Baked Orzo with Vegetables

 

Lately, I've been trying to find good vegetarian recipes to make.  Don't get me wrong, I love my chicken, fish, and the occasional piece of beef, but on those occasions where I have to cook for vegetarians, I'd prefer not to have to go and find fake meat in order to make dinner.  So, enter recipes that include pasta, whole grains, and lots of yummy vegetables.  I've got a whole boardful of them on Pinterest just waiting to be made.  But, since there was sale on eggplant, I decided to start with the Baked Orzo with Vegetables.

This recipe is not necessarily the quickest to make, since you have to chop all the veggies and also salt the eggplant, then let it sit for half an hour.  But, I promise that all the work is worth it.  I did make a few changes to the recipe.  For one thing, I had a zucchini sitting in my fridge, so I added that in.  I also left out the celery because I didn't think that it would match with the rest of the flavors in the dish. 

 Then, I cut down on the salt, used water instead of vegetable stock, and used dried oregano since that's what I had.  Finally, instead of mozzarella, I sliced up a couple of Babybel cheeses and put them on top.  As far as I can tell, making these changes didn't diminish the flavor in this dish one bit.

I have to say that this dish impressed me.  Not only is it beautiful to look at, but it's a true pleasure to eat.  The Babybel cheeses were perfect - so wonderfully melty.  And I love that it's healthy.  To up the health factor, next time, I'd probably use whole wheat orzo and add in some spinach and mushrooms too.  You could probably even use some broccoli or cauliflower to mix things up a little.  You can never have too many veggies, at least in my opinion.  With a dish like this, I promise you won't miss your meat.    

Baked Orzo with Vegetables (adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from Yotam Ottolenghi)

1 large eggplant, cut into 3/4-inch dice
1 zucchini, cut into 3/4-inch dice
Salt and black pepper
2 Tbsp. olive oil
5 oz. baby carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces orzo, a rice-shaped pasta, rinsed
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 Tbsp. dried oregano
zest from 1 lemon
2 oz. Babybel cheese, sliced
3 medium tomatoes, diced

Sprinkle your eggplant generously with salt and let it drain in a colander for 30 minutes. I used this time to get the rest of my ingredients ready. After 30 minutes, rinse it well and pat it dry on towels.

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the oil and saute the eggplant and zucchini.  When done, remove from pan and set aside.  Add carrots to remaining oil and cook for 3 minutes before adding onion and garlic. Cook together for 5 more minutes on medium heat. Stir in the orzo and cook for two minutes more. Off the heat, add the oregano, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon table salt, many grinds of black pepper and the water and mix well.

Transfer mixture to an 8×11-inch (about 2 quarts) ovenproof baking dish.  Slice the Babybel cheeses and stick the pieces into the pasta-veggie mixture as desired.  Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes, then bake 20 minutes without the foil. (You can increase the ration of foil-on to foil-off time if you don’t like a crunchy pasta lid.) Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:
1.    The original recipe calls for you to fry the eggplant.  I just used 2 Tbsp. olive oil and sauteed the eggplant.

2.     The original recipe called for 1 tsp. tomato paste, celery, 1/2 c. parmesan cheese, vegetable stock, and fresh oregano.  I left out the tomato paste, celery, and parmesan cheese, used water instead of the vegetable stock, and used dried oregano instead of fresh.

Spiced Oatmeal Cranberry Apricot Cookies

I have to admit, when I started searching Cupcake Muffin's blog for this month's SRC, I was like a kid in a candy store.  Oohhh ooohhh look at all the yummy cookie recipes, I want that!  Wait, wait, look at all the delicious cake recipes, I want that!  What?  There's more sugary stuff over there too?  What they hey, I'll just take all of it.  Consequently, I didn't make just one recipe from Sara's blog, I actually tried three different ones over the course of the month.  But, one of those recipes was one that she made for her SRC before, so I chose not to showcase that one.  Instead, I bring you some amazing Spiced Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cranberries and Apricots. 

I teach a group of teenage girls and I like to make their birthdays special by presenting them with an assortment of cookies.  Each month, I change things up and try new recipes and Sara's oatmeal cookie recipe looked like just the thing to make.  I didn't have any dried cherries, but I did have some dried cranberries, so I added those in instead.  I also didn't have any cardamom on hand, so I subbed in some ginger powder.

 

These cookies came out just like the ones in Sara's picture, all thick and chewy and full of orange and red bits of fruit that looked like jewels.  My mom saw them cooling on the counter and, after asking if it was alright to take one (she knows I gotta take pics first), promptly declared that they were really good!  I ate one myself and boy was she right.  Even better, these are totally healthy - just bursting with fiber, antioxidants, and vitamin C.  Okay, maybe you don't care about that.  In that case, they're bursting with flavor, fruitiness, and spiciness that can't be beat.

Sara, your cookies rock! My tastebuds thank you.

Spiced Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cranberries and Apricots (adapted from Cupcake Muffin)

1-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
2 sticks softened butter
1-1/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2-3/4 cups quick oats (not instant oats)
6 ounces dried cranberries
3 ounces dried apricots, diced

1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger powder and set aside.
2. Beat together the butter and sugars until smooth and creamy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.  Add the vanilla and beat to incorporate.
3. Add the flour mixture and stir in with a rubber spatula until the flour is mixed in enough not to fly out of the mixer.  Then beat until just incorporated.  Add the oats and beat until just combined.  Stir in the cranberries and apricots with a rubber spatula.
4. Cover the bowl and chill at least 6 hours or overnight.
5. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with foil or parchment.
6.  Scoop out about 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie, and gently roll into a ball with your palms.  Bake 10-12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the cookies just begin to brown.
 7.   Let cool on a cooling rack. 

Butterflake Rolls - SRC

 

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned to Meghan's blog, Cupcakes with Sprinkles.  I just love her blog.   It looks so cheerful and her food looks amazingly good.  I thought about making one of her sweets (you know me), but apparently I love bread as much as I love sweets and I couldn't get my mind off her Butterflake Rolls.  Plus, I had just made some peach jam and I needed something to eat it with.

 

What I learned as I made them is that I need to pay attention more to directions.  When I first set out to make the rolls, I just copied down the ingredients, thinking that it was just like all the other bread recipes I had made.  So, as a result, after making the dough, I let it rise for an hour.  That's when I found out I was totally wrong.  When I looked at the recipe again, including the directions, I realized that you're supposed to start rolling and buttering the dough right after you make it.  In fact, the only rise you're supposed to do is after the dough has been cut and formed into the rolls.  Still, I figured, I could make this work.  I took my risen dough, rolled it out, buttered it, folded it, buttered it, folded and buttered again.  The dough began breaking off in layers and was a complete mess and totally unsalvageable.  I would have to start again.  Lesson learned - follow the instructions.

 

The second time around, I followed everything to the letter.  This time, everything came together beautifully and the dough made it into the muffin tins intact.  I was kind of skeptical about only letting them rise once before baking, but if they worked for Meghan, then I trusted that they could work for me too.  Sure enough, once they baked, they were a thing of beauty.  It was like magic.  Instead of the four pieces of dough I put into each muffin cup, the intricate layers of buttered dough had unfolded, giving me even more layers to pull apart and enjoy (kind of like the layers in a croissant).  The bread itself was pillowy soft, buttery in every bite, and paired really well with my homemade peach jam.  Not to mention, since they only need to rise once, they're so much quicker to make!  I'm thinking that these rolls are going to make many more appearances in my house, you know, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and basically any time in between.  Thanks Meghan! 

Butterflake Rolls (adapted from Cupcakes with Sprinkles)

1 Tbsp. yeast
3/4 c. warm water
1/4 c. sugar (I increased this to 6 Tbsp.)
2 eggs
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. buttermilk (I used 1/4 c. nonfat plain yogurt + 1/4 c. water)
3 1/2 - 4 c. flour
1/4 c. butter, softened

Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.  In a large bowl, mix yeast in 1/4 c. warm water with a pinch of sugar.  Let sit till foamy, about 5 min.  Whisk in the sugar, salt, and eggs.  Add in the yogurt and remaining water until combined. 

Use a wooden spoon to stir in about 3 cups of flour, adding more up to 4 cups, to make a soft dough.  You want to be able to knead the dough and not have it stick to your fingers.

Knead dough a few times.  Roll it out so that it's a 1/2" thick and spread with a thin layer of butter.  Fold dough in half, then spread with butter, Repeat three more times.

After the final butter and fold, roll the dough out again to 1/2" thick and cut it into 1x2 inch squares.  Place 4 squares upright in each sprayed muffin cup.  Cover lightly with greased plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 45-60 min., or until doubled.

Preheat oven to 400F and bake rolls for 10-15 min. until golden brown.