Vegetable Medley

Ok, I know I've already done a recipe with chick peas this week. But come ON! Who eats something different every night of the week? that lives on a reasonable budget? that hates to throw out good food?

I'm calling this recipe "vegetable medley", because it's better than "leftover vegetables from the frig that need to be cooked before they go bad."

There wasn't really enough of it to make into a dinner for two, but it made a robust lunch for one.

HERE'S WHAT I DID FOR LUNCH

• 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, quartered
• 1/3 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
• 4 large white mushrooms, slices
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 1/2 cups frozen spinach, thawed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• salt & pepper
• 1 cup chickpeas, cooked
• Parmesan cheese, shredded

Cook onion, garlic, bell pepper, and mushrooms, pinch of salt & pepper, in oil over medium heat until softened. Lay spinach on top, sprinkle with a pinch of salt & pepper, add oregano and parsley. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in chickpeas and cook until warmed through. Remove from heat.

Top with Parmesan cheese and CHOW DOWN!

Chick Peas and Vegetables

You want healthy? THIS vegetable plate is HEALTHY!

My husband and I are not vegetarians but we love our vegetables. We have our moments when we're completely burned out on eating meat and just want fruits and vegetables to eat.

Do you get that way, too?

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES TO GET THIS DINNER GOING

RICE PILAF

• 1 cup uncooked parboiled rice
• 2 teaspoons oil
• 2 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 5 to 7 button mushrooms, quartered
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped

Lightly brown rice in oil over medium heat. Add broth, mushrooms and bell pepper, and bring broth to a boil. REDUCE HEAT to medium-low, cover with lid and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand covered for 5 minutes or until water is absorbed. Fluff with fork right before serving.

NOW FOR THE OTHER VEGETABLES & LEGUMES

• 1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
• 1 bunch of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 to 2 crowns of fresh broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces

For the chick peas or garbanzo beans, I happen to have had some frozen from cooking a batch last week. See the recipe, Home Cooked Garbanzo Beans or Chick Peas for cooking directions. Using canned garbanzo beans will work fine, too. Whatever you have on hand. Just heat them up and set aside.

Let's blanch our veggies.

Fill a 5 quart cooking pot 2/3 way up with water and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
TIME SAVER: You should start this water while you're cooking the rice pilaf.

Thoroughly rinse spinach and broccoli before blanching. Toss in 1 tablespoon of salt in the boiling water, then start with the spinach. Submerge spinach in boiling water and cook up to 2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to scoop out spinach and set aside in a warm bowl.

Next, carefully add broccoli to the same cooking water, cook 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Broccoli doesn't take long at all! Scoop out with slotted spoon into the same bowl with the spinach.

Season the spinach and broccoli with salt and pepper to taste. For an extra kick, add a little ground red pepper flakes.

Pile the vegetables and chick peas on top of a bed rice pilaf, drizzle very lightly with garlic seasoned olive oil if you have any on hand. Simple extra virgin olive oil is nice, too.

YOU'RE READY TO EAT!

HEALTHY FOOD EVENTS IN THE FOOD BLOGOSPHERE
I just realized this meal qualifies for two great food events going on right now! So, I'm entering both with one meal. I hope they don't mind.

Fat Chefs or Skinny Gourmets?
Hosted by Ben from What's Cooking? and Ivy from Kopiaste to Greek Hospitality

Tried, Tested and True Two
Hosted by Giz and Psychgrad from Equal Opportunity Kitchen

Spinach and Ham Pizza

Start the week out easy and healthy with this quick and simple pizza recipe.

The kiddos still love a simple ham and cheese pizza. Thankfully, my favorite pizza crust brand comes with two crusts.

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED TONIGHT

• 1 package MamaMary's Gourmet Pizza Crusts, Brick Oven Style, (there's 2 crusts in one package)
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup of your favorite spaghetti sauce
• 1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 cup smoked ham, chopped
• 3 full slices of a small onion
• 1 package (2 cups) shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 1 small package Feta cheese with black peppercorns (mmm)
• 1 tablespoon red bell pepper, finely chopped
• salt and fresh ground pepper

Place pizza stone in cold oven then heat it to 425F degrees. If you don't have a pizza stone, a cookie sheet will work alright. But as soon as you can, go buy yourself a pizza stone; they're worth having around.

Let's build the kid's pizza first
Prep pizza crust by brushing on the extra virgin olive oil. Spread 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce over crust, right up to the edges. Top with half of the chopped ham and half of the mozzarella cheese. Bake on pizza stone for 7 to 8 minutes.

Now for the BIG KIDS with the mature taste
Prep pizza crust by brushing on the extra virgin olive oil. Spread 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce over crust, right up to the edges. Pull apart the thawed spinach and spread evenly over pizza. Layer on the onions and ham, then season with salt and pepper. Try to just hit the spinach with the salt, and really season the edges of the crust with the pepper.

Next comes the cheese, my favorite layer. I used about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of Feta over my pizza, then filled in the gaps with mozzarella. I try to be more about the veggies and less about a cheese. The feta works well because it's very flavorful and it doesn't take much to be pleasing. The mozzarella just adds that familiar creamy layer that we all love. Finally, top off the whole pizza with the red bell pepper. It's prettier on top.

By the time you're finished topping this one, the kid's pizza will be done. Remove it and allow to cool a couple of minutes before slicing. Bake the BIG KID's pizza for the same amount of time 7 to 8 minutes.

Before I started making the pizzas, I prepped a dark green leafy salad with purple cabbage, grated carrots, grape tomatoes, and sprinkled with Feta cheese. The whole meal was delicious and filling. We were full without feeling stuffed. Do you know what I mean?

Also, be sure to try the Chicken Spinach Pizza recipe.