Entries from May 27th, 2009

mayo

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Yes, I know mayo is an interesting topic for a Wednesday “healthy eating” post. But this morning I read a healthy eating blog in which the phrase “the heinousness of mayo” occurred and it brought me to a screeching halt.

When did we decide that mayo was “heinous”? (I’m not talking about people who don’t like the taste or texture of mayo – I readily accept that some people don’t like it and find it heinous in that respect. I’m talking about from a healthy eating standpoint.)

This is one of my food/dieting/healthy eating pet peeves. I think the concept has sabotaged more diets and made more people give up on being healthy than any other: the black and whiteness of “bad” vs. “good” foods and the idea that you have to 100% give up things that taste good because they’re “heinous”.

Mayo – even store bought mayo – is not heinous any more than ice cream is heinous or butter is heinous or pizza is heinous. Sure, if you glop piles of mayo on everything without any thought, it can be unhealthy and fattening. So is eating an entire carton of ice cream or a whole stick of butter or a triple cheeseburger with extra cheese.

The idea here, folks, is MODERATION. 1 tablespoon of mayo is 90 calories and 9.5g of fat. Here’s the ingredients list on a popular brand of regular, full-fat mayo:

INGREDIENTS: SOYBEAN OIL, WATER, WHOLE EGGS AND EGG YOLKS, VINEGAR, SALT, SUGAR, LEMON JUICE, NATURAL FLAVORS, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA (USED TO PROTECT QUALITY).

Soybean oil has a nice amount of Omega6s in it, and is high in monounsaturated fats – the healthy fats that our body uses, and contains vitamin E. Yes, mayo is high in fat, but so is an avocado. No one is advocating eating a cup of mayo, but 1 T on a sandwich or in a chicken salad is not going to kill you – and in fact it’ll provide you with some of the healthy fats you need to keep your body going.

And let’s talk for just a minute about Light or Low-Fat Mayo. From the same manufacturer, the ingredients list for Light Mayo:

INGREDIENTS: WATER, SOYBEAN OIL, VINEGAR, MODIFIED CORN STARCH**, WHOLE EGGS AND EGG YOLKS, SUGAR, SALT, XANTHAN GUM**, LEMON AND LIME PEEL FIBERS** (THICKENERS), (SORBIC ACID**, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA) USED TO PROTECT QUALITY, LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE, PHOSPHORIC ACID**, DL ALPHA TOCOPHERYL ACETATE (VITAMIN E), NATURAL FLAVORS, BETA CAROTENE**.

Note that every ingredient marked with a ** is, per their own website, an ingredient that isn’t in regular mayo. So personally, I’d rather allow for the 90 calories from the real mayo than use light mayo with only 35 calories, but a huge amount of additives and chemicals that try to recreate that real mayo mouthfeel.

2 T of mayo mixed into a chicken salad is only going to add about 45 calories per serving, while giving flavor and creaminess to the final product. Yes, you can substitute things like mashed avocado or even avoid the mayo altogether and use mustard if you want … but do it for taste or texture, not because of some random idea that mayo is heinous.

There is NOTHING wrong with mayonnaise, eaten in moderation and as part of a healthy diet. It’s certainly a long, long, long way from being “heinous”.

Let’s please get away from hating on food. The vast majority of food is not inherently bad. What we DO with food can be a bad choice or a good choice, but vilifying food itself is not the answer here.

I was going to close this post with one of my favorite recipes for chicken salad – made with mayonnaise. But it’s been a rather hellish week this week and I didn’t get around to writing it up (because I make it by taste and I need to make and measure) or photographing it. So instead I’m leaving you with an image of what I did with the bajillion (ok, so I exaggerate slightly) egg whites I had left over from last months TWD recipes.

I made meringue cookies – and they were delicious!

3 comments categories: condements

twd: chipster-topped brownies

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Tuesdays with Dorie #8:  Beth of Supplicious decided on Chipster-Topped Brownies on pages 94 and 95.

So far every recipe I’ve made for TWD has been good – some expectedly so and some surprisingly so. So given that success, I was really jazzed to make this recipe because chocolate chip cookies and brownies are two of my favorite things in the whole wide world.

I’m sorry to say that I was completely and totally underwhelmed by this dessert, however.

I loved all the elements and had fun photographing the creamy rich melted chocolate …

And taking photos of the swirly patterns as I mixed the brownie batter …

Pouring out the yummy brownie mix …

Adding the chips to the cookie mix …

And using my fingers to smooth the cookie layer over the top (not to mention licking my fingers after) …

… but I had problems with the baking time. I kept using the “streaky knife” test that Dorie recommends and by the time I got a clean to “slightly” streaky knife, the cookie part was deeply darkly crunchy brown and the edges of the brownie were also leaning towards burnt.

Also I really expected a bit more definition between the brownie part and the cookie part, which I just didn’t get, as you can see from the photos. Ultimately I felt like the combination of the two elements was less than the individual components. A really good brownie is worth it’s weight in gold and your basic chocolate chip cookie .. well, there’s just nothing to compare. By combining them, something was lost. In my opinion, anyway.

That didn’t keep them from being snapped up like crazy at work and by H, but overall I was just not thrilled.

Not every recipe can be a stunning success. And I know some people loved these so I’m glad that they turned out well for those folks.

Onward to the next TWD recipe.

The recipe is available in Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Enjoy!

17 comments categories: sweets, treats, & desserts

vanilla!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

I’m so excited. I got home this evening and what should be sitting on the doorstep? This package from the Organic Vanilla Bean Co. Whooo hoo!

And in it? One pound of vanilla beans; 1/2 each of Bourbon and Tahitian.

I have big plans for these babies. Homemade vanilla, vanilla paste, some vanilla ice cream, vanilla sugar … the list is endless. But I’m not cutting into the vacuum seal just yet. I’m just going to gloat over the pound of beans for a little while longer.

4 comments categories: condements

citrus

Friday, May 22, 2009

No recipes today, but just a glimpse of what I’ve been doing with part of my evenings this week. I recently acquired a large quantity of lemons and limes and I’ve been spending a part of each evening zesting and juicing.

The zest and juice are currently hanging out in my freezer. I’m hoping to build up a stash so over the winter I can still enjoy the fresh, bright flavors of lemons and limes!

And, btw, if you don’t have a Microplane grater, you must must must get one. Well, if you do any zesting of citrus or grating of cheese, that is. It’s the best $15 I ever spent. Makes zesting a lime go so quickly and easily!

Lemons on Foodista

2 comments categories: miscellaneous food

bloody mary

Thursday, May 21, 2009

What better post to follow an article on healthy eating, than to jump right into one of my favorite alcoholic drinks: the bloody mary. Supposedly the drink was created at Harry’s Bar in Paris – one of the hangouts of Ernest Hemingway, among others. Wherever it was created, it’s one of the few adult beverages that is considered acceptable to serve in the mornings – maybe it’s the tomato juice that makes it a popular brunch drink choice. It has at least a chance at being healthy.

I have had different variations of the bloody mary in various cities, and even had the Tex-Mex version, the bloody maria, made with tequila instead of vodka. But my favorite remains the basic and simple version with tomato juice, vodka, and some seasoning.

A few weeks ago I had some vodka left over from making vanilla and so I decided to experiment and try infusing my own hot pepper vodka. I filled a quart canning jar with vodka and added the last 3 hot chili peppers, split down the middle. I love the way the vodka has taken on a pale green hue from the peppers. And just for the record, you could definitely taste the peppers and additional spiciness in the final drink!

To a shot of that, I added some homemade hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and of course tomato juice to top off the glass.

Garnish with celery salt and a pickled string bean.

And …. voila! … a yummy (and marginally nutritious) bloody mary.

0 comments categories: drinks

what’s healthy?

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

One of the things you risk when you let people know that you’re changing your diet habits is outside commentary on what you eat. People tend to have a fixed idea of what being “on a diet” means … which means they look at you askance when you eat things that don’t fit their pre-conceived notions. Some of the things I hear frequently from friends and co-workers are:
Should you be eating that?
That can’t be good for you!
How can you say you’re being healthy when you eat ____?
In fact when I told friends that I was joining Tuesdays With Dorie, which is a group dedicated to making desserts from Dorie Greenspan’s fabulous dessert and baking cookbook, most of them were shocked. The idea that I might make and eat desserts while “on a diet” threw everyone for a loop.

But here’s the thing; being healthy doesn’t have to mean depriving yourself. You don’t have to give up your favorite foods forever, or stop eating desserts, or give up your glass of wine or evening cocktail.

I know that personally, if I vow to never eat another ____ again (potato chip, piece of cake, slice of pizza, 5 Guys burger), then it’s pretty much guaranteed that I will immediately begin to crave that item. Not only will I crave it, but I’ll feel so deprived by the idea that I can *never* have it again, I’ll immediately sabotage myself and give up. “Being healthy” by that definition (the deprivation definition) is simply too hard and too overwhelming. And I’m firmly convinced that feeling deprived is what destroys most peoples’ attempts to diet or be healthy.

Over the years I’ve come to realize that eating healthily needs to be a 90/10 proposition. What does that mean? It means that 90% of the time I eat as healthily as I possibly can, and the other 10% of the time, I can eat things that might not be so good for me. Because I look at treat foods as 10% of my diet, and not 50% of my diet (or more), the answer to the above questions becomes … Yes, I can eat this, I should eat this, and I can say I’m being healthy because an occasional treat is a healthy choice.

That’s why I can bake with Dorie and the group and still lose weight. That’s why I can justify posting luscious tiramisu cake – because the cake is one dessert on one evening, not a mindless consumption of 1/2 a cake over a period of 2 days.

3 comments categories: health & fitness

twd: fresh mango bread

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Tuesdays with Dorie #6:  Kelly of Baking with the Boys selected Fresh Mango Bread on page 45.

I had no preconceived notions about this recipe. I’m fairly neutral about fruit breads in general; pumpkin bread, banana bread, etc, are all good and I’ll eat them when offered, but I won’t go out of my way for them. So as I said, I had no preconceptions one way or the other.

I started out with Mexican mangoes which are a little smaller than the Florida mangoes found in most grocery stores. It took two of them to make the 2 cups of diced mango called for in the recipe.

I also soaked my raisins in rum before adding them to the recipe; I thought the rum would complement the tropical flavors of the recipe.

I mixed my dry and my wet ingredients, happy for another TWD recipe that didn’t use every bowl in my kitchen!

I added in the mango and raisins. I think next time I’d chop the mango into smaller pieces and add more of it. I think the bread would have been even better with more mango.

And finally I baked it in 3 small loaf pans, rather than one large one. I probably could have divided it into 4 pans and come out fine, but the 3 made nice sized loafs and gave me 1 to keep, and 2 to take to work.

I was going to wait until the bread was totally cooled before trying it, but it smelled so good and was calling my name. Loudly. I could hear it from the living room. So I had to slice into it and take a bite .. and then another. And then another. Before I knew it, I’d eaten a whole piece and sliced off a 2nd. That’s when I realized I had to walk away from the bread!

So although I had no preconceptions about this bread one way or another, I wound up really liking it. It was moist and fruity. I accidentally left out the lime zest (just plain forgot) but I didn’t really miss it. The flavor of the rum from the raisins definitely came through and the bits of mango were just lovely. As I said above, if I were to make this again, I’d chop up more mango into smaller pieces, but that’s just a small quibble.

I finally wrapped up the loaves to keep myself out of them. Oh, and the bread was a huge hit at work on Monday. Definitely a nice recipe that’s a tropical twist on the usual breakfast type fruit breads.

The recipe is available in Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Enjoy!

8 comments categories: breads, scones, & muffins

boiled peanuts

Monday, May 18, 2009

Boiled peanuts are another uniquely Southern treat. Every time I road trip in the South, and especially if I’m traveling off the freeway and on the back roads, I keep my eyes out for the hand-lettered signs that say “Boiled P-NUTS!” The more rural the location, the better the boiled peanuts. The best are the ones that have been cooked in a huge pot over a propane flame for hours on end … and maybe with a ham hock thrown in for flavoring.

Except there are a lot of people who don’t think that they’re treats and view them with a large amount of suspicion. In fact, the day I bought these peanuts at the farmers market, I texted a friend to tell him of my excitement about making my own boiled peanuts. He then informed me in no uncertain terms that the poor peanut had done nothing to deserve being boiled and to do so was a clear case of peanut torture.

I say, bring on the torture. Boiled peanuts are delicious, filling, and make a great healthy snack.

Here’s how you make them. I started with 1 lb of raw peanuts in the shell:

Rinse them well, checking each shell to make sure there’s no embedded dirt:

Then put the peanuts in a large pot with a quantity of stock and water. I started out with 8 cups – 1/2 ham stock and 1/2 water. You can see here that I just threw in the ham stock straight from the freezer.

Bring to a low boil and cook for a really long time. Really. Seriously. A long time. I think I boiled these for nearly 8 hours. About the 1/2 way mark I added another 8 cups of water and about 1/4 cup of salt. And boiled some more.

I tested periodically and after about 8 hours I thought the peanuts were done enough to be eaten, although the best peanuts I’ve had have probably been cooked in a slow cooker overnight. They need to be completely soft.

Notes: This is the first time I’ve boiled peanuts and when I make them again, I think I’ll throw in a whole ham bone, rather than using the ham stock. The peanuts have to cook for too long and you have to refresh the liquid too many times for the ham stock to impart enough flavor. I think using the bone itself and boiling it the whole time would make a difference.

Also, the peanuts need a LOT of salt for flavor, otherwise they’re just bland and soft. I think I added nearly 1/3 of a cup of salt for this 1 lb batch.

Finally, I still think the best way to eat these is from a styrofoam cup, nestled in a paper bag, while on a road trip through winding back-country highways. That, for me, will always be The South.

Nutritional info (1/2 cup with shells): Calories: 220, Total Fat: 14g, Carbs: 14g, Protein: 10g

4 comments categories: snacks, nibbles, & treats

saturday farmer’s market and misc #5

Saturday, May 16, 2009

More and more is starting to show up at the farmer’s market as the weather gets warmer. Since I’m on my own this week, I didn’t go overboard, but I did get two things that I’m excited about.

First my small collection of veggies; radishes, cucumbers, carrots, and 2 green tomatoes which I intend to fry for dinner tonight.

Next, the stall with the guy selling honey was BACK today. Yay. I bought a bottle of honey, and I also talked to him about buying beeswax for making my own lip balms and creams – which he’s happy to do. Now we just have to agree on a price.

Finally, one of the stalls had raw peanuts and I jumped at the chance to make my own boiled peanuts. Boiled peanuts are another of those uniquely Southern dishes. I bought 2 lbs of peanuts and I’ve got 1 lb of them on the stove now. I’ll be blogging about that in the near future.

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I also went to the butcher today and picked up my order. They told me they simply cannot get chicken livers (this is the 3rd time I’ve tried to order them and not been able to get them). Well, phooey. I wanted to make pate this weekend, but I guess I’ll have to find another source for the livers. I did, however, get 5 lbs of chicken backs and am currently making stock for the freezer.

More and more and more I want a chest freezer for the storage room. I’m determined now that I’m going to get one. I just don’t have enough room in the side-by-side for everything I want to make and store. Of course that means cleaning out the storage room. *gulp*

A friend told me that he’s pretty sure boiling peanuts is a form of peanut torture. He asked what the poor peanuts ever did to me. Bwahhahahah. I told him it was their fault for being delicious when boiled and I was currently torturing 1 lb of them. I think he thinks I’m crazy. He’s probably right.

Finally, I was looking for bottles and jars for gifts and various stuff in the kitchen and lucked out at Hobby Lobby. All of their glass was on sale for 50% off today. I got the jars and bottles below for less than $20. I might have to go back for more!

1 comment categories: blogging, miscellaneous food

fruit salad

Thursday, May 14, 2009

This is one of my favorite things to make in the summer time, and a great thing to take to a cook out or barbecue where you need to bring a side dish.

It’s a wee bit early for the best fruits, but when I saw the blueberries and strawberries on sale at the grocery store tonight, I just couldn’t resist. This is another of those recipes that you should feel free to tweak to your own tastes and to what fruit is in season and available, but here’s how I made it tonight.

Start by cutting up an equal amount of bananas, strawberrries, blueberries, and pineapple. Add about 1/2 a can of mandarin oranges, drained. Set this aside for a minute.

In a small bowl mix about 1 cup of plain yogurt (I used my homemade), 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, some sweetener (I used 2 pkgs of Splenda, but you can use 1 tbsp of sugar if you prefer), and some lemon zest. Sometimes I leave out the cinnamon, and just add more lemon, but mostly I love the spiciness the cinnamon gives it. Sometimes I also add some ground ginger. Again, it all depends on the flavors you want.

Mix it together well and let it chill in the fridge for 30 mins or so before serving.

I based mine off of the 6 oz container of blueberries and adjusted the amount of fruit from there. This makes 4 very generous servings.

Nutritional information: Calories 105. Fat: 1g. Sodium: 31mg. Carbs: 19.2g. Protein: 3g.

3 comments categories: veg, salad, & side dishes

mahi-mahi

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

As promised, here’s my first Wednesday healthy food post!

I’ve always loved fish and seafood so when I started changing how I eat, it was pretty easy to add a little more fish to my diet. Fish is a really great part of a healthy diet – it provides a lot of protein and minerals for not a whole lot of calories. Some varieties of fish like salmon and tuna are very high in Omega3 Fatty Acids, but they also have a very strong flavor that can be off-putting to some people. If you’re unsure about fish, I suggest you try Mahi-Mahi. You can find it fresh in some stores, but you can also buy frozen filets in most grocery stores for a reasonable price.

Mahi is a milder flavored fish, and the filets are pretty thick, so they’re more “meat like” to cook and less delicate. One of my favorite things to do with mahi is to drizzle it with a little olive oil, sprinkle on some salt and pepper, and pop it on the grill over a medium-high flame. Cook it for 5 or so minutes on one side, and then carefully flip it and cook it for another 4 or 5 minutes on the other. Voila!

If you don’t have a grill or if weather prohibits cooking outside, here’s an alternative – one that I use all the time. Place your fish filets on a baking sheet (I use my toaster oven, hence the small baking pan), drizzle them with a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and lay some thinly sliced lemon over each filet. (Note: These lemon slices are the ones I put in a jar of olive oil about 4 weeks ago. The oil is gently infused with the flavor of the lemon and the lemon slices can be used for stuff like this – to add a nice, subtle lemon flavor to the fish.)

Bake for 15 minutes at 400F. Here’s a quick guideline for cooking fish – just remember: 6/10/400. That means for every 6 oz of fish, cook it for 10 minutes, at 400 deg F. Again, that’s a guideline – thinner filets may need less time, and thicker filets may need more, but it gives you a starting point to work with when baking or grilling fish. It worked pretty well here, as I had about 13-14 oz of fish above, and it took 15 minutes to cook through.

Note that each of these filets is about 6-7 ounces – which is about 2 servings each. Don’t let that stop you from eating a whole filet if you want. Each 3 oz has the following nutritional value: 90 cals, 2g fat, 0g carbs, 0g fiber, and a whopping 16g of protein.

For this meal, I served mine with a side of quinoa cooked in veggie broth and some steamed asparagus. Total calories for the whole meal: 480 (including an estimated 1T of olive oil for the fish and to drizzle over the asparagus). And if you’re working to increase your protein intake, this meal provides a full 33g of protein.

(Bonus healthy eating tip: Serve your meals on a salad plate, rather than using a full sized dinner plate. It makes your meal look like more, which can be an important psychological trick when you’re first starting out reducing your portion sizes!)

Enjoy!

4 comments categories: seafood & fish

twd: tartest lemon tart

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Tuesdays with Dorie #6:  Babette of Babette Feasts picked the Tartest Lemon Tart on page 336.

I want to start off saying that I loved the rich lemony-ness of this tart. It had a depth of flavor that went beyond your average lemon tart, which I’m sure is from the use of whole lemons. It was sweet and refreshing all at the same time. I am definitely going to make this again soon.

That said, the tart and I – we had issues at first. We resolved them, but the relationship didn’t start out smoothly.

I started off making the crust that was called for in the recipe – the basic sweet tart crust. This crust is pretty much the same as the chocolate crust used in the chocolate tart, w/out the cocoa powder, so I’m not sure what went wrong – but my first go ’round with it was a disaster. It was very crumbly coming out of the processor, but I pressed it into the tart pan and baked it anyway. It practically filled the whole pan, which concerned me, since Dorie says in her recipe that the shell will be “very full” with the lemon filling.

When the pastry came out of the oven, it was still very crumbly and still took up a great deal of space in the pan. I was skeptical already, but the kicker was when I jiggled the shell in the tart pan just to separate it from the sides, it broke into large chunks. I probably could have still used it, but I decided to pass. (Confession: It was too tasty to waste and I wound up eating it like shortbread cookies with coffee in the mornings!)

So moving on, I tried a different crust. I figured it was a perfect opportunity to make the unique tart crust that I saw mentioned on David Leibovitz’s blog last week: French Tart Dough. It calls for boiling the wet ingredients (including the butter) in the oven first. It actually made a lovely thin, buttery crust, which I wound up using. But I’d still like to make this with the thicker, more shortbread-y crust.

Ok, so moving on, the filling was amazingly simple to make. I scrubbed the lemons well, since I knew I’d be using all of them, cut them in quarters, and seeded them. There wasn’t a lot of pith, so I didn’t feel the need to par-boil them or try to cut any of it out.

I used my Cuisinart mini-prep and it was just big enough for the filling. I ground up the lemons first, added the sugar and pulsed it some more, then added the rest of the ingredients. (Sidenote: I think the melted butter is unnecessary in this recipe. I think it made the finished product just a little oily feeling. When I make this again, I think I’ll leave out the melted butter.)

As Dorie said in the recipe, the filling definitely FILLS the tart shell.

She also warned that the tart might bake over in the oven, which it did – and then some. Next time I think I’ll use my deeper tart pan, even if it will make a less even looking crust. I hated to see the waste of the filling like that. (2nd confession: It wasn’t exactly wasted – I scooped it into a bowl and dipped the broken pieces of the first tart into it. It went great with my coffee on Sunday morning!)

However, once it cooled, and I cleaned it up and lifted the tart out of the pan, it looked and tasted great.

So recap: I loved it. I honestly think this might be my favorite recipe so far – even though there was no chocolate involved. It’s the perfect summer dessert – tangy and bright and summery and just delicious!

I want to make it again with the sweeter tart pastry, but in a deeper pan. And I want to try it with different kinds of citrus as well, including possibly some of the grapefruit that I know H will bring back from his parents’ place in Phoenix in a couple of weeks.

The recipe is available in Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Enjoy!

25 comments categories: sweets, treats, & desserts

veggie lasagna

Monday, May 11, 2009

Veggie Lasagna Recipe

This might more accurately be titled How-to-use-up-leftover-veggies-lasagna because it’s what I make when I have bits and pieces of veggies in the crisper that need to be used before they go bad. It’s easy to make – although not fast, because once it’s prepped, it still needs to bake for an hour. This is another dish that I like to make in advance – maybe during a Sunday afternoon of prep – and stash in the fridge or freezer so I can throw it in the oven when I get home in the evenings.

Here’s how I made it this week. I started with a medium whole eggplant, which I sliced, salted, and left to drain for about 30 minutes on a layer of papertowel. (Salting the eggplant helps remove some of the excess liquid which both makes the eggplant more firm and helps remove some of the “bitter” flavor from the seeds.) Be sure to rinse the eggplant well before adding it to your recipe.

Chop the eggplant, add a chopped zucchini, 2 chopped cloves of garlic, 1 chopped medium onion, about 2 cups of chopped spinach, 10 oz of sliced mushrooms, and some of the tomatoes I not-canned a few days ago. (The eggs are for later.)

I sauted the eggplant, onion, zucchini, and garlic in some olive oil until the onions were translucent and the rest of the veggies were tender.

I added the spinach and stirred it around until it was just wilted.

Finally I added in a roasted red bell pepper and some of the tomatoes from the jar in the fridge – both chopped fine.

In the meanwhile, I whisked a large egg and then mixed it with 15 oz of ricotta cheese.

Then I assembled the whole thing starting with a thin coating of tomato sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish to keep the noodles from sticking

Then just layer things: noodles, veggies, ricotta mix, cheese, tomato sauce.

Add a 2nd layer and then finish off with a layer of noodles, sauce, and cheese. Top with a sprinkle of parmesan.

Cover the whole thing with foil and bake in a 375 F oven for 35-40 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes or until the top is browned and bubbly.

This recipe calls for the lasagna to be assembled in a 9×13 baking dish which should make about 8 good sized servings but you can also do this in 2 8×8 square dishes, if you have a smaller family or are not so big on leftovers. The nice thing about doing 2 8×8 dishes is that you can bake one immediately and freeze one for later, or make one to keep and one to share, or just freeze both of them.

Also keep in mind that this recipe is MEANT to be fooled-around-with. Don’t feel that you’re limited to the ingredients I listed here. This is a dish that you use to get rid of extra veggies you have lying around. If you want to throw in a different kind of squash, or leave out the eggplant, or add in cabbage … go for it. It’s limited only by your taste and what you have in your kitchen.

(And although it’s incredibly geeky of me, I want to point out that when I photographed the piece of lasagna on the plate, it was still steaming and you can see it in the photo.)

When made with the ingredients above, the nutritional information is as follows (and should be about the same as long as you use veggies for the filling and not add meat):
Nutrition info (based on 8 servings from a 9×13 pan): Cals: 358. Fat: 17.5g. Sodium: 652mg. Carbs: 30.1g. Fiber: 5.9g. Sugar: 8.2g. Protein: 23.7g.

3 comments categories: main courses

saturday farmer’s market and misc #4

Saturday, May 9, 2009

No farmer’s market today, unfortunately. I got up a little late this morning, and I think the late morning hour (after 11) and the gloomy weather had driven off most people. There were a handful of stands left, but nothing that I needed or wanted. So instead I went to Harry’s and picked up some misc veggies for this week. I’m craving stir fry for dinner, so that’ll probably be Monday’s meal.

Here’s an image from last weeks veggie haul, in lieu of the regular farmer’s market bounty:

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Not food related, but the cat is being an affection sponge today. No matter where I go, she follows me and flops at my feet. When I sit on the sofa, she presses as close as she can to me and curls up. This is highly unusual, so I’m enjoying it while I can. By this evening I’ll be the 3rd most important person in the house again (after herself, and then H, of course).

I haven’t restarted the limoncello yet, but I need to get on that soon, if I’m going to have time to test it before deciding if I want to make enough for Christmas gifts.

Along the same lines, I need to get some small bottles for the vanilla so I can share that out. The 1/2 gallon jar in the pantry is so dark now that you can’t see through it. I think it’ll make great gifts. I’m thinking I might try making some ground up vanilla bean paste as well.

The preserved lemons look great. I opened the jar today and poked at them – they liquid is getting syrupy and the skins of the lemons are soft. I think another week and they’ll be ready to use in something. I’m thinking orzo, asparagus, and … something. Another flying by the seat of my pants recipe in the making.

The homemade green Tabasco went well (post coming) – made from store bought green chiles. I can’t wait until my cayenne peppers come in so I can make the red variety.

Dorie’s Tartest Lemon Tart is a fantastic summer dessert. I really like it and will make it again for sure. Stay tuned for Tuesday’s post to see the finished product.

Finally a great tip if you have ant issues as we seem to do every year at this time. Powdered cinnamon will keep them out. I tried it today, lining the kitchen windowsill with a thin line of cinnamon, and … voila! … no more ants. Now that I know it works, I can use it in the living room as well and not worry about the cat getting into it.

2 comments categories: miscellaneous food

not-canned tomatoes

Thursday, May 7, 2009

What do you do when you have a handful of tomatoes from the farmer’s market that are starting to get wrinkly but you don’t want to use them just yet? Easy .. you skin them, and not-can them. This is super easy, super fast, and it’ll give you an extra 7-10 days of tomato life.

Start with your tomatoes that are starting to get wrinkly and old. Here I have one from the grocery store and 3 from the farmer’s market two Saturdays ago.

One at a time, plunge the tomatoes into a pot of boiling water and let them sit there for about 2 minutes. Don’t leave them much longer than that – you don’t want to cook them, just to loosen the skins.

Add the next tomato the boiling water, and remove the first one to an ice water bath for another 1-2 minutes.

When you take the tomato out of the ice water, the skin will begin to slip right off. You can probably peel it off in 2 or 3 large chunks with your fingers.

Shove the peeled tomatoes into a jar or a bowl, put a lid on them, and stick them in the fridge.

Now, if we were canning these, we’d leave head room, add some liquid, and process them in a boiling water bath – and they’d last for months in their jars. But these .. these aren’t meant to be preserved. They’re just meant to keep for another week or so until we have something to cook them in. They’re great to throw into some rice, chop up and toss into a casserole, make salsa with, or … as you’ll see in a future post, add to a veggie lasagna.

Do you have to do this with your tomatoes? Of course not. But if you’re a household of 2, as we are, and you have leftover tomatoes that you don’t want to waste, it’s a great way to get some extra shelf life (or fridge life out of your tomatoes) for about 10 minutes worth of work. And you still have all the goodness and flavor of your fresh tomatoes!

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0 comments categories: veg, salad, & side dishes