Veggie Pop Overs

Dinner is often the mother of invention. This time it worked out well. I had a few veggies and a can of Grands Biscuits and made a pretty awesome and tasty dinner. Yay me!

I made three different looking pop overs. I did this mainly because I was getting hungry and running out of patience. I'm please to report they were all awesome.


Version #1 was a biscuit rolled thin, topped and then folded over on itself. You can't over stuff these or they just bust out instead of pop over. Heh!

Version #2 was made with two biscuits rolled flat. The filling was added to one and the second biscuit placed on top.

Version #3 contained the last of the veggie stuffing tossed in a ramekin and topped with the last biscuit. I didn't roll it out but I did smash it a little to cover the surface of the veggies a little better.


Oh dear, where did the picture of the ramekin go?


Anyhoo...


Here's what I used but you can use just about any combination of meats and veggies you want. Just aim for a thick sauce at the end. If the veggies have too much liquid your biscuits will be soggy.


Preheat oven to 375


Line a cookie sheet with parchment


Veggie Filling:


1/2 Medium Onion
3 Cups of Sliced Mushrooms (About 2/3rds a container)
3 Cups of Kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups of Vegetable Stock
1/4 tsp of Thyme
1/4 tsp of Herbs de Provence 
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp pepper (I did about 8 turns of the pepper mill)
1 Cup Frozen Mixed Vegetables (Corn, Beans, Carrots and Peas variety is what I used)
2 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp flour
1/4 Parmesan Cheese


Heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, mushroom and spices and cook until they release their liquids and start cooking down. When the liquid is almost gone, add 1 cup of the stock and stir in the kale. Cover and let the kale steam and get tender. Add more broth as necessary to keep the steam going. Finally, stir in the frozen vegetables and the tablespoon of flour mixed in with a 1/2 cup of stock and the butter and cook for another 10 minutes or so or until you have a nice and thick sauce. It's ok to add more flour and stock to get it where you need it.


Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes


Pop Over:


Roll out your biscuits until they're about the size of small saucers. Fill them with 3-4 tablespoons of the cooked veggies and a pinch of cheese. Leave about 1/2' edge to seal the biscuits. Add another rolled biscuit to the top. Crimp the edges of the pop overs with the tines of a fork and stab the top of pop over 2-3 times with the fork to make steam holes. 


Bake for 13 minutes or until they're a golden brown.

Big Pimpin' Tuna Salad and Fun with Condiments

I love condiments. (By condiments I mean toppings, marinades, sauces and pickled stuff.)


I don't recall meeting a condiment I didn't like and try to take home. So if condiments were like hookers and the grocery store was like a red light district...Well, you get it. I like them a whole bunch. Condiments, not hookers.

Hey baby, you wanna date?

I am overwhelmed. Almost everywhere I look there is a surplus of something that needs to be consumed or used. While it would be noble to donate the condiments to a local food bank, I'm thinking they won't find the jars of capers, marinated artichokes and hot cherry peppers as useful as other foods. 


I've heard mixed reports of movers either allowing or not allowing you to pack food. While it would be really nice if they'd pack everything, I think glass jars of picked okra and chow chow might make for a big mess once they break in transit. I'd rather eat it than pick it out of everything I own. Military wives are great at blogging their moving adventures (Thank you!) so I'm heeding some of their advice.


What's a pimp to do? 

What's a housewife to do?

I started thinking of dishes that use a lot of condiments. My goal is to use at least something from my awesome collection every meal. 

There's a whole shelf in my pantry devoted to condiments. The door of the fridge is also full.

The first thing that jumped out at me was the five cans of tuna. Helllllooo! Tuna salad may be the finest condiment disbursement meal of all time. I went digging. And ended up with a salad full of condiment-y goodness.


Big Pimpin' Tuna Salad 


1  small can of tuna (I love the kind packed in olive oil found in the highfalutin section of the store. It's not dry and it actually has flavor. Gasp!)
1 tbsp of the Hot Green Tomato Relish (pictured above)
1 tsp of Deli Mustard w/ Horseradish
1 tbsp of Mayo
1 Hot Cherry Pepper (pictured above) seeded and diced
1 hard boiled egg, diced
1/2 scallion, sliced thin
1-2 tbsp of diced bell pepper.
1 tbsp of sun dried tomatoes or 1/2 small tomato, diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Best of all, it takes a cutting board, knife and bowl. No kitchen disaster necessary.

Stir and have at it. PS...it's super easy to double. If you only have water packed tuna, add a splash of olive oil. And start buying the good stuff packed in olive oil. It's tuna, not a Whopper with cheese, it will be okay. Trust the pimpness.


There are so many tuna combinations. Tomorrow I may try a Greek version with pepperoncini peppers, kalamata olives and more of those yummy sun dried tomatoes from Trader Joe's that I've been stocking up on like they're some antidote to the zombie apocalypse.