Some Ideas for Party Nibbles, on a Budget

In the Pink, over at Nod if You Hear Me, is having a party.  She expects about 15 guests, and has a budget of $35 including wine. Here are some of my suggestions for her, with the idea that she can pick and choose knowing what's on sale locally and existing items in her pantry:


No time to cook
Oven baked tortilla chips and salsa
Spicy Popcorn
Fresh fruit wedges

I have a bit of time
Sausage Bisquick Balls
Homemade Humous and Pita wedges
Herbed Ricotta Bruschetta
Rachel Ray's French Onion dip, with Veggies

Let's Cook!
Pesto Pasta Salad
Potato Salad

Oven baked tortilla chips
It is much cheaper to make your own tortilla chips: It costs about $1.50 for a family pack of corn tortillas (versus $3.49 and up for one bag of premade chips).

Instructions
1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2.  Lay the tortillas out on a cutting board, spray with the nonstick olive oil spray on both sides. If using a seasoning, sprinkle on both sides now.
3.  Stack the tortillas in piles of eight (8) tortillas. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut through the pile of tortillas, cutting into 4 equal triangles.
4.  Arrange tortilla triangles in a single layer on baking sheets. Bake for approximately 6 to 7 minutes until crisp and the edges start to curl and turn lightly brown. Watch the chips carefully after 5 minutes, as they can burn easily. Once the chips are done, remove from the oven to cool. Chips will continue to crisp as they cool.
6. Serve with jar of chunky, hot salsa ($1.99 for large jar at No Frills).

Spicy Popcorn
From Rachel Ray

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup popping corn kernels
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions
Heat oil in deep pot over medium high heat. Add corn. Cover pot and pop the corn, shaking pan often. Remove from heat when pops stop. Drizzle with melted butter. Combine spices in a small dish and sprinkle the blend over hot corn. Serve.

Fresh Fruit
Look for what's on sale.  Recently I found a whole pineapple for 99cents at No Frills, and a large  watermelon was 2.99 in chinatown. Slice into wedges and serve on platter.

French Onion Dip
From Rachel Ray

Ingredients
3 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons thyme leaves, chopped
Salt and ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups sour cream, low-fat sour cream or Greek yogurt (use whatever combo you like, just make the total quantity 1 1/2 cups)
Chopped veggies, such as celery, cucumbers, bell peppers, or carrots for dipping

Instructions
1. Place a medium pan over medium-high heat with 3 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 3 tablespoons. Add the onion, thyme, some salt and pepper to the pan, and put a lid on it.
2. Cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes.
3. Remove the lid and continue cooking the onions until deep golden brown, about 20 minutes. (If the onions begin to stick to the pan too much, add a splash of water and scrape up any bits that are sticking.)
4. Turn the cooked onions out into a medium mixing bowl and stir in the sour cream and/or Greek yogurt (whatever you’re using). Serve the dip up with chopped veggies and crackers alongside.

Sausage Bisquick Balls

Ingredients
1 lb. pork sausage
1/2 lb. cheese (grated)
3 cups Bisquick

Instructions
1. Place the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. Work with hands until completely blended.
3. Shape mixture into balls the size of walnuts.
4. Bake at 400 degrees F. for 10 minutes on greased cookie sheet.

Homemade Humous and Pita

Ingredients
1 clove garlic
1 (19 ounce) can garbanzo beans, half
the liquid reserved
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions
1. In a blender, chop the garlic. Pour garbanzo beans into blender, reserving about a tablespoon for garnish. Place lemon juice, tahini, chopped garlic and salt in blender. Blend until creamy and well mixed.
2. Transfer the mixture to a medium serving bowl. Sprinkle with pepper and pour olive oil over the top.

Herbed Ricotta Bruschetta
Source: http://www.shutterbean.com/2011/herbed-ricotta-bruschetta/#
Makes 20-25 bruschetta

Ingredients
2 cups ricotta cheese
3 tbsp minced scallions, white and green parts (2 scallions)
2 tbsp minced fresh dill
1 tbsp minced fresh chives
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 sourdough baguette
Good olive oil
1 whole garlic clove, cut in half

Instructions
1. Prepare a charcoal grill with hot coals or turn a gas grill to medium-high heat. (I used a grill pan over medium high heat)
2. Combine the ricotta, scallions, dill, chives, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and set aside.  Cut the bread in rounds about 1/2 inch thick. You should have about 20-25 total.
3. When the grill is hot, brush the bread with olive oil and grill on each side for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, until lightly browned.  Remove from the grill and rub each slice of bread with the cut side of the garlic clove.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and spread the herbed ricotta.  Serve warm.

Pesto Pasta Salad
Source: Food Network

Ingredients
1 pound pasta (farfalle or other small noodle)
3/4 cup pesto from jar
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil, as needed

Instructions
1.  Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Stir in the bow ties and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain the pasta and run it under cold water just until it stops steaming. Bounce the pasta around to get rid of as much water as you can.
2.  Dump the pasta into a large serving bowl. Stir in the pesto until the pasta is coated. Toss in the cherry tomatoes and the crumbled feta. Taste the salad and season it as you like with salt and pepper. You can make the salad up to about 1 hour before you serve it.
3.  Check out the salt and pepper just before you serve the salad. If it's looking a little dry, add some olive oil and stir it around.

Simple Southern Potato Salad

Ingredients
8 -9 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup chopped pickle
2 medium onions, chopped
5 large hard-boiled eggs, chopped
salt and pepper
2 cups mayonnaise
3 -4 tablespoons mustard

Instructions
1. After peeling and dicing potatoes place them in a large pot to boil until tender.
2. Drain the potatoes, add pickles, onions, and eggs then mix in mayo until its the desired consistency.
3. Mix in mustard.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Photo by D. Sharon Pruitt, Flickr

General Tao's Red Pepper and Broccoli Stirfry

Tonight I was busy working on homework (if you can call it that), with my friend Paul. My assignment was to shoot a photo that must include "red string" and uses the string to convey meaning. Take in any direction we like.  We had fun exploring this theme.

Paul... being a good sport...

Anyhoooo, I thought I might share with you one of the many ways of making a meal using spaghetti noodles, beyond adding a tomato or meat sauce. Noodles are always cheap, even when they are not on sale. Another time I will try and make this sauce from scratch, but for now I used sauce that I found in the dollar store.  I have absolutely no qualms about shopping at the dollar store, although I wish we had the kind of selection that I read about on the 99 cent Chef's site.

General Tao's Red Pepper and Broccoli

Ingredients
Serves one tired and hungry photography student

2 tsp oil
1/2 red onion, sliced
1 cup broccoli, sliced into small florets
1/2 red pepper, sliced into skinny strips
2 T sesame seeds, toasted
2 T VH General Tao's sauce
1 small squirt hot sauce
1 tsp black pepper
2 cups spaghetti noodles, cooked
1 spring onion, sliced

Instructions

Toast the sesame seeds on the stove top, shaking and flipping. Should take no more than 2 to 3 minutes.

Cook spaghetti noodles in salted water as usual (or reheat leftover spaghetti in the microwave, as I did).

In a large frying pan or wok, stir fry the onion, broccoli and red pepper, on high heat.  If you eat meat, stir fry your chicken or beef strips separately, until no longer pink.  Remove from pan, then carry on with veggie instructions. After about 4 minutes of mad tossing, add 1/4 cup of water and plop the lid on to allow for a little steaming (maybe another 2 minutes).  Remove from heat when veggies still have some crunch.

Stir in General Tao's sauce, hot sauce, black pepper, and cooked (or reheated) noodles.  Toss madly.  Garnish with sesame seeds and spring onion.  Enjoy!

Photo by D. Sharon Pruitt, Flickr

Martin Yan's Scallion Pancakes

My dear friend Felix introduced me to scallion pancakes about 20 years ago. I love them so much, but don't get out to eat much these days (no time and no money).  There are many recipes for scallion pancakes on the web, but I like this one, and mostly because I love Martin Yan.

I highly recommend you watch Martin Yan's video here, you will get good tips on how to knead and roll the dough properly, plus he is hilarious!  And if you don't have a food processor just follow along with his "make it by hand" instructions.

Today is supposed to be our "Black Friday" recipe, featuring a "black" ingredient. Well, just look at that dipping sauce! Totally black. Hah hah, I know it's a bit of a stretch, but these are just so good.

Scallion Pancakes
Source: Saveur Magazine

INGREDIENTS
4 cups flour, plus more
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. kosher salt
⅓ cup canola oil
2 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
1 ½ cup thinly sliced scallions
1 tsp. crushed red chile flakes
½ tsp. ground white pepper


INSTRUCTIONS

1. Process 2 cups flour and baking powder in a food processor. With motor running, add ⅔ cup cold water; process until dough forms, about 40 seconds. Transfer to a plate; set aside. Add remaining flour and salt to food processor, and with motor running, add ⅔ cup boiling water; process until dough forms, about 30 seconds. Return reserved dough to food processor; pulse until both doughs come together, about 35 seconds. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface; knead until smooth, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a greased bowl, cover; let sit at room temperature for 2 hours.

2. Halve dough; using a rolling pin, roll 1 dough half into a 10" x 20" rectangle. Brush with 1 tbsp. canola oil and half the sesame oil. Sprinkle with half the scallions, half the chile flakes, and half the white pepper. Beginning with one long side, tightly roll dough like a jelly roll. Cut roll crosswise into 3 pieces, slightly stretch each piece, and starting from one edge, coil piece horizontally, tucking the end underneath. Using your hand, gently flatten coil into a disk; using a rolling pin, flatten into a 5" circle. Repeat with remaining pieces and second dough half, 1 tbsp. canola oil, remaining sesame oil, scallions, chile flakes, and white pepper. Let pancakes sit for about 10 minutes.

3. Heat oven to 200°. Heat 2 tsp. canola oil in a 10" nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 pancake to skillet; cook, swirling skillet and turning once, until golden and crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet; place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining oil and pancakes; cut into wedges to serve.


Dipping Sauce
1 tablespoon sambal oelek chili paste
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce

Combine and serve in a little dish for dipping.

Image by Thomas Hawk, Flickr

Sweet Potato, Corn and Black Bean Hash

We're cooking with "black" ingredients today and tomorrow, to celebrate "Black Thursday" and "Black Friday" in a non-shopping, non-stressed out way.  This recipe is great for those nights that you come home tired and hungry. It's also good for brunch, lunch, and reheats just beautifully the next day.

Sweet Potato, Corn and Black Bean Hash
Adapted from Eating Well

INGREDIENTS
2 teaspoons veggie oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, or other hot pepper, seeded and minced
4 teaspoons ground cumin (to taste)
sprinkle of hot pepper flakes (to taste)
3/4 cup veggie stock
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 lime, cut into wedges
1 avocado
4 T sour cream
4 T salsa


INSTRUCTIONS
1.  Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet, or frying pan, over medium-high heat.
2.  Add onions and sauté until browned in spots, 3 to 5 minutes.
3.  While onions are sautéing, microwave the diced sweet potato for 4 minutes, to give it a head start.
4.  Add sweet potato and cook, stirring, until it starts to brown in spots, 5 to 7 minutes.
5.  Stir in garlic, jalapeño, cumin and salt; sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
6.  Add stock and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until liquid is absorbed, 3 to 5 minutes.
7.  Stir in corn and black beans and cook until heated through.
8.  Stir in cilantro and season with salt and pepper.
9.  Serve with lime wedges, slices of avocado, sour cream and salsa.
10. Gobble up!

Image by D. Sharon Pruit, Flickr

Marinated Mushrooms with Red Wine and Fennel (a holiday appetizer)

I love Thanksgiving. Yum, yum, yum.

When I lived in the United States I celebrated Thanksgiving twice. Because I am Canadian I did our Canadian Thanksgiving in October. And then I did another Thanksgiving at the end of November. I love having friends over for dinner, sharing food and friendship.

 Over the next few days I am going to feature some of my favourite Thanksgiving recipes. I think the key to saving money over the holidays is to make things from scratch as much as possible... cranberry sauce, stuffing, rolls, pie crusts, and sides. The other thing is to use seasonal ingredients.  And there's nothing wrong with organizing a potluck, especially if your friends are all as frugal as you.

There's not much you can do to save money on a turkey, I don't think, except to keep a good eye on the sales flyers and nab one when they come on sale. Prices vary widely. Last year I helped out our local food bank at the big supermarket near me. Yes, that was me, dressed up like a turkey asking people to buy and donate a turkey to a family in need. The supermarket did it's part by marking turkeys down to half price. I texted everyone I knew and told them to get down there and pick up their holiday turkeys!! Here's one of my favourite special occasion appetizer recipes:

MARINATED MUSHROOMS WITH RED WINE AND FENNEL
Prepare the day before or early in the morning to allow mushrooms to marinate properly.

INGREDIENTS
1 T olive oil
1 1/2 pounds small to medium-sized fresh mushrooms, stems removed (reserve for another use) and wiped clean
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and sliced into thin rings
4 to 6 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 T fennel seeds
1 T dried basil
2 tsp dried marjoram
1 cup canned Italian peeled plum tomatoes, drained and chopped
1 cup hearty red wine
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
chopped Italian parsley (garnish - optional)

1. Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Salt and pepper the mushrooms, and cook further, for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove mushrooms with a slotted spoon and reserve.

2. Cook the onion and garlic in the oil remaining in the pan over low heat for 15 minutes. Onions should still have some "crunch."

3. Add fennel seeds, basil and marjoram and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Add tomatoes, wine and vinegar to the pan, season with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until slightly reduced.

5. Return mushrooms to the pan, simmer for 5 minutes, and remove from heat. Let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, then cover and refrigerate. Marinate for at least 24 hours before serving.

6. Sprinkle heavily with chopped fresh parsley before serving.
 Present the mushrooms in a bowl surrounded by squares of black bread, spread, if you like, with butter and sprinkled with parsley.

Scoop the mushrooms onto the bread squares and enjoy.

Image Credit
Flower arrangement photo by Thomas Hawk, Flickr

Russian Cabbage Borscht

As I mentioned yesterday, I scored at the supermarket with 5 lbs of beets for 99 cents, and a large red cabbage for another 99 cents. What came to mind? Borscht, of course!!  My favourite borscht recipe comes from Moosewood.

Image by Darwin Bell

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced potatoes

1 cup thinly sliced beets

4 cups vegetable stock or water

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups chopped onions

1 teaspoon caraway seed (optional)

2 teaspoons salt

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 large carrot, sliced

3 cups coarsely chopped red cabbage

black pepper to taste

handful fresh dill weed

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1 cup tomato puree

sour cream, for topping

chopped tomatoes, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1.  Place sliced potatoes and beets in a medium saucepan over high heat; cover with stock, and boil until vegetables are tender. Remove potatoes and beets with a slotted spoon, and reserve stock.

2.  Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions, caraway seeds, and salt; cook until onions become soft and translucent. Then stir in celery, carrots, and cabbage. Mix in reserved stock; cook, covered, until all vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.

3.  Add potatoes and beets to the skillet. Season with black pepper and dill weed. Stir in cider vinegar, honey, and tomato puree. Cover, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer at least 30 minutes. Serve topped with sour cream, extra dill weed, and chopped fresh tomatoes.

Photo credit
Moscow at night by Jamie Silva, Flickr

Baked Beet BreadRoll

I have been exploring the Bengali supermarket around the corner from me, wandering down the aisles inspecting all the different ingredients and spices, and pestering the staff with questions on what they are and how to cook them. One day I will travel to India and Bangladesh and learn how to cook these dishes properly, but for now there is the web!

Thanks to Mr. Google I have bookmarked a few Bengali food blogs and will be experimenting with their recipes. It may take some practice, but it all looks SO good.

One of the blogs I am really enjoying is Bong Mom's CookBook, and since I picked up a 5 pound bag of beets today for 99 cents, I am now on the lookout for new beet recipes!  This is her recipe for Baked Beet BreadRoll, a snack for surprise visitors. I imagine you could also serve two or three rolls together with a green salad for a nice lunch or dinner.

Baked Beet BreadRoll
Recipe by Sandeepa of Bong Mom's CookBook

Ingredients

For the Stuffing
Red Beet - 1 and 1/2 of the medium sized ones. Chopped into small pieces and put in the blender to chop finely
Green Coriander Leaves ~ a quarter of a bunch chopped
Green Chillies ~ 4/5 chopped fine (optional)
Raisins or Kishmis ~ a fistful (about 20) soaked in water
Cashew or Kaju ~ 20 crushed
Salt
Garam Masala ~ 2 tsp heaped

For the Roll
Bread ~ a slice for each roll. Filling makes 12.
Butter ~ 1 tbsp melted
Egg ~ 1 beaten

Stuffing Instructions

1. Chop the beet into small pieces and put them in the blender. Process them till they are chopped real fine, beet being solid you will not get a fine paste (you don't want that) but it will be granular.
2. Heat oil. Use olive oil if you want.
3. Add the chopped green chillies, the chopped beet, and sauté.
4. Add the chopped coriander leaves, the raisins, the crushed cashew.
5. Add salt & the garam masala.
6. Sauté and cook covered for about 10 minutes till the beet is cooked. It will be lightly crunchy but totally dry.

Assembly Instructions

1. Take a slice of bread (it is better to use wheat bread her mom says, but she only had White Bread at home).
2. Remove the sides.
3. Now comes a slightly difficult part. To make the bread pliable you have to sprinkle water on it and then press it between your palms to drain the water out. If you have already done this before it is easy, else it will take one or two attempts to get this right.
4. Make a round from the stuffing and put it at the centre of the bread. Now mould the bread around the stuffing to make a roll or a round.
5. Brush the rolls with little butter and the beaten egg. Use a brush lightly to do this.
6. You can fry it at this point if you want. If you are frying no need to brush with butter.

To Bake

1. Refrigerate for about an hour
2. Take the roll out of the refrigerator and lightly brown them on both sides on a griddle or shallow frying pan.
3. Heat oven to 400F
4. Sprinkle corn meal (I used semolina/sooji) on the baking pan which has been lined with aluminum foil.
5. Place the rolls on the baking pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes
6. The baking time might vary, so check and bake till the roll is evenly browned
7. Serve with hot Tea or Chai.

Photo Credit
Inani Beach, Bangladesh, by Mohammad Hasan, Flickr

Lentil Eggplant Chile Mole

Ahhhhh.... Mondays.

Mondays are hard for me. I'm a natural night owl, so I stay up very late on weekends. It's not unusual for me to up be up until 3, 4 or even 5 a.m. I sleep until noon, and then get up and on with the day.

But I can't do this on weekdays, as I have to be at school for 9 a.m.  And I have a long commute, a very long commute.  So when Monday rolls around I have to switch from being a night owl to... what's the opposite of a night owl... a day owl??!!?

I commute 4 hours daily.

2 hours there, and 2 hours home again.

I live in Toronto, but go to school in Oakville. It is not so far if you drive, but I take public transit. Which means taking the subway to Union Station, the GO train to Oakville, and then Oakville transit to campus.  And the GO train, going against commuter traffic, only goes once an hour.

I get up at 5:30 a.m., leave the house at 6 a.m., and get to school at 8 a.m.  I'm usually home by about 4:30 or 5:00 p.m., except for Tuesday's when I have afternoon classes and am not home until 7:30 p.m.  Mondays to Thursdays I am totally knackered from all that learning, commuting, and homework.

Which is why I am thrilled to open the fridge and find dinner waiting for me!

Tonight it was Lentil Eggplant Chile Mole, which I prepared yesterday and reheated tonight as I got into my PJ's.  I found the recipe when I googled lentils and eggplant, as I had both sitting around and thought they might go nicely together. I also make a lovely lentil eggplant curry, but I was in the mood for something new.

I made some modifications to the original recipe by making it a little spicier than originally called for. If you don't like spicy food, you can leave out the hot cherry pepper, the chipotle sauce, and the red pepper flakes, and use a mild chili powder. As it is, this is nice and fiery!!


Lentil Eggplant Chile Mole
Adapted from a recipe by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

2 medium or one large eggplant, cut into 3/4 inch cubes

1 T olive oil

1 medium onion, diced medium

1 hot cherry pepper (remove seeds and membrane, then cut into small dice)

1 red pepper, diced medium

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon chili powder

3 teaspoons ground cumin

3 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon hot chili flakes

2 teaspoons chipotle sauce (**I get this in tiny cans at No Frills,
if it's not available you can leave it out)

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup lentils, red or green, washed

4 cups vegetable stock

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

2 teaspoons sugar

Preheat a 4-quart soup pot over medium high heat. Saute onions and bell pepper in oil until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and finely diced hot cherry pepper, and saute for another minute, using a splash of water or stock if it's sticking. Be careful with the hot cherry pepper. Although most of the heat is in the seeds, you will get some natural oils on your skin. After  handling the pepper do not put your hands near your eyes. Wait until you have washed your hands thoroughly. Mix in chili powder, chili flakes, cumin, coriander, oregano, salt and cinnamon. Add 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth and the cocoa powder; cook for about 1 more minute, while stirring, to dissolve the cocoa.

Add lentils, vegetable broth, diced tomatoes and eggplant. Cover pot and bring to a boil, keeping a close eye. Once it's boiling, lower heat to a simmer and cook for about 40 minutes, until lentils are tender and eggplant is soft. Mix in sugar. Taste for salt and seasoning.

I found this quite bitter the first day, with a slightly unpleasant cocoa taste. I've never added cocoa powder to chile before, and wondered if this was how it was supposed to taste. And I was worried, because I can't afford to throw out food, and I wondered how I might save this dish. But after a day in the fridge, when all the flavours had the chance to blend together,  I can vouch that it is absolutely DELICIOUS!!! I will definitely be making this again!!!

What did you have for dinner tonight?

Roasted Squash Quesadillas

Photo by Loborroso (Flickr)
Traditional tortilla making, in Mexico

I've noticed that there is a myth floating around that you have to dedicate a TON of time to preparing healthy and cheap food. That couldn't be more wrong, in my experience.

I am a full-time student in a very busy program... we have multiple assignments due almost every week, ones that take quite a bit of time to prepare and execute. Today I was prepping and shooting vegetables for a "colour theory" assignment, as well as a still-life. Yesterday I was out for 4 hours shooting over 1,500 photos for a timelapse video due next week. Not complaining, mind you, I love being in school learning more about something I am passionate about. But I don't have a lot of spare time.

Here's my go-to dinner for when I am tired, busy or just plain lazy.

Roasted Squash Quesadillas

Makes 2 quesadillas: feeds one hungry student as a main course, or two for an appetizer

4 tortillas, corn or flour (doesn't matter, use what you can get cheaply)

1/2 cup winter squash, roasted

1/2 cup cabbage, shredded

4 T refried beans

1/4 cup salsa

1/4 cup sour cream

You can use any winter squash for this recipe: butternut, buttercup, acorn... whatever is on sale!  I like to roast the squash when I have something else going into the oven, just to save on energy (even though I don't pay extra for utilities, I know many of you do and I'm sure my landlady appreciates it).

You can roast the squash a few different ways, depending on how else you might use it that week. 

The easiest way is to chop it in half, scoop out the seeds, and place face down in a oven safe dish. Add a little water to the bottom of the roasting pan (1/2 cup should do) and cook for 45 minutes at 375 F. You will know it's done when you poke it with a skewer or long fork and the skewer easily pierces the flesh.  Allow to cool, flip over, and scoop out the flesh. 

You can also peel the squash, chop into 3/4 inch dice, toss with a little oil and roast. This is just a bit more fiddly and time consuming.  It will need a little less time in the oven if you do it this way, about 20 to 25 minutes, tossing from time to time to make sure all sides are nicely caramelized.

On to the quesadillas

Heat 2 tsp oil in a large frying pan. 

Add one tortilla. Top with half of the refried beans, squash, and raw cabbage. Spread ingredients around until about 1/2 inch from the edge. Put another tortilla on top, as a lid, and flatten with your egg flipper (or spatula, as I'm told it's properly called!)

Cook on medium heat until golden (I didn't time this... I'd say about 3 minutes each side, but peek every now and then to make sure it's not getting too brown). Flip, and cook the other side.

Repeat with remaining ingredients, adding a little more oil to your pan for the second quesadilla if it needs it.  If you have a no-stick pan you probably can do without the oil.

Cut into quarters, and serve with salsa and sour cream.

You'll notice I don't use cheese in my quesadillas. That's because I had a horrible gallbladder infection in the summer and I was on a very low-fat diet. Now that I can have cheese again, I don't find that I miss it. The refried beans keep the tortillas mushed together quite nicely, so you don't really need it to stick the layers together.

As for the cabbage... be brave!! I first added cabbage to my quesadillas when I had some leftover coleslaw mix in the bottom of the fridge and wanted to use it up.  It makes for the most AMAZING crunch in the quesadillas, although it's not authentic at all. If you aren't sure, just add a little bit on your first attempt and then add more next time if you like it.

Today's homework (show warm and cool tones in the same photograph)
First I roasted the squash, then I photographed it,
and now I'm eating it in a quesadilla for dinner!

Cabbage Rolls

Last Saturday's shopping

This is the haul from last Saturday, and it will feed me for 10 days or so.  You can see: 2 cauliflowers (they were on sale at 2 for $1.00 so I got both), large bag of mushrooms, a small butternut squash, a buttercup squash, an eggplant, fresh tomatoes, apples, an onion, a green cabbage, dried apricots, raisins, a rutabaga.  I have the staples -- flour, shortening, vegetable oil, tomato paste, spices, brown rice and pasta already in the cupboard from an earlier shop.

Total cost for the veggies and fruit? $11.00

So far I have made cabbage rolls, cauliflower and lentil soup, and a vegetable curry from my haul. Here's my recipe for veggie cabbage rolls.

Cabbage Rolls

For the stuffing

1/2 c brown rice

1/3 c raisins

3/4 c white beans

1 T red wine vinegar

1 tsp. mixed italian seasoning, or to taste

1/2 tsp. hot pepper flakes, or to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

For the roasted veggies

4 cloves garlic

1 cup tomatoes

1/4 onion 

1 c. eggplant

1 T oil

For the sauce

1 tsp oil

1/2 onion

4 cloves garlic

1 red pepper

6 tomatoes (or a tin of tomatoes if you don't have fresh)

1 c mushrooms

1 tsp each basil, oregano, thyme

1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes, or to taste

1 tsp sugar

8 cabbage leaves, blanched

My brown rice and roasted veggie cabbage rolls,
served with a lovely, spicy tomato sauce.
These were delicious!!

1. Add 1/2 cup brown rice to 1 cup cold water. Bring to boil, and put a lid on your saucepan, and reduce to lowest heat. Cook until water is absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes. I know my rice is done when there are little dimples on the top of the rice.

2. Dice ingredients for roasted veggies into about 3/4 to 1 inch pieces (except the garlic), toss with 1 T oil, and roast on a flat tray in the oven for 30 minutes at 375 F.  Inspect from time to time, flipping as necessary so that all sides are roasted.  Allow to cool, and at this point chop or smush the roasted garlic (it will be very soft).

3. While rice is cooking and veggies are roasting, prepare the tomato sauce. Saute onions and garlic in oil for 4 - 5 minutes, over a medium heat, until softened. Dice red pepper and tomatoes, slice mushrooms and add to pan.  Add herbs and spices. As the sauce cooks the tomatoes will begin to break down and the sauce will thicken naturally. If it is too watery, you can add a little tomato paste, and if it seems too dry, add a little water, 1/2 cup at a time.

4. When the rice and oven roasted veggies are done, toss these together in a large bowl with raisins, white beans, red wine vinegar, italian seasoning, hot pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. 

5. Blanch 8 leaves of cabbage. I read that the best way to do this is to put the whole head of cabbage in a large pot of boiling water, but as I was only making 8 cabbage rolls I elected to blanch the 8 leaves separately. Carefully "peel" the outer leaves from your cabbage. It gets harder, the closer you get to the centre. Drop one at a time into a large pot of boiling water, and cook for 3 minutes. Fish out with a pair of tongs. Let cool, and now you are ready to assemble!  If you are struggling with peeling the cabbage and know that you will use the rest of a boiled cabbage within a few days, go ahead and dunk the whole thing! I wanted to save my cabbage for coleslaw, later in the week.

6.  Watch minutes 3:01 to 4:00 on this youtube video to see the best way to stuff and roll your rolls (remember, our recipes are not the same!!)

 

7. Now that your rolls are assembled, place nestled up against each other in an ovenproof dish, an 8" x 8" dish should be large enough.  Pour the tomato sauce over the top, and cover the dish with foil.

8. Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes.  Your ingredients are basically already cooked, you are just allowing them to blend together in the oven.

9. Enjoy!!