Pesto Veggie Lasagna
- Dinner, Holidays, Recipes, Vegan & Vegetarian
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04 Jan 2012
This might be my favorite lasagna ever – and it’s vegan! I know – I’ve been making a lot of “best ever” claims lately, but I’ve really been on a roll in the kitchen. While this recipe is a little bit labor intensive, it’s easy labor – and the end result is beyond worth it.
I made this dish for my family’s Christmas get together in Chicago last week (though it was just vegetarian for them and not vegan, as I couldn’t find Daiya on short notice Christmas eve). It almost didn’t happen; do you have any idea how hard it is to find lasagna noodles at 4pm on Christmas Eve? We had to go to 2 stores, and I got the very last package on the shelf at store #2 (thank you, Target!) It was well worth the search. This lasagna got thumbs-up reviews from even the meat eaters, and I enjoyed it so much that I made it again at home for New Years.
This recipe makes a 9×13″ dish of lasagna – good for 8 serious servings (which in my case means, a freezer full of lasagna!) For the record, it does freeze and reheat very well. If you plan to go that route, let it cool down a bit then portion it out into freezer-safe containers and freeze. You can also make this a day ahead of time and refrigerate it prior to baking, then toss it in the oven when it’s time to make dinner. Just add 5-10 minutes if you’re starting with cold lasagna.
Without further ado, my favorite lasagna recipe of all times:
Posted: January 4, 2012 at 5:40 pmPesto Veggie Lasagna
Prep Time: 30
Cook Time: 35
Ingredients (8 servings)
Lasagna
- 1 pkg lasagna noodles (12+ noodles – no-boil are fine)
- 1 cup pesto – see recipe below
- 5 – 6 cloves garlic, peeled & minced
- 5 cups grilled or sautéed veggies – choose from zucchini, eggplant, red or green bell peppers, portobello mushrooms, broccoli, or your favorites. My favorite mix: 1 red pepper – diced, 1 zucchini – cut into half moons, and 1 head of broccoli florets.
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1 lb or 1 – 14oz package herbed tofu, firm or extra firm (Italian herbed tofu works great here), pressed and crumbled
- 2-3 medium tomatoes, sliced (8 slices)
- 1 package (8 oz) Daiya mozzarella or other vegan shredded cheese
- 1 jar of your favorite marinara
Pesto
- 1/4 cup walnut halves or pieces
- 1/4 cup pine nuts (or, replace with additional 1/4 cup walnuts)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 cups fresh basil
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pinch of black pepper
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 1/4 cup olive oil, scant
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
This first step is optional, but highly recommended. Preheat a large heavy-bottomed skillet (such as a cast iron skillet) over medium-low heat. Add the walnuts to the dry skillet and toast for 5 minutes, tossing often. Then add the pine nuts and toast an additional 5 minutes. (If using all walnuts, add them all at the start and toast for 10 minutes).
Set toasted nuts aside to cool.
Prep the Veggies
Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a large saute pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.
As you chop up the rest of your veggies, add them to the pan, stirring often. If the pan dries out, add a tablespoon or two of water to deglaze the pan and keep on saute-ing.
Continue to saute the veggies while preparing the pesto.
Prep the Pesto
Add the toasted nuts to a food processor.
Add the minced garlic, basil, thyme, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast until the basil leaves are well blended, scraping down the sides of the food processor as necessary.
Slowly stream in the olive oil and process until well combined.
Blend in the lemon juice.
Assemble the Lasagna
In a 13×19″ dish, coat the bottom of the dish with a layer of marinara.
Place one layer of lasagna noodles on the bottom of the dish.
Layer more marinara on top of the noodles.
Then, add the baby spinach over the noodles.
Crumble the tofu on top of the spinach.
Sprinkle a layer of shredded Daiya over the tofu, then add a second layer of noodles.
Coat the noodles with another marinara layer.
Add the veggies to the next layer and top with a generous layer of pesto.
Add the last layer of noodles and coat with remaining marinara.
Add the rest of the shredded cheese. Place 8 dollops of pesto across the top, and add a tomato slice onto each dollop of pesto.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 35-40 minutes at 350F, until the lasagna is warmed through and the cheese is melted.
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{Tags: daiya, garlic, marinara, nutritional yeast, onion, pasta, pesto, red pepper, spinach, thyme, tofu, zucchini}
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Going Green
- Soups & Stews
-
30 Dec 2011
So, it’s been about 2 weeks since I ran my last half marathon. That race was the culmination of a whole lot of chaos in my life: moving cross-country, starting a new (and thankfully awesome!) job, going to school for my MFA full time (12 credit hours, yikes!), and of course – another round of long-race training. Needless to say, upon completion of that race, I needed a break – so I took one. I took a break from running, and indulged in some holiday goodies in the form of way too much chocolate and pizza.
The result: I caught my first sickness in 2 years (ugh – still fighting it off), gained 5 pounds, and felt like absolute crap!
While I’m glad I took a break from all things healthy (I needed it mentally more than anything – I’ve been going at this healthy lifestyle thing for 2 years now!), it definitely demonstrated that feeling good is so much more enjoyable than eating junk food. I couldn’t wait till the new year to get back to eating right, so I started the day I got home from the holidays. I started yesterday. (The exercise is going to have to wait until I stop hacking up lungs).
Since my pre-planned junk food binge was pretty extreme (at least relatively speaking), I decided to embark upon a similarly relatively extreme detox: 5 days of only fruits and veggies.
I considered a juice fast, a la Jason Vale (the JuiceMaster), but decided I’d have a much more enjoyable experience with something like Reboot Your Life (a la Joe Cross, the guy that made the film Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead). I like Jason’s juice recipes more, though, so I’m basically drinking Jason’s juices and eating fruits and veggies as described in Joe’s Reboot Entry program.
So far, so good! I’m on day 2 of 5.
The first day, I was starving… All. The. Time. I was also pretty dehydrated from a week of holiday madness (and wine, ahem), and dehydration feels a lot like hunger, so I probably wasn’t actually hungry for food. Still, I felt like I went to bed hungry (booo).
Ironically, though, when I woke up this morning, I wasn’t hungry at all. I felt good (well, except for this plague of a cold I caught in Chicago over Christmas). I haven’t felt hungry today, and – knock on wood – my body seems to be fighting off this cold.
My basic plan is to:
- drink juice concoctions and smoothies made with my Breville juicer (including a Vega protein shake each day).
- eat fruit (bananas, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries), green soups, and green salads.
- drink lots of water and some tea.
Now, that does mean I’m also eating salad dressing. Sorry – I can’t live without my daily giant bowl of greens, and to that end, I can’t live without salad dressing. I also used a dab of olive oil to saute the veggies I used in today’s soup recipe (below). But those are the only non-whole-foods, non-fruit-or-veggie things I’m eating for these 5 days.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to busting out that loaf of bread I baked last week or mashing together a great new veggie burger recipe… but that day will come soon enough, and I’m already feeling the positive effects of this junk food detox. Ahhh, to feel normal again!
In the spirit of going green, here’s the recipe for the soup I had for lunch! Super tasty. I love kale!
Posted: December 30, 2011 at 3:21 pmGreen Veggie Soup
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 30
Keywords: soup/stew kale broccoli zucchini garlic
Ingredients (4-6 servings)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 head broccoli florets
- 1 medium zucchini, cut into half moons
- 2 cups kale, roughly chopped
- 4 leaves basil, plus 3 tbsp chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
- 6 cups water
Instructions
In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat.
Add onion and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes.
Add broccoli, basil leaves, zucchini, spinach, salt, and pepper.
Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
Add water and bring to a boil.
Lower heat and simmer 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in chopped basil.
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{Tags: basil, broccoli, garlic, kale, onion, soup, zucchini}
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Killer Pumpkins! Inspired by Killer Pumpkins!
- Dinner, The Seasons, Vegan MoFo
-
01 Oct 2011
Killer pumpkins? What?
OK… so the reference won’t make sense unless you’ve spent the day chasing killer pumpkins around in Ultima Online (which I’m about to go do more of). But you don’t have to play UO to enjoy some killer (pumpkin) soup!
October is my favorite month. Hoodie weather sets in. Hockey season begins. Halloween is awesome. And of course, there’s that little day called My Birthday. But maybe the most wonderful thing about October is the abundance of squash! That, and Vegan MoFo.
Vegan MoFo (the Vegan Month of Food) is a month-long celebration of vegan eats. I didn’t get my butt signed up in time to make the “offical” Vegan MoFo list, but I’m going to blog along anyway. The ultimate goal is to blog about vegan food 5 days a week throughout October.
Without further ado…
I scored some super-sweet local red delicious apples this week. With chilly weather ushering in the new month, I was in the mood for some SOUP! Isa’s got a great recipe for Butternut Apple Soup in her Appetite for Reduction cookbook, but all I had on hand was an acorn squash and some organic canned pumpkin. What the heck, right? Let’s rock this thing!
So after chasing around killer pumpkins all day, I took a stab at a Killer Squash Apple Soup.
Killer Squash Apple Soup
This, my friends, is not your typical bowl of soup. It won’t be content to sit alongside a sandwich. No, this soup wants to be The Next Big Thing. The Star of the Show. This soup is not messing around.
It’s seductively sweet, and just when you start to fall head over heels, it gives you a nice little kick to remind you who’s boss.
There’s a good bit of rosemary beating around the bush, playing tag with the apples. The red pepper flakes, though, keep this soup from being a kiddie game. This is Big League soup.
I toasted some crusty bread and slathered it with Earth Balance and went to town dipping into this Killer Soup. It was divine.
And now, back to killing the killer pumpkins.
Posted: October 1, 2011 at 7:54 pm
{Tags: acorn squash, apple, onion, pumpkin, rosemary}
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Skillet Sloppy Jims
- Dinner, Sandwiches & Panini, Veggie Burgers
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26 Sep 2011
It’s 7:21pm. Do you know where your dinner is?
Today, I did not know where my dinner was. I did not know what my dinner was. All I knew was that I was hungry to the max, and I didn’t feel like slaving for a meal.
Enter: the cast iron skillet.
This particular piece of cookware is amazing. It’s naturally nonstick. When things do stick, it’s actually good, because you can deglaze the pan and everything tastes even better! Somehow, everything I’ve ever made in my cast iron has turned out awesome – including tonight’s throw-together mess of deliciousness.
I call it: Tempeh Sloppy Jims.
(Sorry, Joe. There’s no red sauce going on here, so I can’t really call it Sloppy Joes, but this sandwich assembled exactly like a Sloppy Joe, and ate just like one… just tasted different! So I gotta give the nod to Jim).
Tempeh Sloppy Jims
Take 1 cast iron skillet.
Add a diced white onion. Sautee in oil (I used peanut oil) over medium heat while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
Dice up a red bell pepper. Crumble a stick of tempeh. Throw them into the skillet. Keep on sauteing.
Pour in a little water or veggie stock. (I used a vegan chicken-flavored stock). Deglaze the pan. Keep on sauteing.
Don’t burn the batch of kale chips you’re making on the side like I did.
Throw a couple big handfuls of baby spinach into the skillet. Toss in some fresh basil, for fun. Awww heck, let’s mince a couple garlic cloves in there, too.
Salt and pepper…. stir until the spinach is wilted…. voila.
Tempeh Sloppy Jim mix
Tempeh Sloppy Jims! Well, I suppose this could be eaten a lot of ways. I was tempted to just eat it with a fork, but it reminded me so much of Sloppy Joes that I had to put it on a bun (with some melted Daiya mozzarella, of course [vegan... best vegan cheese on the planet!]). Served it with a baked potato and a giant bowl of greens, and some un-photogenic burnt kale chips on the side (not pictured).
Speaking of baked potatoes… why do I let myself buy big 5# bags of potatoes? Usually I just buy 1 or 2 potatoes, because I end up letting them sit until they’re growing eyes, but somehow while standing in the grocery store, I sometimes convince myself that the extra $1.50 is so worth it to get so many more potatoes! And then they go bad. This might have been the only potato I’ll out of the entire bag. Grrr! Why!!! I don’t even like to eat regular potatoes that often… I prefer sweet potatoes… I think I meant to make my favorite asparagus potato soup… except that I ate all of my asparagus. Hmm. Dilemma.
Maybe next time it’s 7:21pm and I’m lost without my dinner, I should study my potato options.
Posted: September 26, 2011 at 10:34 pm
{Tags: onion, potatoes, red pepper, spinach, tempeh}
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Another holdout
- Sandwiches & Panini
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27 Jul 2011
Yes, I’ve been keeping something from you… again. But instead of waiting a couple days to tell you, I’ve waited a couple weeks.
Terrible. I know.
So, I’ve been eating this one sandwich…
(OK, that could probably start every food-blog post this summer).
Rewind. A couple weeks ago, I was at a restaurant called Olivers in Oak Forest, IL. It’s really more of a martini bar & grill. Or a sports bar. Whatever. At any rate, I was having an early dinner at Oliver’s, and ordered their Pesto Veggie sandwich.
It was heavenly.
Pesto, where have you been all my life?
(Full disclosure: I often relax my vegan ways to vegetarian at restaurants. I don’t eat out often, but still, the ethical battle that rages between my non-confrontational nature and my love of the cows is exhausting… but I have to remember that I eat this way to reduce suffering, and I accomplish a lot to that goal!)
Anyway. Where was I? PESTO!
Wow. Pesto. Self, meet basil! I never really knew basil was basil. I’ve had it before but never had a name for it. Now, I know what basil looks like and smells like and tastes like, and I know that basil is in pesto! How do I know this?
Because after eating at Oliver’s, I went out and bought a basil plant and made my own (vegan) pesto. I’ve made 3 batches so far, and almost have it perfected (at which point, I’ll likely post it here). I’m currently digging a mix of half-almonds, half-cashews. (Haven’t tried actual pine nuts, but going for a less calorie-dense version anyway).
So this homemade pesto frenzy has been feeding my new sandwich obsession – a clone of the Oliver’s Pesto Veggie sandwich.
For 4 servings:
- 1/2 sweet or red onion, diced
- 1/2 cup or so of mushrooms, diced (I’m liking portobello the best)
- 1/2 of a red bell pepper, diced
Saute that all up in a little bit of olive oil until the onions are soft. Stack that between a couple slices of bread with a generous smear of pesto and some Daiya mozzarella, and press for 4 minutes in the panini press… oh my word. It tastes great on a crusty Italian sourdough, but also delish on regular ol’ Italian bread (or what I call, junk food bread).
Pesto Veggie Sandwich with Grilled Asparagus
I’ve literally eaten this sandwich 10 times in the past couple weeks. The only reason I didn’t eat it yesterday was that I ran out of pesto (and I seem to have already killed my basil plant… it’s outside now working on its resurrection). I thought I pruned it correctly. YouTube says I did, anyway. Still, it doesn’t seem to be growing new leaves. It just seems to be dying. Sigh.
In other news, I’m still obsessed with grilling veggies on my Griddler. That gadget is one of the best kitchen investments I’ve ever made (and it was really too cheap to call an “investment” – but I use the thing multiple times per week. Love it).
Unfortunately, my kitchen adventures are likely to be boring for the next 2 weeks. I’m 12 days from The Big Move, and have to eat through my freezer by then. I’ve been dreading this time. I don’t know why I stock my freezer full of frozen veggies. I know they’re supposed to be convenient, but I just prefer fresh. Maybe I just haven’t learned how to properly cook using frozen veggies.
My plan is to check the web sites of the frozen veggie manufacturers and find some recipes specifically written for those veggies. Maybe with some techniques under my belt, I’ll find a reason to fill my new freezer with them. (I’d much rather fill it up with jam!)
Do you have any favorite recipes that make use of frozen veggies? Please share!
Posted: July 27, 2011 at 7:32 pm
{Tags: mushroom, onion, pesto, red pepper}
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Lies of Omission
- Lunch, Sandwiches & Panini
-
01 Jul 2011
So, I’ve been keeping something from you.
It’s a sandwich – one that I’ve now eaten 3 days in a row.
I didn’t mean to. I thought about sharing. The first time, I was just too hungry to stop and grab the camera.
The second time, I started to prep the sammy for picture time, but it just wasn’t photogenic enough to bother.
Well, the sandwich still isn’t very photogenic, but it’s so darn tasty that I was overcome with guilt today as I made it for, yes, a third time.
So here you go – my current crush of a sandwich:
Avocado Spinach Panini and Asparagus
It’s the Avocado Spinach Panini [recipe], inspired by the recipe in the July/Aug 2011 issue of Vegetarian Times.
My version is a slight modification on the original. It’s essentially (for one sandwich):
- half an avocado, mashed
- 1/8 of an onion, diced
- a generous smear of garlic hummus
- a small handful of baby spinach
- some sundried tomatoes
- smashed between two slices of bread and pressed for 4 minutes on the panini press
I’m currently enjoying the High Five Fiber loaf from Great Harvest Bread Company in Palos Heights, IL. If you’ve never had Great Harvest bread, you MUST check to see if there’s a GH near you. Their breads use simple, real food ingredients and fresh whole grain flours – ground daily! The flavor is incredible, and I’m so glad that I found GH at my local farmer’s market. I’ve been looking forward to shopping at GH Charlottesville once I get to Virginia, but it has been so delicious enjoying it here in the meantime!
Of course, I still suck at cutting bread loaves, so my slices are WAY huge. So, people, do not take these photos as an example of how much in grains you should eat at a meal. Leave that to MyPlate! My slices probably end up being 2.5 servings, at least!
But just look at this hot, gooey mess…
Avocado Spinach Panini
Oh, it is so good.
Mashing the avocado is definitely key. I had trouble in my first two attempts with the avocado slices falling out on the panini press or when I tried to eat the sandwich. The mashing also adds to the gooey-factor.
Side note: I’m eating asparagus like french fries now. Loooooove asparagus!
Fave way to prep asparagus: trim off the rough stems. Spray with a little olive oil spray. Sprinkle with veggie seasoning (I’m currently in love with McCormick’s Perfect Pinch Vegetable Seasoning. Yeah, the ingredient list is less than whole-foods-stellar, but it is mighty tasty). Then grill for 3 minutes. (Ahh, this is where having the Griddler is awesome sauce!)
So, as we embark upon this holiday weekend, I urge you to enjoy a tasty sandwich, grill up some veggies, and share some good times with the ones you love.
Posted: July 1, 2011 at 3:49 pm
{Tags: asparagus, avocado, bread, hummus, onion, Recipes, sandwiches, spinach, tomato}
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Garden Lentil Burgers
- Gnowfglins, Recipes
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09 Apr 2010
Who needs meat when the lentil burgers taste this good?!
I’m sitting out of the GNOWFGLINS e-course this week, as they’re covering chicken and I’m now 3 weeks into eating vegetarian, but I still did some cooking in the traditional vein. I made a recipe from the GNOWFGLINS web site – garden lentil patties – which I made into garden lentil burgers! They turned out incredibly flavorful and filling. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
First, I soaked dried lentils overnight with some raw apple cider vinegar. (This helps to neutralize the phytic acid in them and improves the absorption of the lentils’ nutrients). I’m new to lentils – to my knowledge, I’ve never had them before, so I had no idea what to expect.
Then I drained and rinsed the lentils and put them on the stove with some fresh water to simmer. While they simmered, I prepped the veggies: carrots, celery, red pepper, and… dang it, I forgot the onion. Oh well. It made for a very colorful bowl of yum, though!
Once the lentils were done, I added the rest of the ingredients – some oats, some Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, tomato paste, extra virgin olive oil – and mixed it all up. My hands were way too messy to get any pictures!I tried my best to mash the mix into patties, but I wasn’t having very good luck. Most of my patties fell apart on the baking sheet. I guess I’m not a very strong patty-maker. Maybe a little more oats would have helped hold them together? I’m not sure. Here’s what they looked like after their first half of time in the oven:
I then flipped them over, and only a few survived the flip. I had mostly lentil crumbles instead of lentil patties! A couple did stick together pretty well. Not sure what my magic trick was on those ones!The recipe made 13 patties – I probably should have cut it in half, since I’m only feeding moi. I put one of the better-looking patties on an organic whole wheat bun (Rudi’s ftw!) and added a little veganaise and onion seasoning on top (since I forgot the onions). Served it with some organic spring greens with a little organic caesar dressing, and voila: dinner!
They may not look pretty, but this burger was delicious! It will definitely make it into regular rotation in my kitchen.Each patty has about 200 calories (assuming you get 13 out of your recipe, like I did), 6g fat, 29g carbs (8g fiber), 9g protein, and a boatload of vitamins – 45% of your daily Vitamin A, 32% Vitamin C, and 15% of your Iron, amongst others. Yum!
Posted: April 9, 2010 at 8:58 pm
{Tags: carrot, celery, Gnowfglins, lentils, oats, onion, red pepper, soaking}
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Kale and Roasted Root Vegetable Soup
- Gnowfglins, Recipes, Vegan & Vegetarian
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24 Mar 2010
If you would have asked me to eat a “root vegetable” last year, I’d have gagged and said no way, even though I had no idea what root vegetables were. Roots? Just sounds bad. It turns out, though, that I really like the root veggies that I’ve tried since going organic! (For the record, the root veggies in question for this recipe are onions, carrots, garlic, and sweet potatoes). Yum!
The “firsts” for me in this vegan-friendly recipe include:
- First time I’ve cooked with or eaten kale
- First time I’ve made beans from dried and not from a can
- First time I’ve made soup from scratch
- First time I’ve worn my new Asics GT 2150 running shoes
OK, so the shoes are probably irrelevant to the recipe, but they sure are comfy! And hopefully, they’ll not cause blisters the way my old gym shoes did.
The recipe below comes from Emily’s blog – The Front Burner. Check out her recap – she takes much better food photos than I do, and explains every step in detail. This soup covers a slew of nutritional bases – it’s a good source of Vitamin B6, Folate and Potassium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and Manganese. It’s low fat, with no saturated fat and no cholesterol.
On with the cooking!
First, I should explain that I did not use canned beans for this recipe. As part of this week’s homework in the GNOWFGLINS e-course on traditional food preparation, we were to make beans from scratch. I bought some dried navy beans at Whole Foods yesterday, so to prepare for this recipe, I soaked 2/3 cup of dry beans in water with a tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar. I soaked the beans overnight, then this morning, rinsed them and put them in the crock pot to cook on high for an hour then on low for 6 more hours. I added a thumb-sized chunk of kombu (a sea vegetable) to the crock pot during cooking to tenderize the beans and break down some of the sugars in them that tend to make them… gassy. Kombu also imparts some mineral goodness. By the time I was ready to cook dinner, the beans were ready to go.
The next step was to chop up carrots and a sweet potato and stick ‘em in the oven to roast. They didn’t look very exciting so I didn’t take a picture.
Up next: the stranger in my fridge, Kale. (No, not Kato). Here’s what it looked like, fresh from the bunch:
The recipe instructed me to pull the leaves from the stems. I wondered all the while if I was doing it right….
I sure had a lot of kale…. the leaves reminded me of a cross between broccoli and seaweed. (Maybe I just had seaweed on the brain from my recent trip to Whole Foods).Next I chopped up an onion and minced some garlic and sauteed them for a few minutes before throwing in the roasted carrots and sweet potato.
Then, in went the vegetable broth, and then the kale. The kale was huge and fluffy in the pot! I feared I was messing the whole thing up, but I took Emily’s word for it that the kale would wilt. I covered the pot and let it simmer for 10 minutes. At the 5 minute mark, I was still pretty nervous – the kale was huge! I think I might have had a little too much kale to begin with, so I added 1 cup of water. That helped, because by the end of 10 minutes, I could stir the kale into the mix and it was starting to look like soup.I added the seasonings and simmered for 5 more minutes (ready to jump out of my new shoes because it smelled SO GOOD!)
When the soup was done, I ladled it into a bowl and topped it with a dollop of homemade guacamole that I had in the fridge. (Emily recommends topping with chunks of avocado). I slathered some Earth Balance spread onto a slice of my homemade sourdough bread, and…
Dinner!
All I can say is… this soup was AWESOME!! So tasty! My first impression of kale: thumbs up! Kale is a form of cabbage, a relative of cauliflower and broccoli. It’s a highly nutritious, dark leafy green, and has good anti-inflammatory properties and is believed to have potent anti-cancer properties as well. In this soup, it tasted mild – almost sweet. It’s a hearty green – good for chewing!For all of its nutrition, a big ol’ bowl of this soup clocks in around 235 calories. I can’t wait for the leftovers! 100% delish.
[recipe-show recipe=kale-soup]
Posted: March 24, 2010 at 8:59 pm
{Tags: avocado, beans, carrot, kale, onion, roasting, soup, sweet potato}
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Pasta and Bolognese Sauce
- Recipes, Stealth Ninja Vegetables
-
05 Mar 2010
Tonight, after checking out the Hadley Valley Preserve trail for the first time (it’s nice! A 2.5 mile looping trail through prairie), I tried out another one of Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious
recipes: Pasta and Bolognese Sauce (with Stealth Ninja Sweet Potatoes). This one is healthy all around, with a bunch of carrots in there, too!
I suffered a false start on this one, as I got the onion and carrots all chopped up and in the skillet, then minced a couple garlic cloves right into the pot – only to find that my garlic had gone bad while I was away last week. Oh well. Tossed it all out and started over!
Instead of garlic cloves (I didn’t trust what I had left), I used 1 tsp of Garlic Earth Italian garlic salt – an organic seasoning that my friend Becky makes.
Score another winner for the Stealth Ninja Vegetable Experiment, and another winner for all organic ingredients! This one was so tasty I very nearly licked my plate clean. Highly recommended, and easy to throw together.
The recipe serves 8, so I immediately froze half of the sauce after dinner, then portioned the remaining 3 portions in the fridge for leftovers. I love a recipe that I can get some mileage out of!
[recipe-show recipe=pasta-bolognese]
Posted: March 5, 2010 at 7:22 pm
{Tags: beef, carrot, coconut oil, onion, pasta, puree, Recipes, sweet potato, tomato}
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