Fusilli with roasted baby asparagus and grape tomatoes

Bring big pot of salted water to boil.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash a pound of baby asparagus and cut it into 2 inch lengths.
Wash a box of plum or cherry tomatoes and cut in half.

Spread asparagus on about 2/3 of a big cookie tray and the tomatoes on the remaining 1/3.
Drizzle with olive oil, grate on lemon pepper, and add a cube of frozen garlic in the middle of the asparagus and another in the middle of the tomatoes.  Pop in the hot oven.

Add fusilli to boiling water and stir often.

After a short time, take the vegetables out of the oven and stir the melted garlic into the asparagus and into the tomatoes so it coats them as much as possible. Grate on more lemon pepper. Pop back in oven.

Drain the fusilli when it is al dente and stir in a little olive oil.

When the asparagus and tomatoes are nicely roasted (asparagus tender, tomatoes soft and full of flavor), take them out of the oven.

Fill each person's bowl with fusilli and top with asparagus and tomatoes.
On each portion, shave on some Trader Joe's Uncommon Cheddar, add 4 or 5 green and black olives, and add more salt and pepper if desired.

Overnight oats with berries

To get ready tomorrow's breakfast, in a glass jar with a lid or a ceramic mug with a lid, combine:

1/2 cups rolled oats (preferably the slow cook kind)
1/3 cup of milk or cold water
1/3 cup whole milk plain yoghurt
1/2 - 3/4 cup of frozen berries ... I use a mix of raspberries and blueberries
optional: 1 teaspoon of maple syrup

Stir well, put on the lid, and place in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, stir again and top with toasted whole hazelnuts or any toasted nut of choice.

Instant Pot Mujadara

Thinly slice two large yellow onions.
Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large frying pan and caramelize the onions. Grate on some sea salt while cooking. Stir frequently.
When onions are almost fully done, add in 3 minced cloves of garlic or 3 frozen cubes of Trader Joe's garlic and cook until garlic is done.

Rinse and dab dry:
1 cup brown basmati rice
1 cup whole green lentils

Boil water in kettle.
Whisk 3 teaspoons of Vegetable Better Than Bouillion into 2 2/3 cups of the boiled water in a big glass measuring cup.

Heat a little olive oil on the Sauté mode in the Instant Pot.
Add in the rice and lentils and stir around for several minutes.
Turn Instant Pot off.
Add the vegetable broth, stir, put on lid and make sure lid is in the unvented position.
Set for 15 minutes of pressure cooking.
Let it decompress for 10 when pressure cooking is done.
Open lid carefully (press the vent with a wooden spoon to let it finish venting).
Evenly mix the rice and lentils.

Serve in bowls with topping of caramelized onion and garlic mixture.
Add freshly grated pepper.
Offer olives on the side.

Serve with a simple salad such as arugula and cherry tomatoes.

Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients

2      tablespoons olive oil

1 red or yellow onion, chopped

4 fresh minced cloves or frozen garlic cubes

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1      tsp freshly grated Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 cups vegetable broth

1      14 oz can Trader Joe’s fire roasted tomatoes or diced tomatoes

1 14 oz  can diced tomatoes

2 tsp adobo sauce (from chipotle pepper can) and a little minced chipotle pepper if desired)

2 (14 oz. each) cans black beans drained & rinsed

2 (14 oz. each) cans red kidney beans drained & rinsed

1 (14 oz.) can cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
1 red pepper cut into small pieces

2       cups of frozen white corn

Chopped cilantro or flat-leaf parsley.

Set Instant Pot to saute setting. Heat the olive oil and sauté the onions.

Clear a space in the onions and add a little more olive oil and add the garlic into the oil, sauté it slightly, and stir the garlic into the onions.

Stir in the chili powder, oregano, cumin and Everyday Seasoning and cook for a minute or so. 

Add the vegetable broth with the tomato paste whisked into it.

Add the crushed tomatoes, chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, beans and frozen corn.

Stir to combine well.

Put the lid on the Instant Pot and close the steam vent. Use the manual setting and pressure cook for 10 minutes.

Allow 5 minutes of decompression after the 10 minutes of pressure cooking is up.

Taking care not to get burned, release the pressure. 

Serve in wide bowls with a topping of grated sharp cheddar, a dab of sour cream, and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro or parsley. Add salt and pepper as desired. 

Fried Quinoa, Cherry Tomatoes, and Egg

This is a great way to use up some left over quinoa.

Melt a dab of butter or heat a little olive oil in a stick-free medium frying pan. Add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of cooked quinoa and stir to heat. Move quinoa to half of pan.

Add another dab of butter to clear side of pan and spread it around. Crack a large egg into the hot butter.

Add 4 or 5 cherry tomatoes, cut in half, into the pan near the quinoa. Grate lemon pepper or salt and pepper onto the tomatoes and the quinoa. Mix the tomatoes in with the quinoa after they have softened a little.

Flip the egg and add salt and pepper and cook until white is set but yolk is runny.

Serve with slices of pear.

(This makes one serving. Use your biggest frying pan to double or triple the recipe.)

Green Rice

This is very good with dal.

Blend in a Nutri-bullet or blender:

a few handfuls of baby spinach
a handful of parsley, stems removed
a knob of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
half a cup of water

In the Instant Pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add 2 cubes of frozen garlic or 2 big minced cloves and stir to release flavour into the oil.

Add 1 1/2 cups of washed basmati into the olive oil and stir.
Add the green mixture of spinach, parsley and ginger and stir.
Add:
 1/2 teaspoon of salt
the juice of a lime
1 cup water

Stir it nicely, put on the top, and set pressure for 6 minutes.
Let sit for a few minutes to release steam. Stir well when you remove the lid.
Serve with freshly grated pepper.
(Good with dal, mango chutney, and plain yoghurt.)

Penne with mixed bell peppers, basil, tomatoes, and olives

Boil salted water and add one pound of penne. Stir often.
Cut in half cherry or grape or tiny heirloom tomatoes and grind a little sea salt on them.
Wash and mince fresh parsley.

Cut three bell peppers (orange, yellow, and red) into short strips.
In a large wok, heat olive oil and saute the peppers.
Clear a space and melt a little butter and add 3 cubes of frozen garlic. Stir the garlic in the butter until it melts and becomes very fragrant.
Add a little more olive oil into the cleared center area of garlic and add about 8 cubes of frozen basil and stir in with garlic until basil is melted.
Mix the garlic/basil into the surrounding peppers and add generous grindings of lemon pepper.

When pasta is al dente, drain and add a little olive oil to it and then pour it into the wok and toss until the pasta is evenly covered with the garlic/basil/peppers mix.

Fold the halved tomatoes into the pasta.

Serve on plates and add fresh minced parsley, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or crumbled Unexpected Cheddar, 4 or 5 olives per serving, and freshly grated pepper and salt to taste.