Hidden Vegetables

 

Serving pancakes for dinner is incredibly indulgent. It's my guilty little trick for when I didn't plan a meal for a particular night, or I don't really feel like cooking anything elaborate. Normally, I'll use the world's best pancake recipe (courtesy of Mark Bittman), but with a growing toddler, I needed a way to lessen my Mommy guilt over serving pancakes instead of a well-rounded dinner. 

You might have seen that I'm a bit of a stalker fan of Smitten Kitchen's food blog. I found this recipe in her archives and, as you can guess, rushed to make them. You know how really really good zucchini bread can taste spicy, sweet and wholesome in the same mouthful? That's how these pancakes taste. You are eating pancakes for dinner (or breakfast!) but you're also eating GREEN VEGETABLES! It's a revelation!

I always double this recipe, so that I can flash-freeze the leftovers and have an easy breakfast for the little dude throughout the week. 

Zucchini Bread Pancakes

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen  

Ingredients: 

2 large eggs
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons light brown, dark brown or granulated sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk or 2 tablespoons each of milk and plain yogurt, whisked until smooth
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini (from about 1 1/2 medium zucchini)
1 cup all-purpose flour (half of this can be swapped with a whole wheat flour. Make them even healthier, right?)
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
Butter or oil, for coating skillet 

Instructions: 

In a large bowl, combine eggs, olive oil, sugar, buttermilk and vanilla until smooth. Stir in zucchini shreds. In a smaller bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir dry ingredients into zucchini batter, mixing until just combined.

I practice the Alton Brown method of pancake-storage: Place pancakes on a plate and cover with a clean dishcloth to keep warm. It makes for easy taste-testing access while you're cooking more!

Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Once hot, melt a pat of butter in pan and swirl it around until it sizzles. Scoop scant 1/4-cup dollops of batter in pan so the puddles do not touch. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook another minute or two, until golden underneath. Serve warm.

To flash freeze leftovers: Arrange pancakes in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and place into the freezer for an hour. Once they are frozen, remove pancakes and store them in the freezer in a tightly sealed bag. The flash process will ensure that they don't stick together!

 

Dust it off

Sometimes, the best new recipes are old ones. I received a Southern Living slow-cooker cookbook from my friend many years ago, but never really made anything from it. While the recipes all sounded delicious, they were pretty intricate, which defeated the purpose of slow-cookers! However, I decided to dust it off last month and take another look. I am *SO* glad I did, because I found this gem of a recipe.

It's one of those "throw everything in the pot" recipes that makes slow-cookers a working parent's dream. The sweetness of the coconut milk is absorbed by the vegetables and chickpeas, and the cilantro and curry balance everything out. Serve over rice, and you've got yourself an exotic and healthy dinner.

Chickpeas in Curried Coconut Broth
Adapted from Southern Living Cookbook

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons canola oil 

1 1/2 cups chopped onion       

2 garlic cloves, minced        

2 cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained                

2 (14.5-ounce) cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained                

1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk

1 tablespoon curry powder

2 tablespoons chopped pickled jalapeño pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

6 cups hot cooked basmati rice (any kind of rice will do!)

 

Instructions:

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. (I have skipped this step the last two times and there was no difference in the final outcome. The onions cook perfectly if you throw them into the slow-cooker as-is).

 

Place onion mixture, chickpeas, and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a 3 1/2-quart electric slow cooker; stir well. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. Stir in cilantro. Serve over rice.

Toddler Approved...sort of

Trying to get a toddler to eat vegetables can sometimes be like herding drunk cats covered in motor oil. He'll scarf down broccoli one day, and then fling it across the table with a loud "NO!" the next. This Pinterest (what else?!) inspired recipe was a big hit...for one day. He picked at it the next day, pulling out and eating the tomatoes, his favorite. But overall, we really enjoyed it. It's a great way to use summer-fresh veggies, and makes a delicious side dish.

Vegetable Tian
Adapted from For the Love of Cooking

Ingredients:
2 TBS olive oil (divided)
1 large sweet yellow onion cut in half and sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 russet potatoes, unpeeled and sliced 1/4 thick
1 zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 yellow squash, sliced 1/4 inch thick
3 large Roma tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
Sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Dried thyme, to taste
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat a baking dish with olive oil cooking spray. Heat 1 TBS of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the onions and saute until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 60 seconds. Spread the onion mixture on the bottom of the greased baking dish.

Layer potatoes, zucchini, squash and tomatoes alternately in the dish on top of the onions, fitting them tightly into a spiral, making only one layer. (I didn't have a round dish, so I just did rows in a rectangular dish. Still tasty!) Season with sea salt, black pepper and dried thyme, to taste. Drizzle the last tablespoon of olive oil over the top.

Cover the dish with tin foil and bake for 35 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Uncover and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top and bake for another 25-30 minutes or until browned. Enjoy.

When I eat my words...

I have to confess, I'm a Judgy McJudgersons. I roll my eyes at "casserole" recipes, because they usually call for canned cream o'something soup. Or Velveeta. Or something else that makes my skin crawl. I know. It's really really snobby. I'm sorry.

However, I post this to show you that I'm eating my words. And they are freaking delicious.

This casserole recipe was floating around Pinterest (follow me!) and I knew I had to make it. Layers upon layers of deliciously roasted veggies, nestled in between gooey cheese, spicy salsa and chewy tortillas. Sign me and my belly up!

It's a bit time consuming, so I'll note how it can be done in stages. But the end result is well worth it!

Stacked Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas
adapted from Perry's Plate

Ingredients:
1 poblano chile, cut into matchsticks (I omitted)
2 red bell peppers, cut into matchsticks
1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 medium onion, halved and slivered
1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
3 T heat-safe oil like grapeseed or coconut (I used olive oil)
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and black pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 cups homemade or store bought salsa/pico de gallo
2 ounces baby spinach leaves (about 2 big handfuls)
9-10 corn tortillas, halved
2 cups shredded cheese
sour cream and thinly sliced scallions (green onions) for garnish, if desired

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a large shallow roasting pan or rimmed cookie sheet.

Place poblanos, red bell peppers, cauliflower, sweet potato, onion, and corn kernels onto cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle the cumin and minced garlic over top. Add a generous pinch or two of salt and black pepper, then use your hands to mix everything together. After everything is coated well, spread the vegetables evenly in the pan. Roast for 30-40 minutes until vegetables are tender and begin to brown in spots. Stir or shake the pan every 10 minutes for even roasting. Remove pan from oven and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

*Once veggies are roasted and cooled, you can stick them in the fridge if you want to assemble the casserole later or the next day. I wouldn't leave them more than 1-2 days, max, though.*

Prepare an 8x8x2 or 9x9x2-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray. In a small bowl, stir the cilantro into the salsa. Spread 1/4 cup of salsa into the bottom of the baking pan. Add a layer of tortilla pieces, to completely cover the salsa. Top with 1/3 of the vegetables, a handful of spinach, and 1/3 of the cheese. Make a second layer of tortilla, salsa, vegetables, spinach, and cheese. Top with with a layer of tortillas, salsa, vegetables, and cheese. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes, until cheese is melted and everything is heated through.

Let it sit for 5 minutes and cut into squares. Serve with sour cream and a sprinkle of sliced scallions.
Serves 4-5

Captain Vegetable

One of the easiest and tastiest ways to serve vegetables, in my humble opinion, is to roast them. The char brings out a crispy savory sweetness in nearly every veggie, and makes them so delicious. Roasted (and grilled!) asparagus is one of our favorite side dishes. It's so simple, too.
Ingredients:
1 bunch raw asparagus
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Instructions:
Pre-heat oven to 425.
Trim the woody ends off of the stalks (easy to do by snapping them off where they break. If you try to snap it and it doesn't break, try another point along the stalk). Lay all the trimmed stalks on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and then sprinkle on S&P. Toss everything together to make sure it's fully coated, and roast for about 15-25 minutes, until they are slightly charred and crisp on the ends.

Serve hot and enjoy!