Empanada Pierogi Fusion!

So, I am definitely on an empanada kick.  They are something everyone loves!  I had some leftover mashed potatoes and was looking for inspiration as to how to use up the leftovers.  Pirogi recipes kept popping up, but they require more steps than I was up to doing, what with the boiling and then pan frying.  I decided to make an empanada pierogi fusion!  Leftover mashed potatoes, onions and crumbled sausage, vegan cheese, and viola!

2 packages frozen empanada dough (I used Goya)

4 C. leftover mashed potatoes

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 lb. sausage (I used apple sausage)

2 Tbsp. oil (I used grapeseed)

1 package vegan cheddar style shredds (I used Daiya)

1 egg, beaten for egg wash

Set frozen empanada dough out to thaw.  The Goya type below is my favorite.  The discs are separated by plastic sheets and are not too fragile.  They don’t fit my empanada press, though, so I have to seal them by hand.

Prepare large sheet pan by coating with cooking spray.

Saute onion in oil over low heat until softened, and add in sausage.  Drain well and crumble.

Add in mashed potatoes and cheddar style shredds.

You may want to make the filling ahead since you need to let cool before filling dough.

One at a time, fill and press empanadas/pierogis.  Preheat oven to 350F.

Place on sheet pan, and brush with egg.

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until golden.

Teriyaki Ranch Empanadas

I am so loving Goya empanada dough.  So crisp with great lamination.  You can make filling of almost anything.  We like ground meat, vegan crumbles, tofu crumbles, or sausage mixed with onion best.  Sometimes I make it with Korean BBQ, Pizza sauce, Tex Mex style, whatever.  They are always a winner.  We’ve been on a teriyaki ranch kick lately.  They are soooo good together.

 

I sauteed onion and browned ground turkey with Chinese five spice and added teriyaki and ranch.  Here are the specifics.  First start with my favorite dough by Goya:

1 large sweet onion, chopped

2 tsp. seasoning of choice – I used Chinese five spice

2 lb. ground turkey

2 packages empanada dough

Oil to soften onion

3 Tbsp. teriyaki sauce (I used garlic teriyaki)

3 Tbsp. ranch dressing

1-2 tsp. corn starch to thicken

1 packet Daiya Pepper Jack Shredds

1 egg, beaten

The empanada dough has to sit out at room temperature for about an hour before you can use it.

Prepare a large baking sheet ahead by covering it in foil and spraying with cooking spray.

Cook onion, sprinkled with seasoning, in a little oil until softened.  Add in turkey, chopping it up in little pieces as it cooks.

Add in teriyaki, ranch and corn starch.  Simmer until thickened.  Let cool.

Once filling is cool, add in shredds.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Hold dough in the palm of your hand and spoon filling in middle.  Seal edges by pressing between your fingertips.

Lay out on prepared baking sheet.

Brush with beaten egg and bake about 20 minutes until golden brown.

Andyy and Danyull Make Grilled Cheese Sandwiches “Together”

My daughter Andyy and my surrogate son Danyull have been besties since middle school.  Even Andyy’s move from Fort Lauderdale to Georgia can’t change that.  They talk every day.

The other day, they were making grilled cheese sandwiches “together”, and sent each other videos of their accomplishments.  The resulting videos are too funny not to post.  Andyy, whose sandwich is on the left, is a total foodie.  She cooks every day like her mama and calls me often to find inspiration or recipes to try.  Danyull, on the other hand, lives with me, and doesn’t have to cook much, as I usually take over the kitchen and love menu planning and feeding my boys.  The sound of Danyull’s laughter at his sandwich versus Andyy’s is part of the joy of watching the video.

 

 

Teriyaki Tuna Pineapple Kimchi Quesadilla

My sister Sue introduced me to the combination of tuna and pineapple.  I bought some canned tune and crushed pineapple recently to use for lunches during the workweek.  I added  in Korean Kimchi and Pepper Jack Vegan Shredds.  I can’t wait to try this with Ahi seared tuna and fresh pineapple.

 

2 cans light tuna, packed in water, well drained

1 small can crushed pineapple, well drained

2 Tbsp. Garlic Teryaki Sauce

1 Tbsp. Korean Kimchi, drained

Combine ingredients and chill for flavors to marry, at least 20-30 minutes

4 large tortillas

Vegan shredds (I used about 1/4 c. Daiya pepper jack shredds for each quesadilla)

Spray for pan

Heat tortilla until browned on one side.  Flip and top with filling ingredients sprinkled with shredds.

Cook about 1 minute and flip top over.

I love fruit and protein, so this really appealed to me.  I will make it with gourmet ingredients soon. (Using chicken for non fish eaters, or even tofu crumbles fried up with teriyaki sauce would be good.)

Stuffed Baked Potato Skins One Night with Coconut Thai Chicken and Riced Mashed Potatoes Another Night with Raspberry Honey Mustard Chicken

My local grocer had russet potatoes on sale for an amazing price.  I bought 10 pounds!  I can’t eat much of them because of my sensitivity to nightshades, but the kids really like the stuffed baked potato skins we had on night one.  I served them with Teriyaki Ranch Chicken Thighs and Roasted Baby Bellas.

I baked the potatoes a day ahead, so I could work with them cool.   I made 18 potatoes!  I washed them thoroughly, poked them with a fork and baked at 350 F for an hour.

The next day, I scooped out the skins, leaving a little potato and refrigerated the skins again for a while.  I put the scooped out potatoes in a tupperware for mashed potatoes another day.

Brush skins with oil, season with a little seasoned salt and pepper blend, or other seasonings you like, and then sprinkle with cheese (I used vegan cheese) and cooked bacon pieces.

Meanwhile, I put the chicken in a baking dish, and the baby bellas in another.  The chicken was marinaded and cooked in Giorgio Blendabella Coconut Thai Sauce that was amazing!  I added in some Marsala wine to make it liquidy enough to be a marinade.

They were simply tossed with oil (I used sunflower) and seasoned salt and pepper blend.  These can be seasoned according to taste.

It all baked together at 350F for about 40 minutes (chicken with internal temperature of 165F.  I kept checking the food the last 15 minutes or so, and cut the chicken up so it would crisp up.

Then tonight, I made mashed potatoes by ricing the potatoes and adding in melted butter, non-dairy milk, and seasonings.  I just heated them on the stove top while tonight’s Honey Mustard Jalapeno Chicken cooked in the oven.

The Honey Mustard Jalapeno Marinade/Cooking Sauce was made from stuff I had a little of each of in the fridge.  Raspberry Honey Mustard mixed with Jalapeno Pineapple Jam.  No kidding.  Really good.

I served a salad that was a kit from Target’s new line.  Maple, Bourbon, Bacon salad.

Yummm.  I know it sounds like a lot of different flavors, but they all complemented each other.

Easy No Knead Peasant Bread from Alexandracooks.com and Egg Salad

I’ve been craving egg salad and I’ve been meaning to try no knead peasant bread.  Today was the day.

I boiled eggs and activated the yeast  simultaneously.

As you can see, some were super easy to peel, others not so much!  They were all cooked using the same method and peeled using the same method, so I got to wondering why some were easy and others not.  Apparently, the fresher the egg, the harder to peel.  Who knew?  They say to use eggs you’ve had in the fridge for a week or more and to store them on their sides if you are going to hard boil them.  The most recommended method is:  Bring water to a boil.  Turn off heat and cover and let sit 11 minutes.  After boiling, pour off the hot water, shake pan back and forth to crack the shells. Cover eggs in cold water and let set for a couple of minutes. Leave water and eggs in pan and peel, using water to rinse away excess shells.

Peasant Bread was according to a recipe on a website called alexandracooks.com

https://alexandracooks.com/2012/11/07/my-mothers-peasant-bread-the-best-easiest-bread-you-will-ever-make/

Follow the link to a great video and printable recipe.  I wasn’t intimidated because her instructions are so specific.  I made one loaf in a larger bowl than she uses.  You could easily use gluten free flour blends for this!  Everyone loved it.   This is a picture of my dough after the first proof.

This is how it looked when done.

I like a simple egg salad, similar in flavor to deviled eggs.  You can certainly add celery or onion in yours, but I love it like this:

I made a huge batch using 18 eggs.  I’ve scaled the recipe down for a smaller batch.

6 eggs, hardboiled

1 heaping Tbsp. mayonnaise or salad dressing

1 Tbsp. yellow mustard

1/8 tsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. pickle relish

Salt and pepper to taste.  I used seasoned salt and a pepper blend.

The brunch was such a success, I will do this again and soon.  So easy and inexpensive!

 

 

 

Vegetarian Green Bean Main Dish Casserole

This is a super easy for a weeknight meal.  Ingredients on hand, ready to go.  Variations are endless.

2 packages frozen crumbles

1 onion, chopped

Oil to soften onion

1 tsp. seasoned salt

1 tsp.  garlic powder

(variations available based on seasoning choices!)

2 cans french style green beans, drained

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1 pouch Imagine non-dairy cream of mushroom soup

1 pouch vegan cheddar shredds

1 package tater tots (I used Ore Ida mini tots)

Chop onion – I used a sweet red onion

Put tater tots in oven to cook according to directions.

Cook onion in large skillet in oil with seasonings until translucent.

Drain beans and add in to onion.

Stir in soup and heat through.

Keep warm until tater tots are ready.  I cooked them on parchment and made them extra crispy.

Pour skillet ingredients into prepared baking dish.

Top with cooked tater tots.  I could have used sweet potato tots to eliminate nightshades.,

Sprinkle with vegan cheddar shredds.

Pop into the oven at 400-425F for 15 minutes or until shredds melt.

Variations – veggie tater tots or sweet potato tots, other varieties of soup, other vegetables besides green beans, real ground meat instead of crumbles.  Mexican style?  Indian style?  Italian style?  Yum, Yum, Yum.

 

 

Risotto Casserole with Chicken Skewers

I had leftover risotto from the Waiting for Dorian meal.  The local market had some chicken tenders on sale. Inspiration kicked-in!

Risotto casserole:

4 C. Leftover risotto

1 C.  Leftover chard and cannellini beans chopped up in the food processor. Any leftover cooked vegetables will do.

1 egg

1 C. Vegan mozzarella shredded

1/2 C.  Crumbs from seasoned chips or crackers. I used some organic multigrain crackers.

3 Tbsp. butter

Combine leftover risotto, chard, egg, shredds and crumbs.  Place in 13 x 9 baking dish sprayed with coconut oil.  I refrigerated it overnight. This is not a necessary step. I just did it so dinner will be easy tonight. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Top with little pieces of butter turn heat up to 450 and cook for another 15 minutes to make golden brown across the top.

For the chicken skewers:

Weave chicken tenders on to skewers. Marinade overnight in marinade of choice. I combined 1/2 C. pineapple jalapeno jam and 1/4 C. balsamic glaze. It was amazing! Bake in the oven side by side with the risotto casserole. After 30 minutes at 350 take the chicken out and cover with foil tossing around first to make sure it all has plenty of the juices on it. Finish cooking the risotto casserole with the butter on it.

This was a huge hit!

 

Waiting on Dorian Dinner

Having lived in Florida, I have been fortunate to have avoided a direct hit by a hurricane.  Trees down.  Crushed tool shed .  Tonight the anticipation of what Hurricane Dorian may bring got to me, so I did some culinary therapy!

Boneless skinless chicken thighs, risotto, chard and cannelini sauce!

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 bottle marinade of choice (or better yet homemade)

For the risotto:

1 1/2 c aborio rice

5 c.  Broth

3 Tbsp. Butter

1/2 c. Wine

4 Tbsp. Vegan cream cheese

1 c. Vegan cheese shredds

Seasonings of choice

For the chard:

1 pouch frozen chopped chard

1 can cannelini beans

2 Tbsp oil

Seasonings of choice.

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.

2.  Marinade chicken in 13 x 9 baking dish.

3.  Combine rice and 4 x. Broth in Dutch oven.

4.  Place chicken and risotto in oven on low rack.  The need to cook 45 to 50 minutes.

5.  Heat oil in skillet.  Place chard, beans and seasonings over low heat with lid.  Saute until chicken and risotto come out of the oven.

6. Meanwhile, combine cheeses, butter, remaining broth, wine, and seasonings.

7.  Stir cheese mixture into risotto and stir vigorously until creamy.

All in all a successful culinary therapy session!

 

Gluten Free Vegetarian Sloppy Joe Casserole

I cooked this for the boys, but didn’t have any because of the nightshades.  They loved it.  Super easy weeknight meal.

1 large onion chopped.

1 c. chopped bell peppers.

1 package Gardein crumbles

2 cans store bought sloppy Joe sauce

1 recipe gluten free biscuit or corn bread, loose and wet enough to spoon over Sloppy Joe.

Cook onion in a little oil till translucent.   I seasoned with some seasoned salt.  Optional.  Add in crumbles.

Meanwhile, make batter for topping.  I used gluten free Bisquick.

Add sauce into crumbles and heat through.

Pour into 13 x 9 baking dish sprayed with coconut oil.  Top with batter.  Bake 350F 40 – 45 minutes.