Absolutely Amazing Veggie Fajitas!

OK, I will probably never eat veggie fajitas at a restaurant ever again! lol :) I've actually only ever had them a couple times and they were just mediocre... these knocked the socks off them (but home cooking is always better!)

I had been planning veggie fajitas for this weekend and was pulling veggies out of the fridge and realized I hadn't picked up any small mushrooms yesterday. I did have two portobello caps, though and will only need one for the portobello Parm later this week so I chopped the other one up for these. Yum! Who needs meat?! :) I'm really excited about the packaging for these 'shrooms! They are organic mushroom caps that come in totally compostable packaging! yeay :) The tray will definitely be composted!

These would be vegan but I like some sour cream on mine!

Perfect with rice and black beans and a big margarita on the side ;)

I apologize for the lack of a photo - they tasted far better than they looked! The uncooked veggies looked great - I should have taken a quick picture of those.. next time. :)

Serves 2 (or 1 hungry person) ;)

Ingredients:
1 portobello mushroom cap
1/4 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/4 each red, yellow, and green bell peppers
1/2 medium tomato, seeded and chopped (superfood!)
1/2 zucchini, sliced
1/2 yellow squash, sliced (I cut my slices in half)
1/8 cup + 1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil (olive oil is a superfood!)
1/8 cup lime juice
1/8 cup tequila
1 tbsp. cilantro, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced (superfood!)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. salt (I used sea salt)
Pepper
4-6 tortillas
Optional: fresh salsa or pico de gallo, guacamole or avocado slices, sour cream

Method:
1. Clean the mushroom cap by wiping it with a damp paper towel and then scooping out the "fins" (I really don't know what else to call those) with a spoon. Slice off the stem. Slice the mushroom into smaller pieces. Wash and slice/chop the other veggies.

2. Place the veggies in a large zipper bag or re-usable container with a lid. In a bowl, mix together the tequila, 1/8 cup veg. oil, cumin, lime juice, salt, pepper, and 1/2 tbsp. cilantro (I never measure - use as much or as little as you like!)

3. Pour the tequila marinade in the bag or container with the vegetable mix. Seal the container and marinate for 1 1/2-3 hours.

4. After marinating, preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat; add 1/2 tbsp. oil. Add vegetables to hot oil and cook and stir until tender. They don't take long at all - I think mine had somewhere between 5 and 7 minutes. Sprinkle with additional fresh cilantro just before serving.

Serve with warm tortillas, rice, black beans, and any condiments you like.

Not sure I have a reference for these! I just made them up as I went but based the tequila-lime marinade on the chicken fajitas I've made in the past (and made for DH tonight).

Menu for week of April 27-May 3

Sunday, April 27 - Fajitas :) I'm making mine with portobello mushroom and a bunch of other veggies; DH is having chicken fajitas. It's really hot here today (ugh..) so I'm not sure what else we'll have with them. It's just one of those "too hot to eat much" days... I'll probably just make a little rice or black beans.

Monday, April 28 - Beef stew for DH; vegetarian split pea and lentil soup for me. We'll both have salads on the side and some crusty bread (have to remember to get crusty bread!)
Hopefully it will cool down a bit! lol

Tuesday, April 29 - Chicken Parmesan for DH; Portobello Parmesan for me with spaghetti and home-made marinara for both of us.

Wednesday, April 30 - I have a late staff meeting at work... guess it's fend-for-yourself night!

Thursday, May 1 - Buffalo chicken bites for DH; Ratatouille with tofu for me. No idea on sides yet!

Friday, May 2 - Manicotti and salad (meat for DH; veggie for me)

Saturday, May 3 - Enchiladas (chicken for DH; avocado for me - yum!)

This might actually change around a bit. I have some great local avocados (that I got for free! yeay!) so I'm just waiting for those to ripen up. I'll make the enchiladas whenever that happens!

Lavender-Rosemary Potatoes

I love lavender and rosemary so I have been wanting to try this combination on potatoes for a long time! Finally did it last night since I was making roasted potatoes for DH to go with his tuna melt.

In the future, I think I'd use more lavender and less rosemary - the rosemary really over-shadowed the lavender which was a bit of a bummer. They were still really good, though! Even my picky DH tried one and liked it! :)

My next experiment with this lavender-rosemary flavour combination - butter cookies. :)

**I didn't take a separate photo of these but you can see them in the margherita sandwich post. :)

4 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb. small red potatoes
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. dried culinary lavender
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil (superfood!)
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt (I'm lucky to have a huge bag of Hawaiian sea salt that a friend brought back from her honeymoon... it's amazing stuff!)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 525 degrees.
Quarter the potatoes and place them in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle the salt, pepper, lavender, and rosemary over the potatoes and toss again.

2. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with fat-free cooking spray. Arrange the potatoes on the sheet in a single layer. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring twice during cooking. Raise heat to broil for the last 2 minutes.

Reference:
I based this on the Lavender-Rosemary Roasted Potatoes recipe from the August/September 2005 issue of Cooking Pleasures magazine.
I can't find the original recipe on their website but here are my changes/what the original called for:
*I used dried rosemary in place of fresh sprigs (I'm starting a herb garden, soon - can't wait!) - original called for using 1/2 cup of sprigs and placing those under the potatoes on the foil. Maybe if I'd done this, the rosemary would not have over-powered my lavender..
*Original said to bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. If I'd had the time, I would have done this but I was in a bit of a rush so I used my other roasted potatoes recipe for the temp/time guidelines.
*If you are lucky enough to have lavender in your garden (I hate you...! Kidding!), you can use fresh lavender sprigs and flowers. Place these under the potatoes, too. If you use the fresh rosemary and dried lavender, place the rosemary sprigs under the potatoes but toss the potatoes with the lavender just like I did.

Now This is What I Call a Grilled Cheese!

In honour of it being "Grilled Cheese Month" (hee hee), I have had 3 grilled cheese sandwiches this week... gross, I know! I'll be eating vegan the rest of the week to cleanse my arteries! ;) This one was by far the best (sorry In-N-Out, your grilled cheese has been knocked down a bit...)

Grilled Margherita Sandwiches
AKA: Caprese Panini

Makes 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:
4 slices of crusty Italian bread
1 large garlic clove, minced (superfood!)
4-6 slices of low-fat mozzarella
1 large tomato, thinly sliced (superfood!)
2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
Extra-virgin olive oil (superfood!)

Method:
1. Preheat panini press. (*See note below).
Brush one side of each piece of bread with olive oil - this will give the bread a nice browned finish. Flip the slices so they are oiled side down and top each slice with mozzarella.

2. Mix the basil and garlic together. Top the mozzarella slices with tomato slices and then the basil-garlic mixture. Top with more mozzarella and then a top slice of bread (oiled side up).

3. Place the sandwiches in the panini maker and cook for 4-5 minutes until the cheese is melted and the bread is lightly toasted. Yum!

*Note:
If you don't have a panini press, you can make these on a grill pan under the broiler or on the stove-top in a skillet.
For the broiler, spray the broiler pan with a little fat-free cooking spray. Place sandwiches on the pan and place under the broiler until the cheese is melted and the sandwiches are lightly toasted. You'll probably need to flip them so both sides get nice and toasty.

For the stove-top, heat a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Place sandwiches in the skillet. Cover and cook 4-5 minutes or until golden brown and the cheese on the bottom of the sandwich is melting.
Reduce the heat to medium-low, flip the sandwiches and cook an additional 2-4 minutes or until all the cheese is melted and both sides are toasted.

Reference:
Based on the Grilled Margherita Sandwich recipe from the April/May 2008 issue of Cooking Pleasures Magazine.
My changes:
*Rather than quarter a garlic clove and rub it on the bread, I minced the clove and mixed it in with the basil. This gave a great garlicy flavour.
*I used low-fat mozzarella in place of the whole-milk stuff. I'm sure they are 10 times better with the whole-milk cheese but I have a history of high cholesterol in my family so I'd better watch it! :)
*I skipped the garlic-pepper seasoning.

New Cooking Toys!

Hooray! I love kitchen gadgets - it's really a bit nuts but I do use them all, and on a regular basis, I might add! :) Try and pester me about them all you want hubby, it won't work! hee hee... and really, who's kitchen is it anyway?! ;)

I've had this Bed, Bath, and Beyond gift card in my wallet for almost a year and a half now... good thing those don't expire! Finally figured out what to get with it. I had been toying with the idea of getting a slow cooker but really couldn't figure out what the heck to make in it so I went with a mandoline and a Microplane grater. Yeay! I really think I could do everything that I can do with these tools using my blender, food processor, and various types of graters but oh well - I had a gift card to get rid of!

Can't wait to use them! I'm making myself this margherita sandwich panini thing for dinner so I'll use that as excuse to baptize the mandoline with my tomato. ;) And maybe I'll use the Microplane to grate some Parm for my split pea and lentil soup that I'll be having with the sandwich... yum! :)

Peruvian Baked Quinoa and Cheese

It's like a great familiar outfit with a fabulous new pair of shoes. :) Mmmm... this was a nice change from regular mac and cheese and it's gluten-free for those who are on GF diets. And if that's not enough to win your heart, check out all the superfoods!

I just read a little blurb in Vegetarian Times that gave me another reason to love quinoa! It has 8 essential amino acids and is a complete protein all by itself! I did also just read that vegetarians really don't have to worry about "complete proteins" but whatever.. This same blurb also stated that quinoa is high in antioxidant activity. Yeay for super foods! :)

I changed a few things from the original recipe so I'll mark those in purple.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 tsp. olive oil (superfood!)
1/2 cup sliced green onions (original recipe called for 1/2 a medium leek, white and green parts, halved and sliced)
1/8 cup red onion (superfood!)
1/2 cup bell pepper, diced (I used a mix of red, green, and yellow peppers)
3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained (I think of quinoa as a superfood!)
1 garlic clove, minced (superfood!)
1 1/2 cups water
1 large egg (some, myself included, would say eggs are a superfood!)
1/2 cup nonfat milk
3/4 cup grated cheese (I used sharp 1/2 C Cheddar, 1/8 C Parmesan, and 1/8 C mozzarella; original only called for Cheddar)
1 tomato, seeded and chopped (superfood!)

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the green onion, red onion, and bell peppers. Cover and cook 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in the quinoa and garlic. Cook, uncovered 3-4 minutes or until the quinoa grains turn opaque (pretty sure mine took a bit longer than that but I wasn't paying attention - trying to get DH's food done at the same time!)

2. Add 1 1/2 cups water, season with salt if desired. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer 3-4 minutes more or until most of the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a baking dish with cooking spray (the one I used is about 9-inch x 6.5-inch - it's a ceramic Le Creuset thing/not marked!)
Whisk the egg and milk together in a large bowl. Fold in the quinoa mixture, tomatoes, and cheese. Transfer to the prepared baking dish, and bake 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges and on top.

Reference: From the April 2008 issue of Vegetarian Times magazine.

Stuffed Tomatoes with Quinoa, Black Beans, and Corn

I love stuffed tomatoes so I'm always excited to find a new way to fix them. This is quite possibly the best one I've found so far! They incorporate a lot of my favourite flavours. Plus, they are fairly low-fat (well, 11 grams per serving according to the original recipe but it's mostly mono- and poly-unsaturated), cholesterol-free (yippee!), and pack quite the protein punch. Plus, they are full of superfoods!

This recipe would probably make enough for 2 or 3 tomatoes - I only made one tomato but the stuffing was so yummy that I ate it as a "side dish." :)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup quinoa, rinsed well (superfood!)
1/2 cup water
2-3 tomatoes (superfood!)
1/3 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed (superfood!)
1/4 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1/4 cup fresh salsa (tomatoes and hot peppers are superfoods!)
1/2 tbsp. olive oil (superfood!)
1 tbsp. finely chopped red onion (superfood!)
1/4 tsp. sea salt or other coarse salt
Freshly squeezed lime juice

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the quinoa in 1/2 cup water according to package directions (I usually give mine 15 minutes. You'll know when it's done - it goes transparent and you can see the white "germ" [I think it is] of the grain). Drain if necessary and return to the saucepan.

2. Add all the remaining ingredients to the quinoa (except the lime juice); cook and stir for 2 minutes over medium heat. Stir in the lime juice. Fill the tomatoes with the quinoa mixture and place in a baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with additional fresh lime juice.

Reference:
Based on the Bell Peppers Stuffed with Quinoa, Black Beans, and Corn recipe from the February/March 2008 issue of Cooking Pleasures magazine.