Spinach Zucchini Ricotta Frittata

Ok, this is a little late in the season, but seeing as how Tim hates anything pumpkin or fall spices, I haven't been doing much seasonal cooking & baking around here. Well, that's a lie. We've tried a few winter squash recipes, but they were very simplistic & really not worth mentioning. Squash is still growing on us...give us time...or suggestions! :)

With the last of the zucchini from the farmers market (besides the 14 bags I froze) I decided to make this delicious looking dish from Simply Recipes. As I mentioned, squash is still growing on us, & Tim is usually reluctant to eat recipes with zucchini...but he loved it! The zucchini tasted amazing having been fried before mixing it into the frittata. It's also relatively easy to make, so it's a win on all sides!


Spinach Zucchini Ricotta Frittata
adapted from Simply Recipes

6 large eggs
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 small zucchini, or one larger one, washed and sliced into thin rounds (about 3/4 pound)
2 cups fresh spinach

Beat the eggs in a medium bowl. Add the ricotta and Parmesan and beat to combine. Add the salt, freshly ground black pepper, basil and thyme and beat to combine. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a 10-inch oven-proof stick-free skillet on medium high. When the oil is hot and begins to shimmer, add the zucchini slices. Stir so that the zucchini slices are all coated with some of the oil. Cook, stirring only occasionally (if you stir too much the zucchini won't brown), until the zucchini slices are lightly browned, about 5-6 minutes. Add spinach and heat for another minute or so. Remove from heat. Remove zucchini slices and spinach from the pan with tongs or a slotted spoon to a bowl. Let cool for 30 seconds or so, and then stir the zucchini slices and zucchini into the egg mixture.

Reheat the skillet. There should be a couple of tablespoons of oil left in the pan, if not, add some. When the oil is hot, pour the egg mixture into the pan. Do not stir it. Reduce the heat to medium. Let the egg mixture cook. Run a spatula along the edge of the frittata, separating the cooked edges from the pan. Let the egg mixture cook until the bottom is golden brown and the top is beginning to set, about 5-6 minutes.

Set the top rack 5 inches from the heating element in the oven. Preheat the oven broiler. Once the top of the frittata has started to set in the pan on the stove top, remove the pan from the stove and place it in the oven. With the broiler on, the door of the oven needs to be open. You can let the pan's handle stick out from the oven through the open door. Cook under the broiler until the top starts to become lightly browned, about 2 minutes.

*Alternatively, instead of using the broiler, you can place a plate face-down on top of the skillet. Flip the skillet over to release the frittata on to the plate. Then slide the frittata from the plate back on to the skillet. Let cook for a couple of minutes more until the bottom side gets browned.

Slide the frittata out of the skillet onto a serving plate. Let cool for a minute or two and serve.

Serves 2-3.

*I used the broiler method...worked for me!

Since it's no longer zucchini season, I bet this dish would work well with just spinach. Not that spinach is really in season either, but much easier to come by in the winter...

Zucchini Rice Gratin courtesy of Smitten Kitchen

I really wanted to make the zucchini rice gratin that was recently on Smitten Kitchen. I had both tomatoes & zucchini that needed to be used, and everything about the dish sounded delicious. The only problem being that Tim hates tomatoes...and zucchini. Kind of crucial to the recipe.

Luckily I am fortunate to have a boyfriend who, despite hating quite a few of my favorite ingredients, is willing to try any dish that I make (knowing of course that a bowl of Ramen is waiting on the sidelines if it's disgusting). I was starving when I started making dinner & didn't really want to wait around to roast the veggies in the oven, so I actually just pan-fried the zucchini & onions, then threw in the tomato near the end. I also mixed together all the ingredients instead of putting the rice on the bottom, & I'm really glad I went that route. Oh & (almost done with my modifications, promise) I put 2x the number of eggs in so it was kind of a mix between the gratin & a frittata.

Verdict? "I can't believe I'm actually eating tomatoes. It's good!"

And I couldn't stop eating it. In fact, I really kind of still want to eat it.


Zucchini Rice Gratin
originally from Gourmet March 2008, via Epicurious

1/2 cup long-grain brown rice
2 medium zucchini, sliced thinly
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
1/4 cup shredded Manchego

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Cook rice according to package instructions.

While rice cooks, heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, saute zucchini for about 5 minutes, or until translucent. Add onions & garlic, saute for another 2 or 3 minutes, then turn heat down to medium & add tomatoes, cooking just until tomatoes are heated through.

Pour zucchini-tomato mixture into a medium casserole dish, along with the cooked rice, eggs, 1 Tbsp oil, 1/2 of the cheese, salt & pepper. Mix well & sprinkle remaining cheese over the top. Place on middle rack in the oven & bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.

I will definitely make this again. It was really easy with my slight modifications, & it was more than delicious. This time I used a few less veggies than I typically would in order to disguise the tomato & zucchini flavor with cheese and eggs. We had some Manchego cheese which I think added a great flavor to the dish, but of course you could substitute with all Parmesan.

Apologies for the horrible pictures...we devoured most of it before I even thought of taking out the camera, & then I didn't want to plate more in case my camera wasn't going to work.

Make this immediately! And eat it often. :)

What in the world...

...is this a picture of? Colorful, if not creepy. Food? Sludge?














Oh, I shouldn't make references to sludge when I'm presenting you with a recipe...? :) My bad.

We've been having some major quinoa cravings around here lately. Last time we ran out I made an emergency Trader Joe's run...only to find out that it was out of stock. Luckily, I found some bins of loose quinoa much closer to home a few days later. I love walking around those health food stores, with all their bins of loose nuts, grains, CHOCOLATE, trail mix, etc. I have enjoyed more than an afternoon or two staring in all those beautiful containers...exciting life around here...

Oh, right, you wanted to know what's in that picture up there.

So in those bins I found not only plain old quinoa, but red quinoa! Imagine my excitement...! One night I was in the mood for some veggie fried rice, but decided that making it with quinoa instead of rice might be an interesting twist. Not to mention I happened to have some leftover red quinoa in the fridge, & it would look awfully pretty mixed in with all those veggies.

Usually when I make veggie fried rice, I use egg whites because I don't have regular eggs in the fridge. Hence the white liquid-y pond in the center of the upper pic. The egg whites don't have the same flavor (of course) but they do give the dish nice texture. If I happen to have eggs around, I mix egg whites with just one egg.

The first time I made veggie fried rice I used this delicious recipe: Love at First Slice
but now I kind of wing it. I usually use tofu & brown rice, then vary the veggies. For this batch I used red, yellow & green pepper slices (frozen, thawed), edamame, peas, corn, carrots & red quinoa, along with sesame oil & egg whites. I never measure, otherwise I'd have a bit more of a recipe for you today. :) But if you're new to making fried rice, the recipe above is a great start. Although I'm probably the only person in the world who didn't know how to make fried rice until recently!

This was really good. A bit mushier than fried rice, but that was a good contrast to the crunchier veggies. I guess I should mention I just subbed in cooked quinoa in place of the cooked rice, 1:1 ratio. Definitely similar to the original, but, imho, much much much prettier!

Mmmmmm...enchiladas!

This recipe is a throwback to my younger years (haha). I hadn't even thought of this recipe until one of my old roommates sent me a message reminding me of when I used to make it in college...it seems like it's the only recipe I can remember making. And it sure was delicious!

I got it from one of my first veggie cookbooks...you know, when you first become vegetarian & every birthday, Christmas, etc, you get a pile of vegetarian cookbooks. Ooooooh, what a unique idea! A vegetarian cookbook! No one has ever bought me one of those before!

So anyway, this was a pretty good cookbook. It's a fairly health-minded cookbook (being vegetarian & all, cuz we're such healthy eaters) so obviously these enchiladas are nothing like authentic enchiladas (which I LOVE). But they are delicious in their own right. And I mean, very delicious.

I've always made it with ricotta cheese, but this time I only had 1/2 cup ricotta left, & I didn't want to buy more, so I used 1/2 cup of cottage cheese (don't tell Tim!), and I processed it in a food processor to remove the lumps (to conceal the evidence that there was cottage cheese in the recipe).

Pinto Bean Enchiladas

15 oz can pinto beans, rinsed & drained
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 cup shredded low-fat Cheddar cheese, divided
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chunky salsa
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
6 whole wheat flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Combine beans, ricotta & cottage cheese, chili powder, & 3/4 cup cheddar cheese. Set aside.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add garlic, stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes, or until tender. Stir in the salsa & tomato paste; bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low, simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until the sauce thickens slightly. Stir in the vinegar.

Briefly dip one side of tortilla into the sauce to coat, then place about 1/4 cup of the bean filling on each tortilla; roll to enclose filling. Place, seam side down, in prepared baking dish.

Does anyone have any tips on photographing dinner? I like to have pictures of some of the steps during the process, but it always seems like I end up showing steps that would make you not want to actually eat the final product... I partially blame the lack of light (not only is it never sunny out when I'm making dinner, but our kitchen has no windows, and is blocked off from the rooms which have windows) but I'm sure there's some other things I could do to improve my dinner picture taking skills!

Lentils, two ways

So we bought a slow cooker. A month ago. Yes, we had been talking about it since before Christmas. At first it didn't seem to make a lot of sense as we wouldn't be cooking meat in it (isn't that what slow cookers are for?) but once we found some vegetarian slow cooker cookbooks, we were determined. Chilis, soups (ok, I don't remember any more examples of cool things we wanted to make).

And we didn't even have to DO ANYTHING! It would just cook. On its own.

So, I think we made something in it once, right after we bought it. Or maybe we didn't. Regardless, it hasn't gotten all that much use. It's just hanging out in our tiny kitchen. Yeeeeaaaaaah. GREAT idea Sarah.

The other afternoon I got the amazing thought to finally start using this puppy. Of course, it was 4 pm, and the recipe I had chosen took 8 hours to make. I thought somehow it would be ok. Needless to say, we didn't have that for dinner that night...

But the next night we put these "sloppy lentils" that I had decided to make back into the slow cooker for a few more hours. I had found this recipe for a "veggie version" of sloppy joe's and was intrigued. Yes, I knew it wouldn't really taste like a big pot of meaty sloppy joe's, but I thought it might be delicious in its own right. And it turned out to be quite yummy!

I added some cornstarch because...well, because I did. I thought it might help thicken it up, and it probably did, but I don't really know for sure.

When the lentils got to the right consistency (or what I thought was the right consistency), we got out our rolls & sprinkled some shredded "Italian" (read Parmesan, mozzarella) cheese onto the top section of the buns & put them in the toaster oven to melt the cheese. Then we piled the lentils onto the bun, and there they were, all sloppy!

Sloppy Lentils
Adapted from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker

1 small green bell pepper, seeded & diced
1 1/2 cups dried red lentils, picked over & rinsed
14 oz diced tomatoes (1 can)
1 shredded carrot
3 cups water
1 Tbsp apple juice concentrate
1 Tbsp light brown sugar
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
black pepper
1 Tbsp cornstarch

rolls of your choice (our sesame seed rolls went really well with the lentils!)
shredded Italian cheeses

Add veggies, lentils, water, apple juice concentrate, sugar, & spices to the slow cooker & cook (on low according to the cookbook, but I cooked on high...I think maybe because of the kind of lentils I used) for 8 hours. When there is only about an hour left (or when a lot of the liquid has been absorbed), add the cornstarch & stir well.

I admit, I had my doubts about this recipe as it was cooking. I tasted it a few times as I went, and not being satisfied with the taste, I just started throwing spices in there. Feel free to add as much salt/pepper/chili powder as you see fit. Overall, I was really pleased with this recipe. It was very satisfying!

Of course, the next night we had quite a bit leftover, and it just didn't sound all that appealing the second night in a row. So I decided I was going to make lentil soup with the rest (can't really give you an exact amount that was leftover...) & basically threw the sloppy lentils in with some veggie broth and more cumin. While it didn't look so beautiful, it tasted pretty good!

Lentil Soup:

Sloppy Lentils
Vegetable Broth
Cumin

Place about 1/2 of the sloppy lentils into a blender/food processor with cumin (to taste) & vegetable broth (to desired consistency). Stir together the processed lentils & unprocessed lentils in a pot & heat just until warm. Voila. Dinner, two nights!

Serve with bread, or if you're us, wheat thins.

:)

Potato-y Skins

Just a note to mention that I made potato skins for dinner...sans bacon of course! They were yummy and easy!

Just wash the potatoes, rub with oil, pierce skin a few times with a fork, and bake in oven as if you were making baked potatoes (~400 degrees F, until fork inserted slides easily into potato). Then, slice potatoes in half, scoop out center (all but the layer closest to the skin) and bake in oven again (I just placed them on the oven rack) for maybe 1/2 an hour, flipping over halfway through. Place the potatoes so that the scooped out part is facing up, and cover with as much cheddar cheese as you like! Broil for another couple minutes.

Not the fanciest dinner ever, but we sure were excited! Tim said even bacon couldn't make them better. :) Oh, and you may want to furnish with sour cream...I can't stand the stuff, so we went without, and they were still delicious!

Baked Ziti

Let me just take a moment to say...I LOVE baked ziti. It is probably my favorite thing to eat. When I lived alone, I used to make little individual (impostor) baked ziti by placing pasta, sauce & mozzarella in a bowl & microwaving it. But I especially love when I can make real baked ziti to share!

Now this post is going to be a bit hard, because when I make baked ziti, I don't measure anything. But I tried to take note of how much of each ingredient I used, and I will transfer that knowledge onto you.

Baked Ziti

10 oz ricotta cheese (I use part-skim)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan or romano shredded cheese
1 tsp Italian seasoning (or basil, oregano & parsley)
1/2 tsp pepper (or to taste)
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 egg
1 lb ziti pasta
1 jar tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bring large pot of water to boil, add pasta & boil for about 3 or 4 minutes, not too long, just to get it a little cooked. Drain.

Blend together (using hands, spoon, spatula, whatever you have around) ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of the shredded mozzarella, parmesan, spices, and egg.














Pour about 1/3 of the tomato sauce into the bottom of the glass pan, and add 1/2 of the pasta.








Spoon 1/2 of ricotta mixture on top, being sure to spread it out evenly to cover the pasta.







Pour another 1/3 of the tomato sauce on top, add the rest of the pasta, spreading evenly, and then the final layer of the ricotta mixture.





Pour the final layer of tomato sauce, and spread the rest of the mozzarella generously on top.









Cover with aluminum foil & bake for about about 45 minutes. Remove foil, and continue baking for another 15 minutes, or until cheese is browned around the edges & bubbling.

Now my mama says she loves ricotta cheese so much she could eat it right out of the jar with a spoon, but I'm not such a big fan, so this is the perfect amount for me. If you really like the taste of ricotta, feel free to add more. And of course, I don't use meat, but I'm sure this would be delicious with a meat sauce.

Polenta Lasagna

My almost week hiatus was due partly to being busy, but also due to my stomach acting up, which caused me to not even want to think about food. It was so sad!

This was our dinner from sometime last week. I was a little worried about how it would taste at first, as I don't like polenta at all on its own, but it turned out really really good in this recipe. You can find a tube of polenta at Trader Joe's (or at least that's where I got mine) or the organic section of your grocery store.

Polenta Lasagna

adapted a bunch from Parents magazine, of all places

1 1/2 jars tomato sauce (1 jar would probably suffice)
1 green pepper, diced
1 cup baby spinach
1 tube of pre-cooked polenta, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
12 oz low fat ricotta cheese
1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Heat sauce in a skillet on the stove. (If you are adding meat to the recipe, brown meat in the pan then add sauce & simmer until warm.)

2. Spray small pan with cooking spray & heat spinach and green pepper on medium-low until cooked through. Add salt & pepper if you'd like.

3. In a casserole dish, pour 1/3-1/2 of the sauce. Layer with about half of the polenta slices, then add peppers and spinach. Scoop 1/2 the ricotta onto the polenta, then spread a layer of mozzarella. Add more sauce, polenta, ricotta, and then a last layer of sauce. Spread a thick layer of mozzarella on top, along with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Feel free to add other ingredients as you'd like! Tim ate it for lunch at least 3 days in a row, so it must have been good. :)

My contribution to dinner with Tim's parents!

We had dinner the other night with Tim's family, but since I don't eat meat like all the other sane people, Tim's mom had an alternate recipe for me, and since we got there hours before dinner, I helped prepare it. I'm not sure exactly where the recipe came from, and I looked for it online with no success, so if anyone knows where it came from, please let me know. I decided it is called yummy zucchini potato bake.

Here it is, with some modifications:

Yummy Zucchini Potato Bake

2 medium zucchinis, diced into tiny pieces
7 baby sized red skin potatoes
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red bell pepper
1 head broccoli, cut up into florets
1 carrot, diced
1 tsp diced garlic or garlic powder
1 bag shredded Italian or Mexican cheese (we used mexican)

Throw the potatoes & carrot together in the bottom of a greased glass casserole dish with salt & pepper. Drizzle with olive oil (add more if you wish). Toss. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 min.

Remove the dish from the oven and add the rest of the vegetables, as well as the diced garlic or garlic powder. (We used garlic powder because it seemed easier, but diced garlic probably tastes much better!) Mix thoroughly. Bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven, cover top of casserole with cheese, and put back in oven for a few more minutes, or until cheese is melted.

It was very tasty & the spices (& veggies) can be adjusted according to your taste!

For dessert we had a cake that I made for Tim's sister Kate because it was her birthday, and while I wasn't entirely successful in my cake making, it was my first time making a cake from scratch (I must confess, I love cake mixes) & it still tasted pretty good!

Let's see, where did I get the recipe from...

It was originally from Gourmet, January 2008. I found it on my #1 favorite website (I know, I've said that about a million different websites already): Smitten Kitchen

I definitely can't explain it better than her, so please click on her link if you want to try it! I can say, I've never made caramel before, so this was definitely hard for me, and I ended up almost burning it (ok, ok I burnt it the first time & had to make a second batch, which was successful until I realized I made it too early, had to turn off the heat, and reheat it later), which caused me to completely forget the vanilla. I know it would have had much better flavor with the vanilla, but I got compliments without, which means you should try it, it can turn out great even if you mess up!

(This is me making caramel, possibly unsuccessfully, but it will definitely boil a lot. I had more success putting it on medium heat to keep the temperature rising slowly.)

I think the success to the cake recipe is the buttermilk, which definitely added a good texture & moistness to the cake. I often don't like yellow cakes, but this one was better than most I've had. And, as I've already mentioned, everyone really liked it.

Tortilla Pie

I made a delicious dinner tonight!

Ok, well while it was indeed delicious, it was hardly gourmet. But it made my stomach happy!

I got the recipe for tortilla pie from the allrecipes.com website, and I've made it a few times. The first time I made it, I just used one ingredient for each different layer, instead of mixing the ingredients together first. I didn't really notice a difference...the first time I think I also put in some brown rice, which gave it some more texture, but was hardly necessary since there are already plenty of carbs. Anyway, without further ado, here's the recipe:

Seven Layer Tortilla Pie
(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

• 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans (I used Trader Joe's Cuban Black Beans)
  
• 1 cup salsa, divided into 1/4 and 3/4 cup
• 1 (15 ounce) can refried black beans
  
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes (from a can) drained
• 1 cup green bell pepper, diced
  
• 6 or 7 (8 inch) flour tortillas
• 2 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mash pinto beans with refried black beans. Stir in 3/4 cup salsa.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together 1/4 cup salsa, black beans, green peppers, and tomatoes.
4. Place 1 tortilla in a pie plate or tart dish. Spread 3/4 cup pinto bean/refried black bean mixture over tortilla to within 1/2 inch of edge. Top with 1/4 cup cheese, and cover with another tortilla. Spread with 2/3 cup black bean mixture, and top with 1/4 cup cheese. Repeat layering as many times as you want!
   
5. Cover with foil, and bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes. Cut into wedges, and serve with salsa and sour cream, if desired.

Basically this recipe is very forgiving. Add anything that you have around. Tim prefers it covered in loads of hot sauce :) but I think the flavor is just perfect the way it is. I hope you enjoy a nice easy dinner as I did!