Balsamic Marinated Roasted Veggies

I adapted this from a recipe in a Southern Living for marinated, grilled veggies.  Sadly, we don't have a grill (yet), so I tweaked the recipe a little, roasted the veggies and they turned out quite good.  And aren't they pretty?  

Balsamic Marinated Roasted Veggies

lots of chopped fresh veggies- I use whatever's in season here and I try to make it colorful

(carrots, various color peppers, zucchini, onion, eggplant, cauliflower etc)

4 TBSP olive oil

3 TBSP honey

2 TBSP balsamic vinegar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

fresh herbs to taste (today I had rosemary in my window planter so I used that- I've also used thyme or basil)

sea salt

Chop veggies.  Combine other ingredients including herbs.  Put veggies in a large ziploc and pour marinate over.  Seal and shake well to combine.  Marinate in frig for at least 4-6 hours.  Roast at 400 degrees until tender. (about 15-20 minutes)  Sprinkle with sea salt and parmesan if you like.

Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Soup

I made this soup a couple of months ago and the jury is still out. I think mine came out a little too thick - I didn't have a flavor issue, although I probably didn't put enough salt, pepper and hot sauce. I had more of a texture issue with it. Especially for eating it room temperature. But I was in the mood for something a little different and this certainly fit the bill.

serves 6

2 red bell peppers (about 8oz.), seeded and cubed
generous 4 cups diced sweet potatoes
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 1/4 c dry white wine
1 1/4 quarts vegetable stock
hot pepper sauce, to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh chunky bread to serve

Dice a small quantity of the red pepper for the garnish; set aside. Put the rest into a saucepan with the sweet potatoes, onion, garlic, white wine and vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until all the vegetables are soft.

Transfer the soup to a blender or food processor and process utnil smooth. Season to taste with salt, pepper and a generous dash of hot pepper sauce. Cool slightly. Garnish with the reserved diced red pepper and serve warm or at room temperature.

Southern Veggies

Squash Justine

6-8 medium yellow squash

onion

butter

cheddar cheese

salt & pepper to taste

optional add-ons:  chopped red pepper and/or canned pimento, slivered almonds

Cook squash in boiling water 4-5 minutes and set aside.  Layer in baking dish: squash, slices of onion, cheddar cheese and butter, repeat layers, salt and pepper to taste.  Bake 400 degrees for 20 minutes

Fried Okra

sliced okra (a lot)

corn meal (some)

salt & pepper

Put okra in large bowl.  Moisten with small amount of ice water.  Toss with corn meal to coat.  Heat oil in skillet and fry okra in batches until golden.  Serve alongside fresh, sliced garden tomatoes.

Balsamic Green Beans

This is one of my new favorite side dishes- quick, easy and delicious!

Balsamic Green Beans

2 lbs green beans (snap off ends)

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Cook green beans in boiling salted water for 4 minutes.  Remove and set aside.  Cook balsamic vinegar in small saucepan over medium heat about 7 minutes until reduced by about half to a syrup.  Meanwhile toss beans in mixture of olive oil, salt and pepper and place in single layer on roasting pan.  Roast 18 minutes at 475 or until slightly charred (don't stir).  Remove from oven and place in serving bowl and toss with balsmic vinegar.  Serve immediately.  

Roasted Tomato Bread Toss

This was super yummy and perfect with summer tomatoes.  I didn't have enough cherry tomatoes so I used a combination of cherry and tomatoes and chunked up regular tomatoes.  I also added feta cheese.  The amount of time it said to roast just the bread was a little too long I think but the juices from the marinate soaked into the too crispy bread and it was fine.

Roasted Tomato Bread Toss

2lb tomaotes (6 cups) cut up
6 cups torn baugette or any stale bread
2 -3 T olive oil
1/2 c pitted Kalamata and/or green olives
2 T olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper

1. Position one oven rack in upper third of oven. Preheat to 400 F.
Line jelly roll pan with aluminum foil. Pat tomatoes dry with paper
towel. arrange tomatoes in single layer in pan. Place bread in large
bowl,toss with 2-3 T olive oil. arrange bread on 2nd jelly roll pan.

2. Roast tomatoes on upper rack, bread on lower rack for 20 -25
minutes for tomatoes. Leave bread in until it is lightly toasted (5-10
minutes).Roast tomatoes until they begin to wrinkle,stirring once.

3. Put bread and olives in tomato pan. combine remaining 2 t. olive
oil and remaining ingredients. toss gently, transfer to serving bowl.
Makes 8 side dish servings

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I have cooked this up for dinner countless times this winter. It is so easy and I love to make it when there is fresh broccoli available at our local supermarkets. It's perfect alongside some hot rolls.

1 bunch broccoli (you can use frozen but fresh is MUCH better)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 T butter
6 T flour
chicken bouillon
2 c. milk
~6 oz cheddar, grated (the recipe calls for Velveeta but we can't get it here and even if we could I'd still use the real deal...)

Chop broccoli and cook in 1 cup of water with a sprinkling of chicken bouillon in a covered pan (don't overcook broccoli - keep it bright green). In saucepan, saute onion in butter. Then add flour. Stir and cook until the flour is browned. Add the milk all at once and stir until it is thickened. Add the cheese (I never measure and just grate the cheese directly into the pot until I'm happy with the cheesiness...) and stir until the cheese is melted. Then add to the broccoli.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Tomato-Basil Soup

This is a yummy alternative to a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup. Thank you Betty Crocker! I didn't have enough tomatoes this time around...plus, I put extra carrots in this batch - I didn't dice them fine enough but I just threw it in the blender at the end and it was fine.

2 T olive or vegetable oil
2 medium carrots, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1 small onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
6 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (6 cups)*
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1/4 c. thinly sliced fresh basil leaves or
2 t. dried basil leaves
1/2 t. sugar
1/3 t. salt
dash of pepper

In a 3 quart saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Cook carrots, onion and garlic in oil about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned. Stir in tomatoes. Cook uncovered about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until heated through. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook uncovered about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until hot.

Fully ripe, juicy tomatoes provide the best flavor for this soup. If your tomatoes aren't completely rip, you may need to increase the salt and sugar just a bit. *3 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes, undrained, can be subsituted for the fresh tomatoes. Omit salt; increase sugar to 1 teaspoon.

Veggie Kabobs

These have become one of our favorite summer meals.  I especially love them because Jason is the master behind them and they require very little work on my part.  :)  Jason takes whatever veggies we want- usually some combination of red and green pepper, tomatoes, eggplant, zuchini, mushrooms- and puts them on skewers along with chunks of Halloum cheese- a Lebanese cheese that is beyond yummy on the grill.  It has a very spongy consistency (maybe like tofu just because I can't think of anything better to compare it to) and it's absolutely yummy with the veggies.  We've also started doing sausage kabobs because we can now get the butterball (or healthy choice) polish style sausage in one of our grocery stores that imports a lot (yah!).  (I'm still waiting for Jimmy Dean sausage to appear but I"m not counting on it).  Anyway I make a marinade of balsamic vinegar and olive oil along with garlic and some fresh herbs, Jason works his magic, and there you have it...

Vegetable Quiche cups to go

Sorry- I keep forgetting to take pretty pictures of things  (good job, Kendra! ).  I always double this recipe because they freeze well.  This is my south beach breakfast.  Makes me feel healthy just looking at them!

1 pckg (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach (I buy the bag that I think is close to 500 grams so the amount of spinach I used is actually not quite doubled when I double the recipe)

3/4 cup liquid egg substitute (never seen this here so I just crack and beat the eggs until it's the right amount)
3/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheese (I use swiss or mozzarella usually)
diced veggies of choice (I do any combination of onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic and/or mushrooms)
3 drops hot pepper sauce

Drain excess liquid from spinach.  Line muffin pan with foil baking cups.  Combine all ingredients.  Mix well and combine among muffin cups.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until set.  Recipe makes 12.