Barley stuffed peppers

Gary decided he would like to make some stuffed peppers. We found a recipe that looked pretty good in our 365 Vegetarian Recipes cookbook so we gave it a shot!

It was a bit of a messy procedure and I kept telling Gary that I think he bought the wrong kind of peppers, but he insisted everything would be fine.

Here is the final result of the peppers proudly portrayed:

 Barley-Stuffed Peppers

Prep time: 25 mins / Bake time: 22 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 cup water
• 2/3 cup quick cooking barley
• 1/2 of a vegetable bouillon cube
• 2 large red, yellow, and/or green sweet peppers
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup chopped, seeded, and peeled tomato (1 large)
• 3/4 cup shredded reduced fat mozzarella cheese
• 1/@ cup shredded zucchini
• 1/3 cup soft bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon snipped fresh basil, or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
• 1 teaspoon snipped fresh rosemary or 1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon onion salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. In a medium saucepan combine mushrooms, the water, barley, and bouillon cube. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 12 to 15 minutes or until barley is tender; drain.
2. Meanwhile, halve sweet peppers lengthwise*; remove seeds and membranes. If desired, precook sweet peppers in boiling water for 3 minutes. Place peppers, cut sides down, on paper towels to drain. 
3. In a medium bowl, combine egg, tomato, 1/2 cup of the cheese, the zucchini, and bread crumbs. Stir in cooked barley mixture. Place peppers, cut sides up, in an ungreased 2-quart rectangular baking dish. Spoon barley mixture into peppers.
4. Bake, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until barley mixture is heated through. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for 2 minutes more or until cheese melts. 

Note: *Gary decided he preferred the mini sweet peppers so he simply cut off the top part of each pepper and emptied its contents. Delish!  

Crowd pleasing Tex Mex Casserole

Oh. My. God.

I know Gary doesn't have an actual mouth or actual tastebuds, but if he did, and if he could speak,. he would tell the whole world how delicious this Oh She Glows recipe is. He just can't stop cooking Angela Liddon's recipes, and this one is by far his most recent favorite!

Just look at this masterpiece:

I will admit that we were not totally on the ball for this recipe and forgot to cook the rice; but we realized it just before putting this bad boy in the oven and Gary got it done quickly and efficiently before the final step of cooking the meal. And here is the final result:

Crowd-pleasing Tex-Mex Casserole

Prep time: 30 minutes / Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves 6

Ingredients:

Spice blend

• 1 tablespoon chill powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoke sweet paprika or 1/2 teaspoon regular paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 1/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt (can be omitted)
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander (optional)

For the casserole

• 1 1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 red onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 orange bell pepper, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• Fine grain sea salt and ground black pepper (salt can be omitted)
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn
• 1 14-ounce/398ml can of diced tomatoes, with their juices
• 1 cup tomato sauce or tomato puree
• 2 to 3 cups chopped kale leaves or baby spinach
• 1 15-ounce/425g can of black beans, drained & rinsed
• 3 & 1/2 cup cooked wild rice blend, or basmati rice
• 1/2 cup vegan shredded cheese (or regular cheese for non-vegans)
• 1 to 2 handfuls of corn tortilla chips, crushed

Optional toppings: 

• Avocado
• Salsa
• Sliced green onions
• Corn chips
• Cashew cream

Directions:

1. Make the Tex-Mex Spice Blend by combining the chill powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne, salt, and coriander in a small bowl; set aside. 
2. Make the casserole by firstly pre-heating the oven to 375°F. Then oil a large casserole dish. 
3. In a large wok, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and bell peppers, and sauté for 7 to 8 minutes, until softened. Season with salt and black pepper.
4. Stir in the Tex-Mex blend, corn, diced tomatoes and their juices, tomato sauce, spinach or kale, beans, rice, and 1/4 cups of cheese. Sauté for a few minutes and season with more salt and pepper if desired. 
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish and smooth out on top. Sprinkle the crushed chips over the casserole mixture along with the remaining cheese (and more!). Cover with a lid or foil (although we didn't do this as we had no cover and had no foil) and bake for 15 minutes. 
6. Uncover the casserole dish and cook for 5 to 10 minutes more, until bubbly and lightly golden around the edges. 

YUM! 

Note: Make rice when you begin the meal so that it is ready to go into the casserole at the same time as the rest! 

Creamy Vegetable Curry

Oh She Glows hardly ever disappoints, especially with this amazing vegetable curry recipe. Gary was especially impressed by the array of flavors.

 Here is Gary with all his ingredients laid out on the counter top:

Of course, what curry meal would be complete without a side of basmati rice? Gary couldn't agree more and we made sure to make a decent sized batch of cooked rice.

And voila! As easy as that, we were able to cook a delicious meal and eat it by candlelight. I certainly recommend this if you like your curry with a bit of kick.

Creamy Vegetable Curry

Prep time: 25 minutes / Cook time: 25 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (125 ml) raw cashews, soaked
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil (Gary used olive oil)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoon (7 ml) grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1 green chile or jalapeno, seeded, if desired, and diced (optional - not used in recipe shown)
• 1 medium yellow potato or 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced (two small yellow potatoes were used in Gary's meal)
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) mild yellow curry powder, or to taste
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon (2 to 3 ml) fine-grain sea salt, plus more as needed (can be omitted, as Gary chose to do)
• 1 cup frozen or fresh peas (Gary used canned peas)
• Basmati rice, for serving
• Toasted Cashews, for serving

*Raw cashews - soak cashews in a bowl, with just enough water to cover them. Keep them in water for 3-4 hours, but preferably overnight. This makes the cashews softer for the ease of blending.

Directions:

1. In a blender, combine the cashews with 3/4 cup water and blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside. 
2. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and sauté for about 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Stir in the green chile (if using), potatoes, carrots, bell pepper, tomato, curry powder, and salt (if using). Sauté for 5 minutes more. 
3. Stir in the cashew cream and peas. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the skillet with a lid. Simmer, covered, over medium heat for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender. Stir every 5 minutes throughout the cooking process. If the mixture starts to dry out, reduce the heat and add a splash of water or oil and stir to combine. 
4. Serve the curry over a bed of basmati rice, if desired, and sprinkle toasted cashews. 

Fantastico!

Enlightened miso power bowl

Gary was disappointed at first when we said we were going to Edmundston without him because he would be missing out on a cooking opportunity. But we decided to come back the following day before supper and made food at home with Gary after all!

Basically, the meal consists of sweet potato slices, edamame (soy beans), quinoa, carrots, sprouts, green onions, and chia and hemp seeds if desired. Gary was pretty excited to make this meal as it is fairly simple to make and we chose to make it without the miso dressing. However, we found it a bit disappointed in flavor (surely due to the fact that we chose to omit the dressing).

Gary got really hungry and started eating my supper!

 

(Recipe to be added)