Really Basic Marinara Sauce

Really Basic Marinara Sauce
Original recipe

1 can diced tomatoes
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Olive oil
desired pasta (or whatever)

Heat olive oil in skillet until hot. Saute onion and garlic. Add tomatoes, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Allow to reduce slightly, breaking up tomatoes as desired. Stir in pasta and serve.

My Notes:
I don't measure out spices much, so I'm not sure if the recommendations above are good. Just taste it and determine how you like it. Fresh herbs are, of course, the best, but I never have those on hand, so I used dried. I've been using a little bit of jarred pasta sauce, but it's essentially the same as what I'm putting in, so I think it just makes it a little thicker faster.

Tzatziki

Tzatziki
Originally found at Whole Foods

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and grated
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain nonfat Greek-style yogurt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon chopped mint and/or basil (optional)

Place cucumbers in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Let sit 15 minutes, then drain excess water. Mix drained cucumbers with yogurt, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and zest. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in herbs if using. Refrigerate until ready to enjoy.

My Notes:

Heh. I actually left out the garlic and the olive oil, and added some pepper. It still tastes yummy. Go me! Grate cucumbers using your box grater, the size just smaller than the one you normally use for cheese. This actually does a pretty good job at sorting out the seeds as well, but I didn't really bother to pull them out of mine. To get the moisture out without making them salty, take a couple of paper towels folded together and press against the mixture. Repeat until they are relatively dry. Also, don't skimp on the Greek yogurt. You cannot use regular Yoplait yogurt. Get the good stuff.

Greek-Style Veggie Burgers

Greek-Style Veggie Burgers
Originally found at Whole Foods

Olive Oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 (14-ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 large eggs
Juice and zest of one lemon
1 cup breadcrumbs, more if needed

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add garlic, onion and bell peppers. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions and peppers are soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in ground pepper, oregano, cumin, and salt, cooking for 1 minute to bring out flavors. Place sautéed pepper and onion mixture in a food processor with beans, eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice. Pulse to combine. Add breadcrumbs and pulse until incorporated. The mixture should be thick yet slightly chunky. Chill mixture 10 to 15 minutes, until firm. Add more breadcrumbs if mixture seems too wet or warm water if the mixture seems dry.

Heat remaining oil in a pan over medium heat. Form patties of desired size and set in pan. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan. While patties cook, grind some extra pepper over the tops of the burgers. Cook 4 to 5 minutes per side, until golden brown. Remove from the pan and cook remaining patties, adding more oil as needed.

Cooked patties can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for 2 months.

My Notes:
Original recipe called for yellow bell peppers, I substituted green. It also called for cashews. I thought about adding tahini instead (since I have a can of it sitting on my pantry shelf), but decided not to. The patties do absorb a good deal of oil, so you'll want to add some more oil to the pan after each batch. That's why you should use olive oil... it's a nice healthy oil :)

These were a lot better than I was expecting. I actually combined the last half with some feta cheese and put them into pita quarters (pita bread cut into quarters) and served with tzatziki (recipe to follow momentarily), but you can serve them however you want. They're just like burgers, only perfectly pareve. And, you know, Greek-like.

Mexican Rice

Image Pending

Mexican Rice
Modified from Mexican Rice I

Oil
1 small onion
1 1/2 cups rice
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
3 cups water
Chopped red and green bell pepper (as desired)

Heat oil in a small saucepan, then saute the onion until tender. Add the rice and stir to coat in oil. Add water, then tomatoes, cumin, and chili powder. Add bell peppers (as desired). Stir, cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 to 30 minutes, until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

My Notes:

I served this with taco-spiced chicken (chicken baked with taco seasoning on top, along with green and red bell peppers, which I cut up and put into the rice itself, so I guess it's technically meat, but I also had diced fresh bell peppers in the fridge that I could have used). It was yummy. I'm starting to get impressed with my cooking abilities.

Stir Fry

Image Pending

Stir Fry
Original recipe

1/4 cup teryaki sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garlic
3 cups assorted vegetables, sliced
Peanuts
Rice

Heat a small bit of oil in a large frying pan or wok. Mix together first five ingredients in a small bowl. Add vegetables to wok. Add enough of the sauce to coat, then cook until vegetables are crisp and heated through. Serve over rice. Garnish with peanuts.

My Notes:
I actually have a really hard time imagining why I haven't posted this recipe yet, because it's really one of my classic ones. I use it whenever I need a quick dinner. Usually, I put chicken and broccoli in the mix, but I've made it without chicken before and it's tasted just as good. Most recently, I've used yellow squash, carrots, and broccoli. I also enjoy throwing some red and green bell peppers in there. This is really a dish that you can design however you feel like. The sauce isn't too thick, and it just enhances the flavor of the vegetables.