Vegetarian Mushroom Lasagna and **BONUS** Ceaser Salad Dressing Recipe

What could be better than lasagna with two different kinds of meat? Well, if you are a vegetarian, how about a lasagna with two different kinds of mushrooms and absolutely no meat?! I actually preferred this one, although my husband (a tried and true carnivore) did prefer the double meat variety. I found that using the Portobello mushrooms added the right amount of flavour and consistency so you could avoid using any of the nasty processed soy-based meat substitution products.

This is definitely not vegan (I'm back on the dairy wagon!) but of course you could always substitute vegan cheese for the cow's milk variety if you so chose and forgo the egg. The big thing in this is all the veggies!

This only makes a small dish (as per the pictures). Just double everything if you want more pasta perfection.

Ingredients:
1/2  package lasagna noodles
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large Portobello mushrooms
6 large white mushrooms
1 pepper (any colour, whatever your preference)
1 onion (your choice of variety)
1/4 cup broccoli
1 small zucchini
2 cups marinara sauce (homemade or canned)
1 package frozen spinach (you can use fresh but I used frozen, make sure you drain it well!)
1 egg
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Herbs and Spices (to taste) - I use oregano, basil, sage, thyme, rosemary,salt, pepper, etc. Fresh or dried.

Cook all the veggies in a large pan in the olive oil until just softened. Add marinara sauce and spices. Allow to simmer at a low temperature for about half an hour (until veggies are cooked and the flavours are coming out). If you prefer crisper veggies, don't pre-cook them before adding the sauce.

Once your sauce is cooked, combine the spinach, ricotta, and egg. I added a bit of cheddar and mozza to this layer as well, to make the lasagna extra cheesy!

Now is the fun part! Time to layer
Start with the marinara sauce. Add noodles. Then ricotta, sauce, noodles. Ricotta, sauce, noodles. And, finally, cheese! Lots and lots and lots of cheese.

Throw this concoction of awesome into the oven at 350oC for about forty minutes. Check relatively frequently. You want the cheese to be melted and a bit crunchy but (obviously) not burnt. (Burned?)

And now...my bonus Ceaser dressing recipe!

1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
Worcestershire sauce (to taste)
5-6 cloves (lots and lots!) of fresh garlic
salt and pepper
Up to 1/4 cup milk

Mix all ingredients, leave milk to last so you can add just enough to make the dressing your desired consistency.
Add to fresh romaine lettuce, croutons, and top the mixture with even more parm cheese. For a veggie boost I also add cucumbers, mushrooms, and green onions to my Ceaser salad.

La La La La La Lasagna!

For my wonderful husband's birthday I made him a delicious double meat, four cheese lasagna. I didn't use a recipe but somehow it still turned out pretty darn fabulous!

Ingredients:

1 package No-Bake lasagna noodles
1 package ground beef
1 package sausages
1 green pepper
1 zucchini
1 yellow onion
6-8 mushrooms
1 tub unripened Ricotta cheese
1 package frozen spinach (fresh would probably work too)
1 egg
1 large can marinara sauce (or use homemade)
3-4 cloves garlic
Herbs (rosemary, sage, oregano, basil, mustard, etc)
~1 cup mozzarella cheese
~1 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese


First, the sauce:
Brown the meat (ground beef and sausages) in a large pan. Fry off or drain all the fat. Add veggies. Saute for five minutes, then add the marinara sauce, garlic, and season to taste. Allow to simmer.

Then, the ricotta cheese and spinach layer:
Combine the ricotta cheese, spinach, and egg in a large bowl. I also added a bit of mozza and cheddar to this layer.

Finally, put it all together:

Sauce
Noodles
Ricotta
Sauce
Noodles
Ricotta
Sauce
Noodles
Cheese! Cheese! Cheese!

Bake at 350oC for about 40 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and crispy and browning.

Coming next - veggie lasagna and caesar salad with homemade dressing. Mmmmmm!

Odin's Strawberry Shortcake

I had a guest cook help me out with this blog entry :) Thanks to Odin for all of his help!

My wonderful stepson wanted to make strawberry shortcake the other day. He had a recipe from a book that he wanted to try.

I helped him with the measurements and a few other small things (mixing techniques and anything to do with the oven) but overall he made the delicious dessert all by himself.

I would ease off a bit on the baking powder and be prepared for a dessert that isn't quite as light and fluffy as the sponge cakes you often use for strawberry shortcake. This actually tastes more like a biscuit. Our family loved it, and the nice thing about it is that it will last for a day in the fridge.

The recipe is from "Cook a Doodle Doo", which you can purchase here (it's a great book!)
http://www.amazon.ca/Cook-A-Doodle-Doo-Janet-Stevens/dp/0152019243

Here is the recipe if you want to try it at home:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup milk
3-4 cups fresh strawberries, washed and sliced
1 cup whipped cream

Preheat oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit. Sift together dry ingrediants. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg and milk, stirring just enough to moisten. Spread dough into an 8"x 1 1/2" pan (I actually usually use a 9" cake pan), building up the edges, and allow to bake for 15 - 18 minutes. Allow to cool on a rack. The recipe suggests that you cut the cake in half and layer, but I usually just put the whipped cream and strawberries on top. If you have the appropriate pan (the 8" one) the layer option might work better, but I have always found that the cake is too crumbly to cut in half. Either way, it tastes great!

Honey Garlic Chicken

A quick and easy chicken dish that pleases both grown up and more child-like palettes. The best part of this dish is its simplicity.

Ingredients:
4 - 6 pieces chicken (thighs or drumsticks, enough to feed four people)
1/2 cup honey
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400oC. Place chicken in oven safe dish (I use a glass Pyrex dish). Mix together honey, garlic, and olive oil. Drizzle over chicken. Flip chicken to ensure that the meat is fully covered by the sauce. Bake in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes, until chicken is fully cooked. My husband also recommends basting the chicken every five minutes to ensure that the meat is perfectly golden-brown when it is done cooking.

I served with roast potatoes (you can cook these in the oven with the chicken) and steamed broccoli. Yum!

This recipe has been adapted from this posting on the My Fridge Food blog.

Crazy Good Coconutty Granola

One of the yummiest and easiest breakfasts to make is homemade granola. And the variations are endless - just add whatever combination of nuts, fruit, seeds, and other goodies to create your own special concoction. Below is a recipe for a coconut granola I made the other day. Delicious!

6 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
1 cup almonds
1 cup craisins
1 cup raisins
1 cup coconut shreddings

Mix the rolled oats, oil, and honey together until the oats are covered evenly. If you find that the oats are not coated enough, you can add a tablespoon or two more oil as needed. Then add all the goodies and toss together.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Celcius. Pour mixture onto cookie sheet. I usually cover the cookie sheet with parchment paper so the mixture cooks evenly and to make it easier to pour the mixture into a container after it is baked.

Put the pan in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes but keep a VERY close eye on it. Take out and stir about half way through to ensure that the mixture browns evenly.

Once done, wait until it cools and then put into an airtight container. If you keep the granola on the shelf it will last about a week, or for longer life you can keep it in the fridge or freezer.

To enjoy, just add milk, yogurt, or whatever your pleasure (currently I am using almond milk) and dig in.

Ingredients.

Before baking...

                                                                      .......after baking.

Coconut Milk Curry with Prawns

This Coconut Milk Prawn Curry is a super easy one dish meal that everyone in my family loves. It takes about forty minutes including prep and you want to be sure everything is ready before you start cooking.

Ingredients (feeds six people):
1 pkg frozen or fresh raw Prawns
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup carrots
1 cup broccoli
1 medium white onion
2 peppers (I used orange and red for colour)
1 small zucchini
1 cup mushrooms
2 bunches bok choy
~ 1 tbsp each minced fresh garlic and ginger (you can add as much or as little as your taste buds prefer)
2 cans Coconut Milk
Curry Powder (to taste)
Salt and Pepper
2 portions instant stir fry noodles (or you can cook pasta or rice to go with it)


Defrost prawns (if necessary) in cool water. De-shell them (again if necessary) and set aside.
Chop all veggies into desired size. I find everyone has their preferences when it comes to stir fry :)
Once everything is prepped, turn on a large skillet, frying pan, or wok to medium and heat up the olive oil. Add carrots, cook slightly (1-2 mins), then add broccoli, cook slightly, and continue on down the list until all veggies - except the bok choy -  are cooking in the oil.
Add the two cans of coconut milk, the garlic, the ginger, and start adding the spices to taste. Allow the mixture to simmer for a minute. Then add the stir fry noodles (if you are using the instant variety) and bok choy. When everything is almost done (probably about five minutes, but keep an eye on the mixture, as it depends a lot on your pan, the size of your veggies, etc) add the prawns and cook until they turn pink, about a minute or two. Try not to overcook as they can get rubbery.
And TA DA! You have just created a healthy (albeit it a little bit fattening) well balanced meal in a single dish.
If you want to reduce the fat content, use lower fat coconut milk instead of the full fat variety.

Devilishly Good Eggs

We had a murder mystery game night the other day and for some snacks I made deviled eggs. It was my first attempt at the delish appy, but they turned out fabulous, if I do say so myself. They were actually a lot easier than I had expected.

I used this recipe Deviled Eggs as a starting off point, and made a few little tweaks to make them my own.

First, hard boil the eggs. I boiled ten in a large pot, with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of vinegar.
These instructions for boiling the eggs (taken from the original recipe linked to above) worked really well for me:
 Fill up a large saucepan half-way with water and gently add the eggs. Cover the eggs with at least an inch of water. Add a teaspoon of vinegar to the water (this will help contain egg whites from leaking out if any of the shells crack while cooking). Add a pinch of salt to the water. Bring the water to a boil. Cover, and remove from heat. Let sit covered for 12-15 minutes. Drain hot water from pan and run cold water over the eggs. (At this point if you crack the egg shells while the eggs are cooling, it will make it easier to peel the shells.) Let sit in the cool water a few minutes, changing the water if necessary to keep it cool.
Once the eggs are boiled and cooled, take off the shells and cut the eggs in half with a very sharp knife. Remove the yolks and put them in a bowl. Set the egg white halves aside.

To make the yummy insides:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 dozen eggs
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp minced onion or shallot
• 1/4 teaspoon tabasco
• Salt and pepper
• Paprika

Mash up the eggs, add the dijon mustard (I added a tablespoon!) and mayo, chopped green onions, hot sauce (I used Sriracha, or "cock sauce"), salt and pepper. Once it is all nice and creamy (you may need to add a little more mayo to get the consistency you want) scoop the insides into the eggs and sprinkle with paprika for a little flavour and the fancy "deviled egg" look that everyone loves.

And now you are the most popular person at the potluck!