Veggies
COCO'S
COLLARD GREENS
Good, Southern collard greens. Yum. This is taken from White Trash Cooking...
Wash your collards 3 or 4 times in fresh water, draining them each time. (There's nothing worse than gritty collards.) Strip the leafy part from the stems. In a large pot, fry down 1 lb. of fatback, thick bacon, or ham chunks until brown. (I use � to � lb. bacon to make it a little lighter. (If you can associate greens with "lighter.") Then add collards. Stir and fry these until collards start to wilt. Add 2 cups of water and cook until tender. Add more water, if necessary. Some people like a spoon of sugar in the water to sweeten the greens. Stir frequently on medium heat so they don't burn.
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HONEYCHILD�S
PASTA PRIMAVERA
Scrumdillyumptious!
You�ll Need:
1� c. baby carrots, trimmed
3 c. uncooked cavatappi or penne pasta
1 t. olive oil
2 c. zucchini or other summer squash, cut up into chunks
� c. shelled green peas (I used sugar-snap)
1 t. salt
� t. pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
� c. dry white wine
1/3 c. whipping cream
1 T. lemon juice
� c. grated parmesan cheese
� c. thinly sliced fresh basil
� c. chopped fresh parsley
Prep:
1. Bring 2 qts. of water to a boil in a stockpot. Add carrots; cook for 3 mins. Remove with a slotted spoon. Add pasta to boiling water; cook according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain.
2. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet (I use a wok) over med-high heat. Add squash; saut� for 3 mins. Add carrots, peas, salt, pepper and garlic; saut� for 2 mins. Stir in wine; scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in cream and juice; cook for 1 minute. Add pasta and cheese; stir well to coat. Remove from heat; stir in basil and parsley.
Yields 4 - 2 cup servings.
(Honeychild�s Pasta Primavera also appears in the �Pasta & Pizza� section.)
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PAMELA�S
POTATOES GRATIN WITH GOAT CHEESE AND GARLIC
I add a little bit more nutmeg and extra 3 cloves of garlic, and I use whole wheat flour and it works fine.
1 cup half and half, divided
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup (4 ounces) goat cheese
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
1 teaspoon salt
� teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 garlic clove, minced
5 cups thinly sliced Yukon gold potatoes (about 2� pounds)
Cooking spray
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine 2 tablespoons half and half with flour in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add the remaining half and half, cheese, and the next five ingredients (cheese through garlic), stirring with a whisk. Arrange half the potato slices in a single layer in an 11x17 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour half of the milk mixture over potato slices, stirring the mixture immediately before adding.
3. Repeat procedure with remaining potato slices and milk mixture.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour and ten minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown. Yield: 9 servings (serving size: 2/3 cup).
Calories, 193 (27% from fat); Fat, 5.8 grams; Protein, 6.4 grams; Carbs 28.4 grams; Fiber, 2.4 grams
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*MERRY*�S
RATATOUILLE AND GOAT CHEESE SALAD WITH PESTO VINAIGRETTE
In this recipe, we call for a 3- by 1�-inch stainless-steel pastry ring. It is available at some specialty cookware shops.
For pesto vinaigrette
� cup packed fresh basil leaves
� tablespoon minced garlic
� tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted golden
1� tablespoons white-wine vinegar
� cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
For ratatouille
1 long narrow Japanese eggplant
1 small zucchini
1 small yellow squash
1 small red bell pepper
1 small green bell pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped fine
1 medium vine-ripened tomato, seeded and pur�ed (about � cup)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
12 ounces soft mild goat cheese at room temperature
8 ounces mesclun (mixed baby greens)
Garnish: red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
Make vinaigrette:
In a blender or small food processor, blend all vinaigrette ingredients with salt and pepper to taste until smooth. Vinaigrette may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring vinaigrette to room temperature before using on salads.
Make ratatouille:
Cut eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, and bell peppers into �-inch dice. In a large heavy skillet, cook eggplant in 1 tablespoon oil over moderate heat, stirring, until tender and transfer to a bowl. In skillet, cook zucchini, yellow squash, and onion with salt and pepper to taste in 1 tablespoon oil over moderate heat, stirring, until crisp-tender, 3 to 5 minutes, and transfer to bowl. Cook bell peppers in remaining teaspoon oil in same manner and transfer to bowl. Stir in tomato pur�e, garlic, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste and cool ratatouille completely.
Preheat oven to 375�F and cut a large sheet of parchment paper into eight 5- to 6- inch squares.
On a work surface, put a 3-inch metal pastry ring (at least 1� high) in middle of 1 parchment square and fill it with 1/3 cup ratatouille, pressing evenly and tightly into bottom. Cut goat cheese into 8 equal pieces and flatten each piece to form a 3-inch disk. Top ratatouille in ring with goat cheese disk, pressing lightly at edges to cover ratatouille completely. Transfer round on parchment square to a large baking sheet and remove ring. Make 7 more rounds in same manner with remaining parchment squares, ratatouille, and goat cheese. Bake rounds in middle of oven 8 to 10 minutes, or until heated through.
While rounds are baking, in a large bowl toss mesclun with � cup vinaigrette and divide among 8 plates.
With a spatula, transfer a round to center of each salad. Drizzle each salad with about 1 teaspoon vinaigrette and garnish with tomatoes.
Makes 8 servings.
(*Merry*�s Ratatouille and Goat Cheese Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette also appears in the �Salads and Dressings� section.)
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BUNNYROCK�S
ROASTED VEGETABLES
1) Buy your ass some vegetables. Anything firm will work, like eggplant,
mushrooms, zucchini, peppers...you get the idea. Avoid watery choices
like tomatoes. I have a sneaking suspicion that such vegetables (yes, I
know that tomatoes are really fruits, so stop right now) will just get all a-
mush.
2) Preheat oven to 400�F.
3) Cut vegetables into bite sized pieces.
4) Oil: If you're going to use oil, throw all of these pieces into a bowl and coat
them with a small amount. If you want to season them with spices, and
any spice that you like will do, do so now. Throw oiled and flavored
pieces into a roasting pan.
Cooking Spray: If you're going to use a cooking spray, like Pam, coat roasting
pan with cooking spray, throw in cut vegetables, season and then spray vegetables with cooking spray and stir.
5) Throw roasting pan, uncovered, in oven.
6) Check and stir vegetables every 25 minutes.
7) Your vegetables are done when no longer hard, but not mushy. This usually
takes about an hour.
8) Add to everything that you eat.
The end.
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TURTLEGIRL�S
SWEET POTATO OVEN FRIES
This is a side dish. I stole it from Woman's Day magazine.
Scrub, rinse and dry 2 large sweet potatoes. Cut lengthwise in � inch thick sticks. Toss with 2 Tbsp. olive oil and 1 tsp. chili powder (a Ziploc works well for this). Spread on a greased baking sheet; bake in a 425 degree oven 18 minutes, turning fries once.
**Experiment with the amount of chili powder. I usually end up adding a bit more.INDEX
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