The Best Veggie Lasagna: Part 2: Lasagna

For those days when you're looking for comfort food but don't want to feel weighed down afterwards. I first used this lasagna on weekend retreats with high school students--many of which were self-identified "meat lovers" and had difficulty comprehending vegetables in lasagna. Even next to a traditional meaty lasagna, this veggie dish held its own among health-conscious vegetarians and high school junk food lovers alike. The only part of the story I won't share?  How I managed to sneak the wine with me on said retreat.

The Best Veggie Lasagna (adapted from Moosewood's "Lighter Lasagne")
2 cups zucchini, cubed
1 cup bell peppers, cubed (optional: nice in that they can add color)
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/3 cup red wine
3 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
10 ounces fresh spinach, rinsed and ends trimmed
2 cups low-fat cottage cheese
1 cup low-fat mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 recipe Tomato Wine Sauce
1 pound lasagna noodles, uncooked


Preheat oven to 350. Combine zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, salt, and wine in a stock pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer on low for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. When all veggies are tender, add fresh basil and set aside.  (See what I mean about the color?)

Cover and cook the spinach on high heat for no more than 3 minutes. Remove when wilted but not too soggy and chop after squeezing out as much moisture as possible. Mix with the 3 cheeses and set aside.

Spread 1 cup tomato sauce on bottom of a baking dish. Layer with uncooked noodles, about a cup of cooked veggies, then about a cup of the spinach and cheese, and cover with more noodles.

 Continue layering (sauce, veggies, spinach and cheese, noodles) until you near the top of your baking dish. Be sure to end with sauce and/or veggies so that there is liquid on top of the last layer of noodles (otherwise they'll turn to burnt chips in the oven).

 Cover with foil and bake about an hour until top noodles are tender and bubbles appear at the edges. Remove and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing.

The Best Veggie Lasagna: Part 1: Tomato Wine Sauce

There are hundreds of delicious tomato-based sauces intended for use in pasta dishes. I have three or four favorites-- including this simple sauce from the brilliant folks out east at the Moosewood Restaurant. I have only used the sauce in Moosewood's Veggie Lasagna, so I cannot vouch for its flavor as a simple spaghetti sauce. What I can tell you is this: once you've paired this sauce with the amazing Veggie Lasagna recipe from Moosewood, you'll never try another combo of sauce to lasagna. Simply the best!

Tomato Wine Sauce, adapted from Moosewood 

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup white onions, chopped (my trick is to light a candle!)

2+ garlic cloves, chopped (4-5 cloves is better)

1/4 teaspoon salt (not necessary, if you're cutting sodium leave it out entirely)

2 teaspoons fennel seed, ground

1 teaspoon dried basil (better with fresh basil)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/3 cup red wine

3 cups (1-28 ounce can) tomatoes, undrained and lightly blended/pureed

(optional: tomato paste (to thicken, add before simmering), salt and pepper to taste)

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Saute on low until soft, 5-7 minutes.

Add herbs* and cook for another minute or so. Add red wine and bring mixture to a boil. Add pureed tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. For thicker sauce, take cover off and continue simmering until sauce reaches your desired consistency.

If you're using fresh basil, add after the sauce has simmered for 20 minutes. Rule of thumb: if using dry herbs, add early enough for them to release flavor; if using fresh herbs, add towards the end of cooking so as not to lose all flavor.

Photo Proof of a "Cozy, Galley Kitchen"

As promised earlier, here's a few shots of our cozy, galley kitchen.  We've both been pretty surprised how functional and comfortable it is....just as long as only one person needs to be in there at a time!

Caramel & Chocolate Kettle-Corn Crispie Bars

On the trend of self-care: dessert. Now we're REALLY talking!
Jake found these bars in the June 2011 edition of Midwest Living.  They were the big winner for a recipe contest held by the magazine.  Trust me, once you taste the final product, you won't even wonder what other recipes were submitted.

8 cups popped kettle corn (careful to get all of the unpopped kernals out before starting)
1 8-oz package chocolate-covered toffee pieces (Heath bars worked out well, too)
1 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped (aka crushed to bits in a zip lock bag by a rolling pin)
2/3 cup light-color corn syrup
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
5 Tb butter
3 Tb granulated sugar
1 t vanilla
1 12-oz package semisweet or milk chocolate pieces, melted
1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping (optional-- but, really, why hold off now?)
2-3 t coarse sea salt


Start by lining a 13x9x2 baking pan (your lasagna pan, perhaps?) with foil.

Grab a stock pot or the biggest mixing bowl you have. Add the popped kettle-corn, toffee pieces, and toasted pecans.

 To make the caramel sauce: Bring corn syrup, condensed milk, brown sugar, butter, and granulated sugar to a boil over medium heat. Be sure to stir constantly. Once boiling, reduce heat and boil gently 6-8 minutes until sauce is a light golden brown. Be sure to stir constantly. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

**If you're feeling lazy (like we were) you can use caramel sauce from the store in place of making your own. Our bars didn't completely set after chilling. This could be due to: (a) use of store-bought caramel sauce instead of following the recipe exactly, or (b) not allowing for full chilling time due to strong desire to taste bars before 45 minutes passed.**

Pour caramel sauce over kettle-corn mixture and stir until thoroughly mixed. Transfer to lined pan.

After smoothing and leveling mixture with the back of a wooden spoon (apparently you can also use wax paper, that may work better), spread the melted chocolate pieces over the top.

Drizzle with caramel sauce and sprinkle with salt.

Chill 45-60 minutes. Chocolate topping should be set.  Enjoy!

Speaking of Self-Care...

http://shiftingcareers.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/feeling-sick-stay-home/

We’re coming up on it, people.  Winter in the school systems.  And this winter, I will be in 3 schools AND nightly graduate school.  So not only do I need to build an immune system to adjust to a new school, but to 3 new schools in different districts.*  And, if I manage to get that under my belt, then I just have to survive nightly graduate classes where all of my peers are also navigating 3 schools. 

Needless to say, I think I’d better keep the Kleenex handy.

And remind me, when my brain gets fuzzy with cold symptoms, that I have moral and ethical responsibilities to my co-workers and classmates to stay home so as not to infect them with whatever I have. 

*Different school districts is key.  If I worked within the same district, I’d likely interact with siblings at the different grade levels—which would lower the rate of overall bacteria/virus contact. Think about it, has your little brother/sister ever been sick without you eventually getting it?

**This is not a blog for complaining-- posts like this will be rare! 

Self-Care: A Mountain Retreat

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time." 

–J. Lubbock 

 “The mockingbird took a single step into the air and dropped. His wings were still folded against his sides as though he were singing from a limb and not falling, accelerating thirty-two feet per second per second, through empty air. Just a breath before he would have been dashed to the ground, he unfurled his wings with exact, deliberate care, revealing the broad bars of white, spread his elegant, white-banded tail, and so floated onto the grass. 

I had just rounded a corner when his incouciant step caught my eye; there was no one else in sight. The fact of his free fall was like the old philosophical conundrum about the tree that falls in the forest. The answer must be, I think, that beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there.” 

― Annie Dillard

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." -John Muir

“It was less like seeing than like being for the first time seen, knocked breathless by a powerful glance.”
― Annie Dillard

Something about mountains-- the vistas, the crisp pine air, the pervasive silence-- always captures me. Even with threats of bear activity, storm clouds rolling through the valley, and downright cold camping nights the mountains manage to refresh and inspire. I hope to be so lucky as to hold these images and memories deep in my heart and mind, so as to be able to call upon them for renewal when graduate school on the frozen tundra grates on me.  As a side note, if you've never visited the Canadian Rockies, get there!

Refreshed in Nature

A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship.  But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease.  Every hidden cell is throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings, while incense is ever flowing from the balsam bells and leaves.  No wonder the hills and groves were God’s first temples, and the more they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the farther off and dimmer seems the Lord himself. –John Muir


This quote, borrowed from a beloved blog I follow, speaks to my own experiences in nature. While cathedrals and churches are some of the most excellent examples of architecture as art, they do pale in comparison to the   original forest!  


This quote also foreshadows an upcoming post of my own, in which I hope to share some of the photos and moments from our recent (international) excursion into nature. In addition to beautiful scenery, this last trip seems to have offered that rare cleansing of the soul that, for me, only truly results from awe-inspiring natural settings.  Words to explain such experiences are still being formed in my heart; I hope to be able to share it with you soon!

French Spring Soup

(I found this recipe a few years ago while I was living in Northern Wisconsin. A friend of mine stumbled on a wild leek patch in early summer and ran out of ideas for leek usage.  This recipe presented itself in an emergency internet search and has been a lighter favorite ever since!)


Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1 lb leeks, cleaned and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 quarts water (8 cups)
3 large potatoes, unpeeled and chopped (smaller, white potatoes are delicious in this soup)
2 large carrots, chopped
1 bunch fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces (soup turns out well with/without, if asparagus isn't available)
1/3 cup uncooked long-grain white rice (I've found the soup doesn't need it)
1/2 pound spinach, washed and stems trimmed
1 cup heavy cream (I substitute 1 cup half and half)


Instructions:
 Prepare and slice leeks and onions.

 Melt butter in large stock pot over medium heat.

 Stir in leeks and onions, stirring frequently. Cook until just tender.

 Prepare potatoes and carrots (and asparagus, if you're using it).

 Add potatoes, carrots, and water (also, rice and asparagus, if you're using them) to the pot. Season with salt.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes until veggies are tender and rice is cooked. (Less if you aren't using rice and/or cut veggies into smaller slices.)

 Meanwhile, prepare spinach by washing, drying, and trimming off stems.

 Stir in spinach and cream (or half and half).

 Cook for an additional 5 minutes or so, until spinach has been incorporated but not turned to complete mush.

 Serve!  This is a pretty light soup, despite the butter and cream.  Rice may beef it up to be more of a meal, but we usually prefer serving it with toast and having a better excuse for ice cream or popcorn later in the evening.

Farmer's Market Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:
(For Dressing)
3 lemons, use juice and zest
3 T minced onions or shallots
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup basil leaves, chiffonade (aka, cut into very thin strips by rolling leaves together and slicing thinly)
1 tsp Dijon mustard (a little more doesn't hurt!)
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper (more!!!)
1 cup olive oil

(For Salad)
2 cups quinoa (follow package instructions: boil water, add quinoa, simmer covered for 15 minutes, let sit)
4 cups water (for cooking quinoa)
3 small zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/2" slices
Olive Oil
salt and pepper
3 ears fresh sweet corn, cooked
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 green pepper, diced
crumbled cheese (feta, blue, gorgonzola, etc.)

Instructions:
Combine all dressing ingredients, saving the olive oil. Whisk together well. Slowly add in olive oil. Set aside.

Grill or saute veggies for salad, aside from corn (cut off the cob) and tomatoes (add raw). We strayed from the original recipe because some ingredients were out of season at our Farmer's Market.  I really think you could get away adding any vegetables.

Combine cooked quinoa with salad dressing. Add in all remaining veggies, salt and pepper.  Stir well.

 Serve on salad plates.  It looks especially delicious if you pile it up like a mountain before sprinkling cheese on top.  Also, like most salads of this nature, it is almost better as a leftover the next day-- I think the flavors combine well in the fridge overnight.

Leisure Time

Have I mentioned that it has been an incredibly hot summer?  Our window A/C is great for the bedroom but can't always keep the rest of our 880 sq ft comfortable.  Last weekend, we gave up and walked outside to catch the lake breeze. Eagle's Nest Hammocks are the way to go!

Nectarine and Blueberry Clafouti

from Epicurious, Gourmet Magazine May 1999


Ingredients:
2 nectarines (white nectarines are delicious in this recipe)
1 cup blueberries (we used 2 cups...because we had a ton of wild blueberries that needed to be used)
1 cup fruity white wine, such as Riesling
5 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk (or 2 oz half and half and 6 oz skim milk)
1 T vanilla
confectioners' sugar for dusting

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees and butter a 2-quart shallow baking dish.

Place washed blueberries in mixing bowl with 1 cup wine (we used enough wine to cover the fruit-- then made Sangria to go with dinner!).

 Slice nectarines into 1/4" wedges and place in wine with blueberries. Soak for about 15 minutes.

 Meanwhile, whisk together eggs, sugar, and salt.

 Slowly whisk in flour until well combined.

 Whisk in milk, butter, vanilla, and 1/4 cup of the white wine from the fruit bowl.

 Remove fruit from wine with a slotted spoon and arrange in bottom of baking dish (remember to grease the dish before adding fruit!)

 Carefully pour batter over the fruit.

 Bake in the upper third of your oven for 55-60 minutes, or until puffed and set in the center.

 Transfer clafouti to a rack to cool.

 Just before serving, dust with confectioners' sugar. Can be served warm or at room temperature. (This also makes an outstanding breakfast option!  If we had enough eaters in the house to warrant serving brunch, I would definitely include this dish.)