College Vegetarian Cooking_ Feed Yourself and Your Friends - Megan Carle [22]
While the squash is in the oven, peel the onion and cut into ¼-inch pieces. Peel and finely chop the garlic or pass it through a garlic press. Place the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste, tomatoes with their juice, water, and sugar and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
When the squash is cooked, take it out of the oven and, holding each of the squash halves with a hot pad, scrape the insides with a fork to remove and separate the squash strands. Place some of the spaghetti squash “noodles” on each of 4 plates and top with the sauce.
Cooking 101:
Although spaghetti squash is considered a winter squash, it’s available year-round. When buying it, look for smooth, firm squash without ridges, bumps, or spots. It can be stored for several weeks at room temperature and even longer refrigerated. On top of all that, 1 cup of spaghetti squash contains only 45 calories, is an excellent source of folic acid, and is high in fiber. What more could you ask for?
Vegetable Barley Soup
Soup is great because you can make a lot when you have time and freeze it in smaller portions so that you always have a quick home-cooked meal on hand. You can even take the frozen soup with you if you have access to a microwave to reheat it. Plus, it is chock-full of vegetables and pretty low in calories. –J
Serves 4 to 6
2 stalks celery
2 carrots
2 potatoes
4 vegetable bouillon cubes
8 cups water
1 cup pearl barley
8 ounces fresh green beans
1 (15-ounce) can corn kernels
Salt and pepper
Trim and discard the ends of the celery, cut into ¼-inch-thick slices, and place in a large saucepan. Peel the carrots, cut into ¼-inch-thick slices, and add to the saucepan. Peel the potatoes, cut into ½-inch cubes, and add to the pan. Add the bouillon cubes and water to the pan and bring to a boil. Stir in the barley and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, trim and discard the ends of the green beans and cut into 1-inch pieces. Add the green beans and the corn with its liquid to the pan and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the beans are tender. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Food for Thought:
Barley may have been cultivated longer than any other grain in the world—though rice is another contender for this distinction. Barley is similar to pasta in calories, protein, vitamin, and mineral content; however, it is three times as high in dietary fiber. It has also been shown to lower cholesterol levels.
Asparagus Quinoa Salad
Quin-what?! Okay, so maybe you haven’t ever heard of quinoa (pronounced “KEEN-wa”), but this “wonder grain” (actually a seed) is deliciously nutty and chewy and exceptionally nutritious. This salad makes a great meal, and you can take any leftovers for lunch. What I like the best is that it’s a nice alternative to the standard pasta salad. –M
Serves 4 to 6
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
Salt
12 spears asparagus
½ cup pitted kalamata olives
1 large tomato
1 lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pepper
4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
Put the quinoa in a strainer and rinse it for a minute or two under running water. Put the water and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Stir in the quinoa, lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, or until soft. (When it’s done, the quinoa seeds will have little wisps spiraling off of them—this is the germ separating from the seed.) Drain the quinoa in a strainer.
While the quinoa is cooking, break off and discard the tough ends of the asparagus and cut the asparagus into 1-inch pieces. Place in a saucepan, add about ½ inch of water,