I have been on a roasted veggies kick. I can’t help it. I know I have posted the pasta dish, but this one has potatoes and is perfect along side some eggs and smoked sausage. You could make it a bowl if you want.. add some cheese, add some other meats (or a different meat)… very versatile.

Michigan Ingredients: Green Pepper and Zucchini.

Some dear friends of ours dropped off some veggies recently and let me tell you… nothing says love like fresh produce!

Chop your peppers, line them up in rainbow fashion. You must do this as it looks so pretty. Some call it obsessive compulsive, I like to call it organized (ha ha ha).

Chop your zucchini and potatoes. I would recommend chopping your potatoes on the smaller size as potatoes are super hearty and take a bit longer to roast…. but if they are smaller, they roast faster. You don’t want to have potatoes that have that “raw” taste.

Place all veggies in a bowl and add about 1/2-1 tablespoon of olive oil and the seasonings I used (you can season however you wish….) this time were onion powder, garlic salt, and lemon pepper.

“The colors spike… the colors!” Who can name that commercial from the 90’s? Look at how beautiful that is. It is like a colorful, healthy heaven! I could eat this every day and be content. Talk about getting your rainbow of foods for the day.  ANYWAYS….. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spread the veggies out evenly in a single layer.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and roast for 30-35 minutes (or longer, depending on how “roasted” you want your veggies to be). You can roast these a bit longer, but I wanted my daughter to eat these as it is all about sacrifices we were eating breakfast for dinner  solo one evening (and I wanted to include a vegetable). Don’t you love having breakfast for dinner? We’ve been having them a lot this summer. Side note: She ate everything but the potatoes and a couple of zucchini pieces (and the sausage as she is going through a “I don’t want to eat meat” phase).

This is a great side dish for anything, but particularly when it’s breakfast for dinner. Get those veggies in people!!! It’s the summer and produce is booming in Michigan. Go and support your local farmers market

Roasted Vegetables... For Breakfast!

 

Author:

Michigan from Scratch

Recipe type: Side Dish

Serves: 4

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 35 mins

Total time: 55 mins

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Roasted Vegetables that you can eat with any meal, even breakfast!!

Ingredients

• 1 Red Bell Pepper
• 1 Orange Bell Pepper
• 1 Yellow Bell Pepper
• 1 Green Bell Pepper
• 1 Zucchini (medium sized)
• 1-2 Red Potatoes
• ½ to 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil
• ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
• ¼ teaspoon Garlic Salt
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon of Lemon Pepper
• salt and pepper to taste if needed

Instructions

1. Core and chop your peppers and zucchini to 1 inch sized pieces.
2. Chop your potatoes into smaller sized pieces (so that they cook and are not raw while the other veggies are completely roasted).
3. Mix all veggies in a bowl with olive oil and seasonings.
4. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spread veggies out into an even layer.
5. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and roast for 30-35 minutes (or longer, depending on how "roasted" you want your veggies to be).

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These muffins are amazing. Not too sweet, yet just the right  of sweetness to fully enjoy as a dessert. This is why it is acceptable to have them with dinner.

This is the recipe my family uses whenever we make macaroni and cheese. There is a slight lemon hint from the lemon zest, but not quite enough to put lemon in the title. It adds a great deal of freshness to the muffins. I’ve made the muffins before without lemon zest and you really can tell that it is missing.

Michigan Ingredient: Sugar

Unfortunately, blueberries are not quite in season yet in Michigan; but I had to include this recipe with the mac and cheese because it would almost be sacrilege if I didn’t.  Blueberries are usually in season in July and August.

First things first, combine the blueberries, lemon zest and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl. Doesn’t that look good? I could  just eat that by itself.

Combine the remaining dry ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine. I usually use a fork because I would rather clean a fork than a whisk. I know horrible right? BUUUUUUTTTTTTTT….. normally I am prepping these and the whisk is already dirty from making the cheese sauce for the macaroni and cheese. SOOOOOOOO… priorities? Yes, let’s go with that.  Please note that a well is created for the liquid ingredients.

Combine the liquid ingredients in a separate bowl and then pour into the well. If it runs over, that is fine. It does not mean that the recipe fails. I promise. Stir until the ingredients are barely combined. When it comes to making muffins, you do not want to over-stir them. I want to say that I overheard a grandparent say this, so it must be true. If there appears to be a couple of “dry” lumps, that’s no big deal.

At this time, I would preheat the oven at this point (to 425) and then pour (or spoon) your muffin batter into the muffin tin. I like to make “bigger” muffins, so usually this recipe yields 10 muffins for me that are “bigger”. The recipe can stretch to 12 muffins, your muffins will just be slightly smaller.

If you have empty cavities, please pour water in them to promote even baking. My mom has always done this for as long as I can remember and whatever she was baking would always turn out great.  Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes until the muffins pass the toothpick test.

Blueberry Muffins

 

Author:

Michigan from Scratch

Cuisine: Breads

Serves: 10-12 muffins

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 35 mins

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Ingredients

• 1 cup of Fresh Blueberries
• 2 tablespoons of Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon of Fresh Lemon Zest
• 1¾ cups of Flour
• ¼ cup of Sugar
• 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoon of Salt
• ¾ cup of Milk
• ⅓ cup Oil
• 1 Egg

Instructions

1. Combine your blueberries, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and lemon zest in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Combine the remaining dry ingredients into a large bowl. Create a well in which the liquid ingredients will be poured into.
3. Combine the milk, oil, and egg into a small bowl. Pour into the well in the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined (Do not over-stir).
4. Add your blueberries and stir until just combined.
5. Preheat your oven at 425 degrees while your pour your muffin batter into a muffin pan. *
6. Bake for 20-25 until the toothpick comes out clean.

Notes

*Note: If you do not use all of the muffin cavities, fill the empty spaces with water to promote even baking.

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It’s that time of year where everyone is starting to cook more Mexican/Spanish recipes for Cinco de Mayo. I am jumping on the bandwagon; however, I cook Mexican dishes all year long.

This is a rather simple recipe. Back in the day, my family would just make the Rice-a-Roni (the San Francisco Treat ding ding) Spanish Rice and then call it a day. This recipe comes from a cookbook titled “Cooking Basics,”   in which it gives simple recipes that the novice cook can make. It is not overly complicated and the ingredients are simple.

Over the years, I have modified the recipe to suite my needs; and I would say that this recipe is the one that I continually make over and over without modifying same.

Sometimes you can even turn this recipe into a “meal” by added left over taco meat or chicken fajita meat. Mind you, that if you do this, do so after the rice cooks so that the seasonings of your taco meat or chicken fajita meat do not overpower/drown out the seasoning of the Spanish rice.

Michigan Ingredient: Meijer Tomato Sauce and Meijer Diced Tomatoes

( Meijer was founded in Greenville, Michigan and the fact that the name brand is great and affordable is an added bonus )

First things first, chop up your green peppers and onion and mince your garlic (if you are using real… if you don’t have real, it’s ok to substitute garlic powder).  Sometimes people feel it is necessary to wait to add the garlic when you saute your onion (and in this case green pepper), but I live on the wild side and never do that. Anytime there is a time where onion and garlic are to be sauted, I always combine them at once and have never had a problem.

Saute your veggies with your rice until the veggies are soft and the rice starts to brown. You can use either white rice or brown or a combination. The recipe works with either rice.

Add the remaining ingredients and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover and simmer over medium-low to low heat for 30 to 40 minutes. I know that the heat range seems a little odd, but I noticed that when cooking on a gas stove, low is perfect; however, cooking on an electric stove, you need a little bit more “juice” so that it doesn’t take forever to cook.

If you are making this into a meal, you would then add your left over meat (heated up of course) and serve.

5.0 from 2 reviews

Spanish Rice

 

Author:

Michigan from Scratch

Recipe type: Side Dish/Main Meal

Cuisine: Mexican

Serves: 5-7 servings

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 50 mins

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Ingredients

• ⅛ teaspoon of Garlic Powder or Small Clove of Garlic
• 1 Medium sized Onion
• 1 Green Bell Pepper
• 1 cup of Rice (Brown or White)
• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 2¼ cups Water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ teaspoon o f Chili Powder
• 1 15 oz. can of Tomato Sauce
• 1 14.5 oz can of diced Mexican Tomatoes/Tomatoes with Green Chilies (undrained)

Instructions

1. Dice up your onion and green pepper. If you are using real garlic, mince up same.
2. Pour your oil into a dutch oven or large covered skillet and add your veggies and rice. Saute.
3. Once your veggies are softened and your rice starts to brown, add your water, seasonings, tomato sauce and diced Mexican tomatoes. Bring mixture to a boil.
4. Cover and simmer over medium low to low for 30 to 40 minutes. Sauce will thicken upon standing.

Notes

Note: This can be made into a meal by adding left over taco or chicken fajita meat. Be sure to add the meat after the Spanish Rice has cooked so that seasonings of your meat do not overpower the rice.

Recipe adapted from Cooking Basics

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