Greek Pizza

Posted in main dishes, vegetarian by Kate

Today is Good Friday and the last installment of the Lenten dinner series for the year. And I saved the best for last.

One of our local pizza places makes a salad pizza – it’s basically a warm crust with a garden salad on top and it’s amazing. This is pretty much the Greek salad version of that. There’s something amazing about the contrast of the warm, melt-y feta against the cold crunch of the vegetables. Seriously, if you don’t already have dinner plans, you need to make this tonight.

In the interest of speeding things up (because I have zero patience on Friday nights), I used a pre-made pizza crust for this. You could also use your favorite pizza dough and just bake until the dough is golden brown – probably a few extra minutes.

Greek Pizza
(slightly adapted from Cooking Classy)
Makes 1 pizza

1 prepared pizza crust
1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/8 tsp. dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 oz. shredded mozzarella
4 oz. feta, crumbled
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1/3 cup chopped kalamata olives
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Whisk together the olive oil and garlic and brush over the prepared crush. Sprinkle the crust evenly with oregano, basil, thyme, salt, and pepper. Top evenly with mozzarella and then feta.

Bake for 15 minutes, until the crust is golden. Immediately top with red bell pepper, grape tomatoes, olives, onion, and parsley and serve.

7Apr2017

Quinoa Pizza Burgers with Garlic Bread Buns

Posted in main dishes, vegetarian by Kate

I’m sure none of my long-time blog readers are surprised to see that pizza has made it’s way into the Lenten dinner series. I’m a pizza fan. It was bound to happen.

The beauty of these is – like pizza – you can top them however you want. If it wasn’t Lent, I would have added some pepperoni on top. Ham and pineapple would also be good. These are a great idea if you’re looking for a meal that will please both vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike!

Quinoa Pizza Burgers with Garlic Bread Buns
(adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie)
Serves 6

1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
2/3 cup water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup tomato paste
2 tsp. oregano
3/4 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. basil
1 cup cooked or canned pinto beans, drained and mashed
6 burger buns
6 slices of mozzarella cheese
6 Tbsp. pizza sauce
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. garlic powder

In a small saucepan, combine quinoa, water, and salt. Bring to a boil and then turn heat to low and cook for 14 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.

Combine cooked quinoa, tomato paste, spices, and mashed beans. When well combined, divide into six equal parts and form into patties.

Spray a skillet with non-stick spray and cook patties over medium heat until both sides are browned and patties are heated through. Top with 1 Tbsp. pizza sauce each and a slice of mozzarella cheese. Cover and let cheese melt.

Meanwhile, spread melted butter over the cut side of the buns and sprinkle evenly with garlic powder. Broil until toasted.

Serve burgers on toasted buns immediately.

31Mar2017

Enchilada Rice Skillet

Posted in main dishes, vegetarian by Kate

We’re officially into the phase of Lent where meatless Fridays feel like a chore. The new meals I was most excited to make have already been tried out and I’m trying really, really hard not to just fall back on pizza and fish sticks.

This meal was a bit of a compromise. I had something veggie-packed and healthier planned – but cheesy comfort food sounded much better for the night. And it was.

We topped leftovers with grilled chicken and pulled pork for lunches the next day – both were great!

Enchilada Rice Skillet
(from Budget Savvy Diva)
Serves 4

1 cup rice, uncooked
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups red enchilada sauce
1/2 cup of green salsa
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cumin
Pinch of Salt and Pepper
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese

Cook rice according to package directions.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the garlic, onion, and pepper and cook until onion is soft and translucent – about five minutes.

Add in rice, corn, black beans, enchilada sauce, green salsa, and spices. Mix until well combined and cook for an additional five minutes, until everything is heated through.

Sprinkle the cheese over the top and cover. Cook until cheese is melted and serve immediately.

3Mar2017

Pinto Bean Burritos

Posted in main dishes, vegetarian by Kate

Welcome to the 2017 Lenten dinner series! Every Friday during Lent I’ll be posting a meatless meal idea. This series was born out of my desire to do something other than order pizza on Lenten Fridays, and it’s resulted in some of our favorite meals.

I picked a really quick and easy meal for our first Friday because, if you’re anything like me, this totally snuck up on you and you’re scrambling. These are perfect for nights like that – they take about 5 minutes to prep and only 15 minutes to bake. I threw some chips and salsa with this and it was a great, no-fuss meal.

Pinto Bean Burritos
(slightly adapted from Aggie’s Kitchen)
Makes 4-6

I can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
Whole wheat tortillas
Shredded cheddar
Salsa

In a bowl, combine the pinto beans, onion, bell pepper, vinegar, salt and pepper – gently mash until the ingredients start to come together.

Divide the filling between tortillas and top with cheese and salsa. Roll up, and wrap in a piece of foil sprayed with nonstick spray.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, until heated through.

1Mar2017

12 More Meatless Meal Ideas for Lent

Posted in chatter, Uncategorized, vegetarian by Kate

Find my updated list of Meatless Meals for Lent here!

Today is Ash Wednesday – the start of Lent – which means I’m kicking off my annual Meatless Meals for Lenten Fridays series. As usual, you’ll find a great meatless meal here every Friday until Easter!

To kick things off, I’m sharing a dozen ideas below. You can also check out my previous roundups – 16 Meatless Dinner Ideas for Lent, 16 More Meatless Dinner Ideas for Lent and 9 More Meatless Meal Ideas for Lent.

Mashed Potato Waffles

Honey Lime Sweet Potato & Black Bean Tacos

Guinness Pizza Dough

Jerk Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers

Buffalo Chickpea Burgers

Kung Pao Chickpeas

5 Minute Pad Thai Fakeout

Chili Cornbread Waffles

Chickpea Puttanesca

Hatch Chili Mac ‘n Cheese

Caramelized Onion Tart

General Tso’s Cauliflower

13Apr2015

Buffalo Chickpea Burgers

Posted in main dishes, vegetarian by Kate

Since the meatless Friday series is over, how about a meatless Monday post?

I had full intentions of making these as one of our Lenten Friday meals. I must have had the ingredients hanging around for a full two weeks and something else kept coming up. I finally got around to making these last week and they’re sort of amazing.

Meatless burgers are a little hit-or-miss for me. I make a lot more than a share here. For me, it has to feel like a burger to be worth sharing – and boy, this one totally fits the bill. I think it may be the most “meaty” meatless burger I’ve made. And it’s smothered in buffalo sauce so it has that going for it, too.

It’s meals like this that make me think I could actually be a vegetarian.

Buffalo Chickpea Burgers
(slightly adapted from Once Upon a Cutting Board)
Makes 4

1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup minced shallot
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup buffalo sauce, plus additional for serving
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
4 hamburger buns
Blue cheese, for serving

In a medium saucepan, bring 1/2 cup water to a boil. Add quinoa, reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes or until all water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and set aside.

In a food processor, pulse the chickpeas until they resemble crumbs. Transfer to a large bowl. Add oats to the food processor and pulse a few times until they are a finer crumb. Add to the large bowl with the chickpeas. To the bowl, add in the quinoa, shallot, garlic, buffalo sauce, egg, salt, pepper and breadcrumbs. Mix by hand until everything is well incorporated and divide into four equal sections. For each section into a patty.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drizzle with oil and cook patties for 8-10 minutes, turning halfway through. Serve patties on buns, topped with blue cheese an additional buffalo sauce.

5Mar2014

16 More Meatless Dinner Ideas for Lent

Posted in chatter, main dishes, vegetarian by Kate

Find my updated list of Meatless Meals for Lent here!

Last year, I kicked off Lent by sharing a roundup of meatless meal ideas. Part of Lenten obligation for us is abstaining from meat on Fridays, and over the past few years I’ve made it a project to shake us from our usual menus of cheese pizza and pasta with tomato sauce. I’ll be sharing new, meatless dishes on Fridays during Lent again this year – but I’m kicking off again with a roundup of our favorite meatless meals of the year to give you some inspiration.

Whether you’re observing Lenten Fridays or just looking for some new meatless dishes to work into your rotation, these are all great options. And you can check out the roundup I shared last year of 16 Meatless Dinner Ideas for Lent here.