Category — Saturday Sides

[Saturday Sides is a weekly feature I run to help you combat the side dish blahs. Check here Saturdays to see what’s new and different you can add to your dinner table. Or, you can subscribe here so that you never miss a Saturday Sides Recipe.]

As far as I know there’s basically two kinds of people out there.

Those who love stuffing.

And

Those who do not love stuffing.

I personally do love stuffing. But, I understand if you do not. My daughter loves bread pudding. I do not. See how that works? Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

If you happen to be one of those folks who do not like stuffing, then you might try one of these previous favorite Saturday Sides and I’ll meet you right back here next week, o.k.?

Roasted Grape Tomatoes
Roadhouse Home Fries
Glazed Julienned Carrots

So, moving right along. Today I am offering a dish that I wasn’t sure I would love. I do like stuffing, but I’m not overly thrilled with the idea of stuffing a tomato. It probably comes from my long history of stuffed green pepper snubbing. I kept telling myself that even though stuffed tomatoes and stuffed green peppers look somewhat alike, stuffed tomatoes couldn’t possibly be that bad. Thankfully, I was able to overcome my hesitation . . . and I’m so glad I did because stuffed tomatoes are very delectable! Stuffed green peppers on the other hand? Yeah, I’m still not feeling the love there.

I was concerned that these would take a really long time to make, but I was able to crank them out in about 50 minutes, which is saying a lot because I am S-L-O-W. Add in the fact that I have to take a bunch of pictures and let’s just say turtles could run by me when I’m working in the kitchen. They take 30 minutes to bake, so twenty minutes of prep for me is really quite speedy.

The stuffing is made with onion, garlic, herbs and Parmesan and it is wonderfully fragrant and tasty. I had to use dried herbs because of the horrible selection at the market. Would someone PUH-LEASE write a letter to Hillary or Tina Fey or someone with some clout and ask her to do something about my lack of decent market selections because I keep writing letters and no one seems to be listening to me!

Nevertheless, even with my puny dried herbs, my mouth was still watering when today’s Saturday Side was cooking - OH! The smells coming from the kitchen! I can’t even imagine how wonderful they would be with fresh basil and parsley. (Please do let me know if you have the chance to try it that way.)

And.  Bonus!  These could be used not only as a side dish, but also as an appetizer.  You could stuff them, cover them and refrigerate until right before your guests arrive.  Then pull them out and bake them as people are arriving.  Cherry tomato size is natures’ way of saying “Snack Size!”

Well, here you go. These are a complete winner in my book.  I hope you love them!

Stuffed Tomatoes

Adapted from All You

2 large tomatoes
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup finely chooped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 teaspoon dry parsley, or 1 tablespoon fresh
1 teaspoon dry basil, or 1 tablespoon fresh
1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 egg white, beaten

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Cut tomatoes in half and scrape out the insides. Set aside the tomato pulp. It’s easier to scrape out the insides if you cut around the inner rim of the tomato and I’ve found the best luck using my melon baller.

Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the inside of tomatoes, and set on a towel to drain.

Squish the pulp of the tomatoes through a sieve to create tomato juice. Discard the pulp and keep the juice.

Melt the butter and a splash of olive oil in a small pan over low heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in bread crumbs, herbs and cheese. Add the egg white and enough of the tomato juice to moisten the stuffing completely (I used about 2 tablespoons).

I used Aunt Millie’s bread for the this stuffing and it was great.  Any fresh bread will do fine!

Stuff the tomatoes evenly and place them in a small baking dish or pie plate. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven when the top of the stuffing is brown and crisp.

[Saturday Sides is a weekly feature I run to help you combat the side dish blahs. Check here Saturdays to see what’s new and different you can add to your dinner table. Or, you can subscribe here so that you never miss a Saturday Sides Recipe.]

Lately, things around here have been rather hectic.  I know I mentioned that my Hubby’s freelance writing business has just been crazy busy lately, but wow, I’m working more and more hours for him every week and soon, I’m going to need help to keep up.  Not that I’m complaining . . . Momma needs a new pair of shoes (and lots and lots of magazines) and all.  Considering all the talk about the rotten economy I know how blessed we are to be busy.

As busy as I am I’ve done a lot of delegating of the housework, errands and chores, but even with all the extra help from Hubby and the girls, one thing that quickly fell off my docket was:  Dinner.  Every night at 6:30.

Not that we don’t eat or anything.  It’s just that I’ve been seriously contemplating converting Angie’s Pangies.com into a Fast Food Review website.  I’m sorry folks, I just couldn’t seem to find my cooking mojo.  I mean, and I’m quite ashamed to admit it, I didn’t make anything - not even break apart cookies or the wretched puppy chow - for my kid’s school bake sale.

And that’s just sad.  But I’m done beating myself up about that.  O.k.?!?  O.k., good.  Those kids didn’t need my coconut-cupcakes anyhow, right?!  (Pay no attention to the sobbing from behind the keyboard!)

You know what, though?  I’m a firm believer in the old saying “The more I do, the more I want to do.”  It seems the more I have to do the more time I find to do other stuff.  So, as I get used to working full time I’m finding out that I’m getting more done than ever before.  I mean, have you noticed that I blog more regularly now?  No wait.  Don’t answer that!

And another thing I’ve noticed; I’m starting to miss my kitchen.  I caught myself caressing the wooden spoons this morning and singing “It can. not. wait.  I’m YOURS I’M YOURRRS!” I think I will always gravitate back to cooking.  I just have to create.  It’s what I do.

So, no worries, readers.  I won’t stop cooking dinners, vegetables, and blogging for you (and singing badly while I do so.)  All it took was one of my friends saying in desperation “Someone needs to invent a new veggie!” and you know what?  I ran into my kitchen and did my best.  I didn’t invent a new veggie, per se, but I think this one is pretty interesting.  And seasonal.  Oh, and yummy - well at most of us thought it was good.  Teens.  Can’t live with them, pass the pumpkin.

Roasted Pumpkin Gratin

Adapted from Recipezaar

8 cups pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1/2 flour
1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup olive oil

Start out with a cute little pumpkin and cut it in half.

Remove the seeds and stringy stuff and discard.

Cut off the skin.  Now, I won’t lie to you here, my pumpkin was a complete pain in the butt to get to this point.  Not all pumpkins are created equal though, it depends alot on how “tough” the skin on your pumpkin is.  This one was stubborn.  Allow yourself some extra time to prep the pumpkin, if you get it done early - great, but at least you won’t be eating an hour late (like a certain blogger and her family who will rename nameless.)

Whoa . . . hold the phone.  Did I just say discard the seeds?  Scratch that.  Keep those, they’re awesome roasted.

Preheat the oven to 400 and grease a 13X9 baking dish.

Put the flour, salt and pepper in a bag.  Wash the pumpkin and drain it.  Add the pumpkin to the bag and shake.  The kids might like to do this part.

Toss the excess flour and put the pumpkin in the prepared dish.  Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the top and add extra salt and pepper, if you want to.

Add the minced garlic to the olive oil and stir well.  Then drizzle the oil all over the top of the pumpkin.

Bake for 30-40 minutes.  Because pumpkins can vary in texture your cooking time may vary.  My stubborn pumpkin took 40 full minutes to cook throughout.  Cutting your pumpkin in similar sizes and shapes will help it cook evenly.  The pumpkin should be soft with crispy cheese.  If the cheese begins to get too done before the pumpkin is soft, cover the pan with some foil.

[Saturday Sides is a weekly feature I run to help you combat the side dish blahs. Check here Saturdays to see what’s new and different you can add to your dinner table. Or, you can subscribe here so that you never miss a Saturday Sides Recipe.]

Got Zucchini?

As the season winds down and the vegetable stands in our area switch to squash, pumpkins, onions and apples - I’m left with fewer local fresh veggie options. But, just about everyone still has a few of those monster zukes left . . . a lot of the farmers are giving them away now. Hey, I never pass up free vegetables. Never. Not even a zucchini.

I’m pretty bummed because my neighbor didn’t grow any tomatoes this year. Last year she grew so many that after she couldn’t stand canning one more day she gave me the leftovers. Her leftovers were enough to keep me and mine in tomato sauce for a full year. I stopped by the other day to tell her how much we appreciated the tomatoes last year (hint, hint, hint) and she told me she skipped growing tomatoes this year since they still hadn’t finished all of last year’s harvest. As I jumped back into my truck she called after me . . . “Hey you want some of this zucchini?”

But, what do you do with all this zucchini after you’ve sauteed, grilled, shredded, baked, deep fried, mixed in chocolate and made enough bread for a small army?

You make Vegetable Blondies.

What, you might ask is a Vegetable Blondie? Well, a “blondie” is simply a moist and chewy non-chocolate bar cookie. A vegetable blondie is a moist, chewy, non-chocolate vegetable bar.

They don’t sound all that appetizing when you describe it that way, do they? Just stick with blondie and you’ll be fine. And. I promise you - they are tasty, tasty. And, they have so many benefits it’s a little overwhelming. Let’s see . . .

(Angie Pangie begins counting with her fingers)
Low-Carb
High Taste
Excellent served hot. Taste good at room-temp. Great cold!
Portable. Take them to a pitch-in potluck.
Full of scrumptious, good-for-you, delectable and fragrant vegetables that make your mouth water.
Super simple to make.
Oh yeah. And they use a bunch of zucchini.

You better get to mixing. These are perfect to take along as an appetizer, but we love them for lunch, with dinner, as a snack . . . whenever. We just want to eat them!!

Vegetable Blondies

Adapted from Recipezaar

3 cups zucchini, grated and well-drained
1 large carrot, grated
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 small red onion, finely chopped
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup sharp cheddar, grated (or more, if desired)
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup all purpose
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/4 cup butter, melted

Heat oven to 350ºF.

This recipe takes a little bit of work because you have to grate all the zucchini and the carrot.  It goes pretty quickly with a mandoline grater attachment or even a baby food-processor.  You can always resort to the old school tower of doom, if you must.  Any which way you go about it make sure your zucchini is well drained. You can squeeze it inside a clean towel or paper towel after you grate it.

Grease bottom and sides of a 13X9 rectangular pan.

In a medium bowl, mix eggs, cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, pepper sauce, parsley and vegetables.
Add dry ingredients and stir into liquid mixture.
Stir in melted butter.

Spread mixture evenly into pan.
Sprinkle a small amount of additional grated cheddar cheese over top, if desired.
Bake about 30 - 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool slightly, cut into tiny small squares.  These are wonderful served with sour cream on the side.