Blogging Break

Guys.. I'm off to India for a short vacation (good things don't last long.. I wish they do.. but.. you know..) Will be back in 2 weeks.. I'm planning to participate in JFI-Jaggery from India (with my mom's help).
Have a very Happy Thanksgiving.. Have fun..

PS: I was wondering what Indians would make if we were to celebrate Thanksgiving?? Will think about this on my way to India..

WBB# 7-Meatless Sausage Bake

Theme for this month's Weekend Breakfast Blogging# 7 (Brain child of Nandita of Saffron trail) is baking. Good thing is she did not limit it to just muffins and breakfast breads, event is open for savory and spicy bakes too. Here is my savory, but not so spicy Breakfast bake, that does not pack on too many pounds.
I saw the recipe in one of the old Reader's digest magazine and I happen to have all the ingredients on hand. Its quite filling and can be a perfect brunch item paired with a salad. The dish can be prepped the night before like sauteing the peppers and leaving frozen hash browns and patties in the fridge to thaw. Assemble the dish by mixing all the ingredients together and baking it in the morning for breakfast.

Frozen Hash Brown and Sausage Patties (thawing)

Ingredients:
Red pepper - 1 medium, chopped
Green pepper - 1 medium, chopped
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Hash browns - 2 frozen patties (or grated potato), thawed and crumbled
Meatless Sausage patties - 4 frozen, thawed and crumble
Cheddar Cheese (reduced fat) - 1/2 cup
Eggs - 3
Egg whites - 3
Milk - 1/2 cup (low-fat or non-fat)
Garlic powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt and Pepper - to taste


Method:

• Preheat oven to 375 F.
  
• Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan; saute peppers and onions till tender, about 7-10 minutes. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper and keep aside.
  
• In a large bowl, whisk in the eggs, milk, cheese, crumbled patties and hash browns & onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
• Transfer the mixture into a pie pan or baking dish and bake 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Breakfast bake with Toast

Veggie Pizza

Who doesn’t like Pizzas?? But my problem with store-bought pizzas is the amount of oil in the crust and the toppings (especially Costco pizza, you need about 5 paper towels to soak up oil in the topping). To eat more healthful, I started making pizzas at home, with store-bought crust (pizza base). These bases are fairly inexpensive (not more than $2 for one base) and all you have to do is top it and bake it.

I found this recipe online and it is very unique from any store-bought pizza. I had all the ingredients on hand. The pizza turned out to be yummy and with so many veggies.. it was guilt-free also.

Ingredients:
Pizza crust – 1 (Store-bought or home-made)
Black beans – 1 cup (about ½ a 16 oz. can, drained and rinsed)
Carrots – 2/3 cup grated (2 medium)
Onion – 1 medium, thinly sliced
Zucchini – 1 medium, thinly sliced
Red pepper flakes – ¼ tsp
Part skim Mozzarella cheese (or reduced fat Italian cheese blend) – 2/3 cup

For the Sauce:
Sun-dried Tomatoes – 8 (oil-packed or dried)
Tomato paste – 1 tbsp
Tomato – 1 medium, peeled and chopped
Hot sauce – 1 tbsp (or to taste)
Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Method:

• To make the sauce: Place sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl and cover with boiling water; let stand 15 minutes; drain and chop (skip this step if using oil-packed tomatoes). Grind sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped tomato, hot sauce, salt and pepper into a smooth paste. You can add water or olive oil to thin out the sauce. I did not add water and my sauce was thicker than regular marinara sauce.
  
• To make the pizza: Pre-heat oven to 425ºF (220ºC). Place the crust on a baking sheet and spread with the tomato sauce.
  
• Top with beans and carrots.
  
• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan, sauté onions, zucchini and red pepper flakes for 5 minutes or until the veggies are tender. Arrange on the crust, sprinkle with cheese.

• Bake 12-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
  

We had our pizza with green salad (I tossed in the left over beans, carrots with salad greens and pesto dressing). This is my entry to this week's ARF 5-A-Tuesday hosted by lovely Cate at Sweet nicks.

Pasta-e-Fagioli (Pasta and Bean Soup)

I love soups because 1. You can play around with the ingredients (use all those remaining lonely veggies) 2. Can be made in one pot (easy clean up) 3. They don’t need a lot of fat and are highly nutritious 4. They are super comforting on cold winter nights (just like now).

This recipe is from Vegetarian times magazine and it tastes great and is very filling. The recipe uses fennel bulb (not used traditionally in pasta-e-fagioli) which makes the soup sweet and licoricey.

Ingredients:
Onion – 1 medium, chopped
Celery – 2 stalks, chopped
Carrots – 2 medium, chopped
Fennel bulb – 1 medium size, chopped
Garlic – 2 cloves
Chopped Tomatoes – 1 28 oz. can
Cannelini beans - 1 15oz. can, drained and rinsed
Small Pasta (Orzo, ditoli or elbow macaroni) – 8oz.
Bay leaves – 2
Red pepper flakes - 1/4 tsp
Low-sodium vegetable broth – 4 cups
Dried Oregano – 1 tsp
Salt and Pepper – to taste
Method:

• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat in a large pot. Add fennel, onion and celery, and sauté 7 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened.
• Add, oregano and pepper flakes, and cook for 1 minute more.
• Stir in tomatoes and beans, and simmer 10 minutes over medium-high heat.
  
• Add broth, salt and 21/2 cups water, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in pasta, and cook 10 minutes more or until pasta is tender.
• Sprinkle with parsley, and season with salt and pepper.