VEGETABLES AND PASTA

Sometimes you need to do some freelancing when creating a meal for supper.  The ingredients may be determined by what you have and don't have in your cupboard and fridge.  One night I decided to cook some pasta and sauteed vegetables to create a meal for supper.

I have found a brand of pasta at Winner's that I quite like. It is not high in fibre but is colourful, made in Italy and has texture to it.

I cooked enough pasta to make at least three servings.  I only needed two servings for supper but I wanted to have some leftovers.  While the pasta was cooking, I sauteed the following vegetables in a little bit of olive oil in a frying pan:

1/2 large zucchini, chopped
large handful of mushrooms, chopped
8 asparagus spears, chopped
1/2 coloured pepper, chopped

After cooking the vegetables on medium heat until they were soft, I added about 1/3 cup of sun dried tomatoes, a tablespoon of basil pesto sauce and two tablespoons of Greek style sour cream.   I combined this with the sauteed vegetables in the pan and let it cook for another two minutes.

I drained the cooked pasta and placed it in a large bowl.  The sauteed vegetables were added and combined with the pasta.  It was now ready to be served.

Two new products that I have been using are in this photo.  These sun dried tomatoes that are a julienne cut is a wonderful product.  You can eat them out of the bag or add them to numerous recipes.  I also like the Greek sour cream.  It is not high in fat and it is so thick that you want to add it to a lot of different dishes.

Three staples from the fridge.

Vegetables with pasta.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

I sometimes buy a three pound tub of cubed butternut squash from Costco.  Because the squash is already peeled, seeded and cubed, it doesn't take much effort to use in a variety of ways.  I like to bake the cubes on a cookie sheet in the oven as one of my vegetables for supper.  I sometimes add a little bit of oil or maple syrup to the cubes before baking.  I have posted several recipes in the past using squash.  One recent Saturday I made soup using the cubed squash and it was very good.  I did like adding apple to it as one of the ingredients for the soup.

Butternut Squash Soup

INGREDIENTS:

1 - 2 tbsp butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tbsp ginger root, minced

1 - 2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks

1 apple, cored and cut into chunks

1 carrot, thinly sliced

4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

dash of nutmeg

1/4 cup milk or cream or non-dairy milk

DIRECTIONS:

Melt butter in large pot, over medium heat.  Add garlic, onion and ginger root.  Cook and stir for about 10 minutes, or until soft.  

Add broth, squash, apples and carrot. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until very tender. 

Purée soup using a handheld immersion blender.  Or use a regular blender and do it in small batches.  Return pot to stove and re-heat on medium-low heat.   Add seasonings and milk/cream and heat until steaming, stirring as necessary.

Modified from www.mennonitegirlscancook.ca

CARROT AND SWEET POTATO TSIMMIS

Tsimmis has nostalgia for some people and is a comfort food.  Tsimmis can be a combination of meat, vegetables and fruit, is usually sweet and can be eaten as a side dish or even as a dessert.  This tsimmis includes carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes, apricots and pineapple.  It has lots of fibre and tastes terrific.  I didn't add raisins this time and its absence was not noticed.  You can freeze portions after it is baked for future meals.

Ready to go into the oven for baking.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup pitted prunes
1 cup dried apricots
1/3 to 1/2 cup raisins
2 lbs carrots, peeled, and sliced
1 large sweet potato, peeled, and cubed
1/2 cup honey (to taste)
14 oz (398 ml) pineapple chunks, drained, reserve 1/2 cup juice
1/2 cup orange juice
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

Boil water in a small pot, turn off the heat and add prunes, apricots and raisins.  Let stand for 30 minutes.  Drain well.  Meanwhile cook the carrots and sweet potato in a large pot until tender but still firm (about 15 minutes).  Drain well.  Using a large mixing bowl or the large pot used to cook the carrots and potatoes, gently combine all of the ingredients except the pineapple chunks.  Place the mixture in a 3 quart casserole dish and bake covered at 350 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes.  Stir in the pineapple chinks and bake uncovered for 15 more minutes, basting once or twice.  Serves 10.  This dish freezes and reheats well.

Modified from MealLeaniYumm by Norene Gilletz

BAKED HALIBUT

Some people might say you don't need to dress up a piece of halibut and it doesn't require much in the way of preparation and cooking.  I agree but I also like to have some variety and this recipe provides another way to cook halibut.  You could use other fish besides halibut.  Other than the halibut, the ingredients are standard staples that many would have in their fridge or cupboards.  Both the DH and I enjoyed this meal.

Fillet on parchment paper.

Topping is applied to the fish.

Just out of the oven and ready to serve.

Baked Halibut              

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan or Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp diced onion

dash of ground cayenne pepper

1 pound halibut steaks

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly grease a medium baking dish.

In a bowl, mix the cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, flour, lemon juice, onion, and cayenne pepper.

Arrange the halibut steaks in the prepared baking dish, and cover with the cheese mixture.

Bake 10 minutes at 425 and then reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue baking 15 to 20 minutes, or until fish is easily flaked with a fork.

Modified from allrecipes.com