Prosciutto wrapped chicken with a tomato zucchini gratin

When I browse through my cooking magazines and books, I like to look for recipes that make an ideal vegetarian main, but can also be a tasty side dish for my meateater husband.
Gratins fit the bill quite nicely. They are usually an excellent way of serving many vegetables, easily portable for potlucks and just look dang pretty when they come out of the oven. All bubbly goodness...
Tonight's dinner is a wonderful example of where me and my husband both win :)

Tomato and Zucchini gratin

• 1 onion thinly sliced


• 1 Tbsp of thyme


• 1 zucchini thinly sliced


• 4 roma tomatoes


• 1/4 freshly grated parmesan cheese


• salt and pepper to taste


• 2 Tbsp of olive oil
  

1. Thinly slice tomatoes and place on a dish to allow any juices to drain.


2. In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Slowly cook the onions until they become soft and light brown, 20 minutes. You want them to be golden and not burnt. Doing this allows the onions to be come sweet and soft.


3. Meanwhile, in a bowl toss zucchini with 1/2 the thyme and season with salt and pepper and remaining oil.


4. In gratin dish (or ramekin if you want to serve individual gratins) place onions. Top with remaining thyme


5. Add a row of sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese and place a row of zucchini on top. Repeat until gratin is filled.


6. Top gratin with remaining cheese


7. Bake at 375 C for 60-70 min, until golden brown.

Spinach and Basil Pesto

• 1 cup of chopped baby spinach


• 1 cup of chopped basil leaves


• zest of 1 lemon


• juice of half a lemon


• 1 garlic clove minced


• 1/2 cup of olive oil


• 1/4 cup of toasted pine nuts


• 1/4 roasted pine nuts
  

1. In your food processor, add basil, spinach, lemon zest and juice, garlic and pine nuts.


2. Start blending and slowly add olive oil. Blend until smooth. Stopping and scrapping down sides if necessary.


3. Scoop out pesto into a bowl and add parmesan cheese. Stir until blended.

I used this pesto with some fun looking pasta which name escapes me at the moment :)

Prosciutto wrapped Chicken stuffed with goat cheese and rosemary

• 2 pieces of chicken (I used thighs)


• 2 Tbsp of goat cheese


• 1 Tbsp of freshly chopped rosemary


• 1 Tbsp of Dijon Mustard


• 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil


• 2 thin slices of prosciutto


• salt and pepper to taste

1. 1. Lay our your chicken thighs. It's easier to stuff the inside of the thigh and wrap around than vice versa. Place 1 Tbsp of goat cheese and half of the rosemary inside. Fold the chicken



2. 2. Rub the outside of the meat with Dijon mustard and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides



3. 3. Wrap the prosciutto around your chicken bundle.




4. Place bundle seam down on your tray.



5. Pour oil over bundles. This will give it a nice crispy coating
   


6. Bake at 400 C for 20 minutes. To make sure chicken is done, gently prick to see if juices run clear

For extra points I added a little roasted red pepper sauce. Silly easy to do. Just get a jar of roasted red peppers. Take a couple of peppers and their oil and puree (this is where a handy Magic Bullet :) )

Breakfast Frittata: where everyone wins!

When I woke up Saturday morning, I turned to my husband and said "Let's have a frittata for breakfast". He grumbled and said it would be too much work. Which is High-larious since I'll be the one making it... let me worry about work.

Anywho, I ran downstairs while he started a load of laundry. By the time he was done, so was breaky. In the end, he had a tasty meal and I had clean clothes. Everyone wins!

Frittatas may sound complicated, but they are a great thing to serve when you have vegetarians and meat eaters together. I used a regular sized cast iron pan, but if you are really ambitious you could use 2 (one meat one veggie).
To satisfy my husband's meat urges, I placed a thin slice of prosciutto on his plate with this frittata. Serve with slices of baguette.

Potato and Spinach Frittata for 4

• 5 large eggs
• 3/4 cup diced potato
• 1/2 cup of chopped spinach
• 1 Tbsp Cajun Spice (paprika, chle, parsley, cumin salt and pepper)
• 1 Tbsp of olive oil
• 1 Tbsp of freshly chopped Rosemary
• 1 Tbsp of milk
• A few thin slices of cheddar cheese
• Prosciutto slices

1. Heat up cast iron pan on medium
2. In a bowl toss potatoes, olive oil and cajun seasoning
3. Add potatoes to cast iron. Cook until brown and crisp. Add rosemary
4. In same bowl, whisk eggs with milk. Whisking add bubbles which will make the frittata light and fluffy
5. Top with chopped spinach and cheese
6. Pop into a preheated oven at 400 C for 5 minutes or until frittata has settled and browned. (jiggle the pan.. should be slightly firm)
7. Cool cut and serve

Light and Quick: Grilled Rosemary Chicken Salad and Tortilla Pizza

Since my darling husband has announced that he wants to lose weight, I've been on the look out for tasty low fat meals. When I suggested salad for dinner he gaffawed and said "That won't be filling! Not so! :)
I decided to make a grilled chicken salad with mixed greens and yummy vinaigrette.
I also threw together a tasty tortilla pizza. Using tortilla shells instead of an actual dough cuts back on the heavy carbs, but still delivers that classic pizza taste. You can top it anyway you like it, but I kept tonight's version simple.

To make this a split menu, I used my toaster oven to bake my fake chic'ken patties from Schneiders.

Grillled Rosemary Chicken with a Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette.

For the chicken

• Chicken Thighs or Breasts (For him one thigh was a enough :) )


• 1 Tbsp of olive oil


• 1 Tbsp of freshly chopped Rosemary


• salt and pepper to taste

Vinaigrette

• 3 Tbsp of olive oil


• 1 tsp of honey


• 1 Tbsp of Fig preserve or marmalade


• 1 Tbsp of Dijon Mustard


• 2 Tbsp of Balsamic Vinaigrette


• salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat Grill to high (I used my Jamie Oliver grill)


2. Rub olive oil and sprinkle salt, pepper and rosemary over meat


3. Place on grill. To get a nice seared crispy coating, resist the urge to move or flip your bird. Cook for 5 minutes


4. Flip and cook for another 4 minutes until done


5. Let meat rest and when cooled enough, slice into strips


6. For vinaigrette mix dijon, honey, fig preserve. Slowly whisk in olive oil


7. Light dress salad and chicken with vinaigrette

Tortilla Pizza

• 1 flat whole wheat tortilla


• olive oil to brush


• shredded cheese (be creative! You can use Edam, Fontina, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Provalone etc...)


• 1 Tbsp Spinach Basil Pesto (from last week)

1. Brush both sides of tortilla with oil


2. Spread Pesto to edges and then top with cheese


3. Bake in toaster oven or oven at 400 C for 5 minutes or until cheese has melted and browned

Not to toot my own horn, but when darling husband took a bite into the salad and chicken, his eyes lit up. Good? Mmmmm very good (he even sounded shocked as he said it)

Always adding something new to your basic lasagna

Everyone has their own lasagna recipe they use again and again. There are variations, but you typically stick to a tried and true formula. And while I do LOVE lasagna, I wanted something a bit heartier.
I'm absolutely in love with Giada de Laurentiis. She has some fantastic authentic Italian recipes and I decided to combine a couple of them.
First, I made a lovely homemade tomato sauce which after 2 hours of simmering, was TOTALLY worth it. I used this sauce for her Individual Vegetable Lasagna recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_22901,00.html .

Giada's Simple Tomato Sauce

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil


• 1 small onion,


• chopped 2 cloves garlic,


• chopped 1 stalk celery,


• chopped 1 carrot,


• chopped 2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes


• 4 to 6 basil leaves 2 dried bay leaves


• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium-high heat


2. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add celery and carrot and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.


3. Add tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves and reduce the heat to low


4. Cover the pot and simmer for 1 hour or until thick.


5. Remove bay leaves and taste for seasoning

The key to this sauce is to let it simmer slowly over a long time. IT does reduce and become absolutely rich with flavour.

For the lasagna I basically followed her recipe with some minor changes. I used a mixture of ricotta AND cottage cheese (increase protein content and creamyness).

I served the lasagna with a lovely tossed salad with a lemon orange zest vinaigrette.

Tools for the Split Kitchen

I've been living with my darling meat eater for almost 7 years now, and i've picked up a few tips and tricks to making the act of "dinner" easier.

Just because you have a meat eater and a vegetarian living together, doesn't mean you need separate pots and pans for everything. However, having multiple utensils is handy.

Here is a list of cooking tools are that handy to double up on.

Pots and Pans

• Medium sized sauce pan
• Large Dutch oven
• skillet or frying pan

Utensils

• Wooden spoons
• Ladles
• Spatula
• Tongs
• Pastry Brush

Miscellaneous

• Ramekins
• BBQ tools! (flipper, tongs, brush)

By having a couple of spares of these, you can make cooking a split meal easier and faster.

Roasted Chicken: Part 2.. oh.. we're not even close to being done yet!

Nothing is more comforting on freakishly cold winter nights than a bubbling hot pie. Which really used to bum me out since everyone always insisted on sticking large pieces of meat in it.. Sigh.



This recipe is adapted from http://www.wish.ca/20minute/




Although the recipe has you making your own creamy filling, i've become even lazier and used a can of low fat broccoli soup!

This is uber fast to make, toss the incredients together and bake... perfect for a work night! Especially great is if you can get your meat lover partner to touch all them chicken bits for you ---->



Chicken (and not so Chi'ken) Pot Pies

• 1 garlic clove minced


• 1 tbsp of canola oil


• 4 cups of frozen veggies ( I used the Beta pack from PC)


• 1 can of low fat Broccoli Soup


• 1 cup of shredded/diced chicken (use that roasted chicken!)


• 1 Chi'ken Breast diced (optional)


• 1 cup of milk (for filling)


• 1-1/3 cup Biscuit mix


• 1/2 cup Parmesan


• 2/3 cup of milk (for topping)


• 1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp of milk


• 1/2 tbsp of thyme

1. In a skillet heat up oil and garlic and cook for 1 minute


2. Add frozen veggies and cook for 4 minutes until softened


3. Stir in soup, milk and simmer for 5 minutes


4. Meanwhile, prepare topping mixture. In a large bowl combine (Biscuit, milk, cheese and thyme)


5. In your prepared ramekins, add your chicken or chi'ken. Add your veggie/cream mixture.


6. Top with biscuit mix. Brush with egg/milk mixture


7. Bake in 400 F oven for 15 mins until brown
   
   

Side by side lovely pot pies. Right inside the yummynesssss

Wild Mushroom Tart... mmm lattice work

If you really like mushrooms, then this meal is for you. The initial quantity of mushrooms will make you think i'm a freak, but trust me.. after they have cooked, they will shrink to less than half their size! This dish is really easy to make and looks quite elegant (so your guests will think you are clever and such a chef!)

MMM makes me think of danish pastries!

Wild Mushroom Tart with Parmesan Broccoli Orzo

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 shallot chopped
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 8 cups of sliced mushrooms (Cremini, Portobello, Shitaki, Oyster etc...)
• 1/4 cup of Sherry
• 2 cups finely packed of baby spinach
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/4 grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 roll of thawed Puff Pastry
• melted butter
• sliced almonds

1. In a large skillet on medium heat, add olive oil, garlic, thyme and shallots. Cook for one minute


2. Add mushrooms and continue cooking until they have shruken in size and have lost their moisture


3. Add sherry, and continue to cook until liquid is fully absorbed


4. Add spinach and cook until slightly wilted


5. Turn off heat and add sour cream. Stir until blended.


6. Roll out pastry sheet. Place mixture in middle. Using kitchen shears, cut diagonal strips towards the mixture


7. Like a weaving basket, criss cross your pastry strips over the mixture


8. Brush with melted butter. Add slivered almonds on top


9. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes until brown

Parmesan and Broccoli Orzo

Orzo is one of those elegant little dishes that have popped up recently. Although it IS a pasta and cooks likes a pasta, it has the shape and size similar to rice and the ability to absorb an incredible amount of flavour.

In a large saucepan, I boiled the orzo (about 1 cup) for 10 minutes. In the last two minutes I added my little florets of broccoli.

Drain and return to the pot. Stir in some freshly grated parmesan, a little bit of cream (I had 35% Whipping cream on hand, but any % will do) and salt to taste.

Roasted Chicken: A Vegetarian's Best Friend

As a vegetarian, the one thing that creeps me out is touching raw meat. I hear even some meat eaters get the hibbie jibbies...

So, to make sure my hubbie gets his meat fix, a nice fully roasted chicken will do the job.

The price is reasonable, and comparing it to buying chicken parts... well, roasted chicken sounds just fantastic! My next step is to find a place that will sell a roasted free range chicken...luckily there are lots of farmers around here who are jumping on the whole organic free range/sell small trend.

So with chicken in hand, I thought I would reuse that yummy enchilada sauce I had made a couple of weeks ago.

Here is one tip that any split family household should have.

One of the easiest things you can do to make your life easier is to have a duel set of cooking equipment. I don't necessarily mean you must have 2 of every kitchen appliance out there! But have

2 frying pans

2 sauce pans

2 cookies sheets

is not only a great idea for any split family to have.. but great for any budding chef!

In each frying pan, I sauted some sliced mushrooms/garlic and corn. Hubby carefully shreaded some of his chicken (while of course nibbling on some for himself) and added it to his sauce.

For my "meat" I used Schneiders Meatless Meatballs. I really like their texture/consistency and they can hold up in any time of stew or bake. These guys are great for simmering sauces since they will soak up any flavours you toss at them!

In the meantime, I used my trusty rice cooker to make up some lovely long grain rice. Sauted some green beans in brown butter sauce and voila!

No such thing as too much garlic... or is there?

Let me just start by saying I love garlic! I don't understand what people mean when they complain of "garlic breath", for I have no idea what that smells like :)

Tonight's dinner was going to be quick and easy, low key and comforting. I made my easy Red lentil soup with carrots and red peppers. This is a great recipe to do on a busy night since red lentils cook up quickly

• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 clove garlic mined
• 1 pinky sized ginger minced
• 1 1/2 cup of red lentils
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1/2 red pepper diced
• 2 pieces of roasted red pepper diced
• 1 cup crushed tomato
• 4 cups of veggie stock
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper to taste

1. In large dutch oven, saute onions, garlic, ginger until softened (5 minutes)
2. Add carrots, peppers, cook for 3 more minutes
3. Add lentils, cook for 1 minute
4. Add stock and bay leaf. Simmer on low for 10-15 minutes until lentils are soft.
5. Using immersion blender, puree until desired smoothness (don't forget to take out the bay leaf!)
6. Add crushed tomatoes, simmer for 2-3 minutes
7. Add salt/pepper to taste.

I top this soup with a little sour cream blended with minced green onions and chili powder. It adds a nice creamy zing to the mix and looks pretty :)

Now, nothing goes better with soup than a tasty sandwich. Using some yummy whole wheat Miche bread from Loblaws, or any whole wheat bread/foccacia will do.

Slice bread and brush a little olive oil on each side. On one slide, add some creamy goat cheese (again with Loblaws/PC, they have a yummy goat cheese spread!), some thinly sliced roasted red peppers and baby spinach. I grilled mine using a panini press/grill from Jamie Oliver's TFal line. Grill each side for 3-5 minutes on low-med heat.

As you can see from above, for added zing, while on the grill, you can rub a garlic clove over the bread. The heat and texture will melt the garlic. First time I did it was a sucess, the second sandwich... woooooweee.. i think I may have overdone it :(
Lesson: be gentle with the garlic rubbing :)

Butternut Squash Ravioli and Tortellini (DECADENCE!)

This isn't a split recipe, but it is a damn tasty one. I also don't have any "real" measurements, as I was eyeballing the whole thing. I'll try to give estimations when I can.

From start to finish, this recipe is a challenge. However, by spreading out some of the steps, it isn't so bad. For the filling, I had some butternut squash that I had roasted a couple of days earlier. On a baking sheet, I had placed the pieces of squash and rubbed them with some olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Roasted them for about 80 minutes at 400 deg.

Along for the ride were two foiled wrapped garlic heads. Roasted garlic can keep for days and is handy to have for so many recipes.

The other added bonus for this recipe was that I could finally crack open my newest kitchen toy: KitchenAid Food Processor, given to me by my darling husband for Christmas (Schanks sweetie!)

So, into the bowl went my Butternut Squash (I probably had about a 1 1/2 cups), 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese, 2 roasted garlic cloves, a pinch of sage and cinnamon and salt and pepper to taste. A couple of tbsp of olive oil was also added. Mix until smooth.

At this point, I snuck a taste (Yes the blade had stopped running!) and OH MY LORD... sweet yummy DECADENCE!!)

The key to making these guys is

1. Patience


2. Mise en Place

The first because these can be kinda tricky to make. The second part is French for "Have everything in place". I generally do this in all my cooking, but here it is crucial. Treat it like a little pasta making factory assembly line!

I used one package of won ton wrappers for the dough. Take them out and keep them wrapped in a damp paper towel (they'll fold easier this way). You will need to have"

1. Butternut Squash Filling


2. Won Ton wrappers wrapped in damp paper towel


3. Bowl of Water


4. Pastry brush


5. Melon Baller (not necessary, but when else am I going to use this guy?)


6. A couple of cookie sheets pre dusted with flour


7. Extra flour for your work surface.

I decided to try and make Ravioli and it's pretty straight foward. Lay your noodle down, plop a melon ball size of filling (say 1/2 tbsp). Wet the edges with water, place another noodle on top. Make sure to squeeze out any excess air. You can crimp the edges with a fork. Once done, place them on your cookie sheet, then pop in them into the freezer. Once frozen, they can be placed into a ziplock baggie.

Now for some tortellini...

I suppose that once you start making one type of stuffed pasta, the others are just as easy to do. So, for funsies, I played around and attempted to make tortellini.



The first step is to place a 1/2 tbsp of filling in the center of your square dough. Wet the edges and fold into a triangle (left).
Next, brush a little more water on the tips and bring them together (almost like folding a diaper!). Pinch to secure. At this point, you should have something that resembles the pope's hat (middle).
Lastly, bring the last point in and pinch, again adding more water if need be.

The finished product!

Butternut squash tortellini with a brown butter cream sauce with sage and hazelnuts

• 24 tortellini
• 2 tbsp of butter
• 1 tbsp of 35% cream
• 1 tsp sage
• 2 tbsp of crushed hazelnuts
• salt and pepper to taste

Set a large pot of water to boil, season with salt. While this is heating up, start with your sauce. The tortellini don't take that much time to cook (3 minutes MAX!) so you want your sauce to be ready beforehand.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. The first time I did this, it started as a beautiful cream colour to burnt black. As my husband looked over my shoulder he reminded me how easily butter burns... fine fine.

The second time, I took my time and gently melted the butter and heated until it turned a lovely caramel colour. Once it reaches that point, take it off the heat and add your sage, cream, salt and pepper.

Once your water is boiling, add your tortelini. After a minute or two, they will start to rise from the bottom. Once they start floating at the top (2 minutes) they are done. Fish them out with a slotted spoon and toss them in your sauce.

Add your hazelnuts and grated parmesan cheese.

Now to describe this flavour. ... almost like little pillows of sweet savoury heavenly goodness. The filling melts on your tongue and does a lovely dance with the creamy butter and nutty hazelnuts. DELISH!

Spicy Enchiladas or (How to kill my husband)

One of the major differences between hubbie and I is are tolerance for spicy heat. I can handle way more than he can, so I have to constantly remind my hand to back away from the chilies.

The enchilada sauce came from http://www.cuisineathome.com/. The recipe calls for 8 dried chilies, and since I only had smoked chipotle peppers, I thought I could get away with it. Alas, 8 of one, is a heck of a lot spicier than 8 of another. I even had tears running down my eyes, pity my poor husband if he even stepped in the same room.

Anywho, one way to cut the sauce, is to mix it with crushed tomatoes, til you get the spicyness to your liking. This way, you could make a hot and mild version, and the leftovers freeze well.

The split

The easy "split" part of this recipe is the filling. I started by making a bean based filled. To add creamyness I threw in some cottage cheese, which really added a lot of low fat richness. Once this filling was done, I had my "veggie" version. For hubbie's meat version, he blended his mix with some previously browned ground beef from yesterday's dinner. You could also use precooked rotisserie chicken, which hubbie thinks he may try at a later date. Tada!

Enchilada Sauce

• 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
• 2 cups of chopped onions
• 6 smashed garlic cloves
• 1 28oz can of diced tomatoes
• 2-8 dried smoked chipotle peppers, shredded and deseeded (start with 2 if you like it mild)
• 2 cups of veggie stock
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt to taste

1. Heat up oil is a sauce pan and then add onions, garlic and peppers. Cook until onions are soft, around 4 minutes
2. Add tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes more
3. Add stock, sugar and salt. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 mins.
4. Allow sauce to cool, then using an immersion blender, puree until smooth.

Enchilada Filling

• 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1 can of beans, drained and rinsed(pinto, black, kidney, mexican...whatever you have in the pantry)
• 1 clove of garlic minced
• 1/2 tbsp of cumin and oregano
• 2 cups of chopped baby spinach
• 1 cup of corn niblets (frozen or canned)
• 1 cup of no fat cottage cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat up oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add beans, cumin and oregano. Cook for 5 minutes
2. Add corn and spinach and cook until spinach has wilted
3. Mash mixture using a potato masher
4. Add cottage cheese, mix until blended

Festive coloured filling, ole!

Assembly

• Enchilada sauce
• Enchilada filling
• Cheese for topping. We had some nice 2 year old Balderson cheddar that gave it a nice bite, though you can use regular cheddar or monteray jack.
• 8-12 tortillas
  
  

The assembly of these little guys was pretty easy. We used the small tortillas, although we did have some larger whole wheat ones, that I just cut in half. Place about 2 tbsp of your mixture inside your little tortilla and roll them up.

Place your little rolled up babies seam down inside your ceramic dish, already precoated with enchilada sauce. Once all your little guys are rolled up, top them up with more sauce. Add some cheese and bake them in an oven at 400 deg for 15-20 minutes, until they are nice and golden brown.

Dirty Texmex Rice

While your enchiladas are baking away, making this rice is a breeze, ESPCIALLY if you have a rice cooker. With all this hype about slow cookers, i'm surprised people don't love this guy as much. I've had this one since first year university.. soo... say 11 years? (ouch, that dates me) I still use it constantly and it never fails me.

This recipe is so easy, I can't even bother writting it up recipe style. All I did was throw in a cup of texmex basmati rice, 1 tsp of tumeric, 1 bay leaf and one roasted garlic clove. Turn it on and 10 minutes later, you have some tasty lovely fluffy rice!

Serve your enchiladas with some dirty tex mex rice, and a little ramekin filled with guacamole and sour cream.

Pick my cherry

Appropriate title for my first food blog posting. I'm fairly new to this world, so if I make any faux pas or silly outrageous mistakes, please forgive me.

My goal with this blog is twofold. One is a sort of online foodie diary for myself. I constantly make up new recipes or have great ideas, but quickly forget what the heck I added or did to make it tasty fantastic or crap.

Second is well, I'm pretty sure that hubbie and I aren't the only ones on this planet that live like this. A family with vegetarians and meat eaters and one kitchen. While I'm a self obsessed foodtv addict and collect cookbooks, no one seems to cater to us folk. There doesn't seem to be a show or book dedicated to making meals where both the vegetarian and the meat eater are happy. And no, I don't mean a meal of beef and potatoes, where I get to eat the potato and maybe if i'm lucky, some napkins.

Anywho, this is a start, so I suppose I should stop blabbering and get cooking!