Vegetarian White Bean Chili with Mushrooms Serves 6 Note: Don’t use canned beans for this dish as the lengthy cooking time will cause the beans to lose their integrity. Additionally, if you don’t want to soak the beans overnight follow these directions for the quick-boil solution: Using a large pot, cover the beans with about[…]
Cheesy Zucchini Pie with Prosciutto and Sweet Onions ala Alyssa
Zucchini Pie ala Alyssa Serves 12 Ingredients: ½ lb. zucchini, scrubbed and chopped diced – $1.75 2 Tablespoons olive oil – stock 1 medium-large Vidalia onion, diced – $1.16 3 cloves garlic, minced – stock 3 oz. Prosciutto – $3.99 ½ cup shredded Fontina cheese – $2.99 ½ cup diced fresh mozzarella – $2.69 ½[…]
Pulled Pork Pasta Salad
Pulled Pork Pasta Salad Serves 12 as a side dish Note: This salad was intended as a straight-up side dish to enjoy pretty much any season. As I wasn’t entertaining a large group of guests, I found myself scarfing up just about all of the leftovers after our first round of photos and tastings. At[…]
Sweet Potato-Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheese
Sweet Potato-Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheese Serves 8 Tip: My local grocery store sells Butternut squash already peeled and chopped. This makes the vegetable just so much more “user-friendly” as I simply had to cook it in a pot of boiling water along with the peeled and chopped sweet potato. I didn’t need all of[…]
Spinach-Mango Salad Pizzettes
Spinach-Mango Salad Pizzettes Makes 6 Pizzettes Ingredients: 1-package whole-wheat pita breads (6 per package) – $2.59 1/3 lb. Fontina cheese, shredded – $2.00 1 ripe mangoes, pitted and cut into ¼” dice – $1.00 3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped – $0.99 1 Jalapeno pepper, minced – $0.14 ¼ cup Bermuda onion, finely diced – $0.79[…]
Black Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage and Honey Crisp Apple
Black Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage and Honey Crisp Apple Serves 8 Note: When I’m preparing homemade soup, if I don’t have a stash of my own chicken or veggie stock I buy organic stock, not broth, from my local market. The stock is less salty than canned broth and while it’s more expensive, it’s[…]
Quiche with Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms, and Ham
Quiche with Caramelized Onion, Mushrooms, and Ham Serves 6 as an Entrée Note: I cut back the amount of mushrooms and onion for the specifics of this recipe, but we highly recommend that you make a much larger batch of the duxelle of shrooms and onion for other dinners. I freeze single serving sizes and[…]
Broiled Eggplant with Tomatoes, Caramelized Onion, and Brie
Broiled Eggplant with Tomatoes, Caramelized Onion, and Brie Serves 6 Note: Sweat the eggplant before cooking as it reduces the acidity. Line two baking racks with paper towels. Sprinkle both sides of the eggplant slices with salt and arrange in a single layer on the prepared baking racks. Allow to “sweat” for 20 minutes. (You[…]
Black Bean, Quinoa & Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers
Veggie Burgers with Black Beans, Sweet Potatoes, and Quinoa Makes 8 Inspired by The Foodie Physician Ingredients: ½ cup raw quinoa – $3.29 (for a full box) 1 Tablespoon olive oil – stock small Bermuda (red) onion (about ¾ cup), finely diced – $0.84 1 small Jalapeno, minced – $0.22 4 cloves garlic, minced –[…]
Welsh Rarebit
Mary Anne here. This recipe brings me back to my own childhood in the ’50’s and 60’s when counting calories was unheard of and comforting cheese sauces topped everything from bread to veggies! This antiquated treasure is the base for the king of all cold comfort foods – mac ‘n cheese – and I assure[…]
Vegetarian “Franks” and Beans
Mary Anne here. This concoction began percolating while on the cross-trainer at my local gym. As I sweated to Dr. Oz, a commercial for kidney beans appeared, the voiceover singing the virtues of these protein-packed legumes. Somehow the junk-food-obsessed devil in my brain translated this ad to a craving for hot dogs and maple syrup-sloshed[…]
Tex-Mex Pizza with Chorizo and Black Beans
Mary Anne here. Yesterday Mariel and I shared our mutual sorrow at having so little time for our beloved blog. But before you feel tooo terribly sad over our negligence, it’s actually a time to celebrate! My gorgeous girl and her fabulous husband have moved to the ‘burbs…and just a mere mile from this madre.[…]
Spring Pasta with Leeks, Green Peas, Asparagus and Sausage
Mariel here. We haven’t forgotten about Feast…just reveling in a little pre-Memorial Day mania, complete with, packing, moving, a full-scale kitchen renovation and a late-stage pregnancy. Feeling a little uninspired as of late, I turned to this easy-as-one-two-three dish brimming with loads of seasonal green veggies and a no-fuss sauce. Serve this alongside a simple[…]
Old-Fashioned Lemon Squares
Mary Anne here. It seems every family has their own version of these sweetly tart cookie bars and ours is no exception. They’re a snap to whip up and they store beautifully in a sealed container in the fridge. They’re the perfect foil to a steaming cup of hot tea and an elegant addition to[…]
Four-Cheese Southwestern Breakfast Strata with Chorizo
Mary Anne here. Last week an old high school friend wrote to me on Facebook and waxed eloquent about her family reunions where apple-laced stratas were frequent features and she got me thinking about this versatile, old fashioned favorite. This rustic breakfast staple also used to be a staple in my catering repertoire when I[…]
Rich’s Light New York Cheesecake
Mary Anne here. Or should I say, Rich Doscher here! Rich is a registered dietician at the hospital where I work. Together with a physical therapist, the three of us give seminars at local senior centers and churches, instructing folks on keeping one’s joints healthy. For such a young “kid,” Rich has an amazing grasp[…]
Chocolate-Dipped Butter Cookies with Toffee Crunch
Mary Anne here. A few weeks ago, I posted my devilishly decadent Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Heath Bar Toffee Frosting. They were a diet buster to be sure, but more annoying than that, they left me with a paltry amount of leftover toffee crunch. What to do? As you know by now, I am[…]
Healthier Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Healthier Spinach and Artichoke Dip Serves 8-10 Ingredients: 5-oz clamshell of fresh baby spinach – $3.00 8-oz block of reduced fat cream cheese, softened to room temp – $1.69 1 cup (8-oz) fat-free plain yogurt – $1.78 1½ cups part skim mozzarella, shredded – $2.79 14-oz can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped – $2.99[…]
Rich Chocolate Black Bean Cake
Rich Chocolate Black Bean Cake Serves 6 Inspired by Serious Eats Ingredients: Butter, flour and cocoa for prepping the loaf pan – stock 5-oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted – $3.00 19-oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed – $2.39 2 large eggs – stock 1/3 cup of peanut butter – stock ½ teaspoon[…]
Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Heath Bar Frosting
Mary Anne here. Chocolate + peanut butter, topped with Heath Bar bits = my idea of heaven! Not much more to say about this combo, other than that I should’ve come up with this before Lent! The inspiration for these sinful cupcakes arose in the baking aisle of my local grocery store. It seems that[…]