Southwestern vegetarian pasta

Getting back into the swing of things has been fun, since I got a number of new kitchen tools, gadgets, and cookware for Christmas. I actually planned tonight's meal around this new cast iron baking dish. Beautiful, isn't it? The dinner was pretty darn good, too, though next time I've decided that I would use more chipotle, more tomatoes, and more cheese. I've already adjusted the numbers in the recipe to reflect that.

Southwestern vegetarian pasta

Yield: 8 Servings
Prep Time: 30 min.
Cooking Time: 20 min

Ingredients:
  ● 16oz. uncooked farfalle pasta
  ● 8 whole green onions, chopped
  ● 1 tbsp. Olive Oil
  ● 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  ● 2 garlic cloves, minced
  ● 2 tsp. minced chipotle peppers
  ● 1 tsp. salt
  ● 1 tsp. ground cumin
  ● 2-1/4 cups milk
  ● 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided 
  ● 3 tomatoes, cut into large chunks
  ● 1/2 red onion, chopped
  ● 15 oz. black beans
  ● 15 oz. pinto beans

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute onions in oil until tender. Stir in the flour, chipotle pepper, salt and cumin until well blended. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened. Stir in beans and 1 cup cheese until melted.

3. Drain pasta and transfer to a large, heavy baking dish; toss with sauce, stir in tomatoes, and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly. I served this wil a dollop of sour cream and a side of wilted swiss chard.

Weekly plan, 1/4/10

It's a new year! No matter how hard I tried through December, I just couldn't keep up with the plan. I think the biggest problem was the number of gatherings and outtings that kept us from our usual procedings. But, here we are, back on track.

From the dairy this week: 2 half gallons of 2%

Monday: We were just pulling in to town, back from our holiday vacation, as the dinner hour descended upon us, so we treated ourselves to one more night of revery and ate at Creekside. Yum.

Tuesday: Leftover Creekside, because you can almost never eat one of their meals in a single sitting, and it's so good nobody needs a fresh meal between.

Wednesday: Southwestern pasta bake (vegetarian) with a side of swiss chard

Thursday: Italian Vegetable Soup (vegetarian, slow cooker), with homemade crusty bread

Friday: Bean burritos and sweet potato "fries"

Saturday: leftover pasta bake

Sunday: Leftover soup

Shopping list: I already have sour cream, sweet potatoes, and rice on hand, but having been out of town we need almost everything else. For our dinners we will need farfale, black beans, pinto beans, tomatoes, cheese, and chipotles, cauliflower, green beans, onion, and garlic. For breakfast I'll need to grab some cereal, and we'll also need to stock up on fruits.

Weekly plan, 12/14

From the dairy this week: 2 half gallons of 2%, 1 dozen eggs

Monday: Kale and lentil soup (my own concoction using tomatoes, carrots, celery, kale, veggie stock, lentils, and cannelini beans, all of which I have on hand)

Tuesday: Andouille and arugula penne pasta (using andouille, feta, and cannelini beans from the pantry, and adding penne, white wine, pesto, grape tomatoes, and arugula to the shopping list).

Wednesday: Vegetable casserole (using the cannellinis and garbanzos, onion, garlic, polenta, and tomato, all of which I have on hand, plus some of the pesto and arugula left from yesterday's meal, and adding radicchio, and Italian cheese to the shopping list).

Thursday: Leftover kale and lentil soup

Friday: leftover pasta

Saturday: leftover vegetable casserole

Sunday: dinner with family

Shopping list: For our dinners we'll need penne, white wine, pesto, grape tomatoes, arugula, Italian cheese, and radicchio. I will also pick up some additional vegetables, probably caulifllower and chard, and lots of yummy fruits, but I'll wait to see what looks good and/or what's on sale htis week before I decide, although I think pomegranates would be fun with the Italian meal.

Livening up leftovers: pulled pork with mustard BBQ sauce

We eat a lot of leftovers around here, and that can get pretty boring, depending on the dish. Leftover three cheese mostaccioli, for instance, is a meal unto itself; no need to spruce anything up there. But this past week we served pork tenderloin, done in the oven because the weather just wouldn't cooperate, and for some reason the meat just wasn't all that exciting. Nothing was wrong with it, and the herbs we used on top were delightful, but overall it just wasn't exciting, and the idea of reheating it for leftovers was not appealing. Instead, I did a little internet research and decided to try for a sort of pulled pork. It was no Zingerman's Roadhouse, mind you, but the meal was quite enjoyable, and sure as heck beat reheated tenderloin alone!

Pulled pork from leftover tenderloin

Ingredients:
  ● Leftover cooked pork tenderloin
  ● Water to cover
  ● 2-4 tbsp. cider vinegar
  ● barbecue sauce
Accompaniments:
  ● Hamburger buns

Directions:
In a large pan, combine pork with just enough water to cover and add cider vinegar. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat covered until it pulls apart, about 50 minutes. Shred pork in pan, then add BBQ sauce of your choice, stirring to combine. Simmer with sauce until it reaches the desired thickness and meat is well coated. Serve on a hamburger bun.

Mustard BBQ sauce

Ingredients:
  ● 1 cup yellow mustard
  ● 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
  ● 1/3 cup brown sugar
  ● 2 tbsp. butter
  ● 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  ● 1 tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and simmer over a low heat for 30 minutes.

I served this with a side of sweet potato fries and wilted garlicky kale.

Huzarensalade (Hussar's salad)

This recipe came from our "authentic" Dutch cookbook (put that way because I'm skeptical fo anything claiming to be ethnically authentic when it has been written and published in the US), and I made minimal changes to it, believe it or not. Reading the ingredient list I wasn't entirely sure about it, but the final product was both pretty and tasty.

Huzarensalade

Origin: Classic Dutch Cooking
Yield: serves 6
Ethnicity: Dutch

Ingredients:
  ● 1 lettuce (I used green leaf)
  ● 6 oz. potatoes, boiled
  ● 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  ● 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
  ● 1 tsp mustard
  ● 1 tart apple
  ● 4 gherkins, chopped
  ● 4 tbsp cocktail onions, chopped
  ● 1 beetroot, cooked, peeled, and diced
  ● 2 hardboiled eggs, diced
  ● 1 cup mayonnaise, divided
  ● salt and pepper
  ● 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:
1. Wash lettuce leaves and tear into bite sized pieces. Divide between six bowls and set aside.

2. Dice the potatoes and peel and dice the apple. Mix with the oil, vinegar, and mustard in a bowl, and season with salt and pepper.

3. Set aside 1 tbsp each of the gherkins, onions, and beetroot for the garnish.

4. Carefully mix gherkins, onions, and eggs, with the potato, stirring until well combined.

5. Make a small mountain of this mixture over the lettuce leaves in each bowl.

6. Garnish with a sprinkling of parsley and a dollop of mayonnaise before serving.