Kusherie: Egyptian Street Fare

Kusherie, a dish popular in Egypt, is probably one of my favourite things to eat.

I was introduced to it several years back at a little restaurant in Toronto.

I always promised myself I wouldn't try to make it at home so it would still feel special to eat it when we went out.

That promise was broken today. 

My friend, Laurie, got me onto this cookbook called More with Less; such a good cookbook.

It's a Mennonite cookbook that emphasizes eating more grains and vegetables, less sugar and all for less money.

Carolyn Yoder from Egypt  offers this recipe for Kushari and when I saw it I resisted the urge to make it no longer.(This is terrible, but it never occurred to me that there might be Mennonites in Cairo?)

It was exactly right and just how I hoped it would taste.

A flavourful bed of rice and lentils that's topped with a spicy-sweet tomato sauce and caramelized onions.

Perfect.

I throw a couple meatballs on top of the kids kusherie in place of the caramelized onions.

A big green salad with house dressing goes well with kushari.

This tomato herb salad dressing is beautiful with the main course.

*No meal prep would be quite complete without my right hand man and mini-chef, Jimmy*

Kusherie (Kusharee)

adapted from More with Less Cookbook 

2 Tbsp oil

1 1/4 C brown lentils, rinsed

4 C stock, hot

1 tsp salt

dash pepper

1 1/2 C rice (I used white basmati)

3 small tins tomato paste

3 C tomato juice, pureed tomato, or tomato sauce (I used 2 cans of V8)

1 green pepper, chopped small

1 handful celery leaves, chopped

1 T honey, sugar or maple syrup

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

big pinch chili flakes

2Tbsp oil

3 onions, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

Heat oil over med heat in a large sauce pan and add lentils and cook 5 minutes.

Stir often.

Add 3 C stock, salt and pepper.

Cook uncovered 10 minutes.

Stir in rice and remaining 1 C stock.

Bring to a boil and cover simmering until cooked, about 10-15 minutes.

In a medium sauce pan, heat tomato paste, V8, green pepper, celery leaves, honey, salt, cumin and chili flakes.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 20-30 mins.

In a small skillet heat oil and add onions, garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper and sautee on med-low  until brown.

To serve, put rice-lentil mixture on a plate, top with tomato sauce and finish with the caramelized onions.

House Dressing

1/3 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/3 C Red Wine Vinegar

2 Tbsp honey or brown sugar

1 Tbsp tomato paste (I used the Kusharee tomato sauce) 

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 tsp each basil and oregano, dried

1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce

pinch pepper

pinch salt

 Shake all ingredients together in a mason jar.

Soy Glazed Salmon with Noodles

• 
  
• My kids love salmon so I'm always looking for new and exciting ways to make it for them.

This probably looks similar to recipes I've posted before but, I think, this is the favourite.

• We stuffed ourselves with this tonight. 
• I would totally eat this every night! 

The fish cooks so quickly and the noodles take no time to prepare but the end result is very impressive and beautifully colourful.

It would be a fun dish to serve to company if you're sure they like fish.

• 
  
• 
  
• Soy Glazed Salmon
• 
  
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine, stock or water
• 2 pounds salmon fillet

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix sugar, oil, soy, lemon juice and wine in a small bowl.

Arrange salmon in a single layer in a baking dish, sprinkle with black pepper.

Pour sauce over salmon.

Bake 15-20 mins.

Chili-Lime Noodles with Vegetables

1 bag (340g) wide egg noodles

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

2 large carrots, grated

2 celery stalks, thinly sliced

1/2 cup vegetable stock

• 1 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons chile-garlic sauce or hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar

Cook noodles and drain them.

Add red peppers, carrots and celery to the pot.

Whisk all remaining ingredients together and pour over the noodles.
Serve with Salmon.

Vegetarian Night

When little Jimmy saw his plate tonight he said, "Where's the meat?!"

The boy loves meat.

Once I assured him that he'd eaten enough meat today already, he quickly forgot and totally enjoyed his dinner.

Tonight we ate two of my very favourite vegetarian dishes from Moosewod Cooking for Health.

The first is a curried millet that has lots of rich curry flavour, sweet raisins and parsley.

To go with it, some spiced kale with sweet potato also featuring curry but with a little more kick because of the chili flakes and garlic.

Both dishes are very filling and satisfying.

Curried Millet

(Moosewood Cooking for Health)

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1/2 tsp whole black mustard seeds (optional)

1/2 C minced yellow onion

3/4 C millet

1 1/2 tsp good curry powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 C vegetable stock

1/4 C chopped golden raisins

1/2 C minced parsley

1. In a saucepan over med-high heat warm the oil. Toss in the mustard seeds and cook 1-2 mins or until they pop. (Watch out you don't get a pop on the face.) Add onion, cook 3 mins. Add millet, cook 3 more minutes, stirring constantly. Add curry and salt. Cook a minute or until fragrant. Add stock, bring to a boil. Cover millet and cook 20 mins on low heat.

2. Stir in raisins and parsley. Fluff with a fork. Cover and let stand 10 mins.

Spiced Kale with Sweet Potaotes

(Moosewood Cooking for Health)

4 C sweet potato, peeled and diced (1/2 inch cubes)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp black mustard seeds (optional)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp good curry powder

8 C kale, remove stalk and chop

1/4 tsp kosher salt

2 Tbsp vegetable stalk or water

1 Tbsp soy sauce

black pepper

1. Steam or boil sweet potatoes until tender. Set aside.

2. Warm oil in a large pot, add mustard seeds cook a minute or 2 until they start to pop. Add garlic and stir 30 seconds. Add red pepper flakes, curry, salt and kale. Stir a few mintues.

Add stalk and soy. Cover and cook until kale is softened, a few minutes. Stir in some black pepper and serve.

(These two are pretty special.)

Alphabet Soup

Seeing letters floating around in their food gives my kids so much joy.

They love alphabet soup.

This is one of my favourite soups because of the simplicity of its method.

You will hardly need to think about it.

Cut up a whole bunch of veg, whatever you like, and throw it into some stock, boil, season and simmer.

Done.

Which is perfect on a day like today because who wants to be inside when it's warm and sunny outside.

We did everything outside today.

We raked, shoveled dirt, swept, read and did some bike riding.

Spring is very near.

Alphabet Soup

(Not Your Mother's Weeknight Cooking: by Beth Hensperger)

**I like to freeze this soup in small lunch size portions enough for the kids and I. That way, we can pull one out for lunch on a whim- instead of opening a can.

One 28 oz can of diced tomatoes

6-8 cups stock

2 medium carrots, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 potatoes, diced

1 C diced green beans

1 C frozen corn

1 C frozen petite peas

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt

black pepper

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 C alphabet pasta or any other mini pasta shape

In a large stock pot over med-high heat, combine tomatoes, in their juice and stock; bring to a boil. Add all vegetables and seasonings.

Boil again.

Reduce heat and simmer 40 mins.

Add pasta and cook about 5 mins.

Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Baked Potato and Tomato

Here's a simple side dish you could put with almost anything.

With fresh, summer tomatoes right out of the garden, this dish would be at its best.

Even so, with some large hot house tomatoes and a few potatoes, this is full of flavour and really satisfying.

Resist the urge to change it first time around and I think you'll see the simplicity of the ingredients and seasonings are perfect.

Baked Potato and Tomato

(Company's Coming:The Potato Book)

3 lbs Potatoes (6 medium)

4 medium tomatoes, sliced

3-4 medium onions, sliced

3/4 C monterey jack or cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 C grated parmesan

3/4 tsp dried oregano

3/4 tsp dried basil

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2-1 C mozzarella cheese, grated

Layer 1/2 of first 3 ingredients in a greased 4 quart casserole dish.

Sprinkle with Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese.

Mix parmesan, oregano, basil, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Sprinkle 1/2 over the Jack cheese. Layer second 1/2 of vegetables over the top. Sprinkle with second half of parmesan herb mixture.

Scatter mozzarella cheese on top.

Cover with foil or lid and bake at 400*F for 50 minutes.

Remove foil and bake 10 more minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Serves 8

Curried Noodles and Veg

Isn't it interesting how the change in season tends to generate excitement.

It does that to me.

I love our seasons.

It seems to prompt a change in so many areas.

I feel more creative, more artistic, more clear headed and, like so many others, eager to cook from the bounty of this new season.

A few weeks ago, while browsing Whole Foods, I came across Arvinda's Artisan Curry Powder.

Since we are coming into fall and fall is a perfect time to start making curries again I bought the All Star curry blend and started anticipating.

This stuff is good, really good.

My friend Shaida would probably laugh at the noname curry powder that usually finds its way into my spice cupboard.

Another friend recently gave me a recipe to mix up a curry blend of my own. I still want to try that one.

So, the garden is loaded with carrots, basil and kale--they're going in a curry.

Moosewood LowFat Faves gave me all the incentive I needed for a vegetable loaded curry swirled into some nutty soba noodles.

The result was a beautifully fragrant vegetarian noodle dish with tons of ginger and spice.

We squeezed tons of lime juice on top and stirred in some basil at the end, passed around the pepper at the table and everyone loved it.

Little Jib scarfed down two bowls of it. He needed plenty of water to handle the heat but he's no sissy around a spicy curry.

Curried Noodles and Veg

1/2 lb soba noodles

Dried Spices

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

2 dashes cayenne (or to taste)

Sauce

2 tablespoons dry sherry, I used rice vinegar

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon honey or agave

Vegetables

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1-2 tablespoon grated fresh gingerroot

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup peeled and julienned carrot

1 cup sliced red bell peppers (or combination of colors) or 1 cup yellow bell pepper

4 cups thinly sliced kale

salt and black pepper

2 tablespoons julienned basil

1-2 limes

Cook Noodles and keep warm.

Mix together the curry powder, cumin, turmeric, and coriander in a small bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine the sherry, soy sauce, water, and sugar and set aside.

In a large nonstick or well-seasoned cast iron skillet, combine the garlic, ginger, and oil and

saute on medium heat for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the carrots and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add the bell peppers and continue to cook, stirring, for about another 4 minutes.

Add the kale and dried spice mixture and cook for 1 or 2 minutes.

Pour in the sauce mixture, cover, and simmer for another 2 minutes, or until the kale is tender.

Stir in noodles then season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Serve with lime wedges and your choice of basil, cilantro, or scallions.

Jib says, "Don't wimp out on the cayenne, it's worth the sweat"

Vegetable Fried Rice

Perfect fried rice. We all love it.

We couldn't keep out of it tonight. The fresh and slightly crisp vegetables sit on top of perfectly flavoured rice. Eventually Jib ate the dinner by the fist full.

I wanted to keep it simple and vegetarian tonight but chicken, beef, pork or shrimp would be easy to add and a welcome addition.

Vegetable Fried Rice

(adapted from Real Simple magazine)

1 1/2 cups brown or white rice

3/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar, honey or agave

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

1 tbsp canola oil

2 carrots, matchstick-size strips

2 cups snow peas, cut into thirds

2 cups bean sprouts

4 scallions, thinly sliced

4 large eggs, beaten

Cook the rice.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, honey, vinegar, and ginger.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Add the snow peas, bean sprouts, and 3 tablespoons of the soy sauce mixture.

Cook, stirring, until slightly tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Return the skillet to medium heat. Add the cooked rice, scallions, and the remaining soy sauce mixture.

Cook until just heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Push the rice toward the side and pour the eggs into the center.

Scramble with a spatula until set then stir in the rice.

Top with the vegetables and serve.

Vegetable, Cookie, Banjo

Beans and greens are a wonderful combination. This salad is cheap, filling, has simple, healthy ingredients and is quick to throw together.

I have never cooked with black eyed peas before but they have great flavour and really go well with the kale and sweet fennel. I'm always looking for more ways to use kale so I know I will make this over and over this summer.

Today we ate it on top of some amazing sausage that my Dad keeps his freezer stocked with.

The salad could easily stand on it's own feet at one of those epic summer barbecues that are inevitably approaching. (Yay!)

I did sample, and love, the taste of the dish when I first made it, but it got better with time. So if you can make it an hour ahead of eating time, it will be even better.

Black Eyed Peas with Kale, Fennel and Tomatoes

(adapted from Moosewood Cooking for Health)

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Cup chopped onion

1/2 tsp salt

3 garlic cloves minced

1 tsp herb de provence (or 1/2 tsp ground fennel)

1 tsp oregano

1 1/2 Cups chopped fennel

4 Cups chopped kale (stems removed)

1 Tbsp Soy sauce

1 Cup chopped tomato

2 cans (15 oz) black eyed peas, drained and rinsed (or 1 1/4 Cups dried beans, cooked)

ground black pepper

In a large saucepan over med heat, warm the oil. Add onions, salt, garlic and herbs. Cook, stirring often until onions soften. About 10 mins. Add fennel, cook another 8 mins.

Stir in kale and cook, covered 5 mins or until softened. Add soy sauce, tomato and peas.

Simmer 5 mins. Season with salt and black pepper.

Let sit 1 hour or so if possible. Not necessary but it will develop the flavours.

_________________________________________________________________

As for the cookie, made Joys Brownie Cookies tonight for my class...they were stupendous.

Make them!

I used 3/4 of a PC Dark Chocolate Bar in the cookie and then topped them with sprinkles and mini marshmallows. Pretty decadent.

Last thing, my Jimmy is the most inspiring person I have ever known.

He's an optimist, he will try anything and teaches himself all kinds of things.

Being around him has made me, a perfectionist who is scared to try anything that I might do wrong, learn and try stuff I never would have otherwise.

"You could totally do that, Jess.", he says. Then comes along side and helps me push through all my, "I just can't do it"(s).

Well, Jimmy has started teaching himself the banjo...and it pretty much rocks!

Sufferin' Succotash

There will be no suffering with this succotash.

For Christmas I received a beautiful green depression glass casserole dish and a box set of Moosewood farmer market recipes both of which I have used very faithfully since. I love to make the succotash from those recipes and serve it in my green dish.

A reasonably quick vegetable dish, this is a sweet combo of roasted butternut squash mixed with some buttery sauteed lima beans and corn. I have taken this to our monthly fellowship lunch at church but make it a lot at home to accompany BBQ sausage and a coleslaw.

My hilarious nephew, Jack, gorged himself on this last week. Jibs has good things to say about it too.

Jack and Jibs say, "Trust us, this succotash is mighty fine."

Fancy Succotash

(moosewood farmer's market collection)

5-6C peeled and cubed (bite size) butternut squash

2 C coarsely chopped red onion

2 Tbsp minced garlic

1 tsp salt

3 Tbsp olive or veg oil

2 Tbsp fresh sage (1.5 tsp dried)

2 tsp dried thyme (2 Tbsp fresh)

1 1/2 C fresh or frozen corn

1 1/2 C frozen or canned (drained/rinsed) lima beans

1/4 C minced fresh parsley

Heat oven to 450*.

Mix together squash, onion, garlic, salt and 2 Tbsp oil on a large cookie sheet lined with parchment.

Bake 40mins stirring frequently until softened but crisp around the edges.

Meanwhile, heat the last 1 Tbsp of oil (or 2tsp oil, 2 tsp butter) in a large skillet.

Add sage and thyme and simmer a few seconds. Stir in corn and lima beans. Cook on low about 5 mins. Cover and set aside.

In a large dish toss together cooked squash mixture with the lima bean/corn mixture. Stir in parsley.

Pizza Night

My new pizza night favourite: Whole wheat crust topped with olive oil, 2 garlic gloves minced, oregano (fresh or dried), tomatoes, chopped kale, fresh ground pepper, grated parmesan cheese, minced onion and mozzarella.

Many traditions from both my Robinson and Stowe families have carried over into the way we do things in our own family. Pizza night happens to be one thing that both our families do. Friday night is Stowe pizza night and something we all look forward to. Most pizza dough recipes that I have tried in the past have not worked for me. Either they're too complicated or they don't roll out well or just plain don't taste good. My mum-in-law's pizza dough is my favourite. It is so simple and always perfect. I prefer whole wheat flour for my crust but some of my family members disagree so we usually go white.

*If I am making this for just the four of us, I half the recipe. If it's a Robin-Stowe pizza night I use the whole recipe.

Stowe Pizza Dough

2 1/4C Warm water

2T instant yeast

1T sugar

approx. 6 cups flour (just enough to make a soft dough that doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl)

3T Olive oil

1 1/2t salt

Combine warm water, yeast and sugar in a bowl or stand mixer (fitted with dough hook attachment.) Let stand 5 mins. Add remaining ingredients, mix and knead. (If using a stand mixer let the dough knead about 2 minutes.)
(If you have time, Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and let rise until you're ready to roll  out your dough.)

Divide dough into sections large enough for your trays, dusting rolling pin with more flour, roll out dough.

Top with sauce, toppings and cheese.

Flatbread Accoutrement II: (Re)Fried Beans

While looking for a good refried black bean recipe, I stumbled across this one by Gwyneth Paltrow. Very good as an addition to a taco or flat bread with cheese, I think I might even throw some on a nacho plate.

Gwyneth's Refried Beans

1 can black beans

4 cilantro stems

1 clove garlic crushed

pinch or 2 of salt

Combine all ingredients in a frying pan and simmer until all the bean liquid is gone, about 15-20mins. Remove stems and garlic clove. Serve.

Make Loaf, Not War

This is a fantastic loaf. We have made and eaten a lot of this lately. Jim usually grabs a few slices on his way out the door in the early morning. Eat it for dessert or with afternoon tea, it's everything one could hope for in a loaf, thus the name Everything Loaf. Another Joy the Baker gem, it is slightly sweet, and very moist. The combination of pecans, walnuts, pumpkin, spices, apple and cranberries is wonderful and wintery.

I love that this recipe makes two loaves so I can have one out for eating and one in the freezer. You could easily omit the nuts, if anyone is allergic to them or swap out dried for fresh cranberries.

Vegan Pumpkin Cranberry Apple Pecan Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups light brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree, (2 Cups)

1 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup maple syrup or honey

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts plus 8 pecan halves for the top

1 heaping cup fresh or 1/2 C dried cranberries

1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled and cored and cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350, grease 2 loaf pans.

In a large bowl mix together dry ingredients. In a 8 cup measuring cup (or med bowl) mix pumpkin, oil, maple and water.

Add wet to dry and told together with a rubber spatula.

Fold in nuts, cranberries and apple.

Divide between the 2 pans and line the top with pecan slices. (Sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon on the top now if you want.)

Cook for 1- 1 1 /4 hours, until tester comes out clean.

That Bread's Flat Bread

A warm, black speckled, sweet smelling tortilla is something special. Jim lived in Texas for a while and so he knows a good tortilla when he sees and tastes one. I ran out of our regular PC tortillas that were suppose to host Alton Brown's Guacamole and some of Gwyneth's refried beans. (Recipes for theses two are coming soon.) Instead of calling Jimmy to stop and pick some up on his way home from band practice, I tried something new. I've talked about The River Cottage Cafe cookbooks here before. This is their easy recipe for flat bread.

Easy Flat Bread

1 2/3 C All Purpose Flour (plus extra for dusting counter top)

1 tsp salt

1Tbsp Olive oil

2/3 C warm water

Mix together flour and salt in a large bowl. Pour oil into a measuring cup with the warm water.

Pour the water/oil mixture over the flour mixture slowly, stirring with your finger tips. Bring flour and water together to a sticky dough.

On a lightly floured surface work the dough into a ball and kneed for 5 minutes. (or have your eager assistant knead for 5 minutes) Stretching the dough, folding over and quarter turning as you go.

Cover the dough with the mixing bowl upturned on top of it. Let dough rest 15 minutes. In the mean time, prepare fillings for your bread.

Remove dough from under the bowl, roll it into a sausage shape and cut into 8 equal parts.

Flour counter top and rolling pin and roll out your dough pieces until they are the size of a salad plate (about 6-8 inches across).

Place a dry frying pan over high heat and get it really hot. Decrease heat to medium low and add your first flat disc. Flip when the bread starts to puff up and get speckley brown on the one side.

Have a clean tea towel ready to wrap warm bread in as you go.

Top cooked bread as soon as you can. They are so good warm!

Jim loves his bread straight out of the pan with a healthy smear of butter.

Baby Likes Green

Me being creepy with the VMix

Jibs Says, Green is Good!

Vita mix Love

Jibs is having a hard time waiting for his juice.

Im not sure how I got along without my Vita-Mix. About five years ago, my parents bought us the Vita-Mix for our anniversary present. Since then, we have made probably hundreds of different smoothies and juices in it. Somehow the favourites have usually been green. If you dont drink green juice, it may seem gross to you but it really is good. If the green comes from either spinach or kale, it really doesn't add any flavour to the juice. It does, however, add calcium, Vitamins A and C, potassium and iron.

I generally like pear in any juice because it adds sweetness. I also get bananas that are very ripe, cut them into chunks and throw them in a ziplock freezer bag. It's easy to take out a couple handfuls of them for your juices.

Here is what we do:

Baby Loves Green Juice

1C spinach

1C kale

1 banana (frozen and cut in chunks)

1 pear

1C yogurt (plain or vanilla)

1C water, Orange juice or milk

1T honey or maple syrup

Blend all ingredients in a Vita mix or powerful blender.

Moosewood Pasta Primavera

Another winner from the Moosewood collection. This pasta primavera is loaded with vegetables and in a very tasty, tomato-wine (ricotta) sauce. If you have Moosewood's Lowfat Favourites, turn page 206, get out a pen and make some changes to the original recipe. My humble recommendation is that you add a few things to the recipe as shown in the cookbook. I love adapting recipes and this one needed just a few tweaks to make it perfect.

To make the sauce a little creamier, I added a tub of ricotta cheese with some salt, parsley, butter and parmesan cheese stirred in, to the pasta just before adding the tomato sauce. The cheeses and butter will melt into the pasta so nicely.

I love vegetables and the brief steaming keeps them tasting fresh and sweet. A lot of vegetables would work in this dish, so feel free to add what you like or subtract any that you don't.

Pasta Primavera

6 cloves garlic, minced

2tsp Olive oil

3Cups Chopped tomatoes

1/4C White Wine (Sauvignon Blanc)

1t salt

1/2C chopped basil

1 small red onion, sliced thinly

2 carrots, 2inch matchsticks

1 bunch asparagus, 2 inch pieces

2 heads broccoli, bite-size

1 bell pepper, 2 inch matchsticks

1 zucchini, 2 inch matchsticks

1/2C green peas

salt, pepper

1 tub ricotta

3Tbsp butter, diced

1/2C grated parmesan

1/3C chopped parsley

1 lb pasta- any shape works

extra parmesan for topping

Warm olive oil in a large deep skillet, add garlic and cook over med heat 2 mins.

Add tomatoes, wine, salt and stir 5-10mins. Add basil and red onions and remove from heat.

Bring a large pot of water to boil with a steamer basket inside. Starting with the carrots for 1 minute, add peppers, asparagus, and broccoli to basket and cook another 3 mins. Add zucchini and cook 1 min. Add veg to tomato sauce, season if necessary and keep off heat.

Cook Pasta.

While pasta is cooking mix ricotta, butter, salt and parsley to taste and parmesan in a serving bowl. Add cooked pasta, stir well. Add tomato-veg mixture and stir well.

Top with lots of fresh pepper and grated parmesan cheese.

Jibs says "Dont forget a healthy sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan on top!"