Summer Dinner

I bought a potted basil plant today and wanted to use it with something, so I just rummaged around the cupboards and fridge until this meal appeared. It's got chick peas, pasta, green beans, spinach, garlic, green onions, parmesan, pepper and olive oil.

The plate was made by the talented Lana Filippone - you can get one at Distill in Toronto, and at Harbourfront come September.

Lasagna Rolls

I saw this idea on thefoodaddicts.com. It's exactly the kind of thing I need - with one devoted carnivore and one strict vegetarian, there are very few meals we can really eat together. But this way, instead of making an entire lasagna that's a compromise for both of us, we can personalize it. I made four rolls: two had spinach and two had ground beef. Same pan, same effort... just brilliant. It was really delicious and actually pretty low-cal if you use low-fat cheese.

You cook your noodles until just soft, then lay them out on a cutting board. Add ricotta cheese, sauce, spinach (or whatever other ingredients), grated old cheddar and mozzarella. Then just roll them up - it's a little slippery. Put them in a baking pan, and top with sauce and cheese. They bake at 400F for around half an hour (or until the cheese is all browned and bubbly).

Before serving, I added some chopped fresh basil.

Beautiful Breakfast

I didn't do anything fancy with this, but I was really excited about it. Just scrambled eggs wth spinach, toast and jam, strawberries, and a coffee in my Scott Barnim mug.

Fajita Burritos!

We had a fun tex mex kind of night! At the grocery store J and I thought about doing tacos, but they're always so much more trouble than they're worth with the crunching and the falling apart.... but soft shells... that's just good sense.

Included is a strange ingredient that I would never serve to anyone. However - it was delicious and I regret nothing. Mine had fake ground beef, taco spices, cheddar cheese, boston lettuce, tomatoes and... um...  .. leftover white KD. Jeremy's was more like a burrito - real ground beef, tomato sauce, cheese, lettuce.

Excellent.

Quinoa and Lentils

 

I set out to make the old family standard Rice and Lentils, but discovered (slightly too late) that there was no usable rice in the house. I did have a package of quinoa that had been waiting for me to muster some courage, so I just subbed it in for the rice. 

It goes like this:

1c.quinoa

1/2c. lentils

1 can cream of mushroom soup (287mL)

1 1/2 cups water

a few green onions

salt and pepper

Empty soup into a medium pot. Add quinoa and lentils, then water. Cover and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes (ish) or until the liquid is pretty much absorbed. Add chopped green onion, salt and pepper to taste, and let sit covered for 5-10 minutes. Fluff and serve. 

4 Cheese Lasagna with Fake Beef and Spinach

As part of the very slow-moving campaign to become a functioning human, I'm trying to use the things in my home more. I have a coffee maker in full working order, but I never use it and buy my coffee every day instead. No more! It's not hard, and I like using my own mugs. In that spirit, I'm hoping to save some money and be healthier by bringing lunches, making dinners, and all that jazz.

So I made a lasagna. It should last through the week, and as a bonus, I think it'll be something I can bring to a pot luck.




I used 12 no-cook noodles, a big can of pasta sauce, a package of frozen whole leaf spinach, a 475g tub of low-fat ricotta, a 250g thing of cottage cheese, 3/4 of a big brick of mozzarella, grated, a cup or something of parmesan, and about half a package of fake ground beef. Also, some salt and pepper and a little ground basil.
It was in a 9x11 pan.
Just layer, starting with a little sauce and 4 noodles. Then 1/2 of the ricotta, cottage cheese, spinach, and spices (all mixed in advance), then sauce, then mozzarella, then noodles. Repeat! End with: noodles, sauce, parmesan, and top with mozzarella.

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes covered with aluminum foil, then 15 more minutes uncovered. Let sit for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Appetizer

These appetizers were for Thanksgiving too. My aunt makes something like this for family dinners so I tried it, but it took a few attempts to get it right and by the end there weren't enough ingredients! So now I know, and can re-create them for some other event.

You take a big tortilla, slather it in cream cheese, cover it in basil leaves, then put a big stripe of pepper slices at the end closest to you. Then roll it away from you, wrapping super tightly. Once you have a tube, cut it into little pinwheel circles and you're set.

Chocolate Gingerbread Squares

We had the most lovely thanksgiving this weekend...

I made these squares and then had to make another batch because their numbers were dwindling before we had even left. They are amazing. It's the best of all worlds... ginger.. allspice... chocolate chips... I'm never going to stop making them.



The recipe is from Martha Stewart, who is clearly some kind of genius.

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for pan
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line bottom with a strip of parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides; butter paper. Dust paper and sides of pan with cocoa; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, ginger, allspice, and baking soda; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together butter, brown sugar, molasses, egg, and sour cream until smooth. Add flour mixture; stir just until moistened (do not overmix). Stir in chocolate chips. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Using paper overhang, lift gingerbread from pan. Transfer to a cutting board, and cut into 16 squares. Before serving, dust bars with confectioners sugar, if desired.

I went way heavy on the spices because I have a bit of a problem with loving them.
So anyway, please make these. They're life changing.