Orzo with Fennel and Tomato Ragout

Mats:
1/4c sun-dried tomato
3 Tb tomato paste
16oz orzo
1 fennel bulb
2c carrots, chopped into rounds
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
28oz fire roasted tomato
2 cans cannellini beans

Cook orzo according to package directions and set aside
In a measuring cup, combine 1c hot water and tomato paste. Stir, and set aside
Cut the feathery fronds off the fennel and set aside. Chop the bulb into 8 equal chunks.
In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook the carrots and fennel bulb for 5 minutes WITHOUT stirring.
Turn over all the fennel and carrot bits, then cook for another 5 minutes, NOT stirring
Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
Add the diced onion, canned tomatoes, beans and the tomato-paste/water mixture. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, chop the fennel fronds and sun-dried tomatoes into 1-inch sections.
After the sauce has cooked for 30 minutes, add the chopped fennel fronds, chopped sun-dried tomatoes and cooked orzo. Stir well until it's all combined.
Cover and cook for 5 more minutes, then serve.

Spinach and Avocado Pannini

Breaking out the pannini maker again - or a medium skillet. You can weight the sammmiches down with a smaller saucepan and some cans to squish it down.

Mats
1 loaf ciabatta bread, or other crusty bread. You can use normal sandwich bread, but it'll be a bit floppy
1 avocado
1 tsp lemon juice
1c spinach
8 sun-dried tomatoes
1 Tb diced red onion
1/2 tsp oil
thyme

Split the bread lengthwise so you can make a sandwich out of it.
Open the avocado, scrape out the flesh into a bowl and mash with 1 tsp lemon juice.
On one half of the bread, spread 1/4 the avocado mix.
Brush the other half with 1/2 tsp oil and sprinkle 1/4 tsp thyme on it
Top the oil half with spinach, diced red onion and sun-dried tomatoes.
Close the sandwich and cut into serving-sizes. My ciabatta loaf yielded 4 lunch-sized sandwiches.
Toast in your pannini maker/double saucepan stack.

Paella Primavera

Four new dinners this week, four new winners. It's about time my luck with new recipes changes...

Mats:
2 1/2 tsp olive oil
1 red bell pepper
6 green onions
3c vegetable broth
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tsp tumeric
1c short grain rice
3c broccoli
1c peas (frozen)
1c cherry tomatoes
1c artichoke hearts
2 Tb lemon juice (or 1 lemon, cut into wedges)

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
Cut the green onions and bell pepper into 1/2 inch chunks and saute for 5 minutes.
Add 3c vegetable broth, 3 cloves of finely minced garlic, 1 tsp tumeric, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper. Bring to a boil.
Add 1c short grain rice, stir, reduce heat to medium low and cover. Cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, chop the broccoli into bite-sized pieces, about 1 inch. Halve the cherry tomatoes and artichoke hearts.
When the 15 minutes are up, add the broccoli, peas, cherry tomatoes and artichoke hearts to the paella. Stir a bit, making sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan so the rice doesn't stick.
Cover again and cook for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat, add lemon juice and stir.
Serve!

Portobello Mushroom Burgers and Fennel 'fries'

Doctor: "No more red meat for you!"
Husband: "But I want a burger"
Me: "I can make a veggie burger or a turkey burger."
Husband: "Nooooo, veggie burgers are icky corn"
Me: "... You like mushrooms, though."

Mats:
2 Portobello Mushroom caps, stems and gills removed (scrape them gently with a spoon, they'll fall right off. Just don't gouge too deeply)
2c red cooking wine
1 shallot
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
Burger buns, toasted

Remove the stems and gills from the mushrooms. Gently wipe the caps with a damp (wet it and wring it out) paper towel to remove any dirt.
Using a fork, gently prick the mushrooms all over, topside and underside. You're looking to just break the skin, not pierce it deeply.
Lay the mushrooms underside up in a shallow baking dish.
In a small saucepan, combine the red wine, minced garlic and minced shallot with 1/4 tsp salt and 1 tsp dried thyme. Bring to a full boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.
Pour the red wine mixture over the mushroom caps. Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, discard the excess marinade and grill the mushrooms for 5 minutes. I used my pannini maker and set the lid so it was *just* touching the tops of the caps. You don't want to squish them.
Toast the burger buns, place the mushroom caps on top with any 'fixings' you like - I put slices of tomato and some baby spinach on them.

Fennel 'Fries'
Mats:
3 Yukon Gold potatoes
2 tsp Fennel seeds
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 Tb olive oil

Heat the oven to 400.
Wash the potatoes and slice into thick chunks. I went for something that looks like steak fries - about as long as my finger, 1 inch wide and 1/2 inch thick.
Toss the potatoes, fennel, garlic powder, salt and olive oil together in a large baking dish. Spread the potatoes so they're only a single layer deep.
Bake at 400 for 35 minutes or until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.

Snap peas in carrot "butter"

Finally, a winner. It's been an unimpressive last week, recipe-wise. This one, however, is quite good.

Mats:
1 onion, finely diced
2 tsp corn or canola oil
1/2c vegetable broth
1 tsp corn starch
2 Tb carrot puree (baby food works the best)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1Tb white cooking wine
8 oz baby carrots, sliced lengthwise
3c sugar snap peas
1/2 box pasta. Not the twirly kind, something noodle-y like elbow macaroni

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain. 
In a small saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat.
Add onion, saute for 5 minutes or until onion begins to soften and turn translucent.
In a small bowl, whisk the vegetable broth, white wine and corn starch together. Add to the saucepan.
Bring just to a simmer, then add the carrot puree, salt and pepper. Whisk well, then remove from heat.
In a small pot, bring about 2 inches of water to a boil.
Add the baby carrots and boil for 1 minute.
Add the sugar snap peas, cover, and boil for 3 minutes.
Drain the veggies in a colander and blot with paper towels to remove all the moisture you can.
Toss the pasta, veggies and sauce in a serving bowl and serve.

Lactose-free Fettuccine Alfredo

I love Fettuccine sauce. I love butter and cheese. Both my digestive track and my diet do not love these things. So when I found a recipe for Fettuccine Alfredo that had no dairy, I was pretty eager to give it a shot. I was a bit suspicious about the ingredient list and the final product was... a disconcerting color. It was green. Yellow-green, actually, like split-pea soup. I hesitantly ate it and it was actually pretty decent. It tasted nothing like Alfredo sauce, but it was still a tasty, creamy sauce for my pasta with a good mouthfeel and a savoury side.

Mats:
8 oz pasta. Fettuccine is traditional, but any long, flat pasta will work. Or gnocchi.
2 Tb olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tb flour
1 1/2c plain soy milk
1/4c white wine
1tsp yellow miso. My store didn't have any, so I substituted 1/2 tsp sugar.
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 Tb nutritional yeast
Optional tasty stuff: 8 oz Portobello  mushrooms, stems removed and caps cut into 1/2 inch thick strips. 8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch thick strips.

In a medium pot, cook the pasta according to directions. Drain and set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine soy milk, white wine, miso, nutmeg, tumeric, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.
In a small pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Finely dice the garlic and add to the pot, stirring constantly. Cook for 30 seconds or until the garlic begins to sizzle.
Add the flour to the garlic-oil and whisk constantly. (This is a Roux!) Cook for 2 minutes while whisking about. The flour should start to turn a light brown.
Turn the heat down to the absolute minimum
Add half the soy milk mixture to the roux, and keep on whisking.
Whisk until there are no more lumps, then add the rest of the soy milk mixture. Keep whisking.
Add the nutritional yeast. It's what makes the sauce vaguely cheesy. Whisk!
Once there are no more lumps, set the sauce aside.
If you're adding optional tasty stuff, heat about 2 Tb olive oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add the optional tasty stuff and saute. Chicken will take about 7 minutes to cook, mushrooms will only take about 4.
Combine pasta, sauce and optional tasty stuff in a serving bowl and enjoy.

Sauce notes: Mine turned out a bit on the runny side, so I added a teaspoon of cornstarch to thicken it up. And then I whisked some more. Also, solids tend to accumulate at the bottom of the pot, so when you're pouring it out, make sure you stir it really well, and scrape all the solids into the serving dish.

Interesting side note: Apparently tumeric is a pH indicatior - it turns yellow in acidic solutions and bright red in basic ones.

Chorizo and Potatoes

This makes a thick, chunky stew, great for filling burrito shells or just eating plain. DON'T skip the step where you drain the potatoes; they won't fry up right if they're a soggy hash.

Mats:
6 oz chorizo sausage, diced
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic
4 boiling potatoes (red ones generally are the best), peeled and grated
3 15-oz cans fire roasted tomatoes
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp chili powder
1 avocado, sliced
1/2c crumbled feta cheese

In a large pan, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced chorizo, diced onion, 2 of the minced garlic cloves and cook 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the grated potatoes. Use a colander and press the potatoes repeatedly. Pick up a (small) handful and squeeze it between your hands, trying to get every drop of moisture you can out of the potatoes.
Then add the potatoes to the chorizo mixture and cook 10 minutes, stirring often. The potatoes should begin to brown.
Add the canned tomatoes and stir well, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Add the oregano, sugar, chili powder and the other 2 cloves of minced garlic.
Cover, turn heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes or until sauce is very thick. Stir occasionally, making sure things don't stick to the bottom of the pot.

If you're serving in tortillas, heat the wraps first so they're nice and supple. Top with sliced avocado and some crumbled feta cheese.