Sides! - Double-Post Tuesday

Besides being Taco Tuesday, it's also Double-Post Tuesday. Here are six recipes to help with your holiday meal, including Cranberry Orange Quick Bread and Easy Cranberry Sauce. Enjoy!

LENTIL VEGETABLE SOUP

This comes from Ina Garten of The Food Network's Barefoot Contessa. Total Time: 2 hr 5 min; Prep: 20 min; Inactive: 15 min; Cook: 1 hr 30 min; Yield: 8 to 10 servings; Level: Easy

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lentil-vegetable-soup-recipe.print.html?oc=linkback

Ingredients

1 pound French green lentils

4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 large onions)

4 cups chopped leeks, white part only (2 leeks)

1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)

1/4 cup good olive oil, plus additional for drizzling on top

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3 cups medium-diced celery (8 stalks)

3 cups medium-diced carrots (4 to 6 carrots)

3 quarts chicken stock

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 tablespoons red wine or red wine vinegar

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

In a large bowl, cover the lentils with boiling water and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drain.

In a large stockpot on medium heat, saute the onions, leeks, and garlic with the olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme, and cumin for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are translucent and very tender. Add the celery and carrots and saute for 10 more minutes. Add the chicken stock, tomato paste, and lentils. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, until the lentils are cooked through. Check the seasonings. Add the red wine and serve hot, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with grated Parmesan.

CRANBERRY ORANGE QUICK BREAD

This comes from Elizabeth Yetter, About.com's Bread Baking expert. Elizabeth wrote, “Enjoy the sweet taste of dried cranberries and the aroma of oranges with this delicious recipe for cranberry orange quick bread. The quick bread batter is made into 3 mini loaves that are perfect for family gatherings and gift giving. Individual loaves can be wrapped in foil, bagged, and frozen if they are not glazed.” Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 1 hour; Total Time: 75 minutes

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

2/3 cup butter, chilled

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup dried cranberries

rind and juice from medium orange

milk (see instructions)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar

water

Preparation:

Grease 3 mini loaf pans.

Preheat oven 350 degrees F.

In large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Cut butter into thin slices and add to bowl. Break butter into mixture with fingers until mixture is crumbly.

Stir in brown sugar.

Stir in cranberries.

Grate the rind off of one medium orange. Add rind to the mixture.

Cut orange in half and squeeze juice out into bowl. Remove any seeds from juice.

Pour orange juice (it should be about 1/4 cup) into liquid measuring cup. Add enough milk to the orange juice to make 3/4 cup.

Pour orange juice and milk into mixture. Add eggs and stir. Batter should be thick but not dry. If necessary, add more milk, a tablespoon at a time.

Scrape batter into three greased mini loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until done.

Turn loaves out and let cool on rack.

In small bowl, add enough water to confectioner’s sugar to make a thin icing. Drizzle icing over loaves.

EASY CRANBERRY SAUCE

This comes from One Green Planet's newsletter. The recipe states, “My Easy Cranberry Sauce is not very sweet. It has a tangy tartness and makes a beautiful side dish for your holiday table.”

To view this and other cranberry recipes, click here.

12 oz. Bag of fresh or frozen cranberries, with 1/2 cup set aside

1 cup sugar

zest of 1 orange

2 Tbs. Water or orange juice

Set aside 1/ 2 cup cranberries in a bowl. Put the rest of the cranberries into a saucepan. Add sugar, orange zest and water or orange juice and cook over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves and cranberries soften, about 10 minutes. Raise the heat to medium high and cook until cranberries burst, about another 10 minutes. Reduce heat back to low and add in the cranberries you set aside. Add more sugar if you want, and salt and pepper to taste. Let cool (you can refrigerate it if you like your cranberry sauce cold) before serving.

HOT CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

This comes from The Food Network Kitchen, and starts off, “These one-bowl brownies couldn't be easier to make, and adding leftover hot chocolate mix is the perfect way to make them extra special. Interested in a Mexican hot chocolate version? Just add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon to the dry ingredients and sprinkle the top of each brownie with a pinch of chili powder.” Total Time: 1 hr 45 min; Prep: 25 min; Inactive: 45 min; Cook: 35 min; Yield: 24 brownies; Level: Easy

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/hot-chocolate-brownies.html?oc=linkback

Ingredients

Cooking spray

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup hot chocolate or cocoa mix

1 teaspoon fine salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

One 12-ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips

72 mini marshmallows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, and spray with the cooking spray.

Stir together the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a medium bowl. Add the flour, hot chocolate mix, salt and baking powder and stir until just combined. Stir in half the chocolate chips. Spread the mixture in the prepared baking pan.

Bake until the brownies begin to pull away from the edges of the pan and are set in the center, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven, immediately sprinkle with the remaining chocolate chips, and let stand until they are very soft, about 5 minutes. Spread the melted chips evenly with a spatula, and let cool for about 10 minutes. Use the foil to lift the brownies out of the pan, and let cool completely on a rack. Cut into 24 squares, and top each with 3 mini marshmallows.

BAKED BUTTER CARROTS

This comes from my e-cookbook, Off the Wall Cooking.

These are from my Grandma Hallock, who was a fantastic cook. She wrote, “Good with Veal Birds (Beef Rolls).” Eat & enjoy!

2 1/2 lbs. carrots

1 T salt

2 T oleo or butter

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

dash of pepper

2 tsp. lemon juice

Peel carrots. Cut into lengthwise slices. Put them & rest of ingredients into casserole. Cover & bake at 275 degrees for 3 hours. Uncover & brown on top for 15 minutes. Serves 6.

ACORN SQUASH STUFFED WITH VEGETARIAN SAUSAGE AND APPLES

This comes from Jolinda Hackett, About.com’s Vegetarian Food expert. Jolinda wrote, “A vegetarian and vegan recipe for acorn squash stuffed with vegetarian sausage and apples. Use store-bought vegetarian sausage to make this fall entree for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any special occasion meal. Stuffed acorn squash makes a very presentable centerpiece for a vegetarian of vegan meal. It's filled with a bread stuffing with plenty of fresh herbs, including sage and thyme - it's these herbs which will fill your kitchen and your entire home with that fabulous Thanksgiving aroma as it bakes.

“If you're looking for a gluten-free stuffed squash recipe, try using a quinoa stuffing instead of bread.

“This vegetarian and vegan stuffed acorn squash recipe serves four, but the portions are generous, so plan on it serving 6-8 if you're serving it as a side dish.”

Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 75 minutes; Total Time: 95 minutes; Yield: 4 as a main, 6 - 8 as a side.

Ingredients

1 package vegetarian sausage (use Gimme Lean brand)

2 cups water

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

6 stalks celery, chopped fine

1 Tbsp fresh sage OR 1 tsp dried

1 Tbsp fresh thyme OR 1 tsp dried

6 oz plain stuffing cubes, OR 8 cups toasted bread crumbs

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 medium apple, any kind, diced

1/3 cup apple cider

2 large acorn squash, cut in half, with seeds removed

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450°.

Lightly brown the vegetarian sausage in a non-stick skillet sprayed with a little olive oil, breaking it up and crumbling it with a spatula as it browns, just as you would with a meat sausage. Set aside.

Bring water and olive oil to a boil in a covered pot over high heat. Stir in onion, celery, sage, and thyme. Cook, covered, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in stuffing cubes, salt and pepper, applesauce, apple cider, and the browned sausage, mixing to combine. Taste, and adjust seasonings to taste.

Divide the stuffing evenly among the acorn squash halves. Arrange the halves in a roasting pan and pour water around (not on) the squash to 1 inch.

Lightly spray a piece of aluminum foil large enough to cover the pan with olive oil spray. This will prevent it from sticking to the stuffing. Cover the pan tightly, tending slightly with the sprayed side down.

Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork.