Tortilla Casserole with Swiss Chard

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups thinly sliced onion, divided 
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 (8-ounce) packages button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped
• 4 cups finely chopped Swiss chard (1 bunch)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained 
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese 
• 1/4 cup low-fat sour cream 

Preheat oven to 375°.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 cup onion and garlic, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in the salt, mushrooms, and jalapeños. Arrange chard over mushroom mixture. Cover, reduce heat, and cook for 15 minutes or until tender. Stir in 2 tablespoons parsley.

Combine 1 cup onion, water, and tomatoes in a blender, and process until smooth. Pour the tomato mixture into a saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook 4 minutes or until slightly thick. Arrange 16 tortilla quarters in a single layer in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Spread about 1 cup mushroom mixture over the tortilla pieces. Top with 1/2 cup tomato mixture. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup cheese. Repeat layers twice, ending with 1/3 cup cheese. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until cheese melts. Top each serving with sour cream and 2 tablespoons parsley.

Serves 6; 251 calories.

VERDICT:  Good!  A little bit of a pain to make, but gets bonus points for using up tortillas and cheese and sneaking in vegetables.  Keep.

Roasted Radishes

Toss halved trimmed radishes on a baking sheet with olive oil, kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper. Roast at 425° until crisp-tender, about 10 minutes. Toss with fresh lemon juice, room- temperature butter, and chopped fresh herbs; season with flaky sea salt (such as Maldon).

VERDICT:  Not bad, and a good way to use up the inevitable half-bag of leftover radishes.  Keep.

Potato Salad with Asparagus and Olives

Toss sliced boiled new potatoes with 1" pieces raw asparagus, mixed pitted olives, olive oil, crumbled feta, and crushed red pepper flakes, season with salt and pepper.

VERDICT:  Asparagus was on sale, and we already had feta, so I grabbed the rest of the ingredients for this recipe while I was at Lund's.  There were no quantities indicated, so I used five small potatoes, a 1/4 c. feta, a half-dozen olives, and a cup of asparagus.  It's really easy, but it doesn't taste finished--just a bowl of stuff tossed together.  Toss.

Turmeric Chickpea Stew

• 2 small cartons coconut milk
• 1 large onion and 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 knob ginger, grated
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 1 to 2 T. Thai yellow curry paste
• 1 pineapple, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1 T. turmeric
• 1 tsp. unrefined sea salt
• 1 T. coconut oil
• 2 c. cooked chickpeas
• 1 sweet red bell pepper, chopped

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add all ingredients except red pepper and chickpeas.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce and simmer for 40 minutes.  Add chickpeas and peppers and let simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve over brown rice or in a soup bowl.

Serves 8; 303 calories.

VERDICT:  Exasperating recipe.  I've never seen a "carton" of coconut milk, so I used two cans.  (I also couldn't find yellow curry paste, so I used red.)  Also, how much is a knob?  And then, if you're just going to add the liquid right away, why put oil in the pan first?  I ended up eyeballing amounts to make it stew-like consistency and sauteed the onion, carrot, sweet potato, and garlic in olive oil, adding the spice and curry for a minute or two, then adding the coconut milk.  It all turned out OK, but still a toss.

Margherita Pizza

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to grease pan4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and hand crushed (recommended: San Marzano)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 recipe fresh pizza dough, recipe follows
• 1 (8-ounce) ball fresh buffalo mozzarella, water drained, shredded
• 1/2 bunch fresh basil leaves, torn

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Put a jelly roll pan or a half sheet pan in the oven.

Begin by making the tomato sauce. In a large saute pan over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the minced garlic, thyme and oregano. Cook until just fragrant then add the crushed tomatoes and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Lower the heat and simmer for 7 to 8 minutes to reduce and concentrate the flavor. Shut off the heat and set aside.

Take the preheated jelly roll pan out of the oven and drizzle some olive oil over the entire surface. Cut the dough into 2 pieces and reserve 1 piece for another use. Stretch the pizza dough out so it is just bigger than the pan, then lay it inside the pan, so the dough comes up the sides to form a crust on the rim. Smear with tomato sauce then tear up the mozzarella and scatter it evenly over the top of the pie. Tear the basil leaves, spread them over the top and drizzle with a little more olive oil. Give it a final season with salt and pepper, to taste, then bake in the hot oven until golden and bubbly, about 15 to 18 minutes

Fresh Pizza Dough:

• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 cups warm water (100 to 110 degrees F.)
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for bowl

In a small bowl, combine the yeast, sugar and water and stir gently to dissolve. Let the mixture stand until the yeast comes alive and starts to foam, 5 to 10 minutes.

If you're using a stand mixer, combine the salt and flour to the bowl and pulse a few times to mix. Add the yeast mixture, at the lowest speed, until the flour incorporates. When the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough gathers into a ball. This should take about 2 minutes. Add the olive oil and pulse a few more times. Stop the machine periodically to scrape the dough off the hook. Get a feel for the dough as you're making it by squeezing a small amount together between your thumb and fingers. If it's crumbly, add more water, if it's sticky, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself a few times, kneading until it's smooth and elastic.

If you're making the dough by hand, add the yeast mixture to a large bowl and stir in the salt and the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Then begin stirring in the flour. When the mixture becomes too stiff to stir with a spoon, knead in the rest of the flour by hand, adding just enough so that the dough is soft but not too sticky. As you work, squeeze a small amount of dough together between your thumb and fingers. If it's crumbly, add more water; if it's sticky, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Form the dough into a round and put it into a lightly oiled bowl, turning it over to coat the dough entirely with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot (i.e., over a gas pilot light) until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Yield: 1 13" x 18" pizza.

VERDICT:  I neglected to really read the directions, so we had a little mishap with the sauce, but it all turned out well in the end.  I substituted a cup of whole-wheat flour for one of white in the dough, and would probably do more in the future.  A good recipe for when mozzarella is BOGO at Lund's (i.e. always).  Keep.

 

Slow-cooker Pinto Bean Stew with Dumplings

Stew

• 1 pound dry pinto beans, soaked (see Tip)
• 6 cups water
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Dumplings

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal, preferably whole-grain
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes
• 1 fresh jalapeño, finely chopped
• Zest of 1 lime
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

Garnish

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup sliced radishes

Drain the soaked beans. Combine the beans, water, onion, bell pepper, celery, corn, garlic, chili powder and cumin in a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Cook on High for 4 hours (or on Low for 8 hours).

To prepare dumplings: Just before the end of the 4 (or 8) hours, whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add butter and use a pastry blender, two knives or a fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add jalapeño and lime zest and toss to coat. Add buttermilk and stir to form a dough.

After the stew has cooked for 4 (or 8) hours, stir in lime juice and salt. Using generous tablespoonfuls of dough, drop 8 dumplings on top of the stew. Cover and cook on High for 1 hour. Serve each portion of stew topped with a dumpling. Garnish with cilantro and radish.

Serves 8; 317 calories.


VERDICT:  This is hard to time right with going to work and also suffers from the slow-cooker malady of tasting one-note and being mushy.  Also, it didn't all fit in our slow-cooker.  Toss.

Pesto, Mozzarella & Egg Breakfast Sandwich

• 1 whole-wheat English muffin
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons chopped roasted red pepper
• 1 teaspoon prepared pesto
• 1 thin slice fresh mozzarella cheese

Toast English muffin. Combine egg and roasted red pepper in a small (about 8-ounce) microwave-safe ramekin or bowl. Cover and microwave until the egg is set, about 1 minute. Spread pesto on 1 English muffin half, then top with cheese. Place the egg on the cheese. Top with the remaining English muffin half.

Serves 1; 362 calories.

VERDICT:  This is easy, filling, fast enough for weekday breakfast, uses up leftover pesto, and takes advantage of BOGO mozzarella from Lund's.  Win!  Keep.

Carrot Cake Waffle Breakfast Sandwich

• 2 whole-grain frozen waffles
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel)
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot
• 2 tablespoons raisins
• 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts
• 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup

Toast waffles. Spread cream cheese on 1 waffle. Top with carrot, raisins and walnuts. Drizzle with maple syrup. Top with the remaining waffle.

Serves 1; 441 calories.

VERDICT:  Promising, but the cream cheese and carrots made the waffle cold.  Toss.

Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

• 1/4 oz. dried shiitake mushrooms
• 4 1/4 c. water
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 garlic clove, peeled, plus 4 cloves, minced
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. wild rice
• 4 T. unsalted butter
• 1 lb. cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced 1/4" thick
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 2/3 c. dry sherry
• 4 c. low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 T. soy sauce
• 1/4 c. cornstarch
• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 1/4 c. minced fresh chives
• 1/4 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

Adjust rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.  Grind shiitake mushrooms in spice grinder until finely ground (you should have about 3 T.).

Bring 4 cups water, thyme, bay leaf, garlic clove, 3/4 tsp. salt and baking soda to boil in medium saucepan over high heat.  Add rice and return to boil.  Cover saucepan, transfer to oven, and bake until rice is tender, 35 to 50 minutes.  Strain rice through fine-mesh strainer set in 4-cup liquid measuring cup; discard thyme, bay leaf and garlic.  Add enough water to reserved cooking liquid to measure 3 cups.

Melt butter in Dutch oven over high heat.  Add cremini mushrooms, onion, minced garlic, tomato paste, 3/4 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are browned and dark fond develops on bottom of pot, 15 minutes.  Add sherry, scraping up any browned bits, and cook until reduced and pot is almost dry, about 2 minutes.  Add ground shiitake mushrooms, reserved rice cooking liquid, broth, and soy sauce and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, cover, until onion and mushrooms are tender, about 20 minutes.

Whisk cornstarch and remaining 1/4 c. water in small bowl.  Stir cornstarch slurry into soup, return to simmer, and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes.  Remove pot from heat and stir in cooked rice, cream, chives, and lemon zest.  Cover and let stand for 20 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Serves 6-8.

VERDICT:  This has a ton of steps, but didn't feel rushed, and turned out a quite good, if a little peppery, wild rice soup.  Keep.

The Swedish Tart

Shake 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water in a jar until sugar dissolves. Stir in 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill. Cover; chill until flavors infuse, 24-48 hours. Strain dill syrup. Combine 3 ounces green tea kombucha, 1 1/2 ounces aquavit or vodka, and 1/2 ounces dill syrup in a highball glass half-filled with crushed ice. Stir. Add more crushed ice, mounding above rim. Garnish with a dill sprig.

Serves 1; 110 calories.

VERDICT: Not bad!  This has two flavors I love and don't see often--dill and caraway (I used the aquavit).  There was no green tea kombucha at Lund's, so I went with original.  Keep.