Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Hash with Toasted Pecans and Scallions

 Toasting nuts is easy – there is really nuttin’ to it!  Have a stovetop? Have a frying pan?  You are golden.   Simply heat a frying pan over medium high heat until hot, and then add the nuts into the pan.  No oil, no water – this is dry fry.  Stir them around periodically to avoid burning.  Ideally, they should turn golden brown.  As long as they are not black, you should be okay.  Always keep an eye on your nuts, especially when toasting.  

By now, hearing me describe how I ate an entrée sized portion of a side dish should come as no surprise.  My theory is that if you can eat enough of a side to satisfy a meal, it’s going to be one hell of a side dish.  (My other theory is that meat is expensive, so I’m saving my money for that Friday night rib-eye.)  Goat cheese is a lavish splurge, I know.  But cream cheese will give you a similarly luscious mouth-feel for half the price.  Like creamy velvet, the cream cheese generously coats the sweet potatoes without smothering them.  Sprinkling in green onions added a perky, spring-green bite.  Toasted nuts developed the texture of each fork-full, as well as adding to the overall richness.  

I could eat sweet potatoes three nights a week.  Some weeks I do.  This recipe is for those of us who love sweet potatoes and are “in-nut to win-nut”.  

Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Hash with Toasted Pecans and Scallions

Ingredients:
¼ cup pecans, chopped
2 T canola oil
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into ¼ inch cubes
1 garlic clove, finely diced
½ to 1 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups fresh spinach
2-3 oz goat cheese, cream cheese, or both
3 T scallions or green onions, sliced  

Instructions:

1.    Heat an 8 inch frying pan over medium high heat until hot.  Add pecans and toast for about 3-4 minutes.  Remove from pan; set aside.
2.    Turn heat down to medium low, add oil.  (Make sure the oil is not smoking – may need to remove pan from heat source for about 30 seconds.)
3.    Add sweet potatoes, sauté for about 8-9 minutes.
4.    Add garlic, sauté for another 2 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.
5.    Add ½ cup of water to the pan and cover.  Let potatoes simmer for about 5 more minutes (may need to add more water as they are cooking).  
6.    Once sweet potatoes are fork tender, add in spinach.  Cover pan again and wilt spinach for about 2-3 minutes.
7.    Add in goat or cream cheese; gently stir to help melt the cheese.  
8.    Garnish plate with toasted pecans and green onions.  
Makes about 2-3 cups.

Vegetable Lasagna Even Guys Enjoy

“Vegetable Lasagna” is like false advertising…or so some of my friends told me.  Delicious lasagna, by definition they say, must include greasy sausage or ground beef.  But when Italian sausage is $5 a pound, meat isn’t making the menu.   

**For all those already mourning the loss of flavor, I promise that it returns by the time you take your first bite. **

Meat consistently makes a dish tasty.  To make up for lost meat, I had to be elitist with my vegetable recruits.  I carefully chose the finest, firmest zucchini; went for the $2 splurge on brown Cremini mushrooms; got my money’s worth on frozen spinach and canned olives; and took on my trusted pantry standbys, onion and garlic. Other recipes might recommend red pepper, broccoli, or tomatoes, which are all excellent additions.  But alas, they are additions.  If you are looking to maximize the quality of your lasagna and not the quantity of your bill, this recipe is what you need.  Also, this recipe has the added health benefit of less cheese – notice that you don’t even need mozzarella!

The plate was a kaleidoscope of colors and flavors.  This meatless lasagna retained all the hearty taste, without leaving you bulging at the belt.  Even the carnivorous skeptics at the table were silent, mouths full of delight.  It was the type of dinner where you heard only the scraping of utensils.  It was the type of night where you redefine “delicious lasagna”.  

Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients:

½ box of lasagna noodles

2 T olive oil

½ cup onions, finely chopped

1 cup mushrooms, finely chopped

1 cup zucchini, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

¼ cup sliced black olives (from the can)

1 10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed  

Basil

Oregano

Salt and Pepper

1 can pasta/marinara sauce

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 egg

Pinch of nutmeg

Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1.       Preheat oven to 350˚.

2.       Prepare the vegetables; meanwhile heat pasta sauce in small pot over medium. 

3.       In a large pot, boil water for the pasta.

4.       In large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat.

5.       Add onions, mushrooms, zucchini – cook for about 3-5 min, then add garlic and cook for until vegetables are fork tender (less than 5 min).

6.       Reduce heat to medium.  Add olives and spinach, toss until warm.

7.       Meanwhile, mix together ricotta cheese, egg, and nutmeg.

8.       Season with basil, oregano, salt and pepper until achieve desired taste.

9.       In a deep dish – at least 4 in (i.e. Corning Ware) – layer lasagna noodles, vegetables, pasta sauce, and ricotta cheese mixture.  Repeat as needed.  Sprinkle top with parmesan cheese.

10.   Bake for about 45 min.  Consume!

Go Big With the Garlic: Garlic Pasta with Spinach, Mushrooms and Peppers

Ever tried to eat a whole clove of garlic? Let’s just say you won’t be going after the opposite sex for a while…

The original recipe I looked at for tonight’s dinner called for nearly two heads of garlic. Two HEADS of garlic. Not two singular cloves of garlic, two entire heads of garlic cloves. I could already taste two weeks of stinky breath ahead.

Needless to say, I personalized the recipe and drastically cut down on the garlic, for two reasons: I was only cooking for two people and I have learned to respect the power of garlic. This time though, I boiled the garlic until it had become tender. By doing this, I took the edge off the taste and replaced the sharp bite with a smoother, sweeter flavor. Depending on the size of your dinner crowd, I could definitely see making an entire head of garlic; it seems not be as potent as previously feared. Add some vibrant red peppers, fresh green spinach and buttery mushrooms, toss with parmesan cheese and you’ve got yourself a meal. Even my omnivorous dad enjoyed it!

Garlic Pasta with Spinach, Mushrooms and Peppers

Ingredients:

1 head of garlic

2 cups water

2 red bell peppers

1 bag [1 lb] fresh spinach

8 mushrooms

1 T olive oil or butter

Thyme

Salt and Pepper

Pasta

Parmesan Cheese

Instructions:

1. Peel and separate the cloves of garlic from the head. Boil garlic with water, covered, until very tender – about 30 min. [May have to add more water, check often]. Remove garlic cloves, RESERVE WATER. Put cloves in food processor [or use immersion blender] with less than a tsp of salt. Mix until forms a paste.

2. Broil bell peppers in oven at high heat until skin bubbles on all sides [about 10-15 min]. Take out of oven and let cool.

3. In skillet, heat oil/butter over medium heat. Cook mushrooms until tender, about 5 min. Remove.

4. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package instructions.

5. Rinse spinach. Place in skillet with reserved garlic water, cook until just wilted. Sprinkle salt, pepper and thyme to taste.

6. Peel skin off bell peppers and chop into bite-sized pieces.

7. Add the mushrooms, peppers and boiled garlic paste to the skillet. Mix with spinach until incorporated.

8. Place over bed of pasta, grate parmesan cheese on top!