VTV - bell peppers

I made this last Wednesday, and put off posting about it because I felt guilty. We ate every drop of it (and I doubled the recipe) immediately, and I didn't get any pictures! It was devoured! So, instead, this is a picture stolen from Kraft's website, since this is one of their recipes.

Quick Fettuccine Cacciatore

Prep Time:5 min
Total Time:20 min
Makes:Makes 4 servings, 2 cups each.

1/2 lb. fettuccine, uncooked (I used 1/2 whole wheat pasta - I would have just used whole wheat if I could have found more in the store.)
2 tsp. oil
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup each: green pepper strips and sliced fresh mushrooms
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
1/2 cup KRAFT Shredded Italian* Mozzarella-Parmesan Cheese Blend
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (I only had dried, so I used that instead)

COOK pasta as directed on package.
MEANWHILE, heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat.

Add chicken; cook and stir until no longer pink.

Add peppers and mushrooms; cook 3 min., stirring occasionally.

Stir in tomatoes and dressing.

Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 5 min. or until chicken is cooked through.
DRAIN pasta. Toss with chicken mixture; sprinkle with cheese and basil.

VtV - spinach

Another one of my favorite veggies! I do not like iceburg lettuce. I think it is a silly veggie (although I am loathe even to elevate it to the level of veggie), and should not be tolerated, much less allowed to be passed off as a 'salad' in restaurants across the country. It makes me sad.

Because of this, I became close friends with caesar salads early on in life (because at least there was some green in romaine lettuce), but thankfully, sometime in my early twenties, I discovered that you can have a salad with a non-lettuce base! This was truly a glorious day! It's sad that I can't remember the exact date, so that I can celebrate this glorious anniversary. :( I discovered the spinach (and more often, baby spinach) salad. Glorious! There were months of law school in which the healthiest thing I consumed was a salad of baby spinach, craisins, and raspberry vinegarette. Occassionally, I would add a hard-boiled egg, a bit of grilled chicken, and/or some cheese. Basically, I was addicted (and I still believe that dried fruit and spinach is a combination ordained by God).

Now, after all that, I wanted to make a cooked spinach dish for VtV this week. And another kind blogger (The Picky Apple) inspired me by cooking chicken and spinach stuffed shells. Yummm! It was meant to be. So, thanks to The Sisters' Cafe, here's this weeks VtV -I'll let you get the recipe from them.

VtV - Carrots (late again)

I've been having a lot of trouble keeping deadlines. I'd like to say that it is unusual, but really, a review of my life would not bear that out. I'm just not good with deadlines! I'm working on it, I swear.

I wanted to make a basic, sweet carrot recipe for VtV. I wanted to try another cookbook. I've used this one before (in fact, I suspect it was the first cookbook I ever used as a child), but I hadn't picked it up for a while. It's good for basic recipes, so it seemed like the right fit for this. I used the recipe on pg. 397 of the spiral-bound 1991 edition for

Brown-Sugar-Glazed Carrots

3/4 lbs. small or medium carrots, parsnips, or turnips, peeled (I used a 1lb bag of sliced and peeled carrots, but I bet mixing carrots and parsnips would be delicious!)

1 tbsp butter (I used closer to 1.5)

1 tbsp brown sugar (I used almost 1/2 cup)

(I also added a bit - maybe 1 tbsp? of cinnamon)

Cut carrots or parsnips in half both cross-wise and length-wise (or cut turnips in 1/2 in cubes). (I obviously skipped this step because I bought pre-cut carrots)

In medium saucepan, cook root of choice, covered in just enough boiling water for 7-9 minutes (longer for turnips) or until crisp-tender.

Drain veggies and remove from pan.

Saute butter and brown sugar in the same pan with a dash of salt.

Add veggies (and cinnamon) and cook, uncovered, for about 2 minutes, or until glazed, stirring frequently.

I love carrots. They are one of the few veggies that I have always enjoyed. But like the southerner that I am, I particularly love them cooked to death. Part of the experiment for me was to resist cooking the carrots to the point that they fell apart. And I did! Still, I do love butter and sugar more than I should. Yummm.

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

I know I missed VtV's deadline for the week. I was bad. Well, I was travelling. But I love broccoli, so I went ahead and made chicken and broccoli casserole, even though I missed the deadline. Mostly because it sounded wonderful.

This is my mom's recipe, and one of those comfort foods that I grew up with, and will always like.

Mom's Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

1 bunch of broccoli, steamed in microwave, and chopped down to florets I cheated, and used steam-in-bag broccoli florets from Target

1 box of stuffing

1-1.5 lbs chicken breast, boiled (about 20 min, or until done) and shredded a little

2 cups of shredded cheddar

1 large can of cream of mushroom

Preheat oven to 350.

Layer chicken, broccoli, soup, cheese and stuffing in a casserole dish.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until heated through.

VtV - Eggplant!!!!

I was uncertain about this one, but I wanted to embrace the spirit of Vindicate the Vegetable. I jumped right in, and found a recipe that didn't involve deep frying anything, and prominently featured eggplant.

I am pretty sure that I've only had eggplant once - in eggplant parm that I was not impressed with. I was left unexcited about ever trying it again. I was afraid of this rubbery, icky purple veggie.

But I'm converted! I absolutely loved this recipe. The only reason I didn't devour every last bit and then lick the dish was that this is an amazingly filling dish! The recipe said that it served 4, and I was having 3 dinner guests. I was a little worried about serving a meatless main dish and having enough, so I also made some basil potatoes. The potatoes were completely unnecessary. We only nibbled the potatoes, but still had half of the eggplant (and more than that of the potatoes) left over. Seriously, this is a filling meat-substitute. I can understand how people use this as a sub in lasagne.

As for the recipe itself (aside from my conversion to eggplant-love), it is definitely a keeper! The goat cheese adds a little more salt than I would normally have (making it again, I'd leave out the rest of the salt to make up for it), but the goat cheese is amazing. It is certainly a large part of the appeal of the dish (although it certainly isn't overpowering).

And the dish smells amazing. I love any dish that starts with sauteing onion and garlic, because guests are certain to get excited about dinner, based purely on the smell. The Italian spices in this and the mint certainly smell amazing together (unexpected, right?!). They do work. I couldn't pick out the mint taste in the finished product, but the spices just seemed... right.

The true test of the recipe - all of my guests begged for the recipe!

Eggplant with tomato-mint sauce and goat cheese

Nonstick olive oil spray
2 1-pound eggplants, trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch-thick crosswise rounds
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 28-ounce can Italian-style tomatoes
3-6 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup crumbled soft fresh goat cheese
8 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 500°F.

Spray and heat oil in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Add onion; sauté until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add garlic and stir 1 minute.

Add tomatoes with their juices, mint and oregano and simmer until sauce thickens and is reduced to 1 3/4 cups, breaking up tomatoes with back of spoon, about 20 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

While sauce is simmering,

Spray 2 large baking sheets with oil spray.
Arrange eggplant rounds on prepared sheets; spray tops with more oil.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake 10 minutes.
Turn rounds over and bake until tender and golden, about 10 minutes longer.
Remove from oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

Spoon half of tomato sauce into shallow 2-quart baking dish.

Arrange eggplant rounds atop sauce, overlapping slightly (mine overlapped more than slightly).

Spoon remaining sauce over.

Sprinkle cheese over.

Bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.

Sprinkle with basil.

Asparagus Pesto with potatoes and pasta!

I finally found a somewhat healthy challenge, and I'm jumping in! Vindicate the Vegetable picks a veggie each week to try out. This week was asparagus, and I found an unexpected recipe for asparagus pesto, which was a nice change from my default, which would be roasted asparagus (which I love). This came from a Food Network recipe, but I ended up changing the pasta and potatoes because I couldn't find those called for in the recipe. I think it worked out well, and ended up being a fun, colorful change.

I also just melted the lid to my food processor, and it absolutely will not turn on without the lid locked in place. So, this pesto is a miracle magic bullet creation!


Asparagus Pesto with Potatoes and Pasta

1 bunch asparagus, about 1 pound, trimmed and cooked for 5 minutes in boiling, salted water (reserve water for pasta)
1/2 cup packed coarsely chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
8 cloves minced garlic
Gray salt and freshly ground pepper
About 1 cup pure olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 pound fingerling potatoes, chopped to about 1/2-1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups uncut fresh basil leaves
Gray salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound dried veggie rigatoni
About 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Pesto:
Cut the cooked asparagus spears into thirds.
Put in a food processor with the basil, pine nuts, garlic, and salt and pepper, to taste.
With the machine running, slowly add the cup of olive oil.
When the sauce is about the consistency of mayonnaise, it has enough oil.
Pulse in the Parmesan.
Thin with water if necessary to achieve a slick, saucy pesto.
Scrape into a bowl or jar, cover, and refrigerate until needed.
You should have about 3 cups of very bright green goo
(Keeps about 2 to 3 days, refrigerated.)

Put the potatoes in a pan of salted cold water to cover and bring to a boil.
Cook until tender, about 10 minutes.
Drain and let cool for a few minutes.
Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat until hot.
Add the potatoes and cook until browned and crispy all over, about 5 minutes.
Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Keep warm.
Add basil, toss with potatoes and set aside.
While the potatoes are browning, return the water used for cooking the asparagus, if reserved, to a boil or bring a new pot of water to a boil.
Add more salt and the pasta and cook until al dente, about 12 minutes.
Drain through a colander, reserving about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.
Pour the pasta into a warm serving bowl, add the potatoes, about 1 cup of the asparagus pesto, several twists of pepper, and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan.
Toss well, thinning with the pasta cooking water as necessary.

Dust with a light grating of Parmesan (a microplane grater works well for this) before serving and pass the remaining cheese and a bowl of pesto at the table.