Cashew Rangoons

This was a good vegetarian substitute for crab rangoons, and I think they tasted much better. Sometimes I think using other ingredients to make vegetarian dishes of food that are traditionally filled with meat are really better, they are more creative and have a better flavor, most things I have made have been great.

This recipe is from Mary Makes Dinner.

Ingredients:
-15 wonton wrappers
-1/2 cup raw cashews
-1 tablespoon tahini
-1 Tbsp lime juice
-1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
-1 tablespoon hot sauce
-1/2 cup water
-3 scallions, thinly sliced
-1/2 red pepper
-salt and pepper

Mix the cashews, tahini, lime juice, soy sauce, hot sauce, salt and pepper in
a blender.Mix in a little bit of water at a time as needed.

Combine the cashew mixture with the red pepper and green onion.

Put a spoonful of the mixture in the middle of a wonton wrapper.
I had to cut my wonton wrappers into fourths so they weren't so big.
Get 2 sides of the wrapper wet, and fold the wrapper into a triangle.
Then pinch 2 of the corners together.

Heat oil for a few minutes.
Drop in the wontons, heat until golden brown, about 4
minutes per side for me.

I dipped these in soy sauce, which was really good. The shell was crispy and the inside was soft, it was a good combination. They were't too spicy, and didn't have any overwhelming flavor. It took me a little more time than I expected, there were a lot of ingredients to mix, but it still took less than 30 minutes, and I thought it was worth it.

Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Risotto

This is the 500th post from Vegetarian & Cooking! and I cannot believe that we're already halfway to 1,000. This post comes at the perfect time because we have a lot of exciting things coming up as we move into Thanksgiving, Christmas and the two year anniversary of us starting this blog. In the meantime, check out the Milestones tab above to see all of our other milestone blogs and features.

This recipe was really popular on my Pinterest board, Recipes to Try and the photos from the original were stunning. Also, in my opinion you cannot go wrong with risotto, it is always absolutely delicious and the leftovers are a great thing to take to work for lunch.

Other risotto recipes: Tomato & Spinach Risotto, Corn Risotto, Champagne Risotto and Butternut Squash Risotto.

From the blog Sheer Luxe.

Ingredients: 
-1 small onion, diced
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-Two tablespoons of butter
-1 1/4 cup of risotto rice
-1 cup of white wine
-4 cups of vegetable broth, heated
-Jar of roasted red peppers, drained
-Chunk of Parmesan, grated
-Splash of cream
-Handful of spinach, wilted
-Wedge of goat’s cheese

Melt butter in a large skillet, saute the garlic and onion over medium heat for about five minutes.

Stir in the arborio rice, coating with the onion, garlic and butter.
Pour in the wine, stirring until absorbed.
Slowly ladle in the hot vegetable broth, stirring until absorbed each time.

Once the last ladle of  stock has been added, drain the oil from the jar of roasted red pepper. Puree in a blender and add into the risotto with a splash of cream and some Parmesan. 

Serve the risotto with chunks pieces of goat cheese and topped with wilted spinach. 

To eat mix in the goat cheese and spinach into the risotto. 

Always a pretty presentation with such striking colors.

The roasted red pepper flavor was really strong in this, that made my mom not like it. I really enjoy roasted peppers and I thought this was fantastic. There was a nice depth of flavor to the risotto, the goat cheese was a nice creamy balance to the rich flavor of the roasted red pepper. The spinach added color and some additional texture to the risotto. The leftovers were good for lunch the next day.

This is something that would be great for a dinner party or for a nice date. There is nothing more impressive than when your date cooks a nice meal for you!

Mexican Corn

I like queso cheese dip at Mexican restaurants, but I've never used queso crumbling cheese. I tried it out, and it was pretty good, it tasted like you would think, like the dip, but in a solid form.

This recipe is from Acute Designs.

Ingredients:

-2 cups of corn kernels
-an ounce or two of queso blanco
-1 teaspoon of chili powder
-the juice from one lime

I just used a cheese grater to crumble the cheese,
it was soft so it fell off easily.

Mix in the lime juice and chili powder.

This was pretty simple, but I thought it made for a side dish that was a little different. It only took a few minutes, and you could make this while you are preparing a main dish.

Overstuffed Sub Sandwich

The weather has officially gotten cold here and most days all I want for dinner is a great sandwich and a cup of steaming hot soup. This sandwich was inspired by one that I had a Panini's a few months ago prior to a baseball game. The restaurant was right next to the stadium and in order to combat the craziness they had pared down the menu to only sandwiches. Mine had three kinds of cheese, slaw and fries. J and I turned this into a sub sandwich, with lettuce instead of slaw and just one kind of cheese. Nonetheless, perfect for pairing with soup.

Check out other Sandwich Wednesday recipes: Egg Breakfast Wrap, Roasted Vegetable Sandwich with Zesty White Bean Spread, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Apple Sandwich, Eggplant Parmesan Sandwich, Mediterranean Wrap, BLT with Guacamole and Fried Egg, Nori Wraps, Frittata Bagel Sandwich,  Cheesy Eggplant Sandwiches and Fried Green Tomato BLT.

Ingredients:
-Hoagie Rolls
-Shoestring cut French fries (we used frozen)
-Lettuce
-1 tomato
-Provolone Cheese
-Desired condiment

Cook the french fries according to package direction.

Stuff each sandwich with French fries, tomato slices, lettuce and desired additions.
Top with provolone and bake until the cheese is melted.

J. insisted on layering the cheese on the sandwich to help keep all of the filling inside.

A great way to fill up on a cold evening.

I enjoyed this sandwich, it was easy to put together and didn't require too many ingredients. It would have been been with some sort of sauce, but I slathered mine with Miracle Whip and it was fine. I would throw this together again on a busy week night.

Scrambled Eggs Roll-ups with White Gravy

J. and I are getting back to our Sunday breakfast routine and I'm continuously looking for new recipes to try. I saw something similar on Pinterest and decided to try this with the leftover wonton wrappers that I had. I cannot say enough about how great wonton wrappes are, just pop them in the freezer after you open the package and they will keep for months. This was the last of my pack and I got four-five recipes out of them.

Serve with: Cheesy Roasted Garlic Grits.

White Gravy Recipe from Ammi at Food.com.

Ingredients:

Roll-ups

-Three eggs, scrambled
-Cheddar cheese, a handful
-15-20 wonton wrappers

Gravy (will make 1 cup of gravy) 

-1 cup milk

-1 1/2 tablespoons flour

-1 tablespoon butter

-1/2 teaspoon pepper

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

Make your scrambled eggs incorporating the cheese into them as they cook

Spoon a tablespoon of scrambled eggs into each wonton wrapper.

Roll-up, sealing the fold with water.
Fry in a skillet of hot oil until golden brown. 

Meanwhile make the gravy, combine all of the ingredients into a small pot and whisk until thick.

Serve together. 

I really enjoyed the vegetarian white gravy recipe, it was a perfect compliment to the scrambled egg roll-ups. The gravy was a nice thick texture and the seasoning was spot on. These scrambled egg roll-ups would be fun for kids because they are hand-held. Three of us split these along with a side of Cheesy Garlic Grits and it was a filling breakfast.

Stars & Stripes Oreo Bark

For veteran's day, I did a twist on a snack we've done for a few other holidays. We've done a similar idea for Christmas, Valentines day, and Halloween.

This idea is from Pink Cake Plate.

Ingredients:

-12 oz white chocolate
-1 cup peanuts
-1/4 cup blue and red m&m's, (I used pretzel m&m's)
-6 crushed Oreos
-red white and blue sprinkles

Melt the chocolate and spread it over wax paper on a cookie sheet.

Mix in the rest of the ingredients while the chocolate is still warm.

This is always good, but it is really sugary, so make sure you have people to share this snack with. Also, make sure you melt the chocolate in small intervals, some of mine got burnt and crumbled, and didn't hold together well.

Cheesy Roasted Garlic Grits

I'm not a huge fan of this Southern favorite, but my dad loves eating grits for breakfast. He had been requesting a recipe that incorporated grits for a few weeks, but I couldn't find anything that I thought I would like. I saw this recipe on Sandwich King and decided to give it a try -- I'm pretty sure anything will taste good with cheese and garlic incorporated throughout.

From Sandwich King.

Ingredients: 
-1 head garlic

-Olive oil, for drizzling

-Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

-4 cups vegetable stock

-1 cup stone-ground grits

-1/2 cup grated white Cheddar

-1/2 cup milk cream

-4 slices yellow Cheddar

Trim the ends off of a head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
Bake covered in foil at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Once the garlic is roasted, squeeze the cloves out of the peel.
Smear on a cutting board until a paste forms.

Meanwhile, heat four cups of vegetable stock to a boil.
Pour in one cup of grits and cook until fluffy.
Mix in the 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of cheddar.

Pour into four ramekins. 

Top each with cheddar. 

Bake for 2-3 minutes at 400 until melted.

Ready to eat.

This recipe was very good. The cheesy and the garlic complimented the grits nicely, J. and I both enjoyed it even though neither of us usually like grits. The garlic in this recipe was incredibly strong and I'm a garlic lover, if I make this again I will probably use just half a head of garlic to prevent the flavor from being overwhelming. 

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

I've seen a ton of pumpkin recipes this fall, I thought this was one of the better ones. I know I already like Rice Krispies, and they aren't too hard to make. I would make this one again sometime.

This recipe is from The Comfort of Cooking.

Ingredients:

-3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
-1/4 cup pumpkin puree
-1 10 oz. bag mini marshmallows
-1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
-1/8 teaspoon salt
-6 cups crispy rice cereal

Spray a 9x9 pan with non-stick spray.

Melt the butter and stir in the pumpkin and spices.
Slowly melt in the marshmallows.

Once the mix is melted, let it sit for about 20 minutes to cool before
adding the Rice Krispies so they don't get soggy.

Mix in a small amount at a time.

Spread the mixture in the pan.

At first I didn't really understand why the original recipe said to wait until it cooled before adding the cereal, but I did see how even after waiting to cool, these did get really soft. It still stuck together fine with the marshmallow mix  

Slow Cooker Spinach Artichoke Dip

J. is super picky, but spinach artichoke dip is something that he loves. This slow cooker recipe was made in a mini crock pot, mine was a 1.5 quart. This would be a good appetizer for a party, very easy to make because once everything is mixed together you can just let it sit!

From The Mom Maven.

Ingredients: 

-1 (9oz) box of spinach-thawed and squeezed to drain

-1 (14oz) can quartered artichoke hearts-drained and chopped

-1/2 cup refrigerated alfredo pasta sauce

-1/2 cup mayonnaise

-3/4 tsp garlic salt

-1/4 tsp pepper

-1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

-sliced bread or tortilla chips

Mix everything into a small crock pot, cook on low for 2-4 hours.

Enjoy!

I served this with sourdough bread, J. ate it with tortilla chips. This took only a few minutes to put together and it tasted good. This is something I would make again. If you're serving a large group doubling the recipe and cooking it in a larger crock pot wouldn't be a problem at all.