Vegetable Bibimbap

I'm always on the lookout for a great vegetarian dish, especially one that is both filling and enjoyed by all at the table. Tonight's dish comes from the September 2011 edition of Every Day Food: A Martha Stewart Magazine.

(Side note: I love Every Day Food magazine because its subscription is inexpensive (or often free), they cover 10 months a year (doubling up January/February and July/August), and the recipes are not only simple to make, but they generally follow what's in season, include fresh fruits and vegetables, and ingredients that are almost always readily accessible and generally inexpensive. To add to this, the magazine has little to no advertisements, which is unlike so many of the other so-called food magazines (i.e. Every Day with Rachel Ray or The Food Network Magazine, etc.) which tend to be filled with 90% ads and 10% recipes.)

Now, back to the recipe. Tonight we tried a Korean-style rice dish: Vegetable Bibimbap.

I was thrilled to discover this recipe because it turned out to not only be a filling vegetarian dish, but it was stocked full of fresh veggies that were readily accessible and ones my 4 year-old daughter loves to eat! (No bamboo shoots or cooked pineapple thank you very much!)

Because this is a recipe that I did not create I won't post it here, but instead direct you to the official magazine website where you can print the recipe for your own collection: Vegetable Bibimbap. I definitely encourage you to try it, it is delicious and simple to make.

Note: The only changes I made to the recipe were:

• I used Jasmine rice instead of white rice.
• I skipped the Sriracha sauce for serving and we used what we had on hand: Texas Pete hot sauce. It was fine by me.

Special Food Needs:

• For a vegan version of this dish omit egg.
• For a gluten-free recipe look for soy sauce that doesn't contain gluten.

Pizza, Pizza

Barbecue chicken pizza

I've tried a few new pizzas on my family lately. With both, I found a recipe and then completely altered it.





Barbecue Chicken Pizza

1- 12 in pizza dough crust (Trader Joe's makes great pizza dough in the deli section)
1/3 cup barbecue sauce
2 Cups of rotisserie chicken (shred it)
3/4 cups yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup vertically-sliced red onion
1/3 cup blue cheese or gorgonzola

Roll out pizza dough on a baking sheet or pizza stone. Spread barbecue sauce and follow with chicken, pepper and onion. Sprinkle cheese. Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes.

Salmon Pizza

1-12 in pizza dough
6 oz can salmon (you might like smoked)
2/3 cup yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 cups green onions, sliced
3 oz. mascarpone cheese
freshly ground black pepper

Roll out pizza dough on a baking sheet or pizza stone. Spread green onions on pizza; follow with peppers. Then spread salmon pieces evenly. And drop dollops of mascarpone on top evenly. Grind black pepper on top and then bake at 450 for 10-11 minutes.

Breakfast Burritos

My family leads a very busy life, with most mornings (especially Sundays) permitting only a brief time to prepare breakfast. I really wanted something that could be prepared ahead of time, but available over the long term.

That's when I discovered breakfast burritos! I picked up the recipe from a friend and have slightly adapted it to our tastes.

Breakfast Burritos
Serves 16

Ingredients:

1) Package of flour tortillas (whole wheat in packages of 16 work best. The WW stretch further than the white or corn)
2) 1-dozen eggs
3) 1-package of freezer hash-browns (for those who like peppers and onions pick up the O'Brien potatoes)
4) 1lb loose breakfast sausage [OPTIONAL}
5) 1lb Shredded Cheddar Cheese
6) 16 oz of taco Sauce (I prefer Ortega Mild Original Thick and Smooth) [OPTIONAL]

Directions:
1. Bring tortillas to room temperature.
2. Meanwhile cook breakfast sausage. Then remove to large bowl.
3. Cook hash-browns per package directions. (I sometimes add taco seasoning to the hash-browns, especially if I do not use the O'Brien potatoes). Then remove to large bowl stir together with sausage.
4. Scramble the eggs. Then remove to large bowl and mix with sausage and hash-browns.
5. Add cheese and taco sauce to egg/sausage/potato mix.
6. Stir together.
7. Scoop spoonful of mix into each open tortilla.
8. Roll tortilla and wrap in parchment paper, wax paper or freezer paper. Seal in freezer paper or foil. Store in Ziploc bag in freezer.

Once frozen they can be served individually after 1-2 minutes in the microwave.

**Notes:

- I have discovered that while the burritos microwave well in parchment paper they do NOT in wax paper or freezer paper. If you wish to use one of the latter two then be sure to remove burrito from the paper and place on a plate before microwaving.

- I've adapted the recipe to add fresh cilantro, black olives, beans, pretty much anything you'd serve in tacos or burritos.