Vegetarian Golden Lasagna

Since the last time I made a real update, we've celebrated no fewer than five birthdays among close friends, one of those being my husband's 34th birthday yesterday. I had a dreadfully busy work schedule all last week, so our friends Rob and Sarah (who's birthday is today) were nice enough to do dinner and cake at their place.


That's Super Mario World on the TV in the background of this photo. We may get older, but we'll never really grow up.


And here's an apple pie I made the week prior for my friend Sven's birthday.

Anyway, today is the first day I've gotten back into the kitchen after the week of extreme work and celebrating. It felt so relaxing, and I intentionally chose a dish that takes a while to prepare so I could spend some extra time getting back into my culinary groove.

Vegetarian Golden Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 9-12 whole wheat lasagna noodles
• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 2 yellow squash, thinly sliced
• 2 yellow onions, peeled and chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1 cup cream
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese crumbles
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tbsp olive oil

------------Spice Blend:

• 2 tsp powdered ginger
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Pre- Preparation:
You can do these first few steps in advance to skim some time off of preparation closer to meal time.

Bring a pot with approx. 8 cups of water to a boil. Peel and chop the sweet potatoes, add them to the boiling water and cook them until tender, about 20-25 minutes. Boil the lasagna noodles in a pot of salted water for 10-15 minutes until al dente.

Slice the squash as finely as you can— if you have a mandolin slicer, use it! Chop the onions into small (half inch) pieces. Then blend the spices (ginger, turmeric, nutmeg, salt, and pepper) together in a small dish. Set all of the above aside for later.

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375° F.

In a bowl, mash the sweet potato and squash with a fork. Add the ricotta cheese, egg, and half of the spice blend. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, cook the chopped onions in olive oil for 8-10 minutes over medium heat, until soft. Add the flour and stir until coated and the onions are slightly brown. Turn the heat to low and add the cream and water, then simmer and stir until the mixture thickens a little bit and becomes creamy. Add the remaining half of the spice blend and stir to combine.

In a 9x13 glass baking dish, layer the different components as follows: First lay down half of the onion-cream mixture and spread evenly along the bottom of the dish, then top that with a layer of noodles. Next, add half of the sweet potato-squash mixture and add a second layer of noodles. Add the remaining onion-cream mixture, then the remaining sweet potato-squash, and a final layer of noodles. Top it all off with the parmesan crumbles.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until the edges are bubbling and the noodles on top are lightly browned. Let the lasagna cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving. Makes about 12 servings.






On a final side note, I'm about to embark on a challenging food experiment with Brendan. For the whole month of March he wants to cut out dairy and wheat gluten. While I won't be actively participating in the experiment myself, I've agreed not to buy or keep anything that falls into those categories in the house, and I'll be finding some recipes to accommodate those changes.

I might miss cheese and milk while it's in Food Jail, but I think I can make it fun.

Relaxing Spa Day & Sesame Long Beans

I took a mini-break from posting (and cooking) to finish up some work, then on Saturday I went on a relaxing excursion to Spa World with a few good friends.


Image from Yelp.com

Spa World is a Korean-style bath house and sauna, with optional extras like massage services, access to fitness equipment, a Korean restaurant, and so on.

I love it there.

Relaxation is a vital part of one's health, and the spa provides some unique opportunities to relax and clear the mind. One of the most relaxing aspects of Spa World (to me) is that full nudity is required in the pool area. It might seem counterintuitive to a shy person, but among real natural bodies it's easy to let go of any negative thoughts you might have about your body. And being unencumbered by clothing means you can focus your whole attention on the calming physical sensations available to you in the pool.

On this visit, one woman broke the rule and entered the pool area in a bright yellow bikini. I couldn't stop staring at her. It was un-relaxing. First I felt bad for her, thinking it was awful that she couldn't let go of whatever reservations she was having about showing her body. Then I was mad. How dare she come into this peaceful place, and remind everyone that body issues exist? I eventually switched sides in the hot tub and faced the other direction, so I could stop thinking about it and re-quiet my mind. Let that be a lesson, though— when nudity is the norm, the best way to call attention to yourself is to cover up.

On Friday night I got into the Korean mood in advance with some sesame flavor. This recipe is similar to the eggplant dish I made last week, but with enough subtle differences to deserve its own post.



Sesame Long Beans

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb Chinese long beans, chopped & steamed
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup red cabbage, chopped
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp chili paste
• a handful of whole basil leaves
• 2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 2 tsp demerara sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• salt to taste

Preparation:
Steam the beans for 20-30 minutes in advance.

In a frying pan over medium heat, add 1/2 of the olive oil and toss in the chopped red cabbage. Let it cook for about 5 minutes, then add the remainder of the oil and the diced onions. Continue cooking until the onions are becoming translucent and the cabbage is slightly wilted, about 5 minutes. Once that's ready, add the sauce ingredients— the water, garlic, soy sauce, chili paste, basil leaves, ginger, and sugar. Stir the sauce well, then add the long beans.



Continue cooking the beans until most of the liquid has evaporated and the beans are tender. Stir frequently to keep the beans evenly cooked. Finally, remove from heat and add the sesame oil and salt. Give it one last stir and serve with rice.

A Super Bowl... of Noodles

My friends are awesome. It turns out a lot of us (sometimes unbeknownst to one another) have been making great strides with our cooking skills and overall health lately. I've discovered that a handful of people in my wide social circle have begun eating organic, some have cut down on or quit eating meat— I even found out today that my parents have gone pescetarian. How cool is that?

One such example is my dear friend Vasara, who started her own food and health blog recently, The Naked Diet. She loves colorful dishes too, and created the recipe I'm featuring today. I mentioned in her comments section that I was going to give it a try this weekend, and I did. Spoiler: it was really good.

Get the recipe: Asian Noodle Rainbow Salad via The Naked Diet


It's also an excuse to photograph colorful veg...

I did a pretty good job getting together all of the ingredients, though I did make a couple very minor substitutions of convenience; I used a Cubanelle instead of yellow or green peppers, 2 tbsp white wine vinegar instead of rice vinegar, etc. Because it was what I had, not because of any fault in the recipe. You know how it goes.



The sweet Asian style dressing is delicious and unifies the dish, while not interfering with the color of the veg. I won't lie- I experimented with a sweet peanut sauce too, but it was too opaque and coated everything in peanut color, thus destroying the spirit of the dish.

Thanks again to Vasara for the wonderful meal inspiration!

A Gathering of Friends, with Chinese Eggplants

Yes, I spend a lot of time alone, but I mean human friends, not fruit and veg friends— I swear.

After last Friday's dinner was snowed out, I wasn't sure what I was going to make as a side for the rain date until the last minute. I knew it had to be Asian-themed to compliment Brendan's Pad Thai, so we went to H-Mart, and he Chinese eggplants at H-Mart were deep and luscious. They handily won out over the competition.

Chinese Eggplants in Chili Basil Sauce

Ingredients:

• 3 Chinese eggplants
• 1 yellow onion
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 2 tbsp garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp chili basil paste
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp raw sugar
• salt to taste

Garnish:

• 3 tbsp fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1 green onion, chopped (for garnish)

Preparation:
Chop Chinese eggplants into 3/4-inch pieces. Chop onion into slivers. Sauté the onion in oil until slightly translucent and fragrant, then add the eggplant and continue cooking until soft and slightly browned. Set onions and eggplant aside.

Over a medium heat, cook the garlic, ginger, and chili basil paste, then add the sugar, soy sauce and water. Add the onions and eggplant back into the frying pan, and continue cooking them in the sauce for 8-10 minutes.

When everything is cooked (and do taste pieces as you go), remove it from heat, add the sesame oil and continue stirring everything together. Garnish with basil and green onions and serve over rice. Makes 6 servings as a side dish.

Notes:
If you really need to thicken the sauce, you can break the corn starch out of Food Prison, mix 1 tbsp corn starch with 2 tbsp of warm water, and add to the sauce.

My friend Jeannine gave me a good tip for eggplant, too: coat the pieces in salt to wick out some of the bitterness (which is apparently more present in eggplants with brown in the middle), then rinsing and drying them before cooking.

Vegetarian Stuffed Red Peppers

I made some more vegetarian comfort food, only this time it wasn't for my comfort.

When I made the decision recently to eat less meat, I had to make peace with the possible culinary conflicts that decision would cause. So that I don't drive my husband insane when it's my turn to cook for both of us, I try to keep the meatless dishes familiar and/or flavorful.

A lot of people I know seem to expect dishes to taste bad if they don't have meat in them, but there are so many creative ways to use the other food groups to make really good-tasting food. I think this dish is a good example that bridges the gap.



Vegetarian Stuffed Red Peppers

Ingredients (makes 4 servings):

• 2 lg red bell peppers
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1 lg portobello mushroom cap, chopped
• 1 cup lettuce, finely chopped
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 8 oz grated cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
Cook the rice before starting on the rest of the dish.
Preheat oven to 375° F.

Put the olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat, and cook the onions until fragrant, for about 2 minutes. Add minced garlic and mushrooms and continue cooking for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add the cooked rice, lettuce, and spices to the saucepan and mix everything together well. Stir in the egg to complete the filling.

Slice the red peppers from stem to base and remove the seeds and pith. Spoon the filling mixture into each pepper evenly and top each with grated cheese. Place the stuffed pepper halves on a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the cheese on top is browned and the peppers begin to shrivel a little bit. Let cool for 5 minutes, and serve with sour cream or guacamole.



Read tomorrow's post for the story of how the mushroom in these peppers was the freshest I've ever eaten...

Sweet Pea and Artichoke Lasagna

I had made those raw veggie collard wraps for lunch on Wednesday, but for dinner that evening, Brendan made a request for a specific lasagna recipe he found.

He subscribes to the epicurious.com email list, and they published an email with five twists on lasagna- this is actually the second I've done from that list so far. I followed the recipe almost exactly as it is on their website and it came out beautifully. I won't transcribe it here, but you can go to epicurious.com and grab the recipe yourself:

Sweet Pea and Artichoke Lasagna [via Epicurious]



I did learn a couple of important lessons about artichokes. Never having worked with whole artichokes before, I didn't realize how little of the innards are actually the "heart" part. I also didn't plan enough time in advance to blanch them, so I was only able to use about half the available tender stuff in order to get it done in time.

This is a deceptively rich food for something that's both vegetarian and bright green in color. It not only calls for non-whole-wheat noodles, but also 4 lbs of cheese, heavy cream, and eggs. It's really tasty, just be careful not to OD on the stuff in one sitting.

Chipotle Black Bean and Red Rice Bowl

Victory was mine in the kitchen today (technically it was yesterday, since I write these things a day in advance, but who's counting?). 1.) I discovered an awesome new food I'd never had before, and 2.) I made something new and experimental from what I had on hand that ended up tasting great. Here are the details.


Organic Red "Volcano" Rice by Lotus Foods

Both my husband and I have a long-standing loathing for Uncle Ben's Wild Rice from our childhoods. It's kept us a little in the dark about what kinds of rice (besides white) are out there, and I've been meaning to try to redevelop a taste for whole grain rices lately. As I was passing by the wild varieties I saw this new kind:

Red rice. Just 24 hours ago I didn't know it existed, and now it's vaulted to the top of my favorite grains list. It's got a unique taste that's really hard to describe. Sweet, almost cinnamony is the best way I can put it. Immediately I thought it would compliment South American cuisine, or maybe Caribbean.

That thought upon tasting the cooked rice led me to my second success. I wondered if it might also work in a Mexican-style rice bowl, but I didn't have many of the classic Hispanic ingredients around the house (no bell peppers, fresh tomatoes, sour cream, avocado, fresh cilantro, or lime, etc.), so I created an onion and black bean mélange with chipotle spices to accompany the cooked rice instead.



Chipotle Black Bean and Red Rice Bowl

Ingredients (2 servings):

• 1/2 cup cooked red rice
• 16 oz black beans, cooked and drained
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 lemon quarters
• 2 handfuls of greens (I used mixed salad greens because that's what I had)
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 16 oz black beans, cooked and drained
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp powdered chipotle
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup grated cheese (omit the cheese to make the dish vegan)

Preparation:
Rice: Rinse the rice with cold water and cook (if you're using a rice cooker, use the brown rice setting). Cooking will take about 15-20 minutes.

Cooking: Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, and saute the chopped onion until soft. Add the black beans, tomato paste, chipotle, cumin, paprika, and salt & pepper. Stir frequently, and let the mixture cook down until most of the liquid is gone.

Bowl Arrangment: Scoop a handful of greens into each bowl, lining the bottom. Divide the rice and bean mixture in half, and add a scoop of each on top of the greens. Garnish with the remaining 1/4 lemon (cut into 2 wedges) and grated cheese.


Gone in an instant.

Creamy Avocado Pasta Comfort Food

Thursday was a little rough for me. A good artist friend dropped a news bomb that meant things are going to change in a group we've worked together with for the last year, and even when change is logical and fine, it's still a mild shock to the system. Food-wise, that translated to: Meh. I want avocado.


Comfort food that isn't deep fried or covered in chocolate?

Creamy Avocado Pasta

Ingredients:

• 8 oz organic whole wheat linguine
• 2 ripe avocados
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 heaping tbsp of ricotta cheese
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• dash of paprika (for garnish)

Preparation:
Bring lightly-salted water to a boil in a pot and add pasta. Cook until tender, about 12 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat, then add the chopped red onion and garlic. Sauté for 3 minutes, or until fragrant. Set aside.

Slice avocados around the middle. Remove the pits, then scoop the fruit into a bowl or cool saucepan. Add the cooked onions and garlic, cream, ricotta cheese, spices, and the other tbsp of olive oil, then mash together and stir until smooth and creamy. Add the warm pasta to the sauce and stir until thoroughly coated. Top with a dash of paprika and/or black pepper and serve.

Makes 4 delicious, comforting servings.

Something I learned here:



I'm sure most serious cooks already know this little fact, but as an artist playing at being a cook on a blog, I had no idea. If you have a spaghetti serving spoon with a hole in it like this one, you can use the hole to measure out a perfect (2 oz.) serving portion of spaghetti or other long pastas. My husband picked that up in a restaurant's kitchen years ago... I always thought the hole was just for letting water drain out. How cool is that??