Vegetarian Sheppard Pie

Today I found a recipe for Sheppard intending to make it for dinner tonight until I started to study the recipe and realized that it was way too much trouble. As I said before I'm busy and although I like good food I usually try to get a meal prepared in about 1/2 hour.

I studies a few other Sheppard pie recipe and came up with the following simplified and delicious Sheppard Pie recipe.

The Ingredients:

6-8 medium potatoes
2 tbsp butter
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. green lentils
 2-3 tbsp of Olive Oil
2 garlic cloves
1 large onion
1- 8oz box of whole or sliced mushrooms
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 c. apple juice or white wine
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 cup of water
1 tsp of Rosemary, Thyme, Coriander and 1 bay leaf.
Salt & Pepper
2 tbsp butter
1-2 tsp of Cornstarch
2 cups of mixed frozen vegetables thawed

Preheat the oven at 450 Degree

Peel and cook the potatoes in salted water until soft, about 15 to 20 min. You can cut them in 4 pieces since they will be mashed. When ready add the butter and milk and mash them to your taste. (keep the potato water to use in the mushroom mixture instead of plain water)
  
In the mean time put the lentils in a separate pot  in 3 cups of water, bring to boil and simmer also for about 20 min.

While the potatoes and Lentils are cooking chop the onions, the garlic and slice the mushrooms if you are not using pre-sliced mushrooms. Using a large frying pan fry the chopped onions on medium heat for about 5 minutes, then add the mushrooms and continue frying for another 10 min. Add the garlic and fry for about 1-2 minutes then add the tomato paste and cook for a few more minutes. if it starts sticking its time to add the apple juice, the water, soy sauce, herbs, the bay leaf, salt and pepper.  Simmer for about 15-20 minutes then add the lentils and mix well then  the cornstarch solution. (mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup of cold water. If it's too watery add a little more cornstarch solution but remember that it will also cook some more in the oven so it's OK if its a little watery. If it's too dry add some more water. )

Putting it all together
Poor the lentil and mushrooms mixture in a baking casserole, spread the mixed vegetables evenly over the mixture, then put the mashed potatoes on top. Put some butter on the potatoes. Cook for about 1/2 hour at 450 degree.

Bon Apetit! 


TIPS: remember to put the rest of your tomato paste in an ice cube tray sprayed with olive oil first. When they are frozen you can put them in a Ziploc bag. Each cube is about 1 tbsp and it defrost very fast. I also do that with Pesto sauce so you can just add a cube or two to your favorite soup!

Homemade Vinaigrette

If you ever start making your own vinaigrette you'll never buy store bought again. So lets get started!  It's much healthier and cheaper.

Homemade Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

Balsamic Vinegar or Red Wine Vinegar
Cold Press Olive Oil
Dijon Mustard
Herb De Provence or a mixture of Italian Herbs
Salt & Pepper

I use an empty bottle of Olive Oil and add all the ingredients then shake it and test it with a piece of lettuce.

The trick is to put 1 part vinegar to 1 1/2 part Olive Oil, So if you put 1 cup of Balsamic Vinegar in a jar add about 1 1/2 cup of Balsamic Vinegar or other vinegars to your own taste. You can eventually adjust the vinegar to your own taste.

When I add herbs I don't even measure it, I would guess that I put about 1 tsp. of herbs when I make the above mixture.

Just try it, it's not difficult and no matter what it's going to taste a lot better than store bought.

Homade Pizza

Preheat the over at 450 degree with the pizza stone in it

Why buy an already made pizza that is cold by the time you get home when you can make your own and have fun making it!  OK, maybe it's not cold when you get home but it just isn't as good as when you make it yourself.

So remember I said that I'm a very busy women.....well that is why I don't make my own pizza dough! I found a very satisfying pizza dough from the grocery store I shop at and use it all the time.

As far as the ingredients, when you make your own pizza you are not limited to the amount of ingredients you want to put on it. Sometimes I make a white pizza with olive oil, pesto, spinach and feta cheese.  And other time I make a red sauce pizza like the following;

Ingredients: 
1 Pizza dough
1/2 jar of pizza sauce (you can use spaghetti sauce but you'll have to spice it up)
Parmesan cheese
Mushrooms
Green and red peppers
Onions
Mozzarella cheese


 You want to let the dough warm up for about 15 minutes-20 minutes on the counter top before trying to spread it on your pizza pan. No need to roll it...too much work! 

Then you want to spread the sauce, at your own taste! sometimes I put more sauce sometimes less depending how I feel! Don't worry, it's going to be good no matter what!
I then spread some Parmesan cheese and add the topping finishing with the mozzarella cheese.




Put the ingredients on the pizza in the order above and bake preferably on a pizza stone in a preheated over at 450 degree for about 20 minutes.

TIPS. Sometimes I use pepperonchini peppers, olives, tomatoes, and vegetarian Italian sausages.



Enjoy with any mixed vegetable salad and a balsamic vinaigrette

It is that easy!

Bon Appetit!

Staple food

A few days ago I was talking with a co-worker about recipes. One thing she said to me is that she doesn't really have staple food in her house to just start making a recipe without planning ahead. I decided to start this blog by sharing what are some of the staple food  that I have in my house most of the time making cooking more fun and spontaneous.

So here we go; 

Spices and herbs; I mostly cook with dehydrated herbs and spices mostly for convenience. I have many kind of herbs but if you are just starting to cook I would at least get the following; Basil, oregano, thyme, bay leaves, cayenne, cloves, cumin, coriander, chili powder & cayenne. Those are the most common I use.

Oils; I cook most of my food in Extra Virgin olive oil but you can also cook in Canola oil or vegetable oils. I always keep Sesame Oil (not needed if you are just starting to cook but I love the taste), vegetable oil.

Vinegars; I use Balsamic vinegar for most of my recipes and for my salad dressing but I also keep Red Wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar and use them occasionally.

Mustard; I use Dijon for salad dressing but it can also be used in some recipes. I always have dehydrated mustard.

Rice and grains; long grain rice, barley and couscous. There are many new grains on the market that are delicious and I often get Quinoa and Farros. I find that most recipes that suggest a certain grain can be replace with any other grains.

Legumes; Beans (fresh and cans); I usually have canned black beans, kidney beans, Cannelloni beans and Chick peas. I have dehydrated beans but to be honest with you I am a very busy women and mostly use canned beans.

Pasta; I always have various kind of pasta but I would suggest to keep  at least spaghetti, macaroni, & fettuccine. 

Tomato product; canned tomatoes (diced, stewed),  tomato paste (I put it in ice cube freezer trays which I spray with olive oil first),  tomato sauce.
 
For the fresher vegetables; I always have fresh garlic, onion, peppers (red and green), mushrooms, carrots and potatoes. Most of the time I also have a rutabaga, they keep for a long time, and a squash or some sort.

I also usually have broth; vegetable brother and beef and chicken imitation broth.

Almost forgot!  I usually have eggs & lots of cheeses including Parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs.

Too many people worry about the quantity of certain ingredients in recipes but it doesn't really matter for the most part. I'll also talk about herbs and spices along the way. 

Enjoy Cooking and don't sweat it!  It really is easy and fun. 







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