Hidden Veggies Beet Spaghetti Sauce

Think your kids won't eat beets? We kept getting them in the CSA basket and I was determined to do something with them that was different. Beet recipes so often gear towards roasting and I wanted to put them into something that was already a hit in our house. Success! My son had seconds, my daughter loved the purple color and I loved that there was a pound of veggies crammed into the sauce. This recipe pulls double duty because you can use leftovers over mashed potatoes or as a sloppy joe filling.

Hidden Veggies Beet Spaghetti Sauce

(serves 6-8; great for leftovers)

1 lb ground beef

6-8 oz mushrooms

4 oz spinach

1 oz arugula (optional- I love the peppery bite it gives the sauce)

6 oz beets, tops & roots removed (no need to peel)

1 can plain tomato sauce

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1. Brown ground beef in a saucepan. Drain off the fat. While the beef is browning de-stem and slice the mushrooms.

2. Add mushrooms to the ground beef. 

3. Measure out 4 oz spinach, 1 oz arugula and 6 oz beets (roughly one small bunch). 

Chop them all up in the food processor. 

4. Add the veggies to the ground beef and mushrooms. Add a can of traditional spaghetti sauce (I use generic Hannaford's brand 95 cent sauce). Stir to combine. Add garlic powder and heat through.

5. Serve sauce over noodles, potatoes or as the filling for sloppy joes. Enjoy!

Eggplant Gnocchi with Eggplant Tomato Sauce

I love gnocchi. I am also a lucky woman. My husband and kids will eat anything but I love finding ways to "hide" vegetables for their friends. This gnocchi is the perfect vehicle for hidden vegetables. What child would imagine that lurking in the harmless looking pasta is an entire roasted eggplant? The sauce is a great complement to the gnocchi but could easily be replace with standard spaghetti sauce for the picky eaters in the crowd. This is also a great dish to make if you have vegetarians or vegans coming to dinner. One easy egg substitution and the meal is vegan. I am going to refer you to the photos & steps on my previous gnocchi blog post for techniques & pictorials on how to form and roll out gnocchi. 

Eggplant Gnocchi

(serves 4-6)

1 large eggplant (You will toss it with 1 TBS oil & 1 tsp kosher salt)

1 egg (you can easily make this recipe vegan by using an egg substitute product)

1 tsp kosher salt

1 1/4 cups flour plus an additional 1/2 cup- 3/4 cup for rolling out

1 tsp thyme

Eggplant Tomato Sauce

(serves 4-6)

1 large eggplant (You will toss it with 1 TBS oil & 1 tsp kosher salt)

1/2 26 oz can diced tomato (or replace with fresh diced tomato if it's in season in your area)

1 garlic clove, minced

2 TBS olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp thyme

zest of one lemon

juice from one lemon

1. Preheat oven to 450. Chop the ends off of the eggplants (you'll be using two if making the gnocchi and the sauce). Peel it and slice it into rounds. Stack the rounds and cube up the eggplant. Throw it into a bowl and toss with 1 TBS olive oil and 1 tsp of kosher salt for each eggplant you're using. 

Spread the eggplant on a cookie sheet and roast in the oven for roughly 15-20 minutes until soft. Watch for burning pieces. 

2. When the eggplant is done roasting place half of it into the food processor, reserving the other half for the sauce. Add an egg, 1 tsp of kosher salt, 1 tsp thyme & 1 /14 cups of flour into the processor and blend until smooth. It will look like a dip. Feel free to add an extra 1/4 cup of flour if it feels too goopy. 

Turn out the batter a few spoonfuls at a time onto your prepared floured surface to roll out the gnocchi into long strands (for pictures see my earlier gnocchi blog). As you cut up the gnocchi make sure to place it onto a floured cookie sheet. Once all gnocchi is cut place it into the fridge for 15 minutes to set. 

3. Start a large stockpot of water on the stove so it will boil in time to cook the gnocchi. Now it's time to start your sauce. In a saute pan place a tablespoon of olive oil and dump in the remaining eggplant. Use a spatula to move around the eggplant and heat it back up. Add 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar and mix to coat. 

Add in minced garlic and saute for 3 minutes. Add in the diced tomatoes and 1 TBS of olive oil. Use your tongs to combine the eggplant and tomato. 

4. By this point roughly 10- 15 minutes should have passed. Add the eggplant gnocchi that was resting in the fridge into the pot of boiling water. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and thyme into the sauce. The gnocchi need to boil for a little under 5 minutes and will float to the surface when done. Scoop onto plates and top with your sauce. Enjoy!

Orzo with Chicken, Artichokes and Sun Dried Tomatoes

I conducted a little bit of an experiment. Growing up we had an Italian restaurant we'd go to for special occasions. They had a pasta special that had chicken, artichokes, and sundried tomatoes. The sauce was lemony and tangy. It was one of my favorite dishes and I never branched out always ordering the same thing. In the throes of pregnancy cravings I thought about this and bought a jar of artichokes on my last shopping trip. I turned to the internet for a little guidance "googling" my ingredients. Unfortunately, most of the results involved heavy cream and loads of butters, mayo, and other not so good stuff. I remember this dish being light so I decided to play it by ear. I'm thrilled with the results. It truly is a restaurant quality dish for $1.45 a serving. I had bought some orzo at the market on my last trip because it is a deceptively filling pasta. It looks little and unassuming. The box even says that the 1lb of cooked pasta in it will feed 6-8. So not true! The box stretched over two meals with plenty of leftovers. It easily made 6 servings per meal. 

Orzo with Chicken, Artichokes & Sun Dried Tomatoes ($8.69 for the recipe- $1.45/serving)

(serves 6)

1/2 of a 1 lb box of orzo (I cooked the entire box so that I could use the leftovers in my Bacon Cheddar Brussel Sprout Bake the next night. I strongly recommend it.) box is 1.07- 1/2 box is .54

2 large chicken breasts (I froze these out of a family pack 2/bag- they were roughly 1 lb combined. $9.83 for a pack of 7 makes them $1.40 ea) 2.80

1 16oz jar marinated artichoke hearts- I used Cento, they have a tasty marinade & good prices $2.69

3.5 oz or so of sun dried tomatoes (mine were homemade from CSA cherry tomatoes last summer- Alessi has some bottled ones that are available in the ethnic aisle for $4/7oz) $2

1 lemon .33 (on sale this week)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup white wine (You could use chicken broth if you didn't want to use wine.)

2 TBS half & half (1 TBS=.5oz, 64 oz = $3.75, .06/oz) .06

3 TBS butter, split (2.99 for 4 stick pack, .75/stick, 8 TBS/stick = .09/TBS) .27

2 TBS olive oil

1. In a stockpot start water boiling for the orzo.

2. In a pan over medium heat, place 2 TBS olive oil, 1 TBS butter and chicken breasts. 

When the chicken has turned opaque on one side (about 5 minutes on medium heat), flip it and add 1/3 cup of white wine and the minced garlic. The chicken breasts I used were really thick so it takes at least 5-7 minutes per side. At this point your orzo water should be boiling. Add a tsp of salt to it and add the orzo to it. Be sure to give it a stir occasionally or it will stick to the bottom. Set your timer for 8 minutes.

Squeeze the juice from half a lemon into the pan and add the sun dried tomatoes. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.  I wash the lemon first and toss the entire squeezed half in so that a little more flavor will cook out. When the timer goes off on your orzo shut the burner off. Leave the orzo in the pan with the cover on. It will continue to cook a tiny bit in the hot water and will stay warm. 

Pull the chicken out and chop it into cubes. I split the breasts horizontally first then chopped it into cubes.  At this point it will be very moist and juicy and the juices should run clear. Toss it back into the pan. 

I drained the marinade from the Cento artichokes into my pan to add a little more flavor. 

 Then it's time to chop the artichokes up into little pieces.

Add them into the pan with the chicken and sun dried tomatoes. Make sure to mix them all up so that the flavors "marry". You want to add in 2 TBS of butter, 2 TBS half and half (or cream) and the juice from the other half of the lemon at this point. If you had placed the lemon carcass in the pan before pull it out. This creates the sauce for your pasta.

You can go ahead and strain your orzo now. If you cooked the whole box like me so that you could use the extra for another meal set half of it aside. 

Add the orzo to the chicken, artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, and sauce. Mix it all together. 

Serve immediately. This is a tangy lemon-y dish. Add some grated parmesan to cut the acidity if you so desire. Enjoy!