Vegetarian Entrees | MJ's Kitchen

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Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese with Asparagus

by mj on March 28, 2013

For some reason my craving for macaroni and cheese has been escalating. Maybe it’s because of all the wonderful mac & cheese recipes I’ve been seeing online lately. But the one that pushed me over the edge was Zsuzsa’s stovetop Creamy Macaroni and Cheese. When I first saw her picture, I knew that was the mac & cheese I wanted to eat. Her recipe looked fabulous and the video she provided in the post was a great tutorial on how to put all of the components together for a creamy outcome. You definitely need to check it out.

For this recipe I used Zsuzsa’s for the most part, but purely out of habit I ended up making the béchamel (white sauce) the way I normally do. I added a couple of herbs to the dish because I love herbs, and then cut back a bit on the cheese. For the finishing touch and to create a complete meal for Bobby and me, I added my Simply Asparagus dish which you’ll find later in this post. Each plate was served with a serving of macaroni and cheese and about 5 to 6 spears of asparagus. We cut the asparagus into bite size pieces and ate a piece with each bite of mac & cheese. It is quite tasty!

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Swiss Chard Leek Quiche

by mj on January 27, 2013

For years I was intimidated by quiche because I was always trying to make it too healthy. I used skim milk, too few eggs, and too many vegetables. Therefore, my quiches were always runny, thin and tasted like sauteed vegetables with scrambled eggs. And no – I never followed a recipe, but I have gotten better at that over the years. So after many failed quiches, I did decide to follow a recipe and made a beautiful quiche with lots of eggs, heavy cream and cheese. I finally understood what made a quiche work: great vegetable/meat ingredients (but not too many), a tasty and light crust, and the right proportion of eggs to cream to milk. At this point I started working my way toward a healthier quiche.

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Skippin’ Jenny (aka Hoppin’ John, Black-eyed peas)

by mj on January 2, 2013

My favorite way to serve black-eyed peas is as a Hoppin’ John which is a pot of black-eyed peas cooked with a ham hock, a few vegetables, and a touch of something spicy. As with most traditional dishes, there are several variations of Hoppin’ John. My version uses ham hock and smoked ham or andouille sausage. The spice comes from Tabasco and homemade pepper sauce which is basically a chile pepper infused vinegar. The peas are served over rice and with my favorite side for anything served in a bowl – buttermilk cornbread.

Eating black-eyed peas and cornbread on New Year’s Day has been a tradition in this household for a very long time. Of course this comes as no surprise having been raised in the south. In case you didn’t know this already, eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is intended to provide good luck and prosperity throughout the year. According to Wikipedia, the tradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day goes back to the middle ages which I found very interesting. Serving the peas with greens such as collard greens, turnip greens or kale, increases one’s potential prosperity because greens are “green” representing money. However, I like to go for the “gold” and serve my peas with cornbread.

When Hoppin’ John is served the day after New Year’s, it’s called Skippin’ Jenny, and provides even more luck for a prosperous year. If you are like us, you’ll have this dish on January 1 and 2 and a couple more times in winter, racking up as much luck as possible. Does it work? Who knows. We’re obviously not going hungry, so something’s going our way.

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Grits and Green Chile

by mj on November 30, 2012

Grits and green chile is the ultimate fusion of southern and New Mexico cuisine. It’s creamy, spicy, and cheesy, and definite comfort food. It takes about 15 minutes to make and has only 5 ingredients, two of which are water and salt. You can’t make an easier or more comforting breakfast, lunch or dinner. With this dish, I have turned many people who disliked grits into grits lovers!

Ever since I discovered green chile back in the 70′s, this has been our favorite cool/cold weather breakfast. Bobby wasn’t that big on grits, but once he tried them with green chile, he became hooked and this is now one of his most requested breakfasts (right alongside Huevos Rancheros). I make grits and green chile at least once a week from fall to spring. It was a standard breakfast on camping and backpacking trips, and is a regular request from our houseguests. And, like my Mushroom Garlic Soup, it’s a great dish to ease the common cold.

Even if you think you don’t like grits, please give this dish a try. You will be converted – I guarantee it! And for those of you who don’t know what grits are, fear not – check out the Kitchen Notes.
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Spicy Pumpkin and Red Chile Soup

by mj on November 5, 2012

This soup was inspired by a beautiful little pumpkin and some dried red chiles that I picked up from a roadside stand in northern New Mexico. When Bobby asked what I was going to do with the pumpkin I told him that I had been thinking about a pumpkin and red chile soup. He agreed that it was a great idea but then added “You should top it with toasted pinons.” He was so right. The flavors of the pumpkin, the red chile, and the pinon nuts (pine nuts) make a delicious soup. This is a recipe that requires a little more work than most of my recipes; however, it only takes a few ingredients to yield a whole lot of taste! It’s like a bite of New Mexico in your mouth.

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Black Bean and Shiitake Enchiladas

by mj on October 15, 2012

Many years ago there was a restaurant downtown that served a dynamite shiitake mushroom burrito with red chile sauce. I ordered it every time we went. Unfortunately, the restaurant eventually shutdown so I recreated the burrito in order to have it at home. The burrito eventually evolved into an enchilada with some minor changes. We actually prefer the enchiladas more than the burrito. They use corn tortillas instead of flour making for a lighter meal, and the mushrooms seem to be more complementary with the corn than the flour. Another “favorite” enchilada! I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

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Experimenting With Pizza Stone – Pizza with Poolish Method by Alterkitchen

by mj on September 26, 2012

Pizza with Stracchino, Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula

We’re into the last week of our kitchen remodel (hopefully), so my dear Italian friend Giulia of Alterkitchen has brought us pizza to help get us through the week! What a friend!!! When I first came across Alterkitchen well over a year ago, I knew that I needed to know more about the person behind the blog. Everything on her About page hit home. She loves to read, travel, watch movies, cook, knead bread, and even though she is only in her 20′s, she loves 70′s rock music! Talk about having a lot in common (everything but being 20 something )! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know my young Italian friend, her food, and her country. She has taken me to places I have never seen and has turned me on to dishes that I had never heard of. Thank you Giulietta!!!

Today Giulia is sharing a traditional Italian method for making pizza (pizza crust) – the Poolish method; something else I’ve never heard of and can’t wait to try! To check out her other wonderful recipes, be sure to click on Alterkitchen before you leave here. So I’ll shut up now and turn you over to Giulia!

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Spring Rolls with Soba Noodles and Cucumber by With a glass

by mj on September 13, 2012

Due to a kitchen remodel I’ll be without a kitchen for a few weeks, so I’ve asked some friends to keep my virtual kitchen going with some of their fabulous recipes. This week Sissi of With a Glass dropped by and brought some delicious spring rolls!

I can’t remember how long I’ve been visiting Sissi’s blog, but I do remember that the first time I landed there I knew that I would be back again and again and again – and I have! Sissi never fails to WOW me. She can make just about anything and does! Her recipes range from homemade ketchup to Hungarian stew, Kumquat Vodka to Easy Shrimp Dumplings . One of the things I love most about Sissi’s recipes is that they are not intimidating. Anyone can make them and they all look delicious! So when you head over to Sissi’s site, be prepared to spend some time there, because once you start surfing, you won’t be able to stop.

It’s all yours Sissi!

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