Fruit and Veggie Kabobs

Since I have all of these fruits and vegetables from the food co-op:

I have been trying to plan my dinners around what I have.

I saw this recipe and got the idea to do some kabobs.

I used these veggies and fruits:

Green pepper, mushrooms, orange pepper, mango, purple onion and pineapple.

Marinade:
1/2 c. olive oil
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar

1/4 c. pineapple juice
2 Tbl. Brown Sugar (a little more if you want it sweeter)

2 cloves of garlic

salt and pepper

If you have wood skewers soak them in water first.

Mix this all together and pour over vegetables. Let them marinate for a couple hours.

Put them on skewers and then you can grill them or I broiled them.

I put some foil over a cookie sheet and broiled them for about 10 minutes, turning them every couple minutes.

Serve with rice.

La Minestra (Minestrone Soup)

1/2 lb bacon

1 whole onion, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

2 cans (14.5oz) stewed tomatoes

2 cans beef broth (14 oz)

1 can (11.5 oz) tomato juice (or 2 small 6 oz cans)

1 can (150z) Northern (white) beans, Drained

1 can cut green beans, Undrained

3 whole carrots, sliced

2 cups shredded fresh cabbage, not the bagged kind, it gets too stringy.

2 cups water

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp basil

1/4 tsp oregano

1 cup pasta (shells, farfalle, macaroni, etc)

Cook up the bacon, saving a little grease. Cut it up.

Saute the celery and onion in bacon grease. Add everything to a soup pot, except for the pasta. Bring to a boil, then simmer until veggies are tender. Add pasta and cook until done.

Serve with grated parmesan.

This recipe is from Tasty Kitchen website.

Veggie Lasagna

9 Whole wheat lasagne *

1-2 TB oil (to stir fry the veggies)

2 garlic cloves chopped or pressed

1 crown of broccoli chopped

14 baby carrots chopped

4 medium mushrooms chopped

1/2 onion chopped

1 26.5 oz can spaghetti sauce. We like Hunt's

16 oz cottage cheese

4 oz cheese (mozarella, monterey jack or cheddar)

grated parmesan cheese

1 egg (or 2 egg whites) beaten

salt and pepper to taste

Chop the veggies pretty fine while you're cooking the lasagne. I've noticed the Ronzoni whole wheat noodles taste better. I usually use 9 of them.

Heat oil in large skillet. Add garlic and stir fry for a minute. Add all veggies and stir fry until they're cooked. Add spaghetti sauce and heat through.

Mix cottage cheese with egg, salt and pepper.

Spray 13x9 with cooking spray. Spread a little sauce around in the bottom of the pan. Layer noodles, 1/3 of sauce, 1/3 of cottage cheese, parmesan and 1/3 of grated cheese. Repeat layers 2 more times. Cover with foil. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes. (take off foil for last 5 minutes)

If you assemble this ahead of time and refrigerate, you'll need to bake it at least 45 minutes.

*FYI: Lasagne is the plural of lasagna- as in, the noodle is called a lasagna. More than one is lasagne. But the dish itself is Lasagna.

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers (Mexican Style)

SERVES: 4
2 whole large peppers
2 cups cooked rice
2 TB olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, diced or pressed
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can sweet corn, drained (or used frozen)
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Chili powder
1 heaping TBS freeze dried cilantro
5 oz Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 375.
Wash and cut peppers in half. Set aside in greased baking dish.
Mix cooked rice w/ cilantro and most of the cheese.

Heat olive oil and saute onions for 6 minutes, add garlic and stir for 1 more minute. Add beans, corn, cumin, chili powder and tomato sauce. Heat to combine flavors. Stir in rice. Taste and add salt if desired. Fill peppers really full with the mixture. Sprinkle grated cheese on top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes uncovered. (I added a little water in the bottom of the pan.)

I double this recipe for my family. They also like to scoop the filling onto tortilla chips.

Original recipe came from Tasty Kitchen website. I changed some of the seasonings and added tomato sauce. They recommend serving with sour cream, hot sauce and pico de gallo, but I thought it was tastier this way.

Cowboy Caviar

1 can corn, drained

1 can black beans, drained

1 can black-eyed peas, drained

3/4 of an onion, chopped

3-4 medium tomatoes, diced

2 avocados, cubed

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

handful of freeze dried cilantro (or 1/2 - 1 bunch chopped fresh)

1/2 - 3/4 cup Zesty Italian dressing or **

Mix together. Marinate at least 2 hours, better overnight.

Eat with tortilla chips.

**alternative dressing:  2TB lime juice, 1 TB Red Wine Vinegar

ARTICHOKES

Remove any discolored leaves and the small leaves at the base of the artichoke; trim stem even with the base of the artichoke. Cutting straight across, slice 1 inch off top; discard top. Snip off points of remaining leaves with scissors. Rinse under cool water. Bring artichokes to a boil in water, a squirt of lemon juice and a dash of salt. Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered, rotating occasionally for 30-40 minutes, or until leaves pull out easily and bottom is tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from water and place upside down to drain. Serve with Hollandaise Sauce (see recipe)