Category Archives: Vegetables

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

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I saw this on Diners, Drive-In’s, and Dives (and it sounds like a lot of other people did as well because the grocery store had a mad rush on spaghetti squash). It’s a great idea really and it’s so versatile you can add whatever you like and it’ll still be a tasty dish. It even has it’s own little serving bowl (well, mine wasn’t little!). In fact, one squash was enough for two dinners for Earl and I.

I wasn’t planning on posting this, but I had requests for the recipe and this is by far easier than making several paper copies! I couldn’t get a very good picture of it, so don’t hold that against me!

I used ground turkey in this but you could always sub ground beef or make this a vegetarian meal and add no meat!

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I took a spaghetti squash, cut it in half, scraped out the seeds, topped it with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted it in a 375 degree oven for 1 hour.

While that was cooling, I cooked 1/2 chopped onion, 1 large chopped zucchini, 1 chopped carrot, and one chopped celery stalk in a couple of tablespoons olive oil until soft. Then crumbled and browned a 1/2 a pound of ground turkey and added about 8 oz of chopped, jarred roasted red peppers.

Then stirred in about 3/4 of a 24 oz jar of marinara sauce, a tablespoon of dried basil, and a tablespoon of dried oregano. Next, scraped the spaghetti squash with a fork into the veggie and meat mixture, and seasoned with salt and pepper. I let that cook until heated through, then spooned the mixture back into the 2 halves of the squash “bowls”. Top with remaining marinara, sliced fresh mozzarella, and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning.

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes covered with a piece of foil (not tightly wrapped, just resting on top), then bake for another 15 minutes with foil removed to brown up and melt the cheese.

Goes great with a glass of Pinot Noir , or two!

Cornmeal Crusted Trout With New Year’s Sides

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Happy New Year!

The tradition for New Year’s Day says to “eat poor” for good luck throughout the year. Now, for different people and different parts of the country, that can be a lot of different things. Some people eat pork and sauerkraut (Gross! Sorry, but that’s just not my thing!)

Here in the South, your meal MUST include greens and black-eyed peas. Greens for wealth, and black-eyed peas for luck, I believe. Nothing seems more like a poor mans meal that Southern comfort food, and for me that includes some kind of cornmeal crusted fresh water fish. Catfish would be the standard “Southern” fish, but I think it tastes kinda like dirt (they are bottom feeders after all). My favorite for this is Rainbow Trout.

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Frying fish like this is so easy! I just take trout fillets (check for bones first!) Put them in a ziplock bag with a little flour and toss to coat. Dip the fillets, first in an egg wash, then in a mixture of half cornmeal, half flour. Fry the fillets in light olive oil over medium-high in a skillet until fillets are firm and set on a paper towel lined plate. Now that’s fish!

For the greens this year I used kohlrabi greens instead of collards (trying to use what you have is eating frugally so that counts for extra good luck I hope!) I loosely followed Paula Deen’s Collard recipe. I used a leftover ham bone I saved from our Christmas spiral ham (the leftover ham, I’m going to make deviled ham with later on today). I put that in a stock pot with 4 cups chicken stock and 7 cups water and boil for 1 hour. Then add a washed bunch of greens with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Tabasco sauce to taste. Let that boil about 1 more hour. I’ve also used bacon in this recipe, by frying a few strips of diced bacon in the  stock pot before adding the water and stock and skipped the first boiling.

For the black-eyed peas, I used a recipe that was originally meant for white acre peas ( another common Southern pea related to the black-eyed pea, that I like better by-the-way). I used a pound of fresh black-eyed peas, and about 3/4 of a pound of diced smoked turkey sausage in 4 cups vegetable stock and 4 cups water and heat to boiling in a stock pot. In a small skillet, I cooked a small diced onion with some minced garlic in 1 1/2 tablespoons butter until soft, then added that, along with a fresh thyme sprig with a bay leaf or two, some dried parsley, and dried oregano to the peas and sausage and let that gently boil for about an hour.

What is crazy to me is that since I’ve started using these recipes for greens and black-eyed peas (or more often white acre peas), it doesn’t have to be New Years day for me to eat them anymore! I used to detest this stuff! But now, they’re common side dishes!

Now off to make deviled ham!

Gravy & Biscuits

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Over the last year or two, I’ve really gotten into breakfast.

It’s not just cereal and milk, or eggs and bacon anymore. I can do without that. It’s boring and over done and I’d rather just skip it and get lunch. But hubby and I started eating breakfast out, and I’ve discovered a whole new world of tasty morning delights.

I think it really started with Crabcake Benedict at Metro Diner (yes, the same one in Jacksonville that appeared on Diners, Drive-in’s, and Dives).  After we saw it on the show, we had to try it. Since then, they’ve opened several diners around town, one being less than 5 miles from my house, so eating breakfast out became a weekly ritual. Now all breakfasts, at home or otherwise, must be as interesting and delicious, or it may as well be skipped for lunch!

My “Me-me” used to make the  best sausage gravy, with just a roll of Jimmy Dean, flour, and milk. It was the greatest! Staying overnight at Me-me’s always meant gravy & biscuits for breakfast, and even to this day, the smell of sausage gravy reminds me of my me-me. It took several failed attempts but I managed to get my sausage gravy close, but not quite like hers.

Basically, brown and crumble a 16oz. roll of sausage ( any flavor you like) in a skillet over medium heat, Do Not Drain! Grease is required for gravy! Add two to three tablespoons of flour and cook and stir one to two minutes. Slowly stir in WHOLE milk ( I use to try and make it with skim, FAIL!) a half cup at a time, allowing to thicken in between each addition of milk to make sure it doesn’t get too watery. When it’s as thick as you like, season with salt & pepper to taste and serve over hot biscuits ( I like the frozen Pillsbury biscuits).

And now, meet the newest evolution of gravy & biscuits!

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On our last trip to Asheville, we had breakfast not just once, but twice at Early Girl Eatery. Out of all the places we’ve traveled, this is by far the best breakfast place we’ve ever eaten at, period! Both times, I had their wonderful tomato gravy on my breakfasts. I knew I had to come home and try to re-create it!

I “Bing”-ed tomato gravy and realized it was a fairly common gravy, made by lots of people, lots of different ways. This is the way I make it: In a mixing bowl, combine a 15oz can of diced tomatoes and their juices, with 1 cup vegetable broth. In a medium sauce pan or skillet, melt two tablespoons of butter or olive oil. Add 2 tablespoons flour and cook and stir for one minute. Stir in tomato/broth and add a teaspoon of fresh thyme, and salt and pepper. Continue to cook and stir over medium heat until thickened.

What is so awesome about this gravy is it can be made to suit anyone’s taste! You can add 1/4 cup diced onions and peppers to the melted butter and cook till soft before adding the flour; or as shown above, 4 diced links of fully cooked chicken breakfast sausage, and sliced green onions. You could also make it Vegan friendly by using olive oil instead of butter. If you don’t like big chunks of tomato, you could change things up and use a 15oz can of crushed tomatoes for the diced.

I’ve also made a Benedict (that I’ve included a photo of below), by sauteing some fresh spinach, shitake mushrooms, and diced chicken breakfast sausage in olive oil and garlic, spooning that over a toasted English muffin with an over medium egg, and topped it with the tomato gravy instead of traditional Hollandaise. The possibilities are endless with this stuff!

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I hope this has inspired happy breakfasts! Wish me luck for today as I attempt my first Chicken Pot Pie! 🙂

Chicken Sausage And Roasted Vegetable Pasta

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“Pasta?” you say? “I thought you were gluten-free?” you say?

Well yes, I’m still gluten-free! Thankfully, several companies make gluten-free pasta so I don’t have to give up that which I so adore!

Since I now have to read ingredient labels to make sure I’m not unintentionally “glutened”, I’ve noticed more and more all of the un-natural additives that goes into food to preserve it. Italian sausage is no different! So I went from the pork variety to the all-natural chicken and its just as yummy if not more so!

I have to apologize for the photo! I seemed to have misplaced the battery for my good camera and have been using the good old iPhone to take pictures for the blog. Though I really don’t think this dish would photograph well either way!

Just trust me, it’s delicious!

Oh, and I should mention that I used a quality jarred sauce for this, but if you have the time and energy, using homemade would not be frowned upon!

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  • 1  lb bulk Italian chicken sausage
  • 12 oz gluten-free tri-colored vegetable pasta
  • 24 oz tomato basil sauce
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 large or two small zucchini, chopped
  • 8 oz mushrooms, quartered
  • 2 cups fresh spinach
  • 3 tbsp minced garlic
  • 2 beef steak tomatoes, sliced
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • dash crushed red pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

On a baking sheet lined with foil, add onions, peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms with a few drizzles of olive oil and salt & pepper. Toss to coat. Roast veggies  for about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking time.

Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking it up with a spatula. While sausage browns, cook pasta to package directions. When sausage is cooked through, stir in tomato sauce. Let heat through, for about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, spinach, and red pepper flakes. Cook until spinach is slightly wilted, then stir in roasted vegetables, and parmesan cheese. Allow to cook 5 more minutes. Add pasta and stir until well incorporated.

Pour pasta mixture into a greased 13 x 9 baking dish. Top with sliced beef steak tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350, for 25 to 30 minutes. Would be great served with a Caesar salad!

**This holds up well in the fridge. For the three of us, I was able to get two dinners out of one pan.

Thai Spiced Tofu Lettuce Cups

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While wandering in Whole Foods one day, I came across this marinated, ready-to-cook tofu that looked delicious and I really wanted to try it in pad thai, but when I got home, I put it in the fridge, and it became lost in the cheese drawer and almost forgotten until just before it expired!

Wanting to make a quick, light meal, I decided to chop it up, cook it with some mushrooms and put it in some leftover lettuce I needed to use up. I also had some carrots and zucchini floating around in the fridge, as well as a half bottle peanut sauce, and a handful of dry roasted peanuts, and it turned out to be an instant dinner hit!

I would really try to seek out the marinated tofu for this, but if it isn’t available, drain a package of firm tofu, and marinade it for a few hours in peanut sauce.

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  • 1  8oz. package Thai-spiced tofu, chopped
  • 3.5 oz. oyster mushrooms, sliced
  • 3.5 oz. shitake mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 medium carrot, finely diced
  • 1 medium zucchini, finely diced
  • 3 green onions, 1/4 inch sliced
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 3 tbsp sesame oil
  • 3 tbsp peanut sauce, plus extra for serving ( I use San-J Gluten Free)
  • 1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped
  • 1 head Bibb or butter lettuce

In a large skillet or wok, heat 2 tbsp sesame oil over medium-high heat. Add tofu and cook and stir until slightly browned on all sides. Remove tofu from skillet and set aside.

Add 1 tbsp sesame oil to skillet and stir in zucchini and carrots. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and mushrooms. Continue to cook and stir for 5 minutes more.

Return tofu back to skillet and stir in green onions. Add peanut sauce and stir to coat. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts.

To serve, place a few heaping tablespoons into a leaf of lettuce and drizzle with extra peanut sauce, if desired.

Turkish Red Lentil Balls

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Every now and again, my son will save the “Food” section out of the paper if there’s a recipe he finds interesting or looks good. He saved this recipe almost a year ago from The St. Augustine Record, and I was very surprised he would hold on to a recipe like this one, but he may have been referring to the carrot cake that was pictured right next to this one.

At any rate, this looked challenging as I’ve never done anything with red lentils before and am very limited with my lentil experience period. I’ve also wanted to add a vegetable category so this seemed a good one to start with.

The original recipe calls for bulgur wheat and I replaced that with quinoa to keep it gluten free. I also couldn’t find harissa paste or any kind of chili-garlic paste like the recipe suggests as a substitute, so I made up a concoction of roasted red peppers, sriracha, and garlic for the harissa.

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  • 1  cup cooked red lentils
  • 1/2  cup uncooked quinoa
  • 1  cup water
  • 2  tbsp olive oil, plus a drizzle or two
  • 1  medium onion, chopped
  • 1  tbsp ground cumin
  • 2  tbsp finely diced roasted red peppers
  • 1  clove minced garlic
  • 1  tsp sriracha
  • 1  lemon
  • Butter lettuce leaves
  • Parsley

Cook red lentils to package directions.

While lentils are cooking, bring water and quinoa to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until quinoa is soft and most of the water is absorbed. Stir quinoa into the lentils and set aside to cool sightly.

In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook onions 5 minutes, until soft. In a small bowl, combine red peppers, garlic, and sriracha, and mash until well combined. Stir cumin and red pepper mixture into onion, then remove to a mixing bowl.  Add lentils and quinoa to onions, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Place lettuce leaves (about 25) on a serving plate, and shape a heaping spoonful of mixture into an oblong shape, and place on a single lettuce leaf. Repeat until all the mixture is used.

Sprinkle with parsley and drizzle with lemon juice.