Artichoke Cheese Bake

Cheesy Artichoke Bread looked and sounded so good but being low carb now it was out of the question. I decided to make an adaption by leaving out the bread and adding veggies. This is what I came up with and I have to say, it was delicious!

Artichoke Cheese Bake

3/4 cup artichoke hearts (I used Trader Joe's frozen)
1/2 cup cauliflower broken into small bits
1/4 cup onion chopped
2 or 3 asparagus spears chopped
1 cup shredded cheese- I used a variety
2 T sour cream
2 T coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350º

Heat coconut oil in skillet, add onion then other vegetables. Cook and stir until everything is well mixed and coated, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add sour cream and cheese. Stir well. Top with a little shredded cheese. Move skillet (I used cast iron) to hot oven and cook for 30 minutes.

Quinoa Cottage Pie

I was longing for a hearty, vegetarian pot pie and came up with this cottage pie. It has no crust but is topped with mashed potatoes. It's pretty yummy and you can be very flexible in what veggies and how much you add.

1/2 cup quinoa cooked in vegetable broth (one cup liquid to 1/2 cup quiona- bring to boil, cover     simmer for 15 minutes)
1 egg mixed into the cooked quinoa 
Set aside

While quiona is cooking chop veggies and cook still soft in veggie broth
2 carrots chopped
1 small onion
4 green onions
2 squash shredded or chopped (I used one yellow crook neck and one zucchini)
1 cup green beans
1 cup corn
1 turnip chopped
Any other veggies you have sitting around- about 5 cups cooked veggies total
You may also add shredded cheese or diced chilies 

Drain veggies, reserving vegetable stock for sauce
Make a roux and add vegetable stock to make a sauce
Mix quinoa,  veggies and sauce together
Season to taste
Ladle mixture into pie plate or casserole dish

Boil about 6-8 medium, peeled, cut up potatoes till tender
Drain, add a little milk, butter and seasoning and mash
Spoon mashed potatoes over quinoa, veggie mix

Bake in 350º oven for 45-50 minutes - potatoes should be crusty golden
Let cool 15 minutes before cutting or spooning

Layered Salad

I wanted to use this pretty punch bowl so I made this salad BIG for a Fourth of July party.

2 cans well drained pinto beans
1 head of crisp ice berg lettuce
2 cups tomato chopped
1 cup corn
1 can black olives sliced
several radishes sliced
small red onion sliced
small jicama chopped
3 cups shredded Mexican cheese
2 avocados sliced
1 container sour cream
2 small cans diced green chiles

Blend sour cream and drained diced chiles well. This will be the "dressing" used between layers of salad.

Layer beans, torn lettuce, cheese, other veggies/olives and sour cream mixture. I made about 3 layers for this bowl. Rice or quinoa would be a good added layer. Top with cheese, olives and other veggies to make a nice presentation.