Vegetable Pot Pies (Pie)

O.K, this recipe is supposed to make 8 x 1-cup individual pot pies, and I don't know about you, but I just don't have ANY (never mind 8) ramekins sitting around my kitchen! So, I just made one large vegetable pie (like my Mom's meat pies when I was a kid - still a favorite when she comes to visit!). So, it was great to discover a vegetarian version!

Served with oranges and a yummy jello (not shown - yes you are missing out!)

Dough

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 4 Tbs. cold soy margarine, cut into pieces

Filling

• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 medium leek, white and green parts chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped celery
• 2 large carrots, diced (1 cup)
• 8 oz. button mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
• 4 oz. red-skinned potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (1 1/2 cups)
• 2 1/4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 2 Tbs. creamy cashew butter, optional
• 6 asparagus spears, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup fresh or thawed frozen peas
• 1/2 cup fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels

Directions

1. To make Dough: Whisk together flours and salt in bowl. Cut or rub margarine into flour mixture until no large pieces remain. Stir in 3 to 4 Tbs. cold water until smooth dough forms. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill while making Filling.
2. To make Filling: Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add leek, celery, carrots, and mushrooms; sauté 5 to 7 minutes, or until tender. Stir in flour 
and garlic, and cook 1 minute. Add potatoes, broth, and poultry seasoning. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in cashew butter (if using), and 
cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat, and stir in asparagus, peas, and corn.
3. Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out Dough to 1/8-inch thickness. If using ramekins, cut into 8 4-inch rounds. Or, if making one pie, just roll it out!
4. Divide Filling among 8 1-cup ramekins (or pour all into a large pie dish). Place dough rounds on top, pressing dough around sides of ramekins with fork to crimp and seal. Poke hole in top of each pot pie. Place pot pies on baking sheet (important to contain overflow), and bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until tops are golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. 

Oops! I forgot to poke a cool design in the crust!

Our Opinions

Without getting direct quotes from everyone, let me just say that this was a huge success. Everyone really liked the vegetable pie! The only request is to use my Mom's pastry recipe instead of the one above (it is a bit dense and tough).

With the crust as written in the recipe, the average rating is 4 out of 5 stars.

If made with a light and flaky crust, the rating goes up to 4.7 out of 5 stars.

This recipe is a keeper! I will make it again, but with a flaky crust!

Homemade Pizza!

Friday night we decided to have pizza, and with so many veggies in the fridge, what better than to make our own? Though I have made pizza crust out of my wheat bread recipe, I decided to go with a traditional white crust.

Pizza Dough

• 2-3/4  -  3-1/4 C flour
• 1 package (1 T.) dry yeast
• 1 C. warm water
• 2 T. cooking oil
• 1/4 t. salt

Combine 1-1/4 C. flour with yeast and salt, add water and salt. Beat with electric beater on low for 30 seconds, constantly scraping the bowl. Then continue  beating on high speed for 3 minutes. Slowly stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in as much remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 - 8 minutes total). Divide in half and let rest 10 minutes.

From here you can roll the dough out for a thin crust, or just stretch it out to bake on a stone (follow the directions for your baking stone), or you can spread in a greased pan for a thicker crust pan pizza.

Pizza Sauce

• 15-ounce can tomato sauce
• Tomato, diced (optional, or small can petite diced tomatoes)
• 1/2 C. diced onion
• 1 T. basil
• 1 t. sugar
• 1 t. oregano
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 t. pepper

Combine all in a sauce pan over medium high heat, bring to a boil, reduce to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Now it is ready to use!

Spread sauce on dough, either store bought or homemade.

Now comes the fun part! Like any home pizza making endeavor, pull out of your fridge anything that sounds good and use it as topping on your pizza. We used sweet peppers (green, red, yellow and orange), red onions, green onions, mushrooms, spinach, zucchini, sun dried tomatoes, and some artichoke hearts. Later we realized we had forgotten the pineapple. Oh, well, there will be a next time! We did not have any mozzarella cheese, so we used cheddar, queso fresco and a little feta.

Place pizza in an oven preheated to 400℉, and bake for 10 - 20 minutes. Just check regularly for doneness, especially the dough in the center of the pizza. The thickness of the dough and the amount of toppings can affect the cooking time.

We baked two pizzas, the first one had better flavor, but was baked a bit too long. The crust on the 2nd pizza was cooked to perfection, but had fewer ingredients. Overall it was a huge success, the kids enjoyed the vegetarian pizza as much as the adults, plus we all had a lot of fun making them as a family. The toppings the kids were unsure of, they simply omitted from the second pizza.

Potential as a family favorite for ANY family because you can make it any way you like it!

BBQ Veggies & Greek Lentil Salad

So many colors means a wide variety of nutrients!

There was a variety of new things on this plate for us. The corn, potatoes, bell peppers and onions were all done the on the BBQ. I will mention how down below, as well as the basics for the spinach salad. The bread is home made whole wheat bread (some day soon I will give the recipe), and the funny looking brown stuff between the corn and the bell peppers is a lentil salad. Since that was the real new NEW thing in the meal, I will start with it.

Greek Lentil Salad

Try this salad as a take-along lunch or a light dinner. Unlike most dried beans, lentils don’t need to be soaked before cooking, but they still offer all the same protein and fiber benefits.

Serves 4 (or more like 8 smaller servings ;-)

• 1 cup French green lentils, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 small onion
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
• 2 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1 small cucumber, diced (1 cup)
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced (1 cup)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

1. Place lentils, onion, bay leaves, and 6 cups water in large saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 25 to 30 minutes, or until lentils are tender. Drain, remove onion and bay leaves, and cool.
2. Stir together shallot and lemon juice in large bowl. Add lentils, cucumber, tomatoes, mint, and oil; stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Chill 1 hour, or overnight. Serve topped with feta.

Per Serving (1 Cup): 228 calories, 12g protein, 7g total fat (2g sat. fat), 33g carbs, 8mg cholesterol, 116 mg sodium, 8g fiber, 4g sugars

Recipe from Vegetarian Times magazine, June 2011, pg. 61.

Notes: I don't know how you would possibly eat a whole cup of this! But maybe that is because I have only had lentils a few times before, and that was in soup!

Our Opinions

Erika - Before even tasting it: "The thing about this salad is the way it looks - weird!"
After tasting it: "The texture is mushy and grainy. It is like baby food that is not quite processed all the way. I don't really care for it." (a nice way of saying - I don't like it!)

1-1/2 stars out of 5 (I think she was trying to be kind)

William - "Didn't like it at all"

1 out of 5 stars

Jeff - I really liked the fresh mint (fresh mint & rosemary compliments of Jeff's mom's garden - so it was REALLY fresh!) and the tomatoes. "I think I overcooked the lentils, because they were a bit mushy". Mainly Jeff said he was glad to try something totally new. Especially since he had never had lentils in a salad before, and considering that he does not like cucumbers.

2 out of 5 stars

Michelle - The flavor was rather fresh, especially compared to everything else on the plate. The texture is a bit of a problem. I will eat more of this salad, probably for lunch tomorrow. Maybe sitting overnight will improve the salad over all.

2 out of 5 stars

Garrett was gone for this meal. Maybe I will save some for him to try when he gets home tomorrow!

Overall Opinion -  Jeff and I will eat a bit more, but I doubt we will eat it all. This is one dish we will not make again!

Average Rating: 1.6 out of 5 stars

Now THAT is out of the way, the rest of the meal was great! Plus, it was easy to make.

Corn on the Cob with Basil-Parmesan Butter

• 1/4 C. softened butter
• 1/4 C. freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 2 T. finely chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. black pepper
• 1/4 t. granulated garlic
• 4 ears corn, husked

1. Mix everything together (except corn ;-).
2. Rub about 1 T. of seasoned butter mixture into corn.
3. Grill over Direct Medium heat until tender and browned in spots, about 10 - 15 minutes, turning occasionally. 
4. Serve warm with the remaining butter spread on the corn.

Notes - I did 5 ears of corn, and used a bit less butter, plus I had plenty of butter left over that I tossed. BUT, we have raised our kids using hardly any butter (they don't put it on toast, pancakes, rolls, potatoes - just because that is how they have grown up). We normally only salt and pepper our corn, so BBQ-ing the corn with seasoned butter was novel - and none of us added any more butter when it was served.

Our Opinion

To keep it quick, let me just say, everyone thought the corn was delicious! It drew the movie quote - and joke around the dinner table of: "This corn is an angel".

Grill Roasted New Potatoes

The short of it is, cut up however many small red potatoes you need (based upon how many people you are feeding) into quarters. For about 6 potatoes, combine 2 T. olive oil, 2 t. fresh rosemary, 1/2 t. salt, and 1/2 t. pepper. Toss the potatoes in the oil mixture. Grill over direct medium heat for 15 - 20 minutes, turning about every 5 minutes.

Our Opinion

Everyone really liked the potatoes, they were a big hit!

Spinach Salad

I love fixing spinach salads, because they are so quick! Almost no prep time involved. For this salad I used fresh spinach with mandarin oranges, feta cheese, walnuts, and dried cranberries. I drizzled a little fat free poppyseed dressing over the top and tossed it all together.

Our Opinion

Everyone liked the salad a lot. Erika is my non-salad eater (though she is getting better - she always has a little!), but she does prefer salads with fruit. She said she liked this salad, but would prefer it without the dressing.


Overall opinion of the meal (not including the lentil salad since that was a flop): 4 out of 5 stars


Whew! Time for bed!

Vegetable Rosti with Tomato-Corn Relish

We served the Rosti with fresh watermelon and orange slices, along with artisan bread (not shown). As Jeff said, "the watermelon is the perfect thing to serve with this, it really compliments the dish"

A little flour and egg bind together grated vegetables to make satisfying patties. We’ve topped them with a summery relish, but you could easily substitute salsa or sautéed mushrooms.

Serves 4

Tomato-Corn Relish

• 3 cups fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels
• 2 small tomatoes, chopped (11/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil or parsley
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. chopped onion
• 3 tsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)

Rosti

• 2 medium white potatoes
• 2 large carrots
• 2 small zucchini
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1. To make Tomato-Corn Relish: Combine all ingredients in bowl. Set aside.
2. To make Rosti: Grate potatoes, carrots, and zucchini onto clean kitchen towel. Wrap towel around vegetables, and squeeze to remove excess liquid. Transfer vegetables to bowl, and stir in onion, flour, and garlic. Fold in eggs, and season with salt and pepper, if desired.
3. Coat large skillet with cooking spray, and heat over medium heat. Spoon 2 Tbs. Rosti mixture for 
each patty, shaping with spoon to make patties. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, or until bottoms are crisp. Carefully flip with spatula, and cook 2 minutes more, or until browned on both sides. Serve with Tomato-Corn Relish. 

Per Serving (6 rosti and 3/4 cup relish): 328 calories, 12g protein, 8g total fat (2g sat. fat), 57g carbs, 93mg cholesterol, 105mg sodium, 8g fiber, 15g sugar

Recipe from Vegetarian Times magazine, June 2011, pg. 63.

Our Opinions

This dish was very favorably received! It was a very hands on dish to prepare, but we do a lot of cooking as a family, so everyone pitched in to help.

William: "It's not something you are eating because you are a slave to the culture" (we had been discussing hot dogs!). William helped form and cook the rosti.

4 out of 5 stars

Erika: "I thought it was pretty good. The combination of fresh, full flavors, exploded in my mouth."

4 out of 5 stars

Garrett: We used basil in the relish, but G. thought the amount called for was a bit too much. He would cut the basil in half and leave the rest alone.

4 out of 5 stars

Jeff: I really liked the rosti's. I thought the relish was also a little heavy on the basil. They were refreshing and delicious, and I would want them again. I really enjoyed the meal overall, the rosti, oranges, watermelon and bread.

4 out of 5 stars

Me: I also really liked the dish. The rosti were warm, but the relish cold, but together they were a nice combination. I definitely encourage adding salt and pepper (preferably while they are cooking).

4 out of 5 stars

Overall opinion:  This is a dish we will have again! Everybody liked it, and with a few tweaks with the basil, this meal an all round winner!

Average rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

Potato and Cauliflower Burritos

To complete the meal, and add a bit of color to the plate, we served watermelon along with the burritos. But a green salad would have gone a long ways for a more appetising presentation!

Makes 4 burritos

Flavorful potatoes and cauliflower keep calories down but satisfaction levels high

1  15-oz. can fire-roasted crushed (or diced) tomatoes
1  chipotle chili in adobe sauce, drained (I couldn't find this in our store, so I used a can of chopped green chilis)
2  cloves garlic, peeled
2  tsp. canola oil
1  small onion, sliced (about 1 cup)
1/2  tsp. dried oregano
3  c. small cauliflower florets
1  medium Yukon gold or russet potato (6 oz.), cut into small (1/4") cubes
3  Tbs. chopped cilantro
4  8-inch flour or whole wheat tortillas, warmed
1  c. cooked brown rice, warmed
1  c. grated monterey jack cheese

1. Pulse tomatoes, chipotle chile, and garlic in food processor until coarse purée forms.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil (I just used olive oil spray) in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and oregano; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in cauliflower, potato, and tomato mixture, and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Uncover, and simmer 5 minutes more, or until cauliflower and potato are tender (I cooked about 30 minutes total, but I like my potatoes totally cooked!). Stir in cilantro.
3. Divide cauliflower mixture among tortillas, top with rice, and sprinkle with cheese. Roll up tortillas, leaving one end open.
4. Optional: We served with salsa and sour cream!

Per Burrito: 366 calories, 10 g. protein, 12 g. total fat (<1 g. sat. fat), 55 g. carbs, 491 mg. sodium, 7 g. fiber, 7 g. sugar.

Recipe from Vegetarian Times magazine, June 2011, pg. 36.

Our Opinions!

Jeff:  "I thought the cauliflower was going to be a gag, but I couldn't have been more wrong! This recipe is a keeper!"

4.5 out of 5 stars

William (18): "Fully satisfying" (went back for 2nds!)

4 our of 5 stars

Erika (14): "I'm a pretty picky vegetable eater, and I liked it!" (Erika was concerned about tasting individual vegetable flavors, but couldn't, only the overall combined flavor of the dish)

4.5 our of 5 stars

Garrett (12):  "Pretty darn good!"

4 out of 5 stars

My thoughts: I thought the dish sounded weird at first. After all, I have heard of bean burritos, but cauliflower and potato? But I was also very happy with the combination of flavors. We added extra cauliflower and potato, since there were 5 of us and the recipe says it only serves 4, and have enough leftovers for about 3 more! Also, some people have to adjust to brown rice, but that is all we have eaten for years, so that was not a problem for any of us.

4 out of 5 stars

Overall opinion: This is dish is a keeper! We will add this to our repertoire of recipes!

Average rating: 4.2 out of 5 stars