Vegetarians Week Three

Monday: Fajita Tacos
Tuesday: Chinese Stir Fry
Wednesday: Whole Wheat Pancakes and Eggs
Thursday: Black Bean Soup and Quesadillas
Friday: Roasted Ratatouille and Polenta
Saturday: Roasted Vegetables with Tortellini in Light Cream Sauce

Actually, now that I'm typing this up I am realizing I only had one bad meal.  But it was really, really bad.


Fajita Tacos
I'm a little embarrassed to write this one up because it is so easy.  But this is by far my kids favorite meal so I will share it as my gift to you. If you cook up more of the vegetables, you don't even miss the meat. 

3 Bell Peppers
1 Onion
Taco Seasoning
2 Cans black beans, drained
Taco Shells, Tortillas, or Tostada Shells
Sour Cream
Cheese
Salsa

Saute the peppers and onion.  Mix the taco seasoning with 1/3 C water and dump in the hot pan with the pepper mixture.  Saute for a few more minutes.  Meanwhile, heat the cans of black beans with a little bit of water.  Use an immersion blender or whatever you have to mash the beans.  Serve the beans on a taco shell.  Top with peppers, sour cream, cheese, and salsa. 


Chinese Stir Fry
This was so disgusting that I'm not even going to share it with you.  

Whole Wheat Pancakes
I'm not against feeding my family breakfast for dinner.  Luckily, it is one of Landon's favorite meals.  This is our go to recipe for pancakes.  I think it is well worth the extra five minutes to make them from scratch. 

2 C whole wheat flour (use a little more if using white flour)
2 T baking powder
2 T sugar
1 t salt
2 eggs
2 C milk
2 T oil

Mix dry ingredients and we ingredients separately and then combine them.  Cook on a griddle.  I love my pancakes topped with homemade syrup and an egg cooked sunny side up.

What is the recipe for homemade syrup you ask?  I will share it with you gladly.  Reader beware: this is a depression-era maple syrup substitute.  It is simple and cheap.  It is not fancy.  But it sure does the trick.

Homemade Fake Maple Syrup 
This is not thick like normal syrup.  It is the consistency of water.  I use it because it is dirt cheap and we always have the ingredients on hand which means no trips to the grocery store last minute. 
1 C water
1 C sugar
1 t maple flavoring.

Black Bean Soup
Easy and delicious.  
2 cans (3 1/2 C) black beans, drained
1 C salsa
1-2 C chicken broth

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat through. Put half of the soup in a blender, or use an immersion blender to mash up some of the beans.  Serve with sour cream, cheese, cilantro, and/or lime. 


Roasted Ratatouille on Polenta
Adapted From: Moosewood Restuarant's Simple Suppers

This was the winner of the week.  Simple? quick? healthy?  Check, check, check. You could easily cut the vegetables ahead of time so that you only have to throw them in the oven a few minutes before dinner.  This will definitely enter our regular rotation.  I loved it.  Landon loved it.  The kids loved it. And it was one of the meals that not only didn't need meat, I think meat would have detracted from it.  

Ratatouille:
1 zucchini
3 onions
1 eggplant
2 bell peppers
2 tomatoes, or one container of cherry tomatoes
6 garlic cloves, minced or crushed
1/3 C olive oil
1 t salt
1 t dried basil
1 t dried parsley

Polenta:
1 C dried polenta or cornmeal
4 C liquid (broth, water, milk)
2 T butter

Cut all the vegetables into 3/4 inch chunks. You will want about 6 cups total.  I substituted cauliflower for the zucchini because that is what I had on hand.  Any combination of veggies will work.  Coat the vegetables with the garlic, olive oil, salt, basil, and parsley. Spread on a roasting pan and roast at 450 degrees for 15 -25 minutes, until they are tender and juicy. While they are roasting cook the polenta.  Bring the liquid to a rolling boil and slowly whisk in the polenta.  Turn down heat to medium low and cook until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring often so it doesn't stick.  When it is done, stir in the butter.  Serve the ratatouille on the polenta.

Roasted Vegetables with Tortellini and a Light Cream Sauce
This is a perfect eat-at-home weekend indulgence.   Landon doesn't like thick white pasta sauces, So I came up with this one that has less cream and no butter like regular alfredo sauces.  It is pretty thin, but I like it because it doesn't detract from the taste of the roasted vegetables. And it doesn't coat your mouth with the cheesy creamy film of regular alfredo sauce.

1 container of cherry tomatoes
1-2 zuchinni
1 container mushrooms
12 oz cheese-filled tortellini
1 C cream
3/4 C skim milk
3/4 C parmesan cheese, shredded

Coat the vegetables with oil and salt and pepper to taste.  Roast for 20 minutes at 450 degrees. Meanwhile, cook the tortellini according to the package.  Heat the cream and milk on medium high until almost boiling.  Stir in the Parmesan cheese until melted.  Combine vegetables and tortellini.  Stir in the sauce until coated. 


This week's thoughts:
*I'm a huge fan of roasting vegetables (can you tell?).  It makes them sweet and condenses all their flavors.  My sister-in-law Alicia gave me more roasting ideas that I'm excited to try next week.
*I got Landon Peter Reinhart's Artisan Bread Everyday from the library. Freshly baked bread really makes any meal fantastic.  Thank you Landon.
*I'm not one of those people that can take pictures of all their meals.  I'm usually way to frazzled by the time we are sitting down to remember to pull out my camera.  As you can tell by the pictures, phone pictures are the best I can do.