French Lentil Soup

I added a few ingredients suggested by other reviewers, which I believe made the soup much tastier. First, I carmelized the onions with a couple strips of bacon, then continued with the other directions. I also added a few herbs to taste - bay leaves, thyme and cumin. Very hearty and satisfying in this unseasonably cold weather!

Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra–virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery stalks plus chopped celery leaves for garnish
1 cup chopped carrots2 garlic cloves, chopped
4 cups (or more) vegetable broth
1 1/4 cups lentils, rinsed, drained
1 14 1/2–ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
Balsamic vinegar (optional)

Directions
Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium–high heat. Add onions, celery, carrots, and garlic; sauté until vegetables begin to brown, about 15 minutes. Add 4 cups broth, lentils, and tomatoes with juice and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium–low, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender, about 35 minutes.Transfer 2 cups soup (mostly solids) to blender and puree until smooth. Return puree to soup in pan; thin soup with more broth by 1/4 cupfuls, if too thick. Season with salt, pepper, and a splash of vinegar, if desired. Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with celery leaves.

Bon AppétitDecember 20062006-11-28 10:51:37.0

Pork Cutlets and apples

Serves 4

8 pork cutlets
1/3 cup chicken stock
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp mustard
2 tablespoons cider vinegar

Salt and pepper

Salt and pepper the cutlets and pan fry them about 3 minutes per side or until cooked through. Remove from pan. While the pan is still hot, add stock, vinegar, sugar and mustard. Reduce by about a third.

Serve sauce over cutlets with warm apple slices.

Apples – slice 3 apples and cook gently with ¼ cup water and ¼ cup brown sugar.
Serve with rice or noodles or roasted green beans.

Winter Squash Galette

Adapted From Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

Yeasted Tart Dough with Olive Oil -recipe below (or can use Galette Dough)
2.5 lbs winter squash (I used butternut squash)
1 small head garlic, cloves separated but not peeled
1 T olive oil, plus a little extra for the squash
1 yellow onion, finely diced
12 fresh sage leaves, chopped (or 2 t dried)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (I used Reggianito Parmasan)
3/4 C Fontina cheese (I added this; it's not in Deborah Madison’s original recipe)
1/4 C Feta cheese (I added this; it's not in Deborah Madison’s original recipe)
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 egg, beaten

Yeasted Tart Dough with Olive Oil:
2 t active dry yeast (ends up being one packet/envelope of Fleischmann's)
½ t sugar
½ cup warm water
3 T olive oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/8 t salt
1 ¾ cups flour, as needed (I used equal portions all-purpose white flour and white whole wheat unbleached since I didn’t have whole wheat pastry flour)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water in a medium bowl and let stand until bubbly, about 10 minutes. Add the oil, egg, and salt, then stir in the flour. When the dough is too stiff to work with a spoon, turn it onto the counter and knead until smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes. Add more flour if necessary to keep it from sticking. Set the dough in an oiled bowl, turn it over to coat, cover with a damp towel, and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes to an hour. (For individual tarts, divide it into 6 pieces, shape into balls, and let rest under damp towel for 15 minutes before rolling them out.)

Cut the squash in half, scrape out the seeds, and brush the cut surfaces with oil. Stuff the garlic into the cavities and place the squash cut side down on the sheet pan. Bake until flesh is tender, around 40 minutes. Scoop out the squash and squeeze the garlic cloves. Mash them together with a fork until fairly smooth, leaving some texture.

Warm 1 T olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sage and cook until soft and beginning to color, about 12 minutes. Add this to the squash along with the cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Roll out the dough (pretty thin) into 14 inch circle and spread filling over it, leaving a border of 2 inches or more. Pleat the dough around the filling, then brush the edges with beaten egg. Bake until crust is golden, about 25 minutes.

If freezing, bake only about 5 minutes to set dough. Let cool, then wrap in parchment. Place on baking sheet to freeze. Once firm, place either in freezer bag or wrap in plastic wrap and back into freezer. To bake from frozen, thaw then bake at 375 degrees until crust is golden.

Mexican casserole

Makes 5 large servings.

24 oz ricotta cheese (I used semi-skimmed)
2 cups cooked rice (I used brown rice)
½ teaspoon salt
ground pepper, optional
1 half red onion, chopped
1 4.5 oz can chopped green chiles
1 15.5 oz can black beans
5 large flour tortillas
8 oz monterey jack cheese (freshly shredded is better)

Serve with:
Salsa or chopped tomatoes
Sour cream
Chopped avocado or guacamole

1. Cook rice and let cool slightly.
2. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.
3. Combine rice with ricotta cheese, salt, pepper, raw red onion and green chiles.
Divide filling into 5 equal parts.
4. Place filling in the middle of tortillas. Roll up and put seam side down in pan. (You can tuck ends under, but it’s not necessary.)
5. Cover with can of beans, including bean liquid.
6. Cover evenly with shredded cheese.
7. Grease aluminum foil and cover casserole.
8. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake for 15-30 more minutes (depending how browned you want the cheese.)
9. Serve with toppings, it would be bland without salsa.
10. If frozen, defrost completely before baking.

Roasted Butternut Squash Sauce

Serves 8

1 butternut, about 1.5 lbs, peel and cut in to 1 inch dice
5-6 cloves of garlic
Olive Oil

1 cup half and half
salt

Sage
Walnuts

3 lbs ravioli

Preheat oven to 375'. Place the squash and garlic on a baking sheet and coat lightly with oil. Roast about 45 minutes. Cool. Puree with half and half. Salt to taste.

Meanwhile, cook pasta. Reserve about a cup of pasta cooking water.

To serve - thin pasta sauce with reserved water as necessary. Sprinkle sage and walnuts over the pasta and sauce.

For Casserole club - every got a full recipe of sauce and 1.5 lbs ravioli. The remaining sauce can be used on any pasta or thinned to make soup.

Marcaroni and Cheese with Cauliflower

from "Real Simple" magazine
The original recipes has you make your own bread crumbs, I used panko bread crumbs instead.
Hopefully, this will freeze well despite having sour cream in the dish.

to reheat: defrost, cover with foil, and bake at 350 until warm. I added a bit of milk as it seemed a bit dry.

This might help some kids eat cauliflower! (although Owen picked it all out)

Ingredients

12 ounces elbow macaroni
1 head cauliflower, roughly chopped
1 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper
1 onion finely chopped
1 1/2 cp grated extra-sharp cheddar (6 ounces)
1 1/2 cups reduced fat sour cream
1/2 cup 1 percent milk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
panko bread crumbs

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 F. Cook pasta according to the package directions, adding the cauliflower during the last 3 minutes of cooking time, drain.

2. Return the pasta pot to medium heat and add the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add the onion, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, just until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Mix in the pasta, cauliflower, cheese, sour cream, milk and mustard.

4. Transfer to a shallow 3 quart baking dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.