Double-Post Tuesday

Besides being Taco Tuesday, it's also Double-Post Tuesday (because not everyone loves tacos). Today's offerings include a Homemade Grilled Veggie Burger and a yummy Million Dollar Cream Pie. Enjoy!

MAC AND CHEESE

This recipe is from Ina Garten and was posted on the Food Network. Yield: 6 to 8 servings; Level: Easy.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

Kosher salt

Vegetable oil

1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi

1 quart milk

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

12 ounces Gruyere, grated (4 cups)

8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 pound fresh tomatoes (4 small)

1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish.

Slice the tomatoes and arrange on top. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

CHEESE AND RICE STUFFED PEPPERS

Recipe Yield: Yield: 4 servings

Source: The New Family Cookbook for People with Diabetes

Book Title: The New Family Cookbook for People with Diabetes

View this online at https://diabeticgourmet.com/diabetic-recipes/cheese-and-rice-stuffed-peppers.

Ingredients

4 medium green bell peppers

2 cups cooked rice

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Slice off the tops of the peppers. Wash the peppers and remove the cores and seeds. Stand the pepper cups upright in a saucepan containing 1/2 cup boiling water. Cover tightly and allow steam 5 minutes. Remove and drain.

In a large bowl, mix together the rice, cheese parsley, salt, and ground pepper. Divide the mixture and stuff each pepper.

Stand the peppers in a loaf pan or cupcake tins. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the filling is hot and the cheese melts.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 222; Fat: 4 g; Sodium: 455 mg; Cholesterol: 15 mg; Protein: 12 g; Carbohydrates: 31 g

Diabetic Exchanges: 1-1/2 Starch, 2 Vegetable, 1 Lean Meat

HOMEMADE GRILLED VEGGIE BURGER

This comes from Vegetarian Times, and begins, "Making a grilled veggie burger from scratch used to produce a crumbly mess. But thanks to the smart use of chickpeas and other healthy binders like mushrooms and black beans, these veggie burgers bring a whole new level of delicious awesomeness."

Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 45 minutes; Total Time: 60 minutes; Makes 3 - 4 servings

To view this online, go to https://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/homemade-grilled-veggie-burger-recipe/.

Ingredients

8-oz pack baby bella mushrooms, sliced

1 1/2 red onion, sliced

1/2 bell pepper, sliced

5 cloves garlic

Olive oil (for coating veggies and basting burgers)

1 cup chickpeas

1 1/2 cups black beans

2 eggs

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp sriracha

2 Tbsp BBQ sauce

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp cornstarch, mixed with 2 tsp water

1/3 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup almond flour (more may be needed for consistency)

Burgers

Burger buns

Cheddar cheese Lettuce Tomatoes Mustard Mayo Pickles

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Mustard

Mayo

Pickles

Special Equipment

Food Processor

Preparation

Preheat your grill to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Before you make the patties, you must first dehydrate excess moisture from the veggies so the burgers will keep their shape.

Place mushrooms, red onion, bell pepper, and garlic cloves in a grill basket. Coat with some olive oil, season to taste with salt and pepper, and mix well. Set aside.

Punch a couple of small holes in the bottom of a foil pan, then fill it with your chickpeas and black beans. The holes will allow excess water to drain from the veggies while roasting. Set aside.

Before placing veggies on the grill, toss some hickory wood chips on the coals.

Place the grill basket and foil pan on the grill, and roast them with the lid closed for about 30 minutes. Stir them about halfway through the cook.

Once roasted, remove veggies from the grill and allow them to cool. You can extinguish the grill if you’re roasting the vegetables well ahead of time, or you can let it cruise while you prepare your patties if you’re doing this recipe in one go.

Once cooled, pour the veggies from the grill basket into a food processor. Add eggs, soy sauce, sriracha, BBQ sauce, salt, pepper, and the mixture of cornstarch and water, then blend until fairly smooth.

Add chickpeas, black beans, parmesan cheese, and breadcrumbs to the food processor. Lightly pulse a few times in the food processor — you want the beans in your burger mix to maintain some varying texture, so don’t fully purée as in the above step.

Pour burger mix into a bowl, gradually incorporating a little bit of almond flour at a time. Aim for a consistency that’s thick enough to form a patty that’ll hold its shape.

Once your mixture can be easily formed into burgers, sprinkle a light layer of flour onto a dish. Create 3–4 patties and place them on the floured dish to prevent sticking.

Brush olive oil on top of the patties. This will be the side that hits the grill first. The olive oil will help the patties receive some color and easily release from the grates.

Place patties in the fridge, uncovered, for at least 10 minutes before grilling. This will help them keep their form when they hit the grill.

Preheat your grill to 350 degrees, adding more charcoal if necessary.

Brush the grill grates with olive oil just before placing your patties on the grill.

Grill the veggie burgers for about 6–8 minutes a side, until crisp and golden brown on each side. Keep the grill lid down during the cook, lifting it only to baste the top side of your burgers with olive oil before flipping them. OPTIONAL: After flipping, baste the top of the burgers with a bit of melted butter.

Melt slices of cheese over the patties before removing them from the grill. Adding cheese during the final minute of the cook should get the job done.

Plate and serve the burgers with your toppings of choice, and enjoy!

STUFFED SHELLS

This is from Ali Slagle at The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Ali wrote, "Of all the baked pasta dishes, stuffed shells are beloved for good reason: The fluffy ricotta filling, punchy tomato sauce, melted cheese and oversize noodles creates the ultimate comfort food, and the make-ahead aspect is equally compelling. The tomato sauce can be made and refrigerated five days ahead, or you can save time by swapping in three cups of your favorite store-bought marinara sauce. The shells can be assembled a few hours ahead, then baked from the refrigerator an hour before it’s time to eat. While some versions add frozen spinach, herbs or lemon, you really don’t need anything beyond the basics; this classic version is pure comfort."

Yield: 6 to 8 servings; Time: About 2 hours

To view this online, go to https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020833-stuffed-shells.

Ingredients

For the Sauce:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Kosher salt

4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 (28-ounce) can tomato purée

For the Filling and Assembly:

Kosher salt and black pepper

1 pound fresh ricotta (about 2 cups)

10 ounces fresh mozzarella, grated (about 2 1/2 cups)

5 1/2 ounces Parmesan, finely grated (about 2 cups)

2 egg yolks

1 garlic clove

12 ounces jumbo shells

Preparation

Make the sauce: In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat the olive oil over medium. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, until the paste turns one shade darker, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato purée, season with salt, then bring to a simmer. Cover halfway to reduce splattering, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly, 20 to 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Make the filling: In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta with 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, 1 cup Parmesan and the egg yolks. Grate the garlic directly into the bowl, then season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir to combine, then set aside.

Add the shells to the boiling water and cook until just shy of al dente. (You’ll want to cook the shells about 2 minutes less than the minimum time listed on the package, as the shells will continue to cook in the oven in Step 5.) Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, then drain the pasta and rinse it under cold water to cool. Count out 24 shells. (You will have cooked off more shells than will fit in the dish; that’s insurance in case any rip. Reserve extras for another use.)

Stir the pasta water into the sauce, then add half the sauce to a 3-quart/9-by-13-inch baking dish and spread it in an even layer. Spoon about 2 tablespoons filling into each of the 24 shells, lining up the stuffed shells in the dish as you go. Spoon the remaining sauce over the shells, then sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella and 1 cup Parmesan.

Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake, uncovered, until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. (If you’d like to brown the cheese, you can broil for a few minutes.) Let sit 5 minutes, then serve.

DOLE AMBROSIA

This is from the infamous long-since-forgotten emailing list. This ended with "This has 22% fat with the almonds, and 12% without," though it doesn't say if the fat percentages are for the entire recipe, per serving, or what.

Ingredients

1 can Pineapple chunks in juice (20 oz)

1 can Mandarin orange segments (11 oz)

1 Banana, peeled and sliced

1 1/2 C Seedless grapes

1 C Miniature marshmallows

1/2 C Flaked coconut

1/4 C Almonds, chopped/optional

8 oz Carton Nonfat vanilla yogurt

Directions

Drain pineapple and oranges. Use juice as a beverage. Combine pineapple, oranges, banana, grapes, marshmallows, coconut and almonds. Fold in yogurt. Chill.

MILLION DOLLAR CREAM PIE

This comes from Carroll Pellegrinelli, who wrote for The Spruce Eats. (Check out her website at https://carrollpellegrinelli.com/. You won't regret it!)

For this recipe, Carroll wrote, " Million Dollar Pie thankfully doesn't live up to its name cost-wise, but its popularity on Pinterest proves it's worth adding to the recipe vault. Also called Millionaire Pie or Millionaire's Pie, this creamy concoction blends canned pineapple, toasted nuts, and shredded coconut into sweetened condensed milk. It gets its lofty height from the addition of a whipped dessert topping. Some versions incorporate cream cheese, and others call for heavy cream, but they all result in a luxurious bite of sweetness.

"The basic recipe can branch into many directions, with maraschino cherries making frequent appearances, oranges joining the pineapple, shortbread or flaky pastry replacing the standard graham cracker crust, frozen adaptations, and even a chocolate-pecan impostor.

"You can start with this classic rendition, then adjust, modify, and remaster it to your stomach's content. The recipe makes two pies with one can of condensed milk, but you can cut the ingredients in half to make just one."

Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 0 minutes; Total Time: 20 minutes; Chilling Time: 2 hours; Yield: 2 pies (16 servings)

To view this online, go to https://www.thespruceeats.com/million-dollar-cream-pie-304933.

Ingredients

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 (8-ounce) cans crushed pineapple (drained)

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 cup chopped toasted pecans

2 (8-ounce) containers frozen whipped topping (thawed)

2 (9-inch) graham cracker crusts

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the condensed milk and lemon juice. Let stand for 5 minutes to thicken.

Add pineapple, 3/4 cup of the coconut and 3/4 cup of the pecans. Stir until thoroughly combined.

Fold in whipped topping and divide evenly between two crusts.

Spread the remaining 1/4 cup of coconut on a cookie sheet and toast in 350 F oven, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, approximately 5 to 8 minutes.

Sprinkle toasted coconut and remaining pecans onto the pie.

Refrigerate 2 hours or until firm.