may be a pain if you don't have them on had already... or a good reason to start a spice collection! This is straight from Cooking Light Feb 2009.

This is a long one, so get comfy.

Couscous:  

5 cups diced peeled sweet potato

2 cups diced peeled parsnips

1 1/2 TBS EVOO

1 tsp Ras el Hanout (spice mix found down the page)

3 carrots, peeled chopped

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup veggie broth

1 cup Israeli couscous (or normal couscous if you prefer)

1 (15 oz) chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Ras el Hanout

2 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground black pepper

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground red pepper

1 tsp all spice

1 tsp saffron threads, crushed

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

combine all these spices and store in a container.

(I admit, I skipped out on the saffron and used my pepper medley for both red and black peppers)

Topping:

1 TBS olive oil

1 yellow onion, cut in half, then sliced

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 cups raisins

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 TBS honey

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees

2. Cook couscous according to package directions using broth rather than water.

3. Place potato mixture on a baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes until tender, stirring occasionally.

3. When couscous is finished cooking, gently stir in chickpeas. Keep warm.

4. To prepare topping, heat 1 TBS olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion saute until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add pine nuts and raisins. Cook 2 minutes. Stir in cinnamon, cook 30 seconds. Then stir in honey, remove from heat.

5. Mound couscous in the middle of a serving dish. Place roasted veggies on couscous, then top with onion mixture.

Indian night - Moroccan "Ficken"

I've made this dish a few times now and each time people love it. The last time was for Indian night with my girlfriends earlier in the week, and again, it was a success. Serve with rice. This dish is the one in the fore front of the picture.

Moroccan Ficken

olive oil
2 cups sliced yellow onion
1 pkg veggie delight chicken patties, cubed
1 TBS minced fresh ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups veggie broth
15 oz can chickpeas
7 oz dried apricots, coarsely chopped

1. Saute onion and ficken in olive oil until just browning
2. Add next 6 ingredients through garlic
3. Add broth and simmer about 10 minutes
4. Add apricots and chickpeas, heat 5 more minutes.

Mediteranian Orzo Salad

I found this recipe in Cooking Light many years ago and loved it at first bite! This was the other dish I made for Mediterranean night with my girlfriends this week. It makes alot, so there are always leftovers for lunch the next day.

Evidently people cooked alot of spinach for St. Patties day, because the store was sold out! I had to get creative and replaced the spinach the recipe calls for with my favorite green.....ARUGULA! Not a bad replacement really.

Marinated artichoke hearts can be a bit pricey, but I found Trader Joes sells them for under 3 dollars. I don't like the flavoring as well as those I bought at the grociery store, but for the price, they are a good buy and work well enough.

I took the leftovers into work yesterday and the salad received great reviews. A friend took a small container of the salad with her to eat on the plane rather than airplane food. Yay!

If you have never heard of Orzo, it is a small pasta. Most grocery stores have it, so hopefully it will not be hard to find. I think I use a 1 : 1 1/2 ratio of orzo to water when cooking. I always add a bit of bullion for flavoring.

Mediterranean Orzo Salad

1 cup uncooked orzo
2 cups fresh spinach, washed and chopped (or more if you really like spinach)
1/2 cup chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
3 TBS chopped red onion (I only use 1 TBS at the most)
10 - 15 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 (6oz) jar marinated artichoke hearts, undrained
3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled (I just use however much I want to, which is probably more)

1. Cook orzo in boiling water/ broth until tender, about 8 - 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan. Drain and rinse under cold water.

2. Combine orzo, spinach and nest 5 ingredients through salt in a large bowl.

3. Drain artichoke hearts, reserving the marinade. Coarsely chop artichoke hearts, and add to the orzo mixture. Pour reserved marinade over the orzo and gently stir.

4. Add feta cheese to orzo tossing gently to combine.

This dish is good with falaful and pita bread to make it a full meal.

Lentil Soup

Last night was Mediterranean night with some girlfriends and we had all kinds of delicious food. I love ethnic flavors, especially Mediterranean. I tried a new recipe for lentil soup and it was a hit. I found this one on-line. I ended up altering it a bit and have posted the soup as I made it.

Lentil Soup
2 TBS olive oil
1 large baking potato, peeled and cubed
3 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 large parsnip, peeled and finely chopped
1 daikon, peeled and finely chopped (white, looks kind of like a parsnip or a white carrot)
1/2 large red onion, chopped
3 TBS white wine vinegar
6 cups veggie broth
3/4 cups brown lentils
2 bay leaves
salt/pepper

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over med-high heat. Add potato, carrot, parsnip, daikon and onion. Saute until tender, about 5 - 7 minutes.

2. Add white wine vinegar, scraping the pan to loosen browned bits. Add broth, lentils and bay leaves and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat and simmer 30 - 40 minute4s until lentils are tender. Discard bay leaves.

4. Blend soup in batches until smooth. Add salt/pepper.

Rosemary - Mushroom Risotto

Risotto is a wonderful creamy dish made from Arborio rice that takes a little time to cook but is worth the effort. I love Risotto and enjoy the focus it demands while preparing, a cooking meditation! This is one found in a cookbook called "1,000 Vegetarian Recipes". After making it a few times over the years, I've learned to have a bit more broth on hand than it calls for.

Rosemary - Mushroom Risotto

2 cups mushroom broth (found at Whole Foods/ Weaver Street) or veggie broth
1 3/4 cups water
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
1/4 tsp dried thyme
2 TBS olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped white mushrooms (I used 2 medium portobello mushrooms this time - yummy!)
2 TBS minced shallots (onion is fine if shallots are not available)
1 cup Arborio rice
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste ( I never use this much!)
1/8 tsp pepper

1. In a 2-qt. saucepan, heat the broth, water, rosemary and thyme until simmering. Keep on low heat so that the broth stays warm throughout the cooking process.

2. While broth is heating, heat oil in a larger saucepan over medium-high heat and saute mushrooms until softened. Add shallots and cook until just browning. Add the rice, stirring until coated with oil.

3. Reduce heat to medium. Add the broth to the rice mixture 1/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly, until the rice has absorbed the liquid. Make the next addition of broth only when you can draw a clear path on the bottom of the pot as you scrape through the rice with a wooden spoon. This happens quickly at first, but slows as the cook.
*I taste the rice for doneness, and usually need more broth than the recipe calls for.

4. Add the parsley, salt and pepper when you add the last of the broth.

Extra yummy with Parmesan cheese stirred in!