Ratatouille

I'm not sure what makes this ratatoullie and not vegetable spagetti, but the recipe said that was its name, so there ya go!

I sliced 4 yellow squash and 4 zuchinni in my handy dandy stand mixer slicer. Man I love that thing. I also cut up 5 red peppers in to bite sized pieces. Roast squashes and peppers in olive oil and a bit of salt for about 30 minutes, or until peppers are tender. There were supposed to be 4 onions cut up in the roasted vegetables, but I forgot them : ). The recipe called for cut up whole tomatoes, but I don't like tomatoes very much, so I used 5 cans of tomato sauce, and two whole heads of garlic, minced. Add these things, plus some salt and 2 tsp of thyme to a sauce pan and simmer until it thickens. I think i needed to cook mine a little longer... maybe that would have been the difference between it tasting like spagetti sauce and being a different dish. Anyhow, once the sauce cooked a while I added it in with the veggies and that was it!

I grilled the chicken after I sprinkled it with salt, pepper, cumin and rosemary, then layered it with the rice and veggies and topped with some fresh basil.

Verdict: not the best dish in the whole world, but all in all pretty tasty and healthy.

Curried Quinoa with Broccoli and Feta, Baked Apples

I made this awhile back. This time, I'll put the cashews on the side. It's one of my favorites and a good summer recipe.

This recipe calls for couscous, but I thought quinoa would be a good substitute.

Using bagged broccoli florets and preshredded carrots all but eliminates the prep with this vegetarian entrée. If you want to add meat, use chopped chicken or thin strips of flank steak.

Yield: 5 servings (serving size: about 1 1/4 cups)

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups water
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups small broccoli florets
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/3 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dry-roasted cashews, chopped *I'll put these on the side!
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon bottled minced fresh ginger
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

Preparation
Bring 1 3/4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually stir in quinoa. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

While quinoa stands, steam broccoli florets, covered, for 3 minutes or until tender.

Combine quinoa, broccoli, onion, and next 10 ingredients (onion through chickpeas), tossing gently. Sprinkle with cheese.

(from Cooking Light)

Baked Apples:
Just slice the apples, top with some brown sugar, cinnamon, walnuts and butter to taste, and microwave them, covered, with a little water in the bottom for about 5 minutes.

Foil Packet Tilapia (in crockpot), rice pilaf, cooked carrots

I have been trying several recipes in the crock pot. I thought fish in the crock pot sounded interesting and worth a try. I think this was okay, but not my favorite. It didn't look very appetizing either. Here's the recipe nonetheless. It's also from www.crockpot365.com

-- 3 or 4 fillets of Tilapia (or other favorite white fish)
--1/4 cup mayonnaise
--1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
--juice of 2 lemons
--4 chopped garlic cloves
--pinch each of salt and black pepper

The Directions:
--mix all ingredients (except for the fish) in a bowl
--lay out a piece of foil
--rub sauce mixture on both sides of fish
--fold foil over and make a little packet for the fish
--put all the packets into the crockpot
--cook on LOW for 2-4 hours; fish should flake easily with a fork

Crock Pot Brown Sugar Chicken, brown rice, broccoli

From http://crockpot365.blogspot.com

This wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be. The chicken was too chewy and not very flavorful. However my boys liked it, so it may be worth making again so they'll get some protein (they never like to eat chicken!).

--12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, or 6 boneless, skinless breast halves --1 cup brown sugar --1/4 cup lemon-lime soda --2/3 cup vinegar (I used white wine, but think regular white would be fine) --3 cloves smashed and chopped garlic --2 T soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari wheat free are GF) --1 tsp ground black pepper

The Directions.

Use a 4 quart crockpot for this recipe.

Plop the chicken into your crockpot. Cover with the brown sugar, pepper, chopped garlic, and soy sauce. Add the vinegar, and pour in the soda. It will bubble!

Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. The chicken is done when it is cooked through and has reached desired consistency. The longer you cook it, the more tender it will be.

Serve over a bowl of white rice with a ladle full of the broth.