Tag Archives: vegetarian

Skinny Spaghetti Squash Alfredo

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Skinny Spaghetti Squash Alfredo

So I’ve said this before but seriously, I love spaghetti squash. It is so easy and I am just fascinated by how it turns all stringy and spaghetti like! This is cool recipe becuase it actually is very rich and filling just on it’s own. I am to be honest, not a big alfredo fan. Not that I don’t like it but never really have made it and given the choice out at a restaraunt I’d rather have something more fresh tasting with tomatoes veggies etc….. Anyway, I thought I would give this a try with one of the squashes my mom gave me last time I visited her and it turned out really good! Hope you enjoy!!!

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INGREDIENTS:
1 spaghetti squash ( I used a medium/large sized one)

1 Tablespoon butter

3 cloves of garlic, finely minced

2 Tablespoons flour

1 cup milk (I used fat-free)

1 Tablespoon cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus 2 Tablespoons extra for topping

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Crushed red pepper flakes and fresh parsley or basil, for optional garnish

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

First, cook the squash. There are several methods to do this. I usually just cut in half and microwave for about 10-15 minutes. Usually thats how I do it because I can’t plan ahead/don’t have the patience to cook it in the oven but if you don’t want to use microwaves you can use your oven! Just cut spaghetti squash in half using a large sharp knife, scoop out the seeds and place cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet with some water on the bottom of the pan. Bake until tender, about an hour.

Once squash is cooked, use a fork to gently scrape the “spaghetti” strands into the center. Careful you dont burn your fingers. I usually do everytime, must be that patience thing again 🙂

For the sauce, melt butter in a small pot over medium-low heat. Once hot, add garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in flour slowly, cooking for another minute while stirring. Whisk in milk until no lumps remain. Once hot, add cream cheese and stir until smooth. Remove from the heat. Stir in Parmesan, salt and pepper.

Spoon sauce equally into each spaghetti squash half. Gently mix the spaghetti strands to coat as much as possible with the sauce. Top with extra Parmesan and place under the broiler of your oven for 2-3 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.

Top each half with a pinch of red pepper flakes and fresh chopped parsley or basil, if desired. Serve hot and enjoy!!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

xoxo

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Black Bean & Pepper Polenta Bowl

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Black Bean & Pepper Polenta Bowl

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gluten-free, vegan option // yields 4-5 servings

for the onions + peppers
1 tablespoon coconut oil or any kind of oil you want
1 large red onion, sliced
1 1/2 sweet bell peppers, sliced
sea salt

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat.
Add the onion and peppers and stir frequently until just softened. 5-7 minutes.
Generously sprinkle with salt, stir, then reduce heat to med-low for about 25-30 minutes until fully golden brown and caramelized. Stir every few minutes. Seriously I know you’ll be tempted to use them right away before they are fully caramelized but the time it takes to caramelize is totally worth it!! DO ITTTT.

for the black beans
2 tablespoons coconut oil or any kind of oil you want
1 3/4 cup cooked black beans, if using canned- rinsed + drained
1 small can diced mild green chiles
1/4 cup no/low-sodium vegetable broth
1/4 cup salsa
1/2 tsp chipotle pepper powder
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
sea salt

Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat.
Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds – 1 minute until fragrant and ever so lightly(seriously hardly at all or it will taste bitter)browned.
Stir in the black beans, green chiles, veggie broth, salsa, chipotle, and cumin.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer uncovered for 10 – 15 minutes until thickened and almost all of the liquid has cooked off, stirring occasionally.

for the polenta
1 cup dry polenta aka “corn grits”
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups low/no-sodium vegetable broth
3/4 cup freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese, * totally optional
few splashes of hot sauce (I used a little Franks and a little Siracha)
black pepper

**I used Bob’s Red Mill polenta grits, so be sure to check your package for exact instructions.**
Bring water + veggie broth to a boil.
Slowly stir in the polenta grits, reduce heat to simmer ( low)
Stir occasionally for 5 minutes.
Stir in the cheese [if using], hot sauce, and a few pinches of black pepper, then cover for 5 minutes before serving. If it thickens too much add a bit more water and heat over med-low until smoothed out and creamy.

The cheese is not necessary at all if you need this dairy-free or vegan. Honestly if I was making this just for me, I’d leave it out. I thought Jake would be more willing to try ‘scary’ polenta if it was cheesy 🙂

Once all the items are done, serve it up! I just put the beans and onion/pepper mix on top of the polenta and garnished with some cilantro and sliced avacado! It was verrrry good. Lots of flavors all coming together. Jake told me it tasted like a restaurant meal 🙂 awww love that man ❤

As always, thanks for stoping by my blog !

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Roasted Vegetable Stacked Enchiladas

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Roasted Vegetable Stacked Enchiladas

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Ingredients:

1 large red pepper, chopped, seeds removed
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 medium yellow squash, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 sweet potato chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups red enchilada sauce
9-10 small corn tortillas
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

*This is optional but I added the zest and juice of 1 lime to mine 🙂

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place red pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, sweet potato, and onion on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and toss until vegetables are coated. Season with salt and pepper. Roast vegetables for 30-40 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove vegetables from oven and let cool to room temperature. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

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2. Grease an 8×8 square baking pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine roasted vegetables, black beans, cumin, chili powder, garlic, jalapeño, lime zest and juice(if using) and cilantro. Stir and season with salt and pepper.

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3. Spread 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce into the bottom of the baking pan. Add a layer of tortillas, to completely cover the bottom of the pan(See my picture before for a trick!). Top with 1/3 of the vegetable/bean mixture and 1/3 of the cheese. Make a second layer of tortilla, enchilada sauce, vegetables/beans, and cheese. Top with with a layer of tortillas, enchilada sauce, vegetables/beans, and cheese. Spray a sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray and cover the pan.

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My mom taught my this trick to cut off two sides of the round tortillas. This makes them fit perfectly in the corners of pans with minimal overlap so you have a perfectly even layer. She’s a genius 🙂

4. Bake enchiladas for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and the enchiladas are bubbling. Remove enchiladas from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Cut into squares and serve warm.

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This is another beautiful meal. I served this with some Salsa and chips and we had a delicious light meal. Hope you enjoy and of course thanks for reading my blog. I’m blown away at how many views and comments I get in a day. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that so many people would visit my site when I started this. Seriously you all make me so happy! 🙂

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Quinoa with Corn & Scallions

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Quinoa with Corn and Scallions

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Hello all! 🙂 Hope you’re enjoying the start to “summer”. I always think of Memorial Day as the kick-off to summer even though I know it technically isn’t until June 21st. I think this quinoa side dish is the perrrrfect compliment to a barbecue or picnic, really any where any time, but particularly those 😉 I want to make this recipe again because as you can see from my picture it turned out a little gooier than  I would like. Next time will make it a littler drier by undercooking the quinoa a little bit. I hope you guys enjoy this deeeelicious recipe and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

4 ears corn, shucked (If you want you could use frozen corn and just skip steps 1 and 2 below)
1 Tablespoon grated fresh lemon zest
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 stick (1/8 cup) unsalted butter, melted
1 Tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 cups uncooked quinoa
4 scallions, chopped

Directions:

Place the corn in a large pot and fill it with enough water to cover the corn. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil. As soon as the water comes to a boil, turn off the heat and let the pot stand, covered, for 5 minutes.

Remove the corn from the pot and let it cool on a cutting board until it’s easy to handle. Then, using a sharp knife, cut the kernels off the cob.

Prepare the dressing by whisking together the lemon zest, lemon juice, melted butter, honey, salt and pepper in a large bowl.

Rinse the uncooked quinoa in a sieve under cold water until the water runs clear.

Cook the quinoa in a pot of of boiling salted water per the package directions.

Add the quinoa, corn kernels and chopped scallions to the bowl with the dressing and toss until it’s evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper and serve.(This is my opinion but I think this dish would be awesome served cold too!)

As always, thanks for checking out my blog! Now go out there and enjoy the summer!

xoxo

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Spaghetti Squash Vegetable Bake

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Spaghetti Squash Vegetable Bake

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I hadn’t tried spaghetti squash until this past winter. I was soooo skeptical that it was just soooo easy to cook like everyone said. How in the world could it just string apart like that?!? It HAS TO BE some sort of special technique that people are under playing, has to be, c’mon how could it be easy?! Well I finally decided to give it a try and I’ll be damned- it’s freaking easy! Seriously you heat it and it use a fork to scrap out the insides and it’s just like noodles. I even told Jake they were a special kind of noodle in an attempt to get him to eat them- he believed me but even once I told him the truth, he STILL liked it! If you haven’t tried it people, you MUST! This is a great recipe to ease into the squash because there are so many other flavors, but I sometimes just eat the squash alone. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 whole spaghetti squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red pepper, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 carrot, shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato, diced
16 ounces tomato sauce
4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

DIRECTIONS

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
    2. Cut the squash in half length wise (be careful), place in a microwave safe dish and cook in the microwave for eight to 12 minutes until soft. If you don’t have a microwave, place the squash halves on a baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes. While that’s cooking, add the oil, garlic, pepper, zucchini, and carrots to a pan, cooking over medium heat.
    3. Once the squash is done ( and I let it cool a bit so you don’t burn the sh*t out of your hands) use a fork and scrape the flesh from the peel. It should flake off easily in strings, resembling spaghetti. Place the spaghetti squash flesh in an oven safe casserole dish. Add the cooked veggies, diced tomato, sauce, and most of the cheese and mix well. Sprinkle leftover cheese on top and bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.
    4. Allow to cool for five minutes, serve, and enjoy! I also added some chopped basil on top, but thats just because I’m obsessed with it 🙂

Thanks for checking out my blog!

-G