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Monthly Archives: September 2006
Vegetable Lasagna Alfredo
I’m not sure where I got the idea for this recipe, but I’ve been making it in various forms for five years or so. At first, I used jarred alfredo sauce for the white, cheesy sauce that takes place of tomato sauce. But I’ve in the past couple of years, I’ve taken to making my own bechemal sauce rather than the jarred alfredo sauce. I’ve also taken to adding sweet, Italian turkey sausage in the vegetable mix.
This recipe takes a little bit of time — you have to saute the vegetables and sausage, make the bechamel sauce, make the ricotta mixture, and boil the lasagna noodles all separately. Then the lasagna must be assembled and baked!
It’s worth it. Especially since this will make a whole pan of lasagna and will most likely feed you for days — unless of course you’re making for a crowds. Then, all bets are off as I’m sure someone’s going to want seconds.
Preheat the oven to 450.
Bechamel Sauce
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups 2% milk
1/4 large onion, cut into large chunks
3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1 tbsp. whole pepper corns
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 tbsp. flour
1/2 cup shredded aged provelone cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
Combine chicken or vegetable broth and milk together in a large, microwavable container. Put the onion, garlic, and peppercorns into the liquid. Put this in the microwave for three minutes — stopping after each minute to stir. Set aside.
Melt the butter in a medium pot. Whisk in the flour and cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes in order to cook the flour (you’re making a roux!) Strain the liquid into the pot with the butter and flour. Toss the onion, garlic, and peppercorns — they’ve given all they can. Slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Your milk and broth will start to get thick.
Once the sauce gets thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, stir in the cheeses. Add a couple of pinches of salt and about 10 grinds of freshly cracked pepper. Taste and add more salt and pepper if neccessary.
Ricotta Mixture
24 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. dried oregeno
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 pinch salt
10-15 grinds fresh black pepper
1 egg, beaten
Mix all of the ingredients together until combined.
Turkey Sausage and Vegetables
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced small
10 crimini or baby bella mushrooms, sliced
8 oz. sweet turkey sausage (about three sausages)
1 red pepper, diced into 1/2 inch chunks
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 small summer squash, sliced
salt
pepper
Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Let sweat for 1-2 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook for 1 minute. Add sausage, breaking it up in the pan so it resembles ground meat. Let the sausage brown. Since we’re using lean turkey sausage, you don’t need to drain this. Add the red pepper, zucchini, and summer squash. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook until vegetables are soft but still al dente.
Lasagna Noodles
1 package lasagna noodles.
Other stuff
1 package shredded mozzerella
grated parmesan cheese
grated provelone cheese
Bring a gallon of water and a few large pinches of salt to a boil. Add lasagna noodles. Cook for about 6-7 minutes. They will be more al dente than pasta you’d serve without cooking again, but still able to be eaten (you’ll have extra that you’ll want to dip into the extra bechamel sauce — cook’s treat.)
Assembling
Use a 9x13ish baking dish (mine is a little smaller than that, but you know, just use what you have.) Pour some bechamel sauce on the bottom (so the noodles don’t stick.) Put one layer of lasagna noodles into the pan — you’ll probably get about three noodles lengthwise.
Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Spread 1/3 of the sausage and vegetable misture over the ricotta. Pour a little less than 1/3 of the bechamel sauce over the vegetables. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzerella cheese over the bechamel. Add another layer of noodles, sausage, bechamel, and mozzerella. You’ll get three layers in total. The last layer should be a layer of noodles covered in the rest of your bechamel sauce (minus whatever the cook is going to snack on while the lasagna is in the oven.) Finally, sprinkle some grated parmesan and grated provelone cheese on the top.
Cooking
Cover your lasagna pan loosely with foil. Put into the oven for about 45 minutes. You want the final internal temperature of the lasagna to be 165. When the lasagna is at about 160, take off the foil and cook for 5-10 minutes to finish and brown the cheese on the top.
Once it’s finished, if you can stand to wait, let the lasagna sit for 10-15 minutes to set. This will make it much easier to cut.
Soup’s on!
I love making soup. It’s a great way to get rid of leftovers in your refrigerator, an easy way to pack in loads of veggies and fiber, generally very cheap to make, and long lasting (one batch can feed two people for a few days.)
When I’m feeling like I haven’t been eating as nutritiously as possible (haven’t been getting in my veggies, eating too many empty calories, etc.), I like to throw together a vegetable soup.
Originally, I found a similar recipe called zero-point soup. It was a weight watchers recipe. I liked it, but of course, I had to tweak it. Over the years, I’ve basically made it my own — it’s hearty, warm, and nutritious. And unless you add the optional beans, it’s still a zero-point meal!
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced small
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, diced into 1/2 inch chunks
2 large carrots, diced into 1/2 inch chunks
1/2 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 quart vegetable stock
1, 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1, 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
salt & pepper
2 tsp. dried oregeno
2 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
2 ears of corn, cut off the cob
1 small zucchini, diced into 1/2 inch chunks
1 small summer squash, diced into 1/2 inch chunks
4 cups swiss chard, chopped or torn into bite sized pieces*
1, 15 oz. can kidney beans, drained (optional)
Grated parmesan cheese (optional)
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Sweat the onion for about 2 minutes.** Add the garlic, pepper, carrots, and green beans. Let these vegetables cook in the pan for a few minutes — until slightly softer than when they are raw.
Add the vegetable stock, crushed tomatoes, and diced tomates. Add the oregeno, basil, thyme, and bay leaf. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Add corn, zucchini, and summer squash. Simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are fork tender.
In the last five minutes of cooking add the swiss chard. It will wilt pretty quickly in the hot broth. Also, add the kidney beans if using.
Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with grated parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper.
*You can experiment with all sorts of leafy greens — spinach would work well, as would escarole, or kale. The original called for cabbage, but I like the other greens better.
**When I’m making this soup, I just add the veggies as I cut them and let them sweat away until I’ve got them all prepped and added to the pot.
Posted in Healthy, Main Dish, Recipe, Vegetarian
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Asian Tuna Burgers
Last night was one of those argh-what-are-we-going-to-do-for-dinner nights. Our fridge is pretty bare. We had a some brocolli that I picked up at the store last week — and some various frozen meats. On my way out the door in the morning, Sean the Taster said, “I’ll pull something out of the freezer.” Ahh, great, a secret ingredient.
At lunch time, he IMed me to let me know he pulled out some frozen tuna steaks. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them. Sure, I could have just given them a spice rub/marinade and done a quick sear, but since the tuna is pretty good (supposedly sushi grade albeit frozen), but not oh-my-god-melt-in-my-mouth tuna, I wanted to try something different for a change.
A quick search on foodtv.com gave me some ideas and I decided to make asian tuna burgers. The idea came from foodtv.com, but the actual recipe came from the ingredients I had on hand. Paired with some steamed brocolli and some frozen sweet potato fries, it turned out the be a tasty, healthy dinner.
We didn’t have lettuce, tomato, or avocado on hand, but I think they’d be great toppings on this burger.
Asian Tuna Burgers
2 tuna steaks (about 4 oz. each)
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. wasabi powder
1 green onion, minced
1/4 tsp. sesame oil
1 tbsp. sesame seeds
2 tsp. olive oil
2 seeded hamburger rolls
asian mustard aioli (recipe follows)
lettuce, optional
avocado, optional
tomato, optional
Dice tuna into 1/4 cubes; once it’s all diced run your knife through the tuna again to create a ground consistency. According to the recipe for tuna burgers on foodtv.com, using the food processor will over grind the tuna — however, it did say that a food grinder would also be appropriate. Place your tuna into a medium bowl.
In a small bowl, combine mustard through sesame oil and whisk together until combined. Pour over tuna. Add sesame seeds to the tuna mixture. Mix the tuna, sesame seeds, and dressing together until combined.
Divide the mixture in half and create two round patties. The burgers will probably be a little delicate so handle carefully.
Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a medium frying pan until the pan gets hot. Place the tuna burgers in the hot pan. Sear each side of the burger for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes — the second side will probably only need 1 1/2 minutes while the first side will be good for 2. You’re looking for a golden brown sear while leaving the middle of the burger rare (if you like that kind of thing. YOu can cook it longer if you’re weirded out by raw tuna — although, in that case, you’ll probably skip this recipe.)
Place on hamburger buns and top with asian mustard aioli, lettuce, avocado, and tomato as desired.
Asian Mustard Aioli
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
1 tbsp. light mayonaise
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. honey
1/8 tsp. sesame oil
Mix together. Enjoy on Asian Tuna Burgers. I added some of this on top of my steamed broccoli as well and it was yummy!
Blue Ribbon Green Chili
Working at an internet company has its perks. Between Labor Day and Memorial Day, one of these perks is snack-time every other Friday. Last year, Friday snacks were planned by department. When my team got the task, we wanted to shake things up a bit. We hosted a chili cook-off.
It was a success given that many people in the office love to cook. There were 8-10 chili submissions all voted on by everyone in the office. Mine won!
I made chili verde. Several people asked me for the recipe, but I never wrote it down. I thought it would make a good first recipe post.
Chili Verde
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced small
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ lb. pork loin, diced into ¼ inch cubes
1 ½ lb. boneless chicken thighs, diced into ¼ inch cubes
1 quart low sodium chicken stock
3 tbsp. cumin
1 tsp. chipotle chili powder
2 lb. tomatillos, diced into ½ inch cubes
3 large green peppers – roasted, peeled, and cut into thin slices*
4 large poblano peppers — roasted, peeled, and cut into thin slices*
1 jalapeno pepper (optional) — roasted, peeled, and diced small**
1, 15 oz. can cannelloni beans, drained
salt and pepper
Cilantro
Lime slices
Avocado
Sour cream
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 1 minute.
Add garlic and a large pinch of salt. Cook the onion and garlic on medium heat for 5-10 minutes until onion is soft and translucent. You’re sweating the onion and garlic, not sautéing so you shouldn’t have any brown bits.
Turn heat to medium-high and add the pork and chicken thighs to the garlic and onion mixture. Lightly brown the pork and chicken.
Add chicken stock, cumin, chipotle chili powder, and a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Add the tomatillos and peppers. Taste and add salt if needed. Simmer for as little as 20 minutes and as long as an hour.
In the last 5-10 minutes of cooking, add cannelloni beans. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Garnish with fresh cilantro, lime slices, avocado, and sour cream.
* To roast the peppers, coat each whole pepper with olive oil. Place on a cookie sheet in a rocket hot oven (450-500). Roast until skin is brown and bubbly. You’ll want to keep checking on them. Some might roast quicker than others. Once the peppers are brown and bubbly, put them in a plastic zip lock bag or in a large, covered container. This will allow steam to loosen the skin and make it easier to pull off once the peppers are cool enough to handle. Discard the seeds, membranes, and skin and slice into thin strips.
** For the cook-off, I added two roasted jalepenos. It’s a good thing that people in my office like spicy foods because the chili was *hot*. It was a bit too spicy for my taste. I’d add just one jalapeno or an extra poblano pepper if you want a medium-hot chili; add two jalapenos if you gotta have hot.
Cook with me!
I can’t believe I haven’t really created a blog about cooking yet. I tried before, but since the blog was about making someone else’s recipes all of the time, I lost interest. And really, what I need is a place to archive my recipes.
Too many times I make something and can’t ever make it again because I made the recipe up on the fly. A bit of this. A pinch of that. What about *this* spice?
It also so happens that I’m often asked for my recipes. And I can never actually provide the recipe unless I make it again.
So, that’s what I’m going to do here. I’m going to start out by making some recipes from the past that I *need* to archive. But I’ll also probably use this blog to write about things I’ve learned at cooking school, places I’ve gone to eat, and anything else that strikes my culinary fancy.
I can’t say this idea struck me without inspiration. Armida’s blog certainly inspired me to start one of my own — so go check her out. She’s got some fantastic recipes and reviews (a recent post discussed bacon-wrapped hot dogs — so yeah, go already.)
Posted in Introduction
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