Quinoa Enchilada Casserole

I love when I get to cook on Sundays.  Today has been a particularly productive day for me.  I had breakfast, did my lesson plans for the whole week, finished a project for one of my graduate school classes, did my favorite Jillian Michaels video (No More Trouble Zones), and made this casserole! All before noon!

This casserole is so simple and super yummy.  I was inspired by the recipe on Two Peas and Their Pod which is one of my favorite blogs.  I love that this all ends up in one big bowl and then you just bake it! I adapted the recipe a bit because I wanted to incorporate some other ingredients (I had to clean out my fridge a little!) and it turned out great! Plus, now I have enough leftovers for a few lunches this week!

Quinoa Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, pre-rinsed
2 cups water
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, diced
1 15 oz can low-sodium black beans, rinsed
1 15 oz can whole kernel corn, rinsed
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles
1/2 cup packed baby spinach
1 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp cilantro
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chile powder
salt and pepper
2 cups red enchilada sauce
2 cups low-fat shredded mexican cheese
1 green onion, chopped (optional)

Directions:
1. Place quinoa and water in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, place olive oil in a large sauté pan with the garlic and onion.  Let cook for 5 minutes and add in the pepper and tomatoes. Sauté another 5 minutes and add in lime juice, cilantro, cumin, chile powder, and salt and pepper.  Cook for another 5 minutes.  Place in large bowl.
3.  Add beans and corn to bowl along with the cooked quinoa.  Stir to combine.  Stir in the enchilada sauce and half the cheese.

4. Pour into a greased 13 by 9 inch pan and then sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top.  Cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Sprinkle with green onions and serve with sour cream if you want.

Enjoy :)

Healthy and Vegetarian: Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know I've been a little MIA lately, but I just had to post something to say Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!  Also, I had to share my latest soup recipe since a bunch of people have been asking for it.  So here it goes!

My Valentine's Day has been lovely so far.  I seriously underestimated the amount of giant stuffed bears I would see in a 24 hour period.  High school was crazy today! I handed out Hershey Kisses to my students to honor the day, but other than that it was a normal school day.  I did wake up to a cute card from Bri sitting on my computer.  Then, I came home to him cleaning the apartment and getting dinner ready! It was so sweet.  We decided to do Valentine's day at home since neither one of use loves going all out for the holiday.  However, it is our first Valentine's Day where we are actually together! I guess that is exciting!  I got him two puzzles of the Chicago skyline to put together and then hang up in our new place.  He got me a great box of chocolates (he customized it to make sure I would like all the candies!). He also got me a "mystery gift" since it hasn't arrived yet.  I'll have to keep you posted! For dinner, he's making Quinoa Risotto and for dessert, I made my Red Velvet Heart-Shaped Cheesecakes!  I am writing this and just drooling at all the smells coming from the kitchen.

Now, onto that soup recipe.  This is what I had for lunch today since I knew I would want something healthy to balance out all the sugar I would most likely be consuming.  It ended up being a great idea.  This soup was simple and amazing.  It makes a huge batch since I wanted leftovers, but you can cut the recipe in half if you want.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup
(adapted from Chow)

Ingredients:

3 lbs. broccoli
2 tbsp olive oil
1 sweet onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
salt and pepper
32 oz vegetable broth
4 cups water
10 oz light shredded cheddar cheese
4 tbsp non-fat, plain greek yogurt (I used Chobani)

Directions:
1. Cut broccoli into 1 inch pieces so that the green part is separated from the stalk.  Place half the green pieces in a large bowl and the other half in a medium bowl.  Also cut the stalk into 1 inch pieces and add to the large bowl.
2. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add in the garlic and onion and cook until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add in the large bowl of broccoli pieces, the cubed potato, the vegetable broth, and the water.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bring mixture to a boil and then lower to a simmer.  Cover and let cook for 20-25 minutes or until broccoli and potatoes have softened.
3. While cooking, cut the other broccoli pieces into 1/2 inch pieces.
4. Once pot is cooked, blend the mixture in batches until you have a pureed broccoli mixture.  Place back into the pot and heat over medium.  Stir in the rest of the broccoli pieces and let cook for about 10 minutes.  Stir in the cheese and greek yogurt.  Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

Enjoy :)

Now it's time to eat...

Slow-Cooker Minestrone Soup

I've been really into soup lately.  It is great to have when it is so freaking cold out and it is a super easy lunch for me to take to school.  Since Bri is a vegetarian and since I am always so busy, I have started looking for vegetarian soup recipes that I can make in my crock-pot.  This way, it is a low maintenance meal and we end up with tons of leftovers.

Minestrone soup is one of my favorites and this recipe is just like the Olive Garden minestrone.  It is vegetarian and the noodles and beans make it a filling meal.  Plus, you can make it in a crock pot!  It is perfect!

Slow-Cooker Minestrone Soup
(adapted from Cooking Classy)

Ingredients:
32 oz vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups water
2 14.5 oz cans low-sodium diced tomatoes
3 stalks celery, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 small zucchini, diced
1 1/2 cups small shell pasta, whole wheat
5 cloves garlic, minced
15 oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz can cannellini beans, drained rinsed
14.5 oz can green beans, drained
2 cups packed baby spinach
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Add vegetable stock, water, diced tomatoes, celery, carrots, onion, parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and sugar to your slow cooker.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
2.  Add in zucchini, pasta, garlic, kidney beans, cannellini beans, green beans, and spinach.  Cook for another 40 minutes on high or until pasta is tender.  Season more with salt and pepper if needed.  Serve with shredded parmesan on top.

Enjoy :)

Cherry Tomato Cobbler with Gruyere Biscuits

Another cold day off means I get to share more stories and recipes!  I have already had a very productive morning: ran 4.5 miles, finished lesson plans for the week, submitted grad-school homework, and found a yummy recipe to make for dinner (oh and I'm about to start baking a crazy good looking dessert).  I am appreciative for the day-off, but I know that I am going to have to make it up eventually.  However, I think I'd rather go to an extra day of school when the weather is nice and have the time off when it is crazy cold like today.

What I really want to tell you about is this: It's restaurant week!  I love the idea of restaurant week and when I saw that R.J. Grunts had a restaurant week menu, I knew that Bri and I just had to go.  We had a cute little date night at this fine establishment and enjoyed some amazing food.  We got vegetarian chili and french onion soup for our appetizer, burgers and the salad bar for our entree, and a deep-dish cookie with ice cream and a chocolate oreo shake for dessert.  All this, plus a glass of wine each, was $33 per person!  It was a great deal and all the food was amazing.  We were super duper stuffed because of it, but it was a great night!  We came home and watched an episode of Sherlock on PBS and then passed out because of our food coma.  It was wonderful.

Eating out has turned into a great treat because we hardly ever have the time anymore!  With Bri in law school and me teaching, we are usually too busy or too tired.  On one of those nights, I made this awesome Cherry Tomato Cobbler with Gruyere Biscuits.  It was delicious and we had tons of leftovers to heat up during the week!  I love that this uses veggies and I adapted the recipe to use whole wheat flour and a lightened up biscuit mixture.

Cherry Tomato Cobbler with Gruyere Biscuits
(adapted from Tracy's Culinary Adventures)

Ingredients:
Tomato Cobbler:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large sweet onion, sliced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp fresh thyme
3 lb cherry tomatoes
3 tbsp whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
Gruyere Biscuits:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold, cubed
1 cup shredded gruyere, plus 2 tbsp
1 1/2 cup half and half (or heavy cream)

Directions:
1. Make the biscuits: In a large bowl, whisk both flours, baking powder, and salt.  Cut in the butter with a fork or pasty cutter until well combined.  Stir in half and half until just combined.  Stir in shredded cheese.  Place in fridge to chill.
2. Make the cobbler: in a large skillet, melt butter and oil over medium heat.  Add in onions and cook for about 20-25 minutes or until onions are soft and caramelized.  Add in garlic and thyme and cook for another 3 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl.
3. Add the tomatoes, flour, and red pepper flakes to the bowl.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Preheat oven to 375 and place tomato mixture into a 13 by 9 inch pan.  Take the biscuit dough of the fridge and drop 1/2 cup sized balls on top of the tomatoes.  You will cover almost the entire pan.  Sprinkle the rest of the gruyere cheese over the top.
5.  Bake for 60-70 minutes.  Biscuits will be lightly browned and tomato mixture will be bubbling.

Enjoy :)