Simple Vegan Pasta

If you’re a regular follower of our blog, then you know that my family participates in the Daniel fast once or twice per year.  It’s an organic, vegan, no sugar diet that encourages an “eat to live” mentality.  You can find other recipes for the Daniel Fast from last year with my Shaved Veggie Salad and Flavored Kale Chips.

Today, I’m introducing my Simple Vegan Pasta.  This year, I’m unable to take part in the Daniel Fast but this pasta dish is one that I enjoy making and eating any time of year.  It uses my favorite veggie medley – sun-dried tomatoes, onions and spinach.  I use this medley with all types of foods: eggs, potatoes, pizza…yum!  It always works!  Trust me, when you’re enjoying this meal, you don’t feel like it’s a sacrifice.

Ingredients:

½ lb whole wheat thin spaghetti

1/3 c sundried tomatoes in olive oil

½ large yellow onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

4c roughly chopped baby spinach

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion powder

¼ tsp crushed red pepper

1 tsp Italian seasoning

  

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain, rinse, and set aside. 

Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat.  Roughly chop sundried tomatoes in a mini food processor or with a knife.  Add sundried tomatoes and onions to pan.  Cook for 2 mins or until onions begin to soften.  Add garlic.  Cook another 2 minutes.  Add spinach and cook until spinach is wilted and onions are tender.

Kitchen tool: A mini food processor comes in handy for chopping small amounts of vegetables, making pestos and other dips.  Well worth the investment!  I also plan to use it to make baby food in the near future.

Reduce heat to low and add pasta to spinach mixture.  Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper, and Italian seasoning.  Stir well to ensure all ingredients are combined.  Serve immediately.

Chicken Parmesan with Quick Marinara

Chicken Parm. It's like the Club Sandwich - it's everywhere, it's on every room service menu in the USA, and I never order it. But, I know it like the back of my hand, and I love it. There is nothing wrong with cheese melted into and then on top of chicken. That's like chocolate on chocolate - awesome. 

Recently, Cooking Light had a remake of Chicken Parmesan and basically it was a portion controlled edition of what is generally a huge meal. I made a few tweaks, and a few changes (non-fat cheese and I are divorced) but the great parts are still great and the portions are filling, but not coma inducing. This is a great dinner, quick to get on the table and loved by the whole family, including our toddler. 

A while back, Antoinette made a delicious Chicken Milanese. Chicken Milanese and Chicken Parmesan are quite similar, just a few swapped seasonings and quantities, but the technique is the same. This is just a great way to cook chicken!

So for this recipe, I made the chicken, and I made a very quick and easy marinara sauce to toss over pasta and to spoon over the chicken. I started the sauce first, and it needs to cook longest, so here's that recipe first:

Quick Marinara
1 26 ounce container strained tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of butter
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a small sauce pan, combine onion, garlic, butter and tomatoes. Stir in seasonings and set to simmer while you make the rest of the meal. This needs about 30 minutes to soften all of the onions, so I like to start it a few minutes before I even start the chicken.

Here's the recipe for the chicken... 

Chicken Parmesan - adapted from Cooking Light
Makes 6 servings
Preheat oven to broil

1/2 pound spaghetti (1/2 a regular box)
1 pound of thin cut chicken breasts, or about 3 breasts cut in half lengthwise
3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, sliced thin

Start a large pot of salted water to boil. While this bowls, set the chicken breading station - this is a quick assembly line for chicken breading...
Station 1 plate: seasoned flour. Combine flour, garlic powder and salt
Station 2 shallow bowl: beaten eggs
Station 3 plate: Panko crumbs. Combine Panko bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.

First, dip chicken in the seasoned flour, shaking off excess. Then dip chicken in beaten egg. Next toss chicken in bread crumb mixture, pressing the bread crumbs in so they stick well. 

Once all of the chicken is coated in bread crumbs, start a non-stick skillet to medium heat and add 1 teaspoon of olive oil. I was able to cook these in batches of only 2. The chicken needs some room to brown well rather than steaming and getting soggy. Don't worry about it cooling down, it goes back in the oven in just a sec.

OK, so cook chicken in batches, about 4 - 5 minutes on each side or until thoroughly cooked and nicely browned. 

I had three batches of chicken. On batch 3, start the noodles - they'll be nicely cooked by the time all the chicken has been cooked.

Once the chicken is cooked, place on a parchment lined baking sheet and top with a slice of mozzarella. Broil for 2 minutes or until the cheese is melted and browned in places. 

Toss the cooked spaghetti with the tomato sauce - there will be extra sauce. Spoon the sauce over the chicken. We ate this with broccoli and green beans. Delicious!

Things made this time last year...

Lemon and Caper Salmon en Papillote

Chicken with Melted Lemons - my husband's last birthday meal!

Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad

Stuffed Peppers and Mushrooms - and Cupcakes!!

Recipe REMAKE...Braised Beef Short Ribs

What is not to love about a piece of beef short rib that falls off the bone and melts in your mouth?  I mean…really!  I decided to modify my Beef Short Ribs over Penne recipe and just make the short ribs for Christmas day.  I was over turkey and ham after Thanksgiving so I wanted to do something different that was sure to please.  And, IT DID!

The slight modifications involved adding veggies.  I added carrots and celery to the braising liquid to add more flavor and substance.  Unlike the other recipe, I did not shred the meat after cooking and did not serve it over pasta.  Actually, I picked all of the spare ribs out of the pot, and spooned the veggie mixture over the short ribs to keep them moist.  Then I added a desired amount of cooking liquid.  These were a great addition to our Christmas meal!  It just goes to show you how one recipe can be used in different ways.  Get creative in the kitchen NPC-ers!

Braised Beef Short Ribs

Ingredients:

4lbs beef short ribs

salt and pepper

¼ c olive oil

1 large onion, diced

1c chopped celery

1c chopped carrots

3 cloves garlic, minced

6 whole, peeled, canned San Marzano tomatoes

1c red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon

3 tbsp Dijon mustard

2c beef stock

1 tsp crushed red pepper

Place an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven.  Preheat oven to 350F.

Season ribs generously with salt and pepper.  In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  In batches, add ribs and brown on all sides (about 8-10 mins).  Remove ribs and set aside.  Add the tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.  Cook, stirring frequently for 2 mins.  Add the wine and mustard.  Bring mixture to a boil and scrape up brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Return ribs to pan.  Add stock, stir gently, and cover the pan and place in oven for 2 hrs until meat is fork-tender and easily falls off the bone.

Note: I slightly reduced the cooking time from the pasta recipe.  I wanted them to be tender but not quite falling off the bone since the short ribs were not going to be shredded.  Feel free to cook longer if desired.

Remove ribs from the cooking liquid and place in a large serving dish.  Using a slotted spoon, scoop veggies out of cooking liquid and pour over short ribs.  Season with salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste.

Recommendation: Make these with mashed potatoes and pour some of the cooking liquid over the beef and potatoes.  Oh my gosh, YUM!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Hi everyone!  I’m back!  Antoinette, that is :).  Thank you all for bearing with me while we reduced the number of recipes that the NPC team posted.  It was really helpful to me after the birth of my daughter on November 13^th.  I am pleased to say that we are both healthy and happy!  Now, I’m finally ready to get back to cooking.  Being a mom is hard work!

One of the first meals I made as a new mom was this Slow Cooker Pot Roast.  I obviously needed something that was super quick and hands off since I was taking care of a newborn.  This was perfect.  It’s one of those dishes where you just throw everything in the slow cooker and let it do the work!  How can you go wrong?

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Ingredients:

Salt

Pepper

Cooking spray

1 chuck roast

4-5 red potatoes

2 large carrots

3 celery stalks

1 small onion

1 package onion soup mix

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tbsp minced garlic

¼ c water

Season roast with salt and pepper.  Heat a large skillet over high heat.  Spray pan with cooking spray.  Sear  (brown) roast on all sides.  Set aside.

Tip: Browning meat seals the exterior and keeps it juicy during the long cooking process.

Chop red potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion into large chunks.  Add to slow cooker.  Sprinkle veggies with salt, pepper, rosemary and half of a package of onion soup mix.  Add minced garlic. 

Place seared roast on top of veggies and sprinkle with remaining onion soup mixture.  Pour water over roast. 

Cook on high heat for 6 hours or to desired doneness.  Beef should pull apart easily with a fork.

Brunch Bake... aka Christmas Eggs

For years my mom hosted a Christmas Eve open house. It was always one of my favorite parties - dinner of appetizers, great company, chocolates, cookies, wine and lots of candles. Some years my mom would get a big ham and we would all make little sammies or just peel off and eat delicious ham. 

When everyone left and the food that needed to be put away was wrapped up and the candles were melty and low, we would start make Christmas Eggs. The next morning, we would make coffee, take the Christmas Eggs out of the fridge, warm up the oven and open stockings. When stockings were done, we'd eat our Christmas Eggs and gear up for the next round of presents. It's a Christmas tradition I am keeping!

Christmas Eggs are basically a breakfast casserole. It's super easy to put together the night before and bake on demand the next morning. 

Christmas Eggs
Serves 6
Preheat oven to 350

1 loaf of crusty French bread
1 tablespoon butter
8 eggs
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup dijon mustard
6 oz cubed ham (or more. The only reason I know for sure how much I used, was because we didn't have a Christmas Eve ham and I used a measured package.)
1 cup of shredded cheese (I like pepper jack)
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Grease the bottom of a 9x13 (or similar sized baking dish) with 1 tablespoon of butter. Roughly cut up the French bread or tear into pieces and scatter them in the baking dish. Cube the ham, grate the cheese and scatter these over top the bread pieces.

Whisk the eggs, milk, mustard, salt and pepper until eggs are fully whipped and the milk and mustard are totally incorporated, about 2 minutes. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread, ham and cheese. Cover and store in the fridge overnight.

The next morning, take the Christmas Eggs out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 350. Bake uncovered for 35-45 minutes, until the edges are browned and the egg is fully cooked. You should be able to see cooked egg between the bread pieces. Serve hot.

A few things about this recipe...
It has to sit and soak in for a while. Overnight works really well, but if you like breakfast for dinner, assembling in the morning and cooking for dinner is great too.
If you don't like pepper jack, sharp cheddar is a great substitute. I like to add a pinch of red pepper flakes if I use milder cheese.
I used plain French bread this time, but a jalapeno cheddar loaf is awesome!
I've brought this to lots of brunches. I've baked this in ramekins for individual servings. I've doubled the recipe, I've cut it in half. This is wonderful. 
If you don't like ham, don't use it.

Happy New Year to all!!

Wonderpot - One Pot Dinner

So the weeknight dinners in our house are forever changed. Forever. This took less than 30 minutes. It was delicious. It had tons of veggies. It was SO easy! I'd seen this kind of thing floating around on the Internets, but I had yet to try it. I don't know why I was waiting. 

I changed this up quite a bit from all the recipes I found online, but the basic idea stayed the same - all components of the meal are plunked into a big pot and cooked together. It's like a super easy crockpot meal, but in less time than it takes to watch a Seinfeld rerun. Amazing.

Wonderpot: One Pot Dinner - adapted from Budget Bytes and the Internets
Serves 4+ in less than 30 minutes

1 pound of dried pasta - I used linguini
8 ounces mushrooms
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 large onion sliced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 6oz jar marinated artichoke hearts
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
10oz fresh spinach
crumbled feta cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place sliced onions, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, garlic, marinated artichoke hearts, pasta, spices, oil, chicken broth, wine and water into a giant pot. 

With a cover on the pot, let everything boil, stirring a few times to mash everything down and rearrange the ingredients. Turn the flame down to a simmer and replace the lid. While the pot simmers, stir occasionally to keep the noodles from sticking together.

When the noodles are done - about 5 or 6 minutes after the pot boils - put all of the spinach in the pot and stir to wilt and incorporate. 

Serve in bowls and top with feta cheese, ground pepper and salt. Enjoy!!

A few things about this recipe...
I found recipes for this with fewer veggies and more limited variety. I am always looking for ways to up the veggies and up the variety and this was a great one for extra veggies.
If you don't like using wine, forget about it. Use another cup of chicken broth or more water. 5 cups of liquid worked well for the amount of veggies and pasta I used. 
I think this has potential to be a thousand different flavors - kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes - pretty much anything I'd want on a pizza sounds good here!
One recipe listed canned, diced tomatoes - that sounds like a great alternative to the cherry tomatoes I used. 

Things made this time last year...
Hot Chocolate Mix with Dark Chocolate Bits - a perfect gift in a jar!!

Broccoli and Cheddar Soup - a great meal for a cold night... also a pretty quick dinner.