Heirloom Tomato and Mixed Veggies

I've had a bunch of requests for all my veggie recipes, lately. I feel like these are easy meals that can be manipulated to fit the veggies in your fridge. Craig says I just need to do some of them as recipes, so here we go!

Fresh veggies are the key and allowing their flavor to develop by roasting makes them even more delicious. As vegetarians these dishes are often the main/only course and we add beans, eggs, or cheese to provide some protein. These items may always be left out or switched for a serving of chicken, beef, tofu, tempeh, etc.

Oil, I prefer avocado
1 medium onion, sliced
2 c. cauliflower florets
1 zucchini, sliced
1 large heirloom tomato
1/2 bell pepper, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/4 c. diced green chiles
1 c. beans, in this case I used tepary (optional)
oregano, dried or fresh
salt/pepper

Sauté onion in a bit of oil.

When soft add in cauliflower, zucchini, heirloom tomato (this is what makes it look saucy), bell pepper, and the green chile.

Salt will bring out the juices, so add a sprinkle. I also added a bit of oregano from the herb bed.

Stir to coat veggies and simmer for a few minutes.

To get a roast-y taste, place it in the oven for 10 minutes (I added tepary beans at that point).

If desired, top with cheese and a sprinkle of pepper.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

These are a tradition for Christmas morning, served with quiche and fruit. We do make them other times...a rainy day always make me feel like a good, gooey cinnamon roll.

The Dough:
2/3 cup milk
4 Tablespoons butter
1 cup canned/fresh pumpkin puree
4 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 Tablespoons yeast
2 cups bread flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
(I use all white whole wheat flour and add a couple tablespoons of gluten.)

I heat the milk and butter until the butter is almost melted. Beat the eggs. Adding all the ingredients to my bread machine. I place this in my bread machine on the dough setting. :) Easy.

If you don't have a bread machine: Heat the milk and butter until butter is mostly melted into the milk. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, butter, pumpkin, sugar, and salt until evenly combined. Add 2 cups of the flour along with the yeast to the bowl and mix until smooth. Add the remaining 2 cups of flour and knead/mix until a soft dough comes together. You may need to add a little extra flour to make the dough workable, but only add a bit at a time. This is supposed to be a very soft dough! Lightly flour your countertop and knead the dough for a couple turns until you have a smooth dough. Lightly grease another large bowl and turn dough into it. Rub the surface of the dough lightly with a neutral oil, such as canola, cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free area until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.


The Filling:
This changes...
~3/4 c. butter
I add cinnamon until it is the color brown I want...maybe 2 Tablespoons.
~ 1/2 c. sugar

Sometimes I add other spices, or brown sugar. Mix this into a smooth mixture and spread over rolled out dough. Sprinkle with nuts, dried cranberries, raisins...whatever your heart desires.

Roll length wise and cut into a dozen 1 1/2" to 2" wide portions. Place in an oiled 13 x 9 pan.

Now you can let rise in a warm place for 40 min or so. Or you can cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight. This makes Christmas morning much easier.

If you rise right away: After rising, place them in a 350 degree preheated over for 30 minutes. Remove and glaze/frost.

If you opt for overnight: About an hour before you want to serve the rolls, remove plastic wrap from the rolls and set in an oven with the light on. Place a pan of boiling water on the rack below the rolls, close the oven and allow to warm for about 30 minutes. When you can no longer feel a chill coming from the dough when your hand is lightly placed on top, remove pans from the oven and preheat to 350F. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove and glaze/frost.

Glaze/Frostings:

I oftentimes just use a basic glaze of powdered sugar mixed with orange juice/lemon juice to make it runny. You can use as much as you want.

The picture is a cream cheese based frosting with a bit of extra oj glaze. I had a tub of Trader Joe's Orange Cranberry Marscapone Cream Cheese leftover and decided to use it. You can easily make a cream cheese frosting with:

4 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 T. milk/orange juice

Mix until creamy and spread on top of warm rolls. You can add cinnamon, lemon juice (less sweet), marscapone, or cranberries.

Always good, but I like them warm with a good cup of coffee.

Crepes

Sweet, savory, fruit, veggies, cheese, fresh herbs...fill them with whatever you want.

Tonight we had them filled with cheese and vegetables. I used sauteed red onion, mushroom, zucchini and garlic. The cheese was a mix of sharp cheddar and cottage cheese with lots of oregano and pepper.

Morning crepes are great filled with fruit, yogurt and cottage cheese. Top with whip cream and powdered sugar.

Crepe Batter
(This batter needs to sit for at least an hour or overnight.)

4 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups of flour (I used WW Pastry)
1 - 2 cups of milk (any type or combination of types)

Blend together all crepe ingredients, using one cup of milk, to a smooth batter. Let rest 1 hour or overnight. Blend briefly before using. If the batter is still thick after a cup of milk add more until you have a runny mixture. I have in the past added up to a cup more depending on the flour. Heat an 8-inch skillet or crepe pan to med-low. Grease pan and pour in enough batter to lightly coat bottom of pan. Cook until just starting to brown. Flip gently and brown the other side. Remove from pan. Fill and roll up. Enjoy the versatility.

If you are doing a sweet crepe and want a sweeter batter, add a tablespoon of honey to the batter.

Yogurt

Mmmmmm...nothing like a good bowl of yogurt. I disliked yogurt until adulthood, then along came Greek food and I loved tzatziki! Along came Elias and I started making yogurt myself. Homemade yogurt that I could sweeten to my personal (not sweet) level was a definite improvement.

I have made it with no incubator a couple times, but we bought one just for ease. It makes a quart at a time and we tend to make two to three batches a week.

Heat milk for 10 minutes or to an almost boil. Cool for a bit over an hour (until under 90 degrees). Add some plain yogurt with acidophilus ~1/3 cup. Stir gently until mostly combined and then incubate at 110 degrees for 4 to 10 hours until set. The longer the incubation the more tart the yogurt. We usually leave ours overnight.

I love how simple of a process it is, how inexpensive it makes my yogurt budget$ and how good for our health it is. We use yogurt in place of buttermilk or milk in lots of recipes; pancakes, biscuits, quick breads, even cookies. Bowls topped with fruit and granola are great healthy snacks. Tzatziki with pilaf is a favorite. Lemon lentil soup with a dollop is wonderfully creamy. Dips, spreads, frozen or on a warm fruit compote....yogurt!

Blueberry Coffeecake

Coffeecake has definitely always been more like a dessert than a breakfast. Whole Foods Market sent me a recipe link to one they had changed to be more health conscious. This morning I decided to try their recipe Blueberry Coffee Cake with very little change. It turned out wonderfully and now I am contemplating apricot, peach, mango, apple coffee cakes in our future. This is a much more breakfast friendly recipe!

Changes I made: Used only WW pastry flour, added some almond extract, slightly short on the sugar in the mix, a pinch more soda and extra almonds on top.