Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers

This is, hands-down, my favorite vegetarian meal.  It is hearty, filling, and every bite is delicious.  It also happens to be salt-free and oil-free, but is still super flavorful comfort food.  Cooking the quinoa in vegetable broth is a must!  It gives the whole dish a much richer flavor.  

Allen and I have been adhering to a (pretty much) vegan diet since January began (we have been having fish once a week, and eggs every Sunday morning).  It's been tough (especially the first two weeks), but food like this makes it easy!  I have made these stuffed peppers every single week, because it's a vegan meal that I could eat every night and never get tired of.  Cilantro and lime juice is my favorite topping, but spinach and salsa is also delectable.  The original recipe called for CANNED corn (gross), but it is an easy (and healthier, and cheaper, and delicious-er, I might add) fix to use a cup of frozen corn instead.

This is the first time I have ever used "nutritional yeast" in a recipe, and though the name is totally unlovely, it's a pretty delicious substitute for cheese.  From Wikipedia: 

Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast . . . in the form of flakes or as a yellow powder and can be found in the bulk aisle of most natural food stores. It has a strong flavor that is described as nutty, cheesy, or creamy, which makes it popular as an ingredient in cheese substitutes. It is often used by vegans in place of cheese.

But you do not have to be a vegan to enjoy these scrumptious stuffed peppers!  However our diet changes in the future, this recipe is going to remain part of my weekly repertoire.

You can't really beat avocado and cilantro.

Chicken and Zucchini Kebabs

Got zucchini?  If you live in Idaho/Utah, chances are you do.  Even if you don't have a garden, you can get zucchini anywhere . . . people are giving zucchini away like they're unwanted kittens.

When I typed "best chicken kebabs" into a google search, Jamie Oliver's recipe was the first that came up.  Winner winner, chicken kebab dinner!  If I were ever to have a real-life celebrity "crush", it would be on J-Me!

Plus, he reminds me in so many ways of my own cute husband . . .

My fabulous foody friend Erin first introduced Allen and I to Jamie Oliver back in 2003 (or 2002?) when Jamie was young and skinny and known as "The Naked Chef" in Great Britain (because he uses "naked" foods). We have followed him ever since.  If Jamie has one "shtick", it's that he uses fresh fresh FRESH ingredients for everything.  In fact, I credit Jamie with getting both my husband and I really into food.  Healthy food.  Delicious healthy food.  We have all seasons of "The Naked Chef" and "Oliver's Twist,"  we love to watch all of his new shows, we own about five or six of his cookbooks, and he is 100% the reason I own and regularly use a mortar and pestle.  Plus, listening to someone who is energetic and hilarious and passionate about food in a Mockney British accent?  Lovely-jovely, me ol' mate!

Anyway, I was excited to try what google deems the number one result for "best chicken kebabs," and Jamie delivered again!  I was confused about "courgettes," until I looked up the word and learned it meant "zucchini."  Those wacky Brits and their aubergines-instead-of-eggplants! :)

I have an endless supply of mint in my backyard--it was great
to put it to such a delicious use!  

I also love that Jamie uses words like "blitz" when talking about
a food processor.

The chicken marinated all day--it was so tender and flavorful

I didn't use rosemary skewers like Jamie does, because, though
 I do have two potted rosemary plants that I use weekly for
cooking (check out these yummy dinner muffins) I am not rich
celebrity chef who can buy bushels of rosemary skewers.  Plain
old bamboo skewers worked just fine (don't forget to soak them
in water so they don't burn in half like several of mine did!)  Since
the chicken would be missing that great rosemary flavor, I added
rosemary to the marinade recipe.

Yum.

Seriously.

This recipe is summer-entertaining-food gold.  I made them when I hosted book club at my house and they were a hit.  Allen only got two of them, so I made them again a week later, and they were just as good.  The chicken was tender and amazing, and the roasted zucchini was so delicious, too!  It's a great way to cook and serve those bushels of courgettes that your neighbors are all-too eager to share . . .

Chicken Scratch Noodle Soup

Because "Chicken Scratch" is fun to say, and noodles-from-scratch are fun to MAKE and EAT.

Last night was my very first time making noodles from scratch, even though I grew up eating amazing homemade noodles that my mom made.  I remember the counter-tops of our kitchen being covered with mismatched and floury tea towels, covering the homemade noodles while they dried.  It is still one of my mom's signature meals, along with clam chowder and homemade rolls.  You know . . . comforting Mom-food at its best.

I never could have guessed how easy noodles are to make!  They took me about ten minutes, from start to finish . . . the only hard part is waiting for them to dry.

The actual "soup" recipe is pretty straightforward: saute vegetables in butter, add your broth, seasoning, and meat.  But at the end you turn it into something to write home about, when you drop in noodles that you made and cut exactly the way you like (in my case, I like 'em cut into flat and wide strips).

This is also one of the first times I have sifted my flour first, because I didn't want to leave anything to chance (not knowing how forgiving and hard-to-mess-up this recipe is).  It's not a big deal to sift one cup of flour--I just did it in a fine-mesh strainer.

The entire noodle recipe makes only a single cup of dough, but it goes a long way.  

The finished product, before you cut it in half and roll each half out.

See that little ball of dough at the top of the picture?  That is half
of the recipe--the other half rolled out into all those noodles you see.

Remove noodles to cookie sheet, cover with a towel, and let
air dry for 2 hours.  (I did it for an hour and half and they were fine)

The finished deliciousness . . . ready to take to a friend in need of comfort

I used four cups of frozen turkey stock that I made a month ago,
then added 8 more cups of chicken broth to that.  My friend Cori
taught me about dried chicken soup base--it is so much cheaper
and just as flavorful as canned broth.  I get mine at Winco.

I didn't have celery, and I used dried herbs instead of fresh, and
it was still completely delectable.  My kids asked for seconds, and
my soup-hating five-year-old said:
"Chicken noodle soup is the only kind I like"

Wonton Salad

It's fun to eat wonton croutons instead of boring old bread croutons.  And I love any salad with a spinach/strawberry combo.

Perfect Asparagus

Is asparagus grown-up food?  I never liked it when I was a kid, but now it's, like, the most delectable vegetable on earth.  It takes three years to grow your own so that it will keep coming back, and we are on year two.  I can't wait to harvest as much as I want for days on end.

In the mean time, this is my favorite way to prepare asparagus.