olives

A few weeks ago I finally reactivated my library card! This means trouble – I now have a ton of library books on my night stand, and even more on hold. In between all the best-sellers and fiction books, I also made room for a few cookbooks. The first one, Meat Free Monday, is by Paul McCartney and has a collection of meatless meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner – for a whole year. I tagged a few recipes, including one for a meatless dinner stew.

I really really enjoyed the recipe – the book said it made 4 servings, but B and I had dinner, and I froze 5 cups for leftovers, even a few without potatoes for B, who is starting a low-carb diet this week.

vegetarian eggplant, potato and pepper stew labeled

Eggplant, Potato and Pepper Stew (slightly modified from the Meat Free Monday Cookbook)

Yields 5-8 servings

Here’s what you need:

3 tbs olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 garlic cloves, diced
1 red pepper, seeded and cut into large chunks
1 eggplant, cut into large chunks
1 zucchini, chopped into chunks
2 medium Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 tbs dried oregano
2 14-oz cans stewed tomatoes
1 1/3 c vegetable broth
14-oz can white beans, drained and rinsed
4 tbs greek olives, chopped
Feta and parsley for topping

Here’s what you do:

Heat half of olive oil in a large pot. Add onion and celery, cook until tender but not colored. Add garlic and saute for another minute.
Add the remaining oil, chopped peppers, zucchini, and eggplant to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add potatoes, oregano, canned tomatoes and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, cover the pan, and reduce the heat to low
Simmer for 25-30 minutes until veggies are tender.
Add beans and olives, cook for another 5 minutes.
Taste the stew! Add salt, pepper or other spices as needed. Serve with crumbled feta and chopped parsley.
Chop the veggies ahead of time … it’s easier

saute the celery, onion and garlic first

Let the stew simmer

closeup of stew

I have decided to give up eating meat for Lent. I know it will be a challenge, but it’s one that I think I can do and one that will also broaden my cooking horizons. Will B give up meat? No. But he has said he’ll try whatever recipes I come up with, so I’ve already started looking for new vegetarian recipes to try and even taken some books out of the library.

So, during the countdown to Lent, I enjoyed some of my favorite meaty dishes, mainly pepperoni pizza and pepperoni bread. And believe it or not, I’ll also miss chicken! That’s why this weekend I decided it was time to make this recipe (pictured below – picture is not mine) that I’ve had for a little while, before my meat-free months begin.

I’m leading with the image FROM Jamie Oliver because it looks much better than mine and maybe you’ll actually make it if you think it looks like this

If you want an easy, hearty and relatively healthy dish that takes about 5 minutes prep time (but 1 hr 15 min to cook), I highly recommend this. Plus, think of all you can accomplish in the 1 hour and 15 minutes you spend waiting for this dish? You could clean your kitchen, read a book, do some exercises in your living room (I wouldn’t recommend going to the gym while this is in the oven), and more! Think of how productive you can be! At least that’s what I was thinking … B and I ended up just snacking (on pepperoni bread obviously) and catching up on our DVR. Watching episodes of The Office and Walking Dead count as being productive, right?

Anyway, the meal turned out delicious and B took the leftovers (I only had one thigh) for lunch today. I don’t usually like dark meat but with the crusty ciabatta bread, olive oil sauce and other ingredients, I managed to eat it, and enjoy it!

Super Easy One-Dish Roasted Chicken

(slightly adapted from Jamie Oliver)

The recipe below is what I made and it serves 2-3 depending on how hungry you are. The original serves 4-6.

Here’s what you need:

2 thick slices of ciabatta bread
2 full chicken legs (each leg is one thigh and drumstick)
1 cup cherry tomatoes
Bunch of basil leaves
1 garlic bulb, broken into cloves
½ c of black seedless mediterranean olives
1 red chili pepper, chopped
Healthy drizzle of olive oil
4 slices of pancetta

Here’s what you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Get a deep roasting tray big enough to fit all the chicken in one layer.
Rip the ciabatta into medium-sized chunks and place in the tray with the chicken, tomatoes, basil, garlic cloves, olives, chopped red chili pepper.
Add a generous drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper and the chili. Toss to mix up well, then reposition the chicken on top. Bake in the oven, turning the chicken after 30 minutes.
Cook for another 30 minutes and then add the pancetta on top of the chicken.
Return to the oven and cook for an additional 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked and falling off the bone.
Serve with a side salad and perhaps some more ciabatta bread!

One Dish Roasted Chicken With Pancetta, Olives, Tomato and Garlic

All the ingredients ready to be roasted! The recipe says to put the chicken on top before roasting but I couldn’t leave you with a photo of ugly naked chicken so I adapted it slightly.