Thursday Recipes

“I'm a Jewish girl who was raised in a vegetarian family. My dream is to open a restaurant called 'Soy Vey.'” - Margo Black

Found in Women's Lip: Outrageous, Irreverent and Just Plain Hilarious Quotes, edited by Roz Warren, page 42.

One of my blogs is a Quote of the Day blog. While looking for quotes for it, I stumbled across this, and figured it was perfect for a vegetarian blog. I'll probably post a couple other quotes here in the future

In the meantime, today's yummy offerings include Chunky Pizza Soup and Frozen Strawberry Layer Cake. Enjoy!

KATHARINE HEPBURN'S BROWNIES

This came in a recent New York Times Cooking e-newsletter. It begins, “Much like its author, this recipe is a no-fuss classic. It calls for just 1/4 cup of flour, which yields an incredibly rich and gooey brownie, and it's super easy to make. So easy, in fact, that baking a batch of these might just become part of your weekend routine.” Time: about 45 minutes; makes 12 brownies

To view this recipe online, click here.

Ingredients

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 cup chopped or broken-up walnuts or pecans

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pinch of salt

Preparation

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Melt butter in saucepan with cocoa and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a large bowl. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine sugar, flour, nuts and salt. Add to the cocoa-butter mixture. Stir until just combined.

Pour into a greased 8 x 8-inch-square pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Do not overbake; the brownies should be gooey. Let cool, then cut into bars.

CHUNKY PIZZA SOUP

This comes from the infamous long-since-forgotten emailing list.

Ingredients

1 tb Oil, vegetable

1 Onion, chopped small

1/2 c Mushrooms, sliced

1/4 c Green peppers, slivered

1 c Tomatoes, undrained

1 c vegetable broth

1 c vegetarian Pepperoni, thin sliced

1/2 tsp Basil, dried

1 c Cheese, mozzarella shredded

Directions

Preheat oven broiler. Heat oil over medium heat, stirfry onion, mushroom and green pepper till soft, not browned. Add tomatoes, broth, vegetarian pepperoni and basil, cook till heated through. Ladle soup into ovenproof bowls and sprinkle with cheese. Broil till cheese melts and is bubbly.

VEGETABALE SPAGHETTI

This comes from Makinze Gore at Delish. It begins, “Vegetable spaghetti is the perfect way to use up leftover veggies. Use whatever you have on hand, don't feel married to these specific ones. They are just a good starting point.”

Yields: 6 servings; Prep Time: 10 minutes; Total Time: 30 minutes

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1 lb. spaghetti

1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 zucchini, sliced

1 carrot, chopped

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 tbsp. tomato paste

1 (28-oz.) can diced tomatoes

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Sliced basil, for garnish

Freshly grated Parmesan, for garnish

Directions

In a large pot of boiling water, cook spaghetti according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup pasta water then drain spaghetti.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil then add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add zucchini, carrot, and red onion and cook until soft, 7 minutes. Stir in tomato paste then add diced tomatoes and season with Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, simmer 10 minutes.

Add spaghetti to skillet and 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water and toss to combine. Add more pasta water as necessary to bring sauce together.

Garnish with basil and Parmesan to serve.

LEMON BROCCOLI PASTA

This is from Diabetes Self Management.

To view this online, click here.

Yield: 6 servings. Serving size: 1 cup.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons sliced green onions

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth

1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli florets

3 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta

1/3 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons grated reduced-fat Parmesan cheese

Directions

Spray large saucepan with nonstick cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Add green onions and garlic; cook and stir 3 minutes or until green onions are tender.

Stir broth, lemon peel, and pepper into saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in broccoli and pasta; return to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, 6 to 7 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat. Stir in yogurt until well blended. Let stand 5 minutes. Top with cheese before serving. Garnish as desired.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving: Calories: 120 calories, Carbohydrates: 20 g, Protein: 6 g, Fat: 1 g, Saturated Fat: 0 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Sodium: 125 mg, Fiber: 2 g

Exchanges per serving: 1 Bread/Starch, 1 Vegetable.

FROZEN STRAWBERRY LAYER CAKE

This came from an old Weight Watchers' emailing list. The recipe began, “A store-bought angel food cake, some store-bought frozen yogurt and a homemade strawberry sauce - all together, it adds up to a fabulous summer dessert, ready for your next barbecue.”

The POINTS® Value when it was posted was: 3; Servings: 12; Prep Time: 10 min; Cooking Time: 20 min; Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

1 1/2 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced (about 6 cups)

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp table salt

12 oz store bought angel food cake, cut into 1/4-inch slices

4 cup fat-free vanilla frozen yogurt

Directions

To make strawberry sauce, combine strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and salt in a saucepan, stirring over medium heat until the sugar melts and the liquid comes to a simmer. Simmer 15 minutes. Use the back of a wooden spoon to mash about half the berries against the side of the pan. Cool to room temperature and use immediately or refrigerate, covered, up to 2 days.

Spoon the frozen yogurt into a large bowl and mash it with the back of a wooden spoon until soft and spreadable.

Line the bottom of a 9-inch round springform pan with one third of the cake slices, cutting any slices to fit the shape of the pan. Top with half the frozen yogurt, spreading it to the sides. Spread 2/3 cup strawberry sauce over the frozen yogurt, then top with half the remaining cake slices, again cutting any to fit. Spread the remainder of the frozen yogurt over the cake, top with 2/3 cup strawberry sauce, and finally seal the top with the remaining cake slices. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze at least 6 hours or up to 3 days. Let the cake stand at room temperature 10 minutes before unmolding. Slice into 12 pieces and serve.

SWANSON® RISOTTO

This came from the infamous long-since-forgotten emailing list, but apparently whoever sent it to the list got it from Campbell's Kitchen, as it begins, “Try this easy, delicious recipe from Campbell's Kitchen,” and attributes it to Swanson's Simply Delicious Cookbook.

Note: The recipe originally called for chicken broth, but I've changed it to use vegetable broth.

Prep Time: 5 minutes; Cooking Time: 30 minutes; Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice OR Arborio Rice

1 clove garlic, minced

4 cups Swanson® Vegetable Broth

Generous dash pepper

1 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Cook rice and garlic in nonstick saucepan 2 min. or until rice is browned, stirring.

Add 1/2 cup broth and cook until broth is absorbed, stirring. Add remaining broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until all the broth is absorbed and rice is done and creamy, about 25 min.

Add pepper and cheese.