Melissa's Cooking!

First of all, I hope everyone is having a joyous holiday season and best wishes for the coming New Year. I apologize I haven’t posted anything in a few weeks. I’ve made this risotto a couple times, and also have taken it easy by making recipes that I’ve already posted…so except for my delay in posting this, I haven’t had anything else to really post in awhile.

So, I made this risotto a few weeks ago, and my husband said this was the best thing I’ve ever made. And I can’t lie: this dish is VERY delicious.

It’s risotto, so that means that it does take a good bit of time to make, and with this particular recipe, it takes extra time for roasting tomatoes beforehand. So save this for a weekend to make and enjoy. If it’s the 2 of your, you’ll have plenty of leftovers. If there’s a family, there will be plenty for the meal.

There are 3 parts to this: Baked tomatoes, a tomato topping and the risotto. The timing of preparing each part is tricky. You want to start with roasting the tomatoes (which takes an hour, not including prep time), stove-top cook the tomato topping (which takes about 40 minutes), as well as making the risotto…which requires the baked tomatoes (which, again, takes an hour in itself to bake). So, again, start with baking the tomatoes, then get the tomato topping going, then by that time the roasted tomatoes should be about done and you should be ready to prep and start the risotto portion.

For the BAKED TOMATOS – Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
• 1 pound tomatoes (about 8 small beefsteak)
• 1/4 tsp each sea salt and coarse ground black pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 clove garlic, sliced Goodfellas thin

For the TOMATO TOPPING – Ingredients include:
• 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
• 2 TBS extra-virgin olive oil
• pinch of salt

For the RICE- Ingredients include:
• 6-8 cups  reduced sodium vegetable broth
• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided into 4 Tbsp and 1 Tbsp
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 cup dry white wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc)
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. SO, to start, you want to BAKE THE TOMATOES for an hour. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the beefsteak tomatoes in half and lay them face-up on a sheet pan. Sprinkle them with the sea salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary. Lay a slice or 2 of garlic on top of each tomato half. Bake the tomatoes on the middle rack of the oven, uncovered until they’re a bit grilled-looking and soft and yummy (about 1 hour). Remove the tomatoes from the oven and allow to cook a bit. Chop the tomatoes roughly and reserve them in a bowl, along with as much liquid as you can retain.

2. After you get the roasted tomatoes in the oven, move on to the TOMATO TOPPING. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and throw them in a pan, then add the olive oil and salt. Cook this over low heat until the oil is bubbly, the tomatoes are soft and the mixture looks like a chunky sauce. I preferred cooking this for about 40 minutes (while the risotto cooks).

3. Now for the RICE/RISOTTO portion of the dish. Heat broth in medium sized saucepan and keep warm over low heat. Melt 4 Tbsp of butter in a large saucepan; add onion. Cook over medium heat until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes to the onion-butter mixture and stir to combine.

Add the Arborio rice to the onion-butter mixture and mix well, so all the rice grains are coated, about 1 minute. Add the white wine to the rice mixture and continue stirring constantly to ensure that none of the rice sticks, until the wine has been completely absorbed and the rice is soft but not sticky, about 1 minute.

Add a few ladles of broth, just enough to barely cover rice. Add the chopped BAKED TOMATOES with their liquid. Cook over medium heat until broth has been absorbed. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite, about 15 to 20 minutes.

During the last minutes of cooking, add remaining tablespoon of butter and 1/3 cup Parmesan. At this point the rice should have a creamy consistency. Add salt to taste. Serve with remaining grated Parmesan. Add some rosemary, salt and pepper. Mix well, so the risotto becomes rich and well combined. If the risotto is too thick for your taste, add a little leftover stock or water.

Serve in individual bowls, topped with the TOMATO MIXTURE and a little more Parmesan cheese and rosemary for garnish on top.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

This soup is very tasty and light. It’s pretty quick to make and has lots of nutrients in it.

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup diced yellow onion
• 4 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 (32-ounce) box reduced-sodium vegetable broth
• 4 cups packed chopped kale***
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can Italian-Style Diced Tomatoes
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• two large carrots, peeled and sliced

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes longer. Add broth, kale and tomatoes and fresh carrots and cover. Cook 5 minutes or until kale is tender. Add beans and heat thoroughly. Serve hot.

Add fresh Parmesan cheese and extra salt if wanted. Enjoy!

***I’d like to add a note after having the leftover soup sit overnight in the fridge. You might want to add only enough Kale that you will be eating the evening that you cook up the soup. If you have leftover Kale, it will turn brown on you and then it’s just gross to look at, not to mention, I’m sure all the nutrients are probably gone.

My suggestion: Add only the amount of Kale that you will need for your first batch, and then if you have leftovers for the next night, cook up new Kale for that next batch.

So I wanted to try a couple recipes to maybe make to contribute a dish for Thanksgiving dinner, so I tried the Butternut Squash Apple Cranberry Bake. It turned out to be quite a yummy dish. Watch out on the amount of Cranberries you use, because they can be rather tart. So with each bite, limit the cranberries and you will get a very seasonal and delightful taste in your mouth! This is almost appetizer like, but can definitely be used as a side to your meal.

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)

• 1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3 large tart cooking apples cut into 1/2-inch thick slices (I used Granny Smiths)
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (half a stick) butter
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350°F. Slice and peel squash and apples.

Put squash cubes in ungreased 7×11-inch baking dish. Place apples on top and then cranberries. Mix the flour, salt, sugar, and nutmeg and sprinkle on top. Dot with butter. Bake 50-60 minutes.

Plenty for everyone! It kept well in the refrigerator over night, so it can be eaten the next day too.

I have to say, I had a Butternut Squash Risotto the other night at a local restaurant and I was highly disappointed. It was overly cheesey (fake cheese-like even), and compared to the amount of melted cheese in it, there was hardly any rice. I told my husband that I can make it SO much better, so Sunday I tried and totally succeeded. It turned out SO good. I am thinking I will make this dish for our family Thanksgiving…

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
• 6-8 cups  reduced sodium vegetable broth
• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided into 4 Tbsp and 1 Tbsp
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups butternut squash, peeled, and finely diced
• 2 cups arborio rice (can substitute medium grained white rice, but arborio is preferred)
• 1 cup dry white wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc)
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbsp chopped chives or garlic chives
• Salt

Heat broth in medium sized saucepan and keep warm over low heat. Melt 4 Tbsp of butter in a large saucepan; add onion and butternut squash. Cook over medium heat until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add rice to onion and squash. Cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine. Cook, stirring constantly until wine has been absorbed by the rice or evaporated. Add a few ladles of broth, just enough to barely cover rice. Cook over medium heat until broth has been absorbed. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite, about 15 to 20 minutes.

During the last minutes of cooking, add remaining tablespoon of butter, 1/3 cup Parmesan, and chives. At this point the rice should have a creamy consistency. Add salt to taste. Serve with remaining grated Parmesan.

This will definitely serve a family plenty, but if it’s the 2 of you, be prepared to eat for lunch and dinner the next 2 days!

Now these veggie burgers, I have made quite a few times because they are good and good for you, filled with protein, fiber and nutrients. Each time we have them, we love them, however, a few times, they’ve been bland. So to try to make them tastier, I decided to try a few things different. It used to have celery, which I didn’t use this time…and I added a lot more seasoning/spices than I did previously.

Along with the burgers, I made the quick-boiled spinach which you can find under the Yummy Veggie Wrap here, as well as some roasted some sweet potatoes (described below).

Lentil Veggie Burger ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)

• 1 cup canned lentil beans
• 1 cup carrots, shredded or finely diced
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
  
• small zucchini, finely diced
• 2 cups quick oats
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup tomato paste (1 6 oz. can)
• 1 TBS Italian seasoning
• 1 TBS Basil
• 1 TBS Oregano
  
• 2 tsp to 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• Ketchup (optional)
• Guacamole (optional)
• Cheese of your liking (optional)
• Sliced tomatoes (optional)
• Sliced whole wheat bread (optional)
  

Turn on the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your vegetables. (For the dicing of the vegetables, I used a food processor. This totally saves a lot of preparation time.) I mixed all the ingredients together and formed into patties. Place the patties on an oiled baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes on each side until a golden brown.

Place your burger on your bread and serve with ketchup, guacamole, cheese and/or sliced tomatoes. This will make about 8-10 patties.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)

• 1 very large or 2 large sweet potatoes
• Extra Virgin Olive oil
• Rosemary
• Pepper

Cut up the potatoes into about 1 inch cubes. Mix together the potatoes with the olive oil, rosemary and pepper. Spread out on an oiled baking sheet. Pretty much the amount of time the burgers are baking at 350 degrees, the potatoes can take just as long to roast. I like my potatoes a bit crispy, but definitely take yours out sooner when you see that they are done to your liking.

Serve with the burger and spinach and ENJOY!

I think one of the main reasons we got a pumpkin this Halloween was so that we could roast the seeds…haha.

Ingredients include:
• Pumpkin seeds
• salt
• 2 spoonfuls of butter

Once we got the pumpkin seeds out of the pumpkin and got the orange goo off them, I rinsed them off well. I didn’t have time to roast right away, so I kept them in a bowl soaking over night. When you’re ready to roast them, turn the oven to 300 degrees. Melt your butter. Mix the seeds with the melted butter and salt. Spread on a baking sheet (which I also lined with olive oil, just to make sure they don’t stick to the sheet). I added more salt…add as much salt as you like. Roast the seeds for about 45 minutes in the oven or until brown. Enjoy!

This is my first attempt at making enchiladas. I had no idea how easy these were to make and they turned out to be really delicious. Nothing too out there, as far as how spicy they were or with any extra veggies or meat added…which leaves lots of room to experiment next time!

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
• Grapeseed oil (or another high smoke-point oil such as peanut or canola oil)
• 6-8 whole wheat 12-inch tortillas
• 2 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup of salsa (Choose your spiciness! I used medium…)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup of canned crushed tomatoes (preferably fire roasted)
• Olive oil
• 1 lb of jack cheese
• sour cream (garnish)
• cilantro (garnish)
• guacamole (garnish) Whole foods has absolutely wonderful guacamole that they make in the store there that I highly recommend.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large fry pan at high heat add 3 Tbsp of grapeseed oil. Add a tortilla to the pan. Cook for 2-3 seconds, lift up the tortilla with a spatula, add another tortilla underneath. Cook for 2-3 seconds, lift again, both tortillas, and add another tortilla underneath. Repeat the process with all the tortillas, adding a little more oil if needed. This way you can brown and soften the tortillas without using a lot of fat. You do this process to develop the flavor of the tortillas. As the tortillas brown a little, remove from the pan one by one to rest on a paper towel, which absorbs any excess fat.

I used the same pan I had just used for browning the tortillas. Sauté up the chopped onion and garlic, then turn off the heat. Add 1 cup of salsa. Dissolve 3 Tbsp of tomato paste into 1 cup of water, add to pan. Add 1 cup of crushed fire roasted canned tomatoes.

Put some olive oil on the bottom of a large casserole pan. Take a tortilla, cover 2/3 of it lightly with the shredded cheese, then roll up the tortilla and place it in the casserole pan. Continue until all tortillas are filled and rolled. Add sauce to the top of the tortillas in the the casserole pan. Make sure all are covered with the sauce. If not, add a little water. Cover the whole thing with the rest of the grated cheese. Put the casserole in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Garnish with cilantro, sour cream and/or guacamole. Enjoy!

This will be plenty for a family, but  if it’s just for the 2 of you, it should last for 2 dinners and a lunch, at least. 

With the sweet potatoes and apple cider stewed together with the juicy diced tomatoes and veggie broth, and with the addition of Italian sausage, it seriously tastes what Fall should taste like. A bit on the sweeter side, but again, very seasonal and delicious. I found this recipe online, made my own adjustments and it turned out to be super yummy. Needs a tad of tweaking, but what I made is quite good!

Again, like the Burger Soup, feel free to use animal sausage…but I used the Field Roast Grain Meat Italian Sausages…which added a nice flavor to the overall soup.

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
• 1 box of Veggie Broth (4 cups)
• 1-28 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of black beans
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 1.5 tsp of cumin
• 2 tsp of paprika
• 1.5 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of pepper
• 1 package of Field Roast Grain Meat Italian Sausages (or 1 lb of lean ground beef or turkey)
•1 large (or 2 small) sweet potatoes chopped in small cubes)
• 2 cups apple cider

Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes…Enjoy!

Note: This is plenty for a family of 4 to 6, but if it’s just the 2 of you, you will have enough for lunch and dinner the next day

This recipe is SO good on a chilly fall or winter day. It’s a slow cooker recipe so you can prepare everything early in the day, and then enjoy it hassle-free with some yummy gourmet bread in the evening. That’s what we did Sunday

So the original recipe I found called for 1 pound of lean ground beef…so if you like ground beef, by all means, use lean ground beef (but please make sure it’s from a happy cow that once roamed the open fields and was fed yummy grass and not yucky corn products, okay?) Same goes if you’d prefer to use lean ground turkey meat, which is what we used before I went total vegetarian. NOW I use Field Roast Grain Meat Italian Sausages. I cut/dice up the sausages small enough for it to seem like burger meat. And the flavoring of the Italian sausage is simply perfect for this soup!

Also, I’ve diverted from the original recipe quite enough, that I feel like it’s almost my own, so I will give you the details of what ingredients I used instead of what they call for. I use more whole ingredients than what they suggested anyway, which is totally better for you

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
• 1 package of Field Roast Grain Meat Italian Sausages (or 1 lb of lean ground beef or turkey)
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1 green bell pepper chopped
• 1 TBS of Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 1/4 tsp of black pepper
• 3 cups of boiling water
• 1 – 16 oz can of italian seasoned diced tomatoes
• 1 – 8 oz can of tomato sauce
• 2 TBS of soy sauce (reduced-sodium)
• 1 cup of sliced celery
• 1 cup of thinly sliced carrots
• 2 cups of cooked macaroni
• 1/4 grated parmesan cheese

Crumble up your sausage or ground meat and heat it up on the stove. (Please make sure you brown the beef/turkey. This particular sausage is already precooked. I just heat it up to put heated sausage in the stew pot.) Chop up your vegetables.

Add your ‘meat,’ onion, garlic, bell pepper, italian seasonings, salt and pepper to slow cooker. Stir in the boiling water, tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce and soy sauce. Add celery and carrots.

Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. (Set timer!)

About a 45 minutes before you want to eat, cook up your macaroni. Increase your stew pot heat to HIGH and stir in your cooked macaroni and Parmesan cheese. Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes more.

Dish some soup into your bowl, shread some more Parmesan cheese on top, serve with a side of sliced gourmet bread and enjoy! Oh, and this is plenty for a family of 4 to 6, but if it’s just the 2 of you, you will have enough for lunch and dinner the next day

This is a favorite and easy recipe to make during this awesome season of Fall. (I love Fall! I couldn’t imagine being anywhere that doesn’t get to enjoy the colorful leaves and crisp cool days…)

Anyway, in addition to random days making this, I made this dish last year for my family’s Thanksgiving dinner and for a Fall Harvest potluck we just went to over the weekend.

Ingredients include:
(Make sure you try to use all organic!)
• 1 (2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/2 cups couscous
• 1 1/3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries (I used Eden Organic Dried Cranberries.)
• 1/2 cup pecans, toasted (I didn’t use in case people would be allergic to nuts.)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley (I used dried organic parsley.)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine butternut squash, onion, olive oil, nutmeg, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until squash and onion brown slightly, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool.

Combine squash and onion mixture, veggie broth, butter and cranberries in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add couscous and cover. Take from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in pecans and parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. Fluff with a fork and serve.

There will be plenty for a family gathering or expect to have leftovers if it’s just a couple people eating.