Vegetable Tapenade with Shaved Parmesan

So, my first cooking "competition" for a fabulous charity, the Ronald McDonald House Charity, and I tried something I have never made before.  And honestly I could not find on the internet.  I went with my instinct and the idea was making me drool, so I knew it couldn't be bad!  BTW, my team won the cooking challenge!  One lady helping the other team had 5 pieces!!  And one judge who had eaten 6 dishes, came back for more of this after! 

The chef's challenge was a blast!  Leading up to it I was a bit stressed because it was a very busy week for me.  And I can't say I felt no pressure.  I mean I have a cooking blog.  What would it say about me if I lost? 
The challenge: 3 hours, a secret ingredient (sweet onions) must be in at least one dish, cooking for 40 people, and 3 kitchen helpers (who were incredible!).  Must do a main dish, dessert and side dish or appetizer. 
We got there early and set up a little, and went to work right at 3.   The chicken was perfectly done (dumb luck), and the cupcakes... well, 1/2 came out lovely, and the other half collapsed.  Oh well.   Judges got the good ones.  And this stuff?

Can I just say, I could live on this stuff!  It turned out dreamy and this is for sure my kind of food!!  I made like 8 times what I would make for just my family, so I will try to adapt the recipe down for you to enjoy!  SOOO Yum!  Make it!

VEGETABLE TAPENADE

INGREDIENTS:

• 2-3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil (plus some for brushing on bread)
• 1-2 TBSP butter
• 1 large sweet onion, finely diced
• 1 red pepper, diced fine
• 2 small zucchini, diced super small
• 1 sm-med eggplant, peeled, seeded and diced fine
• 1 head of garlic
• salt and pepper
• 1/3 cup shaved Parmesan
• 1 baguette sliced on the bias (diagonal)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350.  Chop top off garlic and place in foil.  Drizzle with a tsp of olive oil, season with some salt and pepper.  Place in oven to roast for 45 min to an hour.  Meanwhile, dice all veggies fine.  In a large skillet place half the oil and half of the butter (start with less, can add more as needed), add onions and peppers only.  Cook on med- med/high heat.  Season with salt and pepper and some garlic powder if desired.  Cook until soft.  Reduce heat to med low and continue to cook.  In another skillet, add remaining olive oil and butter and the eggplant and zucchini.  Season with salt and pepper.

 Cook over med- med high heat until soft (about 20 min) stirring every so often.  Add to onion and pepper, taste for seasoning.  Remove garlic from oven, squeeze the garlic from the skin and chop up.  Throw in with the other veggies.  Cook until almost like mush (I know, sounds gross, but trust me!).  Should have a touch of texture, but mostly, all melt together.

Cut bread, toast and brush with olive oil, or brush with some olive oil and broil.  Top with spoonful of veggies and some shaved Parmesan.  I also drizzled the bread with a touch of balsamic glaze before topping, to add some sweetness.

Indian Chickpea and Potato Stew

I never had Indian food growing up.  I grew up in central NY where really there are Italians, Greeks and a smattering of other pure breds, and lots of "mutts".  I was a "mutt" with an Italian mom and a half Polish dad.  I grew up on American food, lots of Italian and some Polish dishes every now and then.    But I will tell you, upstate NY knows how to do Italian food.   But we never did Indian.

When I moved to Germany it brought me out of my comfort zone, eating some German fare, and when we moved to LA, I became reckless and ate all different kinds of foods.  Thai, Cuban and Indian were among my favorites.  We often went to an Indian place with our closest friends after church for a buffet.  Never have I tried making Indian fare and this was my first attempt.  It was probably Indian with an Italian flare, but we enjoyed it regardless of what it was.  I didn't do the yogurt and wish I had just for the variety.   

This meal is full great things, like chickpeas, garlic and onion and tumeric, which is a very powerful root derived spice (like ginger) that has countless health benefits and really, a very mild flavor.  It will turn your plastic utensils yellow though!  

INDIAN CHICKPEA AND POTATO STEW

Inspired by: pickyeater

Makes at least 6 servings, 1 1/4 cups each

INGREDIENTS:

• 1-2 tablespoon(s) extra-virgin olive oil (I eyeball it)
• 1-2 large onion, coarsely chopped (depending on how much you want)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 teaspoon tumeric powder
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp cround coriander (opt.)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• fresh ground pepper and salt to taste
• 1 pound potatoes, (about 6-8 medium red potatoes) peeled and diced bite size
• 1 head of cauliflower , chopped(opt.)
• 1-2 cup(s) chicken broth (use veg. broth for vegetarian)
• 2- 15 oz. cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1- 14 oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes
• 1- 8 oz. can tomato sauce (I used salt-free )
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3/4 cup low-fat or fat-free plain greek yogurt (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Chop all your veggies. Heat oil in a Dutch oven (or a large pot) over medium heat.

Add onions to the pot and cook, stirring often, until fragrant and beginning to brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add curry powder and tumeric, cinnamon, and pepper; cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds. Add potatoes, 1 cup broth and salt; bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add chickpeas and tomatoes; stir to combine.

Bring the stew to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally and adding more broth, if needed, until the potatoes are tender, 15-25 minutes. Stir in and/or top with cilantro.

Once you’re ready to eat, you can serve this with naan, over brown rice or topped with yogurt. An alternative way to serve this is to toast up some whole wheat burger buns, and use this as the burger “filling” along with some yogurt drizzled on top to moisten it and some chopped red onion for texture.

I chose to have mine with jasmine brown rice, with some fresh baked naan.

Quinoa Italian Stuffed Peppers

 It seems so obvious that quinoa and Italian go together, right?  Seriously, I don't much care because I really loved this meal.  I loved the flavors and I loved that it was so nutritious.  I mean, with all the baking I do, I have to try to make my meals a little more healthful.  For those who don't know what quinoa is, it is an ancient grain that is high in protein and essential amino acids like lysine and also has calcium, phosphorus, and iron.  It can be used instead of rice in many dishes.  It is also gluten free.

 I have to brag a bit, because it make me so proud that every one of my kids ate this, including the pepper, without complaining and even said "MMM!  I like peppers."  It's like every mom's dream.  Well, maybe not every mom, but those mom's that make their kids eat fruit, yogurt, cheese for snacks...but I was honestly surprised that they ate the peppers, and actually liked them.
I would definitely make these again and not change a thing. 


QUINOA ITALIAN STUFFED PEPPERS

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 red, orange or yellow peppers
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups chicken broth or stock (or veggie)
• 1/2-1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, quartered and diced
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach
• 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained and diced
• 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed well
• 2 TBSP chopped fresh parsley
• 2-3 TBSP chopped fresh basil
• 2-3 TBSP white wine
• jarred sauce
• 1 cup mozzerella or Italian cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Cook quinoa in chicken stock or broth.  (Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer for 10-15 minutes, until light and fluffy, and/or the liquid is absorbed).  Meanwhile, place oil, chopped onion and carrot in a skillet (I used nonstick) and cook over medium high heat until tender, reducing heat if needed.  Add garlic for last 2-3 minutes of cooking.  Remove from heat.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Wash peppers and careful cut the stem out.   Line cookie sheet with tinfoil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Cut pepper in half and place on cookie sheet. 
Drizzle wine over cooked quinoa.  Dump in cooked veggies and spinach, beans, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley and basil.  Mix to combine.  Taste for seasoning. 
Stuff peppers with filling.  Place a large spoonful of jarred sauce over the quinoa stuffing.  Place a few TBSP of cheese over each.  Bake in preheated oven for 25-40 minutes, depending on how tender you want your pepper.  Note:  I only did 4 peppers and put the filling in a baking dish, topped with cheese which was delicious on it's own.

Vegetable Soup

 This is the kind of soup I wish I could eat every night.  I can not imagine anyone not liking this soup.  It had heartiness with the potatoes and the veggies in it were just amazing together.  I love that I can have 2 bowls, and gorge myself, and not feel an ounce of guilt. I love that I only had one pot to wash.  I love that it had so  much flavor, color and I felt so good about feeding this to my family, and they all loved it!  Even the 2 year old.

I really was looking to make more of a vegetable stew.  I wanted the veggies kind of rustic and large, but then I remembered I have a 2 year old, and diced somewhere in-between a dice and coarse chop.  The vegetables kind of melt into each other and get really tender.  I know some vitamins get lost when you cook veggies, but when it tastes like this, I will take the depletion happily.  This is a very versatile soup.   Add what you like, and leave out what you don't.  But did I mention how good this was? 



VEGETABLE SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 TBSP olive oil (I substituted some for flaxseed oil)
• 2 cups diced potatoes
• 2 cups carrots, coarsely chopped
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 cup celery, coarsely chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cup chopped red cabbage
• 1 large zucchini, quartered and chopped
• 1- 15 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 3-4 cups water
• 2 TBSP fresh parsley chopped or 2 tsp. dry
• salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Over medium high heat, put the oil in a big stock pot and dump in the potatoes, onions, celery and carrots.  Cook for about 10 minutes, scraping the bottom as necessary to prevent the potatoes from sticking.    Add the cabbage, and garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Add the can of tomatoes, broth, water and zucchini a bit of salt and pepper.  Cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes.  Add parsley and let simmer uncovered another 20-30 minutes, until all the veggies are tender and cooked through.  Taste broth to see if needs seasoning and add accordingly.  Serve with crusty bread and if desired, Parmesan cheese.