Roasted Vegetable and Chicken Wraps

So, these are from a while ago.... I made them for UFC 143.  Sorry about the time lapse.  But, it is getting very spring-y here in the South.  It is a sweet reminder that real spring is just around the corner and with that means Farmers' Markets!  I seriously can not wait for super fresh and ridiculously tasty local vegetables.

Just veg on the left, with chicken on the right.

Roasted Vegetable and Chicken Wraps
6 12in spinach tortillas
2 6oz containers of roasted garlic hummus
~2 C cooked, shredded chicken
4 lrg bell peppers, roasted and sliced (I used red and yellow, but use your faves.)*
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 med eggplant, in 1/4 inch slices
3 med zucchini, thinly sliced
~6 C baby greens
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

   Toss mushrooms eggplant and zucchini with oil, salt, and pepper.  Roast at 375 deg F until tender.  Mushrooms will take 5-6 minutes and the zucchini and eggplant will take 7-8 minutes.  But whenever they are done to your liking, take them out of the oven.
   Spread 2 oz of hummus over each tortilla.
   Evenly distribute roasted peppers over tortillas.
   On three, lay out the mushroom, eggplant, and zucchini.  Divide the chicken among the other three.
   Top with about 1 C of baby greens, or however much you like.
   Tightly roll up tortillas and wrap with plastic.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  Slice and serve.
   Makes 3 roasted veggie wraps and 3 chicken wraps.  Serves 12-16.... or 6 if you are eating them for lunch or a light dinner.


*For roasting bell peppers:  Place rack near top of oven.  Broil peppers on top rack on high until skin blisters and chars.  Turn peppers over while cooking to evenly char skin.  While hot, place in large glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let them cool; then peel and de-seed them.

UFC 143 Menu

Right, so I am HUUUUUGE UFC fan.  I'm sure you know that if you read this blog regularly.  I don't want to bore you with details you don't care about concerning Saturday, because if you do care, you already know the details.  Let's just say it is event that NEEDS to be watched.  Interim welterweight title belt on the line... whoever wins this fights the miraculously recovering GSP.

Now to the part you may care about... The menu.  I'm doing a Greek inspired menu (because I had coupons for hummus.)

UFC 143 Greek Menu

Roasted Vegetable and Hummus Wraps

Spanikopita

Pastitsio-inspired Meatballs

Crudités w/ Tzaziki

Sugar Cookies w/ Cinnamon Honey Glaze

Summer Pastisio

I made this for dinner last night and could not wait to share it with you!  Yes, I have a backlog of a few things, but this is so delicious.  Also, a perfect transition dish from summer to fall.  The air is cooler, but fresh zucchini can still be found.  This is a considerably lighter than the beef/lamb version.  Ground turkey and lots of veggies make for a beautiful end of summer pasta treat.  Don't be intimated by the amount of ingredients and the step.  It is actually very easy and this is a complete meal.

Summer Pastisio
"filling":
1 med onion, diced
1 lrg carrot, diced
1 med zucchini, chopped
5 oz frozen spinach, water squeezed out
3/4 lb ground turkey (90/10 or 93/7)
2 C diced tomatoes (1 15 oz can)
1/2 C dry vermouth (white wine or broth will also work)
2 tsp minced garlic
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1 3in. cinnamon stick
5-6 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp red pepper flake
1/2 lb penne, cooked 3 minutes shy of done
1/4 C chopped parsley
salt, pepper and oil
sauce:
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
2 1/2 Tbsp flour (You may need another 1/2 Tbsp.)
1 C low sodium chicken broth
1 C low fat milk*
1 C shredded mild white cheese (jack, havarti, mozz, etc.)
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 C shredded parmesan (for top)

   Heat a little oil over med in a large, deep sided skillet.  Saute onions and carrots until onions are translucent, 5-7 minutes.  Add ground turkey that has been salt and peppered.  Break up turkey and cook about halfway.  Add tomatoes, vermouth, garlic, oregano, cinnamon, cloves, bay, and red pepper flake.
   Simmer until liquid has reduced by half, 12-15 minutes.  Then add half-cooked pasta, zucchini, spinach, and parsley.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Cook for 5 minutes.  (Remove bay, cinnamon, and cloves.)
   While filling is cooking down.  Make sauce.
   Melt butter into oil over med heat.  Whisk in flour so there a no lumps.  Slowly whisk in broth and milk.  (*I did not have low fat milk so I used half skim milk and half buttermilk.  That is a really tasty option.)  Cook for 2-3 minutes to thicken.  The sauce should coat the back of a wooden spoon, if it doesn't, whisk in a little more flour.  Melt in cheese and add nutmeg.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat
   Take a small amount of the sauce (~1/4 C) and slowly whisk it into the beaten eggs to temper them.  Then stir in tempered eggs to sauce.
   Pour filling into a greased 13x9 dish.  Pour sauce on top.  Top with parmesan.
   Bake covered at 375 deg F for 25 minutes.
   Bake uncovered at 375 deg F for 15-20 minutes, until top is brown and bubbly.
   Serves 6.

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Pork Roast

   You know what happened this past weekend?  The hubs and I made our last trip back to Tennessee for this round of living in North Carolina!  In about two months we are moving back to TN for a good long time.  Crazy exciting.  We hung out at TRF on Saturday and Sunday but sadly had to leave before the final day of jousting (congrats to Paul on the tournament win!)  Being there was a little strange at first, this is the first year in a while that I haven't worked a single day of the faire.  However, I have figured out what I want to do there next year and I am crossing my fingers that it works out!

   And now on to the food because that is what this blog is about. 

   I love to stuff meat especially with things like spinach because it is like rolling up a side dish into your main meal component.  Spinach and feta is a classic flavor combination:  mild, earthy spinach and soft, salty feta, so good.  This stuffing isn't fussy or complicated with only a few ingredients.  The presentation is pretty and perfect for serving to guests.  Also, it is easily doubled to feed more people.  You will just need to adjust the cook time.

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Pork Roast
1.5 lb pork roast, butterflied*
8 oz frozen, chopped spinach
4 oz feta, crumbled
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp oregano
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus a little more)
sea salt
fresh cracked black pepper

   Thaw spinach and squeeze out water.  Combine spinach, feta, garlic, oregano, oil, salt and pepper.
   Salt and pepper both sides of butterflied pork roast.  Place spinach filling down the center of the pork.  Wrap pork around filling and tie with kitchen twine or secure with toothpicks.
   Heat a little oil in an oven proof skillet over med-high heat.  Sear pork on all sides and transfer pan to a 350 deg F oven.  Roast for 40-45 minutes.  When a meat thermometer is inserted into the pork (not to the filling) it should read 155 deg F (this applies to larger roasts as well.)  Pull out of oven, tent with foil and let rest for 10 minutes. 
   Slice in ~1 inch slices and serve.
   Serves 4-6.

I didn't sear mine, so your whole roast will be prettier.

*Your butcher should be able to butterfly the roast for you.  This is a good basic video on how to butterfly, the same technique is easily applied to larger cuts.  Basically, you just want to open to meat enough to stuff it.

Pastisio... finally!

   Recently regular Italian lasagna was discussed.  Now it is time for Greek lasagna!  Ok, it's not really lasagna but it is the same basic idea:  ground meat, pasta, tomatoes, cheesy sauce.  My friends and I went to the Nashville Greek Festival a couple months ago.  Heather bought some pastisio that was delish.  I was like, "Hey, we can totally make this at home!"  So a few weeks later we did.  I would have blogged it earlier except that I didn't write down amounts and I forgot to put eggs in the bechamel (basic white sauce.)  Well, I forgot to tell Sarina to put eggs in the bechamel (she makes a kickass cheesy white sauce!)  It was still super yummy, but there was no way I could share it as a recipe.  This past Sunday we made it again so now I can share!

Pastisio
1 recipe parmesan sauce (see below)
1 lb short cut pasta, cooked 2 min less than package directions
1 lb ground beef (or lamb)
1 lrg zucchini, chopped
2 lrg carrots, chopped
1 med onion, chopped
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 can (14 oz) crushed or diced tomatoes
1/2 C red wine (optional, stock maybe substituted)
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 bay leaves
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
oil
salt and pepper

   In a large pan, saute onions and carrots in a little bit of oil over medium heat until tender, 5 min.  Brown ground beef.  Add zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, wine, and spices.  Simmer until liquid reduces by one half, ~15 min.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Fold in cooked pasta.  Pour into a greased 13x9x2 baking dish.  Evenly spread parmesan sauce over the top.
   Bake at 400 deg F for 30-35 min.
   Serves 8
TIP:  Oh no!  You don't have the amount of cinnamon you thought you had!  Do you have pumpkin pie spice?  2 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice may be used instead of the cinnamon and clove.  The spice blend is mostly cinnamon with just a touch of clove, nutmeg, and ginger.  Pumpkin pie spice may be used in any recipe that calls for cinnamon as long as you don't have some weird blend that has sugar added.  (This happened to us the first time we made pastisio.)
   And shit!  That can of tomatoes is no where to be found?  Use half a jar of marinara, your audience will never know the difference.  (This happened to us the second time we made it.)

Parmesan Sauce
3 Tbsp butter
1/4 C flour
1 1/2 C milk
1/2 C cream*
1 1/2 C parmesan cheese
2 lrg eggs
1/4 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper
*If you are using whole milk, all 2C can be milk.

   Melt butter over medium heat.  Whisk in flour, make sure there are no lumps.  Slowly add milk and cream, whisking constantly.  Cook for 3-4 min until mixture starts to thicken.
   Beat eggs in a bowl.  Add a few tablespoons of hot milk mixture to eggs, stir constantly.  (This is tempering... making sure your eggs don't scramble when they hit the pan of hot sauce.)  Add eggs to sauce.
   Slowly work cheese into sauce.  Add nutmeg.  Lightly salt and pepper.
**This is a good basic sauce and would be great with vegetables (ie. veggie gratin)

Photos by Heather!<3
Oh! And check it, Heather has a photography blog now!