Hearty Vegetable and Wild Rice Bake

Nothing says it's chilly out there like root vegetables in the oven. When you're in need of some non-cheesy, non-greasy, straight up hearty comfort food, this meal is for you.

Ingredients
- 1 cup wild rice
- 1 cup pearl barley
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 shallot, diced
- 6 cups of chopped sweet potatoes, carrots, and parsnips in any ratio (I used 2.5 cups sweet potatoes, 1 cup parsnips, and 1.5 cups carrots this time.)
- 1 pound mushrooms, sliced
- 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp parlsey
- 1 tsp sage
- 1 cup apple cider
- 3 cups vegetable broth

How To Cook It
1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2) Put the rice into 4 cups of boiling water. Cook for 10 minutes, drain, and set aside.
3) Sauté the onion and shallot in the olive oil and salt until they start to brown.
4) Pour barley, drained rice, and the cooked onions and shallots into a 9x13 inch casserole dish. Stir together and spread out evenly.
5) Sprinkle a little of the sage and parsley over the top of the grain mixture.
6) In a separate bowl or container, mix the carrots, sweet potatoes, and parsnip pieces together. Spread them out on top of grain base.
7) Sprinkle the remaining sage and parsley across the top of your vegetables.
8) Pour the cider and broth over all.
9) Cover with an oven-safe lid or aluminum foil and bake for an hour.

Note: You can bake this ahead of time if you need to. Once you've completed the above steps, simply put it in your 'fridge overnight and heat up in the oven (at about 200-250 degrees Fahrenheit) until it reaches your desired temperature. Before reheating, add a splash of additional cider or broth to keep everything moist.

Aloo Matar: Potatoes and Peas Curry

This dish takes some time to cook, but the preparation is pretty basic. Since it freezes well, Aloo Matar is in my arsenal of "make ahead" dishes. Assuming that you aren't cooking for a large group, the amount of ingredients used will create enough food to leave you with leftovers aplenty.

One of my simple pleasures in life is enjoying the aroma of this dish filling my home. All of the spices make it smell so good. I hope that you find cooking (and eating) it to be just as enjoyable!

Ingredients
- 3 medium onions, peeled and chopped coarsely
- 9 cloves garlic, peeled
- 4 large tomatoes, chopped
- 4 1/2 cups peas
- Approximately 4 pounds (equals about 4 large) potatoes, peeled and cubed.
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil (I used unfiltered, that's why it's so dark green. I've tried many kinds of olive oil in this recipe, and all have had tasty results.)
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 4 tsp coriander
- 1 1/2 TBSP salt

How To Cook It
1) Put the onions and garlic cloves in a food processor or blender. Purée untill smooth.
2) Blend in the ginger, paprika, chili powder, turmeric powder, and coriander to the onions and garlic.Allow the mixture to sit for about five minutes or so that everything can meld together.
3) Heat the olive oil in a large, deep pan. Add your the ingredients from steps 1 & 2 and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture deepens in color (the onions and garlic are browning in there, it's just difficult to see because of the spices) and the oil beings to separate out.
4) Add your tomatoes and salt. Cover the pan and (continuing to stir frequently) cook everything down until the tomatoes, onions, garlic, and spices look like a rich gravy, or curry paste.
5) Gently fold in the potatoes and peas, coating them with your curry paste.
6) Pour in the vegetable broth and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through and the broth boils down to your desired consistency (about 1 hour in my case).
7) Serve over rice or with naan and enjoy!

Balsamic Tortellini Over Fresh Baby Spinach

Ever wondered what tastes better on tortellini than tomato sauce? Balsamic vinegar of course! This light dinner or lunch entree has a small ingredient list, but packs a delightful punch to the taste buds. You'll be making a quick and easy reduction of balsamic vinegar with a little butter and sugar to coat the tortellini. Delish!!

Ingredients
- 20 ounces cheese tortellini
- 1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar
- Spinach (about 8 ounces would easily be enough for four people)
- 3/4 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese
- 2 TBSP butter
- 1 TBSP sugar

How To Cook It
1) Pour the balsamic vinegar into a nonreactive pot (ex: stainless steel, enameled, ceramic, glass, etc.).
2) Start to heat the vinegar on your stove and stir in the sugar until blended.
3) Bring your vinegar mixture to a boil and reduce the heat to medium/medium-low. Simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4) Stir in the butter, and continue to simmer on low heat for an additional 5 minutes or so.
5) Remove your reduction from the heat. The mixture will thicken a bit as it cools.
6) Meanwhile (while your balsamic is simmering away), cook your tortellini for about 6-8 minutes in boiling water.
7) Drain the tortellini (don't rinse it!) and return it to the pot you used to cook it.
8) Pour the balsamic reduction over the top and stir gently to evenly coat the tortellini.
9) Toss in the parmesan cheese throughout.
10) Spoon the warm pasta over a waiting pile of spinach.

Blueberry Maple Muffins

Every now and then, I get a hankering to whip up a quick batch of muffins. They're a great breakfast treat.

Blueberry muffins have always been my favorite, and I have a love for all things maple. If you're trying to watch your sugar intake, simply cut the sugar in this recipe by half. Milled flax seeds add fiber, protein, omega-3 fatty acid, and polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Blueberries are both delicious and antioxidant-rich.

Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1/2 cup wheat flour
- 1/4 cup milled/ground flax seed
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup reduced fat buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup maple syrup (Use the real stuff!)
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries
- Vegetable shortening for muffin pan

How to Cook Them
1) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2) Grease 12 muffin cups with vegetable shortening.
3) Mix together your dry ingredients in a large bowl until well blended (flour, wheat flour, flax seed, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt).
4) In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients (buttermilk, eggs, oil, maple syrup).
5) Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until moistened.
6) Add the blueberries and gently stir into your muffin batter.
7) Spoon the muffin batter and berries into your muffin pan.
8) Sprinkle a tiny bit of sugar on top of each muffin.
9) Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and they're nicely browned.
10) Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes before removing them from the pan.