Summer Vegetable Mix
You Need:
- 6 small carrots, scrubbed and left whole
- 1 turnip, peeled and sliced
- 1 potato, peeled and sliced
- 10 small white onions, left whole
- 3 cups young green beans, left whole
- 2 tablespoons butter or oil
Directions:
1. Put all ingredients in saucepan with cold water to cover.
2. Bring to boil and cook 15 minutes.
3. Drain (keeping water for soup stock).
4. Heat butter or oil in skillet and add the vegetables.
5. Sauté 10 minutes, stirring often.
6. For Chinese flavor, add a dash of soy sauce before serving.
Pasta Salad
You Need:
Dressing:
- 4 T extra virgin olive oil
- 6 T balsamic vinegar
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 2 t salt
- 1/2 t freshly ground pepper
- 1 T brown sugar
- 2 1/2 T country dijon prepared mustard
- 1/4 t garlic powder
Pasta:
12 oz spiral pasta, cooked, rinsed in cold water and drained.
Vegetables:
- 1 medium onion, chopped fine
- 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeds removed, chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 1 tomato, seeded, chopped
- 2 carrots, grated
Directions:
Pour dressing over pasta, add vegetables, garnish with feta cheese.
Kristen's Vegetable Noodles
You Need:
- Whole wheat rotini noodles
- Onion
- Kale
- Garlic
- Sesame oil
- Tamari almonds
- Asparagus
- Snow peas
- Grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Cook whole wheat rotini noodles, drain.
Saute onion & kale (tear off of stem) in garlic & sesame oil.
Add tamari almonds.
Add drained noodles.
Add leftover asparagus pieces.
Add snow peas.
Saute until kale and noodles become a little crunchy.
Add tamari soy sauce and a little bit of grated parmesan cheese
Leftover Vegetable Pasta
You Need:
- Pasta of your choosing
- Pepper
- Salt
- Garlic
- Butter
- Peppers
- Mushrooms
- Onions
- Tofu
Note:
- You can easily substitute whatever veggies you have on hand for those listed, and eliminate the tofu or replace it with some kind of meat.
Directions:
In one large pot, bring water to a boil.
When boiling, add as much of your favorite pasta as you like. I prefer rotini.
Meanwhile, in a second large pot, put peppers of any kinds, mushrooms and onions (or whatever veggies you've got), chopped to pieces bite sized or smaller.
Add chopped tofu if you like, or already cooked meat, if that's more your style. Neither is necessary.
Add salt, pepper, garlic and butter to cook in.
Cook veggies on medium heat, stirring frequently.
When pasta is nearly done, add chopped tomatoes to the veggie pot.
After another two minutes or so, drain the veggies in a colander and set aside.
When the pasta is cooked, drain that and add it to the veggies.
Mix well and season as you like. I like to use Zatarain's, a New Orleans style Cajun spice mix available in most grocery stores. It's not terribly spicy but it's flavorful and adds a bit of a kick. If you'd like to attempt your own mix it is basically equal proportions of salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and oregano plus a lot of paprika and a little cayenne.
Spicy Beans
You Need:
- 2 small onions, chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic, pressed
- 1/2 teaspoon of Thai chili paste
- 1T peanut oil
- 2 teaspoons of cumin
- 4 teaspoons of tamarind concentrate
- 1 cup of chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 can of whole peeled tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 can of garbanzo beans, rinsed
- 1 can of navy beans, rinsed
Directions:
1. Sauté first four ingredients.
2. Add spices, heat briefly.
3. Add remaining ingredients, simmer for 20-30 minutes.
4. Can be served with couscous.
Vegetable Lasagna
You Need:
- 1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
- 1 12 oz. carton of 1% lowfat cottage cheese
- 1 egg beaten
- 2 tsp of olive oil
- 3/4 cup of minced onion
- 1 cup of sliced mushrooms
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 14 oz cans of no-salt tomatoes, drained and chopped
- 1/4 cup of minced fresh parsley
- 3/4 cup of burgundy or dry red wine
- 1/4 cup of tomato paste
- 2 tsp dried whole basil
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dark brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 6 lasagna noodles, uncooked
- 5 cups of thin sliced zucchini
- 1 1/4 cup (5 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 tbsp Parmesean cheese
Directions:
1. Press spinach between paper towels. Combine spinach, cottage cheese and egg in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Coat large sauce pan with oil. Over medium-high heat saute onion for three minutes, add mushrooms and garlic and saute two minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Add tomatoes, parsley, burgundy, tomato paste, basil, oregano, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Stir well. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, uncovered. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Coat 12x8x2 pan with spray. Spoon 1/3 of tomato mixture into pan. Top with three lasagna noodles, 1/2 of spinach mixture and 1/2 of the zucchini. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.
4. Repeat layers. Top with remaining tomato mix. Cover and refrigerate for eight hours.
5. Bake covered at 350° for an hour and a half.
6. Uncover and sprinkle with rest of mozzarella and parmesean cheeses.
7. Let stand 5 min, then serve.
Summer Vege Casserole
You Need:
- zucchini slices
- tomato slices
- onion slices
- provolone cheese slices
- grated cheddar cheese
- chopped fresh chives
- salt and pepper
Directions:
Layer zucchini, tomato, onion and provolone cheese in casserole dish. Salt and pepper to taste; add chopped chives if desired. Sprinkle with cheddar. Bake, covered at 400° for 35-40 minutes. Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes longer.
Please Note: I have collected these recipes from various sources, and haven't had the chance to try them all. - Emily McDonald