Category Archives: Vegetarian

Mini Spinach Artichoke Cups

02 Monday Feb 2015

Posted by in Appetizers, Quick and Easy, Vegetarian

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Mini Spinach Artichoke Cups

I’ve always been a fan of spinach artichoke dip, but it can get really messy, sliding off pita chips and other dippers en route to my mouth!  I wanted a bite-sized version of the classic favorite while simultaneously removing some of the excess creaminess of the traditional recipe.  Many recipes for Spinach Artichoke Dip contain cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, and/or melted cheese.  The only dairy in this recipe is feta cheese, providing a nice flavor while eliminating loads of unnecessary fat and calories.

Mini Spinach Artichoke Cups
Yield:  24 bites
Time:  15 minutes active;  30 minutes total

10 oz. canned artichokes
6 oz. sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
16 oz. frozen chopped spinach (thawed and excess water drained and squeezed out)
3 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
8 oz. package Pillsbury crescent rolls

1.  Dice the artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes into small pieces and place in a mixing bowl.  Drizzle in 1-2 tbsp. of the oil from the sun dried tomatoes.  Stir in the spinach and feta.  Stir ingredients together to combine.

Mini Spinach Artichoke Cups

2.  Preheat the oven to 375ºF.  Lightly grease the wells of a mini muffin pan.  Set aside.

3.  Unroll the sheet of crescent rolls and gently press together any perforations, creating one large rectangle.  Cut into 24 squares and gently press each square into the prepared wells of the mini muffin pan, allowing the edges to overhang the well slightly.  Fill each well with the spinach-artichoke-feta filling.  Bake at 375ºF for about 15 minutes, until edges of crescent begin to turn golden brown.

Mini Spinach Artichoke Cups Mini Spinach Artichoke Cups Mini Spinach Artichoke Cups

PDF to Print Recipe for Mini Spinach Arichoke Cups

 

Recipe adapted from http://www.pillsbury.com

Curried Carrot Soup

20 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by in Appetizers, Dinner, Healthy, Quick and Easy, Soup, Vegetarian

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

,

Curried Carrot Soup

What’s better than a bowl of creamy, hot soup on a cold winter night?  How about one that doesn’t contain a drop of cream, packs a ton of flavor, is under 200 calories per serving and will fill you up?  Now we’re talking!

Curried Carrot Soup
Yield:  8 servings
Time:  20 minutes hands-on;  45 minutes total

3 tbsp. butter, cut into 1 tbsp. pieces
2 onions, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. ground ginger
1½ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. ground pepper
8 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth if making vegetarian)
5 lbs. carrots, peeled and cut into ½-inch thick slices
1 tbsp. lemon juice
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1.  Place the butter in a very large stock pot or Dutch oven (8-12 quart).  Melt over medium heat.  Once the butter begins to foam, add the onions and pepper.  Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, until onions and peppers begin to soften.  Stir in the curry, ginger, salt and pepper.  Cook for another 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2.  Add the carrots.  Pour in the broth.  Turn heat up to high and bring to a boil.  Once boiling for one minute, reduce the heat to medium-low and cover.  Simmer for 25 minutes until the carrots are tender.  Stir in lemon juice.

3.  Working in batches, transfer the soup to a blender, filling the blender no more than half full each time.  Puree until smooth.  (Be sure not to overfill the blender, as the hot soup will expand as it is blended.  Also, to allow steam to escape vent the lid and cover with a dish towel while blending.)

4.  Serve hot and garnish with chopped cilantro to serve.

PDF to Print Recipe for Curried Carrot Soup

Recipe adapted from Great Food Fast, Everyday Food from the Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living

Crunchy Granola

14 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by in Breakfast, Dessert, Fruit, Healthy, Quick and Easy, Vegetarian

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

Crunchy Granola

According to Urban Dictionary, crunchy granola refers to “a person who is into all that natural crap and eats tofu and does yoga and hugs trees”.  I don’t mind tofu if it’s well disguised (it actually adds unparalleled moisture to cakes!), I have come to really love yoga, but I’ve never hugged a tree and don’t intend to!  I don’t think I’m particularly crunchy, but I am a sucker for this homemade granola!  Since I’m very allergic to nuts, granola is one of those foods that I never get to eat unless it’s homemade, since most packaged granolas contains at least one variety of nuts.  I’ve tried making it many times, and I’m usually disappointed because it’s a little soft, not super crunchy how I love it.  I finally hit the nail on the head with this recipe!  I hope you love it as much as I do!  It’s a great snack to munch on dry handfuls, or enjoy it mixed into yogurt with fresh berries for a filling and healthy breakfast or dessert parfait.

Crunchy Granola
Yield:  3 cups
Time:  10 minutes hands-on;  60 minutes total

2 cups oats (use the old fashioned type, not quick cooking)
1/3 cup oat bran*
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup orange juice
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup total dried fruit (I like using a combination of raisins, golden raisins, dried cherries, and dried blueberries.  Dried mango, papaya, pineapple, or cranberries could also work!)

1.  Preheat the oven to 325ºF.  Lightly grease a 9×13″ glass baking dish and set aside.

2.  In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the oats, oat bran, and cinnamon.  Set aside.

3.  In a small saucepan, combine the honey, orange juice, and brown sugar.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Add the butter and mix until completely melted.  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.  Pour over the oat mixture, tossing to coat.  Spread into the prepared baking dish.  Bake at 325ºF for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.  At the end of the 45-minute baking time, remove from the oven and allow to sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours, until fully cooled.  Gently break apart the pieces and stir in the dried fruit.

 

*For those of you not familiar with oat bran, it has a flour-like consistency and is usually sold in the same aisle with hot cereals such as Farina, Cream of Wheat,…  I often mix some into homemade pancake batter for more wholesome pancakes.  In this recipe, you could swap the oat bran for ground flax seeds if you prefer.

PDF to Print Recipe for Crunchy Granola

Homemade Applesauce

28 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by in Breakfast, Dessert, Fruit, Healthy, Quick and Easy, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

Homemade Applesauce

I absolutely LOVE homemade applesauce!  It’s so easy to make that I wonder why I don’t do it more often.  I inevitably make it every year to use up the rest of my apple picking bounty, and this year is no different.  Some people get really opinionated as to what type of apples are best to use in applesauce.  I say whatever you have on hand will work perfectly!  For this batch I used a combination of Ginger Gold, McIntosh, Gala, Honeycrisp, and two other varieties that we picked at a local orchard but I forget what they’re called.

Eat it plain for breakfast or a healthy snack, or use it as a topping for Pumpkin Pancakes or waffles!

Homemade Applesauce
Yield:  about 6 cups
Time:  35 minutes total

14 apples
1 cup apple juice (or apple cider)
½ cup brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
t tbsp. lemon juice

1.  Wash, peel, and core the apples.  Cut into bite-sized chunks and place in a large pot.

2.  Whisk together the apple juice (or cider) with the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and lemon juice.  Pour over the apples.  Cover the pot and simmer over medium heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender.

3.  Using a potato masher, coarsely mash the apples.  If you prefer your applesauce to be smooth, purée using an immersion blender or a regular blender with a kitchen towel over the vent to allow steam to escape.  Part of what I love so much about homemade applesauce is the rustic chunkiness of it, so I leave some larger pieces of apple in mine.

4.  Allow to cool before storing in glass jars or bowls.  Store in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

Note:  It’s irresistible served over vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of caramel syrup.  YUM!

PDF to Print Recipe for Homemade Applesauce

Homemade Applesauce over waffles

Pumpkin Pancakes with Caramelized Apples

30 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Bread, Breakfast, Vegetarian

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

,

Pumpkin Pancakes with Caramelized ApplesThese pancakes are a treat for breakfast in the fall with or without the caramelized apples.  Make yourself a homemade pumpkin spice latte while you’re at it!  (Mix two shots of espresso into steamed skim milk.  Stir in 1 heaping tbsp. canned pumpkin puree, ¼ tsp. cinnamon, 1/8 tsp. ground ginger and a drizzle of caramel sauce.)  Yum!

Pumpkin Pancakes with Caramelized Apples
Yield:  24 pancakes
Time:  30 minutes

For the pancakes:
3 cups cake flour
¼ cup sugar
1 heaping tbsp. baking powder
1½ tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. salt
2 cups skim milk
2 eggs
¾ cup canned pumpkin puree
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 tbsp. melted butter

For the apples:
2 apples, thinly sliced
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
2 tbsp. light corn syrup
2 tbsp. heavy cream
2 tbsp. brown sugar

1.  In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.

2.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the 2 cups of milk and eggs.  Stir in the canned pumpkin, vanilla, and melted butter.  Gently beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, whisking out any lumps.  Cook the pancakes over medium-low heat on a greased skillet until cooked through, roughly 3 minutes per side.

3.  Meanwhile, prepare the caramelized apples:  Toss the apple slices with the brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger.  Place in a lightly greased medium sauté pan and cook over medium-low heat until slightly tender, about 10 minutes.  Whisk together the corn syrup and heavy cream, then pour over the apples.  Simmer over medium heat for another 3-5 minutes.  Turn heat to low and stir occasionally until ready to serve over pumpkin pancakes.

PDF to Print Recipe for Pumpkin Pancakes with Caramelized Apples

Pumpkin Pancakes with Caramelized Apples