Category: Main Dishes

Roasted Beet and Onion Pizza

This recipe is my entry into the Somerville Winter Market recipe contest. I took careful note of your suggestions, and came up with this Roasted Beet and Onion pizza. I wanted to use simple and abundant winter produce, and beets and onions fit the bill. And because just about everyone loves pizza, it’s a great way to introduce less familiar produce such as beets.

I chose to use whole grain pizza dough, which you could make on your own or purchase from a bakery or grocery store. Smoked paprika is one of my favorite new spices, and I love the way it tastes with balsamic vinegar. And finally, the cheese was purchased from Robinson Farm, with a creamy texture and nutty taste.

Putting it all together, this certainly isn’t a traditional pizza, but hopefully something you will like just as much as I did! The pizza has a sweet and earthy tone, and it makes a hearty meal. The vegetables could be roasted on the weekend, and then used to make an easy weeknight dinner. If you’re lucky, you’ll have a piece leftover for lunch the next day.

1 lb. whole wheat pizza dough
5 onions, peeled and thinly sliced
5 golden beets, scrubbed, trimmed, and diced
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T olive oil
1 t smoked paprika
3/4 c. shredded cheese, such as Robinson Farm ‘A Barndance’
Set dough in a glass bowl coated with cooking spray, and cover with a towel. Place onions, beets, vinegar, and oil in a baking dish and toss well. Roast at 400F for 60-90 minutes, or until beets are tender.

When pizza dough has come to room temperature, spread dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Top with beet mixture, paprika, and shredded cheese. Bake at 400F for 12-15 minutes.

Butter Chicken

Our cooking club’s “Spices” dinner was a great success! We started with an appetizer of chickpeas and spinach with smoked paprika, and then moved on to Kicked-Up Macaroni and Cheese and Butter Chicken. We finished the night with Orange Cardamom Cake and cups of tea.

This butter chicken features coriander, cumin, cardamom, and cayenne pepper. In fact, the chicken marinates in the spices and lime juice overnight, which is a big help when you are hosting dinner. The next day, I sauteed some onions in butter and cooked the chicken with tomatoes and tomato sauce. I followed the recipe, except that I forgot to add the cream before serving. I can’t believe I did that, I guess I was distracted by all the other great food.
The final dish was good though, and I would make it again, and perhaps increase the spices next time. It was fairly mild, even for me. Oh, and next time I’ll make basmati rice as suggested too. But on this night I made some naan – more on that tomorrow!

Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie

It seems this week is all about comfort food. I remember my Mom’s Shepherd’s Pie well, with the crispy edges of mashed potato in the ceramic dish with the blue flowers. Two years ago, I made a version of that recipe with sweet potato in the topping. This time, I made the dish completely vegetarian, inspired by this recipe from Meatless Monday. And I promise, you won’t miss the meat one bit!

The base is comprised of leeks, carrots, mushrooms, lentils, and barley, and the topping is fairly traditional mashed potato. Be warned – this recipe makes a lot, and it was more than I could even fit in my round casserole dish. I had to assemble a second casserole dish for the freezer, to bake another day. But when it came out of the oven, all was forgiven because this dish is fantastic, crispy edges of mashed potato and all. The texture of the base is great too, and just needed a bit more salt and pepper. I am not sure if shepherd’s pie is the right name for this dish, but it’s a pie you should make very soon!

4 c. water
1/2 c. barley
1 c. lentil
4 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 T butter or margarine
Milk
1 T olive oil
2 leeks, washed and sliced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 (10 oz.) packages mushrooms, sliced
1 t garlic powder
2 T soy sauce

Place water, lentils, and barley in a covered pot, and simmer for 45-60 minutes, adding more water if needed.

In the meantime, cook potatoes until tender. Drain, mash, and add butter or margarine and milk.

At the same time, heat oil in a large frying pan. Add leeks and carrot, and saute for 10 minutes until softened. Add mushrooms, and cook for 10 additional minutes. Add garlic powder and soy sauce. When lentils are done, add lentil mixture to frying pan. Pour base in a casserole dish (or two!) coated with cooking spray. Top with mashed potato. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes.

Baked Ziti with Spinach

There is nothing like a plate of lasagna, piping hot from oven and smothered in sauce. This dish recreates that experience, but in a much simpler way, and with an extra helping of vegetables. My sister raved about this Low Fat Baked Ziti with Spinach, so I made it myself and changed a few things along the way. I used less pasta to ensure that there was plenty of extra sauce, added some Garlic Gold, and consolidated the use of three pans to two. This was an amazing dinner, and it makes quite a bit so I am all set for lunches this week too!

1 13.25 oz. package whole wheat ziti
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
10 oz. package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 t Garlic Gold toasted garlic
1 t. Italian seasoning
1 c. fat free ricotta
1/4 c. Parmesan
2 c. reduced fat mozzarella

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, and return to the same pot. Add tomatoes, spinach, garlic, seasoning, ricotta, Parmesan, and 1 c. of mozzarella. Stir well. Pour into a 13″x9″ dish coated with cooking spray, and then top with remaining 1 c. mozzarella. Bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes.

Sage Rubbed Pork Chops with Warm Apple Slaw

On my visit to the Somerville Winter Market a couple of weeks ago, I also purchased pork chops from Stillman’s, a local farm which raises sustainable meat. All of the meat is sold frozen, so I placed the pork in my freezer and decided to keep my eye out for recipes. Finally, I decided to make these Sage Rubbed Pork Chops with Apple Slaw from Ellie Krieger. All of the vegetables in this dish are also seasonal: onions, carrots, cabbage, and apples.

The meat itself was fabulous. I actually can’t remember the last time I cooked pork, and going back to my blog archives was no help! But the pork chop was moist and tender, and I liked the fresh sage seasoning. The slaw was a great complement. The vegetables were nicely softened and the apple gave it a slightly sweet flavor. This was a great meal, and I will definitely purchase meat from Stillman’s again.

Palak Dal Spinach and Lentils

In honor of my first homemade naan, I also whipped up this Palak Dal, Spinach and Lentils. Except that I used yellow split peas instead of lentils. Ooops. I am pretty sure that made some kind of difference because this dal had the consistency of soup. The good news was that I had time on my hands that day, and could wait for the dal to simmer on the stove for say, two hours, until it reached the desired consistency. The better news was that I liked the way the spices came together, and still enjoyed the final dish, scooped up with my naan. I promise to try this again soon, with real lentils!

Roasted Cabbage and Potatoes in the Crockpot

So what’s the first thing I did with my local winter produce? Stuffed some in my crockpot, of course. I used this recipe, which is very minimalist, calling for cabbage, potatoes, garlic, oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. I used minced garlic instead of whole cloves, and confess to not taking out any measuring spoons, but everything turned out just fine.

There is not a lot of liquid, and the cabbage sticks a little to the sides, but that’s a good thing. It really tastes like you’ve fried the cabbage and potatoes, without the effort required to stand guard over a frying pan for an hour. The dish isn’t necessarily that attractive, but then again, neither is boiled cabbage and potatoes. And this version has a whole lot more flavor, without needing to cook a corned beef. Let’s call it an Italian version of an Irish staple.

Spinach and Feta Pizza

When I need a fast and easy dinner, pizza is my go-to meal. And no, I don’t mean take out.

I buy either whole wheat or multi-grain dough, and then separate it into individual portions to freeze. So when it’s going to be a pizza night, I just have to remember to thaw the dough before I leave the house in the morning. This time, I thawed two portions of dough, and a box of spinach.

While the dough was resting on the counter under a towel, I squeezed the water out of the spinach, and mixed in a teaspoon of toasted Garlic Gold and a heaping quarter cup of feta cheese.

It’s important to let the dough rest for a bit so that it stretches easily. When the dough was ready, I shaped each piece into a thin circle, and then added the spinach-feta topping. After 12 minutes in the oven at 400F, it was pizza time. One for dinner, and one for tomorrow’s lunch.

Potato and Leek Gratin

I’ve had this Potato and Leek Gratin recipe in my queue for a while. I remember gratins from when I was a kid, with thin slices of potato, a cheesy cream sauce, and crispy edges. This is a more sophisticated version, with sauteed leeks and more spices.

To make this recipe just a little healthier, I used reduced fat cheese and skim milk. However, the gratin turned out much more watery than I expected. The flavor was almost perfect, but there was a substantial amount of broth in the bottom of the dish. And that is why slotted spoons were invented. I think I would use less milk next time, or perhaps find a slightly different recipe, but I am keeping the leeks!

Cold Sesame Noodles with Broccoli

Happy New Year! Did you catch my Top 10 Recipes of 2010? I’ll cover my goals for the year towards the end of the week, so today we’ll get right to the first recipe of 2011.

I saw this recipe for Sesame Peanut Sauce and was intrigued. Tea steeped for 3 hours? Happens sometimes when I forget about my mug. Peanut butter? A daily staple. Garlic, ginger, and sesame seeds? Like ’em all. So on New Year’s Day, my first order of business was pulling this sauce together. And then I used it to make these cold sesame noodles with broccoli. This was a great recipe, and perfect for slurping up while relaxing on a holiday. But this got even better when it sat in the refrigerator for a day, so it will make a great packed lunch!

6 oz. whole wheat linguine, cooked, drained, and rinsed in cold water
8 oz. chopped broccoli, steamed, drained, and rinsed in cold water
1/2 c. Sesame Peanut Sauce
Mix noodles, broccoli, and peanut sauce in a bowl. Serve immediately, or chill for a few hours in the refrigerator.