Veggie pot pie

This is one of those meals that I had been meaning to make for a really long time but just never got around to it because it makes more food than one person can eat and I really don't like eating leftovers for days and days. I was really craving some comfort food recently so I decided to make it and I am so glad I did, it was exactly what I was in the mood for. It was creamy, full of veggies, and the crust was nice and flaky. I didn't brush mine with an egg wash, but next time I would so that the crust would turn nice and brown instead of how it looks in the picture.

Ingredients:

1/2 a small onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/3 cup chopped broccoli florets, boiled
1/3 cup chopped green beans, boiled
1/3 cup frozen corn
1/3 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup white wine
1 1/4 cups warm veggie stock, or more as needed
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 dash cayenne pepper
1 ounce cream cheese
5-6 cracks black pepper
salt, to taste
pie crust (store bought or make your own, recipe I used below)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425. Either prepare your pie crust and place it in the fridge or if you're using store bought, just roll out one layer of it in the bottom of a pie plate. If you're making your own you'll do this step later). In a sauce pot, heat oil over medium heat and saute the onion, carrot, and celery for about 4-6 minute or until soft. Once they are soft, add the butter to the pot and allow it to melt. Once it is melted add the flour and stir to make sure that the flour is mixed into the butter. Cook this mixture for about two minutes, stirring to make sure nothing browns. Add the wine and stir until a thick paste forms and the wine cooks down. Slowly add the warm veggie stock, stirring while you add and allow this mixture to come to a simmer, once it simmers it will thicken considerably. Once it is nice and thick (this will take a few minutes), add the corn and peas and cook for about a minute more, then throw in the cooked broccoli and green beans. Stir in the cream cheese and season with garlic powder, cayenne, black pepper, and more salt if needed. Turn off the heat and allow it to rest a bit while you roll out your pie crust. When rolling, split the dough in two parts, one for the top and one for the bottom. Place the bottom crust in the pie plate and then add your veggie mixture, place the top crust on and crimp the edges to seal everything in. Brush with egg wash if using. Place the pot pie in the oven and bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the crust is brown and sounds hollow when you tap on it. Allow it to rest for about 15 minutes before serving.

Pie crust:

1 cup flour
1/2 stick cold butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons ice water

Place flour, butter, and salt in the food processor and pulse a few times until the butter is broken up and it looks sandy. Add 2 tablespoons of water and turn it on again for a few seconds. Check the dough, add an additional tablespoon of water and turn it on again. Continue to do this until your dough just starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Press into a ball and refrigerate until you need it.

Quinoa tabbouleh with chickpeas

I love middle eastern food but I rarely stock things like bulgur wheat in my cabinet. In this version of tabbouleh I used quinoa, something I almost always have on hand, instead of the traditional bulgur. I also added some chickpeas just to make it a little more substantial since I wanted to have it as a main course instead of a side dish. Feel free to leave them out if you don't like them or want it to be a little more traditional.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
Veggie stock (about a cup)
1/3 cup chopped cucumber
1/3 cup chopped tomato
1/3 cup finely sliced red onion
1/3 cup chickpeas
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped and smashed and made into a paste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt
pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

Cook quinoa in veggie stock according to package directions, then fluff with a fork and cool in the fridge. While the quinoa is cooling, combine cucumber, tomato, red onion, and chickpeas in a mixing bowl. Add the cold quinoa and the parsley and stir to combine. In a separate small bowl, combine garlic paste, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and stir well to make it smooth and thick. While stirring, stream in olive oil and continue stirring until it is nice and incorporated. Taste it to check for seasoning and add more salt or pepper if needed. Pour this dressing over the quinoa and veggies and stir well. You can serve this right away or keep it in the fridge for a few hours to let the flavors come together.

Fried Rice

I love fried rice, but depending on where you get your Chinese take out the fried rice may have mystery meat in it. I've seen bright pink chunks of meat in some restaurant's version. This recipe is really simple and tastes just as good as take out, plus it is probably healthier and there is zero chance of pink mystery meat. This comes together really quickly if you have leftover white rice or if you cook your rice in advance.

Ingredients:

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 a small onion, chopped
1 large (or two medium) carrots, chopped in small cubes
1/2 cup cooked peas
2 tablespoons oil
1/4 teaspoon sriracha
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons soy sauce
5-6 drops sesame oil
2 cups cooked white rice, cooled

Directions:

Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Once pan is hot, cook your eggs by swirling them around the pan until they have set up. Then flip the egg over and cook for about 30 seconds, or until the egg has been fully cooked through. Remove the egg from the pan, cut it into pieces, and set it aside. In the same pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add onions to the pan and cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until have softened a bit. Add the carrot to the pan and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes to soften them. Add the peas, sriracha, and garlic powder and stir to combine. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, then add the rice. Stir and break up clumps of rice for about 3-4 minutes, or until the rice is heated through and has started to get some color from the oil and veggies. Add the egg and then the soy sauce and sesame oil and cook for another 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly making sure none of the rice sticks to the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and serve with extra soy sauce, sesame oil, and sriracha so that people can adjust the seasoning to their preferences.

Pierogi

I have to admit, these do require a bit of work, but I think they are worth it. This recipe makes enough for several meals, which means that you can keep the leftovers in the freezer and have them whenever you'd like. You can pretty much top these with anything. I topped a few of mine with cheese and hot sauce and a few others with sauteed mushrooms, both were delicious. These work the best with leftover mashed potatoes since they are a little more sturdy to work with.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 dash garlic powder
1 dash cayenne pepper (optional)
1 egg
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
3/4 cup water
2 cups of cold mashed potatoes, seasoned however you'd like*

*I seasoned mine with butter, sour cream, cheese, leeks, and salt

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and garlic powder (and cayenne pepper if you're using it). Make a little well in the flour and add the egg and the yogurt. Slowly and gently combine the ingredients and then add water. Stir to combine and then turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead a few times to bring it together, then let it rest for a while. After it has rested, roll the dough out pretty thinly. Mine took up most of my counter space. You'll want it to be thick enough to make sure it doesn't tear but thin enough to not be gummy or tough. Using a cookie cutter or an upside down pint glass cut dough into 3-4" circles. Fill each circle with a scoop of cold mashed potatoes and press the sides together to seal. Repeat until you've used all of the dough. Store these in the fridge while you're working so that they can get nice and chilly. Once you're done filling them, take a large pot of water and bring it to a boil. Drop 5-6 into the pot of water and stir to make sure they don't stick to the bottom. Cook them about 3 minutes, or just after they float to the top of the pot of water. Remove from the water and repeat until you've cooked all the dumplings. Allow them to cool a bit, then add as many as you'd like to eat to a saute pan with a little butter. Cook the dumplings for a few minutes over medium heat until they get a little crispy and brown on the bottom. Remove from heat and serve with whatever toppings you'd like.

You can freeze the rest of the boiled dumplings. To serve those just toss as many as you'd like into a saute pan with a pat of butter and cook for 1 minute over medium heat. Then add about a 1/4 cup of water. Cover the pan and cook for about 3 minutes. Remove the lid and continue cooking until they are crispy and brown on the bottom, maybe 1 minute more.

Vegetable bouillon

I am about to share with you my ultimate cooking secret weapon. This is absolutely a staple in my kitchen, and if you've looked through some of my recipes you've probably seen that I use it in almost everything. It is so much better than store bought stock or bouillon cubes and is better than stock made with scraps, which is never that consistent. Yes, there is a lot of salt in this, but it also makes a lot of bouillon. I promise this still is less salty than store bought. Also, I originally found this recipe on a blog called "In Jennie's Kitchen" and you can certainly still find the recipe there, but I've made this a few times and I have adapted it a bit to fit my tastes. The one below is my take on her original recipe.

Ingredients:

4 full sized carrots, tops cut off
3 ribs celery, cleaned
1 small onion
1 1/2 cups button mushrooms
1 leek, white and very light green parts only
10 sun-dried tomato halves
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 a lemon, juiced
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons salt

Directions:

Get out your biggest food processor. Roughly chop all vegetables and add them to the food processor. Turn it on and run it for about a minute until everything is starting to get smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and turn the food processor on for another minute or two until everything is completely smooth and thick. Store it in the freezer. To use this as stock, dilute 1 teaspoon in 1 cup of hot water (then adjust to your liking).

Arugula and feta pasta salad

Pasta salad is one of the best summer foods. You can make a big batch of it and keep it in the fridge for a few days so you don't have to cook on super hot days. This pasta salad is a little different from how I normally make it (Dana posted that recipe to her blog, so if you want a non-creamy version you can get my recipe from her website). I loved the feta in here though, I used a fresh feta that almost dissolved into the vinaigrette to make it really creamy but still nice and light. If you don't have (or don't want) feta feel free to use cubes of mozzarella or swiss.

Ingredients:

1/2 box of pasta (shells or bow ties work well in this)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 red onion, sliced thinly
1 1/2 - 2 cups arugula
1/3 cup crumbled feta
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon dill
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons vinegar (white or rice vinegar)
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

Boil pasta according to directions, once fully cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. While pasta is cooking, combine veggies and cheese in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl, combine mustard, honey, dill, salt, and garlic powder together and mix well - it will create a thick paste. Add vinegar and whisk until it starts to loosen up. Slowly drizzle in oil while whisking until it is all combined. Add pasta to the veggies and cheese, then top with the dressing. Mix well until everything is coated in the dressing. Serve room temperature or chilled.