Temphe and Leek Bake

For those of you wanting different ways to eat temphe, this is a great dish. If you like swiss cheese, leeks and potatoes, this is definently for you. Home country cooking veggie style! I chose a good swiss cheese from the cheese counter, which really made a difference. I have made this before with Kraft shredded swiss, and it was alright, even tastey, but it lacked a bit of flavor a good swiss can offer.

We had this with a side of peas for something green.

Remember, when using leeks, soak in water after cutting, then swirl around a bit to rinse any packed in dirt. Drain before using.

Temphe and Leek Bake

1 pound baby potatoes, cubed

olive oil

2 leeks, sliced

1 TBS garlic, mashed

1 pkg temphe, cubed and sprinkled with soy sauce

6 - 8 oz swiss cheese, shredded OR cubed

1 TBS Dijon mustard

1/4 cup parsley

Pre-heat oven to 425

1. Cook potatoes in boiling water until just tender - do NOT over cook

2. Saute leeks and garlic in olive oil until leeks begin to brown.

3. Add temphe and cook about 5 more minutes until it starts to brown.

4. Place into a baking dish.

5. Add 2 TBS of olive oil into the pan and cook potatoes until browned.

6. Mix into the temphe mixture, add mustard, cheese and parsley.

7. Cook 10 - 12 minutes.

Veggie tart

This is a wonderful dish that I modified for the first time a couple nights ago. I found the original recipe in a magazine many years ago and it was called "Fabulous Fritata". I made the recipe many times, loved it, but struggled to cook it through without burning the top or bottom. I had an idea this last time around and it worked! I turned it into more of a tart, cooked in a pie dish with a crust. Lovely, just delicious. Easier cleanup, easier prep.

3/4 pkg Morningstar sausage style crumbles

2 cups thinly sliced red potato

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 red bell pepper, chopped

2 tsp dried rosemary

2 cups (or a bit more) fresh spinach, coarsely chopped

3 cloves garlic

4 large eggs, 8 egg whites

4 oz crumbled feta cheese

Pre-made rolled out pie crust

olive oil

1. Saute potato in a large non-stick skillet in olive oil for a couple minutes. Add onion, bell pepper, rosemary, crumbles, salt and pepper. Cook about 5 - 10 minutes until potatoes are just tender.

2. Stir in spinach and garlic, cook one more minute. Remove from heat.

3. Beat eggs in a large bowl. Pour into veggie mixture. Add cheese. Stir gently to combine.

4. Pour mixture into a pie dish covered with the pie crust. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes until cooked through and browned on the top.

*picture to come later!*

Parmesan "Ficken" and Rice Casserole

This is not the red sauce Chicken Parmesan you may be thinking of. Oh no. This is a wonderfully simple and delicious dish using Parmesan cheese and a bit of whipping cream to for a casserole. We had this on Monday night and I modified the dish a little bit from the original recipe found in Cooking Light. The obvious change is using fake chicken. The second modification is replacing boil-in bag brown rice (yuck) with real wild rice (yum!). This of course adds a bit of time to the preparation, but well worth it for the added flavor and nutrition.

Parmesan "Ficken" and Rice Casserole

1 cup chopped onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup wild rice, uncooked

1 1/2 cups veggie broth

1/3 cup dry white wine OR white cooking wine

1 package veggie delight patties, cut into quarters

1/2 tsp dried thyme OR 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

3 TBS whipping cream

1/3 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Cook rice in veggie broth for 45 - 50 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Set aside.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Saute onion for about 3 minutes, then add garlic. Cook until onion begins to brown. Deglaze pan with the wine, cook about 3o seconds. Stir in rice. Remove from heat.

3. Spoon rice mixture into a 13 X 9 inch baking dish. Arrange veggie chicken on the top, sprinkling with thyme and salt. Pour cream evenly over the chicken and rice mixture.

4. Bake for 25 minutes at 425 degrees. Sprinkle with cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes.

This was great with Green Beans Tarragon as a side dish. Look back in my blog archive to find the recipe.

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.