Quinoa Salad with Roasted Chickpeas

I love a grain salad & this Quinoa Salad is one of our favs! The dressing is from Bon Appetite & is just delicious.

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Ratatouille

This version of Ratatouille recipe is based loosely on a recipe I found in LOVE & LEMONS. I used the amount of ingredients that I had on hand to make my version!

This Ratatouille can be Vegan/Parve, just do not add any Parmesan Cheese.

We ate this delicious Ratatouille as a side dish then the next day I warmed it up, put in some grated parmesan … use you heart for the amount you put in … then added some cooked rotini & about 1/2 cup of pasta water. Gave it a good mix & it was amazing!! Sprinkle a bit more Parm on top when you serve it! I almost like this Ratatouille better mixed into the pasta than as a stand alone dish!

I think you can use this ingredient list as a guide in a way. If you have more tomatoes you can add a couple more. If you have 2 zucchini you can add 2 instead of one.. just make sure that you increase the amt of spices and vinegar etc to the amount of ingredients you have.

Ingredients

1 medium size globe eggplant

salt to spinkle on the eggplant

olive oil … approx 4 -6 tablespoons

1 medium size zucchini

1 medium size yellow onion

1 – 2 cloves garlic

1 red pepper ( you can use orange or yellow here if you want)

2 tomatoes ( I only had 2 tomatoes so that is what I used but you can use at least 1 more if you have 3)

salt

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tbsp vinegar

optional: red pepper flakes

Method. It is going to be easy for you if you prepare all of the ingredients & have them beside the stove so that when you start cooking you can just have everything near you.

  1. Cut the eggplant in to approx 1/2 inch cubes. Put the cut eggplant into a colander, sprinkle with some salt, mix it around so that all of the eggplant is touched by the salt & set the colander into the sink. Let this sit for doubt 20 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients
  2. While the eggplant is soaking, cut the zucchini into 1/2 inch cubes & put into a bowl
  3. Chop the onion into small pieces, mince the garlic, chop the red pepper into 1/2 inch pieces. Chop the tomatoes. Put all of this into bowls to be ready to use
  4. Get the salt, sugar, basil, thyme, vinegar & red pepper flakes ready and put near the stove
  5. Now, pat the eggplant dry with some paper towel or a clean kitchen towel
  6. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil but not to smoking…. add the eggplant & cook stirring often until it is soft & browned. When done remove from the skillet & set aside.
  7. Add some more olive oil to the pan & sauté the zucchini until soft, remove from the skillet & you can put it into the bowl with the cooked eggplant.
  8. Now, again if needed add some olive oil & cook the onion until it is translucent. Add the garlic, mix until the garlic become fragrant. now ad d the red pepper & cook until all of this is soft & just browned a bit around the edges.
  9. Add the tomatoes, salt, sugar, basil , thyme & red pepper flakes if using them. Cook until the tomatoes soften & break down
  10. Put the eggplant & zucchini into the skillet. Mix throughly. Cook until the ingredients are blended together. Salt to taste

This is delicious as a side dish but if you want you can boil some pasta while this is cooking & toss the Ratatouille with the pasta! Add the cooked pasta to the skillet, some grated Parmesan cheese & some pasta water ( start with 1/4 cup & add as needed to make a sauce, You don’t want it watery) Cook until this is saucy.

Roasted Green Beans

When I was growing up we ate green beans…canned green beans….they have a weird kind of taste & colour..& I remember not really liking them. Then we started eating frozen green beans…better- but my mom boiled them…the texture was weird…they kind of squeak when you bite them… I have not opened a can of green beans for many years & ate the frozen ones most of my life.

Green bean casserole is a favorite dish… green beans, mushroom soup & french fried onions…still love this dish! Made with frozen green beans this casserole is quick & simple to make.

But now my fav way to enjoy green beans is Roasted Green Beans

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Mushroom & Black Bean Vegetarian Burgers

I saw this recipe on Bon Appetit, it is one of their BA’s Best.  Mushroom & Black Bean Vegetarian Burgers  There are a lot of ingredients in this recipe & I had most of them at home. I did have to substitute some things. Full of vegetables & black beans, this burger is delicious & even a die-hard meat-eater would like these. There isn’t any meat substitute which I like. There is cheese & eggs in this recipe so it is not a vegan veggie burger, but it is really good

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Brussels Sprout & Kale Slaw

Brussels Sprouts are not my favourite vegetable by any means. Sometimes if they are roasted & seasoned with maple syrup….haha….I can eat them! But I do like them raw in this salad. I posted this recipe last year.

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Butternut Squash Kugel

What is a kugel? It is a baked kind of pudding…it can be noodles, potatoes, butternut squash….the main ingredient of a kugel is sometimes pre-cooked…mashed…grated… eggs are added ….put it into a baking dish & you have a kugel!  

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Living Greens Salad with Blackberries

I love the living greens lettuce ( I think that is what it is called…lettuce that has the root attached) … it is available at Costco & most of the grocery stores that I go to. but you can use butter lettuce for this salad…any soft sweet kind of lettuce

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Brussels Sprout & Kale Slaw

Brussels Sprouts are not my favourite vegetable by any means. Sometimes if they are roasted & seasoned with maple syrup….haha….I can eat them! But I do like them raw in this salad. I posted this recipe last year….

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Last Minute Frittata

I am home alone for dinner tonight…always a good time for eggs. I have to admit eggs for dinner is not Murray’s fav supper, but I like it so this is a great opportunity to make eggs! He can eat the leftover fritter for breakfast tomorrow!

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Sautéed Brussels Sprouts

it seems like I make Brussels Sprouts a lot…& I don’t like them !!! But Murray does & so do most people so for me it is a good vegetable to make. It is easy to prepare & there are many ways to make them. 

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