The Grownup Grilled Cheese

One of the challenges of being a vegetarian, and a mom, is that half of my cooking is done for little ones with picky palates. Most of my culinary accomplishments happen around dinner time and lunch tends to be a fend-for-yourself ordeal.  But today, while making grilled cheese for the kiddos, I realized I could
grown-up-atize this a little bit, and very easily.

I don't use butter in my grilled cheese sandwiches, if you have a cast iron skillet, it will provide enough non-stickiness that you can cut out all the unneeded fat and calories from the traditional, butter-slathered sammie.

Ingredients:

Cheese of your choice: pepperjack is a favorite of mine!
tomato, sliced
fresh spinach
bread
Italian dressing

Put 2 slices of cheese between 2 slices of bread and toast, covered,  in a cast iron skillet.  Turn when the bottom is browned and repeat on the other side.

When done, remove from heat, peel apart the sandwich and add in 2 slices of tomato, a layer of fresh spinach and a tsp of Italian dressing. Put sandwich back together and cut in half. Serve immediately.

East Meets West Fusion Burrito

Sweet and savory at the same time, my husband was extremely skeptical that this recipe would come together. But oh boy, did it ever. Veggie-full and delicious!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar (or to taste)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Get the above ingredients into a large skillet and simmering. Then add:

1 each: carrot, zucchini, green onion and red bell pepper, cut into thin sticks
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 small head of broccoli, cut into small florets
2 cups pinto beans

Simmer for twenty minutes. Then strain out the liquid and discard. Serve in warm tortillas, with a fresh tomato salsa and maybe some fat-free sour cream.

Eggs Benedict

Good for breakfast or dinner, we love eggs benedict! The trickiest part is to learn how to poach eggs. Here is an easy tutorial for this. There are many different ways to poach eggs, some use vinegar (I do not), some use fancy poaching pans. But the easiest way is to use a pot and plain water. It takes about 3 minutes for the eggs to cook. Then scoop them out with a slotted spoon and drain. Serve immediately.

Ingredients:
eggs, 1 for each person
English muffins, toasted
spinach
tomato
hollandaise sauce (I usually buy it premade, it saves time)

Poach the eggs, one at a time.

Top your English muffin with spinach, tomato, egg and hollandaise sauce. Then sprinkle on chili powder and dried parsley. Bon appetit!

Low Fat Veggie Lasagna

I love making homemade pasta sauce. If you don't have the time, you can use your own premade sauce of choice, and add in the extra ingredients from my sauce (such as artichoke hearts and kalamata olives) directly to the lasagna.

Mama Garrett's Favorite Pasta Sauce

2 cans stewed tomatoes
olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 cup of artichoke hearts
1/4 cup of chopped kalamata olives, or other olive of choice

Saute the onion and bell pepper until soft, about five minutes. Add the garlic and seasoning, and continue to cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Then add the stewed tomatoes, artichoke hearts and olives. Simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.


Lasagna

1 box "no boil" lasagna noodles
1 16. oz container of non-fat ricotta cheese
2 large balls of low-fat mozzarella cheese in water
1 cup of zucchini, thinly sliced into rounds
2 small tomatoes, thinly sliced
parmesan and parsley, to garnish

Coat the bottom of a large casserole dish with sauce and top this with your first layer of noodles. From here  the layering goes like this:

noodles
sauce
ricotta, smooshed in with fork
zucchini slices
sparingly top with mozzarella slices
Repeat.

I got about 3 layers or so. When you've filled your dish, top with noodles, sauce and sliced fresh tomato. Lastly, top with mozzarella and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes, or until bubbly. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Italian Arugula and Potato Soup

Perhaps it's because summertime in our part of the world is synonymous with endless fog, that I've been feeling so soupy lately. This one is a simple peasant soup, which reminded my husband of the potato soup his mom used to make when he was a kid. It must have been good, the kids ate it up, with seconds and thirds all around!

Ingredients:

2 pounds white potatoes, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cups vegetable stock
2 medium carrots, diced
4 ounces (or about 3 cups) arugula, spinach or other green leafy vegetable
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 loaf stale ciabatta bread, diced into 1 inch cubes (I happened to have this on hand already, but if not, you can toast the chunks in the oven prior to making the soup)
4 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
hot sauce, for serving

Saute, in a large pot, the onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add in the potatoes, stock and seasoning and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Then add in the carrots and cook another 15 minutes. Then remove from heat.

Add in the bread and arugula and cover, let sit for another 5 minutes. Serve with hot sauce on the side, for the grownups who like it spicy!

Artichoke Bruschetta

The perfect snack for our potluck this week to celebrate the official start of summer (even though here in Monterey it's perpetually foggy...hello? Sun? We miss you). It's best served at room temperature.

Ingredients:

1  jar (6 oz.) of marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
1 tomato, chopped and seeded
1/3 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup shredded romano cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped greens (I used a spinach/spring mix)
1 garlic clove, minced
4-5 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 large baguette, sliced diagonally into about 20 or 30 slices

Garnish:
shredded romano cheese
arugula

In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients (except the bread). Top the slices with the artichoke mixture and broil for about 3 minutes, or until the edges of the bread are browned. Cool for about 5 minutes. Then top with a large shaving of romano cheese and a fresh piece of arugula.

Red Lentil Soup

I've been on a soup kick lately, inspired by a cookbook my mother gave me years ago, that I've only just begun to appreciate, called The Soup Bible. This variation can be found there, although I've tweaked it a bit, because you know, I just can't ever leave a recipe alone!

 My kids love, love, love lentil soup and it is so easy to make.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups red lentils
2 onions, minced
1 carrot, chopped
2 minced cloves of garlic
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 bay leaves
a 1/4 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp. turmeric
4 cups vegetable stock, plus more as needed
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion, carrot, celery, garlic until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the stock, lentils, bay leaves, spices and stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for about an hour to an hour and a half. Add more stock, as needed, if it gets too thick, and stir occasionally to keep the lentils from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Remove the bay leaves and add the vinegar, salt and pepper. Garnish with lemons, sour cream or parsley.