I ate that?

Stuffed Peppers

Thu, 06 Jul 2006 01:13:27 GMT

Combine 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice, 1 cup cooked black beans (don’t need to cook if using canned, I use dried beans), 1 cup frozen corn (or canned), 4 minced garlic cloves (or fewer, if you don’t like your food hella-garlic-y), a few squirts from a plastic lemon (or juice from a real, live lemon, if you have one) and as much cilantro, chili powder, salt, and pepper as you see fit to use.

Cut the tops off of 4 bell peppers in the color of your choice. (I cut the top off like I would a pumpkin I was carving.) Carefully remove the seeds. Stuff the peppers with the mixture above. Place the peppers in a casserole dish (or any baking dish, really). Drizzle olive oil over the top of them. Open a can of diced tomatoes (or dice real, live tomatoes) and pour over the top.

Bake it at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour. Allow to cool considerably before enjoying!

Note: I made up the rice mixture a night ahead, which I believe enhances the flavors. :)

Chunky Artichoke Salsa

Wed, 03 May 2006 14:39:55 GMT

You may have already seen this in my personal LJ.

Chunky Artichoke Salsa

1 Jar (6.5 Ounces) marinated artichoke hearts
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1 red onion
3 Medium Plum Tomatoes
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Tablespoons fresh basil
Salt & Peppr to taste

Directions: Drain marinade from artichokes. Chop artichokes, red onion, and tomatoes. Press or mince garlic. Stir garlic, olives, and basil together with artichokes, onions, and tomatoes. Season with salt & pepper to taste. (For more heat, add tabasco or other hot sauce, I do!)

Southwest Couscous Salad

Wed, 03 May 2006 14:37:57 GMT

This recipe comes from apis_mellifera. I haven't cooked it myself yet, but intend to very soon!

SOUTHWEST COUSCOUS SALAD

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 2 minutes to boil water
Servings: 6-8

2 cups water
1 3/4 cups uncooked couscous
1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 ounce can small red beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (optional)
3/4 to 1 cup fresh salsa (she informed that next time, she'll probably use 1 1/4 cups of salsa)

Bring the water to a boil in a medium pan. Add the couscous, stir, turn off heat, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the vegetables and combine them in a large bowl. Add the beans and corn. Add the soaked couscous and salsa. Toss to mix. Serve warm or cold.

Tempeh Pasta Sauce

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 02:29:53 GMT

Tonight was my first time.

My first time cooking or eating Tempeh.

I decided to incorporate it into a (from scratch) pasta sauce, loosely based on a recipe I came across on a vegetarian website.

To start, I heated some olive oil in a large frying pan, and sauted some minced onions and garlic. I added a block of tempeh (cubed into tiny pieces) and browned that up.

While that was browning, I threw 10 roma tomatoes, a red bell pepper, and a green bell pepper into my brand new food processor (!!). If you don’t have a food processor, (like me, before Saturday) you could just chop them up the old fashioned way. You could leave out the peppers if you wanted to or add other veggies if you wanted to.

I added a handful of sliced fresh mushrooms to the tempeh mixture frying on the stove. After they started to cook down, I added the tomato/pepper mixture, about 1/2 cup of water, a can of diced tomatoes, and my chosen spices. (I used salt, pepper, oregano, Italian seasoning, basil, and a little cayenne pepper.)

I stirred it all together and let it simmer, covered, stirring occasionally for about 25 minutes over medium heat. At that time, I reduced the heat to low, added another 1/4 cup of water to thin it out a little, and added some more spices. At that point, I started boiling the water for the whole wheat fettucine I served it over.

I was a little nervous about trying something new, but

My hubby even liked it!

It made about 4 servings worth. I think it would be tasty in a pita pocket as well, or even on it’s own!!

Veggie & Lentil Stew

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 02:30:54 GMT

I had some veggies that I was afraid would start to go bad if I didn't use them up soon, so I decided to make up a batch of Veggie & Lentil Stew.

For Starters:

I put 2 cups of vegetable stock and 2 cups of water in a large pot and added about 1 cup of lentils (sorted and rinsed). I chopped up 5 baby red potatos and added those to the pot.

From there, you can pretty much chop up and add any veggies that your heart desires.

Here's what I chopped up and added:

1/2 an onion
4 celery stalks
A hearty handful of baby carrots
A handful of grape tomatoes (cherry or regular old tomatoes would be fine too, I just happened to have grape tomatoes that needed to be used up)
About 1 cup of frozen corn
3 cloves of garlic

For seasonings, I added:

4 bay leaves (to be removed before serving)
Oregano
Thyme
Parsley
Lowry's Seasoning Salt
Pepper

Edit: Oh yeah, duh, the cooking instructions!!

Bring it all to a boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer for about an hour. Enjoy!