Lunch and Dinner Archives | Page 16 of 16

Pumpkin Veggie Lasagna

November 21, 2008

I am hurtin’ for pumpkins. I guess I didn’t realize how plentiful they were in Brazil, all kinds of varieties. I’d gotten so used roasting them on my own it is hard to get back into using the canned stuff.

I know. What kind of crazy person with over-abundant free time am I?!! Seriously though, I have learned there is nothing quite like the flavor of a slow roasted pumpkin.

I’ve only seen a few pumpkins around since I’ve been home, but luckily early last week I used up the last of what I had in Brazil. I was so happy with the result.

My mom has made vegetable lasagna for as long as I can remember. She shreds various veggies, sautés them up and uses a basic white sauce. I love pumpkin with pastas and I had a great one at a restaurant in Brazil a few months ago so I decided to incorporate the pumpkin into the lasagna. I already can’t wait to make it again.

I made a small pan so we wouldn’t have a ton of leftovers. This will fit in roughly an 8 x 8 inch baking dish. You can use whatever cheese you like, but I think a smoked variety really compliments the flavor of the pumpkin.

Pumpkin Veggie Lasagna

12 to 15 lasagna noodles, cooked or no-boil (whatever you like)
1 head of garlic, roasted for about 1 hour, cool enough to handle
1 medium zucchini, shredded or thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, shredded
2 cups fresh spinach (frozen would work too, just cut down on the amount)
½ medium onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 ½ cups skim milk (a stock would work too)
¾ cup roasted pumpkin, pureed
Dash of pumpkin pie spice
Salt and pepper to taste
1 ½ cups shredded cheese (I used a combo of smoked provolone and mozzarella)

Veggies:
Combine veggies in a skillet coated with olive oil. Cook until reduced and tender. Squeeze in 1 to 2 cloves of the garlic and combine. Set aside.

Sauce:
Melt butter in a sauce pan and add flour. Whisk, cooking the flour until combined into a paste. Slowly add the milk as you continue to whisk. Allow to bubble and thicken as you continue to stir. Whisk in the rest of the garlic, then the pumpkin and spices.

I’ll never claim to be a lasagna expert so just layer it your favorite way. This is what I do. Spread a tiny amount of sauce in the baking pan, top with noodles. Next comes the veggies, sauce, then cheese. Repeat and I end with noodles and top it with more cheese. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35 to 45 minutes or until bubbly and golden on the top.

Black Bean Burgers

November 11, 2008

I’m not sure if it is obvious or not, but I’m trying to find a bit of a balance with my blog. My goal is to provide you with thought provoking health information related to fake vs. real foods. In addition, I’ve really fallen for this world of food blogging and it has helped me gain a renewed love of cooking which had been wavering since my move abroad due to various barriers.

So my plan is to feature a few real foods with recipes each week along with plenty of posts about health and wellness. Have some thoughts? Tell me what you think in the comments today. I’m open to all suggestions and opinions.

Now on to today’s subject – Black Beans!!

Black beans are so popular these days they seem to be a staple in most of our kitchens. I happen to love them. I have them in anything from salsa to salads to my scrambled egg omelets.

We can’t forget that they fall into that category of black foods which offer so many health benefits. In addition, to the protein and fiber those rich, dark pigments provide us with unique set of disease fighting antioxidants.

I’ve had a black bean burger recipe sitting out on my counter forever. I finally got around to trying it late last week and they were so great! They were featured in the August issue of Shape magazine and I highly recommend them.

They tend to have a bit of a summer feel, I know, but they could be just the lighter fair you are looking for among all the heavy comfort food around at the moment.

I followed the recipe pretty closely, however, I used white onion instead of red and I also cooked them in a little olive oil. The recipe had a pico de gallo with it, but I just used some of the same ingredients to make my own salsa. I also skipped the tortillas that the original recipe called for.

Black Bean Burgers
Slightly modified from a recipe at Shape.com

1 tbsp olive oil
16 oz. cooked black beans
1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup panko bread crumbs
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp salt
Dash of pepper

Sautee the onion and garlic in a little olive oil until slightly browned and tender. Mix all ingredients in a bowl, mashing the black beans as you combine everything together (I had to add about a tablespoon of water for moisture). Shape into 4 patties and cook in skillet coated with olive oil until browned on each side and heated through. Top with salsa.

For the salsa, simply chop the following ingredients and toss together with lime juice, salt and pepper.
Tomato
Onion
Avocado
Jarred jalapeños
Cilantro

A Quest for Pasta Sauce

November 4, 2008

After learning about all the added sugar in jarred pasta sauce a long while back, I really wanted to make the change to homemade sauces. Even though everyone seemed to rave that they were so easy to make, I couldn’t find one that I really liked or that was easy enough for me.

Moving to Brazil really threw my quest into overdrive because the canned pasta sauces here are not to my liking. They leave an aftertaste that is not appetizing at all. I finally gave up on them a few weeks ago.

The main problem I was having was that canned tomatoes were no where to be found. Seriously, I couldn’t find them anywhere. People kept telling me they had them in larger cities, but our stores here only had those not-so-tasty sauces.

To my delight about a month ago I spotted some on the bottom shelf. Grocery shopping here is like that. Something non-existent will randomly show up. Then you better stock up because it is sure to be gone again in a month. Quite frustrating when you are trying to plan meals ahead of time.

So I started throwing my own sauce together with canned tomatoes that I diced up myself. I’m really happy with the results.

Last weekend my husband said he had a craving for chicken parmesan so I decided to try an easy skillet version. I was surprised that it turned out so well. Not that this dish is incredibly hard to make, but it had been a really long while since I’d put it together. With my new sauce I find it to be even better.

Easy Pasta Sauce

One can of whole tomatoes, diced with juice
2 tbsp tomato sauce or paste (what I get here is like a mix between the two)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
¼ tsp crushed red pepper

Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Skillet Chicken Parmesan

About 6 very thinly sliced chicken breast pieces, or chicken cutlets
1 egg
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
½ tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Tomato Sauce
¾ cup shredded cheese (I used a combo of parmesan and smoked provolone)

In a bowl beat the egg a bit. In another bowl add the bread crumbs and mix in the oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Dip each piece of chicken in the egg and then the bread crumbs. Place into a skillet coated with olive oil until nicely browned and cooked through.

Top chicken with pasta sauce and let simmer 2 to 3 minutes. Top with cheese while still hot and allow it to melt before serving. Makes 3 servings without pasta and 4 servings with pasta.

Do you have a favorite pasta sauce recipe? If so, I’d love to have the link or hear about it. My next step will be putting in the time to make it with fresh tomatoes.

Spicy Pumpkin Vegetable Chili

October 20, 2008

A few weeks ago I came across a recipe for Fall Vegetable Chili in the October issue of Good Housekeeping. It looked really interesting and I thought I’d give it a try.

Then I started thinking about the different ingredients and some I also had in the fridge so I ended up making some major changes. First, I really wanted to experiment with some pumpkin. I also had some black beans on hand and chopped zucchini leftover from last night.

So this is what I came up with. What makes it a little different than some of the pumpkin chili I’ve come across is that I kept the pumpkin pieces pretty solid. I didn’t want them to be roasted first and turn into mush. I liked the chunky veggies. They gave it a good texture. I also like my chili really spicy.

It made a filling, fall-inspired lunch for my day. It takes a little time with the challenge of chopping up the pumpkin, but it is worth it.

Spicy Pumpkin Vegetable Chili

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 ½ cups fresh pumpkin (no seeds or skin), chopped into small pieces
1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
1 ½ cups zucchini, chopped
½ medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2-3 Tbsp. spicy chili powder
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
½ cup water
1 ½ cups black beans, pre-soaked and cooked (no canned in these parts, but use them if you have them)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in soup pot, add pumpkin. Cook about 5 minutes. Then add carrot, zucchini, onion and garlic. Cook about 5 minutes more, until veggies begin to brown.

Add chili seasoning, cook an additional minute; add tomatoes and water. Simmer covered for 5 to 10 minutes or until veggies reach desired tenderness.

Using a fork, mash ½ cup of black beans. Add the 1 cup of whole beans and ½ cup mashed beans to the chili. Continue to cook 2 to 3 minutes more, heating the beans. Salt and pepper to taste. Makes about 4 servings.

I have a question. Anyone out there eat their chili with a scoop of peanut butter?

I used to eat it with a PB sandwich when I was a kid, dipping the sandwich in the chili. I think the habit started because the standard school cafeteria meal on chili day always included a PB sandwich.

As I got older I skipped the bread and just starting putting a spoonful of PB on the side of the bowl and mixing in a bit with each bite. I love it!

Fall Flavors and Risotto

September 29, 2008

The first time I made risotto I was definitely intimidated. I was committed to putting in the time, but I thought it was going to take me forever to slowly stir in the warm chicken stock to create that creamy consistency the dish is known for.

To my surprise it wasn’t any more time consuming than most of my other cooking. I return to making risotto time and time again. I love how it gives you the satisfaction of a heavy, cream bases sauce when really it can be made to be very low in saturated fat.

I’ve mentioned how much I love butternut squash this time of year. Last week I pulled out one of my favorite risotto recipes. It turned out great once again so I thought I would share it.

I originally found this recipe for Butternut Squash, Olive and Parmesan Risotto submitted by Lindsay Olives. I made some adjustments to it, first removing the olives. I like olives, but I tried the recipe as is once and I didn’t like the flavor they added to the dish.

This is a good weekend meal. I often roast the squash earlier in the day so that it is completely cooled and easy to handle by the time I start the risotto. You can also roast it in the microwave to speed things up. I have done this before and it really doesn’t take away too much flavor.

Butternut Squash and Parmesan Risotto

1 small butternut squash, split in half and seeded
2 T butter or olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of Arborio rice
1 quart of chicken stock, warmed
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Pierce the flesh of the squash with a knife and place cut side up on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees F until very tender, about 1 hour. To microwave, place cut side up in a microwave safe dish. Cover with a damp paper towel and cook until tender.

Let the squash cool. Scoop the flesh out and break into smaller pieces. Set aside.

In a large sauce pan or soup pot, heat butter or olive oil. Add the onion and garlic cooking for 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat with the oil or butter. Begin adding the chicken stock about a ½ cup at a time. Stir constantly and add the next addition of stock after the previous has been complete absorbed.

Continue this process until all the stock is used which takes about 25 to 30 minutes. At this point the rice should be cooked and tender. Stir in the squash breaking the pieces up as you incorporate it into the rice. Stir in the cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Makes 4 servings.

Newer Posts

Lunch and Dinner

Pumpkin Veggie Lasagna

Black Bean Burgers

A Quest for Pasta Sauce

Spicy Pumpkin Vegetable Chili

Fall Flavors and Risotto

Thanks so much for reading!

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