Every year we rejoice with the abundant harvest of home-grown vegetables, stone fruit, apples and herbs from our gardens and this year is no exception! Last week’s Thanksgiving table featured leeks and other produce from our soil for which we are truly grateful.
This year brought plentiful squash of several varieties: butternut, spaghetti squash, and of course, acorn squash. Roasted, steamed or stuffed, this yearly addition to our table is always welcome. If you’re planning a meatless meal–or cooking for a vegetarian friend or family member–consider today’s recipe and feel free to substitute ingredients and spices to suit your preferences. Thank God from whom all blessings flow!
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Rating: 3.5
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Stuffed Acorn Squash
SERVINGS4servings
|
COOK TIME1 hr10 mins |
PREP TIME20mins |
READY IN1 hr30 mins |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place butternut squash in a large bowl with 3 TBSP of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss until all the squash is coated and put on a baking sheet 1 layer deep for roasting and set aside.
- Cut the acorn squash in half width-wise and scoop out the seeds. Set the acorn squash on a baking sheet, brush with oil.
- Place all the pans of squash in the oven and roast for 1 hour until the squash can easily be pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
- As the squash is roasting, combine Israeli couscous, spices, and herbs in a large bowl.
- Add remaining olive oil to coat and salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the roasted butternut squash to couscous mixture and gently toss to distribute evenly in the bowl.
- Spoon the couscous and butternut squash into the bottom half of the acorn squash, and top with parmesan cheese (optional). Add the tops of the acorn squash and place on a platter of your choosing and enjoy!
A Recipe You’ve “Bean” Waiting For!
We want to be sure that vegetarian meals are provided for our guests or those attending events that prefer them. But often I simply enjoy just experimenting with fresh, garden ingredients. Here’s a new dish that is both vegetarian and gluten free. It also contain legumes – a wonderful and healthy source of protein. With lovely vegetables being harvested from our gardens, why not be creative? A friend in our community was my taste tester and she told me she couldn’t wait for me to post this recipe. It has all the flavors of summer with the basil, tomato and lemon. Buon appetito!
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Vegetarian Cauliflower Steaks
SERVINGS4servings
|
COOK TIME20mins |
PREP TIME10mins |
READY IN45mins |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cut a head of cauliflower into 1/2 inch ‘steaks’ from top to bottom
- Put cauliflower on a parchment lined tray and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with onion salt. Roast at 425 degrees F for 35 min or until golden brown and tender.
- Meanwhile, add 2 Tbsp of olive oil to a sauté pan and heat. Add diced red onion and sauté over medium low heat until soft. Add the garlic, parsley, basil and tomato and cook for another minute. Add the white wine and juice of one lemon and simmer until liquid is reduced. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the legumes and lemon zest - taste and adjust seasonings.
- When ready to eat, spoon the bean mixture over your roasted cauliflower steaks and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley. Serve warm with a drizzle of balsamic glaze and garnish with a sprig of fresh basil. Enjoy!
This week we continue with vegetarian recommendations, and this one is gluten free as well. Recently we had the pleasure of hosting a good friend of ours from “Across the Pond.” While our guest was not strictly vegetarian, we planned meals that were loaded with fresh produce and light on meat–and this vegetarian Frittata fit the bill!
Loaded with sauteed vegetables including a fistful of baby spinach, this dish is as versatile as you need it to be, easily adaptable for the breakfast, lunch or brunch table. A mini cast iron pan worked well as an individual serving and looked light-as-air still hot from the oven. Topped with cheese and garden chive, this just might make another appearance on our guest table this spring and summer!
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Rating: 5
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Vegetarian Frittata
SERVINGS2servings
|
COOK TIME15mins |
PREP TIME10mins |
READY IN25mins |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat broiler and heat the olive oil in a non-stick skillet*
- Sauté the onion until translucent. Add the bell pepper and zucchini cooking until tender.
- Add spinach and stir until just wilted.
- Whisk together the eggs and egg whites, adding the salt and pepper and pour into the pan with the vegetables.
- Reduce heat and stir until vegetables and eggs are combined. Keep over heat until the egg has set on the bottom, about 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle with cheese and remove the pan from the heat and finish under the broiler. Cook under the broiler until the cheese melts and begins to bubble.
- Garnish with fresh chive and serve immediately.
Get creative! Not only can this dish feature at breakfast, lunch and brunch, you can add or substitute other vegetables such as mushrooms and tomatoes and fresh herbs.
*We used a mini 6" cast iron pan in our preparation. If serving more people, a 10" skillet works well.
As cooks in Bethany Guest House, we love to spend time whenever possible, coming up with new creative recipes. We’re also finding that more and more of our guests are trying to eat healthier or have dietary restrictions. This adds to the challenge but also to the fun. Sometimes we work with inspiring gourmet type recipes– and often we find that some of the time honored meals of past years can also be very satisfying and delicious.
Today, I was preparing a light lunch for one of our guests who is a vegetarian. After a little hunting around for something new and different– I thought — ”Wait! What about a Mushroom and Spinach Quiche?” It was a big hit!
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Vegetarian Spinach and Mushroom Quiche
SERVINGS2servings
|
COOK TIME40mins |
PREP TIME15mins |
READY IN55mins |
Ingredients
Instructions
Pie Crust
- Cut the Crisco into the flour mixture until it is small and crumbly.
- Sprinkle the water in, lightly tossing / mixing it into the flour mixture. Toss in enough water, just until the mixture starts to hold together—no more water than what is necessary.
- Take 1/3 of the mixture, form into a ball, and gently roll out, lining a 6” pyrex pie plate (or the entire mixture for a 9” pie plate)
Quiche
- Lightly sauté onion until soft, then brown the sliced mushrooms. Set aside.
- Whisk the eggs with cream, salt and seasonings. Add the grated cheese, mushrooms and spinach. Gently mix, pour into pie shell and lay tomato slice on top.
- Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes; when checking for doneness, it should be firm when jiggled a little and a dinner knife should come clean when tested.
One of the most popular events offered to the public here at the Community of Jesus at this time of the year is our summer dinner theatre.
Interest in this continues to increase every season, which is not surprising. Eating a splendid, perfectly prepared meal out on the patio overlooking the harbor, just in itself, provides a most enjoyable and memorable evening, but having that as well as a spectacular dramatic performance in Paraclete House following it is an exceptional experience in every way.
Today one of the cooking sisters has been perfecting a recipe for the appetizer course of this week’s dinner menu. I came upon her in the kitchen as she was carving up a magnificent watermelon to go into this zesty chilled gazpacho, a refreshing flavorful creation. You yourself may want to consider serving for some meal in the near future!
This delicious meal will accompany Elements Theatre Company’s performance of Sylvia by A.R. Gurney. Follow this link to learn more about the show, and reserve your tickets! https://elementstheatre.org/sylvia/
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Rating: 5
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Watermelon Gazpacho
SERVINGS4servings
|
COOK TIME |
PREP TIME15-20mins |
READY IN15-20mins |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Coarsely chop cucumbers, yellow pepper, red onion, basil and parsley. Combine with cubed watermelon and cherry tomatoes.
- Working in batches, put a few cups of ingredients in the blender or food processor to combine. An immersion blender works for this process as well!
- Blend ingredients until just before gazpacho is completely smooth—there should be small pieces of pepper, tomato and herbs visible in the gazpacho.
- Chill overnight or in the freezer for an hour, stirring occasionally. This can be served with a garnish of diced yellow peppers on top. Serve chilled and enjoy a refreshing twist on a summer classic! We recommend pouring the gazpacho into bowls and chilling the bowls in the refrigerator prior to serving.
Most of the sisters enjoy having falafels whenever they are put on the menu, but we have one sister who absolutely loves them. Just mention the word…her eyes light up, her face beams, and she’s ready to reach for the garbanzos to whip some up! “How did you acquire such a passion for them?” I asked. This was her reply:
“Picture,” she said “a dusty winding street in the heart of Jerusalem that leads to an intriguing shop. The walls are covered with hand-woven rugs, and the atmosphere is alive and warm with people sitting all around on the floor on cushions sipping mugs of tea and eating falafels. Here it was that I first fell in love with them.”
Well, you may not be able to go all the way to the Holy Land to become acquainted with this food, but you may learn to love it yourself by trying out this simple recipe right here at home as so many of us have!
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Falafels
SERVINGS1dozen
|
COOK TIME8mins |
PREP TIME20mins |
READY IN30mins |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Blend together egg, onion, cumin, salt and pepper and fresh parsley.
- In a separate bowl, coarsely mash the cooked garbanzo beans, leaving some whole.
- Add egg mixture to garbanzo beans. Stir in ½ cup panko crumbs, and chill for 10 minutes.
- Remove garbanzo beans from the refrigerator and form into a ball, using about 1 tablespoon per ball. Roll in remaining panko crumbs.
- Fill a deep sided skillet with 1 inch of oil, and heat over a medium-high heat.
- Gently drop the falafel balls into the oil and fry until golden, turning occasionally for about 6 minutes. Remove falafel balls from oil and set on a paper towel to drain.
- Serve in a pita pocket with shredded cabbage or lettuce and a savory dressing, top a garden salad, or just eat it plain alongside vegetables, and enjoy!
