Vegetarian Pot Pie

Hello my dearies! Yes, I'm still alive and cooking. Just on a time budget now!

I want to share a new favorite of mine, a vegetarian pot pie. It's pretty easy, and the nicest part of it..is it reheats wonderfully!! 

You're going to need:

2 medium potatoes

2 medium carrots

A half of a white onion

1 cup of low fat milk

1 cup of broth (chicken or mushroom)

Parsley 

Peas

White Vinegar

Defrosted Puff Pastry

An Egg Yolk

Chicken or tofu (if you fancy)

You're going to start by doing a good job of chopping up your veggies. 

I like mine a little bigger, but chop as your heart desires.

 And the onions too.

 You're going to want to panfry them on medium low heat for a little while, probably 5-6 minutes, until the onions become slightly transparent.

Then turn the heat on low and coat with flour, I used 1/4 cup

Then add a cup of broth and a cup of milk, and stir and simmer until the mixture gets nice and thick and creamy. It only takes a minute.

 At this point, you're going to remove the mixture from heat and add a handful of parsley,

 and a cup of peas. As you can see, mine are quite frozen, but it really doesn't matter.

 Also, can't forget a tablespoon of white vinegar. It just brings all the flavors together so nicely.

Doesn't that look beautiful?? All those colors... This is how I do art.

 Okay, transfer into an 8x8 pan. Yes, if you look closely you can see that I snuck some separately cooked tofu into there. I won't be doing that again, Alex thought I was tricking him into eating it. Note to self: next time chicken, or nothing at all.

 Now take your defrosted puff pastery, and cut it to fit over your pie, if necessary.

 Brush the top with your egg yolk, and stick it with a fork or knife a couple times to let the steam out when it cooks.

 Pop it in the oven at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes and voila! 

Customize it, add mushrooms, leeks, whatever floats your boat.

And enjoy : )

Cheesy Quinoa Patties

Can you believe that Christmas is less than a week away??

It seriously snuck up on me so fast, I hope you're not feeling as bombarded as I am!

So today for lunch I made quinoa burgers, and wanted to share my version. 

I originally got the idea for quinoa patties here, but I modified it quite a bit to suite my taste.

You will need:

  ✓  grated cheese of your choice (I used a cheddar & gruyere blend)

✓  cottage cheese

 ✓ 3 eggs

 ✓ grated carrot

 ✓flour, sugar, pepper, cumin, salt and garlic powder

 ✓ Cooked quinoa. I try to aim for 2 heaping cups, but this batch ended up being almost 3. I just start with 1 cup of uncooked quinoa and use all that it makes.

 Mix all of your ingredients together. It looks kinda funny, but trust me when I say it smells delicious.

 Then coat a frying pan with a few teaspoons of olive oil, or oil of your choice and cook on medium low heat for about 4 minutes each side.
The mixture can be sticky, so I just use a measuring cup or mixing spoon to create the patties.

 When they are done, you can eat them with a tzatziki sauce, with ketchup and chipotle, or my favorite, on a flat bun with some lettuce, tomato and Dijon mustard.

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

Vegetarian Style Sloppy Joes

So here I am again with a quirky meal for us weirdo vegetarians! Taking the classic American meal of the sloppy joe and putting spin on it to make it friendly for us with special eating needs. 

Here is what you need:

• 1 Onion, chopped
• 1 Garlic Clove, minced
• Olive Oil
• 1 cup Bell Peppers, chopped
• 1 cake of firm tofu, crumbled
• 14 oz can diced tomatoes 
• 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• a pinch of cayenne
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• pepper

Now don't get intimidated by that list! More than half are spices that you already have in your pantry!

 So we are going to chop up our garlic and onions, and saute them in some olive oil for about 5 minutes or until they are soft and turn nice rich colors.

 Then add your bell peppers in there and let it cook for another 5 minutes, and prepare yourself..

 You're going to add everything else. The crumbled tofu, the tomatoes and tomato paste, water, and all the spices. It may look a little watery and odd, but let it simmer for 10 minutes. Taste your concoction and add any additional seasoning it may need!

Pile it on some toasted rolls, and enjoy!

Hassleback Potatoes

Hello friends!! Guess What this post is about? Yes, another potato recipe. I just can't get enough!

So I bring to you my twist on the trending hassle back potatoes. 

Don't they look irresistible?

What you're going to need:

• Russet Potatoes
• Cheese of your choice
• Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper

Pepper jack cheese. One of my all time favorites. I adds a subtle kick to any meal, what's not to love? But if you don't share my opinion feel free to use just about any other cheese you'd like.

 Just slice it like so, and set aside. Also not pictured is diced garlic to be used along with the cheese.

 Then wash and slice your potatoes thinly, but not all the way through.

 In those slices you are going to place a sliver of cheese, and some garlic chunks.

 When you're done place the potatoes on a prepared baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and your salt and pepper. Bake them for 35-40 minutes (depending on the size) at 400 degrees.

And there you have it, gorgeous, delicious, easy. They go fantastic with homemade salsa on top too. 

Enjoy!

Israeli Cous Cous

Hello again my friends. Today I would like to introduce you to this wonderful little grain, cous cous. Maybe you have heard of it before, it comes in many different forms and all forms are growing in popularity. I'm going to show you an easy throw-in-whatever-you-have recipe that is great when you are needing to make dinner the night before you go the grocery store. I like to keep a box or two of Israeli cous cous for a time such as this.
Here is what I used:

• Tri-colored Israeli Cous Cous
• Red Bell Pepper
• Carrots
• Kale
• Pepper Jack Cheese

Now, I'm sure that different brands have different cooking instructions, but they all involve boiling water and adding the cous cous until it absorbs all the water. Like cooking rice.

So while that is cooking ( it usually takes about ten minutes), I like to sauté up whatever veggies I have on hand and my favorites are carrots and bell peppers. This is the throw-in-what-you-have method comes into play. Throw in an onion, throw in some garlic, broccoli, mushrooms, whatever floats your boat.

This is kale. Super food. Its pretty packed with vitamins and such, and it is pretty gnarly to eat raw, so I like to sauté it and throw it into meals wherever I can. So here i used 1/4 cup of chicken stock and cooked the kale in it until it was wilted.

Here is what the cooked up cous cous looks like. Mmmm it's making me hungry.

This is what it is supposed to look like when it's all ready.

With cous cous you can never go wrong with cheese! Unless you're lactose intolerant. In that case, I offer my deepest condolences. But I had pepper jack cheese in my fridge, but my cheese of preference for this dish in mozzarella. 

Now, while it's warm I put it all together in the pot and let the cheese melt right in there, and all the flavors collaborate.

Mix it up, put it in a bowl, or on a plate next to some good chicken breast or something. Get creative with it. Have fun and Enjoy!

Smashed Potatoes

I have another great potato recipe for you all!! Are you excited? I'm excited to share it with you.

This has been a favorite of mine forever. Like for-eve-rr. It's so easy too, that's number 7045 why I love this recipe. 

All you need:

• Golden Potatoes
• Olive Oil
• Spices

Now tell me that's not easy.

Okay, so to start we are going to boil our potatoes for 35 minutes, depending on their size. The goal is to get them nice and cooked through without being too mushy. 

 Now let's set up this little layout. A clean dishtowel folded in half longways, and I put a paper towel down to try to minimize crumbs.

 Fold over the dish towel over top of the potato, and press down until you feel it smash. I have to admit, this is my favorite part.

 If it breaks apart a little, that is just fine you can just press it back together a little, no worries.

 Put those babies on a plate, cover them, and slide them in the fridge overnight, or for a few hours.

 Now just before you start to on the rest of dinner, prepare a baking sheet with foil, and coat the potatoes with a drizzle of olive oil, top and bottom. If you forget the bottom, you're going to end up with foil stuck to your tots. After the olive oil is on there real good, just sprinkle on your spices. I use sea salt, pepper, and a garlic spice mix that I also use for my garlic bread. It's deeelish.
So pop those guys into the oven at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes until they look browned and crispy on the outside, and carry on with the rest of your meal.

 This is what they'll look like then they are good and done.

Mmmm, potato heaven. To complete this side dish I use cholula or if I have it, Homemade Salsa. Perfection.
Enjoy!