Foodmomiac

A New Recipe: Vegetarian Greek Lasagna

On Sunday morning, I drove to the Logan Square Farmers Market, and I bought three giant bags of gorgeous produce. Anything that looked great made its way into my tote bags. One of the farmers actually told me that I needed a sherpa. It was awesome.

When I got home, our Internet was down, so I had to get old school and look through my cookbooks for some recipes. I found some dinner ideas, picked up the rest of the ingredients at Trader Joe's, and was all set for the week ahead.

On Monday we had vegetarian congee made in the crockpot. Congee is a Chinese rice porridge. When made with chicken stock, it is amazing. Comforting, rich, delicious. Sadly, I used vegetarian stock instead. We are trying to avoid meat during the week, but next time I make congee, I think we'll make an exception and use the poultry stock. Congee made with veggie stock was vile.

Yesterday, the plain was to make a butternut squash and kale risotto. But, then I remembered that we had the kids' open school night and then a haircut appointment. We had frozen pizza (and I'll make the risotto tomorrow - the recipe looks really promising!).

Tonight, Greek Lasagna was on the menu. However, Michael developed a nasty flu/virus, so I had to cover for him in a three hour client meeting off-site. What to do? What to do? I decided to delegate. I left the recipe and the ingredients out on the counter and asked our new nanny Sammy to prepare the lasagna with the kids. It was delicious. Michael ventured out of his sick bed to eat three pieces, Max ate up with gusto, and I enjoyed it as well. The only naysayer was Dylie. She has just never liked lasagna of any variety, and this was no exception. (She prepared a Trader Joe's Green Curry for herself in the microwave).

The recipe is below, but let me first remind you that I'm posting every day for a month to raise money for Healthy Schools Campaign. Thank you so much to Lauren, Mir and Mamacita for their generous donations. We are off to a great start! If you'd like to help the cause, please click here and choose your donation amount. Every little bit helps.

Greek Lasagna (adapted from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics)

Tomato Sauce

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dried marjoram (we omitted this, you could subtitute oregano if you like)
5 cups undrained canned whole tomatoes (we used 5 cups of Michael's dads homemade tomato puree)
1/3 cup chopped kalamata olives (we used less, because we didn't have that much around)
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (we used 1.5 tablespoons of dried)

1 large eggplant, cut into 3/4 inch rounds
olive oil for brushing
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups cottage cheese
1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds (we omitted this)
3 cups grated feta cheese (we used slightly less because we didn't have enough)
12 uncooked lasagna noodles

In a medium pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onions. Saute for about five minutes. Add the garlic and majorum and cook for another few minutes. Add the tomatoes, cover the pot and bring it all to a simmer. Turn the heat down to medium low and add the olives, salt, pepper and dill (you can wait until the end to add the dill if you want maximum flavor).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While the sauce continues to cook, lightly oil a baking sheet and cover it with the eggplant slices. Brush each slice with olive oil and bake for about 15 minutes. Remove the eggplant from the oven and then turn it down to 350 degrees.

While the eggplant cooks and the sauce simmers, mix together the eggs, cottage cheese, fennel and 1 cup of the feta. Set this aside.

Lightly oil a large Pyrex baking dish (or other lasagna pan). Spread on two cups of the tomato sauce. Top this with one layer of noodles and then another cup of sauce. Layer on all of the eggplant, one cup of feta, another layer of noodles and another cup of sauce. Add the cottage cheese mixture, another layer of noodles, the remaining sauce and the last of the feta.

Cover with foil and bake for 45-50 minutes. Remove from the oven, take off the foil, and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. Serve with some crusty bread and/or a green salad.

Great Mexican Comfort Food: Baked Fideo

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I worked at the Food Network back in my early twenties. It was the early days of the network. Back when all of the hosts were trained chefs, the staff numbered about fifty, and all of the sets rotated on one tiny sound stage. It was a fun, fun job, and I got to meet some amazing people.

Two of my favorite hosts were the Two Hot Tamales. They were wonderful women, full of smiles and laughter, and the joy they got from their food and their friendship was infectious. Whenever I had the pleasure of being around these women, I was thrilled. It didn't hurt that all of their food was amazing. From the moistest tamales you've ever tasted to amazing homemade salsa, I loved all of it.

One of my favorite dishes in their repertoire was Baked Fideo. It's a cheap and easy meal that manages to taste both comforting and exotic, and when Michael and I were a poor young couple scraping by in New York, it was one of our regular dishes. For some reason, though, I hadn't made it in years. Tonight, though, I suddenly remembered this long lost dish, and quickly cooked up an amazing meal.

My version is slightly different from the one that Mary Sue and Susan made (they use fresh tomatoes and dried chipotles), but the spirit of it is the same. It's smokey and a bit spicy, and all together delicious.

Baked Fideo

1 32 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 large onion, chopped into eights
6 garlic cloves, cut in half
2 chipotles in adobo plus a teaspoon or two of the sauce (found in the Mexican aisle - these come in a small can - there are a few in the can, but you only want two)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup olive oil
8 ounces angel hair pasta (I like buying the nests - they are easier to break up)
1-1/2 cups vegetable broth or water
3/4 cup grated anejo cheese (this is hard to find - I usually substitute Parmigiano Reggiano)
sliced avocado and sour cream to garnish

Prehat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a blender, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, chipotles and water.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Break up the pasta into pieces and add it to the oil, stirring frequently. When the pasta is browned (again, stir a LOT so it doesn't burn), add the tomato sauce from the blender and the vegetable stock. Bring the entire mixture to a simmer, and then pour it into a 13x9 inch baking dish.

Cover the dish with foil and bake for about 12 minutes. Remove the foil and sprinkle the cheese over the top. Turn the heat up to 400 degrees and bake the dish for an additional 10 minutes. Serve with sliced avocado and sour cream as garnish. Enjoy!

Chicken and Rice Casserole - A Not So Surprising Hit!

  Chicken and Rice Casserole 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

Late yesterday at work, I realized that I had no plans for dinner, didn't want to take the kids out, and couldn't bear the thought of another home-cooked meal snubbed by my children.

After thinking things over, I decided to stick with a tried and true kids' favorite, the casserole. Now, I know this might be surprising to those of you who consider me a food snob, but sometimes we all crave comfort food, and sometimes we all need a dish that is easy to prep and leaves very few dishes in its wake.

The other day on eGullet, someone linked to the top 100 recipes piece on the Food Network site. Number six was this casserole, and something about it hit home for me. It just seemed like it would be so comforting and easy. It totally was, and both kids ate it. (Cue applause.)

I made a bunch of changes, so feel free to do so yourself. I used frozen Trader Joe's french green beans (broken up) instead of canned. I added frozen peas. I omitted the water chestnuts and pimentos. I used a touch less mayo. I used dehydrated minced onion instead of a fresh one sauteed. I used organic cream of celery soup. Oh, and I used Jasmine rice instead of a wild rice blend. To add to the ease of preparation, the rice I used was the precooked kind from the Trader Joe's freezer section - it cooked in 3 minutes. For the chicken, I didn't have any cooked chicken on hand, so based on a past recommendation from City Mama herself, I used the ultra premium canned chicken from Trader Joe's. And, it was perfectly good.

Chilaquile Casserole

  Chilaquiles Casserole 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

Does this look gross? It was actually quite tasty, and also very easy to prepare. I wanted to make this for Tuesday's dinner, but the eggplant that was scheduled for Monday required brown rice, and I didn't set the rice cooker before work. (I am the WORST at making rice, and I now refuse to make it without the assistance of the rice cooker.)

This is a terrific weeknight meal. I got home from work at about 5:30 or so, and it was on the table by 6:30. You could also prepare it the night before or in the morning, and just pop it in the oven when you get home. The recipe is from Still Life with Menu by Mollie Katzen. This cookbook just arrived at my house. It was in the box of cookbooks that I got from Grandma Ana's apartment. (When she moved into a nursing home last year, my mom set the cookbooks, and some fun cooking tools, aside for me.) This cookbook isn't one of the older ones, but there are a lot of notes in there from Grandma Ana. I know she made this dish, because she made notes next to it in her messy cursive handwriting.

Max LOVED the dish, but Dylan refused to eat it. She is being a real piece of work lately, and spent part of the meal laying on the floor saying over and over again, "but I don't LIKE EGGS! but I don't LIKE EGGS!" She went up to her room for a five minute timeout, came down and apologized, and then had a leftover piece of pizza. UGH.

Chilaquile Casserole

12 corn tortillas
2 4-oz. cans diced green chiles (we used some pico de gallo)
2-3 cups grated cheese (I used a Mexican blend)
1 can beans (I used borlotti)
1 zucchini, cubed
salt and pepper
4 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk (I used milk with 2 tablespoons of vinegar added)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 9x13 pyrex dish. Tear half of the tortillas into bite-sized pieces and place them in the dish. Cover with half of the cheese, the chiles (or pico de gallo), the beans and the zucchini. Tear the rest of the tortillas and layer them over the cheese. Sprinkle on the remaining cheese. Beat the eggs and buttermilk well with the salt and pepper and pour it slowly and evenly over the casserole.

Bake uncovered for 35 minutes. (I would let this sit for about 10 minutes before serving. It was kind of watery for a bit, but then set up very nicely.)

Rainbows and Fritattas

  Rainbow! 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

Isn't this an awesome rainbow? We saw it on our way home from a fundraiser yesterday. Not the school fundraiser (which was very cute, and I'm now even more convinced that the neighborhood school is the way to go). This was a fundraiser for the boulevard park on our street. We love our little park, and though we are only moving a few blocks away, we will miss it. The fundraiser made me a little sad about our move. Don't get me wrong. I'm totally psyched about the new house. Our landlord sucks, we don't have enough space, and I am very excited. But, this is a really great block with some very friendly families. And it is a beautiful street. Anyway, it was a nice evening.

Unfortunately, the night didn't continue in such a happy rainbow kind of way. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat, and it got progressively worse throughout the day. By the time I sat down for the evening, I felt awful, and after a fitful couple of hours in bed, I spent the rest of the night sleeping upright in our living room chair. It was the only way I could breathe.

Of course, this morning I was co-hosting a mom's coffee at my friend Joni's house. And I had volunteered to bring homemade banana bread muffins (since I couldn't volunteer my house). Baking was very, very far from my agenda last night, so I ended up running to Whole Foods this morning for baked goods. They were fine, and I don't think anyone cared. Of course, one of the moms ribbed me for not baking. I think her exact words were, "Wow, the foodie went to Whole Foods?" She thought I had made the delicious fritatta. But, I didn't. Those honors go to Joni, and I must share the recipe with you here, because it was delicious.

Joni's Fritatta
3 zucchini, sliced in half-circles
3 green onions, chopped
1 bell pepper,chopped
2 cups sliced mini portabella mushrooms
8 eggs
1 cup milk or sour cream
salt/pepper to taste
1 cup or more shredded cheese (swiss, cheddar, mozzarella...)

Saute zucchini, onions, bell pepper and mushrooms in olive oil.  Spread in a 9 1/2 x 11 pyrex baking dish.  Beat eggs and sour cream together and poor over veggies.  Sprinkle cheeses on top.  Bake 30-45 minutes at 375 degrees.

Note from Joni:
I add different veggies and more eggs (depending on what I have in the fridge and  how many people I am expecting) and it has always worked out fine.  FYI, I have only used the sour cream, so I am not sure how the milk would work.

This can be prepared ahead of time.  I saute the veggies the day before and then just pour the egg mixture and cheese right before cooking.

Vegetarian Comfort Food - Eggplant Tomato Casserole

  Eggplant Tomato Casserole 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac.

This is another one of my mom's classic recipes that I have reworked a bit to make it my own. My changes, though, are very slight. I can not recall which cookbook this is from originally (Mom, if you know, can you put it in the comments?), but it was a frequent member of our holiday tables growing up. It was always served as a side dish, but a few years ago, it occurred to me that it would be a pretty spectacular vegetarian main dish.

The recipe itself is kind of goofy, in a 70's sort of way. It tastes vaguely Italian (especially if you use oregano), but uses cheddar cheese instead of mozzarella, and butter instead of olive oil. Analysis aside, it is pretty damn tasty, and was a great way to use the eggplant that I received last week from Fresh Picks. It is also a very good make-ahead dish. I prepared it Sunday afternoon, but we didn't eat it until Tuesday night. If you want to do the same, do everything but cook it, and just put it in the fridge covered with foil until you are ready to eat.

Eggplant Tomato Casserole

1 large eggplant
1.5 teaspoons salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons melted butter
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or thyme
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I use panko)
2 ripe tomatoes, sliced
2 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
paprika (I use smoked)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Peel and slice the eggplant. Put it in a pan with salt and about an inch of water. Boil, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Drain the water and mash the eggplant well with a potato masher. Mix in the eggs, butter, pepper (to taste), onion, herbs and bread crumbs. Butter a shallow casserole (about 1.5 quarts). Cover the bottom of the casserole with half of the sliced tomatoes. Spoon in the eggplant mixture. Arrange the rest of the tomatoes on top and cover with the cheeses. Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Serves 3-4 as a main dish, 5-6 as a side dish.

Vegetarian Lasagne

I have a beautiful photo of the lasagne I served last night (the one I cooked on Sunday). Sadly, though the photo was beautiful, the lasagne tasted like butt. Moral of the story? When a Bolognese sauce calls for pancetta, it might be a good idea to use pancetta. German proscuitto seasoned with juniper berries will yield a lasagne that tastes like it was soaked in gin. (Yet, the damn thing is still sitting my refrigerator because I just can't bring myself to throw out a giant pan of lasagne.)

Next time I'm going to stick with what I know. And what I know is how to make a fabulous vegetarian lasagne. Bon Appetit:

Vegetarian Lasagne

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small package mushrooms, chopped
1/2 bag baby spinach
salt and pepper
1 32 oz. can San Marzano tomatoes (whole or crushed)
1 16 oz. tub ricotta
2 eggs
4 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
grated Parmigiano Reggiano
one box Barilla oven ready lasagne

Heat a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Add the olive oil. Add the onion and saute until translucent. Add garlic. Saute until fragrant (a few seconds). Add mushrooms and spinach. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the spinach is completely wilted and the mushrooms have released their juices.  Add the tomatoes (if using whole, be sure to crush them up first with a fork, or better yet, your hands). Lower heat to low and let cook for up to an hour.

In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, eggs and half of the mozzarella. You can also add some grated Parmigiano if you like. Set aside.

Cover the bottom of a 9x13 inch Pyrex with about a cup of the sauce. Place four lasagne noodles over the sauce. Evenly spread about half of the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles. Top the cheese with another cup of sauce. Place another four noodles over the sauce. Spread on the remainder of the ricotta and another cup of sauce. Top with another four noodles, another cup of sauce and about a cup of the mozzarella. Place the final four noodles over the cheese and cover with the remainder of the sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining cup of mozzarella and a healthy grating of Parmigiano.

Baked, covered with foil in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 60 minutes. Remove foil and cook for another five minutes to melt the cheese. Let the lasagne stand outside of the oven for about 15 minutes so that it doesn't fall apart when you cut it.

Notes: I like this type of pasta because it utilizes the entire box. Also, it is flat, which appeals to my aesthetics. It's also important to note that my order of layering is basically random. Your main goal is to use up all of the ingredients. The only set rules are to start with sauce and end with cheese. Finally, please feel free to rif on this recipe. Got some zucchini? Throw it in the sauce! Hate mushrooms? Leave 'em out! It's very flexible.

Enjoy!

(Oh, you can freeze this before and/or after cooking it.)

 

Disclaimer
Barilla is one of my clients which is why I tried this lasagne. BUT, it's amazing stuff, and I would not recommend it if I didn't truly like it.