Broccoli and Cheese Casserole Quinoa Style

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My mom gave me a whole bunch of vegetables and told me to not let them go bad, and to not throw them away.  This left for some creative cooking.  She gave me three bags of broccoli.  I am not a huge fan of cooking broccoli, but I knew we would never be able to eat it in time otherwise.

And then Pinterest saved the day.  Again.  Love that!

I found a recipe for broccoli and cheese casserole.  Instead of using the usual rice, though, quinoa had been substituted.  What a great idea!

I had everything on hand, and so decided to go ahead and make it.

My mother in law loved it.  A lot.

I thought it was really bland.  I added a shake of cajun seasoning and that helped it out a lot.

Faye thought it was okay, Keith wouldn't touch it, and Jeffrey didn't like it.  But my mother in law loved it, oh my goodness, she did!

I don't know if I will ever make this again.  It was just rather bland.  However the idea that I have most of the stuff on hand and it has less than 200 calories per serving is enticing, so who knows.

What you need:

1 10 oz can condensed Cream of Broccoli soup (or mushroom)

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 TBSP milk

1 1/4 cup shredded cheese

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp black pepper

dash freshly grated nutmeg

2 cups cooked broccoli

1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa

Freshly grated parmesan cheese

What to do:

• Preheat oven to 350* and coat a shallow (8X8" or 5-6 ramekins) casserole dish with vegetable cooking spray.
• IN a large bowl combine the soup, mayo, milk, shredded cheese, sugar, pepper, and nutmeg until well mixed.  Stir in the quinoa and broccoli.
• Spoon mixture into prepared casserole.  Sprinkle on a couple tablespoons of Parmesan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly on the deges and golden.  Makes 8 genereous 1/2 cup servings.

Per serving: Calories 199; Protein 10g; NET Carbs 14g; Fiber 2g; Sugar 1g; Sodium 297mg

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Cabbage and Leek Cheese Pie

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Remember when I made Chinese food?  Well, it called for cabbage.  Instead of letting half a head of cabbage sit around in my fridge until I felt guilty and it was starting to show age spots, I decided to plan ahead and make a meal out of it before it could go bad.

Enter Cabbage and Leek Cheese Pie.

So yum!  I had to improvise, mainly because some of the ingredients were not readily available in my grocery store, and those that were, were ridiculously expensive.

Instead of making this into a pie (which now that I have made it would be delicious in a regular pie crust), I bought little philo pastry shells that were mini muffin sized.  Perfect for appetizers  not so much for a main course.  This was so good, though, and I will absolutely make it again.  

What you need:

6 thick phyllo pastry sheets

olive oil for greasing the pan and the pastry sheets

1/2 medium cabbage, finely shredded

1 medium leek (only the white part), finely sliced in rounds

2 large carrots, grated

1 small celeriac, peeled and roughly grated

1 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup greek kasseri cheese (I used provolone), grated

3 eggs, lightly beaten

salt

black pepper

What to do:

• In a large pot combine 1/2 cup of water, or more as needed, the cabbage, the leek, the carrots and the celeriac.  Season with salt and pepper and simmer in low heat for about 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are softened and their liquids are released.
• Transfer in a colander and leave until they are well dreained.  Transfer to a large bowl and add plenty of pepper, the Feta and the Kasseri cheese and the eggs.  Stir very well and leave aside to cool slightly.
• Preheat the oven to 350*.  Lightly grease the bottom and the sides of a round oven pan.
• Lay a pastry sheet on the dish, letting the edges hang over the rim and brush with oil.  Place a second sheet cross-wise over the first and brush with oil.  Then lay a third sheet which you put slanted to the previous one, making sure that no part of the pan is uncovered and again brush with oil.
• Empty the filling on top of the pastry and smooth with a spatula.  Bring the edges back over the top of the filing and then lay three more pastry sheets on top in the same way you did beore, brushing each one with some oil.
• Tuck the edges into the side of the dish and under the bottom pastry sheet, as if you were tucking in a bedsheet, so to seal the filling.
• Using a sharp knife, gently score the top pastry sheet into square (or diamond) shape pieces but without cutting right through.
• Put the pan in the middle shelf of the oven and bake for about 50-60 minutes until golden and crispy.

Making this with little pastry shells didn't use a lot of the cabbage mixture.  In fact, it only used about half.  Which was just as well, because I was able to save the rest and freeze it for a future date.  It was a big hit, which is always wonderful.

Baked Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries

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I decided to try to shake things up a little.  We had burgers and fries the other day, and instead of russet potatoes, I decided to make fries out of sweet potatoes.

I don't know if I am going to do that again.  They turned out really soggy, even though I followed the directions on how to make them crispy.  Sigh.  We shall see.

They were really easy to make.  I chopped up a bunch of sweet potatoes into fry size.  I bought 4, and oh my goodness, that made so many fries!  I think 2 would be enough.

I put them in a bowl of cold water and let them sit for an hour or two.  I then tossed them in a mixture of chipotle chile, cornstarch, garlic and salt.

I tossed all of that in olive oil and tossed it in the oven.

I baked them for about 10 minutes and put them on a cooling rack.

They were incredibly tasty, but somewhat soggy.  And it made too many.

I am going to have to tweak the recipe to see if I can get them to not be so soggy.

They were good, but... meh.

Chicken Lo Mein

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It is no secret, I do not like Chinese food.  I never have.  It is far too greasy and salty for me.  Not to mention all the MSG in it.  And meat.  I am a vegetarian so I am not a fan of the meat.  Unfortunately, my husband is a carnivore who happens to love Chinese food.  I don't make Chinese food ever, and we eat it on New Years Eve, and that is it.  Because I really don't like it, and since I am in charge of meals, I get to say what we eat.

While perusing Pinterest a while back, Jeffrey happened to glance over my shoulder and saw a pin for some Chicken Lo Mein.  He begged for it, and so I decided I would try it.

It wasn't bad.  I am not a fan of any of the flavors of Chinese food, so I am not going to rave about this one, but Jeffrey really liked it.  It had far too much chicken. Said the vegetarian who is on a brief hiatus of being a vegetarian.

What you need:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 TBSP brown sugar

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced ginger

black pepper to taste

2-3 TBSP vegetable oil

4-5 small packages of Yaki Soba noodles 

2/3 cup chopped celery (cut diagonally)

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 cups chopped cabbage

1-2 cups shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken

What to do

• In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and pepper.  Set aside.
• Remove the noodles from the packages and throw away the flavor packets.  Rinse the noodles and drain.
• Heat oil in a large wok.  Add the celery and the onion.  Saute for a few minutes or until the onions start to become soft and translucent.  Add cabbage and saute the mixture for another minute.
• Toss the noodles, chicken, and soy sauce mixture with the vegetables over medium high heat for another 2-3 minutes or until the noodles are heated through.

Jeffrey loved it.  I am glad, and may make it more than once a year.  We will see.

Avocado Egg Rolls

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I can't believe I didn't post this yet, it was so incredibly good!  I have to admit, I was skeptical at first, but optimistic.   I got the recipe for the Cheesecake Factory Avocado egg rolls from Lil' Luna, and they are absolutely in a class of their own.  I have never been to the cheesecake factory but now I want to go.  The egg rolls are far fancier than I usually prepare, but so good, I want to make them all the time now.  And the sauce that goes with it?  I don't like cashews.  I don't like cilantro.  The sauce was made out of both and somehow it is out of this world delicious!  I used the dipping sauce in my sandwiches for a week!

What you need for the egg rolls:

1 large avocado

1 TBSP sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil

1 tsp chopped fresh cilantro

1/8 tsp salt

3 egg roll wraps

1 egg

What you need for the Dipping Sauce:

1/4 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 c honey

1 pinch powdered saffron

1/2 cup chopped cashews

2/3 cup fresh cilantro

2 cloves garlic

1 TBSP sugar

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 c olive oil

What to do:

• In a bowl, stir together vinegars, honey and saffron.  Heat for one minute in the microwave.
• Puree this mixture in a blender adding cashews, 2/3 c cilantro, garlic, sugar, pepper, and cumin.  Pour into a bowl and add the oil.  Stir and refrigerate.
• In a bowl, stir together acvocado, tomatoes, 1 tsp cilantro and salt.  Add 1/3 of the mixture onto the center of each egg roll wrapper.
• Position the wrapper so the corner is pointing towards you.  Fold the bottom corner up over the filing.  Fold remaining corners up over the filing and brushing the corners with egg to secure in place.  Roll up from the bottom folding the top corner over all.  Seal with egg and repeat for remaining wrappers.
• Fry egg rolls for 3-5 minutes or until golden brown.
• Serve with dipping sauce.

These will make your mouth so happy, you might even do a happy dance when biting into them.  I know I did!

Late But Posted and Helpful Nonetheless

This has been a very busy cooking week.  I can't believe I haven't posted my recipes!  Well, the recipes I used, anyway.  So as to be able to find them again, I will post the link here, and then in an actual post I will put up my rendition of the recipe.

Monday we had French Spring Soup and Ciabatta rolls.  I was going to bake some french bread, but I ran out of time.  The soup was a smashing success.  I used Rainbow Chard and dandelion greens for the soup and it was a little bitter, but still delicious.  Jeffrey was a huge fan.  I was able to freeze a quart of it for another day.

Tuesday we had Chicken Lo Mein and Avocado egg rolls.  Oh my goodness, it was delicious!  I am not a fan of Chinese food, but these were incredible.  The lo mein would have been a lot better without the chicken, or at least with less of it.  The egg rolls were absolute heaven in a little fried roll.  Wow.  And the dipping sauce has been making my sandwiches very happy for the past few days.

Wednesday we had a greek dish called Cabbage and Leek Cheese Pie.  I had to adapt it a lot, but everyone was delighted with it.  Especially the fact that there were no oils in it, just salt, veggies and a bit of cheese.  I admit, though, I probably used more cheese than it called for.  You can rarely go wrong with extra cheese, though, right?  We had a ton of leftovers with this, so again, I filled a quart jar with it and put it in the freezer. I love those freezer meals.

Thursday (today) we are having Tomato and Avocado Grilled Cheese sandwiches and Grandma's Tomato soup.  The tomato soup always makes me happy, and I am anticipating the avocado grilled cheese is going to be delicious.

Friday we are going to have California Sandwiches with sweet potato fries.  I suspect Jeffrey is going to love it.  Mainly because of the home made fries, but healthy foods with carbs are always a favorite with him.

Saturday I am going to grill some fish and asparagus and make a side of quinoa.  I am not sure how I will season it just yet, as I haven't planned that far ahead, but as of now, it will probably have garlic, onions, and some other spices in it.  I will probably pick up a watermelon as well, while I am getting the fish.

Sunday is Mother's Day.  Which means I will probably be in charge of cooking again.  Jeffrey tries.  He tried to cook twice last week, but was very disappointed with his lack of skill.  He asked me to never let him try that again.  I laughed and was flattered.  I do love to cook, and it makes me so happy that he loves my cooking so much.  Since Mother's Day is typically a day when people want to spoil moms, or thank them, we will probably have leftovers, if I haven't frozen them all.  If I have, well, then it will probably be sandwiches for dinner.  Because that is how I roll.

Again, it has been a delicious week, and I am so happy to be back to cooking.

Grandma J's Tomato Soup

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Campbell's and I really aren't friends.  Too much sodium and preservatives in their soups and food for me to like.  Because of all the salt, all growing up I have hated tomato soup.  We had it a lot because it was my brother's favorite.  The only way I ever liked it was when my mom made it from scratch, using her mother's recipe.

I was so happy the day I found my grandma's recipe on my sister's food blog.  I have referred to it so many times since that day nearly three years ago.  I can't believe I hadn't put the recipe here, though.  Silly me.  Rather than having to peruse her blog, it would be so much easier for me to just click on it over here where I know exactly where it is.

And so, without further ado, my favorite tomato soup recipe via my sister's blog.

2 quarts canned tomatoes (home canned - should have a little sugar, lemon juice, and salt)
1 garlic clove
1/4 onion
2 1/2 t. Knorr Caldo con sabor de Pollo (Chicken Flavor Bouillon) (this can be found in the mexican section of most grocery stores, Walmart and Costco)
1-2 quarts of milk 
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour
basil, oregano, pepper to taste

There is no exactness to this - you have to do it to taste, desired thickness, and desired amount - it can be easily halved. This amount easily serves 10 people. 

Place tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil, oregano, and chicken bouillon in blender on high. Allow to run for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter in heavy bottomed pan on med-high. Add flour and mix, making a nice roux. This may need more or less flour. You want a thick paste (almost too thick) consistency. While stirring, allow to cook for a few minutes, taking care not to burn. Place sieve over pan, and pour tomato mixture into roux, straining out all seeds. Quickly stir into roux, making sure to eliminate any lumps. Continue stirring until entire mixture is smooth, heated, and on the brink of boiling. Add milk (once again - to taste and desired thickness), stirring constantly. Heat stirring constantly, but do not bring to a boil (this will curdle the milk) and serve. Season with pepper and fresh basil to taste. 

There it is. Better than Campbell's, and right from the garden .