Pantry Collective

Ever on the lookout for dinner-salads my husband will eat, I was inspired by Mexican Style Smart Ground at the grocery store. This salad approximates all the flavors of a typical family restaurant-style taco salad, but is low in fat and calories, vegetarian, and high in protein and fiber. Sorry about the crappy picture. Still working on the camera situation :).

The base salad is green leaf lettuce, green peppers, cucumber, roma tomato. This is tossed with dressing and Smart Grounds and topped with 2oz of crumbled tortillas. Garnish each serving with a dollop of fresh plain yogurt and cilantro.

Dressing: You can use any variety of yogurty, cheesy dressings and just add some chili powder. I went with 5tbs Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch Reduced Fat Dressing and added 2 1/2tbs of homemade chili powder.

Nutrition Estimate (per dinner-sized serving, with dressing):

575 calories, 10g fat, 13g fiber, 24g protein

Before I begin: Check your schedule for next Sunday. Are you free? Yes? Good! Plan a brunch and invite 7 of your favorite people. And then put this on the menu. Or maybe you should just skip the invites, have a brunch for yourself, and eat this all on your own. I won’t tell.

This is quite possible the most perfect brunch food I have ever eaten. Savory, cheesy, with eggs and potatoes and crunchy bits on the edges… Oh man, I wish it wasn’t all gone. I could go for another slice right now.

What’s that? You think you don’t like turnips? Well, you have two choices: don’t worry about it, because you’d never know they were there, or don’t worry about it, and don’t add them. Whatevs. Gruyère too expensive? (It is for me, too!) Get some Gouda (that’s what I used) or some white cheddar and go to town. Do not forget the fresh chives. Do not substitute the yogurt. If you can’t find plain greek yogurt, at least strain your watery Dannon overnight so it’s nice and thick by morning.

Do not halve the recipe. You will regret it. I know this from experience.

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This dish is unbelievable. It is so simple and easy to prepare that it seems like it can’t possibly be as delicious as it is, but if you aren’t craving seconds when your first bowl is empty, well, I guess we have very different tastes. I can’t get enough of this dish - it’s light, but filling, sweet and savory, and meat-free since we’re trying to eat a little less meat in this house.

The second time I made it, I did it a bit differently than what is shown in the photos. I used whole wheat linguine and walnuts instead of almonds, and I cut the brussels sprouts into quarters instead of halves. All worthwhile changes, for sure, although the first version was delicious as well. You can decide for yourself - just MAKE this. Try it, even if you wince at the thought of brussels sprouts. Believe me, if you put a maple vinaigrette on something, it immediately tastes a million times better than you think it might.

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It is so easy to make this rustic, savory tart. The possibilities of what to put in the filling are endless, too. Basically anything you think tastes good together is probably going to taste better when it’s baked in a pie crust! This is a hearty vegetarian version with leeks, potatoes, zucchini, and feta. The recipe utilizes a store-bought piecrust but feel free to make your own. I also used a lovely peppercorn studded feta. You could make this for lunch or dinner, or cut it into small slices and serve it as a hot appetizer at a small party.

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Apparently, I am a big fan of beef bourguignon, since I actually have another recipe here for it. This one is quite a bit better, though. The sauce is thicker and more flavorful, and doesn’t rely on canned mushroom soup for flavor. I saw the recipe over at Ezra Pound Cake last week and knew I had to make this yummy winter stew again.

I left out the bacon (intentionally) and the pearl onions (unintentionally). I just never have bacon on hand and really didn’t want to buy it just for this dish. And I am one of those people who doesn’t love bacon flavoring in everything, although I know many people do. I’m sure it adds a lot of flavor to the dish, but I promise, if you leave it out it is totally fine. The pearl onions, on the other hand, were forgotten about until it was already served. Oops! I might throw them in when reheating the leftovers.

That’s fresh baked No-Knead Bread on the plate, along with creamy mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus (two accompaniments I repeated from the first recipe). Yum!

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