Spinach Lasagna November 13, 2007

I love a nice spinach lasagna, but often find that the there is too much pasta, too much cheese and not enough veggies. I found the base for this recipe on allrecipes.com but switched some things around. I think it turned out wonderfully and we’ll be eating it all week.

1 T. olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. dried oregano
1 T. dried basil
1 and 1/2 jar pasa sauce (I used one whole jar of olive oil and garlic pasta sauce and half a jar of marinara)
1 bag fresh spinach
1 package mushrooms – sliced
1 container of low-fat cottage cheese (I think it’s about 1 1/2 cups)
4 pieces fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded or chopped into pieces
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 container extra firm tofu, water pressed out, broken into small pieces
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt, Pepper
6 lasagna noodles

Sautee onions and garlic in olive oil for a few minutes, add herbs and spinach and continue to sautee until spinach is wilted. Add sliced mushrooms. Add pasta sauce and warm mixture on low for about 15-20 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix cottage cheese, mozarella cheese, parmesan cheese, tofu, egg and parsley. Salt and pepper this mixture.

In a large pan, pour a small amount of sauce on the bottom and place four uncooked lasagna noodles on top of sauce. Layer spinach/sauce mixture on top followed by cheese mixture. Layer 4 more noodles followed by spinach and cheese mixtures. I then used the final two noodles by breaking them up into smaller pieces and laying them on top, topped by the rest of the spinach/sauce mixture and a little Parmesan cheese. Cover in tin foil and bake at 350 for 55 minutes. Take the tin foil off and bake for 15 minutes more. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Notes: Make sure to put a cookie sheet under the pan to catch any sauce that drips over. Also, serve with garlic toast. We toasted a piece of whole wheat bread, spread a little bit of butter on the toast and took a piece of peeled, raw garlic and just rubbed it on top. It gives a really great flavor, smell and taste.

Servings: 12 pieces of lasagna

Tomato and Mozzarella November 11, 2007

I was really wanting to make a caprese salad but didn’t have any basil, so this was as close as I got. I also enjoyed a fall honey crisp apple with my little salad.

1 tomato, sliced
1 piece of fresh mozzarella, sliced (I would only use fresh mozzarella for this salad, otherwise it isn’t worth it. )
Salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil

Layer tomato and mozzarella. Top with sea salt, fresh ground pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Notes: Basil! Make sure to buy basil next time!

Couscous with Ground Venison and Roasted Pepper November 11, 2007

We have very little food in our kitchen right now. I made this one-bowl dinner out of things we just had on hand and it turned out pretty well, although it isn’t terribly fancy.

1 box Broccoli and Cheddar Couscous mix
1/2 pound ground venison
1/2 jar roasted red pepper
Bunch of basil, chopped

Cook the ground venison and then mix in diced up roasted red peppers until warm. Prepare couscous as directed. The box calls for 1/2 cup milk but I was out, so I just used extra water instead and it worked just fine. Mix in venison and roasted red peppers. Mix in basil just before eating and top with ground pepper.

Notes: Not bad. It’s got veggies, protein and grains and was a very filling meal.

Servings: 4 servings

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup November 10, 2007

This is one of my favorite comfort food meals: grilled cheese and tomato soup. I don’t make it often because it’s not at all healthy, but it sure is good.

Slices of Fontina and Cheddar Cheese
Two pieces of whole wheat high fiber bread
Butter

1 can tomato soup (the best kind is the condensed soup that you mix in with water, none of the fancy, nice soup in boxes, it’s just not the same!)

Grill up your sandwich and eat with a big bowl of tomato soup!

Spinach and Tofu Curry November 8, 2007

I’ve made this curry many times before, and last night it didn’t turn out as well as it had in the past. I think the softer tofu and a different flavor of curry are to blame. It was still pretty good and it’s definitely very healthy and easy to prepare. I found the original recipe on allrecipes.com.

1 onion – diced
2 cloves garlic
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can creamed corn (I know this sounds weird, but it gives a nice sweetness and base to the curry)
1 T. curry paste (Last night I used green curry paste, which was okay. In the past I’ve used yellow curry paste successfully.)
1 bag spinach, cleaned and rinsed
1 package tofu, cut into cubes (Use extra firm and it won’t break up like mine did last night!)

Sautee the onion and garlic in oil for a minute. Add the beans and sautee until heated through but before they start to stick to the pan. Mix in the creamed corn and curry paste. Add 1 T. to start and then add more if you want it spicier. Once the mixture is heated through, add spinach and mix in so it starts to wilt. It will look like a lot of spinach, but it cooks down quickly. Finally, add the tofu and simmer on low for 5 minutes to heat.

Notes: As I said, it was okay last night, but it’s been much better in the past. This dish would also be nice over a brown rice.

Servings: 4 servings

GUEST CHEF: Emily’s Stuffed Mushrooms November 7, 2007

I got this recipe from Cooks.com, with a few slight variations based on ingredients I already had on hand.

2 packages of large mushrooms (washed & de-stemmed)
2 cups of cheese and garlic croûtons, crushed into a crumbly consistency (original recipe called for seasoned breadcrumbs)
2 tablespoons Peccorino cheese (original recipe called for Romano cheese but I already had the Peccorino so I used that instead. The recipe also suggested using 3 tablespoons of cheese but I chose to cut the amount back a bit.)
2 tablespoons jarred tomato sauce
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Wash and remove the stems of all the mushrooms. Place on a paper towel for a few minutes and blot dry. Reserve 1/2 the stems and dice for use later in the recipe.

Mix all other ingredients together adding olive oil to create a crumbly texture. (for extra flavor you can save the mushroom stems and dice them and add them to the mixture as well).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Stuff the mushrooms using a regular sized spoon and place about 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet (I used olive oil cooking spray rather than butter). Grate some cheese over the top of the mushrooms just before putting them in the oven.

Bake at 375 for about 15-20 minutes or until the stuffing looks golden and crispy.

Notes: Delicious! I made around 25 mushrooms with this recipe but had a lot of the filling leftover, so you could probably cut back on the croutons a bit and still have plenty.

Sweet Potato Fries with Basil Salt November 6, 2007

Chris and I watched Giada on Everyday Italian prepare this yesterday and I wanted to taste them immediately. She applied the oil and salt liberally… as did I. She also wore a tight fitting, low-cut sweater. I wore a t-shirt. The fries still turned out wonderfully.

2 sweet potatoes, wash and sliced
Basil – chiffonade
Kosher salt
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash and sliced the potatoes, leaving the skin on. Place a piece of tin foil on a cookie sheet and place fries on the sheet. Cover in oil. Liberally! Make sure all sides are covered. Sprinkle with a little kosher salt and bake for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes pull from oven and immediately sprinkle basil and salt on the fries. Tasty!

Notes: Giada served these with a garlic mayonnaise which I tried but didn’t like. It was store bought mayonnaise mixed with diced garlic and a little lemon juice. I’d prefer a garlic aioli as the mayonnaise taste was too… gross.

Servings: 2 servings

Miso Soup November 5, 2007

This is a very broth-y miso soup that was ridiculously easy and delicious.

6 cups vegetable broth (low-sodium)
1 package silken tofu – cut into pieces
1 package mushrooms, sliced
3 T white miso paste (I bought mine at Whole Foods)

Heat vegetable broth and add tofu and mushrooms. Scoop out about a cup of broth and mix the miso paste in the liquid before adding to the soup. Heat until mushrooms are cooked and serve.

Notes: Next time I’d like to find shitake mushrooms to include as well. Wakame would be good too.

Servings: 6 bowls

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies November 4, 2007

This recipe came from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson, the author of 101cookbooks.com. It calls for Mesquite flour but I couldn’t find any at Whole Foods so I just used whole-wheat pastry flour instead. Best. Cookies. Ever.

3 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups natural cane sugar (I substituted 3/4 cup splenda and it still tasted great)
3 large eggs
1 T. pure vanilla extract (NOT imitation vanilla!!)
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups semisweet dark chocolate chips

Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in bowl, set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Add dry ingredients in increments. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips by hand. It was difficult but make sure oats and chips are mixed through.

Bake at 375 for 10 minutes, don’t over bake or the cookies will dry out.

Notes: YUM! I don’t make cookies often but these were great. I’d love to try it with mesquite flour.

Servings: Makes 48+ cookies!

French Onion Soup November 4, 2007

This french onion soup recipe came from my Bon Appetit magazine. It actually called for toasted prosciutto instead of toasted bread on top, but I forgot to buy the meat so just went with a very seedy bread.

2 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 1/2 pounds white onions, peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 cup dry white wine (I used a dry sparkling wine since it was what I was drinking that night.)
1/2 cup diced tomato (I used canned but it called for fresh, diced tomato)
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Thyme
Salt/Pepper

Bread, cut into pieces and toasted
Grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter with oil in a heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Add wine and simmer until it evaporates. Add tomato and saute 1 minute. Add broth and heat to a boil. Reduce heat and cover, simmer 30 minutes.

Cut the bread up into pieces. Bake to dry out and toast for about 5-10 minutes at 350. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and broil for a few minutes until melted.

Scoop soup into bowl and top with Parmesan toast.

Notes: This wasn’t my favorite french onion soup recipe. It lacked flavor but was still a nice, simple soup.

Servings: 4 servings