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April 22, 2005
Stuffed Vegetables
I used to have a cookbook that described stuffing vegetables as follows:
"Stuffing vegetables is a time consuming and tedious process that yields delicious results."
Well, that's inspiring.
I find that stuffed vegetables make nice entrees for a CR meal, and they impress the CR'd and non-CR'd alike, which is of course the entire point of cooking. Some of my favorite quick and easy stuffed vegetables involve bell peppers, which stand up nicely in a baking dish and have such charming little hats when you cut off the tops to stuff, then replace them to cook and serve.
Another vegetable that stuffs well is yellow summer squash. These little critters can be cut in half lengthwise, then baked or microwaved until tender. Then scoop out the insides and mix with whatever stuffing you like. I suggest a stuffing of 1 oz goat cheese, 20 g chopped tomatoes, and 20 g chopped red peppers. Top with a shake of dried basil, if you feel like it, but don't feel like you have to. Then bake at about 325ish for about half an hour in a shallow foil lined baking dish. Serve hot.
Here's another variation on the stuffed vegetable theme, one that will make almost an entire meal. Cut whole eggplants in half lengthwise and microwave until gushy. Scoop out the insides (don't get crazy perfectionist on this... they won't scoop out as nicely as the squash), chop, and drain in a collander and cover with a light dusting of half salt to remove that bitter eggplant taste. Let stand while you chop some tomatoes, locate your dried oregano (it's somewhere on the spice rack, no doubt, or you can just use prepared Italian spices from a shaker that you can buy at the grocery store for $3 max) and open a can of tomato sauce. Open a bottle of dry-ish red wine and add about a fourth cup to the tomato sauce in a saucepan, heating gradually. Throw in some garlic if you like garlic. Stir in tomatoes and the reserved salted eggplant. Add the dried oregano (use your judgement on amounts, probably a teaspoon-ish) and pre-heat the oven to 325. Fill the eggplant husks with the tomato sauce mixture, bake for about half an hour or until hot all the way through. Test to make sure the bitterness has left the eggplant before serving... if it has not, cook a bit longer. Eggplants vary a lot in bitterness, so I can't give you an absolute. Enjoy a low calorie stuffed treat! You can use other veggies if you want... you get the idea.
The nice thing about making stuffed vegetables is that they give the CR'd plate a sense of balance, and they're great for presentation. It's too easy to get into the habit of eating heaps of varying sizes of vegetables and protein when you're at home alone... when company is over, especially non-CR'd company, it's good to show off how pretty our food is. You can serve a protein dish, like a piece of fish or a bean soup with rice protein, on the side. Colorful, tasty, filling CR friendly meal!
Posted by april at April 22, 2005 12:18 PM
Comments
that is so you. the cute hats, good taste and all.
again.... pics? lol.
i love eating vicariously in your, mary's and willies "P" waves.
but i still adore my bland repetitive "J"
food.
Posted by: fruitgirl at April 22, 2005 10:07 AM
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Posted by: Roland Glicks at June 6, 2006 3:59 AM