Tomato Tartlets

• 500 g (approx 17 ozs) pack ready made puff pastry
• Jar pesto
• Plum tomatoes diced - 4 – 6 depending on size
• 120 g (4 ozs) Feta cheese crumbled
• salt and pepper to taste
  

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Slice each square of puff pastry into 9 equally sized squares (think: tic tac toe board)
3. Press each square of pastry into a muffin pan
4. Drop a teaspoon of pesto into each pastry cup
5. Fill each cup with diced tomato
6. Sprinkle feta over each cup, then garnish with salt and pepper
7. Bake tartlets for 10-12 minutes, until golden

This recipe was generally inspired by the little tomato tarts found at Vegetarian Lunchbox.

Heirloom Tomato Sauce

• 3-4 small heirloom tomatoes
• 4-5 fat cloves garlic, crushed well
• basil
• olive oil
• salt

Serves 2

1. quickly blanch tomatoes in simmering water for about 10 seconds. Let cool, peel away skins.
2. chop peeled tomatoes into cubes (leave seeds and goo ;) )
3. heat drizzle of oil in wide skillet, add garlic and saute until sizzling and fragrant (1-2 minutes)
4. toss in all tomatoes, salt well
5. add basil sprigs, turn up heat and bring to boil
6. reduce to simmer, use basil sprigs to stir sauce around
7. after several minutes, tomatoes will break down almost completely. Stir frequently.
8. at the last minute, remove sprigs of basil. Season to taste, drizzle in a bit more oil.
9. toss a bit of chopped basil in
10. toss with nicely al dente pasta, and cook a couple minutes more
11. put in bowls, garnish with cheese

Recipe transcribed from the description on the Hedonia blog

Pasta with Baked Tomato Sauce

Pasta with Baked Tomato Sauce
Adapted from The Best American Recipes 2000 via Epicurious.com

Oddly, the original recipe calls for 1/3 cup olive oil, but never tells you what to do with more than a couple tablespoons of that. I found three to four tablespoons to be just right.

3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound very ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup plain dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino cheese
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 pound dried fusilli (corkscrew) or farfalline (butterfly) pasta
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, torn

Preheat the oven to 400°. Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the oil.

Place the tomatoes cut side up in the dish.

In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cheeses, and garlic and toss with a fork to mix well. Sprinkle the bread-crumb mixture over the tomatoes, making sure that each cut side is well covered with the crumb mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and then the final tablespoon of olive oil. Bake until the tomatoes are cooked through and starting to brown on top, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente. Time the pasta so it finishes cooking about the time the tomatoes are ready to come out of the oven.

From Smitten Kitchen

Winter Vegetable Hash

INGREDIENTS

* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
* 1/2 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, diced
* 1 red bell pepper, diced
* 1 small acorn squash, diced
* 1 shallot, finely chopped
* 2 teaspoons garlic powder
* 1 pinch salt
* 1 pinch ground black pepper
* 1 cup chopped kale
* 4 sprigs fresh sage

DIRECTIONS

1. Place oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Melt butter and mix in potatoes, mushrooms, pepper, squash, and shallot. Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Cook 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender.
2. Mix kale and sage into skillet. Continue cooking 5 minutes, until kale is wilted. Serve and enjoy!

From AllRecipes

Tofu Peanut Stir-Fry

INGREDIENTS

* 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
* 1 (16 ounce) package frozen stir-fry vegetables
* 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
* salt and pepper to taste
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1 cup cornstarch
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 (14 ounce) package firm tofu, drained and cubed
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 3/4 cup peanut sauce
* 1/4 cup chopped peanuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat, and cook the vegetables until tender. Mix in the ginger, and season with salt and pepper. Remove vegetables from skillet, and set aside.
2. Place the eggs in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Dip tofu cubes first in the egg, then the cornstarch mixture to coat.
3. Heat the remaining oil in the skillet or wok over medium heat, and cook the coated tofu 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Stir in the peanut sauce and peanuts. Continue to cook and stir until sauce has thickened and tofu is well-coated. Serve with the vegetables.

From AllRecipes

Fried Rice, 'Deis style

This is a recipe I made up after watching the people in Usdan cooking. This means that all the measurements are estimated. However, everyone who has tasted this has loved it. My creation involves:

-Laziness
-Frying pan
-1 can white beans, drained
-1 can diced tomatoes, not drained
-1/3 of a bowl (regular old bowl, what ya eat yer cereal out of) of chopped spinach
-Rice (I dunno how much... guesstimate based on how many people you're cooking for. Generally one frying pan makes two servings)

Put the frying pan on medium heat, and fry the beans until they just start to turn golden brown. Then dump in the can of tomatoes and let it all stew for a couple of minutes. Add the spinach and then the rice, and let it cook (stir occasionally) until most of the tomato juice has cooked away. The rice should be slightly reddish. Lastly, and I speak from experience, let it cool down before eating.

The End.

Aloo Daal

Indian-Style Lentil and Potato Ragout

* 2 cups brown lentils
* 2 yellow onions, chopped
* 3-4 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
* 2 cans veggie stock (approximately)
* olive oil, as needed
* 1 teaspoon turmeric
* 4 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1-2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* salt to taste
* garam masala to taste
or replace all spices with curry powder

Directions:

Rinse the lentils, and then set them to boil in a large saucepan or pot, in just enough veggie stock to cover.

While they're boiling, chop up the potatoes and onions.

Place the potatoes, onions, garlic and all spices in a large skillet and put enough olive oil on to cover or to taste. Sautee on medium-high heat for about fifteen minutes, or until onions are tender.

Add the potato/onion mixture to the boiling lentils. Add a bit more veggie stock, if needed (the whole thing should have enough liquid to boil, but not stew).

Boil the mixture for thirty minutes or so, until the liquid becomes thick and gravy like. Add more salt/garam masala to taste.

I serve this over puri or naan. I usually have a side of raita, for those of you who eat yogurt. It's also good with a few lemon wedges squeezed over it.

Serves: 8-10

Preparation time: 1 hour

Summer Vegetable Spaghetti

INGREDIENTS
2 cups small yellow onions, cut in eighths
2 cups chopped, peeled, fresh, ripe tomatoes (about 1 lb.)
2 cups thinly sliced yellow and green squash (about 1 lb.)
1-1/2 cups cut fresh green beans (about 1/2 lb.)
2/3 cups water
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
1 lb. uncooked whole wheat spaghetti
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
1. Combine first 10 ingredients in large saucepan; cook for 10 minutes, then stir in tomato paste. Cover and cook gently, 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender.
2. Cook spaghetti in unsalted water according to package directions.
3. Spoon sauce over drained hot spaghetti and sprinkle parmesan cheese over top.

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