Best Vegetable Stacks Recipes

LEMON-OREGANO CHICKEN WITH VEGETABLE STACKS

Steps:

• Place the chicken cubes in a shallow dish. Whisk together the lemon juice, wine, olive oil, oregano, salt, if using, and white pepper. Pour over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Spread the potatoes in a shallow roasting pan. Roast for 15 minutes. Add the chicken with its marinade. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, stir the potato-chicken mixture, and continue to bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before dividing among 4 heated dinner plates. Serve with a Vegetable Stack alongside.
• Place the carrot slices and squash strips in a vegetable steamer over simmering water. Cover and steam for 2 minutes. Add the snow peas to the steamer and continue to steam for another 1 to 2 minutes, until all the vegetables are crisp-tender.
• Divide the snow peas among the 4 dinner plates, arranging closely together lengthwise to form a flat base. Arrange the carrot slices on top of the snow peas and top with the strips of squash in the same direction as the snow peas. Serve hot.

VEGETABLE STACKS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400˚. Brush a 24-cup mini-muffin pan (preferably nonstick) with olive oil. Toss the potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, olive oil, garlic, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper in a large bowl.
• Place a potato slice in each muffin cup (trim if needed). Top with an eggplant slice, then a tomato slice. Cover the pan with foil and bake until the vegetables are tender, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Uncover the pan, sprinkle with the parmesan and bake, uncovered, until browned, about 15 more minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then remove from the pan. Top with chopped parsley.

BEAN AND VEGETABLE TORTILLA STACKS

Steps:

• Combine 1 cup of pepper jack cheese and next 4 ingredients; stir well, and set aside.
• Position knife blade in food processor bowl; add garbanzo beans and garlic. Process bean mixture 1 minute, or until smooth.
• Add parsley sprigs, one half of the onion, lemon juice, and cumin; process 10 seconds or until onion is minced, scraping sides of processor bowl occasionally.
• Place 4 tortillas on an ungreased baking sheet. Spread each with one-eighth of bean mixture; top with one eighth of the cheese mixture. Repeat with remaining tortillas, bean mixture, and cheese mixture, ending with the 4 remaining tortillas. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of pepper jack cheese evenly over the stacks.
• Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Cut each in half. Garnish with the pepper rings, if desired. Serve with red Chile Sauce.
• Red Chile Sauce:.
• Wash the chili; remove stem, seeds and veins. Place chili in a bowl; add boiling water to cover. Let stand 15 minutes or until chili is soft; drain and coarsely chop.
• Position knife blade in the food processor bowl; add chili, onion, and garlic. Pulse 4 or 5 times or until finely chopped. Add tomatoes, cumin, and hot sauce; process 1 minute or until smooth. Yield: 2 cups.

VEGETABLE STACKS

Steps:

• Preheat BBQ and set on LOW. Brush vegetables with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and grill slowly until tender, turning once. They will only need about 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer the vegetables to a tray, arranging them in a single layer, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. You can stack layers of the vegetables on top of each other with a layer of plastic wrap between; just be sure the vegetables have cooled first. The vegetables may be grilled a day in advance, and refrigerated after cooking. Bring the vegetables back to room temp before proceeding.
• Stir together the ricotta, thyme, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
• Place one slice of eggplant on a lightly oiled baking sheet or foil pan. Spread one tablespoon of the ricotta mixture over the eggplant. Cover with 2 slices of zucchini, 1 slice of onion, 1 slice of mozzarella, 1 slice of tomato, 2 slices of zucchini, and 1 slice of onion. Spread 1 tablespoon of the ricotta mixture over the onion, and top with another slice of eggplant. Repeat this procedure with the remaining vegetables to make 5 more stacks.
• Insert a wooden skewer through the centre of each stack to create a hole from top to bottom. Remove the bottom leaves from each rosemary sprig, leaving one inch of leaves on the top. Insert 1 sprig into the centre hole in each stack and return to the BBQ. Heat for about 5 minutes on Low or until mozzarella is melted and vegetables are warmed through.

GREEK VILLAGE VEGETABLE STACKS

Steps:

• Carefully slice the brick of feta into 12 slices, 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick each. Use a cheese wire or some dental floss to cut the cheese if it crumbles too easily when using a knife. Next, trim off both ends of the bell pepper and pull out the seeds and membranes. Thinly slice the pepper into 12 pieces, 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Slice the cucumber even thinner, into 1/8-inch-thick rounds. Trim the ends off the onion as you did the pepper. Cut the outer layer of skin off, then trim one side with a shallow cut so that the whole onion sits stable on its side. Thinly slice the onion as you did the pepper, into 12 pieces. Slice the tomatoes in the same fashion as the onion, trimming off one side to stabilize it before slicing it across. Cut the tomatoes a little thicker, 6 slices per tomato. Season the tomatoes with a little coarse salt.
• Strip the oregano leaves off the stems by holding stems at the top and gently pulling backward. Pile up the leaves on your cutting board and combine with the parsley leaves. Finely chop both, milling them together. To the chopped herbs, add the zest of the lemon. Trim the ends of the lemon and wedge it; reserve wedges. To the herb and lemon zest combination, add lots of fresh coarse black pepper-at least a full teaspoon and up to 2. Mix it in with your fingertips.
• Arrange the cheese slices in a single layer on your work surface and scatter the herb mixture over the cheese slices.
• Pour a puddle of EVOO on each plate or on a serving platter. Assemble stacks of Greek salad like this: sliced tomato, sliced onion, a layer of thin slices of cucumber, a slice of bell pepper, a slice of herb-crusted feta. Repeat twice. Each stack will have 3 layers, making a tower of Greek salad for each portion. Garnish each plate or the serving platter with olives and wedges of lemon.