Sweet Onion Casserole

Pulled this out of the magazine CookingLight.

YIELD: 6 servings (serving size: about 2/3 cup)

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 4 cups chopped sweet onion (about 1 3/4 pounds)
• 1/2 cup uncooked long-grain rice
• 2/3 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup (1 1/3 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 325°. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Place onion in a large bowl. Cook rice in a large pot of boiling water 5 minutes. Drain. Stir rice and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) into onions. Spoon onion mixture into an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake at 325° for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 5 minutes. Top with parsley, if desired.

Irene Lilja, Corvallis, Oregon, Cooking Light

MAY 2011

Followed pretty closely. Used only ½ TBS of olive oil. Cooked the onions longer than 5 minutes, closer to 12. Used a bit extra rice and a bit extra milk (closer to ¾ cup) and a that milk was a mix of skim with a TBS of whipping cream. Omitted allspice. I thought this was really good. My calculations come out to 213 cal per serving at 6 servings. But that was a HUGE serving. I got 8 servings out @ 160cal per serving. It freezes well.  --JT

Ham, Mushroom, and Gruyère Strata

Modified from Cooking Light
YIELD: 8 servings

Ingredients
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped (330g)
• 16oz presliced button mushrooms, broken into halves
• Thick-cut slice of deli ham, chopped (6.5oz)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 15oz sourdough/French bread chopped or torn
• Cooking spray
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Gruyère or other Swiss cheese
• 2 cups fat-free milk
• 6 eggs
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp whole grain mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1-2 oz of shredded Parmesean cheese
• Garnish with chopped green onion

Preparation
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onions; sauté 3 minutes or until translucent. Remove to bowl. Add mushrooms to pan, and sauté 7 minutes or until mushrooms release moisture. Allow moisture to cook off some. Cool slightly, add to onions. Add ham and parsley.

Lightly beat eggs with milk, mustard, salt and pepper. Add grated cheese and stir. Add to cooled mushroom mixture. Stir gently.

Add bread cubes and stir to coat. Pour into a 9x13 sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle the top with 1-2 oz of Parmesean cheese

Cover with foil, refrigerate for 8 hours. (I did 1 hour!)

Preheat oven to 350º. Remove strata from refrigerator, and let stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Bake strata, covered, at 350º for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes or until set and golden brown. Sprinkle with chives, if desired.

8servings, each is 375 calories. Good with steamed spinach and cherry tomatoes. Also good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! I reallllllly liked this. The flavor of the ham, cheese, mushroom was so good. The mustard added a savory flavor that didn't taste like mustard. Same for the parsley -- added flavor without screaming parsley. I used brown sugar ham fromt he deli and the slight sweetness was good too. Loved it!  --JT

Chicken with Eggplant and Basil

(From a magazine at the check stand)

¼ cup (1/3oz) coarsely chopped fresh basil

2 TBS chopped fresh mint (or cilantro)

¾ cup (6 fl oz) chicken broth

3 green onions, including greens, 2 coarsely chopped and 1 thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic

1 TBS peeled chopped fresh ginger

2 TBS olive oil

1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped

2 bell pepper (red or yellow), seeded and julienned

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into strips 0.5” x 2”

2 TBS low-sodium soy sauce

In blender or food processor, combine the basil, mint, ¼ cup of stock, the shopped green onions, garlic and ginger. Pulse until minced but not pureed. Set aside.

In large non-stick frying pan, heat 1 TBS of oil over medium-high heat. Add the eggplant, onion, peppers, and sauté until just tender, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Add remaining oil to pan. Add basil mixture and sauté for 1 minute, stirring. Add the chicken and soy and sauté until chicken in almost opaque throughout, 2 minutes. Add remaining ½ cup of stock and bring to a boil. Return veggies to pan and stir until heated, about 3 minutes. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with sliced green onion.

I liked this very much.  I made a few modifications... I did not add garlic or ginger.  I may have added a little powdered garlic.  I didn't have any mint or cilantro -- I think it would have added to the flavor.  It lacked a bitterness/herbiness/tangyness... not sure how to describe what I was missing.  It was still good, but I wish it had one of those other herbs.  And I used one yellow and one orange pepper.  Would use one red in the future as the color would have looked nice. 

Other than those items, I followed the recipe and liked it very much.  Caution: it is a LARGE quantity of raw veggies to process.  I had to cook in shifts as it wouldn't all fit in the pan at once. 

This recipe makes a large serving.  At 4 servings, it came out to 285calories and at 6 servings it came out to 195cal.  I did 6 servings and added a half serving of rice or quinoa, for an extra 75 calories.  I think I would do 4 servings next time.   

An interesting process, would be adaptable to other veggies/proteins/herbs.
--JT