Zucchini-Potato Pancakes... Sort of

We've eaten this recipe before, but I don't see a recipe on my blog for it. Hmph. Laziness is keeping me from posting the details of the recipe. The gist of it is that you shred equal parts potato and zucchini, add egg, onion/scallion, tarragon, salt and pepper. Lightly fry as pancakes. It's a variation on latkes, and the last time I remember our making this, they were GREAT!

Tonight was a more frustrating experience. Tasted great but more trouble than they were worth. I should have had another meal of the pumpkin soup. :P Since the recipe is a Weight Watchers recipe, it doesn't call for much egg. I ended up adding eggs, which of course means that the ones I made are not 2 points per serving (a serving being 2 pancakes). So much for that controlling my food thing. Even after adding the egg to make the mixture hold together, the pancakes were still pretty flimsy when I would flip them. In other words, what started as a pancake which looked like it would hold its shape ended up being a pile of shredded vegetables. I had a plateful of fallen pancakes before Aaron came home.

Fortunately, I had not exhausted the supply of "batter" by the time he arrived. I handed over my spatula and refused to do any additional work on the dinner. Aaron asked if I wanted a different job, and I angrily refused that too since I had been listening to increasing levels of whine from a certain adorable 2.5 year old for the previous hour. While Aaron saved dinner, I watched the end of Toy Story with Caleb.

All of this frustration does have a happy ending. Caleb ate many of the pancakes, which is not terribly surprising. Ellie ate more than one serving, which is a huge surprise, and had applesauce (another surprise as she has been rejecting applesauce this month). And she looked at me in the middle of dinner, and unprompted said "This is EXCELLENT!" in a perfect imitation of her brother's usual food praise.

Tuscan Pumpkin-White Bean Soup

I seem to have hit a streak of good cooking this week (tonight's dinner excluded, but that is for a later post maybe). Anyway, this recipe is from last night's dinner, and I am SO very glad I made more than a single recipe of it. I note my changes in parentheses as seems to be my habit here.

Tuscan Pumpkin-White Bean Soup
From Weight Watchers - 2 points per serving
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 spray olive oil cooking spray, enough to coat pot (it was a long spray)
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (I used 2 green onions and 1/2 a large yellow)
15 oz. canned pumpkin (I roasted a pumpkin and pureed the pulp)
3 1/2 c. fat-free chicken broth (I used veggie bouillon)
15 1/2 oz. canned white beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 tsp. ground oregano
1/8 tsp. table salt, to taste (not sure I salted)
1/8 tsp. black pepper, to taste (didn't measure)
6 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese (skipped it)

Instructions:

• Coat a large soup pot with cooking spray and set over medium-low heat. Add onion, cover and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes.
  
  
• Stir in pumpkin, broth, beans and oregano; simmer 8 minutes.
  
  
• In a blender, process soup in batches until smooth. (Note: Make sure not to overfill blender in order to avoid splattering.) Return soup to pot and reheat; season with salt and pepper. Instead of following these instructions, I used my immersion blender as it is far easier than transferring a soup back and forth
  
  
• To serve, ladle soup into bowls and top each with 1 tablespoon of grated cheese. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

We had to cut Caleb off after 3-4 bowls of soup. That translated to 2 cups of soup, at least. Ellie even ate this soup, despite being much more interested in the herb bread I baked (have I mentioned my love of the so-called "5-minute artisan bread?"). Aaron thought it was one of the best meals ever, and I agree. The beans make for a thicker soup, as though you have added cream. The pumpkin has a different flavor from butternut squash (also a tasty soup), maybe more complex or richer? All I know is that I had leftovers at lunch, and I'm looking forward to another serving tomorrow. :) I think I may send some with Caleb to school tomorrow too... though that does require sharing on my part.

Southwestern Corn Skillet - More yummy food!

Today is Sunday. I teach on Sundays. I love teaching. Despite this love, I come home pretty tired... no, I come home basically exhausted and in need of recharging. Cooking doesn't necessarily help me recharge when I feel completely spent. Nevertheless, I swore to be in control of my food this week. I am struggling to be in control, but I decided to keep struggling today. As I sit here rather bleary-eyed, I really am glad I decided to keep struggling. Another successful new recipe, and it's vegetarian!

Southwestern Corn Skillet
From Weight Watchers - 2 points per serving
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. corn oil (I used olive)
1 onion, chopped (I used both a yellow and 2 green onions)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped (I skipped this for the kids' palettes. I'm sure Aaron and I would like it)
10 ounces of corn kernels
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and chopped (I used peppers that were red and green at same time)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (I used grape 'maters, sort of quartered)
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
3/4 tsp. salt (skipped it)
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper (didn't measure)

Instructions:
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, then add the onion, garlic, and jalapeño pepper. Saute until softened, 3-5 mins. Add the corn, zucchini, bell pepper, and cumin; saute until softened, 7-8 mins. Stir in the cherry tomatoes and saute until just warmed through, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro, salt and ground pepper.

1 cup = 1 serving

Notes from Jen:
I doubled the recipe. I added 2 cans of black beans to the doubled recipe. If you do a single recipe, just add 1 can. The cookbook suggests using this skillet for soft tacos by mixing in ground turkey breast, which I think sounds fantastic. Oh, and the original recipe suggests serving over rice, and we skipped it because I didn't bother to start the rice. We sprinkled shredded "Mexican" cheese on top (some kind of cheddar blend). Aaron described it as a dry chili. I thought it was like a dry salsa. It is surprisingly filling. Caleb had 2 good size servings. Ellie was tired and cranky, but she enjoyed the little bit she tried.

Lots of ingredients and lots of chopping, but definitely worth the effort!

Spice Roasted Butternut Squash - Nom nom nom!

Tonight brought a new recipe to our house, and I would give it a mostly successful rating as 3 out of the 4 of us liked it. Also in its favor is its simplicity in terms of preparing it. AND it's a Weight Watchers recipe, so I feel really good about eating and serving it.

Spice Roasted Butternut Squash
From Weight Watchers - 2 points per serving
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 spray cooking spray (yeah, I don't measure)
2.25 pounds butternut squash, fresh, peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks (mine was slightly larger)
1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garam masala - supposedly you can get this spice mix at large supermarkets. I went to a local Indian grocery store. It is essential to the recipe and well worth it.
1/2 tsp kosher salt (I guesstimate)
1/8 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste (I guesstimate)
3 Tbsp cilantro, fresh, chopped. Again, fresh is worth it. Often I use dried spices, but this was really yummy with the fresh cilantro.

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400. Coat a large nonstick baking sheet with cooking spray. NOTE: I was out of spray tonight. I put down a piece of foil, drizzled a small amount of olive oil, and spread it with a pastry brush.

Place squash and onion on prepared baking sheet; drizzle with oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle with garam masala, salt and pepper; toss to coat.

Roast, tossing about halfway through cooking, until squash and onions are tender and slightly browned, about 25 minutes. NOTE: I didn't toss halfway and just set the oven timer for 25 minutes.

Transfer the vegetables to a serving platter or bowl and sprinkle with cilantro; toss to coat. 3/4 cup = 1 serving.

Bon appetit!

No Squash, Kale!

Last night I decided to roast a sunshine kabocha squash as part of our dinner. Sunshine squash look a lot like short pumpkins.

Check out the squash in the upper left - those are the sunshine kabocha squash. The others are (from left to right): Sweet Dumpling, Thelma Sanders' Sweet Potato. Bottom row: Muang (a Thai variety), mini pumpkins, and Pink Banana. Thanks to Prospect: A Year in the Park for the picture and labeling!

Anyway, I roasted the squash - cut it in half, scooped out the pulp and seeds, sprayed with olive oil spray and sprinkled some black pepper on it. Yum yum. Aaron and I loved it.

The kids?

Yeah, no go on the squash. Caleb tried a piece. He chewed it so much that he no longer liked it. Ellie wouldn't touch it. *sigh* Caleb asked "How many pieces do I need to have?" I told him he didn't need to eat more of it. In fact, I said:

"You don't need to have more squash. You can eat your kale instead."

His response?

"KALE??? YUM!!!!!!" (munch munch munch)

I am not giving up on the squash, but how delightful that he chose a dark green leafy. :)

Vegetable Recipe Ideas

One of my Facebook friends had this for a recent status:

"I am looking for your favorite veggie dishes. We need to break out of our rut and try new things. SO please send me your favorite (healthy) veggie dish."

I know that cooking ruts are lousy, so I sent her the names of 2 recipes and directed her here, which I realize is a bit cocky. I don't think this blog is a great resource of vegetable recipes YET, but I was too lazy to copy the recipes again. Then I thought about my friend's status and had that "doh!" moment. My friend was in a rut; I've been in ruts; other people struggle to incorporate vegetables in their daily or even weekly eating. Why not share some of our favorite ways to eat vegetables just to give people some ideas?

Casserole-type Meals
These meals are an alternative to lasagnas and pasta casseroles, but they may bear a resemblance to them at least in terms of how they are cooked.

Cheesy Lentil Rice Casserole
I've written about the convenience and tastiness of this in the past, so I'm just linking to the post with the recipe. This recipe requires ONE baking dish and a cutting board to make it - no mixing bowls, no sauteeing. I will be forever thankful to the friend who gave me this recipe. It is a regular in our house. One of the many great things about it is the ability to add whatever vegetables you want, so it's always a little bit different.

Enchiladas
These are a great way to "hide" vegetables. I'd rather be upfront about what I'm feeding my kids, but I know that isn't possible for everyone, and I occasionally have omitted ingredient information from my kids when I thought the information would prevent them from trying something I knew they would enjoy. This recipe is a variation on the one in The Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook.

Ingredients for filling:

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups minced onion (I use 2 medium onions, chopped)
6 medium cloves garlic, minced (I use pre-minced garlic and guesstimate)
3/4 tsp. salt (I skip salt)
1 large bell pepper (any color), minced (I use 2 large red bell peppers, chopped)
5 small (6 inch) zucchini, diced (I usually have 1-2 large)
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin (I probably used 2 – 2.5 tsp. when all was said and done)
1 Tbsp. dried basil
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
cayenne and black pepper to taste
1 1/3 cups (packed) grated jack cheese (I use this much IN the filling and it was a mozzarella and cheddar blend. I put a bunch more on top)

Regarding vegetables, I have added black beans to this recipe, substituted summer squash for zucchini or just added summer squash. I've added chicken breast (chopped) to the recipe, which Aaron LOVES. There is a lot of flexibility in this recipe for vegetables. Also you can minced the veggies instead of chopping/dicing, which does disguise them a bit better.

1) Heat oil in a large, deep skillet. Add onion, garlic and salt. Saute over medium heat for 8-10 minutes or until the onion is quite soft.
2) Add bell pepper, zucchini (other veggies), and seasonings. Stir and cook over medium heat another 5-8 minutes, or until the zucchini (other veggies) is just tender.
3) Remove from heat and stir in the cheese. Allow to cool for a few minutes before filling the tortillas.

Ingredients for sauce:
5 medium ripe tomatoes, diced (we use a 28oz can)
1 large red bell pepper, minced
1 tsp. salt (pretty sure I skip it)
5 large cloves garlic, minced (see above – we estimate)
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
I add more spice than the recipe calls for and don't measure.

1) Place all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat, partially cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes.
2) You can leave it chunky or puree in a food processor or blender. I use my immersion blender. For extra smooth sauce, pass the puree through a fine strainer or sieve.
3) Pour a small amount of sauce into a shallow baking dish (e.g., 13×9 pyrex).

Assemble the enchiladas by placing a few tablespoons of filling on one side of each tortillas and rolling up the tortilla. Lay each enchilada seam side down in the baking dish. Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas. Add cheese if desired. Cover with foil, and bake for about 30 minutes in a 325 oven. Serve hot.

Quiche/frittata
Years ago, my mother-in-law gave us a cookbook of her recipes. Most of the recipes have stories of who in the family enjoyed it or when she made the dish. There are a handful in this book which have become regulars in our house, and her "crustless quiche" is one of them. I think a crustless quiche may be more appropriately called a frittata, but the eggs in my crustless quiche aren't fried. Labels aside, here's how it works.

Ingredients:

• 6-8 eggs, beaten - This isn't exact because it depends on how the mixture looks. I start with 6 eggs and determine whether everything looks well-blended. It shouldn't look like a soup, but it should be pretty gooey.
• 1 c. shredded cheese (rough measurement)
• 1-2 onions, chopped
• Vegetables: chopped broccoli, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus are tasty options. You want something that will have a good texture after being baked. I haven't measured vegetables in a while, but I seem to recall using 1 box of frozen spinach thawed (10oz.) and drained to fill a 9 inch pie dish. With broccoli, I use about 2 heads/bunches. Sun-dried tomatoes are usually a topping rather than incorporated in the egg.
• Seasonings: this changes depending on the vegetables. Some good combinations include: basil, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper OR dill with s&p. Really, choose herbs and spices which you like. The measuring is to taste. I judge by whether I can smell and see the herb/spice.

Instructions:
In a large mixing bowl, combine chopped onions and the vegetables of your choosing. Add some of your seasonings. Stir in beaten eggs. Fold in shredded cheese. Pour mixture into a pie dish. Bake in 350 oven until mixture sets and any liquid which comes out is clear. I test the quiche by poking a sharp knife in the center. If the liquid looks like water, it's good. If the mixture wobbles like jello, it probably needs a few more minutes.

Squash Kugel
This is another recipe I've shared before, so just follow the link. I'm also very thankful to the neighbor who shared the recipe with me. Her son refuses to eat vegetables but loves this dish. Really it's more like cake than a vegetable. It's pretty easy to make, really easy to double, and great as leftovers.


Soup-type Meals
My kids have pleasantly surprised me by enjoying a number of soups or soup-like dishes. At the Indian restaurant, Caleb sometimes enjoys dipping naan (bread) or chicken into dal (lentil) dishes. At home, I haven't ventured into Indian cooking yet, but my kids do like these next few recipes.

I've written about these 3 recipes before, and the recipes are in one post. I thought I'd add a few comments and any changes here.

Chili
Our chili still has no real recipe. However, we make both a turkey and a vegetarian chili. The vegetarian chili omits the turkey obviously and adds more beans and other veggies. Our most recent chili included zucchini and summer squash as well as the peppers and beans. For the turkey chili, we brown the turkey often with Montreal Steak Spice (mix of spices like pepper, garlic, salt). We serve it with whatever shredded cheese we have (usually cheddar). Caleb prefers the vegetable chili, and I *think* Ellie prefers the turkey, but they both eat either.

Pea soup
I've actually made this all by myself now! Unfortunately I didn't write down what I did, so I'm going to try to explain this by memory.

Ingredients:
1 lb dried split peas (1 bag usually)
2-4 potatoes, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
Chopped carrots, not sure of quantity... maybe 1-2 cups?
6 cups water
3 vegetable bouillon cubes (assumes that 1 cube = 2 cups broth)

Instructions:
Put all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.

Butternut squash soup
Of the two recipes I mentioned previously, our family has been sticking with the classic one from the Whole Foods site. It's not sweet like the slow cooker recipe with apples, but it's quite filling and feels great on a damp evening. If your kids seem to gravitate towards sweet foods, you may want to try the slow cooker recipe.

I hope these recipes give you some ideas. As I cook some more this week, I'll try to add to this post any successful vegetable cooking. If you do try something you found here, please let me know how it goes!

Colcannon - Food of MY people

Aaron called me from his consulting job one afternoon and told me he had an idea for dinner. He saw what his colleague was eating it and wanted me to make the same. His colleague was eating colcannon, a traditional Irish dish. I'm part-Irish, and it has simple ingredients, so I figured why not? I'm so glad we tried this!

I started with this recipe from AllRecipes.com and made some changes

Colcannon - Variation #1
Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds potatoes, NOT peeled, quartered/eighthed
4 slices of turkey bacon
1 bunch of kale, stemmed and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 stick (8 Tbsp. - we don't have milk on hand usually, so I substitute butter)
1/4 c. butter, melted (yes, in addition to the stick)

Instructions:
After cleaning and cutting potatoes, put potatoes in large pot with water to cover. Boil until very tender, easy to mash.

Place bacon in skillet. Cook over medium heat until browned. Set bacon aside to dry on plate, leave drippings in skillet. Crumble bacon after it has cooled and dried. With the drippings, saute onion and kale until kale wilts. Putting a lid on the skillet will help vegetables cook more quickly.

Drain the potatoes, mash with the 1 stick of butter. Salt and pepper to taste. Fold in the bacon, kale, and onion. You can transfer to a serving bowl if you like. Make a large well in the center and pour the 1/4 c. of melted butter in well. Serve immediately.

Colcannon - Variation #2
Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds potatoes, NOT peeled, quartered/eighthed
4 slices of turkey bacon
1/2 bunch of kale, stemmed and chopped
1/4 head of cabbage, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 stick (8 Tbsp. - we don't have milk on hand usually, so I substitute butter)
1/4 c. butter, melted (yes, in addition to the stick)

Instructions:
See above. Saute cabbage with kale and onions.

I made Variation #2 when we had both kale and cabbage to eat. That is, it would have gone bad and wasted had we not eaten it. I also decided to double the recipe when I had 2 greens, mostly because I wanted to get through the greens but also because I know the leftovers are awesome. *grin*

The kid review is mixed. The first time I made this, they really enjoyed it - especially the bacon. The second time, they were both overtired and had a hard time eating anything. Ellie still showed excitement at the bacon, and Caleb professed love for "cold cannon," but I can't say either of them ate a large amount the second time. Still I think you should try it. Most kids seem to like mashed potatoes, and these are only slightly dressed up.