My Vegetable Lasagna

I love lasagna.  It's such a comforting and hearty meal.  You can pack it chock-full of veggies loading it up with colors and textures.  Sure, with the cheese it may not be a "health food", but it is a great meal that families can easily enjoy.  

I had been searching for a delicious vegetable lasagna for years, but they always seemed to fall short in my book.  After years of disappointment, I finally decided to create my own recipe.  I chose some of my favorite veggies in a rainbow of colors.  Also, instead of slicing them, I chopped them!  I always found the sliced veggies to be soggy in the finished product.  Chopping them gives the lasagna a more complex texture making it more appealing to meat eaters as well.

This recipe is so easy to make.  When you get down to it, you are basically making an especially chunky sauce layered with a cheese mixture and lasagna noodles.  What could be simpler?  

Ingredients

8oz lasagna noodles

8oz mushrooms, sliced

1 large onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

2 small zucchini, chopped

2 small carrots, chopped

10oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 26oz jars pasta sauce (or make your own)

1 tsp dried basil

salt

pepper

15oz ricotta cheese

3 C shredded mozzarella, divided

2 large eggs

1/2 C freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions and set aside.
3. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the mushrooms, onion, garlic, zucchini, carrot, and bell pepper.  Cook until just tender, about 10 mins.  Add the spinach and cook an additional 2 mins.  
4. Stir in pasta sauce and basil, salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  
5. While the sauce is simmering, combine the ricotta, eggs, and 2 cups of mozzarella cheese.  
6. In a 9x13 baking dish, pour 1 C sauce and evenly coat the bottom.  Layer the lasagna noodles.  Spread half the cheese mixture over the noodles and top with half the remaining sauce.  Sprinkle with half the parmesan cheese.  Repeat with a layer of noodles, followed by the remaining cheese, then sauce.  
7. Top with the last cup of mozzarella and remaining parmesan.  
8. Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving. 

Southern-Style Veggie Sliders

Hamburgers are one of those foods that are so wonderful for a warm-weather dinner outside.  What's even better than hamburgers?  Sliders!  Sliders are so much fun for kids to eat because they are just the right size for little hands.  These southern-style sliders are a wonderful twist on an old favorite.  They have bright veggies right in the patty, and the Cajun mayo is so yummy!!

Given the fact that my husband is a meat-eater, I can't make just any veggie patty.  I try to find options that have a unique flavor and a hearty texture.  He has learned that vegetarian burgers are not going to taste like beef, so he knows not to expect that.  They are a new category of food with an entirely different flavor.  

The patty has a base of mashed black-eyed peas.  They give the patty a great texture and the kids will have a blast smashing the beans!  The black-eyed peas are a great way to get more legumes into your diet for lean protein since each serving contains no fat or cholesterol.   They are also a good source of potassium and iron.

When you add the veggies to the bean mixture, the colors really pop.  The selection of chopped vegetables really give the patty a nice texture.   Give these sliders a try for a healthier alternative to ground beef.  They are just delicious!!

Ingredients

2 (15 oz) cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 C finely chopped sweet red pepper

1/2 C finely chopped celery

3 green onions, finely chopped

1/4 C fine dry bread crumbs

1/2 tsp garlic salt

olive oil for cooking

1/2 C mayonnaise

1 Tbsp cajun seasoning

12-14 soft dinner rolls or mini hamburger buns

lettuce

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mash the black-eyed peas with a potato masher or meat tenderizer.  Add the egg, red pepper, celery, green onions, bread crumbs, and garlic salt.  Mix well.
2. When ready to cook, shape the bean mixture into 1/2 inch thick patties that will fit the size of your rolls - they will not shrink during cooking.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the patties and cook about 4 minutes on each side until lightly browned and heated through.
4. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise and Cajun seasoning.  Serve with lettuce.

Adapted from BHG

Weekly Menu

Our trip to the farm for this week gave us some beautiful red leaf lettuce, carrots, zucchini, baby sweet onions (I use them instead of green onions), celery, and strawberries.  This wonderful assortment has lead me to create this weeks menu.

• Southern Style Veggie Sliders with Coleslaw
• using the carrots, celery, green onions, and the remaining half of the cabbage from last week

• Gardein Chicken Scaloppine with Tarragon-Mushroom Sauce and a Strawberry Tarragon Salad
• using the strawberries and red leaf lettuce

• My Hearty Vegetable Lasagna with Baked Zucchini Fries
• using the onion, zucchini, and carrots

What wonderful food are you making this week?

Friday's Food for Thought

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is this Sunday.  How are you going to spoil your mom?  One of the best ways to treat her is by making her a delicious brunch.  Since I am a mother myself, I didn't want to do a ton of cooking, so I had some of my other favorite bloggers do that for me!  I have gathered up a selection to create a wonderful spread on Sunday morning.  How's this for a delicious menu?

Something Sweet

These Strawberry Nutella Muffins are amazing!!  Better yet, strawberries are in season!  Stop by your local farm and pick some up.  These are so easy to make and my entire family devours them.  

Something Savory

How delicious does this Potato Frittata look?  Layers of russet potatoes, eggs, and herbs cooked together to perfection!  How could it not be fantastic!?!

Something Fruity

An easy delicious side to any breakfast or brunch is a fruit compote.  Gather your favorite fresh fruits (we love strawberries, oranges, apples, pears, grapes, bananas, and blueberries), cut them into large pieces, and toss them with some cold, organic orange juice.  It is delicious!

Something Bubbly

What's a brunch without mimosas?  This beautiful Blood Orange Champagne is a refreshing twist on an old favorite.  The color is just divine and the flavors are fantastic!   Hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day!  Cheers!

Don't forget to stop by again on Monday to see what I will be cooking next week!

Image Credits {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

My Family's Fumi Salad

This salad is one from my childhood.  Every New Year's Day, my extended family would have Japanese food (my mother is Japanese).  We would only have this food one day a year, and this salad was an integral part of the assortment.  As I got older and started taking on the responsibility of preparing that New Year's food, I realized how simple this salad was!  It made me wonder why we only saved it for this special occasion. 

There are literally five ingredients to this salad and four ingredients for the dressing. Best of all, it takes 5 minutes total to prepare.  What could be easier?  It is such a wonderful side to any asian dinner.  It is light and refreshing.

Cabbage is such an under-utilized leafy vegetable (outside of coleslaw), and this is a wonderful way to bring it back to your table.  The most important thing about this dish is to prepare it the night before.  That allows enough time for the dressing to be absorbed and the flavors to really develop. 

I truly hope you take these few ingredients and share this salad with your family.  You won't regret it!

Ingredients

1/2 a head of cabbage

4 Tbsp slivered almonds

4 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

4-5 green onions, chopped

1 package ramen noodles, coarsely crushed

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp finely ground pepper

1/2 C salad oil (we use canola)

3 Tbsp rice vinegar

Directions

1. Cut the cabbage into wedges and run it through your food processor's slicing disc.  You could always chop it by hand if you prefer.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, green onion, almonds, sesame seeds, and ramen noodles.
3. In a small bowl, combine the oil, sugar, pepper, and rice vinegar.  Whisk to combine.
4. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat evenly. 
5. Cover and store in the refrigerator overnight.

Gardein Beef and Broccoli Over Rice

I became a vegetarian only 6 years ago, so I had decades of meat-centered meals to re-imagine (with lots of pressure to make food my meat-eating husband would still like!).  Beef and broccoli is a dish he grew up with and loves to this day.  It was a tall order to try and make a vegetarian version of it, but I actually succeeded!

One item that is a vegetarians best friend is Gardein.  It is a line of plant-based (non-GMO) meat substitutes.  I know, sounds tantalizing, right?  But they are fantastic!  Even the omnivores in my extended family love their products.  They are available in most grocery stores and are even expanding the array of restaurants in which they are offered.  The products cook up like real meat and have a wonderful texture to them.  If you have never tried it, I really encourage you to give it a shot!

This is a wonderful and easy meal that will satisfy the entire family.  My daughter loves anything served over rice, so this was a huge hit from the beginning.  I've never tried this recipe with real beef, but I'm sure it would be delicious!


Ingredients
2 packages Gardein home style beefless tips
3 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch, divided
1 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 large heads of broccoli, florets only
1 large onion, cut into wedges
1/2 C soy sauce
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
cooked rice (we use brown)

Directions

1. Let beef set for 10-20 minutes to slightly defrost.  If it defrosts too much, it will be more difficult to handle.  I find the beef tips are a little too big for this dish, so I cut each piece in half.
2. In a large bowl, combine 2 1/2 Tbsp of the cornstarch with the garlic powder.  Add the beef and toss until the pieces are evenly coated.
3. Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a large skillet over over med-high heat.
4. Add the beef and saute, stirring occasionally, until each piece has a dark crispy coating.  Set aside.
5. Heat the remaining 1Tbsp olive oil in the same pan.  Cook the broccoli and onion for 5-10 minutes, or until crisp tender.
6. While the vegetables are cooking, combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and remaining cornstarch in a small bowl.  Whisk until smooth. 
7. Return the beef to the skillet and add the sauce.  Stir to combine and cook for an additional 2-5 minutes.  
8. Serve hot over rice.

Weekly Menu

This week's selection of farm-fresh produce consists of cabbage, broccoli, sweet maui onion, sugar snap peas, strawberries, and tangerines.  With that assortment, this is what I came up with for this week's menu:

• Beef and Broccoli over Brown Rice (using Gardein vegetarian beefless tips)
• using the broccoli and onion

• Tofu Parmigiana over angel hair pasta with Roasted Sugar Snap Peas
• using the sugar snap peas

• Chicken Katsu (using Gardein vegetarian chicken) with Fumi Salad
• using the cabbage

• We will be enjoying the strawberries and tangerines for dessert.