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Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Real-Life Lasagna





Carryout is SO boring!  I finally reached the breaking point a few evenings ago.  Out came the copy of Desperation Dinners that I just got from my friend, Diane.  She's moving and is getting rid of most of her cookbooks.  Ummm, we're moving too and I got rid of about four.  Out of about 1200.  I know, it's a disease.  But, at least I don't have a shoe collection!  The first recipe I made was good.  It was a chicken dish.  The second was killer.  Lasagna.  Yes, you read that right, lasagna.  In about 20 minutes.  Now, we'd been to the store and bought a mongo tray of ground beef.  Some went to burgers, some is going to Picadillo from the same cookbook and some is going to Glop (Connie's favorite.)  And, some went to lasagna.  Lasagna that was served with truffled asparagus bundles.  Be still my heart!  Connie would give that dish a six if we were allowed to give anything more than a five!

LOL, it was amazing.  We had leftovers for lunch and loved it just as much the second time around.  As usual, I made a change to the recipe.  No red wine was called for in the recipe.  We had a bottle of wine that we didn't want to drink.  One of those hostess gift things from a local winery that isn't horrid but isn't worthy of having with dinner.

We cleared off the table on the screened porch and dug in.  YUMMMM!  Then, with some chattering and a whoosh, Woody Woodpecker showed up.  We've seen a pileated woodpecker in the wooded area behind our next door neighbor's house.  But, we've never seen one at our home.  This guy was tearing through the stump.  The splinters of wood were flying.  And, Connie snuck out the door of the screened porch and just kept shooting pics.  One of them was perfect!



In addition to Woody, we have some stunning spring bulbs up:

 
 
 



And, our asparagus patch is producing like crazy.  Here's the asparagus I picked, blanched and froze:



Connie got our slices of happiness made so we've got breakfast during the move.  Annie and Wee Mac LOVE helping clean out the cheese jars!!!



Ok, now, I'm going to go into the recipe.  We'll talk about how the moving is going later.  Suffice to say closing is in two weeks and two days...  Yikes!  Oh, and this is what my living room now looks like:



Real Life Lasagna



Ingredients:

8 oz lasagna noodles (for four cups broken)
1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 t minced garlic
1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped, optional
2 t dried Italian seasoning
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 c dry red wine
1 c cottage cheese
2 c (8oz) already shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to a boil.  While that's starting, brown the ground beef and the onion in the olive oil. I used an oven safe pot.  Just as it's getting done, add the garlic.  Stir in the parsley, Italian seasoning, red wine, tomatoes and tomato paste.  Allow that to simmer while you cook the lasagna noodles.  Now, before you toss them in the water, you need to break them into pieces.  I used about three cups of broken and it was more than enough.  Cook the lasagna noodles until they're tender.  It'll take 8-10 minutes.  Once the noodles are done, drain them.  Add the cottage cheese, half of the mozzarella and the noodles to the ground beef mixture.  Stir well.  Top with the rest of the mozzarella cheese and pop it under the broiler until the cheese is melted.  Serve


adapted from Desperation Dinners

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Asian Fried Quinoa




Do chocolate biscotti count as a spring vegetable?  How about blueberry muffins?  Or homemade semolina pizza dough?  I suppose the latter could be topped by spring vegetables and thereby qualify as my April Blogger C.L.U.E. Society post.  But, I was determined to find a recipe chock full of veggies.  Little did I imagine that I’d find THIS recipe.  This bowl full of awesomeness!!!
 
Kim's blog is chock full of wonderful recipes so I always have an easy time finding something I want to make.  In this case, I found a recipe that not only met the month's assigned theme of spring vegetables but also met my easy to make during moving requirement.  Yes, you read that right.  We're moving.  Long story short, we looked at renovating our current home and adding on a bit.  But, we still had a master bedroom and laundry on the 2nd floor problem.  We hired an architect, got quotes and about had heart failure over said quotes.  An appraiser concurred with us and said it wasn't a smart move.  So, we called our intrepid friends Joe and Susan and asked them to see what kind of inventory was available.  On house number eight we hit gold.  Three days later after the usual back and forth, we had an accepted purchase offer.  And, six weeks to get our house packed up.  Seven boxes a day is my goal.  We're running a bit behind that but have still made good progress.  Needless to say, complicated cooking is out of the question.  We'll be focusing on grilling for the next month or so.  Actually as I type this, it's five weeks and two days!
 
Here's my confession and funny story about my moving addled brain...  One of the rules with Blogger C.L.U.E. is that we're not supposed to make major changes to the recipe.  Kim had listed what she'd included and what she'd not included.  Here's a link to her post so you can see:  Asian Fried Quinoa.  We'd gotten home late and Connie had immediately headed to the store for a few things.  Then, as I started to assemble the ingredients the doorbell rang.  The guy to do the quote for washing the windows after we move out and before we list this house.  Back to assembling ingredients.  Doorbell again. Quote is ready.  When Mom lived in her condo, Rick did her windows.  Conversation ensued.  As he left, Connie got home.  Update on lots of things.  The quinoa went into a saucepan to toast.  I started chopping veggies.  Connie and I were talking about what we'd need to work on packing next.  I grabbed a can of vegetable broth out of the pantry.  Now, here's where I got REALLY lucky.   I was cutting Kim's recipe in half.  My brain knew to do one-to-one on the liquid even if I didn't have a recipe that said so.  Thank goodness for habits!  Veggies went into a skillet to cook.  Once they were almost done I moved them to the side and cracked in a couple of eggs.  Quinoa was done.  The dish went together.  We sat down at the dining room table and Connie asked me about the quinoa and why it was so much like couscous.  OMG!!!  This IS couscous.  The quinoa is in a different place in the pantry.  So, I made a huge change to Kim's recipe.  Couscous is not nearly as healthy as quinoa.  And, my guess is not as flavorful in this dish.  But, my friends, I have now proven that the dish can be equally well made with couscous!  And, it was still fabulous!

Now, you have the opportunity at the end of this post to go visit my fellow Blogger CLUE members.  Believe me, they're all wonderful cooks and will be sharing some delightful recipes.  Personally , I can't wait to see what they've all made!!

Asian Fried Quinoa (or Couscous if you're a doofus like me...)

Ingredients:

1  1/2 c quinoa
3 c water or vegetable broth
2 T olive oil
1 T sesame oil
1 1/2 chopped medium onion
1/4 c chopped shallot (didn't use)
4 large garlic cloves
2 T grated fresh ginger
1 c finely chopped green onions
1 c diced carrots
2 c shredded baby bok choy or spinach
1 c finely diced celery
2 c shredded napa cabbage or slaw mix
1 c diced sugar snap peas or asparagus
3 T low sodium soy sauce
2 large eggs

Directions:

You can use either a large skillet and a small skillet plus a large saucepan or you can use a large skillet and a large saucepan.   I used the latter.  Get your mis en place ready.  That means having everything cut and ready to go. 




Put the carrots in one bowl.  the onion, shallot, celery, green onions, cabbage and snap peas can be combined in another.  The spinach in yet another.  Cook your quinoa in the vegetable broth.  The original recipe called for toasting the quinoa first.  Kim said she tried it both ways and both tasted fabulous.  In the large skillet, heat 2 T of olive oil to shimmering.  Add the carrots.  Cook until they're slightly softened. 



Add the sesame oil and the bowl of mixed vegetables.  Stir fry until the veggies are slightly softened.  Add the spinach and soy sauce and stir fry until the spinach is just wilted. 



Now, you've got two choices here.  You can crack a couple of eggs over the veggies or you can fry them sunny-side up separately.  I chose to do them at the side.  Combine the veggies and the quinoa and either top with the egg or enjoy the fact that the eggs are already incorporated...  Inhale!






 
  • Lisa from Authentic Suburban Gourmet
  • Ramona from Curry and Comfort
  • Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva
  • Alice from A Mama, Baby and Shar-pei in the Kitchen
  • Azmina from Lawyer Loves Lunch
  • Kelli from Kelli's Kitchen
  • Kim from Liv Life
  • Stacy from Food Lust People Love
  • Lea Ann from Cooking on the Ranch
  • Anna from Anna Dishes
  • Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm
  • Jean from Lemons and Anchovies
  • Heather from girlichef
  • Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
  • Kate from Kate's Kitchen
  • Christiane from Taking on Magazines
  • Debra from Eliot's Eats
  • Lora from Cake Duchess
  • Kathy from A Spoonful of Thyme
  • Rebekah from Making Miracles
  • Lauren from Sew You Think You Can Cook
  • Lisa from Authentic Suburban Gourmet
  • Ramona from Curry and Comfort
  • Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva
  • Alice from A Mama, Baby and Shar-pei in the Kitchen
  • Azmina from Lawyer Loves Lunch
  • Kelli from Kelli's Kitchen
  • Kim from Liv Life
  • Stacy from Food Lust People Love
  • Lea Ann from Cooking on the Ranch
  • Anna from Anna Dishes
  • Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm
  • Jean from Lemons and Anchovies
  • Heather from girlichef
  • Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
  • Kate from Kate's Kitchen
  • Christiane from Taking on Magazines
  • Debra from Eliot's Eats
  • Lora from Cake Duchess
  • Kathy from A Spoonful of Thyme
  • Rebekah from Making Miracles
  • Lauren from Sew You Think You Can Cook