Roasted Pepper & "Feta" Pizza

Featuring bell pepper made two ways...

 

 

And the fabulous feta cheese!  I swear, this stuff tastes like the Tofutti Herbed Cream Cheese.  Weird.  But good.

 

Pizzapizzapizza for me!  (And you, if you make it)

Adapted from Simply Scratch

For the sauce, blend:
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 roasted red bell pepper
Fresh basil and oregano
1/2 cup sauteed onion
1 clove sauteed garlic

Spread onto a pizza crust, top with bell peppers cooked in a panini press, feta, and fresh oregano leaves.  Cook until heated through.

Very Full Burritos with Salsa and "Feta"

Wraps are so frustrating to photograph... sorry.. (it doesn't help that I was hungry!)

 

 

I promise you, though, these were excellent.  Filling, flavourful, and just messy enough.

Adapted from Oh She Glows

On a panini press, cook sliced onions and mushrooms with some chopped garlic.

Mix with heated:

• diced & cooked potato
• black beans
• chopped basil & parsley
• nooch
• paprika

Pile into a wrap, and top with feta and salsa

Rice, Chickpea, Lettuce Salad

You want dinner.  And you want it NOW!

 

 

I'm sure we've all been there.

 

Salad to the rescue!

Adapted from Cookie and Kate

Alright..

• Lettuce (iceburg + arugula)
• chickpeas
• carrot curls (made with a vegetable peeler)
• cooked brown rice
• feta (LINKY HERE)

Dressing here - minus the oil, and use tofu in place of yogurt.

Orzo and Grilled Veggie Salad

This one is for M's lunch box.  However, I couldn't resist having some for dinner (I DID make it for her, after all), and so here's the recipe..  Adapted from here.

Cook just over 1 cup of orzo. 
On a panini press, cook 1 small onion and 1 large red bell pepper, both cut into strips, and about 1/4 lb mushrooms.  Mix with orzo, along with halved black olives and chopped parsley and basil.  For the dressing mix together dijon mustard, mirin, balsamic vinegar, and Italian seasoning.  Mix everything together, and enjoy! 
If you're not vegan, this salad is supposed to get feta on top of it, which is rather tasty.  However, I am trying to be vegan, so no cheese for me.

Sheesh, sorry, my camera's being stupid... picture tomorrow!

And... it's tomorrow!  Here's the picture:

Feta Twice "Baked" Sweet Potatoes

“Twice-Baked” Sweet Potatoes with Feta


Adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen

Serves 2-4

2 small sweet potatoes
2 oz. feta cheese
pinch of ground fennel seed
pinch of ground coriander
1/2 tsp pressed garlic
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Poke holes in the sweet potatoes with a fork, and bake in the microwave until tender.
Preheat the oven to 350.

Scoop out the pulp from the skins after the potatoes have cooled a bit, and blend with an immersion blender or something similar until smooth and creamy. Stir in the feta and seasonings, and put the pulp back in the skins.

Bake the potatoes for 20 minutes, until heated through. Serve.

A Simple Wrap Featuring Broccoli

Never, ever, in my whole life would I have believed that something this simple could end up tasting so good.  These are really odd, really tasty wraps.  And so easy to make- it probably took about 20 mintutes from start to finish, and a good bit of that was down time waiting for stuff to cook.  A simple combinaition of broccoli, potatoes, and cabbage, with a bit of agave and feta cheese.  The agave really lends a nice sweetness.  The original recipe said to add walnuts, which M did, but I decided to skip them.  M really liked the nuts, though, and I bet they would taste pretty good.

I think I found the trick for keeping wraps together.  It looks weird, but it works.  I lay my fork on top of the wrap when I'm not holding it.  Simple as that.  And it keeps me from getting really frustrated, which is always a good thing...
Oh, and just a little side note.  I don't know why I am bothering to post this.  But, for a project, I need ancient Greek recipes.  So hopefully it'll actually taste good, and that will be showing up in a post soon.  But first I have to actually find an authentic one.  Wish me luck on that- it's for a competition, and I want to prove my cooking skills!

Potato Broccoli Wraps

Adapted from Karma Free Cooking

Serves 3

1 medium red potato, chopped
1 ½ cups green cabbage, shredded
1 cup broccoli florets
Mirin
3 tbsp or so fat free feta cheese
2 tbsp or so agave nectar
Salt and Pepper to taste

3 wraps

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, and cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes, until tender. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat the pot again over medium heat with a bit of mirin. Sauté the cabbage and broccoli for 6 minutes, until tender.

3. Line the potatoes on each of the wraps. Layer the broccoli and cabbage on top of that. Sprinkle with cheese, drizzle with agave, and add salt and pepper to taste. Roll.

Shells and Green Beans Pasta Salad

I rarely eat pasta.  Seriously- it's weird that I would go for Asian "pasta"- udon, soba, and the like- over Italian stuff any old day.  But of course on occasion, I run across something really good looking with pasta in it.  Normally, I end up changing the original recipe quite a bit.  This one is just another prime example of that.
I have never had or bought orzo before, but the original looked so pretty, and I had to go on the quest for orzo.  Unfortunetly, I only found one brand in the limited time that I have these days, and it was not whole wheat, so M and I settled on shells.  Before we have always gotten what I call "Super pasta"- the Barilla Plus, which is loaded with protein and all that good stuff.  But, this time M and I settled on the whole wheat shells, and so that's what went in this salad.  Honestly, this is nothing that I would rave about, but it worked great for my lunch, and is a dish that I would be happy to eat any time of the year.  Plus, it's quick!

Shells and Haricot Verts Pasta Salad

Serves 6

Inspired by All Recipes

• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, coined
• 2 cups green beans, chopped
• 1 ½ cups whole wheat shell pasta, cooked
• 1/4 cup basil, chopped
• 2 ½ tablespoon chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp raspberry vinegar
• 2 tbsp mirin
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ½ cup fat free feta cheese

Heat a frying pan over medium high heat. Saute the red onion, carrot, and green beans for about 10 minutes, until tender.
Mix together the pasta, basil, tomatoes, and sauted veggies in a large bowl. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, mirin, salt and pepper, and cheese. Mix well, and serve at any temperature.