Vegetarian Sweet Artichoke, Basil and Cherry Tomato Pasta

Like most people I like a good pasta sauce and noodle dish. My kids and husband like it even more, and they inspired me to make a special recipe just for them (the artichokes are for me!). A little basil for its sweet fragrance and its flowery, earthy flavor. Artichoke hearts for a sweetness that lingers in your mouth, and cherry tomatoes for, well, a fresh tomato flavor!

Here are the ingredients:

Pasta Sauce
1 large can of tomato marinara sauce (I used some from Trader Joe's)
2 ears corn, cut kernels off ears
2 shallots chopped
1 can artichoke hearts in water, chopped into halves or quarters
1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped in half
4 TBS chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup red wine ( and some more for your glass)
soy sauce to taste
butter for frying shallots in pan
pepper to taste

Pasta: 1 package spaghetti noodles, try ones made of rice for a yummy wheat free alternative
Garnish: chopped basil, pepper, and freshly grated Parmesan

How to make the Pasta sauce:
Begin by heating a pan on medium heat. Add a TBS butter and stir in chopped shallots. After 5 minutes (the shallots should be lightly browned and soft) add a large can of marinara tomato sauce, stir and bring mixture up to medium heat. Then add cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and red wine. Cook for 5 minutes then add corn and chopped basil. Continue to cook the sauce for another 5 minutes or so. Serve with noodles, soy sauce, fresh basil, pepper and freshly grated Parmesan.*

Noodles:
Use spaghetti size noodles, cook according to package directions.

****Serve also with a spinach and carrot side salad. Try my favorite dressing:

Easy Homemade Sweet Balsamic Dressing
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
2 TBS olive oil
1 tsp honey
Mix all ingredients thoroughly with a fork, toss with salad and serve. Especially good with spinach salads, and the spinach will not get soggy overnight like lettuce does.

October Ground Turkey, Squash & Lentil Soup: have dinner prepared for days!

Here is my Halloween soup! My rainy-windy-cold-need to heat the house and tummy kind of soup. This soup has a beautiful orange-yellow color and is thick because of the lentils and squash. The lentils, which are very small and pink, become puree just by cooking them. This soup is overall very hearty and great for a chilly autumn day. I actually made this soup to heat up my house. I started cooking it at 1pm and finished at 6pm. Not as hard as it sounds though! I cooked the chicken bones for several hours in the soup water to flavor it and add lots of nutrients. Makes about 4- 4 1/2 quarts of soup

Ingredients:
rain
wind
cold house
hungry family
lots of fall vegetables
noodles or rice
Halloween quickly approaching
urge to have an easy dinner on hand for several days in a row (or lunch or breakfast)

You'll need:
4 1/2 quarts water
MEAT
1 pound ground turkey
1-2 chickens (without meat, leftover from another meal, you can freeze the bones and use them later)
VEGETABLES
1/2 winter squash, peeled seeded and chopped small
5 carrots
3 celery
2 red onion
8 very small red and white potatoes (1"x 1" or so) or make up for bigger size by using fewer
2 head broccoli: chop stems and separate from heads
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
5 cloves garlic
LEGUMES:
3 cups of the small pink lentils
HERBS:
sprig of rosemary, thyme, and two bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste (or soy sauce)

I separate ingredients by how long they take to cook so start by cooking the chicken carcasses for 2-4 hours in a 5 quart soup pan with 4 quarts of water. Cook it on low heat so that it is simmering slowly. Add sprig of Rosemary, thyme, salt and two bay leaves. Cook until 1- 1 1/2 hours before dinner, then strain out bones and add below ingredients (chopped to approx the same size):
squash
onion
carrot
celery
lentils
potatoes
broccoli stems (save the tree tops for later)

Cook above ingredients until soft then add (approx 15 mins before din din). Also, if you are cooking noodles, begin now. Noodles are a great addition to this meal!

broccoli heads (chopped small)
mushrooms (sliced)
garlic, pressed or thinly chopped
ground turkey, formed into small balls

Cook at a simmer for 15-20 minutes, or unitl ingredients are tender, and in the case of the turkey, cooked all the way through!

Allow time for the soup to cool before serving.

Above: Soup with noodles and Mr. Mobley's tahini sauce

The noodles were a hit for both kids, as was the soup!

Freshly Picked From the Garden: Cool Loving Vegi & Rice Noodle Stir Fry

I have been using as much of the bounty from my garden as possible. Here I am including lots of spinach, a walla walla onion, and radishes in a stir fry with rice noodles, sardines, and feta cheese. I enjoyed that this meal was easy and quick to make, especially while I was taking care of my two children and other things (like 12 puppies)!

Here's what you need:

1 box of medium thickness rice noodles, precook and set aside to add to stir fry
2 cups spinach, chopped
1 walla walla onion, chopped
4 radishes, quarter
1 carrot, chopped in rounds or grated for color
1 tin of sardines in olive oil
sprinkling of feta for everyone's dish of noodles
tamari/soy sauce to taste
After you have prepared the vegetables and rice noodles, heat up a pan on medium, add 1-2 TBS olive oil and simmer all the vegetables until lightly/medium done, add rice noodles and 2 TBS tamari/soy sauce and cook until noodles are warm. Divide between bowls, place sardines on top of noodles and sprinkle top with feta and more tamari if needed.

Healthy Tuna - Noodle Casserole

I remember rich and cheesy tuna and noodle casseroles as a child. This is just as good, and it has lots of vegetables, as well as fresh tomatoes and parsley. I like to make this dish when I want to have two dinners made in a row. I make enough to feed a family of 3 to 4 for two big meals. Add a green salad or an easy chard stir fry and it is complete!

You'll want:
2 - 16 oz packages of brown rice (or wheat) penne pasta (I get these from Trader Joe's)
2 - 14 oz cans of cream of mushroom soup, I use Health Valley brand because it is wheat-free and has fewer additives than the other brands in my local grocery store
4 cups of chopped chard and/or kale
3 cloves garlic
3/4 cup grated white sharp cheese
3/4 cup grated yellow jack cheese
3 cans of tuna, drained
1 large tomato chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley (approximation)

The Noodles:
Cook according to directions, strain out water, then return noodles to pan and add 1 TBS olive oil and stir. Fill 2 - 9" pie pans with noodles and pour sauce over the top (see "Sauce" recipe below). There will probably be some extra noodles left over.

The Sauce:
Heat frying pan on medium with 1 TBS butter. When lightly sizzling, add garlic and stir for 10 seconds or so and then add chard and kale (chopped small, one inch squares or so). Turn temperature down slightly then cover for one minute. Add 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup and 3 cans of tuna. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Pour over noodles in two 9 inch pie pans.

The Pie:
Now you have noodles and sauce in pie pans. Sprinkle grated cheeses over pies evenly. Sprinkle chopped parsley and fresh tomatoes.

Now put the pie you want to eat tonight in the oven on broil until cheese is melted to your liking, and serve. You can save the other pie for tomorrow or freeze it. Or surprise a friend with dinner.

Red Stroller Pasta

After a hour of errands in town and an hour of my car's lights on, my car would not start. My daughters and I filled up our red stroller with groceries and walked home. This began my process of creating this rich red pasta sauce. I like to pair the pasta sauce with a quinoa-corn noodle blend. This is an easy and quick recipe!

36 oz tomato sauce
1 medium onion
2 TBS olive oil
4 cloves garlic
10-15 mushrooms
4 TBS red table wine
1# ground turkey or 1# your choice sausage
several pinches of fresh or dried thyme
salt or tamari to taste

Saute onion with olive oil on medium heat. Add sliced mushrooms to onion when onion is softened. Add red wine to mushroom-onion when mushroms are softened. Cook for 1 more minute then add to lightly boiling tomato sauce. Add turkey or sausage meat in small balls (or sliced, in the case of the sausage) to tomato sauce. Start cooking noodles of your choice.

Serve pasta sauce with thyme on the top or side and a green salad. Pour yourself a glass of red wine and enjoy!