I was asked to make a meal for my friend who is a vegetarian and I became inspired by a visit to the local vegetable market. I had already taught my sports psyche class followed by teaching boot camp so I didn't have too much time but I decided to see what delicious vegetarian dishes I could make in just one hours time!
I wanted to make a variety of tasty dishes as I wasn't sure what my friend and her husband would enjoy and I wanted to provide something they could take with them to work the next day. My entire meal plan centered around onions and olive oil! Yes, thats right, two onions and some fabulous Extra Virgin Olive Oil was the base for my dishes.
I ended up making Lentil Soup, Crustless Squash Quiche, Tomato Salad, Kale Chips and Roasted Brussel Sprouts. And let me not forget to mention the Banana Chocolate Chip Pecan Bread!
Lets start with one of my cold weather staples - the soup! I simply sauteed an entire onion with a little olive in my soup pot.
Since I already had the olive oil in my hand I decided to grab a baking sheet and drizzle olive oil on the sheet. I rinsed and drained some curly kale and flipped it in the olive oil. I sprinkled it with salt and mixed it all together on the baking sheet. It looked so good I decided to grab another baking sheet and repeat the process with Mushroom and Sage Infused Olive oil. I thought I would do my own little taste test. I threw the pans in the oven (350 degrees) and went back to my soup. FYI- Mushroom and Sage Olive oil is the bomb!
Now back to the soup- I added a bag of rinsed organic lentils (I used Wegmans) and two cups of water. Next I threw in a handful of carrots and a few celery leaves. No celery leaves on hand? Just season with celery salt, regular sea salt, and pepper. Don't feel like chopping onions? Well then simply buy mirepoix mix in the veggie department of your supermarket. Cook for two hours. If the lentils begin to dry add some chicken broth to moisten. My mother would boil up macaroni noodles and add that to the soup which I loved as a kid. We would complain about the soup color and then devour it!! (In my opinion adding pasta makes everything better.)
While the soup was cookin' I started chopping the squash for my delicious quiche. I doubled the recipe as I wanted to make sure I had some for my own family as this recipe is too yummy to give it all away.
I mixed 4 cups sliced green and yellow squash, 2 cups Bisquick, 1 cup chopped onions, 1 cup grated cheese (the recipe calls for parmesan cheese but I had an amazing old cheddar I shredded), 1 cup vegetable oil, 8 eggs slightly beaten, salt, pepper, and oregano in a big bowl. I then poured it into a greased 10 x 13 pan and cooked it at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.
At this point I took the kale chips out and put the Brussel sprouts in. I cut the sprouts in half mixed them with olive oil and seasoned them with salt. Easy Peasy = so gooooood. Of course I had to sample the Kale chips as I feel its my duty to do before I provide anyone with a meal. As I munched away on the addictive chips I thought maybe I am providing too much food..... I'll keep the chips and have them as a whilst- cooking snack. What?! I need my sustenance!! ;)
Next, I quartered and salted 6 firm tomatoes, sliced about 1 cup of onions, threw it in a bowl and added olive oil and oregano. I mixed it all up and threw it in the fridge for the flavors to get to know each other. This salad is one of my favorites. I love to soak up the juice with bread. SOOOOO good. Its like a meal in and of itself.
One hour up and I feel so accomplished. I am soooo not a cook so if I can do it you can do it! Its veg-tastic, simple, and delicious.
