Vegetarian

Spaghetti Squash Rosti
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Spaghetti Squash Rosti

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My wonderful mother, who taught me how to cook, is always on the lookout for recipes I might like. She found this on the Chew and I did my own version of it. This is great as a vegetarian main meal with a salad. We warmed up the leftovers for lunch the next day. You could add a lot of different ingredients like roasted grape tomatoes, onions or swiss chard. If you want to go vegetarian you can leave out the egg. The recipe did not call for it but I added as a binder.

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Ingredients:

  • 1 large spaghetti squash
  • 1 cup cooked Quinoa
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/4 cub bread crumbs

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Directions:

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Slice spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and place cut side down in a baking dish. Add enough water to cover the bottom of the baking dish, cover with foil and bake until tender, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Once cool enough to handle, shred with a fork and place in a large bowl

Add the squash, quinoa, egg, flour, bread crumbs  and chili flakes. Season with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Spray a large sauté pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add the squash mixture and press into a pancake using a spatula. Allow to cook until golden brown and crisp, about 5 minutes. I covered the pan for about half the time. Place a large plate over the pan and invert the pancake onto the plate and slide back into the pan. Cook on the other side until golden brown, about another 5 minutes. Slide onto a large plate. Cut into wedges.

 

Soy Chorizo, black bean & sweet potato skillet
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Soy Chorizo, black bean & sweet potato skillet

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I came up with this recipe because I needed to clean out the fridge and I wanted something for dinner that did not involve turkey. I has some sweet potatoes and squash leftover so I just made this up as I went along. It is vegetarian but you can use real Chorizo as well. Butternut Squash would be good in this as well as a red pepper.
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INGREDIENTS
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium (1 lb.) sweet potato cubed
  • 1 large sweet yellow onion, sliced thin
  • 1 small Delicata squash peeled and cut (optional)
  • 1 package Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo
  • 1 (15 oz.) can black beans
  • 1 can diced fired roasted salsa style tomatoes
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup white quinoa, cooked

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INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Peel and dice the sweet potato (and squash) into ½ to ¾ inch cubes. Sauté the sweet potato cubes in a large skillet with olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes have softened about half way through.
  2. Add the onions and cook until tender.
  3. Take Soy Chorizo out of its casing and put into a separate skillet. Sauté over medium heat,  breaking it up into small pieces as it browns.
  4. Rinse and drain the black beans. Add the black beans and tomatoes to the sweet potato/onion mixture. Stir gently to combine.
  5. Add in the cooked Soy Chorizo.
  6. Cover and simmer on low for 5-10 minutes.
  7. While the mixture is simmering, cook Quinoa according to directions.
  8. Add in the cheese and stir to combine with the squash mixture.

Spoon quinoa into a large bowl and ladle squash mixture over it and sprinkle with additional cheese

Soyrizo (Soy Chorizo) stuffed Acorn Squash
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Soyrizo (Soy Chorizo) stuffed Acorn Squash

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We are not vegetarians but we eat healthy when we can. I was not sure about using the fake Chorizo and bought it on a whim but was totally happy with this meal. You don’t have to use Soy, and real Chorizo would work fine as well. We made this twice last week…

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  • Coconut oil for coating the squash while roasting
  • Olive oil for sauteeing Onions and Chorizo
  • 12 oz  Soy Chorizo (I used Trader Joe’s)
  • 2 large acorn squash, halved and deseeded
  • 2 sweet Onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups cooked quinoa
  • 1-2 cups grated cheese, depending on how cheesy you want the stuffing (I used reduced fat Sharp Cheddar and Monteray Jack)
  • salt
  • pepper

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Cook quinoa according to directions. I used vegetable broth instead of water for a bit richer taste.

Coat the meaty side of the squash with coconut oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven on 400 degrees until fork tender — probably about 35 – 40 minutes.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook onions until golden and caramelized, stirring frequently. About 25-20 minutes.

Remove casing and cook Chorizo in a skillet with a little oil or spray pan with Pam. Since it does not have the fat you have to watch it closely to keep from burning. Break it up with your spoon. Add in onions, cheese and quinoa.

Stuff the squash with the stuffing and roast in the oven at 375 for an additional 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

BBQ Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
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BBQ Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

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This is another recipe inspired by http://www.lemonsandbasil.com. Her posts are so lovely and probably more healthy than mine… but they always inspire me. I would not have thought of BBQ meat combined with a sweet potato but it is wonderful. I have made this twice, once as a vegetarian meal without the meat (using only caramelized onions, roasted corn and Cojita cheese) and once following this recipe. We loved both versions but this is my favorite. You could use beef, chicken or pork. I had BBQ beef brisket in the fridge so I went with that. The first time I used fresh roasted corn but frozen works just fine. 

Serves 3-4

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INGREDIENTS

  • 2 large sweet potatoes
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 package or Trader Joe’s frozen Roasted Mexican corn (or 2 ears fresh corn toasted in a frying pan)
  • 1 sweet onion, thinly sliced (optional)
  • 16 oz BBQ Pork, Beef or Chicken (I used Beef Brisket from Trader Joe’s)
  • 6 oz shredded Cojita, Cheddar or Monterey jack Cheese

DIRECTIONS

  1. Wash sweet potatoes and prick each one several times with fork. Place on a foil lined or non stick baking sheet and bake at 375 for 45-60 minutes or until they are soft to the touch. I used a convection oven so it took only about 45 minutes.
  2. Warm the BBQ beef in the oven at 350 for about 15- 20 minutes.
  3. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan and add the sliced onions. Cook for about 20 minutes until golden and caramelized.
  4. For frozen corn: use a non stick pan to toast over medium heat to give it a bit of caramelizing; about 5-7 minutes.
    For fresh corn: Grill for a few minutes on each side and slice kernels off the cob OR Slice corn off the cob and toast in a pan for about 4-5 minutes.
  5. When the potatoes are done, cool for a few minutes then remove the skin and place sweet potatoes in a large bowl. Mash with a fork and add 1/2 the cheese, onions, corn and fold in the shredded BBQ. Mix well. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
  6. Place the filling In oven safe dishes and bake just until the cheese is melted.

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This is my vegetarian version. Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, allow to cool for a few minutes, then cut off the tops and scoop out the cooked flesh of each potato, add to a large bowl. Leave the skin of the potatoes intact along with a thin layer of potato to help hold skins together. Mix all the ingredients and then scoop sweet potato filling into the skins, drizzle with BBQ sauce, top with cheese and bake for 6 or 7 minutes until cheese is melted. I served with a greens and apple salad.