Greek Salad Dressing

To go with the Greek Spaghetti Squash Toss, may I recommend making your own Greek dressing?

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Whisk ingredients together. You can see that this makes quite a bit of dressing. So either halve the recipe or store the rest for later.

Greek Spaghetti Squash Toss

Original Recipe from Cooking Light

This recipe is super close to my standard pasta salad fare so I made some adjustments based on my preferences, and just used the spaghetti squash in place of the pasta. I'm not including precise measurements on all of the ingredients as I just eyeballed what looked right.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• about half of a red onion, diced or thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 can unsalted chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• a couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 Spaghetti Squash
• 1 cucumber 
• kalamata olives
• baby spinach
• Dash of salt
• crumbled feta cheese
• Greek salad dressing (the original recipe doesn't call for this but I recommend it)

Spaghetti Squash

1. Pierce skin of squash several times with a sharp knife.
2. Place on tin foil on a baking sheet and bake for an hour at 375.
3. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
4. Slice in half lengthwise.
5. Scoop out seeds and gunk.
6. Use a fork to scoop meat out into a bowl. It will pull apart into strings like spaghetti.

The Toss

1. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high. 
2. Add onion and garlic; sauté 4 minutes. 
3. Add chickpeas and tomatoes; cook 1 minute. 
4. Add spaghetti squash; cook and stir 2 minutes. 
5. Add spinach, and salt; toss gently to combine. Cook 2 minutes or until spinach is just wilted. 
6. Allow to cool.
7. Drizzle with some dressing and add olives, cucumber and feta.
8. Stir to combine. Serve with extra dressing and cheese.

Cream of Carrot Soup

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 2 1/2 cups sliced carrots
• 1 large potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat; add carrots, potato, onion, celery, chicken broth, and ginger. 
2. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. 
3. Uncover and cool for 15 minutes.
4. Transfer soup in batches to a food processor; blend until smooth. 
5. Return soup to the Dutch oven; stir in cream. 
6. Add curry powder, salt, and black pepper; cook over low heat until heated through, about 10 minutes.

Pear and Pomegranate Salad with Gorgonzola and Champagne Vinaigrette

Ingredients, Salad:

• 8 cups baby spinach or romaine lettuce
• 1 ripe pear, cut in half 
• 1/3 cup pomegranate seeds 
• 2 ounces Gorgonzola 
• Champagne Vinaigrette, recipe follows 
• Fresh cracked pepper 
• 1 tablespoon honey 

Ingredients Champagne Vinaigrette:

• 1/4 cup champagne vinegar 
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic 
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice 
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions 

Champagne Vinaigrette: 

1. In a small bowl or glass jar, add all the ingredients except the olive oil. 
2. Mix well, then slowly drizzle in the olive oil to combine. 
3. Refrigerate until ready to use. 

Salad:

1. In a decorative bowl or platter, add the spinach or romaine. 
2. Cut the pear into fans, and then slice again on the diagonal, add the greens, crumble the Gorgonzola onto the salad and then drizzle with about half of the vinaigrette. 
3. Top with fresh cracked pepper and lightly drizzle the whole salad with the honey. 
4. Serve immediately. 

Recipe from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/pear-and-pomegranate-salad-with-gorgonzola-and-champagne-vinaigrette-recipe-1949032

Pomegranate Glazed Carrots

The only thing I added to this recipe was tossing a handful of fresh pomegranate seeds on the top. Served it to friends we had over for dinner and it was delicious.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 cups peeled, sliced carrots
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup pomegranate juice

Directions

1. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. 
2. Cook and stir carrots in the hot butter until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes; season with salt and black pepper.
3. Stir orange juice and pomegranate juice into carrots, bring to a simmer, and reduce heat to low. 
4. Simmer carrots until tender, stirring occasionally, 10 to 12 minutes.

Minestrone Soup

A recipe that lends itself well to killing it at the produce game! As I'm doing gluten free right now I substituted some gluten free rotini in for the elbow macaroni and added in about a half pound of ground Italian sausage, both of which I cooked separately and added in for the last 10 minutes of simmering as I liked the idea of having more control of how well the pasta was cooked. The original recipe called for throwing the pasta in and cooking for the last 30 min (out of a total of 1.5 hours).

The results are delicious and virtuous!

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• whatever other produce is starting to give you the evil eye in the fridge
• 1 (19 ounce) can cannellini beans
• 1/2 cup shredded cabbage
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups cubed potatoes
• 1 quart vegetable broth
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup elbow macaroni
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 lb Italian sausage, optional

Directions

1. Melt butter or margarine in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and carrots; saute for a few minutes.
2. Add beans, cabbage, tomatoes, tomato paste, potato, stock, garlic, parsley, and salt to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer for approximately 45 minutes until vegetables are barely tender.
3. If using it, brown sausage while vegetables cook.
4. Add cooked pasta and browned sausage to the pot, and simmer for 10-15 minutes more, until the veggies are tender. Correct seasoning, and serve hot with grated cheese.

Slow Cooker Sesame Beef

 

With the heat in the 90's this week, cooking is not something to anticipate gladly. So I thought I'd turn to the slow cooker to keep all the cooking heat in that tiny little space. This turned out to be a very delicious recipe that I will definitely cook again. So, so easy, too. The sesame oil is the one that you would use in place of olive oil or vegetable oil, not the super condensed stuff. I always prefer to cook my stuff on low, to give it a chance to get tender and boy, oh boy, was this meat tender. I didn't find that the corn starch worked to thicken the sauce. Maybe my cooker doesn't go high enough. It wasn't a problem, though.


Ingredients:

• 16 ounces thin flank steak*, chopped into 2-inch pieces
• ½ white onion, chopped
• ¼ cup sliced green onions
• 1 red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced 

sauce

• 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• ½ cup water
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• a sprinkling of sesame seeds
•  
• ¼ cup cold water + 1 tablespoon corn starch to thicken sauce

 Instructions

1. Place beef, onions (green and white), and chopped red peppers in a greased slow cooker.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together all sauce ingredients (do not include the ¼ cup cold water, corn starch). Pour sauce into the slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook 2-3 hours on high or 4-5 hours on low.
3. About 30 minutes before serving, whisk together remaining cold water and corn starch. Add corn starch slurry to the slow cooker and stir. Cover and cook on high for another 30 minutes or so. Stir just before serving. Serve with cooked white or fried rice.