Veggie Lasagna

Yesterday was Bruce's birthday; he is 40 (and better than ever!). We had a surprise dinner party--and, yes, he really was surprised! (Thanks, Family!) Once again, I used a house full of guests as guinea pigs to try out a new recipe; a vegetable lasagna, this time. The lasagna got praised all over the place, so here is the recipe. Well, I didn't have a sauce recipe--I just kind of made up my own, but I'll do my best to give you something.

And now, here is the recipe:

VEGETABLE LASAGNA

Sauce:
1 tsp. olive oil
salt
1 small onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 (28 oz.) cans whole tomatoes

left-over roast beef, a piece about half the size of your fist should do it (optional, but it makes a yummy sauce)

1 cup chicken broth
about 2 Tbsp. basil, or to taste
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. oregano (optional)
other herbs (thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, etc.) to taste (optional)
1 bay leaf
2-3 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1/2 can black olives, drained

Cheese Filling:
1 lb. fat free ricotta cheese
3 cups shredded reduced-fat mozarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large egg
black pepper
nutmeg

Veggie Filling:
1 lb. mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thin
2 tsp. olive oil
3/4 tsp. salt
12 oz. zucchini, slice 1/4-inch thick
1 (10 oz.) package broccoli florets, thawed to room temperature

Lasagna:
*12 no-boil lasagna noodles (look for Ronzoni or Barilla)--about an 8-oz. package

*I made my lasagna the day before I baked it, but I think the noodles absorbed too much liquid by the time they'd sat in the sauce overnight and then baked for two hours. (Yes, two hours--I made a double-sized lasagna, and it needed more time to cook after being completely refrigerated. For a regular-sized one [like this recipe], I'd cook it for about 1 hour and 15 minutes after it's been refrigerated.) Anyway, if you want to prepare your lasagna a day ahead I would recommend using regular noodles. Boil them for about 9 minutes and drain them well before you assemble the lasagna. Refrigerate over-night and don't forget to cook it longer than 45 minutes. :-)

Sauce: Combine olive oil, 1/2 tsp. salt and onion in a large sauce-pot and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and crushed red pepper and cook about 30 seconds. Add one can of tomatoes; squish the tomatoes with a potato-masher. Blend or process the other can of tomatoes until almost smooth; add to the sauce. Add the roast beef, chicken broth, basil, bay leaf and any other herbs. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until meat is tender enough to shred with a fork; 3-4 hours. Remove the beef from the pot, shred it and return it to the pot. Remove the bay leaf. Add the tomato paste, stirring until it's completely blended in. If the sauce has reduced a lot, add some tomato sauce to it. Stir in the olives.

Cheese Filling: Mix the ricotta, 2 cups of the mozarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, basil, egg, salt, pepper and nutmeg together until thoroughly combined. [I find that this is easiest to do if you just stick your hands right in it and mix it like you would do cookie dough.]

Veggie Filling: Combine mushrooms, 1 tsp. olive oil and 1/4 tsp. salt in a large, non-stick skillet. Cook over medium-low heat until the mushrooms have released their liquid, about 8 minutes. Remove the cover and continue to cook until all of the liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to a bowl; set aside.

Add the remaining teaspoon olive oil to the skillet and return to high heat until just smoking. Add the zucchini and cook, stirring often, until well browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a separate bowl; set aside.

Squeeze as much liquid out of the broccoli as you possibly can. Chop into small pieces; set aside.

To Assemble and Bake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Pour about 1 1/2 cups sauce into the bottom of the pan. Lay 3 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce, spaced evenly apart. Put about 1/3 cup cheese filling on each noodle and spread evenly over the noodles [I use my fingers to spread it around--easier.] Scatter the mushrooms evenly over the cheese filling, then spread about 1 cup of the sauce over the mushrooms. Repeat this layering two more times, substituting the broccoli and the zucchini for the mushrooms. (Each vegetable has its own layer.)

Lay the last three noodles on the top; spread the remaining sauce evenly over the noodles, making sure to cover the edges. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of mozarella cheese over the top.

Spray a piece of foil with cooking-spray and cover the lasagna tightly. Place the pan on top of a rimmed baking sheet (to catch any stuff that spills over) and *bake for 45 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

Delicious!

Fish Soup

Well, this recipe was originally called "Pacific Stew Pot," which sounds a lot nicer. But in our house it just evolved into "Fish Soup."

If you're not a seafood lover, skip over this one. But if you do like seafood, then this is delectable. Not only that, but it has no added fat, it probably does have those fabulous omega-3 fatty acids (from the fish) that you're always hearing about, and it fits into most diets--including low-carb diets. And it's soup! Can't get much better than that! ;-)

FISH SOUP

1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup water
1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp. ketchup
1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1 cup water
*1/2 lb. white fish (like cod, tilapia or roughy), cut into bite-size pieces
*1/2 lb. medium (raw) shrimp, peeled
*1/3 lb. scallops (bay scallops, or you can get sea scallops and cut them into bite-size pieces)

*You could substitute any seafood you like, I'd imagine. Or skip some that you don't like and add something else. You could be daring and add octopus, or squid, or frog's legs, I suppose. That's the fun of cooking. :-)

Bring the onion and celery and 1 cup water to a boil; simmer for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, ketchup, Tabasco, Worcestershire, salt, curry powder and remaining 1 cup water. Bring to a boil; simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Add seafood and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until seafood is cooked through. [Don't overcook the seafood or it will be tough. Yuck!]

I like to serve this soup over a scoop of hot rice. But I suppose that would blow the low-carb thing, wouldn't it?

Artichoke-Rice Salad

This salad was introduced to me by my friend Scerinda. She brought it over one night when we invited her family to dinner. It did not appeal to me much; it didn't sound disgusting, but it didn't appeal either. But Scerinda loves it, and she has pretty good taste, and of course I had to try it--to be polite. Wow! It is really delicious!

I think it would be excellent with some 51-60 count shrimp in it, so I'm including that as an (optional) part of the recipe. But it truly is fabulous just as it is. (Well, it may be a little better without the olives; I'm not an olive lover.)

By the way, this recipe makes a lot. If you're not taking it to a party, you may want to cut it in half. :-)

SCERINDA'S ARTICHOKE-RICE SALAD

2 cups raw rice
4 chicken bouillon cubes
3 cups warm water
2 jars (4 oz. each) marinated artichoke hearts
20 stuffed green olives, sliced
8 green onions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. chopped green pepper
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 to 1 lb. [ ?? this amount is just a guess] of 51-60 count green shrimp, peeled, cooked and cooled (optional)

Place rice in a strainer and rinse thoroughly under running cold water about 2 minutes. In a heavy saucepan, dissolve the bouillon cubes in 3 cups warm water. Add rice and bring to a full boil, uncovered, over high heat. Stir; cover with a tight-fitting lid and turn to low. Steam for about 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Put cooked rice in a bowl and let it cool slightly. Drain artichoke hearts, reserving marinade from one jar. Nice artichoke hearts and add to rice with olives, onions and green pepper. Add shrimp, if using. Combine mayonnaise, reserved marinade and curry powder and stir into rice mixture. Chill thoroughly. Can be made a day ahead.

Fabulous!

Savory Shell Soup

This cooler weather means it's soup time again! Yea!! Well actually I eat soup all year round, even in the hottest weather because I love soup. It's easy to make, it's delicious and it tastes even better as left-overs. What's not to love? And this recipe is a favorite of all my kids—which even makes it more lovable.

SAVORY SHELL SOUP

1 lb. beef, cut into bite-size pieces (DON'T use hamburger! Yuck!)
1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. marjoram
1 celery rib, sliced
6 cubes or 6 tsp. beef bouillon
10 cups water
2 medium potatoes, diced
2-3 carrots, sliced
2 1/4 cups shell pasta, uncooked

In a 5-quart pot, heat the olive oil; add the meat and cook over medium-high heat until browned. Sprinkle the salt, pepper and marjoram over the meat and stir. Pour the water over the mixture and bring to a boil. Add the bouillon to the soup and stir until dissolved. Add the celery; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Adjust the heat to bring soup back to a full boil. Add potatoes, carrots and shells and cook over medium-high heat until pasta is completely cooked and veggies are tender.

Serve with fresh, hot bread. Mmm-mmm good!

Gazpacho

I first tried out Gazpacho on my honeymoon. NO, it's not anything kinky! What kind of a blog do you think this is?

Gazpacho is a Spanish, cold tomato soup. I learned about it in 7th-grade Spanish class; but I really did not try it until I was at a nice restaurant, on my honeymoon. It is delicious! And it's the perfect recipe for this time of year when the ripe tomatoes are abundant!

Unfortunately it is one of those recipes where I don't really have exact measurements of the ingredients. But you'll figure it out. ;-)

GAZPACHO

*3-6 slices of French bread [shouldn't it be Spanish bread?]
*2-3 lbs. ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced
*1 red onion, peeled and diced
*1-2 cucumbers, peeled and diced
*1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced or 1 mild chili pepper, diced or a combination of bell pepper and a mild chili
olive oil
red wine vinegar, to taste [well really the whole recipe is "to taste"]
salt and pepper, to taste
garlic, to taste (optional)

[The honeymoon gazpacho also had some medium-size shrimp in it. Mmmmm!]

* Don't forget--these are not exact amounts; you just make this soup to taste!

Remove and discard the crusts form the bread; tear bread into chunks. Place the bread pieces into a large bowl and soak in water--just enough to make the bread a little soggy, but without leaving it in standing water. [I know, this sounds weird. Just trust me.] Add tomatoes, onion, cucumber and peppers. Puree in blender until homogenous--or use your magic wand [hand-blender--every kitchen should have one!]. Drizzle mixture with olive oil and add vinegar, salt, pepper and garlic to taste; stir well. Chill until ready to serve.

This makes a nice, cool appetizer or side-dish. It is very pretty with some of the diced veggies and a sprig of parsley or cilantro for garnish. :)

Applesauce Cookies

I see that I've gotten lazy about posting recipes. Mostly because I don't know what to post. But this is a good one. Bruce and I discovered this recipe for Applesauce Cookies before we were married, and it was a favorite of Bruce's for a long time. Of course, now that he's turned into a total chocolate fiend, chocolate chip cookies may be his favorite. I still prefer these. (But Bruce really did enjoy these a lot when we made them last night.)

APPLESAUCE COOKIES

1 1/2 cups applesauce
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup raisins (optional)

In a medium bowl, mix applesauce with baking soda. In a large bowl cream together butter, sugar and egg. Add cinnamon, cloves and salt to butter mixture. Add applesauce to the butter mixture; mix thoroughly. Stir in flour; add raisins, if using.

Drop by tablespoonsful onto greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes.

Very tasty! And you can pretend like they are more healthy than your average cookie! ;-)