Category Archives: vegetarian

Creamy Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce –No Cream Added

Posted on August 14, 2023 | 1 comment

This Oven Roasted Creamy Tomato Sauce is just what you’ve been looking for . Perfect Summer Tomato Pasta Sauce made with delicious cherry tomatoes. It’s sweet and creamy without using a drop of cream!!! Love it!! Only delicious fresh ingredients and the only special equipment you’ll need is a food processor!

Should make app. 3 cups of sauce which you can use right away, or put in the fridge for a day or two, or even better freeze for a month and when you’re looking for something to make for dinner –there you have it!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 cups of cherry tomatoes — stems off

1/4 tsp. onion powder

2 Tablespoons of good Olive Oil

1/3 cup fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spread Tomatoes single layer on a large sheet pan. Don’t crowd. Drizzle with Olive Oil. Sprinkle with onion powder

Bake for app. 40 minutes , you’ll want tomatoes good and wrinkly

Let cool for a bit then put your tomatoes into food processor

Add the fresh basil, garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste in food processor

Blend to smooth and creamy

Use it right away! or put in fridge for a few days or freeze for another time.

Enjoy and say thank you!!!!!!

 

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Summer Peach Salad with Tomatoes and Mozzarella no

Posted on August 11, 2023 | 1 comment

It’s the end of the Summer and the Palisade Peaches are still here in Colorado along with the most beautiful heirloom tomatoes. It’s a no-brainer salad going on here made with the freshest of ingredients. Fresh Mozzarella is readily available almost everywhere now and grab some fresh basil while you’re at it. This salad worked out well with a few easy ingredients and it packed some super delicious flavor. Hurry to your farmers market or produce store to grab some of these beauties before they’re gone .

*this recipe should serve 2- 4 but can easily be doubled for more

Ingredients:

1 pint of cherry tomatoes ( I grabbed some heirloom cherry tomatoes)or any tomatoes you’d like the local tomatoes are beautiful this time of year

1 large peach or 2 small (Palisade Peaches here in Colorado have been amazing)

4 ounces fresh mozzarella

1 shallot

some fresh basil–throw in about 8 pieces and add more or less depending on your own particular taste

1 1/2 Tablespoon Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt or any flaky salt you like –this is approximate and use as little or as much salt as you like, tomatoes can endure a lot of salt

app. 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Rinse off tomatoes and cut in 1/2. Clean and cut the peach in half, remove the pit and cut into bite size pieces. Add tomatoes and peaches to a platter or a bowl. Cut up the mozzarella and add to bowl.

Peel and slice the shallots into thin slivers or rings whichever you prefer. Scatter over tomatoes, add the basil, drizzle the olive oil, salt and pepper and stir gently.

Presentation isIMG_8679 IMG_0586 (2)IMG_8681 IMG_8685 beautiful on a platter as well. Whatever way you do it the taste is phenomenal.

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Posted in Salad, salad, side dish, sides, vegetables, vegetarian

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Cacio E Pepe – Cheese and Pepper Pasta – Perfection in a Bowl-4 Ingredient Pasta

Posted on July 30, 2023 | 5 comments

This is restaurant worthy pasta, made in a saute pan, 12″ size would be perfect for 1/2 box of pasta for this recipe. If you’re making whole box and doubling you’ll need a larger pan.  This pasta has very few ingredients and you probably have all of them in the house . When I am not sure what to make and I really don’t feel like going out, this is up there with my “go to ” meals. It’s comforting and has a kick of heat from the black pepper. It’s an elegant adult version of mac and cheese and a simple standard all at the same time. I try and use 2 cheeses when I can, but if you only have 1 type of grated cheese, it’s fine. Hold on to about a cup of the pasta water, you may need it if sauce is too dry, add a little at a time, as you need it. This recipe is quick and will feed 2 people nicely. If you want to serve more, just double the recipe. If black pepper is your thing Cacio e Pepe is for you. Recipe doubled is perfect for 4.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Kosher Salt

8 oz. of spaghetti like pasta ( bucatini, linguine, perciatelli) most boxes are 1 lb. boxes , so app. 1/2 box I used perciatelli ( I love the ropey pasta)

3 tblsp. unsalted butter , cube it and divide it into 3 seperate tablespoons

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup finely grated Grana Padano or Parmesan Cheese

1/4 cup finely grated Pecorino Cheese ( or just use Parmesan)

Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions. Make sure you throw a small handful of kosher salt into the pot of boiling water, before you drop in the pasta. The pasta absorbs water as it cooks, so you’re actually seasoning the pasta which would ordinarily be a rather bland starch. Cook pasta till al dente , follow package instructions.

Meanwhile melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet , add the freshly ground black pepper and swirl around till melded, app. 1 – 2 minutes. Then let it sit, and turn off heat. Wait for pasta to finish cooking, remove 1 cup of pasta water and set aside and then continue with the next step.

Add 1/2 cup reserved pasta water to skillet and bring butter, water and pepper to a simmer. Add cooked pasta and remaining tablespoon of butter. Reduce heat to low and add 3/4 cup Grana Padano or Parmesan Cheese, stirring and tossing with a pair of tongs, until cheese is melted. Remove pan from heat, add additional 1/4 cup of cheese and toss until the cheese melts and sauce fully coats the pasta. Add more pasta water if sauce seems too dry. Transfer pasta to nice large bowls and serve.

Perfection in a bowl

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Posted in Dairy, meatless, pasta, vegetarian

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Greek Salad

Posted on July 27, 2023 | 3 comments

I originally posted this way back and figured what a perfect day to re-post. This has become my go to Greek Salad and Salad Dressing when I want to make it at home. I of course love anchovies and feel free to put in there. I didn’t have any whole garlic cloves so I used garlic powder and you know what? it worked out just right. If you’d prefer to use chopped fresh garlic go right ahead. I am going to give you ingredients from tonite’s dressing because it tasted just right. This is salad , so please feel free to substitute and leave out whatever you don’t like and add in whatever you like. Joel only eats the lettuce and cheese, I ate all of the other ingredients.  I like to chop up a grilled piece of chicken and add in or a piece of salmon if you’re looking to make this more of a meal. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 head of iceberg and 1 whole head of romaine (you can use less lettuce and you’ll just have a little more dressing left over depending on how you like it) you can also use all iceberg or all romaine, I like the combo.

grape tomatoes cut in 1/2 ( about 1/2 the package that it comes in )

1 small cucumber diced up, I take the seeds out first and then slice it up with skin on, do it however you like

red onion diced, use as much or as little as you like

1/4 cup Kalamata Olives cut up without pits

3/4 cup of cubed Feta Cheese – I like it cubed for some wierd reason in this salad, again use whatever you prefer

Dressing:

In a small mixing bowl using a small whisk

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon of oregano, I love oregano so I used a heaping amount, if you don’t use less

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mix spices and red wine vinegar and then slowly whisk in the olive oil, when you’re ready to serve pour over salad and mix. Add as much as you’d like. This dressing should dress the whole salad depending on how light or heavy you like your salad dressed.

Enjoy! this is a perfect meal with fish or chicken or any protein you like. I put it on top of chicken and it was really good. Sort of a spin on Chicken Milanese Greek Style.

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Posted in Raw, Salad, salad dressing, vegetables, vegetarian

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Tomato Time Pasta– perfect Summer Pasta made with fresh tomatoes–Meatless

Posted on July 22, 2023 | 6 comments

photo 2 (3)photo 4 (2)photo 5 (3)Nothing but beautiful tomatoes out there begging to be eaten in a million different ways. Perfect for a “Meatless Monday” dish or any night of the week . There are tons of local tomatoes out there now. At any local farmers market you can pick up pints of these beautiful babies. This is a lovely light pasta.

I had bought 2 pints of those beautiful little cherry tomatoes and right now there are those gorgeous yellow sunburst tomatoes also available.  I wasn’t sure what I would do with them. They varied in size so I knew if I made a sauce some were getting cut and some would stay whole. Nothing ever sounds better than a plate of pasta to me,  nothing.   These beautiful tomatoes are only out for such a limited time you have to get them while the getting is good.  Some of the tomatoes were super small and I left them whole while I halved the larger ones. There are so many variations of this sauce and feel free to improvise. We love it this way. So simple and so delicious.

Follow me on Instagram @cookingwithcandi

Ingredients:

1 lb. spaghetti , any kind of long spaghetti is good for this — sometimes I use bucatini type and sometimes I use thin type long spaghetti– use whatever you’d like

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus more as needed

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced.

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper* we like it spicy so if you don’t want it that spicy cut to 1/4, I actually used 1 whole teaspoon and it packed a lot of kick.

2 pints of cherry tomatoes or little plum tomatoes or you can use about 3 cups of chopped fresh tomatoes of any type. I cut the larger tomatoes in 1/2 and I left the little ones whole.

app. 20 leaves of fresh basil, I just cut them up into small slivers–this is totally optional if your kids don’t like green stuff– but it looks pretty

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste –I used app. 1 teaspoon on tomatoes and added towards the end as needed

freshly grated parmesan at your discretion

Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions on box for al dente. Reserve a cup of pasta water in the event you may need a little more liquid in your sauce. Add 2 tablespoons of salt to cooking water for pasta. The Italians like to say that their pasta water should be like sea water good and salty. After finished cooking pasta — reserve 1 cup of pasta water and set aside before you drain pasta.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat add 4 tablespoons of olive oil and garlic, cook until garlic is golden about 2 minutes. Be careful you don’t want to burn this garlic. Add the crushed red pepper now and the tomatoes, and cook over medium heat. I also added some kosher salt (about 1/2 teaspoon to start, you can always add more) and a little freshly ground black pepper. Stir for a while to make sure garlic doesn’t burn and tomatoes start to burst and deflate about 5  minutes and if you think you need a little more olive oil add it now . I let the tomatoes simmer in the pan for about 15 minutes to 1/2 hour for the best consistency. I smashed down stubborn little tomatoes at the end with the back of a wooden spoon or a masher if you have one.  A very low simmer at the end.  Taste for Salt and Pepper. The longer the tomatoes sit in the oil and cook down on a low simmer the better the sauce will be so if you have a little time let it sit.

Once the spaghetti is cooked and you’ve drained it ( remember to reserve a cup of pasta water).  Add it to the pan with tomatoes and over medium-high heat toss the pasta with the tomatoes well. Add the basil . I let everyone add their own cheese at the table.

Remove the pan from the heat and plate it up.

Yum! and even more delicious the next day.

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Posted in pasta, Sauce, tomatoes, vegetables, vegetarian

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Chickpea, Feta and Tomato Salad (with cukes) Raw and Vegetarian

Posted on July 19, 2023 | 1 comment
Chickpea, Feta, and Tomato ( with cukes) Salad

I served this salad with my Easiest Chicken Ever, it is fresh tasting , and crunchy. very easy and can be made throughout the year. it is very good using heirloom tomatoes, which I couldn’t find this time out.  It’s also perfect with small, grape tomatoes, which can be found everywhere, at any time. Enjoy! pretty low in calories as well. 🙂 Just saying…. this is a delightful fresh tasting side dish and perfect for any bbq or dinner you may be having.

INGREDIENTS:

1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, rinsed and drained (try and buy the organic ones)

1 pint cherry, grape or heirloom (if in season) tomatoes. (If you are using the little ones, cut them in 1/2. If you are using the larger ones, slice and cut into small chunks

2 oz (approx. 1/3 cup or to your liking) feta, crumbled or cubed

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (approx. 1 average lemon)

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

dried oregano gives it a real mediterranean flavor use as little or as much as you’d like — sprinkle a little and taste for flavor

DIRECTIONS:

Combine everything in a bowl and season with salt and pepper and oregano to taste, flavors will come together nicely , I let it sit out for app. 1/2 hour before serving, give it a mix from the bottom before serving. Taste for seasoning.

*Should serve approx. 4

*Very low in calories (yeah!)

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Farmers Market to Table Gazpacho

Posted on July 11, 2023 | Leave a comment

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Delicious fresh vegetables from the local farmers market went into this gazpacho. This time of year you must take advantage of the awesome selection of fruit and vegetables at your local farmers market. In Colorado there is so much local produce it would be a pity not to . I bought the tomatoes , cucumbers, peppers, garlic and red onion all from our local farmers market. Whole Foods also sells many local products which is so amazing.  It’s just quite wonderful to put food on your table from your own garden or at least from one within 100 miles of where you live. Farm to Table . Simply put it’s the best . There are many variations of this wonderful cold soup — take what you want from this one and put your own mark on it.

Ingredients:

1 cucumber or 2 – 3 Kirby size cukes, halved and seeded , but don’t peel . If not Kirby cukes you can use a hothouse cucumber. Go organic, because you are eating the peel.

2 yellow bell peppers, cored and seeded. Of course you can use red bell peppers, but not green — you can also use an Italian frying pepper (cubanelle) if available or a light green pepper like an Anaheim, just core and seed all peppers.

4 tomatoes — Whole Foods and most grocery stores have beautiful produce this time of year so use the heirlooms if you can get them or any of the fresh tomatoes will do.

1 red onion

3 garlic cloves, minced or throw them into the food processor along with vegetables

3 cups Spicy V8 or use regular tomato juice

1/4 cup champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar

1/4 cup good olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

*1/2 to 1 whole jalapeno depending on how spicy you like it, remove seeds from jalapeno

* cilantro, chopped is a nice touch for garnish

*avocado cut up is also nice garnish

*shrimp is also a nice garnish

Directions:

I cut up cukes, tomatoes, bell peppers and red onions into app. 1 inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor with steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. You can also use an immersion blender in a deep bowl–you may need to do it in batches or use a regular blender.

After each vegetable is chopped up add the garlic ( if you haven’t already) , juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.  I like to drizzle olive oil slowly in while I blend it. Pour into a large bowl mix well and chill before serving. It’s a good idea to chill for a while, the longer it sits the more the taste develops.

The second night I added shrimp and avocado.

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Potatoes , Peppers and Onions

Posted on June 25, 2023 | Leave a comment

What a perfect side dish — goes with any meats and or fish. I served it alongside humble turkey burgers and hamburgers and it was really delicious! I used whatever color peppers I had in the house and I used Yukon gold potatoes because that’s what I had on  hand. Perfect with some sausage as well. Did I mention super easy???? and all on one pan in the oven.

Ingredients:

app. 2 lbs Potatoes — I happen to have on hand Yukon Gold Potatoes but Russet Potatoes work well as well– any potatoes will work out — cut potatoes into app. 1″ chunks

1 medium yellow onion– cut into 1″ chunks

2 peppers — any color you like — I had orange and yellow on hand– cut into 1 ” chunks

1/4 cup olive oil

Kosher Salt — app. 2 teaspoons

Freshly Ground Black Pepper– app. 1 teaspoon

Garlic Powder — 1 teaspoon — if you prefer fresh garlic — use 2 garlic cloves minced

Directions:

*important to cut chunks of vegetables fairly uniformly so they cook the same

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

In a large bowl toss potatoes, onion and peppers with oil, salt , pepper and garlic

 Spread mixture on a rimmed baking sheet — I spray my baking sheet with cooking spray for an easy cleanup –spread out so peppers onions and potatoes have room to cook — don’t overcrowd as they will just steam and not slow roast

Roast for about 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown, I stirred halfway through cooking.

That’s it — super easy and super delicious.

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Summer Pasta with Tomatoes, Eggplant and Stringbeans

Posted on May 26, 2023 | Leave a comment

IMG_1456Here is a new recipe that I tried last night for Meatless Monday. Sometimes it’s good to lighten up the menu with no meat.   I love when I try something new and it’s so delicious that I know it will stay in the rotation all summer long.This is a delightfully light pasta dish with really no sauce just some delicious fresh vegetables and some amazing fresh burrata. Of course you can leave out the burrata and sprinkle a little parmesan cheese or just leave out the cheese all together. I improvised a lot with this recipe please feel free to do the same.

The beauty of this pasta dish is that it would be delicious served hot off the stove or at room temperature. You can prepare ahead , assemble and just let it sit out while you prepare other dishes if you’re serving to a larger group as a side dish.  It was just the two of us so we ate it hot off the stove as our main meal.

We love cheese in our house so we went with delicious fresh burrata. A little sprinkle of fresh thyme at the end and I sprinkled crushed red pepper at the end because I love a spicy pasta.

*Fresh Burrata is a delicious cheese with a creamy interior. It’s like Mozzarella on the outside.

Ingredients:

8 oz. Pasta — I used casarecce because I love that pasta when I can find it. Fusilli or Penne would work just fine — you can also use whole wheat pasta for an extra fiber boost.

8 oz. French Green Beans if you can find them if not use yellow wax beans or fresh green beans –trim them

2-3 Tablespoons Olive Oil — you’ll start with 2 and you may need a little more this will depend on how dry the eggplant seems while it’s cooking. I used about 2 1/2 Tbsp.

2 cups Chopped Eggplant– I used a regular eggplant and just chopped up into small pieces ( keep it uniform in size) you can use Japanese Eggplant as well. 1 average eggplant should work

1 Tbsp. minced fresh garlic

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup dry white wine

2 Tbsp. White wine vinegar

Kosher Salt– I sprinkled about 1/2 tsp. kosher salt on the eggplant and tomatoes but I added more at the end. Salt to taste.

1/2 Tsp. Black Pepper– again to taste

6 oz. Burrata– if you don’t want to use Burrata you can also use fresh Mozzarella just cut into bite-size pieces.

2 Tsp. chopped fresh thyme– of course this is optional but fresh herbs always add a delicious layer of flavor.

Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions on the box. Add green beans for the last 3 minutes of cooking. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid before you drain the pasta.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the cut-up eggplant and sprinkle about 1/2 tsp. kosher salt , cook, stirring occasionally until tender — about 5 minutes. Add in the fresh garlic and cook for another minute. Add tomatoes and cook until the juices from tomatoes start to release –another few minutes.

Add the wine, cook and stir often until most of the wine disappears. Add pasta and beans, toss to combine. Add the reserved pasta, cooking liquid– a little at a time– I used almost all of it. It depends on how dry the pasta is. Stir in the vinegar and taste for salt and sprinkle that 1/2 tsp. of freshly ground black pepper here.

Put Pasta in individual pasta bowls and top evenly with burrata and a sprinkle of chopped fresh thyme. I also sprinkled crushed red pepper on mine at the table.

This should serve 4 nicely even with only 8 oz. pasta as a side dish. It was just the two of us so we ate it as a main and there was left-over which will be delicious cold the next day.

 

 

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Posted in Healthy Cooking with Candi, pasta, vegetables, vegetarian

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Cinco de Mayo Salad and Green Goddess Dressing

Posted on May 5, 2023 | Leave a comment

photo (2)photo (5)photo (2) photo Happy Cinco de Mayo!!! This salad is fresh and delicious and perfect for celebrating the day. If you’d like add a protein to it — chicken , shrimp, salmon  or even tofu. May is here and it brings warm weather and beautiful flowers and springtime has finally arrived here .  This is a perfect way to bring a little Cinco de Mayo into your home in a pretty healthy way.

Any excuse to celebrate a holiday with a new recipe! Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone and here is a new salad and salad dressing to help celebrate with. While I am not a vegan and don’t always cook that way,  I tried this salad dressing which I found in Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook, “It’s All Good”, and I have to say it is all good! All good ingredients. I am not talking diet food–just good, healthy food, that when eaten in moderation, yields very good results. I used * Vegenaise in making this and highly recommend it in the place of mayonnaise. You can also use yogurt in its place. This is low salt and low sugar. Delicious, fresh ingredients. I made it with the delicious salad listed below. I love love cilantro and I know a lot of people don’t really like it and I suppose you can leave it out if you must!  I used half of a jalapeno and it was not hot at all, next time I will use a little more.  I scraped the seeds out. Be very careful handling jalapenos and their seeds–make sure to wash your hands well afterwards and maybe wear gloves to prevent any problems.

*This dressing will keep well in a jar for up to a week.

*a little story about Vegenaise, which is lighter than mayonnaise and contains no eggs, milk or animal products. No GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organisms). Mix it with Dijon for great flavor . Extra added bonus is a great jar to store future salad dressings in.

Enjoy the Day!

Be in control of your ingredients as much as possible.

Ingredients:

*this will be vegan if you use Vegenaise

DRESSING INGREDIENTS:

2/3 cup of Vegenaise, yogurt, or mayonnaise — I happen to love mayonnaise as well and when I use mayo I use regular Hellmans Mayonnaise –never fat free if you must use a lighter one use “light” but not fat free

2 scallions, white and light green parts only, chopped

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 4 limes)

1/2 green jalapeno, roughly chopped (you can use more or less, whatever level of heat you like)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon honey

DRESSING DIRECTIONS:

Blend all ingredients in a blender except for olive oil (I open the top and pour oil in after all other ingredients are combined.) It is a beautiful light green color with specks of dark green. Joel was definitely suspicious of the color but he really loved it! Gave it a big thumbs up!

This should serve 4 nicely as a salad but adjust quantities based on how many people you are feeding.

SALAD INGREDIENTS:

About two hearts of romaine Lettuce, shredded

1/2 can of yellow corn (or 2 fresh ears of corn, shucked)

1/2 can black beans (I use organic canned beans and rinse and drain them)

4 scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced

1 ripe avocado, cut into chunks

approx. 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (I used delicious cherry tomatoes, halved)

1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro

Green Goddess Dressing (see above)

If you’re using fresh corn, you’ll have to cook it first. I used the canned version this time. Place the lettuce in a large bowl and dress it with about 1/4 cup of the dressing, just so it’s nicely coated. I then added beans, tomatoes, scallions, avocado, cilantro and corn. Add a little more salad dressing, and serve immediately. Joel likes a lot more dressing on his salad so I served with dressing on the side. And no he didn’t eat all that stuff in the salad; he just ate lettuce and tomatoes…he really doesn’t know what he’s missing!

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