Orzo Salad

This was inspired by Ina Garten's Roasted Shrimp and Orzo Salad and the orzo risotto recipe from my cooking class. It can be served hot or cold. It was quite tasty hot and I'll be having it cold tomorrow for lunch. I served it with some roasted beets and kale chips. 


Orzo Salad
olive oil
2 small carrots, sliced
1 head broccoli, chopped
1 handful peas
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup orzo

1 handful parsley, finely chopped

1 sprig oregano, finely chopped

5 basil leaves, finely chopped

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper
1/2 cucumber chopped
1/2 block feta cheese, crumbled
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add carrots, broccoli, and peas and sweat for 3 minutes. Add water and bring to boil. Add orzo and cook for 8-10 minutes or until water is absorbed. Put orzo in a serving bowl. In a small bowl, mix herbs, vinegar, and olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Add dressing, cucumber, and feta to orzo. Stir to combine and adjust seasonings as necessary.

Kale Chips

One of the ladies at the community garden gave me this recipe. I was completely surprised when Natty actually ate a few!


Kale Chips
1 bunch kale, cut into bite size pieces
olive oil
salt
Toss kale in olive oil and salt. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until crispy.

Roasted Veggie Salad

While eating this, Kevin said, "If this salad was served at a restaurant, it would be a restaurant known for its salad." What can I say? That man knows how to complement the person cooking for him! 


Roasted Veggie Salad
2 kohlrabi, cut into 1/2" chunks
6 small red potatoes, cut in half
3 spring onions, cut in half
2 zucchini, cut into 1/2" chunks
1 head romaine lettuce, torn into bite size chunks
1 tomato, chopped
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
dressing of your choice, I went with pepper parm because I ran out of time to make my own.
Toss kohlrabi, potatoes, onions, and zucchini in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast at 350 until tender. While the veggies are cooking, divide lettuce, tomato, and cheese into two large salad bowls. Top with veggies and dressing. Serve while roasted veggies are still warm.

Mom's Zucchini Bread

Well, it's kind of mom's zucchini bread. I was a little taken aback by how much sugar was in it, so I made an adjustment and swapped out some sugar for applesauce. I also ran out of cinnamon and ended up using some nutmeg instead. And, finally, I halfed the amount of raisins and added some craisins since Natty loves them and I was looking for a selling point. I'm providing the original recipe and my modifications. It turns out if I cook veggies into bread, Natty will eat it and ask for more! What other veggies can I cook into bread? Spinach bread? Broccoli bread? Nah... I'll guess there's no easy way to get a toddler to try spinach.


Mom's Zucchini Bread
1 large zucchini, grated and drained
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar (original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cup sugar and no applesauce)
3/4 cup applesauce 
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon (original recipe calls for 3 tsp cinnamon and no nutmeg)
2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup raisins (original recipe calls for 1 cup and no craisins)
1/2 cup craisins
1 cup chopped walnuts (I omitted these)
Stir together zucchini, eggs, oil, sugar, applesauce, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Mix zucchini mixture with flour mixture. Stir in raisins, craisins, and walnuts. Pour into two loaf pans and cook at 375 for one hour or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Super Simple Casserole

I admit it. I totally stole this idea from the woman who runs our community garden. It's super simple and a great way to get the veggies in at dinnertime. Kevin said he liked the casserole so much it must go deep into his ancestry. He had to explain this to me several times, but the gist of it is that he really liked it a lot. I served this with our first fresh tomatoes of the season sprinkled with salt and pepper. Yummy!


Simple Chicken and Veggie Casserole
1 package chicken breast, cooked
1 medium head broccoli
1 small head cauliflower
1 kohlrabi
1 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tblsp chicken seasoning
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup swiss cheese
Blanch veggies. Put chicken and veggies in casserole dish. In separate dish, mix yogurt, mayo, and chicken seasoning to taste. Pour over chicken and veggies and stir to combine. In a separate dish, mix breadcrumbs and cheese. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake in 400 degree oven until top browns and veggies cook to desired tenderness.

Veggie Soup

I feel like the beginning and end of CSA season leave me thinking, "So, I have this bag of greens. Now what?" Even though I've been trying to steer away from getting mass quantities of greens and I've been freezing a bunch for the winter, I still seem to end up with a bag full of greens at the end of each week and I'm tired of eating them sautéed in olive oil. This time I went for a nice veggie soup. I make most of my soups the night before I want to eat them since I've never met a soup that doesn't taste ten times better on day two. I served it with a couple of slices of fresh baked honey whole wheat bread.


Veggie Soup
2 tblsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped 
1/2 medium head cabbage, chopped
4 cups mixed greens, chopped (I had kale, chard, and broccoli greens)
1 quart homemade veggie stock
1 large handful fresh parsley, chopped
3 sprigs fresh oregano, chopped
5 small pattypan squash, sliced
salt and pepper
crushed red pepper
water, if necessary
Heat olive oil in soup pot over medium heat. Sweat onions and carrots. Add garlic, cabbage, and greens. Cook until cabbage and greens wilt. Add veggie stock, parsley, and oregano. If you want more broth in the soup, add water 1/2 cup at a time until the amount of broth is appropriate. Bring to boil. Adjust seasoning and spice with red pepper to taste. Reduce to simmer and cook for 20 minutes. On day two or 15 minutes before serving, add pattypan squash. Serve as soon as the squash gets tender.

Kevin's Special Cole Slaw

I believe that cole slaws made with vinegar are called Carolina slaws. I'm not sure. All I know is that my husband can't stand anything in a "mayonnaise bath" and I can't stand a summer without cole slaw and potato salad next to my burgers and dogs. This is the middle ground I came up with. Happily, Kevin loves it!


Kevin's Special Cole Slaw
1 medium head cabbage, sliced thin or shredded
3 large carrots, shredded
1 cup vinegar
2 tblsp spicy brown mustard
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
Toss cabbage with 1 tblsp salt and let sit for 1 hour. Drain liquid and rinse and dry cabbage. Put cabbage and carrots in serving bowl. In a separate bowl, mix vinegar, mustard, and sugar. While whisking the vinegar mixture, drizzle in olive oil. Pour mixture over cabbage and carrots. Mix thoroughly and salt and pepper to taste.

Cheesy Veggie Casserole

As usual, during the early days of summer as the CSA season begins, I find myself with a bunch of greens and no ideas. Tonight I decided to combine it with potatoes, turnips, and cheese sauce - you can't go wrong with cheese sauce! The only bummer was that the greens are a little too wet and caused the sauce to separate a little. Oh well. Still tasted great.


Cheesy Veggie Casserole
4 cups mixed greens, chopped (I used broccoli, chard, and mustard)
3 medium potatoes, sliced
3 medium turnips, sliced
1 tblsp butter
1 tblsp all purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 handful fresh parsley, chopped
breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
Boil greens in salted water for about 15 minutes. Drain. Melt butter in saucepan. Add flour and cook until lightly browned. Add milk and cook over medium heat until thick. Add cheese and parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 10 minutes. Layer potatoes, turnips, and greens in a greased casserole dish. Top with cheese sauce and breadcrumbs. Cook in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or until top is lightly browned.

Stromboli?

So, I found a pie crust in my freezer that I knew wouldn't actually become a pie anytime soon. I also had some browned loose Italian sausage. I wasn't sure how to bring these two things together, but I gave it a go anyway. I'm not sure I can call it stromboli since it's made with a pie crust, but I don't know what else to call it. Next time I'll make it with a pizza crust and call it stromboli without hesitation! Recipe bonuses - it tricked Natty into eating spinach and it can easily be made vegetarian.


Sausage and Spinach Stromboli
1 frozen pie crust
1 batch pizza sauce (here's one recipe) or other thick red sauce
1/3 lb. browned loose mild Italian sausage
2 large handfuls chopped spinach
1 small carrot, sliced
1/4 small onion, sliced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Stretch pie crust out slightly on greased cookie sheet. In a saute pan, heat olive oil and add carrot and onions. Cook until tender. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Salt and pepper to taste. Spread pizza sauce on pie crust. Top with sausage, spinach mixture, and cheese. Carefully roll pie crust into a tube. Place in 400 degree oven and cook until lightly browned (mine took about 45 minutes). Slice and serve topped with remaining warm pizza sauce.