Vegetables – Page 4 – The Pajama Chef

Mixed Vegetables Mornay

November 19, 2013November 22, 2013 Sarah

Thanksgiving week continues with one of my favorite side dishes of all times… Mixed Vegetables Mornay! I know vegetables aren’t on most list of crave-worthy, holiday-table-worthy comfort foods, but after you try these Mixed Vegetables Mornay, I bet they will be on yours! At first glance, frozen mixed vegetables aren’t that exciting. But when you taste this fabulously cheesy, buttery mornay sauce, you’ll know why they should be–and why this dish tops my list of veggie comfort.

In my family, this side dish is the equivalent of the quintessential holiday green bean casserole. I like to think it’s a little bit better than that though–a little healthier, a little more flavorful, and a lot more awesome. I love green beans and mushrooms, but out of a can? No thanks. I like to opt for this dish instead. And it’s cheesy, so what more can you ask for? 🙂

Mixed Vegetables Mornay is super simple to put together, so don’t be afraid of the fancy-sounding sauce. It’s basically a Béchamel sauce with Parmesan cheese. If you can make a roux, you can make mornay sauce. And when you do, try really hard to save some for the vegetables. Fresh mornay sauce is great, but it’s excellent when it bubbles up around all the veggies….and paired with some toasted and buttered bread crumbs? Oh my goodness. I could eat these veggies for BREAKFAST they are so tasty! Be sure to come back tomorrow for another dose of Thanksgiving week, and if you missed my Pumpkin Cloverleaf Rolls from yesterday, check them out too! 🙂

two years ago: Crockpot Saucy Italian Chicken
three years ago: Lime-Soy Chicken

Mixed Vegetables Mornay
click to print

Ingredients:

32 ounces frozen mixed vegetables
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
up to 2 cups skim milk
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
pinch nutmeg
pinch thyme
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 cups bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter, melted [or olive oil]

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10 inch casserole dish and set aside.

Cook vegetables with 1/2 cup water for 5 minutes in the microwave until crisp-tender. Drain well, reserving cooking liquid for mornay sauce. Place vegetables in prepared dish with 1 tablespoon butter and 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder, stirring to combine.

Meanwhile, prepare mornay sauce. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan set over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook for one minute. Fill measuring cup with cooking liquid and top off with enough milk to equal 2 cups. Then sloooowly add milk, stirring constantly. Cook until thick [about 3 minutes] then stir in garlic powder, nutmeg, thyme, and parmesan cheese. Simmer for 5 minutes, then pour over seasoned vegetables. Top with bread crumbs and drizzle with melted butter or oil.

Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. Enjoy!

Time: 50 minutes.
Yield: 8 servings.

Quinoa, Recipes, Sides, Vegetables

Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad

November 13, 2013November 13, 2013 Sarah

How many new foods have you tried because you read about them on a blog? For me, it’s probably been a lot–namely a lot of veggies I didn’t grow up eating and/or didn’t know how to prepare, cheeses, grains, etc. I’ve never really been a picky eater, but reading blogs and cookbooks certainly have revealed gaps in my foodie education. Since I’ve been reading blogs, one of my favorite new foods has been butternut squash. Sure, it’s a pain to cut, but it’s just. so. tasty! And it makes this quinoa–one of my favorite foods ever, btw–an essential dish for your fall cooking season. Period.

One of my favorite ways to enjoy butternut squash is roasted and tossed in a salad, particularly this quinoa salad. I made this several times last winter and just never got around to sharing it here, so I was so happy when I realized this week that it was finally butternut squash season again! What makes this salad so good is the always delightful pairing of sweet and spicy seasonings, some strong cheese, and some salty meat. Molasses! Lime juice! Feta! Canadian bacon! All the good things, huh?! 🙂

One of the key flavors here in this nutty salad is the molasses. It does a double duty as a marinade for the roasted squash, and as a dressing for the salad itself. Molasses is totally underrated, but it lends such rich flavor and subtle sweetness to this dish. It’s such a great fall flavor that I want to play with more! In the meantime, enjoy it on this fabulous side dish or light lunch. I can’t wait to make this many more times this fall and winter, and hope you try it out too! 🙂

one year ago: Carnitas
two years ago: Thai Seared Shrimp with Tomato, Basil, & Coconut
three years ago: Apple City Barbecue Sauce

Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad
click to print

Ingredients:

1 large butternut squash, cubed
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon chili powder
juice of 1/2 a lime
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup quinoa
2 cups broth [chicken or vegetable, as desired]
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped and soaked in 1 cup of water for 10 minutes then drained and thoroughly dried
2 tablespoons molasses
juice of 1/2 a lime
1/2 cup feta, crumbled
1/2 cup canadian bacon, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Peel and cut a large butternut squash into 1 inch cubes. In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, molasses, chili powder, lime juice, and a generous amount of black pepper. Add cubed butternut squash, then toss to coat. Spread in a single layer on two large rimmed baking sheets, then bake for 30 minutes or until fork-tender.

Meanwhile, cook quinoa in broth according to package directions. Stir in soaked and dried red onion, molasses, lime juice, crumbled feta, and chopped canadian bacon. Fold in cubed butternut squash, then season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or cold. Enjoy!

Time: 45 minutes.

Yield: 4-5 servings.

Linked up with: What’s Cookin’ Wednesday.

Main Dishes, Pork, Quinoa, Recipes, Sides, Vegetables

Pork Chops with Quinoa, Kale, and Blood Orange

April 12, 2013April 12, 2013 Sarah

I’ll be totally honest: before this spring, I had never tasted a blood orange. Of course I’d heard them hyped up online and in food mags, but for some reason had never had them in real life. Crazy, huh? So I picked up some during the same shopping trip where I found some majorly discounted pork chops nearing their expiration date [no problemo, just throw them in the freezer]. I came home and this dinner promptly appeared on our plates. Cool, huh?

Well, it wasn’t QUITE that simple. I had to mix some things up and do a little work, but other than that, this dinner was a cinch to throw together. And quite tasty too. So after we devoured it, I quickly wrote down what I did so I could share it here with you!

I’m not sure what the best part of this dinner was: the sweet, garlicky, vinegary pork chop? The tender sauteed kale? The nutty ‘n citrusy quinoa? I don’t know, but what I do know was that each bite was just so darn good! And it’s pretty fabulous that this dinner comes together in about 30 minutes. You gotta try it! If you don’t get around to til after blood orange season has passed, then try it with regular navel oranges, or grapefruit, or even clementines. The more I think about it, the citrusy freshness was definitely my favorite part. Enjoy! 🙂

Pork Chops with Quinoa, Kale, and Blood Orange [a The Pajama Chef original]
click to print

Ingredients:

2 pork chops
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 blood orange: zest all of it, juice half of it, and slice the other half of it
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 bunch kale, washed, dried, stems removed, and chopped
freshly ground black pepper
salt
garlic powder

Directions:

Place pork chops in a shallow bowl. Whisk together oil, vinegar, garlic, red pepper, and half the blood orange zest. Pour over pork chops and marinate for 10 minutes as you start preparations for the quinoa and walnuts.

Prepare quinoa according to package directions–but instead of just using 1 cup water, use juice of 1/2 the orange and make up the difference with water. Also add the remaining half of the blood orange zest.

Meanwhile, toast the walnuts in a small skillet set over medium heat. Cook for 7-8 minutes until fragrant, stirring occasionally. When toasted, chop walnuts.

Now, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add pork chops and marinade to the pan and saute for 4-5 minutes per side until cooked through. [Don’t forget to watch the walnuts!] Remove pork chops from pan to a plate; cover to keep warm.

Add kale to hot skillet, stir to coat with pan juices. Saute until kale is tender, and season with pepper, salt, and garlic powder as desired.

Serve pork chops on top of kale and quinoa, dressing with pan juices, chopped walnuts, and blood orange slices.

Time: 30 minutes.

Yield: 2 servings.

Linked up with: Weekend Potluck.

Main Dishes, Recipes, Salads, Sides, Vegetables

Roasted Chickpea, Carrot, & Radish Salad with Lemon-Dijon Dressing

March 18, 2013March 23, 2013 Sarah

Last week was my spring break, and Ben and I took a quick four-day/three-night trip down to Cumberland Gap, TN.

It’s just a short five hour drive from Bloomington, and if you’re not familiar with this area, three states come together in the park–Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky. We had never been before but had a blast. Even though winter is still lingering, hiking up in the woods and trails was just beautiful. The toughest hike was a 7 mile round trip hike up to White Rocks, a site that was a landmark to pioneers making the westward trek demonstrating that the Cumberland Gap pass was just a day’s walk ahead. Up top in the White Rocks area it was frosty, snowy, and terribly cold. I was so glad I chose to wear my vest instead of leaving it in the car!!

Aside from hiking, we had fun just hanging out together… reading, relaxing, and exploring a few of the nearby towns. We stayed at the Olde Mille Inn Bed & Breakfast, which I highly recommend if you’re ever in the area. It is so cute, and even though it was built in the 1800s, everything was very modern and comfortable inside. I never wanted to leave our room! It was so nice, and the breakfast everyday was amazing. Upside down pancakes, sausage gravy & biscuits, french toast, and the best steel cut oats I have ever had! We were the youngest guests by a longshot [at least 30 years] but breakfasts were served together, and it was really fun to chat with the other guests. Can I just say that I love southern accents? 🙂

We ate lunch everyday at this adorable cottage turned coffeshop–Gap Creek Coffee. My favorite drink was their Peanut Butter Cup. PB in coffee sounds a lil weird, but you can bet I’ll be looking for that on coffeshop menus in the future. Our dinners were nothing compared to the other meals of the day, but we did enjoy some good Tennessee BBQ! This area of the country definitely wasn’t gourmet restaurant central, but the area’s natural beauty sure made up for it!! Be sure to visit Cumberland Gap if you can! We’d love to go back someday.

Before we left, I made this wonderful salad as an excuse to use up as much of my produce as I could before going out of town. But seriously, you shouldn’t wait til you need to use things up… adding hot roasted, crisp veggies and chickpeas on cold salad greens is my new favorite thing!

The contrasting temperatures are just perfect! I didn’t really measure the seasonings used to roast the chickpeas, carrots, and radishes but just used a little cumin, garlic powder, black pepper, ginger, and allspice to make a spicy-sweet spice mixture to rub on with EVOO.

The dressing is a very basic lemon-olive oil-dijon mustard mixture, which paired so well with the light greens and crispy toppings. I thought about adding some vinegar to make more of a vinaigrette, but decided against it. You certainly could if you wanted, though–I just liked the tartness of the lemony dressing with the vinegary tang.

This is just a great salad! I meant to add some cheese, nuts, or avocado as my inspiration recipe suggested… but I forgot about the cheese and nuts after the roasted veggies came out of the oven, and my avocado was nasty inside. Sad day. But the good news is that none of those things are needed for this awesome salad. It’s a crunchy, hearty, flavorful salad that I am sure you will just adore!! Enjoy! 🙂

Roasted Chickpea, Carrot, & Radish Salad with Lemon-Dijon Dressing [adapted from Baker by Nature]
click to print

Ingredients:

1 15 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed, drained, and patted dry
3 large carrots, scrubbed and chopped into 2-inch pieces
8 radishes, scrubbed and sliced into thirds
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
cumin
garlic powder
freshly ground black pepper
ginger
allspice
baby spring mix

for Lemon-Dijon Dressing

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon whole grain Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
crushed red pepper

for topping, optional

avocado
feta or parmesan cheese
nuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a large baking sheet, combine chickpeas, carrots, and radishes. Pour olive oil over top, then season with cumin, garlic, black pepper, ginger, and allspice. I didn’t measure these, but was heavy on the cumin, garlic, and black pepper, and a little lighter on ginger and allspice. Use your hands to mix oil and seasoning on chickpeas, carrots, and radishes. Bake for 30 minutes, turning once or twice.

Meanwhile, make the dressing. Whisk lemon juice, oil, mustard, and garlic powder together in a bowl or shake together in a jar. Season to taste with crushed red pepper.

After everything is roasted, combine baby spring mix with roasted chickpeas, carrots, and radishes as desired. Drizzle with Lemon-Dijon Dressing, and top with feta or parmesan cheese, nuts, and avocado if desired. Serve immediately.

Time: 40 minutes [10 minutes active].

Yield: 2 large salads or 4 side salads.

Linked up with: Weekend Potluck.

Main Dishes, Recipes, Salads, Sides, Vegetables

Cumin-Scented Cabbage Salad

March 1, 2013February 28, 2013 Sarah

Even though I rarely post any recipes for vegetables on this blog, I hope you don’t believe that I never eat them! That’s certainly not the case. I think this dip is just one indication of how much I love my veggies! But sadly, most of the ways I eat veggies are pretty plain. At dinner, we usually eat big green salads with our main course. Lettuce, carrots, peppers, cherry tomatoes… all good, but sometimes a bit boring. So I’ll mix it up with roasted broccoli, steamed green beans, or a fancy dilled carrot dish every once in awhile, but that’s about it. When a friend asked me to bring some salad over for dinner one night, I jumped at the chance to be creative. Instead of making my go-to green salad, I switched it up and made a fancy cole slaw. Now, don’t get turned off. It’s not creamy or drowning in dressing. It’s light and fresh and flavorful… simply delicious!

This cabbage salad [I much prefer that name to cole slaw, thankyouverymuch] has a few winter veggie staples: cabbage [duh], carrots, and radishes, plus some flavorful additions like green onions and cilantro. If you click over to Jessica’s original post you’ll see that she used watermelon radishes–which look delightful, but aren’t available in Indiana… so check them out if you have a chance. 🙂 But the best part of this salad isn’t the traditional veggies, rather it is the spicy and tangy vinaigrette dressing! This dressing is just awesome. I think it would make an excellent taco salad dressing, actually–it’s just your basic oil and vinegar dressing spiced up [literally] with cumin, paprika, pepper, and garlic. That’s it. Yumalicious! The spice in the dressing compliments the cilantro so well.

The flavors of this salad are awesome on day 1, but they also improve as the salad hangs out in the fridge for a few days. I love it when salad’s shelf life is longer than a day…makes me so happy! Be sure to try this salad when you have a chance–I think it would be great with burgers, tacos, soup, and whatever else you can imagine. Enjoy!

Cumin-Scented Cabbage Salad [from Good Cheap Eats]
click to print

Ingredients:

1 head green cabbage, chopped [I used my food processor]
2 large carrots, sliced
5 green onions, green & white parts, diced
6 small radishes, thinly sliced
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dried garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

In a large bowl, toss together cabbage, carrots, green onions, radishes, and cilantro. In a small bowl or glass jar, combine olive oil and vinegar, then garlic, cumin, paprika, and pepper. Shake or stir together, then toss with vegetables.

Serve immediately or keep refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Time: 10 minutes.

Yield: 8 servings.