Tag Archives: meatless monday

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Meatless Monday Tomato Spinach Feta Crustless Quiche

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I tried the recipe Tomato Spinach Feta Crustless Quiche from the Bold Of Delicious blog site tonight and it turned out great. Even John thought so … It was probably a relief to him having a relatively “usual” dish rather than some of the weird stuff I have been trying lately.

Spinach Feta Crustless Quiche
Spinach Feta Crustless Quiche

Here is a link to the recipe site I used: http://www.bowlofdelicious.com/2015/01/05/crustless-spinach-tomato-and-feta-quiche/ I pretty much made the recipe as given except for a couple minor changes (always seems I make changes, lol):

  1. I didn’t have the 8 oz of feta cheese called for (I only had 6 oz because I forgot that John had used some in salad a couple nights ago), so I supplemented with 2 oz of a fresh Kefir cheese I had made last week which is very similar to feta.
  2. I substituted dried thyme for the fresh (since my plants got killed several weeks ago and I won’t be planting again until it warms up somewhat).
  3. I just used sliced Roma tomato I had on hand rather than the cherry tomato halves the recipe called for.
  4. Also, the filling was too much for the quiche pan I have, so I divided it between that and a pie plate. (2 for 1 !)

I particularly liked how light and fluffy this quiche was. I think it is because of using the feta and fresh Kefir cheeses rather than a more traditional heavier cheese like Swiss? There is plenty left for more meals. I probably would re-heat in a pan, but I understand it is also good served cold as a snack. Have you had this before?

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Smashed Potatoes – Yumm

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John asked me if I had ever had Smashed Potatoes. He had seen the idea on America’s Test Kitchen a while ago, apparently. So yesterday we picked up some freshly-harvested red potatoes to try this simple-to-make dish for our evening appetizer.

Boil until tender 6 medium size freshly-harvested (and washed, lol) red potatoes with skins on.
Drain.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Coat baking tray lightly with oil.

Whole cooked red potatoes on baking tray - before and after smashing
Whole cooked red potatoes on baking tray – before and after smashing

Set each potato on the tray and smash it with potato masher to make a free-form pancake about 1/2″ thick.

Smash the potato to make a free-form pancake about 1/2" thick
Smash the potato to make a free-form pancake about 1/2″ thick

Drizzle with garlic-olive oil and Cajun spice mix (or your choice of seasonings).

Drizzled with garlic-olive oil and sprinkled with Cajun spice mix
Drizzled with garlic-olive oil and sprinkled with Cajun spice mix

Bake for 30 – 40 minutes until crisp.

Baked until lots of crispy edges
Baked until lots of crispy edges

Serve with dollops of sour cream.

Ready to eat!
Ready to eat!

What can I say other than deeee-li-cious. It didn’t take long for these to vanish. To me, it’s like potato pancakes with all the taste and crunch, but without the bother of a more formal preparation. Try it — I think you will like it!

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Savory Sage for Taste, Sight, Smell

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With the addition of herbs and spices to meatless dishes, you’ll hardly miss the meat. Especially if you are using the freshest ingredients. And what can be more gratifying than growing your own? Today I am going to feature Sage, because as you can see here, it is happily blooming away in my garden. Isn’t it pretty?

Sage in bloom
Sage in bloom

Not only is Sage a tasteful addition to your cooking repertoire, but it makes beautiful, fragrant bouquets. Or dry some of your garden-harvest sage leaves and flowers for your next batch of homemade potpourri.

There are SO many ways to use Sage in your cooking, in your decor, and even for personal health and hygiene. According to Wikipedia, Salvia officials is the official botanical name of common garden sage. Both  Salvia and Sage come from the Latin salvere (to save). That’s really close to the word savory, too, which is definitely a wonderful, tasty attribute that sage lends to so many dishes.

Sage is probably most often thought of in its dried variety for use in stuffings and sausage. But you can fool your taste buds into the satisfaction of those meat dishes without the meat. Try a bit of sage in your next vegetable dish. But don’t overdo it. A little goes a long ways. It balances out well with other herbs like basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano and mint, too.

Fortunately, when you grow sage yourself, you can take advantage of the many ways to use sage in its fresh stage. I love the smell of the fresh leaves. Try them as an aromatic garnish for salads. Did you know that the flowers are edible as well as beautiful?

Sage flowers are both beautiful and edible
Sage flowers are both beautiful and edible

You can even toss the stems or leaves onto the hot charcoal of your grill; it will add a wonderful aroma to your grilled veggies (or meat if you can’t bring yourself to go meatless).

Speaking of potpourri and sage in bloom, here is a little lace-edged sachet pouch that we are knitting over at the Bits of Lace knit-along this month. This would also make wonderful gifts for the important “Mom’s” in your life on Mother’s Day.

Three Eyelets Sachet
Three Eyelets Sachet

The pattern is available to Bits of Lace members through April 27, 2012. So get on over to KnitHeartStrings.com now and register for your free membership in Bits of Lace 2012 if you have not already done so. And remember to grab the pattern from the Free Membership Pattern area before it is taken down from the free area to make room for the next pattern.

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(almost) Meatless Monday: Sweet and Sour Brussels Sprouts

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Although this week’s Meatless Monday recipe is one to which I usually add a bit of meat flavoring, I do give substitution for totally meatless. So I hope you will enjoy it either way.

Brussels Sprouts have always reminded me of little cabbages. One of the dishes my Grandma Erickson made that I loved so much was sweet and sour cabbage. I’ve never felt like I approached how well she made that dish (but then, I guess things always taste better when someone else cooks, lol). I even asked her many times if there was a secret, but she said no and just sloughed it off that I was making mine just as well. I do miss her (and that delicious sweet and sour cabbage she would make).

Anyway, my local Sam’s had gotten in some fantastic-looking fresh Brussels Sprouts recently. My taste buds turned to concocting a sweet and sour rendition using them. And thinking about the healthy benefits of Brussels sprouts, I am feeling good that something so tasty is good for us, too.

Healthy Brussels Sprouts: High in Antioxidant
Healthy Brussels Sprouts: High in Antioxidant

Here’s what I did for an (almost) Meatless Monday dish (but you could substitute some vegetable oil and a bit of smoke flavor in place of the prosciutto ham or bacon for totally meatless)  …

Ingredients

2 pounds fresh Brussels sprouts, washed and sliced in half

I like to cut the Brussels Sprouts in half so they take on all the delicious sweet and sour flavors
I like to cut the Brussels Sprouts in half so they take on all the delicious sweet and sour flavors later on during the cooking

3/4 cup water

2 tablespoons rendered out rind from prosciutto ham, bacon or similar

salt to taste

black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon dried onion

lemon juice + apple cider vinegar to make 1/3 cup

rounded tablespoon of sugar

rounded tablespoon of whole caraway seeds

Instructions

Use large saucepan/top-of-stove Dutch-oven style pot with tight-fighting lid.

Add water and salt to pot and bring water to boil.

Starting to cook the Brussels sprouts
Starting to cook the Brussels sprouts

Add Brussels sprouts, black pepper and dried onions. Stir then cover.

Cook about 10 minutes over medium heat or until just barely to degree of desired doneness. (do not overcook into a mush!)

In a bowl, mix together the lemon juice/apple cider vinegar, sugar and caraway seeds until sugar is dissolved. Pour into the pot.

Cover pot and let simmer about 5 minutes to let the flavors meld.

Eat up!

sweet and sour brussels sprouts

Well, not the whole pot all at one time. This recipe does make a lot, so you are likely to have more than enough for a single meal. That is fine. Re-heat left-overs in microwave to enjoy another day. This dish holds up very well to that.

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Cranberry and Apricot Couscous Spinach Salad

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In keeping with Meatless Monday, here is a light, flavorful salad I concocted. Undoubtedly there are similar recipes out there, but I didn’t look and just went with what seemed right for a healthy salad with a fruity, balanced taste.

Cranberry and Apricot Couscous Spinach Salad
Cranberry and Apricot Couscous Spinach Salad

Cranberry and Apricot Couscous Spinach Salad
6 – 8 servings

1 –  10 oz / 284 g package Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat couscous, or other regular brand of your choosing
1 – 14.5 oz / 41 g can Swanson vegetable broth (or 2 cups of your own homemade vegetable stock)
¾ cup dried cranberries
¾ cup chopped fresh onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
10 dried apricots, chopped
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
salt and pepper to taste
fresh spinach leaves

Empty the package of couscous into a bowl for which you have a cover or can be covered with a plate.

Measure the vegetable broth and add water to bring it to the 2 cup level. In a sauce pan, bring this to just boiling. Add dried cranberries, turn off heat and cover for about 2 minutes to steep and plump the cranberries.

Add the broth/cranberries to couscous and cover the bowl.

Meantime, put the oil in a small frying pan. Add onions and lightly sauté until the onions just start to become translucent.

Uncover the couscous, add onions and apricots. Fluff lightly with fork. Let cool slightly. Add cilantro, salt and pepper. Mix lightly with fork.

Serve over fresh spinach leaves.

Variation/substitutions:

  • Use parsley instead of cilantro
  • Use either light or dark raisins instead of dried cranberries
  • Substitute another favorite dried fruit for the apricots, or even coarsely chopped nuts
  • Substitute romaine, iceberg, or other variety of lettuce for the spinach

Enjoy!

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