Vegan Greek Farro Bowl

 Vegan Greek Farro Bowl

Such a satisfying meal in one bowl!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups dry farro

1 red or yellow bell pepper, thickly sliced & coated with a bit of oil

1/3 block Trader Joe’s vegan feta

2 Field Roast sausages

4-6 large leaves of chard, roughly chopped, stalks included

3 Tbsp Meyer lemon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1/2 large shallot, sliced

1 tsp dried oregano 

Salt & black pepper to taste

Sprinkle of lemon juice

Directions:

1. Prepare farro and sausages according to packages. While farro and sausages are cooking, roast slices of bell pepper on a roasting pan, turning and moving around until soft and slightly blackened.

2. Slice sausages and set aside. Drain farro and set aside.

3. To a large cast iron skillet over high heat, add olive oil. Quickly add chard and turn down flame to medium. Stir for a bit.

4. Add garlic, shallot, and bell pepper. Stir thoroughly.

5. Add farro, sausage, oregano, salt, and pepper. Stir thoroughly.

6. Add feta, stirring well. Add a bit more olive oil if needed to keep chard from sticking. Add lemon juice.

7. Stir all well until heated through and feta is slightly melty.

8. Serve & enjoy!

Notes:

*Experiment with adding sliced kalamata olives, quartered artichoke hearts, and red chili pepper. 

*Great served hot or cold, good for potlucks!

FARRO FANDANGO

FARRO FANDANGO

*A heartier, vegetarian version of a Trader Joe's recipe

Ingredients:

3/4 bag Trader Joe's 10 minute farro (cooked according to package)
2 handfuls kale, chopped
3 Trader Joe's (or other) meatless Italian sausages
3 Tbsp. butter or olive oil
1 cup (2/3 large) onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced
6 mushrooms, crumbled

Directions:

1.  Cook farro according to package, adding kale to the pot 4 minutes before end of cooking.  Drain and set aside.

2.  Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil or butter over medium-high heat in a saute pan.  Break up the sausages and cook until browned, adding an extra tablespoon oil or butter during cooking, stirring frequently.

3.  Remove sausage and set aside.  Heat last tablespoon oil or butter over medium heat.  Add garlic, onion, mushrooms and apple to the pan, cooking and stirring until just starting to brown.  Add sausage, farro/kale, and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir and cook over low heat a few additional minutes.

Notes:

*For some reason, my kids actually ate this, kale and all.

*The hubby devoured it.

*It's even better the next day.

*If you insist, you could make this with regular chicken sausage...I'm sure it would be delicious, but it truly doesn't lose anything with the veggie sausage, so why not go veggie?  :)

*In case you're not familiar with farro, it's a slightly chewier, nuttier, more interesting version of rice.

*Ready in 15 minutes!

LOOSEY-GOOSEY PASTA

LOOSEY-GOOSEY PASTA

So, say you want to impress your family by making your own pasta sauce from scratch...and say that sounds too long and arduous and not at all compatible with your busy lifestyle - no matter! You can make this one on the fly, I promise. It's called "Loosey-Goosey" because, as usual, I threw it together and didn't measure anything, so all amounts and cooking times are approximate.

Ingredients:
(Makes 3-4 entree portions)

1/2 package angel hair pasta (capellini)
1 Applegate Farms Sweet Italian chicken & turkey sausage, sliced
12 tomatoes, whole but poked with a knife
Olive oil
Worcestershire sauce, to taste (approximately 1 Tbsp.)
1 can tomato paste
Dried basil
Dried oregano
Dried thyme
Black pepper
Minced garlic, to taste (approximately 1 Tbsp.)
1/2 bag TJ's organic spinach leaves (approximately 3 oz.)
1/2 orange bell pepper, chopped
Handful thickly sliced mushrooms (i.e., pre-sliced in the bag from TJ's)
Cooking sherry or other white wine
Parmesan cheese
Red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Heat a large pot of water with a dash of olive oil and salt in it. Once it boils, turn the heat all the way down to keep it hot while preparing the sauce.
2. Meanwhile, pour a generous amount of olive oil into a wok or other large pan over medium-high heat.
3. Add sausage and tomatoes to the pan. Heat for 2 minutes.
4. Start breaking up tomatoes with a wooden spoon and stirring sausage around to prevent burning or sticking. Cook several more minutes, until tomatoes are soft and starting to break apart easily.
5. When there is a good amount of liquid in the pan, add mushrooms and spinach. Stir for a minute or two, breaking up the mushrooms with the spoon.
6. Add tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, black pepper, dried herbs, splash of sherry. Stir well for a minute or two, then reduce heat to low and cover, stirring occasionally.
7. Turn water back up to boiling, add pasta and cook according to package (approximately 3 minutes), stirring frequently.
8. Remember that you didn't add the bell pepper to the sauce yet and decide to throw it in with the pasta. Realize later that this is an awesome way to cook it (for both texture and flavor), and commit to trying to remember to do it this way in the future. Feel really self-satisfied for being an innovator, conveniently ignoring that it was the result of being scatterbrained and a bit harried.
9. Drain pasta/bell pepper, douse with cold water and toss with a bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking.
10. Serve with a generous portion of sauce and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and red pepper.

Notes:

*Angel hair is popular with the preschool set.

*Applegate Farms is a small company that makes a bunch of different organic, humanely-raised meat products. Look for it at health food stores and Whole Foods.

*I like the size and especially the flavor of the Campari tomatoes-on-the-vine from Costco - yum!!

*If your kid enjoys cooking, have her break up the mushrooms prior to adding to the pan.