Classy Vegetable Stir-Fry

No picture, my apologies. The hard drive with all our photos on it is not yet set-up, but will be shortly. Once it is I will include some super photos of us attempting to unpack the kitchen. Which I am sure you are all dying to see.

In the mean time, here's a dish we whipped up in honor of my sister coming to dinner for the first time in the new house! She is vegetarian and so I have made it my mission to find some tasty vegetarian dishes to make for her when she visits that she, as a college student, may not have time/money/facilities/motivation to. Alas, she is not big into pasta, so that eliminated about 90% of my initial ideas, but Mr. Heart suggested a vegetable stir-fry. So we took it up a notch by including a wide variety of vegetables, and made it simple by only adding the bare minimum of seasonings. It came out delicious. We served it up with couscous and a dark rye bread. And then we ate cookie dough and played cribbage like old people.

"I'm so proud of myself," Mr. Heart said, as we drove back from dropping off Sister Heart, "Before I met you I wouldn't have even touched a dish like that." And he liked it! Excellent. So I AM having a positive culinary influence. My main challenge with him? Legumes. Some day, some day...

Classy Vegetable Stir-Fry
Serves 2-3

1 Portabello mushroom cap, diced
1 bell pepper, diced (or half of a red and half of a yellow)
3-4 green onions, chopped
1/2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch crescents
1/2 cup sugar snap peas, cut in half
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 lb spinach, roughly chopped
1/4 cup cashews
1 - 2 TBS olive oil
a good squeeze of lemon juice
salt and pepper

(for omnivores: add a link or two of your favorite chicken sausage, sliced)

1) In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat until shimmering, but not smoking.
2) Add bell peppers and green onions. Sauté until peppers start to brown, stirring often.
3) Add zucchini, mushrooms, and garlic. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper to taste. Continue to sauté, stirring often, until vegetables are just tender.
4) Add spinach, snap peas, and lemon juice. Toss together, then cover for 1 -2 minutes, or until spinach is wilted and cooked down.
5) Add cashews toss to combine. Cook for 1 -2 more minutes, until cashews are heated through. Add more salt and pepper as desired.
(For omnivores: Transfer vegetables to a separate dish and cover to keep warm. Add sausage and a splash of oil. Sauté until lightly browned, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add vegetables back to pan and toss to combine. Cook an additional minute to heat through.)

Roasted Garlic Soup (with Pasta Veggie Toss)

Approach this soup softly, caring a large slab of toast. Delicious, but quite potent, this soup is best served in small portions as a first course or side dish, over buttered slices of toasted baguette. I also served this with egg noodles tossed with sautéed vegetables and butter.

Roasted Garlic Soup
from Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast: Soup with mods
Serves 2, as a side
9/10

2 heads of garlic
2 TBS olive oil
6 slices of baguette or other crusty bread
2 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper

1) Preheat oven to 325ºF. Slice the top off the heads of garlic and arrange in a shallow baing dish, cut side up. Drizzle 1 TBS of olive oil over the garlic and cover loosely with foil. Roast until the cloves are very tender when pieced with a fork, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and cool, then squeeze the soft garlic pulp into a small bowl and set aside.
2) Warm remaining olive oil in a non-stick skillet over med-high heat. When hot, add the bread slices, reduce heat to medium, and fry bread on each side until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from pan and set aside.
3) In a medium sauce pan over med-high heat, combine broth and garlic pulp and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Using a wand mixer (or food processor), purée the soup until smooth and frothy. If necessary, return pot to stove and reheat to serving temperature. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4) Place 2-3 slices of bread in each bowl. Ladle soup over top and serve!

Simple Pasta Veggie Toss
Serves 2

2 cups of egg noodles
1/2 bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 red onion, coarsely chopped
1 cup broccoli florets
1 TBS olive oil
2 TBS butter or margarine (or our favorite... olive oil spread)
salt and pepper

1) Fill a large pot half way with water and bring to a boil.
2) Once boiling, add broccoli florets and blanch for 3 minutes. Remove from water with slotted spoon and set aside. Add egg noodles to boiling water and cook according to package directions.
3) Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet over med-high heat. When hot, add peppers, onion, and broccoli. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sauté until tender.
4) Drain egg noodles. Add egg noodles to skillet. Toss with butter until melted. Serve!