Almost Lasagna

This recipe sounded good, so I figured I'd repost it here so I'll never forget it. :)

http://family.go.com/food/pkg-family-approved-recipes/recipe-786707-almost-lasagna-t/

Ingredients

• 1 pound elbow macaroni, cooked (or other similarly shaped pasta-like small shells)
• 1 pound Ground turkey (or beef, chicken, sausage or tofu crumbles)
• 1 jar Pasta Sauce (26 ounces)
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 pound Ricotta cheese
• 2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2 cup Veggies (diced zucchini, matchstick carrots, etc.)
• salt and pepper

Directions

• Brown meat and drain well, if necessary.
• While meat is cooking, stir together eggs, ricotta, grated Parmesan and salt and pepper.
• Mix cooked meat, macaroni, sauce and veggies. Add ricotta mixture and blend well.
• Coat a 9-by-13 baking pan with cooking spray or olive oil and spread half of macaroni mixture evenly over the bottom. Top with a cup of mozzarella and a healthy sprinkle of grated Parmesan. Add the remaining macaroni mixture and top with another cup of mozzarella and another sprinkle of Parmesan. Cover with foil.
• Coat a 9-by-13 baking pan with cooking spray or olive oil and spread half of macaroni mixture evenly over the bottom. Top with a cup of mozzarella and a healthy sprinkle of grated Parmesan. Add the remaining macaroni mixture and top with another cup of mozzarella and another sprinkle of Parmesan. Cover with foil.
• Heat your oven to 350 degrees F and bake the casserole for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 to 20 minutes until the cheese on top is lightly browned and bubbly.

Povitica

I grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. My mother is Polish and her grandparents came here from Poland. There is a large Polish community in Kansas City, Kansas called Polish Hill. It happens to be very close to Strawberry Hill, which is a Croatian community. Some of the butcher shops where my family would get the "good Polish sausage" would also carry some Croatian items. One of these was Povitica. Saying that Povitica is a bread with a walnut filling just isn't quite doing it justice. Just look at it.

I ordered some for mother's day from The Kobe House Bakery, but I didn't think of it until it was already too late to make it in time. I ordered one for my mil, 2 for my mother (so she'll have enough to share with the rest of the family) and 1 for myself. I hope it's as good as I'm expecting.

I used to occasionally make Povitica using a recipe I found somewhere that used a cheat of hot roll mix instead of making the dough from scratch. It made the process relatively easy, but it just didn't taste quite as good as the real thing.

Here's a recipe I found that I'll try one of these days when I'm feeling ambitious.

Ingredients

For Sweet Dough

* 1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 2 egg
* 1/4 cup soft butter
* 2 packages fleischmann active dry yeast
* 1/2 cup water
* 7 1/2-8 cups flour

For Filling

* 1 can evaporated milk
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 1 cup margarine
* 1 1/2 lbs pecan or walnut (ground fine)
* 4 egg
* 1 pinch salt
* 1 teaspoon cocoa
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

1. Sweet Dough preparation: Combine warm milk, sugar, salt, softened butter, and beaten eggs.
2. Dissolve yeast in warm water and add to other ingredients.
3. Add half of flour, mix well until smooth.
4. Add flour to handle easily.
5. Knead dough on lightly floured board.
6. Put dough in greased bowl, cover and place in warm, draft free place until doubled in size.
7. Punch down and let double again.
8. Divide dough in three parts.
9. Roll each part until very thin in rectangular shape.
10. Spread filling, roll and twist in circular shape like a snail or cinnamon roll.
11. Place in greased 8” or 9” cake pans.
12. Cover, put in warm place and let rise.
13. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 – 45 minutes.
14. Makes three loaves.
15. Filling preparation: In heavy pan, over medium heat, combine sugar, milk and margarine and heat.
16. Add nuts, then beaten eggs and mix well.
17. Boil one minutes stirring constantly.
18. Remove from heat, add pinch of salt, cocoa and cinnamon and mix well.
19. Let cool till just warm enough to spread.

Yummy sounding salad

Copied from the Pioneer Organics website.

Orange, Black Olive and Cilantro Salad

Servings: 4
Time: 15 minutes
1 tablespoon Annie’s Natural Dijon mustard
1 orange, juiced
1 clove garlic, peeled, smashed and minced
¼ cup Napa Valley Naturals extra virgin olive oil
1 head butter lettuce
3 oranges, peeled and segmented
½ cup black olives, Kalamata preferred, pitted and halved
½ small red onions, peeled, thinly sliced
½ bunch cilantro, stems removed

Whisk together mustard, orange juice and garlic. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Arrange butter lettuce on four plates. Toss together orange segments, black olives, red onions and cilantro. Arrange on lettuce. Drizzle dressing on top.

A couple more recipes to try

More recipes copied from the Pioneer Organics website.

Snap Pea and Potato Salad with Mint and Lemon

Servings: 2-4
Time: 25 minutes
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 medium lemon, zested
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed and minced
2 sprigs of mint, the leaves chopped
2 cups potatoes, cooked, chilled and thinly sliced
1 cup sugar snap peas, de-stemmed, sliced in half
2 cups fresh lettuce leaves torn into bite sized pieces
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cook your potatoes with the skins on in salted water until fork-tender. Drain and cool. Once cool enough to touch, slice them.

Whisk the mustard, vinegar, lemon zest and juice, oil and garlic in a small bowl or jar. In a serving bowl, place the cooked and sliced potatoes, snap peas and lettuce. Drizzle the dressing and gently toss everything. Garnish with mint leaves. You may also want to garnish with cracked fresh pepper.

Snap Peas with Ginger, Lemon Zest and Cherry Tomatoes

This recipe makes a tasty and colorful side dish to accompany salmon or halibut. It's also good tossed with pasta shells.
Servings: 4-6
Time: 20 minutes
1 pound organic snap peas
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon organic lemon zest
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup organic cherry tomatoes
¼ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Fill a large bowl with cold water and 12 ice cubes.

Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil. Add the sugar peas to the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. Drain the peas and place them in the ice water to cool rapidly.

Heat the oil in large skillet over medium-low heat. Add ginger and zest, and cook gently about 2 minutes. Add cherry tomatoes, lemon juice and peas. Toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.

Variations
You can substitute garlic for the ginger if desired.
If you don't have a lemon, use orange zest and juice for a slightly different twist.

Recipe to try

Here are a couple of recipes I copied from the Pioneer Organics website that I'd like to try soon.  There was another one in the newsletter I got with last week's delivery, but I can't remember what it was, just that I thought it sounded good enough to try when I saw it.  I'll have to find that newsletter when I get home and see if it's also up on their website and copy it here.

Braised Radishes

Radishes are most commonly consumed raw, however, we think you’ll love this cooked radish recipe adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison.

Servings: 4 Time: 25 minutes

20 radishes, red or multicolored 1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 shallot, minced finely 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme Salt and freshly ground black pepper Water

Trim the leaves from the radishes. Scrub the radishes. If the leaves are tender and in good condition, wash them and set aside. Leave smaller radishes whole, and half or quarter larger ones. Melt 2 to 3 teaspoons butter in a small sauté pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and thyme and cook for 1 minute. Add the radishes, a little salt and pepper and water, just to cover. Cover and simmer until the radishes are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the leaves, if using, and cook until wilted and tender, about 1 minute more. Remove the radishes (and leaves) to a serving dish. Boil the liquid in the pan until slightly reduced. Add 1 or 2 more teaspoons of butter to create a sauce. Pour over radishes and serve. Note You may substitute 1 tablespoon chopped onion for shallot. You may also substitute any fresh herb for the thyme.

Sautéed Cherry Tomatoes with Basil

Servings: 2
Time: 10 minutes

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved unless very small
2 teaspoons honey
2 tablespoons capers
2 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press
4 to 5 leaves of fresh basil, sliced thinly

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Mix the tomatoes and honey in a medium bowl and add them to the hot oil along with the capers. Cook for 1 minute tossing frequently. Stir in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat, garnish with the fresh basil. Season with sea salt and pepper, to taste.

Carrot & Parsnip Soup with Tofu recipe

Another recipe I modified. SparkRecipes.com is a great place to find recipes to try.  You can use it to figure out the nutritional information if you take the time to enter in your own recipes.

Carrot & Parsnip Soup with Tofu

Low cal, tasty soup to use up those root vegetables

Ingredients

2 small onions, chopped 5 cloves of garlic, minced 12 cups Fat Free Chicken Broth (could use vegetable broth to make it vegetarian) 1 block (14 oz) Extra Firm Lite Tofu, cut into bite sized pieces 2 Parsnips, quartered lengthwise, if large, and sliced 3 leeks (I use the white and a little of the green part), chopped 4 carrots, sliced 2 cups mushrooms, sliced

Directions

Spray the bottom of a large soup pot with Pam or use a little oil and grill the onion and garlic until the onions are clear. Add the chicken broth, then add in the rest of the ingredients. Let simmer until the carrots and parsnips are soft, about 40 mins. * This recipe is just a guide. I don't measure my ingredients, so have fun and play with it. Try adding other vegetables to figure out how you like it best.

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 6
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 141.4

• Total Fat: 2.2 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 1,044.0 mg
• Total Carbs: 23.2 g
• Dietary Fiber: 5.8 g
• Protein: 10.8 g

tofu dip

I tried an interesting thing yesterday.  I'm trying very hard to stick to my diet.  Although tofu probably isn't technically allowed on my diet, I know soy beans are allowed and as long as I stick to the lite tofu, I figure it should count as well. 

Anyway, I just sort of winged a dip out of a block of lite tofu.  It turned out ok, but not quite good.  Here's what I did. 

one block lite tofu
~2 Tbsp Grey Poupon
~1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
~1.5 Tbsp Ginger, finely grated
~1 Tbsp rice vinegar

I threw all of that in a food processor and whirled it around.  I definitely used way too much ginger.  I looked online for some recipes and I had found one that used a block of tofu and said a pound (!) of ginger.  I knew that was probably wrong, but I figured I could go a little heavy handed on the ginger.  The dip came out a really nice and creamy texture, though, so if I can find the right combination of flavors, I'd bet most people wouldn't even realize they were eating tofu.

We used that as a dip for some celery that I happened to have on hand and I thinly sliced some potatoes and baked them into chips.  We ate about a third of it, so it was certainly not bad.

tasty, low-cal Bok Choy soup recipe

I've been experimenting with recipes that use only vegetables and very low calorie additions.  Here is one that I've been doing a lot lately.  It's a modified version of a couple recipes I've found on the nets.  We like it a lot and since we're subscribed to our winter CSA it's a tasty way to use up all the baby bok choy we're getting.

Bok Choy soup

A super low-cal recipe that is tasty and satisfying.

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped 1 clove of garlic, minced 8 cups Fat Free Chicken Broth (could use vegetable broth to make it vegetarian) 4 tbsp Rice Vinegar 4 baby Bok Choys, chopped 1 carrot, sliced 2 cups mushrooms, sliced

Directions

Spray the bottom of a large soup pot with Pam or use a little oil and grill the onion and garlic until the onions are clear. Add the chicken broth, and vinegar, then add in the rest of the ingredients. Let simmer until the bok choy is soft, about 30 mins. * This recipe is just a guide. I don't measure my ingredients, so have fun and play with it. Try adding other vegetables to figure out how you like it best.

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 4
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 53.8

• Total Fat: 0.6 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 1,054.8 mg
• Total Carbs: 9.3 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1.1 g
• Protein: 6.2 g