My sister and brother-in-law (let's call them Christine and Tim) will be coming in for Christmas on Saturday, and for the last week or so it sounds like my family has been puzzling over the conundrum that they face every time Christine and Tim come to visit--what to feed them? The majority of my family is made up of dedicated carnivores; a meal without at least three of the four of their holy quartet of food (meat, garlic, onions and mushrooms) is a case for hightened suspicion. Too many vegetables are dangerous; my dad once attacked my broccoli with a hammer to "protect" me. In sharp contrast and to the complete bewilderment of my parents for many years, Christine and Tim are vegetarians, who don't like onions or mushrooms.
And so, each year, there's a mini scramble to try to find fun, interesting new foods. This year, we've been further requested to try for healthy foods--we can't supplement every meal with cheese curds, french fries, chips and other fried foods.
My mom made her first trip to Trader Joe's last weekend and came home with quite a variety of tofu meat products; I volunteered to help her find some extra recipes to add a little bit of variety. Growing up in the family I did, I still had a hard time finding recipes completely without onions and mushrooms--however, like any other recipe, I firmly believe in cutting out any food you really dislike. For the benefit of all you out there who have any interest in vegetarian food or even just fast, healthy food, here's a few of the more interesting sounding recipes I found. Each one of these is from Paulette Mitchell's The 15 Minute Gourmet, which is one of the most indispensable cookbooks in my library.
Smoky Chipotle, Mango and Avacado Wraps
Ingredients:
For the mango sauce:
2 cups coarsely chopped jarred mango
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
For the chipotle spread:
1- 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives
2 T fresh orange juice
1 T chipotle chili powder
To complete the recipe:
4- 10 inch flour tortillas, sun-dried tomato or spinach flavor
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup jarred mango in 1/2 inch strips
1 avacado, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/2 cup jarred roasted red bell peppers, drained and cut into 1/4 inch slices
Directions:
Combine all the sauce ingredients in a blender; puree until smooth.
Stir together all the spread ingredients in a small bowl until smooth.
To assemble each wrap, spread a tortilla with a generous 1/4 cup of the spread. Sprinkle with cilantro leaves. Starting about 1 inch up from the bottom of the tortilla, arrange 1 horizontal row of the mango strips, another row of the avacado slices and another of the red pepper slices, keeping the ingredients in the bottom third of the tortilla. Fold 1 inch of the sides of the tortilla over the filling, fold the bottom of the tortilla over the filling and then firmly roll it away from you.
To serve, cut diagonally in half. Serve with mango sauce.
Vegetables in Herbed Tomato Sauce on Polenta
Ingredients:
For the polenta:
1- 16 oz. package cooked polenta, cut into 12- 1/2 inch slices
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
For the vegetables and sauce:
3 T olive oil
1- 8 oz. package sliced cremini mushrooms (optional)
1 medium zucchini, cut into 2 x 1/4 inch strips
1 cup finely chopped onion (optional)
1 1/2 t minced garlic
1- 14 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 t finely chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 t dried oregano
2 t chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 t dried thyme
1/8 t red pepper flakes, or to taste
2 T coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/4 t salt, or to taste
1/4 t pepper, or to taste
Toasted pine nuts for garnish
Directions:
Arrange the polenta on a foil-lined baking sheet. Spring each slice with 1 T parmesan cheese. Bake for 12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the polenta is heated through.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms, zucchini, onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until tender.
Stir in the crushed tomatoes, oregano, thyme and red pepper flakes. Reduce the heat to medium; cover and cook, stirring occasiojnally, for 5 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper.
For each serving, place 3 polenta slices on a plate. Top with the tomato-vegetable sauce and garnish with pine nuts
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