Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Sauce

This recipe is from Diane Dyer, MS, RD and Cancer survivor. Diane Dyer has battled cancer since childhood, surviving neuroblastoma and then 2 breast cancers in her adult life. As a cancer survivor and dietition, she is dedicated to eating a cancer prevention diet, which she states is based on the latest scientific information (see her website at http://www.cancerrd.com/).

Always looking for healthy disease fighting foods I was inspired by her website and decided to try one of her recipes. Her red pepper pesto sauce sounded like a light fresh vegetarian meal, which contains lycopene, phytochemicals and antioxidants.

I thought it would be excellent over spaghetti squash or angel hair pasta, but I could not find either of these, so I went with whole wheat penne.

Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Sauce
(Printable Version)

1 roasted red sweet pepper, peeled and seeded or 1 cup jarred roasted red peppers
1/2 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, about 40g
10 black olives
2 large cloves garlic
1 T parmesan cheese
1 T pine nuts
4 roma tomatoes
1/4 tsp red chili flakes
salt and pepper to taste

If roasting your own pepper, place under broiler and rotate every 3-4 mins until charred with skin blistered.

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Heat over med high heat and serve over pasta (angel hair or penne), spaghetti squash.

Leek & Potato Soup

This past Sunday was a perfect fall day, weather wise. The sun was bright and warm, so I opened all my windows to let in the fresh air. With weather like that I certainly did not want to be cooped up indoors for the whole day, so in the morning I ventured to the Gatineau Park for a trail run with my husband. I figured that it would be a popular thing to do in weather like that, so I was up early and out the door allowing me to have the trail all to myself (except for my husband a few white tailed deer).

After the run I was incredibly hungry for lunch, but also being so motivated by the fall weather to be productive I went through my fridge and gathered the ingredients to make a silky smooth leek and potato soup. This soup does not take long to make, so I decided it was worth the wait and had some other nibbles to tie me over until the soup was ready.

This recipe is from the Loonies Spoons cookbook and incorporates buttermilk at the end, rather than cream or milk. Not only does the addition of the buttermilk make the soup extremely silky and smooth, but it makes it an incredibly low fat and low calories lunch. After trying buttermilk in this soup, I have taken that idea and now use it to replace cream or milk in most of my soups and even in my baking.

As it was so gorgeous outside I could not resist but to sit out on the back deck to enjoy my soup while watching the squirrels comb the premise for buried nuts. Rather than sit at the patio table I threw down a cozy blanket, sat cross legged like a child and enjoyed a picnic style lunch with my warm soup, topped with my garden chives and served with a couple slices of warm whole wheat baguette.

Leek & Potato Soup

1 T butter
2 cups sliced leeks (white parts and part of green)
1 cup celery, chopped
4 cups low-fat vegetable broth
3 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup carrots, chopped
3/4 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup buttermilk (or more as desired)

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add leeks and celery. Cook and stir for 5 minutes, until veggies soften. Add broth, potatoes, carrots, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med-low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Working in batches, transfer soup to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Return to pot. Stir in buttermilk.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Butternut Squash & Kale Lasagna

My favorite time of year is autumn, I love the smell of the crisp fresh air and the wood burning stoves. I love the color of the changing leaves. In fact I was really happy to get out for a long 20km hike in the Adirondacks last weekend to enjoy the changing of the leaves. But most of all I love the bounty autumn offers. I think my favorite of all the great produce of fall is the squash. There are so many types of squash and they are colorful and very versatile – you can use them in pies, soups, stews, pastas, and/or side dishes such as salads or risottos.

My father provided me with yet another large butternut squash from his garden. I made butternut squash and spinach lasagna last year and was excited to make another one but wanted to change it up a bit. This time I used provolone cheese instead of mozzarella and enjoyed its stronger taste and how it did not melt as much as mozzarella does and rather crisped up a bit.

In this dish the butternut squash is pureed rather than left in chucks. I have no preference over either method in terms of texture they are both good, but the pureed form made putting the lasagna together and serving it much easier as it kept its form better when cut. The recipe also has other changes such as kale vs. spinach and a few different spices. Overall both recipes are highly recommended and make a great week night vegetarian meal.

This recipe was adapted from two different lasagna recipes from cooking light.

Butternut Squash & Kale Lasagna

Cooking spray or olive oil
3 cups chopped onion
3 garlic cloves peeled (1 whole and 2 minced)
1 lbs fresh kale
6 round slices sharp provolone cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon salt
2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
1 (30-ounce) carton part-skim ricotta cheese
6 cups diced peeled butternut squash cut into ½” cubes

Preheat oven to 400°F.

In a large saucepan add the olive oil and heat over med-high heat. Add onion and whole garlic, cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and translucent, 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, oregano, and 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer until thick and flavors are combined, about 30 minutes. Set aside.

While sauce is cooking, in a large baking pan, sprinkle squash with thyme, a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Add minced garlic cloves and toss squash mixture to unsure the squash is well coat with the oil. Bake until soft about 30 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Transfer squash and garlic to a food processor and purée until smooth.

Tear kale leaves from center ribs and discard ribs. Boil leaves until soft 5 to 8 minutes. Drain and let cool. Squeeze out as much water as possible and chop finely.

In a bowl, mix ricotta, nutmeg, eggs, parsley and salt and pepper.
In a 10x10 baking dish put the lasagna together.

First Layer:
Spread 1/2 cup Marinara sauce in the bottom of one prepared dish.
Arrange 3-4 noodles over sauce.
Spread 1/2 of the cheese mixture over noodles.
Arrange 1/2 squash over cheese mixture.
Spread 1/2 kale mixture
Spread 1 cup tomato sauce over squash and kale.

Second Layer:
Arrange 4 more noodles over sauce.
Spread the other 1/2 of cheese mixture over the noodles.
Spread remaining squash.
Arrange the rest of the kale mixture over squash.
Spread 1 cup sauce over kale.

Third Layer:
Arrange 4 noodles over sauce.
Spread rest of the sauce over noodles.
Lay down provolone sliced on top of sauce
Cover pan with foil and bake at 375° for 30 minutes.
Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes.

Novel Food - Butternut & Bean Soup

I belong to a book club with a good group of intelligent women, who also appreciate that art of gastronomy. Each month we rotate who hosts and picks the novel. When we meet to discuss the novel we always have a dinner party themed around the book, particularly any ‘culinary inspiration’ offered by the book. We have enjoyed African food after reading What is the What by Dave Eggers, Sri Lankan food – Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost, 50s Chicago style dinner after reading Revoluationary Road and most recently Jewish Food after enjoying A.J. Jacobs humor book called A Year of Living Biblically. I have blogged about this before and had vowed to blog about each book club dinner, but have not followed through.

Therefore when I stumbled upon the new edition of Novel Food, a culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and Simona briciole co-launched a few seasons ago I was excited to blog about Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. For this meal we all contributed to the dinner potluck style. This novel made it easy for us to decide on the menu considering the whole novel is literally about food and provides recipes in the text. In this post I have provided a brief summary of the novel and posted a couple of the recipes I enjoyed the most. In keeping with Kingsolver’s theme about eating local we attempted to buy all the ingredients and products in season from local vendors.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is a narrative & part memoire of Kingsolver’s family journey from an urban life in Arizona to a rural lifestyle in West Virginia, where they vow to eat only locally grown food for one year (Exceptions: spices, coffee, olive oil and flour whereby fair trade alternatives were purchased). The chapters flow from month to month and season to season recounting how the family learns about farming, gardening, cooking and ultimately become an integral part of their community.In Kingsolver’s words: “This is the story of a year in which we made every attempt to feed ourselves animals & vegetables whose provenance we really knew and of how our family was changed by our first year of deliberately eating food produced from the same place where we worked, went to school, loved our neighbours, drank the water, and breathed the air."

THE MENU

The first course was this wonderful butternut bean soup, which a bookclub member decorated so elegantly with local organic thyme.


BUTTERNUT BEAN SOUP

1½ cups dried white beans, soaked overnight and drained

3 medium portabella mushroom caps, sliced (optional)

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tbs. thyme

1 tbs. sage

4 tsp. rosemary

2 butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded

Olive oil

Combine beans and spices in a large sauce pan, add water to cover amply, simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until beans are tender and most water has cooked off.

Add mushrooms toward the end.

While beans are cooking, drizzle a large roasting pan with olive oil and arrange squash skin-side-down.

Cook at 400 for about 40 minutes, until fully tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and serve each half squash filled with a generous scoop of bean soup.

The soup was hearty and delicious. Locally speaking, my dad was able to grow over 30 butternut squashes with nothing but sun and water.

~

SWEET POTATO QUESADILLAS

*Original recipe adapted to use green house spinach rather than Swiss chard and jalapeno cheddar & monterey jack instead of brie. The sweet potatoes, onion, garlic and spinach came from a local organic greenhouse. The flavor and texture of these quesadillas were likely the best I have ever had.

2 medium sweet potatoes

1/2 onion1 clove garlic

1 T oregano

1 T basil

1 tsp cumin

chile powder and cayenne powder to taste

Olive oil for saute

Cut sweet potatoes into chunks, cook until soft, then mash. Chop and sauté garlic. Add onion in a large skillet. Add spices and sweet potato, mix well, adding a little water if it’s too sticky.

Turn burner very low to keep warm without burning.

4 flour tortillas

4 oz. jalapeno

cheddar (St. Albert Cheese Factory)

5 leaves spinach

Preheat oven to 400. Oil a large baking sheet, spread tortillas on it to lightly oil one side, then spread filling over entire toritillas. Top with slices cheese and spinach. Place another tortilla on top of filling and press down. Bake until browned and crisp (15 min.). Cut into wedges & serve.

Summer Squash & Goat Cheese Tart

A couple weeks ago I was invited to a potluck dinner with some girls. It was a last minute get together during the week so none of us really expected too much in the sense of food and really didn’t know if we’d have 4 desserts and no main, or all salads etc.... Well we should not have under estimated ourselves as the dinner was complete with a large beautiful cheese platter, an assortment of crackers and baguette, Asian rice wraps with peanut dipping sauce, green leaf salad with summer fruit, a summer squash tart, and lots of dessert and plenty of red wine. Although making an entire dinner for friends is nice, the potluck, although old school as it might sound, is still a great theme. In keeping with its origin the potluck dinner provides a since of community where everyone has contributed and everyone gets praise for it.

All summer I have wanted to make a summer squash tart and considering it is almost fall I figured it was about time I stop thinking about it and just do it. I really wanted to grill the squash and make my own crust. With the last minute invite I was happy to sautee the veggies and buy a pre-made pie crust. The dish was simple to make and delicious. It would be great as a side or main meal with a side of salad.

Summer Squash Tart

1-2 yellow summer squash (zucchini), sliced
2 shallots, minced
½ T chopped fresh rosemary or thyme
1 garlic clove, minced
Fresh cracked pepper
Pie crust (bought or homemade)
1 egg white, beaten
Goat cheese or blue Roquefort

Roll out the pie crust to 13” round.

In a skillet cook the squash, garlic and shallot for about 7min, until slightly soft, but not fully cooked.

Remove from heat and stir in the rosemary and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Spread the cheese over the bottom of the pie crust, leaving a 2” boarder around the edges.
Arrange the squash mixture in the centre of the pie crust over the cheese. Then fold the edges up over the squash. Brush with egg white.

Bake on a baking sheet for 35-40 minutes.

Pita Chips

A great way to use up pitas or tortillas that are on the verge of going stale is to make them into baked pita chips. You can season them with any herb and spice you like and serve them up with any dip, making it a quick and easy appetizer.

Preheat your oven to 375F and spray a cookie sheet with non stick spray or use parchment paper.

Cut your pitas into triangles and lightly brush one side with olive oil. Then add any combination of spices you like. I enjoyed using these combinations: garlic and rosemary; rosemary and pepper; pepper and parmesan; pesto.

Place pita triangles on cookie sheet and bake them for 12 minutes. Watch closely so they do not burn. You may want to try broiling them for 30sec to crisp them up. Let cool and serve with hummus.

Swiss Chard and Ricotta Cheese Quiche

My sister recently gave birth to her second little boy named Kai. He was three weeks early and 7lbs 1 oz. Because she was early she did not have all the time she thought she would to prepare some meals in advance. In addition she receives weekly delivery of fresh seasonal organic fruits and vegetables from a local farmers market. She had not had a chance to cancel the order and received two weeks worth of gorgeous vegetables. I was the lucky recipient of those veggies considering she had not time and considering the c-section the ability to cook.

I thought I would use some of her vegetables to make a few meals for the family. With the broccoli I made two large batches of soup. With the swiss chard, fresh parsley, onion and chives I made this delicious quiche. The family enjoys a lot of vegetarian meals so I thought this would make a perfect dinner one evening for them.

Swiss Chard & Ricotta Cheese Quiche

1 unbaked pie shell (9")

1 small onion, minced

1/8 tsp cracked black pepper

3/4 cup 1% milk

4 large eggs

20 oz of swiss chard chopped (or use spinach, kale)

1 tsp oil

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 lb ricotta cheese, light

less than 1/3 cup parmesan cheese (optional)

chopped up parsley and chives (optional because I had them)

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Microwave the swiss chard for about 3o seconds. Then chop it up into the size desired for the quiche.

Add oil to pan and sautee onion and chard with nutmeg, pepper. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl combine the cheeses. Add the cooled sauteed mixture. Add the milk and eggs. Mix well.

Pour into the pie pastry and place on a cookie sheet to catch any over spill. Bake for 15 min.

Then reduce the oven to 325F and bake for an additional 50 mins until it is set.

Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna

We have been hit with a ton of snow lately which has made snowshoeing really beautiful. Last weekend after a morning snowshoeing followed by hot chocolate at a local cafe with friends, I went home to make this lasagna. One of my favourite lasagna's is a roasted veggie lasagna which I usually make once or twice a year. This year I wanted to try something a bit different. My father had given me a butternut squash this summer which I cut into chunks and froze. I did not want to make anymore squash soup and thought it would be perfect in a a lasagna. I'd have to say this recipe is a combination of a few recipes, but largely adapted from Cooking Light. All the flavors blend so well together. Each bit you get the creamy texture of the ricotta cheese mixture, followed by the juiciness of the sauteed spinach and roasted butternut, ending with a hint of spice from the nutmeg.

Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna

3 cups chopped onion

10 cup fresh spinach

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs

1 (15oz) carton part-skim ricotta cheese

1 (15oz) carton fat-free ricotta cheese

3 cups diced peeled butternut squash

6 cups Marinara Sauce (Recipe Below)

12 whole wheat oven-ready lasagna noodles

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese for the top or freshly grated parmesan

Preheat oven to 375°.

Heat a large Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add spinach; sauté 1 1/2 minutes or until spinach wilts.

Combine 3/4 cup of mozzarella, parsley, salt, pepper, eggs, and ricotta cheeses and nutmeg in a large bowl.

Place squash in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and cook on high 5 minutes or until tender. Or roast in the oven for 25 min at 425F.

Coat the bottom and sides of a 8x8 or 10x10 baking dishes with cooking spray.

First Layer:

Spread 1/2 cup Marinara sauce in the bottom of one prepared dish.

Arrange 4-5 noodles over sauce.

Spread 1/2 of the cheese mixture over noodles.

Arrange 1/2 squash over cheese mixture.

Spread 1/2 spinach and onoing mixture

Spread 1 cup Marinara sauce over squash.

Second Layer:

Arrange 4 more noodles over sauce.

Spread the other 1/2 of cheese mixture over the noodles.

Spread remaining squash.

Arrange the rest of the onion and spinach mixture over squash.

Spread 1 cup sauce over onion and spinach mixture.

Third Layer:

Arrange 4 noodles over sauce.

Spread 1 cup Marinara evenly over noodles.

Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Cover pan with foil and bake at 375° for 30 minutes.

Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes.

To freeze unbaked lasagna: Cover with plastic wrap, pressing to remove as much air as possible. Wrap with heavy-duty foil. Store in freezer for up to 2 months.

To prepare frozen unbaked lasagna: Thaw completely in refrigerator overnight. Preheat oven to 375º. Remove foil and plastic wrap. Cover lasagna with foil; bake at 375º for 1 hour. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Marinara Sauce

(adapted from CookingLight)

3 T olive oil
3 cups chopped yellow onion

1 T sugar
3 T minced garlic (about 6 cloves)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3 (28-ounce) cans no-salt-added crushed tomatoes

1 tsp red chili flakes

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion to pan; cook 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add sugar and next 7 ingredients (through fennel seeds and chili flakes); cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in vinegar; cook 30 seconds. Add broth and tomatoes; bring to a simmer. Cook over low heat for 55 minutes or until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally.

Ricotta Cheese Layer

Spinach and Onion Mixture

Cream of Root Vegetable Soup

The bounty that fall brings is certainly one of the many reasons why it is my favourite season. Although some of the fresh summer fruits and vegetables are gone or if you were smart preserved in your freezer the colourful pumpkins, squashes, beets and more available all for nice warm hearty dishes to be made.

In the past few years I have really enjoyed making soup. Something about a bowl or cup of soup is so comforting and homey. Maybe it reminds me of my own mom making her famous homemade soup, and smelling it as it simmered on the stove for hours. After all the soup recipes I have made I figured it was time to try making my own. The first thing i settled on was a theme – fall root vegetables. I combined my vegetables to potatoes, parsnips, carrots, celery root and onions and added my favourite spice – CUMIN and some heat – CAYENNE. A few more spices also found there way into the soup. A prefer to use buttermilk in soups versus cream as it provides a nice silky texture to the soup and tartness of it seems to blend well with the starchiness of the vegetables.

Cream of Root Vegetable Soup

(Print Recipe)

2 T butter
1 large white onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T ginger freshly grated
1 ½ tsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp thyme
¼ tsp cayenne
½ tsp cinnamon
2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped (2)
2 cups yellow potatoes, peeled and chopped (2)
1 large parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
2 cups celery or celery root, chopped
8 cups chicken stock (low sodium)
1 cup cream or 2% milk or buttermilk
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot heat the butter over medium high heat and sauté the onions until soft. Add the garlic and all the spices and stir. Add the vegetables and coat with spices.

Add the broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour, vegetables should be soft.

Working in batches puree the soup using a blender or food processor. Once all the soup is blended return to the pot and add the cream or milk, stir and add pepper to taste.

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Quesadillas

The other night I made a new version of my sweet potato & spinach quesadillas. I found this version in the new LCBO Food & Drink magazine, summer 2009 edition. Rather than mash the sweet potatoes up the potatoes were diced into small cubes and cooked in a skillet only for about 10-15 minutes, along with other ingredients and spices. The diced potatoes added a nice texture to the quesadillas. It made enough for 3 small tortillas (8”) and 2 large tortillas (10”)

1 T olive oil
4 green onions, sliced
1 celery, diced
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
½ cup black beans (drained and rinsed if using canned ones)
1 red pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, minced and seeded
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
¼ tsp chili powder
Dash cayenne
Feta cheese, crumbled
4 whole wheat 8-10” tortillas

Prepare all the vegetables in advance. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil and let heat. Add the green onions, celery, sweet potatoes, black beans and spices. Let cook until onions are soft. Then add the jalapeno and red pepper. Cook for 10-15 min more. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile preheat the grill to med-high. Make sure to grease it first as you do not want the quesadillas to stick.

Spoon the sweet potato mixture onto half of the tortillas and sprinkle with feta cheese (or cheese of your choice – however feta is amazing on these). Fold the tortillas in half and place on the grill for a total of 5 minutes (2.5 minutes per side). Use the back of the spatula to press them down, but beware ingredients will tend to squeeze out if you really filled them like I did.

Remove from grill and serve immediately with sour cream and salsa.

Try these quesadillas recipes:

Black bean & Corn Quesadillas

Sweet Potatoe & Spinach Quesadillas

Carrot-Ginger Soup

I seem to have a susceptibility of getting sore throats, and this year has been the worst one yet. There is little that helps my throat when it is sore, constantly sucking on lozenges, drinking hot herbal tea and consuming hot bowls of soup. This year I have made so much soup you’d think I’d be sick of it. I am getting close to it, but I still have a few bowls in me. This carrot and ginger soup from Food TV is both colorful and flavourful. It helped sooth my throat and boost my energy to get through the day. On another note I would like to wish my dad a happy 69th birthday!

Carrot & Ginger Soup

7 cup vegetable stock
4 tbsp butter
2 lb. fresh carrot, peeled
3 leek, sliced, in half lengthwise, and, thoroughly, cleaned
1 yam, peeled
4 celery, stalks
1 three-inch piece fresh ginger, root, peeled, and, grated
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1.5 tsp ground nutmeg

pinch cinnamon (optional)
dolop sour cream

In a large pot, bring stock to a boil.

While stock is heating, chop all vegetables into small pieces (approximately 1/2 inch cubes).

In a saute pan, over med-high heat, melt half of the butter. Sauté vegetables with ginger and nutmeg for approximately 15 minutes, or until vegetables are browned. Add remaining butter as needed.

Add sautéed vegetables to stock, reduce heat, cover with a lid, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Let cool to room temperature and then puree in a blender. Soup should be thick and smooth. If you like your soup velvety smooth, pour through a fine mesh strainer

Add salt and pepper.

To serve, re-heat, ladle into bowls, then drizzle 1 tablespoon of cream into each bowl. Serve in warmed bowls.