Mini Stuffed Peppers & Stuffed Pepper Pasta

I have to admit, I hated stuffed peppers as a kid. Now, I think they are wonderful. Here is a vegetarian version. Make a big batch and then use the leftovers for a equally yummy pasta dish.

Ingredients:

About 30 mini sweet peppers. Cleaned out and tops removed.
1/3 cup of chopped parsley
About 10 large Swiss Chard leaves.
2 cloves of garlic - microplaned
1 cup of ricotta
1/3 cup of finely grated Parmesan
1 Bottle of your favorite pasta sauce.
1 egg

Directions:

Saute finely chopped greens and garlic in a tsp. of olive oil or bacon grease.
I cooked mine in the bacon pan after breakfast. lol. 
Let greens cool and then mix with ricotta,
Parmesan, parsley and one egg.
Mix well.

Dump the entire jar of pasta sauce into a deep oven safe casserole or bowl. One that has a cover is best. Line up your peppers so they are standing upright in the sauce.
Fill them with the cheese mixture and bake at 350 until fork tender and cheese mixture has set. You will have a lot of sauce leftover and if you are only feeding 3-4 people you will have plenty of peppers leftover, too.  So, the next night - make pasta!

Stuffed Pepper Pasta

Chop up remaining stuffed peppers into large chunks. Cover and refrigerate.
The next day, warm up and serve with the pasta of your choice.

Gnocchi Salad

Way back in my Ann Arbor days I used to frequent a local deli on State street called Amer's.  This place was chock full of goodies to eat, but one of my favorite things on the menu was a simple looking but fabulous gnocchi salad. I have honestly thought about this dish more than once over the years and I have never seen another deli anywhere make a salad like it. Since it has been a dozen or so years since I was a townie kicking around A2,  I simply couldn't remember what was in the salad that made it so tasty.  So, fingers crossed, I called the good people at Amer's and they were kind enough to tell me.  Obviously this salad is a local favorite because it is still on the menu after all o this time. Thank goodness for that! The ingredient list is short and sweet and as they stated "the cheese makes it".  :)

Here is my version of Amer's gnocchi salad. I have substituted mini gnocchi for full size gnocchi and gouda for chedder.  I also used garlic olive oil. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 package of mini gnocchi. I used the brand "Anna" 17 oz. 
• 1 large roasted red pepper from a jar.
• 1 green onion
• 1/2 a wheel of Trader Joe's Smoked Dutch Cheese (Gouda) cubed
• 1 clove of garlic
• drizzle of garlic infused olive oil. 
• one sweet basil leaf

Directions:

1. Boil gnocchi until they float to the surface of the pot. Rinse under cool water and drain. Try to leave gnocchi slightly warm.
2. Stir in chopped red pepper and cubed cheese.
3. Microplane one clove of garlic and add to the mix.
4. Add thin slices of green onion
5. drizzle with olive oil, and salt & pepeer to taste. Mix well.
6. Chiffonade a leaf of basil and sprinkle on the finished dish.

Best at room temperature.

Mango Caprese

This one is a deconstructed version of another salad I make with blackberries and arugula. For this you need:

1 champagne mango
1 large tomato
buffalo mozzarella
2 leaves of basil
white balsamic
olive oil, salt & pepper.

Slice and arrange your fruit & cheese, top with salt & pepper and a drizzle balsamic and olive oil 

Cremini Mushroom & Red Pepper Kebobs

Ingredients:

Organic Sweet Red Peppers

Cremini Mushrooms (whole)

Meyer Lemon Olive Oil

minced fresh garlic

Salt & Pepper

bamboo skewers

Directions:

1. Soak skewers for a few hours or overnight
2. Clean Mushrooms and cut in half
3. Clean and cut red peppers into chunks
4. Marinate veggies in 1/8 cup Meyer Lemon Olive Oil,  dry oregano, minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Grill until fully cooked.