Roasted Vegetables and Roasted Vegetable Soup

October 20, 2009 by Stephanie | 5 Comments

Two recipes in one! Making my life a bit easier…

I love roasting vegetables. It really brings out the flavor and is very easy…but it also takes a long time, something that between work and school I really don’t have. About once a week I have enough time in the kitchen to roast vegetables, and this week I decided to really take advantage of it.

A few years ago I found a recipe in a magazine (I wish I remembered which one!) for roasted fall vegetables with two more recipes using those leftover vegetables in different ways. I roasted two half sheet pans of veggies and served half for dinner that night. The rest I saved to make soup for an easy and delicious weeknight meal.

Spaghetti Squash

October 16, 2009 by Stephanie | 4 Comments

It’s fall, which means my supermarket is filled with cheap varieties of squash. Spaghetti squash is kind of strange. But it’s also healthy, versatile, easy, and tasty.

is it spaghetti or is it squash?

The best way to extract the stringy-insides is to bake it first. I cut it in half, seasoned it with sprinkles of salt, pepper, and olive oil, and popped it in a 350-degree oven for 45 minutes. After letting it cool enough to be able to handle, all I had to do was take a fork and shred the insides (after removing the seeds in the middle, of course).

Onion, Spinach, and Mozzarella Frittata

October 13, 2009 by Stephanie | Leave a comment

This is probably more appropriate as a breakfast/brunch food, but I decided to serve it for dinner. Everyone likes to eat breakfast for dinner!

This is where I would usually put a photo of the completed product if I hadn’t either forgotten to take one or virtually misplaced it. Please use your imagination.

It’s kind of an omelet, but made in the oven instead of over the stove. And the ingredients are mixed in, as opposed to folded in.

Roasted Potatoes and Garlic

October 12, 2009 by Stephanie | 2 Comments

There are so many ways to eat a potato. Here is just one of them. It’s boring, we know, but it’s also easy and oh-so flavorful!

crispy

70 Percent More Edge Blondies

October 11, 2009 by Stephanie | Leave a comment

Okay, I admit, the 70 percent more edge part is just based on the pan you use to bake it in, and most people don’t have Baker’s Edge pans. But I do, so that’s what I use to bake mine in. Even if you don’t you should make these blondies in a regular pan. They’re easy, they’re rich and delicious, and they are easily adaptable.

What is a blondie, you ask? A lot of people ask me that question, and the way I like to describe blondies is that they’re chocolate-chip cookies in brownie form.

YUM

Quesadillas

October 8, 2009 by Stephanie | 2 Comments

You can put almost anything inside two tortillas and pan-fry them. The insides get gooey and the outsides get crisp and you can cut them into tiny wedges and they will be delicious.

quesadillas

I prepared six of these in advance, fried them up a few hours before I was ready to serve them, and then heated them on a cookie sheet immediately before serving. Continue reading …

Sesame Noodles, Part II: My Own Recipe

October 5, 2009 by Stephanie | 4 Comments

Ina Garten’s Szechuan noodles are awesome, but I wanted to see if I could make my own version of sesame noodles. I’ve eaten them plenty of times at restaurants and I’ve tried out enough recipes to be able to reproduce them at home.

Last time I made them, Ricky Dweck mentioned that he likes to put coconut milk in his sesame noodles, so I made sure to try that out.

sesame noodles

Nutless Granola Bars

October 1, 2009 by Jessica | 1 Comment

I often try to make granola bars, only to find myself with granola in the end. After watching Ina Garten so easily make granola bars for her friends, I decided to try it out again. I added dried fruits and flax seeds to her basic recipe, and omitted the nuts so I could bring them into school (nut-free) and snack on them while there.

ready to go

I ended up with 17 granola bars. There should have been 18, but one completely crumbled. I had it with milk the next morning. These granola bars were pretty easy to make. I cut them after a few hours and wrapped each one in wax paper. I then stuck them in zip-top baggies and stored half on the counter and half in the freezer.

Next time I think I’ll lower the sweetness and add some chocolate chips.

Baby Bello Lasagna Rollups

September 29, 2009 by Jessica | Leave a comment

The Food Network website recommended that I try Ellie Krieger’s portobello lasagna rollups. These were very easy to make kosher – they are vegetarian, anyway. I didn’t use portobellos, just because they were kind of expensive. You can use any mushrooms, but I like the baby bellos, and they weren’t much more expensive than the white button variety. Continue reading …

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

September 27, 2009 by Stephanie | 2 Comments

Tomorrow is Yom Kippur, and all I want to break the fast on is cinnamon buns. This recipe is very easy, and though there’s a lot of wait time, it’s worth it.

Can you tell that I really like cinnamon buns?

The recipe yields a tender dough. The egg yolks make it rich, and the buttermilk adds a hint of tang to the recipe. I changed Alton’s recipe only a little bit because I didn’t have any instant yeast.

Everyone’s really excited to eat these tomorrow after 25 hours of fasting. Continue reading …