Tomatoes Stuffed with Rice, Spinach, and Cheese

I've made stuffed tomatoes before and LOVED them but wanted a vegetarian version I can eat now... the others had turkey. These were so tasty. I started with a recipe from a vegetarian cookbook and tweaked a couple things.
Here's what I changed:
*Brown rice in place of white rice
*Spinach in place of Swiss chard
*Goat cheese in place of cheddar (if you use cheddar, sprinkle it on the tomatoes after they cook instead of mixing it in. Raise the temperature to broil and give them a couple minutes under the broiler. Watch them! The cheese will burn quickly).
*Walnuts in place of pine nuts
*Onion in place of shallots
*I also added some sun-dried tomatoes

*Argh! These were so pretty! I didn't get any decent photos... :( Oh well, you sort of get the idea!

Makes 6 stuffed tomatoes (I only made two but the measurements would be all wonky if I started dividing everything by 3 and posting it here!)

Ingredients:
6 medium-large sized tomatoes
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 cup washed, chopped spinach
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1 tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp. chopped walnuts
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 cup chopped soft goat cheese
1/8 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Cut a 1/2-inch slice from the top of each tomato. Scoop out the seeds and pulp carefully (I ran a knife around the inside like you would a grapefruit). Leave the shell intact. If you'd like, you can sprinkle the inside of the tomatoes with a little salt (I totally missed this - shows how much I pay attention to recipes! - and didn't miss the salt... I really don't think you need it). Turn the tomatoes upside down on some paper towels or a plate to drain while you prepare the stuffing.

3. Heat a wok or skillet over high heat for one minute. Add the oil and onions, reduce the heat to low. Saute until the onion is soft, 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach and saute until wilted, 2-3 minutes more. Remove from the heat and mix the rice, spinach mixture, soy sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts, goat cheese, and oregano together.

4. Stuff the tomatoes with the spinach and rice mixture and place them in a shallow greased baking dish. Leave a little space in between them.

5. Bake, uncovered, until the tomatoes are cooked through, 10-12 minutes (I think mine had more like 15). Serve immediately.

**I really wanted mine with some sauteed zucchini but my zucchini wasn't any good anymore :( I did made some roasted red potatoes which were equally yummy! Hello starch overload, though! lol :)

Reference:
Based on the Tomatoes Stuffed with Swiss Chard, Rice, and Cheese recipe from The Occasional Vegetarian by Karen Lee.

Grilled Eggplant Rolls

So I didn't actually go outside and grill the eggplant - I just did it under the broiler! I do love grilled veggies, though, so this one will be made again once it's a bit warmer in the evenings! :) Mmmm, I can't wait for grilling season to begin! One of the benefits of living in San Diego - it starts earlier than lots of other places!

I had decided to make DH these yummy chicken breasts that are stuffed with cheeses for dinner tonight so I was glad to see this eggplant dish almost matched! The combination of tangy sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, and olives was wonderful with the mild eggplant!

The recipe stated that you can use the stuffing as an appetizer on those little crispy toast things. I bet it would also be awesome on some crusty French or Italian bread or even some toasted rye! Yum! Have to remember that if I ever have the wine-cheese-chocolate party I keep saying I'm going to host. :)

For a non-vegetarian meal, you could use the stuffing on chicken breasts. Pound thin, grill, spread with cheese stuffing, enjoy! Gotta love versatile recipes!

This is enough for 5 - I divided the recipe by 3 since it was just me eating it. I had mine with broccoli and rice.

Ingredients:
Rosemary-Goat Cheese Stuffing
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed or 2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
1/2 cup soft fresh goat cheese (about 2 ounces)
1/2 cup fat-free cottage cheese
1 tbsp. minced black olives (I actually used kalmata olives)
1 1/2 tbsp. diced sun-dried tomatoes

1-2 medium eggplants sliced lengthwise into 1/4-1/3-inch pieces
Sea salt
Olive oil for brushing eggplant
**I apparently suck at slicing eggplant so I used 1/2 eggplant (it was probably a 1/2 pound eggplant). The recipe says someone with some knife skills could get 15 center slices from 2 eggplants.**

Method:
1. Sprinkle the eggplant slices with sea salt and allow them to drain on paper towels for 1 hour. Rinse the eggplant and pat dry. Brush lightly with olive oil on both sides.

2. To make the stuffing, combine the 1 tsp. olive oil, rosemary, goat cheese, cottage cheese, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes. This can be done up to one day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.

3. Preheat either the grill or broiler. Grill the eggplant until you get some nice grill marks and the vegetable is cooked through (2-4 minutes per side depending how thick you cut it).

4. Spread 1 tbsp. of the stuffing on each slice of eggplant. Roll the eggplant slices starting from the smaller end. Serve warm.

Reference:
I really didn't change much from the original recipe. I just used dried rosemary instead of fresh (just gave it a good crush with the mortar and pestle!) and did not use oil-packed tomatoes which were called for in the original recipe. Mine were just dried and packaged.
The original recipe came from Karen Lee's book The Occasional Vegetarian - Warner Books, 1995.

My grad school teachers would have a heart attack if they saw me doing a reference that looked like that! lol ;)

Curried Couscous with Vegetables & Chickpeas

I love all things curry so this was right up my alley! This could be a main dish or a side with some chicken/shrimp or even a veggie soup. I just had it by itself. Very flavourful and the peas added a nice crispiness to it :)
I just remembered I had some yummy mango chutney in the fridge that would have been wonderful with this... oh well, next time!
Hubby, who will not try my vegetarian delights, kept saying how yummy this smelled. Bet he wishes he wasn't so stubborn - I would have shared :) My kitchen does have a great "Indian restaurant smell" I just hope that goes away before tomorrow... lol

I only changed a few things from the original recipe. Here they are:
*Ground ginger in place of fresh (my grocery store never seems to have fresh when I need it!)
*Onion in place of shallots
*Sugar snap peas in place of snow peas (again, couldn't find them. The sugar snaps added a nice sweetness which contrasted well with the curry)

Serves 2-3 as a main dish

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1/2 tbsp. curry powder
1 1/4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup couscous
1/4 cup sliced onion
1/4 cup sliced carrots
1/8 tsp. ground ginger (um, I knew I should have written this down! I can't remember if I used 1/8 or 1/4 tsp... either way, I couldn't really taste it over the curry powder)
1/2 cup sliced button mushrooms
1/2 cup sugar snap peas
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed

Method:
1. In a wok or small skillet, heat 1/2-1 tsp. olive oil over low heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the curry powder. Set aside.

2. Bring 1 cup of vegetable broth to a boil in a saucepan. Add the curried olive oil mixture and stir. Add the couscous, stir, and cover immediately. Remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes.

3. While the couscous sits, place a wok or skillet over high heat for 1 minute. Add 1 tsp. olive oil and the onion. Reduce heat to medium and stir-fry until the onion softens. I did this in the same skillet I used to heat the oil and curry powder in step 1. It gave the veggies a great curry flavour (which may explain why I couldn't taste the ginger! lol)

4. Add the carrot and ginger; stir-fry 1-2 minutes. Add the mushrooms; stir-fry 1 minute. Add the peas and stir-fry 1 more minute.

5. Heat the remaining 1/4 cup veggie broth, salt, and pepper in a saucepan. Add the chickpeas and simmer for 2-3 minutes until warmed through.

6. Combine the couscous, vegetables, and chickpeas with the seasoned broth. Serve hot.

Mmmm... wish I'd had some of that Indian flat bread to go with it (again, next time!) ;)


Reference:
This is based on the Curried Couscous with Vegetables and Chickpeas recipe from the book The Occasional Vegetarian by Karen Lee.

Tagged!

I got tagged by two different people :) Does that mean I have to come up with ten things about myself instead of just five?! I'm sure I could :) Hee hee
I've probably said all these same things every time I've been tagged.. oh well :)

Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

1. I grew up in England which is why you may see words spelled funny on here :) Yes, I know the American spellings, I just prefer to stick to my roots when it's not something I'm being graded on! hee hee! I actually get to go back to the UK for the first time in 11 years (I've been living in San Diego for 17) in July. I am super excited about it! It has been way too long since I've been back!

2. I'm a teacher but I don't actually teach in a classroom anymore! I work for a public charter school and my students are all home-schooled. Even though my teaching credential is for K-6, I get to work with kids in grades K-12 since it's considered "self-contained." It's so much fun - really flexible and I really get to know each of the students. Plus, it's so nice to actually feel appreciated by their parents! :)

3. Speaking of teaching, I'm working on my Masters degree in teaching with an emphasis in educational technology. I love school and it's a good thing since this is a LOT of work! I'm a little more than halfway done - I have 2 more classes after the 1 I'm currently in (done at the end of Feb) and then my thesis class which is some 3-month hellish thing. Yeay - looking forward to that! lol :) I actually really like writing so it shouldn't be too bad... I hope! The ed. tech. classes are my favourites - I've done stuff like build course websites (full online courses!) and create web-quests which are so fun to use with elementary and middle-school kids! So practical :)

4. When I'm not working or doing school stuff (or cooking!) one of my favourite hobbies is photography. I took a couple classes years ago at the community college level (just for the heck of it sort of thing) and fell in love with it! I've actually had cameras since I was very young and have always enjoyed screwing around with them but never really did anything serious with it until I was in high school. My school had a great dark room and I actually learned to develop my own film - that's an experience I recommend you have before you die! :) Totally smelly (and I'm sure those chemicals aren't good for you!) but fun!
A couple years after I finished my BA/teaching credential, I took 2 community college photography classes. One was just a basic 35mm class and the other was creative photography. We used slide film for both classes so I have all this trivia in the back of my head about which films are good for which environments! lol
I actually shot a friend's wedding about a year before my own (totally shocked at how well the prints came out!) and like to do lots of artsy-fartsy stuff.. I really need to start getting back into that!
Oh, and on a side note - I can't stand digital photography! I'm such an old-fashioned film gal! :) I think it's half related to my lack of a decent digital camera... I'm sure my blog would look a gazillion times better if I had that Nikon D80 I've had my eye on ;)
Sigh...

Forgot what number I was on ;)
5. I would seriously love to learn to make my own home-brewed beer! No, I'm not kidding! :) I love wine but have never been accused of knowing anything about it - I can never distinguish flavours in wine or any of that. I do like drinking it, though! Beer, on the other hand... I am quite the beer snob! I love local beers and all those artsy micro-brews and I totally think fizzy yellow beer (ie: Bud, Miller, Coors.. you know, college beer!) is just nasty! Totally un-drinkable... in fact, I'm not even sure I drank that crap in college! lol ;) See... beer snob! Maybe it's the Brit in me - I think I have beer running through my veins but I just think it's hard to beat a really good pint!

I wasn't kidding when I said I like to write, was I?! :)

I have no idea who I'm going to tag... Let me check my blog list and I'll come back and add some names and links!

Cheers! ;)

Valentine's Flowers :)

They really aren't all yellow-y! That's just my crummy camera phone :) lol

Total surprise from DH yesterday!

Menu - February 16-22

Saturday - Curried couscous with vegetables and chickpeas
Tacos for hubby

Sunday - Stuffed grilled eggplant rolls
Stuffed chicken for hubby
Brown sugar glazed carrots

Monday - Stuffed tomatoes
I'm going to be nice and get a steak for DH! :)
Oven roasted potatoes
Broccoli

Tuesday - Mixed vegetables al forno, couscous
Tuna melts and salad for hubby

Wednesday - Tofu stir-fry, rice
Burger, chips, salad for DH

Thursday - Italian pasta with beans
Pasta with marinara and Italian sausage

Friday - Rajmah and rice
Oven-fried chicken, green beans for DH

Cloud Lime

**I do have plans to take a photo of this! I got a bit impatient and didn't let it chill long enough before tasting it so there was no way I was going to take a photo of not-fully-set pie! ;) I'll try again today...
It's super yummy! (even if it wasn't quite ready!)

My original plan was to make this for Valentine's Day dessert... but then I read the recipe Thursday morning and realized it needed to refrigerate overnight! lol :)
The original recipe was called "Key Lime Cloud Pie," I just changed the name to make a play on that and cloud nine.

Warning - this has like 50g of fat per serving (eek!) so it will only be a once-in-a-while treat..! ;)

8 servings

Ingredients
Crust
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (I got the low-fat ones... like that will make a difference with all the eggs, butter, and cream!)
3 tbsp. sugar
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Filling
4 egg yolks
3 eggs
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut up
1/2 cup plus 2 tsp. sugar, divided
1/3 cup key lime juice (you will need a lot of key limes!)
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. grated lime peel, divided
2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream, divided

Method:
1. Combine graham cracker crumbs and 3 tbsp. sugar in a small bowl. With a fork, stir in the melted butter until the crumbs are moistened. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Refrigerate.

2. Whisk the eggs and egg yolks in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. Combine 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup of the sugar, the lime juice, and 1 tbsp. of the lime peel in a large bowl. Create a double-boiler by placing the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water; stir the mixture until the butter melts and sugar dissolves.

4. Gradually whisk 1/3 cup of the juice mixture into the egg mixture. Whisk the whole thing back into the juice mixture. Cook over saucepan of simmering water until the mixture thickens and the temperature reaches 165 degrees-170 degrees F. **The original recipe said 4-5 minutes! Ha! I stood there for ages waiting for it to reach temp. but you can't be impatient since it's raw eggs...*

5. Pour the lime mixture through a strainer into a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours or until chilled.

6. Beat 1 1/2 cups of the cream in a large bowl at medium-high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form. Gently fold into the cooled lime mixture. Spoon into the pie crust and smooth the top. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

7. Up to 3 hours before serving, beat the remaining 3/4 cup cream with remaining 2 tsp. sugar in a medium bowl at medium-high speed. Pile whipped cream over the top of the pie. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. peel.
Store the pie in the refrigerator.

Reference:
The original recipe (I didn't make any changes) came from Cooking Pleasures Magazine (February/March 2008).