Black Bean Vegetable Medley Baked in Roasted Bell Pepper Halves

Ingredients:

4 red bell peppers

1 tablespoon plus more olive oil

2 teaspoons kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup quinoa (or cooked rice)

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (or chipolte chili spice)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 ears of corn shucked (or one cup frozen corn thawed)

1 cup cherry tomatoes (diced into thirds)

1 15 oz. can black beans rinsed and drained

1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

5 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese

5 ounces Monterey Jack cheese

 (1 1/4 cups divided)

Hot sauce

1/4 cup salted roasted pumpkin seeds

Lime wedges for serving

Serves 4, Calories 440 each half, Protein 21g, Carbs 50g, Fat 20g, Fiber 9g

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Steps:

Halve the pepper lengthwise through the stem then gently scoop out the ribs and seeds with a knife.  Not cutting away the cap gives you a bigger surface for the filling.  Rub with a tablespoon of olive oil then season both sides with salt and pepper.  Arrange cut side down on the parchment lined baking sheet.

Put pan in middle section of oven and roast under tender and beginning to char, 15 to 20 minutes.  Keep the oven on once pan is removed.

In a medium pot, add in your cooked grain (quinoa, rice, etc.) and add sauteed vegetables, then add drained black beans, cilantro, corn and spices.  Stir in 3/4 of the cheese mixtures and add a dash or two of some variants of hot sauce and perhaps a little more salt and pepper.

Prepare a Pyrex or ceramic baking dish (I cut the recipe in half and used an 8x8 Pyrex), put the roasted peppers cut side up and gently add in the medley filing, adding any extra around the edges in a spray oil pan, add the last of the cheese mix across the top and bake further for 10-30 minutes, watching throughout.  

Top with roasted pumpkin seeds, add more cilantro if desired and serve with lime wedges and more hot sauce, each pepper half over a bed of quinoa or rice.

Notes:

I didn't use quinoa as I don't care for the texture.  I used Hispanic yellow rice I had cooked separately, but you could use many grains including farro, or flavored rices--all but wild.  Avocado flavored rice would also be good, or an herbal blend of basmati rice, or brown rice or packaged Spanish rice.  Trader Joe's also does a nice frozen Spanish rice.

I thought overall the dish came out rather bland, but I was out of smoked paprika and used a chipotle chili powder, regular chili powder and I skipped the cumin due to all of the assembling.  I would almost say do not miss the cumin.  The dish needs an extra boost.

I used sharp cheddar and an Irish Monterey Jack blend.  I'm wondering if it needs to be extra sharp cheddar.  The recipe also called for Pepper Jack as an option, but overall, I think Pepper Jack cheese is heavy-handed, and then you have it left over which I wouldn't want.

I only had frozen cream corn from Trader Joe's, which was fine, but I would have preferred fresh shucked (seasonal) or Trader Joe's frozen charred sweet corn.  I also diced up a stalk of celery for added texture.

I also pressed 1 1/2 cloves of fresh garlic rather than garlic powder, and the flavor was too pronounced.  Go with the powder.

The original recipe didn't call for tomatoes.  I added them in and they gave a nice taste, texture and color.

In assembling the burrito filing blended into the pepper halves, I layered the cheese putting some on the bottom, then the blend which already had cheeses in it, plus more cheese blend on top.  I still wish the flavor had been more pronounced.

I did not have pumpkin seeds, and I think that would have made a nice finishing touch to the dish.

One thing I would point out:  there are a lot of steps and prep work in this recipe, so don't enter making it when you are tired (I was,) or not in the right mindset to do all of the dicing and grating, etc. that is required.  Loading the pepper shells and baking them is the easy part.  It says the prep time is a total of 50 minutes, 20 in prep and 30 in baking overall (the peppers being roasted, then the heating of the final assembly.)  Getting everything together, the careful dicing away of pepper ribs, then the overall cook times, I would guess the true time factor would be more 60-70 minutes, maybe even more, so enter it with warning.

 I did save this recipe because I was looking for good vegetable-based protein dinners.  I think with some tweaking, it could become part of my normal repetoire.

 

Stove Top Potpourri

 Stove Top Potpourri

Some combinations to try:

*Orange slices, or even just the peel, rosemary sprigs, whole vanilla bean, and a bay leaf

* Lemon slices (or just the peel), mint leaves, rosemary sprigs, and a whole vanilla bean

*Apple slices, orange slices (or just the peel), peeled ginger root, cinnamon sticks, cloves and cardamom

Place your items in a pot or Dutch Oven, cover them with water, bring to a boil, then reduce the temperature to a low or simmer.  As it cooks down, you can add more water.  You can even refrigerate it, add more water and reheat it.

Turkey Lettuce Wraps with Green Goddess Dressing

Wrap:

4 large lettuce leave (Boston, Butter, Romaine)

1/3 cucumber sliced very thinly

Tomato thinly sliced, a few slices

8 oz. organic turkey or ham, thinly sliced 6 pieces

Green Goddess Dressing:

1 avocado

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 tablespoons chives

3-4 tablespoons fresh tarragon

1 teaspoon anchovy paste

1 1/2 fresh lemon juice, or more

Fresh ground black pepper

Make the dressing:  Place the avocado, mayo, chives, tarragon, anchovy paste and lemon juice in the blender, blend until smooth and creamy, thin with lemon juice.  Taste and season with pepper.

Place slices of turkey atop unfurled lettuce leaves, spread with dressing and add cucumber and tomato and roll up to create a wrap.

NOTES:

The original recipe calls for salt.  With the anchovy paste, there is enough salt in the dressing.

The original recipe calls for avocado mayo (which is pricey.)  Just use regular mayo.

I found it makes a real mess to try and wrap this sandwich.  Instead, I put turkey on top of the lettuce with some dressing on top of that.

I didn't bother with the tomato, and I had the cucumber and small pile of dressing on the side to dip into.  That worked for me.

Apple Pie Smoothie

Apple Pie Smoothie

1 apple, cored and diced

1 cup almond milk, unsweetened and unflavored

1/3 cup full fat coconut milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp to 3/4 tsp. ground cinammon

Pinch of nutmeg (optional)

1 scoop protein or collagen powder

2 low cal sweeteners like Truvia

Ice, in smaller pieces

Dice the apple into tiny pieces (this helps it blend faster and smoother.)  Add apple, almond milk, coconut milk, vanilla extract and cinammon to blender and blend.   Taste for flavor in case adjustments have to be made.  Add ice and blend again.

NOTES:

I core the apple then cut it into tiny pieces as I think it speeds the blending process along.  

I have used the pinch of nutmeg in the paste, but it's so overpowering for me (even a pinch,) that I just skip it.  That way I truly get an apple taste.

If you were serving for a guest, you could add two thin slices of apple on the rim of the glass, or in the center of the glass top, depending on the size of the glass.

 

Shrimp with Artichoke Hearts, Tomatoes and Olives

 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 of a yellow onion, diced

2 garlic cloves

1 15 oz. can of unsalted diced tomatoes

1 8 oz. can of sliced black olives or 1/3 cup of other olives, sliced

1 15 oz. can of artichoke hearts, drained and cut into quarters

3/4 to 1 lb. shrimp, cut in half

1/8 cup of Italian parsley

Pinch of salt

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Black Pepper, a few grinds

Parmesan Reggiano Cheese, grated to taste

In a large pan or Dutch oven, add the onion and garlic and sautee over low heat.  Add tomatoes, olives, artichokes.  Keeping on low heat, simmer for five to ten minutes.

Add the shrimp and parsley and simmer for five more minutes.

Grate parmesan reggiano cheese over the mixture, to taste

NOTE:  You can serve this with a small portion of cooked pasta either mixed in, which I prefer, or the vegetables places on top of the pasta.  You can also use a variety of zoodles or rice.  You can also serve it as a side dish with a protein.

Raspberry and Chocolate Smoothie

 

1 cup unsweetened unflavored almond milk

1/3 cup full fat coconut milk

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup raspberries

use cocoa powder, or chocolate protein powder, or Ensure (a small portion) or chocolate syrup or chocolate chips to achieve the chocolate flavor.  I used about a third of a cup of Ensure for this drink.

1 scoop collagen or protein powder

2-3 drops vanilla extract

sweetener, such as truvia, as needed

ice

Put all of the ingredients, minus the ice, into a blender and run until smooth.  Add 1/2 or more ice to blender and blend well.  Garnish with a few fresh raspberries if you want the drink more decorative.

Four Mushroom and Barley Soup

 Four Mushroom Barley Soup

1/3 cup dried mushrooms like porcini

1 pound of mushrooms (varied.)  White, brown-cremini, shitake. Sliced or diced.

2 tablespoons oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium carrot, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup of barley, farro, or spelt

6 cups low sodium salt free beef broth (vegetable or chicken can be subtituted)

1/4 cup dry sherry

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Prior to cooking put dried mushrooms in a separate bowl and pour 1 cup boiling water over them, letting them set for 20 minutes while you prepare the rest of the soup

Trim, slice and dice the rest of the mushrooms.  Where there were stems, I diced them.  The caps were sliced thinly.

Pour oil in a dutch oven and saute diced carrot and onion over medium heat, about ten minutes.

Add fresh mushrooms and cook until they release liquid, about ten minutes.  If the pot seems dry, pour a tiny bit of water in.

Add broth, add reconstituted dried mushrooms.  I add the garlic at this point so it hasn't burned in the earlier process.  Add the barley, dry sherry, tomato paste and sherry vinegar.

Season the soup with salt and pepper.  

Cook on low-medium heat for about 40 minutes until the grains are tender.  Adjust seasonings and serve.

NOTES:

* I did use four different mushrooms, including reconstituted dried porcini.  You could use one, if doesn't really matter.  I like the variety of tastes and texture.

*  I did use sherry products, but I imagine you could use red wine.  I did have a tiny splash of balsamic vinegar to add.  Also, a few shakes of Louisiana hot sauce if you wanted heat.

* I almost always use the Italian tubes of tomato paste now rather than even the tiniest cans which means an open can of leftovers.  The tube can allow you to get a tablespoon at a time and refrigerate it until needed again.

* You could turn this into a cream of mushroom soup with a litte cream added.  You will get a very dark broth as you see in the photograph, which I wanted to reflect a January winter meal.

*  I think you could also slightly increase the amount of grain, if people wanted that for a carb substitute, rather than bread on the side.