Brown Rice Tart with fresh tomato filling

Preparation time: 25

Rice Crust
1 cup (6 ½ oz) brown rice, cooked
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten

Fresh Tomato Filling
6 Roma tomatoes, halved
6 cloves unpeeled garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
8 sprigs fresh thyme
½ cup goat’s cheese, crumbled
¼ cup milk

To make the rice crust:
Place the rice, cheese and egg into a medium bowl and mix until well combined.
Spread the mixture over the base and sides of a lightly greased flan tin
and bake for 15 minutes, at 400 degrees F.

To make fresh tomato filling: place the tomatoes, cut side up with a clove of garlic on a
non-stick baking tray. Brush lightly with oil and sprinkle with pepper. Bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Remove the skins from the garlic.

Arrange the tomato halves, garlic, thyme and goat cheese over the rice crust.
Place the beaten eggs and milk in a bowl and whisk to combine. Pour over the tomatoes.
Bake for 1 hour or until set.

Note: if you don’t like the flavour of goat’s cheese, you can substitute Feta cheese.

Medley of Rosemary- roasted vegetables

Ingredients:

1 green pepper, cut into strips
1 red pepper, cut into strips
1 bundle asparagus, touch stems removed
1 Zucchini, cut into wedges
10 mushrooms
1 yam
2 T. Olive oil
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped

Method:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Wash and cut yam lengthwise, and then slice each half diagonally.
Place on a baking sheet, spray with oil. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes until tender.
In the meantime, wash and prepare remaining vegetables. Dry with paper towel and transfer to the baking tray with the pre-baked yam slices. Now mix everything together until well blended with olive oil and spices.
Bake for about 20-30 minutes until vegetables are tender, but not mushy.

Baked Spaghetti Squash with chickpea stuffing

This is a perfect dish for vegetarians (or even vegans) for a festive meal like Thanksgiving or Christmas.
It is easy to make and bake alongside the Turkey!

Ingredients:
1 Spaghetti squash, cut in half
1 can chick peas
1 can tomato sauce
1 tbsp. olive oil
¼ cup onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup red pepper chopped
½ cup green pepper chopped
¼ tsp. chili flakes
½ tsp. oregano
Salt & pepper to taste

Method:
Scoop out seeds from squash and place on a baking dish, sprayed with some oil.
In a skillet, heat oil and sauté onion and garlic.
Add peppers and remaining spices and lastly add the tomato sauce.
Transfer the chickpea mixture into the two squash halves.
Cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until the squash is fully cooked and soft.

To serve: place on a large platter surrounded by a medley of roasted vegetables.

Ingredients:

1 can chick peas,drained
1/4 red onion, chopped fine
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped

Dressing:

1/2 lemon, squeezed
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. chili flakes or black pepper
Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and toss with dressing.
2. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour for flavours to blend.

Ingredients:

5 packages frozen spinach
1 can corn, drained
4 oz. aged cheddar, grated

For Béchamel sauce

3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
4 cups warm 2% milk
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp pepper
Salt to taste
Non stick spray

Instructions:

1. Thaw spinach in microwave and squeeze out the water. Mix with corn and set aside.
   In a heavy skillet, melt butter and mix in flour. Stir briskly to make a smooth paste, adding a little milk at a time until all the milk is used up. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix in corn and spinach mixture and mix well.
2. Grease a large casserole (12″ x 8″) with non-stick spray. Place half the corn and spinach mixture. Sprinkle with half the grated cheese. Now add another layer of spinach and corn and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1/2 hour until properly heated through and the cheese has slightly browned.
4. Cook on grill, barbeque (or oven at 400f)

This is so simple,and everybody loves it. So make at least one cob per person!

Ingredients:

1 doz. Corn cobs.
Course salt
2 lemons, cut into wedges

Instructions:

1. Husk corn, making sure the stem is in tact.
2. Place on a medium hot grill and cook rotating the corn until evenly cooked. About 5 minutes. Alternatively, wrap each corn in foil and place on grill for about 10 minutes. Serve corn with a lemon wedge and coarse salt.

Ingredients:

1 can chick peas,drained
1/4 red onion, chopped fine
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped

Dressing:

1/2 lemon, squeezed
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. chili flakes or black pepper
Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and toss with dressing.
2. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour for flavours to blend.

Ingredients:

3 packages of firm tofu
3 red peppers

3 green peppers
2 onions
Bamboo skewers (about 20) pre-soaked in water.

Marinade:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice or vinegar

1 Tablespoon of preferred seasoning (Italian, Cajun or Greek)

Instructions:

1. Cut tofu into 2″ cubes.
2. Wash and cut peppers into 2″ squares.
3. Peel onion, cut into 2″ wedges and then cut into half again.
4. Assemble skewers starting with green pepper, tofu, onion and red pepper squares, until skewer is about 6″-8″ long.
5. Whisk together marinade ingredients and brush skewers generously. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or overnight if possible.
6. Fire up barbecue on medium heat, and place skewers directly on the grill for a 3-5 minutes on each side rotating them with tongs until all sides are equally grilled and the vegetables are partially cooked.

Note: For meat eaters, these can be made with chicken breast cut up in to squares instead of tofu.They can be made ahead of time and stored in a zip-lock bag in the fridge for about 3 days.