Imagine a Pizza without the crust..TIAN!!

Tian is a baked dish with roasted and sauteed vegetables, herbs and topped with a good melting cheese ( Mozzarella, Cheddar, Fontina, Lancashire, Monterey Jack)..then baked at 400f for about 20 mins until golden and bubbling.

Now this is a great vehicle to use tomatoes out of season, as roasting or sauteing them will make them sweeter and more dense in flavor.
But you can use any vegetable, even sauteed potatoes/yams works.

For Monday I am preparing a Mediterranean Style Tian, with sauteed home grown peppers, and eggplants ( I finally have some purple as well as the yellow-cream ones), local white squash, org. cherry tomatoes, and red onion, garlic, fresh oregano from my garden as well as basil, all topped with grated Mozzarella cheese..the flavors are just like a good home made pizza without the crust..so it is great for anyone who is Gluten-free and misses a good pizza taste.

You can add a splash of good wine to the sauteed vegetables or nutritional yeast for extra depth.
Also as the vegetables are all cooked it does not matter in what order you place them in the buttered casserole dish to bake.

For any root vegetables It gives a better flavor if these are roasted prior to topping with cheese, this way they soak up less oil and become more dense in flavor.

The Menu for Monday Nov 5th is :
 Soups:
Fresh mushroom and thyme soup
Black eyed pea, mustard green and sweet potato soup

  Entrees:
Warm lentil and tomato salad with salad greens
Vegetable goulash with noodles
Mediterranean style Tian with steamed brown rice

Sides:
Tomato, chickpea  & roasted pepper salad

White bean and celery salad with  pine nuts


Desserts..the ever popular oatmeal-raisin cookies

The vegetable goulash is a great mix of  sweet ground paprika, ground turmeric, with potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, garlic and onions served with egg noodles( to be cooked at client's home)

The Mushroom soup  is thickened with potatoes as opposed to wheat flour, and flavored with sweet sherry and thyme


The black eyed pea soup is a Southern America favorite and traditionally made on New Years Day  for wealth in the coming year..it is a nutrient dense soup and should make anyone's future, blessed with good health.

All the side salads feature cooked beans with vegetables and the dressing is separate..these are dressed 20 mins before serving if dressed ahead the legumes soak up all the dressing.

The prep so far: ( all the soups and goulash will be topped with fresh chopped parsley when cool before sealing up)

The goulash cooking

The Mushroom and thyme soup

The black eyed pea soup, before addition of tomatoes and mustard greens

The packaged black eyed pea soup

The mushroom soup packaged

The goulash packaged

Cooler Months, Warm Salads...plus Nutritional Info. site recommendation

I love to cook  (I enjoy the work) and like it when people experiment and try new things, then give me favorable feedback.
Some of my clients have actually surprised me with their feedback..one client explained how as a child she didn't like garden peas, but since trying my dishes she loves them;
the same was reported back by a couple in their early 80's who stated that they never really liked eggplants, and now they eat, and enjoy them at least 3 times a month, from my menus.

Good food is a global experience and it doesn't matter if you are professionally trained or a home cook, if you have mastered the "art of cooking well", you have at your fingertips the ability  to change lives for the better.
Good Food doesn't have to be expensive, most great dishes are made using quite inexpensive, produce but cooking well, is 'The art".

Preparation to make something taste wonderful, takes some time and it helps if you have an understanding of your:
Diners ( likes/dislikes, allergies, dietary requirements)
Local herbs, vegetables, fruits and seasonings;
The  Season of the year;
The equipment available in your kitchen;
The cost before and after preparing.

No one has all the answers, on my blogs I am trying to give you some tips..
for nutritional information the following is a site I have just discovered and I heartily enjoy that the information,is  simple and easy to understand 

www.cspinet.org

The Center for Science in the Public Interest

a non-profit health advocacy group that publishes Nutrition Action Healthletter

They have lots of information on all kinds of subjects..please check them out.


As the seasons change and we move into cooler climes ( well it is still mid 70f's here and is going to be warmer for the weekend, I know that  in a few weeks here it will be cooler) it is a good idea to try ways of mixing the old dishes with new approaches.

In the winter months when salad greens are hard to come by, one can still make good nutritional salads by  mixing cooked, warm legumes with a root vegetable based slaw.
Slaws can be dressed with either a mayonnaise-sour cream type dressing or a vinaigrette (( oil and vinegar , or fresh citrus juice,with mustard and or herbs (dried or fresh))
With cabbage slaws  dress and wait 20 mins for the dressing to "break down" the tougher part of the stems and leaves, before serving.
Add smashed garlic and finely sliced onions/scallions as needed ( to make the onions less pungent, rinse in cool fresh water and drain well before adding to the mix)
For example:

Warm beige or green lentils with a ginger, red cabbage, carrot and apple slaw 

Warm white or red kidney beans with a broccoli, parsnip, beet, almond slaw ( either cook the beets or leave raw and shred them)

Warm Broad beans/fava/butter beans with a green cabbage, carrot and raisin slaw flavored with ground cumin and or cardamon

Warm Black beans with a cumin seed green cabbage, red pepper, sweetcorn slaw with any kind of tender nut ( pecan, walnut)

Pinto beans cooked with chili powder & canned tomatoes, lots of ground cumin with a shredded Brussels sprouts, corn, avocado,Jicama (where available) slaw ( maybe add some honey to the dressing if the spouts are bitter)

You can also  serve them with a baked potato/or crusty whole wheat breads for a full protein dense meal..great for a pot luck, supper dish, lunchtime.

Quick to make and also easily feeds a crowd...also for crowds add a 'mixing's bar" where people can add their own mix of chopped vegetables, dried fruits, nuts, seasonings, grated cheeses

Any left over cooked legumes  can be made into a bean loaf using any of the leftover "fixings" ( except do not use any cruciferous vegetables, cabbage, broccoli etc. as they will sour quickly)

Also add more spices-herbs to the beans as they cook or as they are warmed up.

Winter Greens:
Green and Red Cabbage
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Tender varieties of Kale
Spinach ( leave whole and dress just before serving)
Broccoli Rabe..leave whole and dress 20 mins before serving..can also be blanched in boiling salted water just before serving with the beans
Parsley..I wish people would treat this plant as a vegetable and not just a herb..packed with Vit C and calcium..make a salad with it !

Winter Vegetables for Slaws:
Carrots
Parsnips
Onions
Garlic 
Lemongrass
Ginger
Jicama
Beets
Daikon
Red radish
Pumpkins & squashes..good raw if grated or sliced thin on a mandolin
Celery

Sweet potatoes, yucca root, yams and regular potatoes are better cooked

Any manner of dried fruits

Any raw or roasted nut (with raw almonds always soaked overnight and then rinse to remove bitter natural toxins)

Dried herbs

Fresh herbs if available

The list is endless as is the fun of experimenting with Warm Salads for cold weather.

Enjoy my "late season" roses & white ginger flowers, photos taken this morning after watering as we have not had any good rain here since March....

The pink roses are Georgia Peace,very light fragrance

Orange Palace Roses..mild citrus scent

White Ginger..vanilla-citrus scent, they flower from the base, slowly. before flowering, they resemble bright green pine cones.

in all it's glory

Nov 1st Day of the Dead..prepped dishes photos

The cooked Nopales for the soups and the enchiladas

The mixed vegetable soup with hominy and nopales

Fresh limes and avocado's for the soup

The vegetable base for the avocado-lime soup

The avocados and lime juice before blending

The blended soups finished with coconut cream and lime juice

the almond-lime oatmeal cookies

Napoles cactus before cooking

Fresh limes and avocados

Mexican white squash

rinsed and drained hominy