Lasagna is my siren call to comfort. I don’t eat it very often, but each time I do I’m instantly wrapped in a cocoon of happiness. It’s strange, when you think about it, how food can do this. But there is no question about it, it most certainly does.
It’s good for cold-night dinners, easy to make either vegetarian or meaty, and something that pretty much anyone who’s eating at your place will gladly devour. I can not resist the melty, ooey, gooey, savory, crispy-corner-edged goodness and probably never will. Even if I give up dairy. Which I am experimenting with. But not tonight.
Homemade lasagna
I usually have a bit of left over sauce, but I like to make a big batch because for me, the more sauce the better!
1 pound lasagna noodles
2 15oz. cans of crushed tomatoes 1 15oz. can of diced tomatoes 2 tablespoons tomato paste 2-5 cloves garlic 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil zest of half a lemon Variety of chopped fresh herbs: oregano, basil, flat leaf parsley, enough to taste salt, pepper to taste
2 cups fresh ricotta cheese 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 2 tablespoons wheat bran (or ground flax seeds) 1 egg a pinch of fresh nutmeg sprinkling of black pepper 8 cups fresh spinach, stems removed
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place a deep pan on medium-high heat and add the olive oil, garlic, and pepper flakes. Saute them until fragrant, then add the crushed and diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring them to a simmer, then remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest. Salt, pepper, and fresh herbs to taste. Set aside
Fill a big pot with water and bring to a boil. Add the lasagna noodles and cook according to their instructions.
In a bowl, combine the ricotta, wheat bran (ground flax seeds work well here too), egg, nutmeg, and pepper. Stir well and set aside. Wash and cut the stems from the spinach, pat dry.
In a big, rectangular baking dish, start by scooping a nice dollop of sauce onto the bottom of the pan and spreading it around. Layer some lasagna noodles across the bottom. Scoop some of the ricotta mixture and spread it evenly over the noodles. Layer a good bunch of spinach. Add another layer of noodles, then ricotta, then spinach, until you run out of ricotta. Layer the top with noodles, spoon as much sauce onto the top as you’d like (I like mine saucy and I still have some left over). Then sprinkle the top with the Parmesan and bake for about 35 minutes. Check on it to make sure it is nice and bubbly. Serve hot.
I look forward to roasted vegetables because to me, they signify one of the many tastes of fall. This autumn, however, has been so beautiful up here in the Pacific Northwest (and the weather has been pretty warm around the rest of the country too) that roasting somehow just hadn’t felt appropriate yet. It has everything to do with enjoying these last warm days, eeking out as much summer-like weather as possible. That’s why I hadn’t jumped on the roasting wagon yet–until yesterday.
Not only was this delicious, it was ridiculously simple. This dish embodies all the earthy, lovely flavors of early fall. It certainly got me in the mood for crisp air, freshly fallen leaves, and rosy cheeks! Go home and make this tonight–it’s so fast and easy you’ll be amazed and literally thanking yourself. (I know I did.) Get those red grapes out of the back of the fridge, grab a red onion, a garlic bulb, and a can of chickpeas from the cabinet. If you don’t have any peppers (red, orange, or yellow work best for this–sorry green pepper lovers!) already, pick some up on the way home. Then here’s what you do: turn on your oven to preheat to 450 degrees F. Chop the peppers, the onion, and take the garlic’s out of their skins (just throw a bunch of whole cloves on there, don’t worry about chopping them). Drain and wash the chickpeas, rinse off and detach the grapes from their stems. Toss everything together on a baking sheet with a few tablespoons of olive oil, some sea salt, and fresh pepper. Bake for 30 minutes and serve. Done and done. See? Simple. Enjoy your dinner!
Versatile, seasonal, and low-cost. Those words are music to my ears! Especially when it comes to fantastic tasting summer salads for the many BBQ’s, get togethers, and parties the warmer months spur on. I’ve been really enjoying two salads in particular: a pesto pasta heirloom tomato salad and a wheat-berry spinach salad. Pesto is super versatile and is the perfect playground for imaginative flavor combination. You simply start with a green base: basil, mint, Italian parsley, or spinach to name a few. Then you add in a little zest: fresh garlic, scallions, red onion, green onion, etc. Next, you might want to bulk it up a little, try: pine nuts, fresh crumbly parmesan (Trader Joe’s sells some of my favorite Parmigiano-Reggiano), sun-dried tomatoes, etc. Of course, don’t forget the olive oil, nothing less than 1/4 cup will do–it needs to be nice and juicy. And there you go! This particular pesto salad I used Italian Parsley, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh garlic cloves, salt, pepper, and olive oil. It was fresh, summery, and delicious! Next time, I think I may try adding some Parmesan too, just to mix it up a little.
Parsley Pesto 1 bunch fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley 4 cloves fresh garlic 4 sun dried tomato halves, soaked in hot water for 15 mins 1/4 cup olive oil salt and pepper to taste optional 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Pulse in your food processor until a past, fold into pasta (I used Oreccheti pasta, one of my favorite shapes). Add sliced heirloom tomatoes and stir. Serve and enjoy!
Wheat berries are one of my favorite grains. I love their chewy texture and how satiating they are! I also love them because their flavor expands and develops the better you chew them. As someone who tends to eat on the fast side (or more like wolfing down food! I just get excited I guess), this has been a great food to eat for me to meditate a little more on the amazing range of flavors and textures a food can provide. Wheat berries tend to be more of a winter food, however, I’ve found that using them in cool summer salads have been great. I like the tangy flavor of the feta mixed with the subtle sweetness of the wheat berry and the green crunch of the fresh spinach. A dollop of olive oil, a squeeze of fresh lemon, a little pepper and wha-la, summer wheat berry salad!
Wheat Berry Salad 1 cup wheat berries, boiled in 4 cups water for 70 mins on low 1 package of feta cheese (I say the more the better, but this is total personal preference) 1 clove fresh garlic or 1 scallion, minced 1 bag or package of fresh baby spinach 1/2 small lemon juice 1/8 cup olive oil salt and pepper to taste
Wash wheat berries in a strainer until the water runs clear. Boil 4 cups water and add the washed berries, cook on low heat for 70 minutes. Strain berries from cooking water and transfer to a bowl. Add feta, garlic or scallion, spinach, lemon juice, and olive oil and stir. Let sit for a few minutes to let the spinach soften just a bit. Serve at room temperature and enjoy!
I made the avocado cake again and decorated the top with fresh raspberries (from my Aunt’s garden) and fresh strawberries (from Mt. Hood). I like cake.
Andrew and I went on a trip through Central Oregon for the holiday weekend. Oregon never ceases to amaze me–the coast is so beautiful but central Oregon has sun (and more sun!), desert, fantastic hikes, views of the Cascade’s that will blow your mind, and cute towns with good brew pubs. We first went to Crater Lake. We tried to go last year but the lake was hidden beneath a thick blanket of smoke from smoldering forest fires (they happen naturally from lightning). So we went again to get the full majestic and breathtaking views it has to offer.
Looks a lot like the Caribbean! Crater Lake’s water is clear and amazing.
We also went to Bend and Smith Rocks. The desert was beautiful–hot sun, but the air was cool. The temperature did not rise above 78 degrees F. We camped there then drove home the following day on some scenic back roads.
From left: Mt. Bachelor, The Three Sisters, Mt. Jefferson.
Andrew took this photo!
We stumbled upon these beautiful falls and a lake most appropriately called Clear Lake. Row boats beckoned us, so we went out on the lake for a break from our drive. This alpine lake was a gem to stumble upon!
Cheers for summer!
Meat. It is something that I have gone back and forth about for ages and actually have a few funny hang ups with. For instance, I don’t like to touch it raw–red meat, chicken, fish–it all makes my skin crawl which makes cooking raw meat, well, difficult. Funny, I know! Then there’s the quintessential issues: the cost of really good meat and where it comes from. A nice cut from your local butcher or fillet from the fresh fish vendor can add up if eaten several times a week. And with all the crazy information you hear about how the animals are treated, or abused, before they become our food makes me less inclined to eat it. The extra hormones pumped in cows and being force fed corn (who would naturally eat grass–if you ever drive up Interstate 5 in California and pass by Sacramento, you might think twice about putting those animals in your body too), the genetically modified chickens to make their breasts huge to the point they can’t walk anymore, and all the mercury and over fishing done in the coastal/river waters does give me pause. A lot of pause.
However, living with someone who’s metabolism is faster than the road-runner and is able to put away a lot of food while still keeping his girlish-figure, brings me out of pause and into action. Protein is a hot topic in our house–who needs it, who doesn’t, how much, and how often are the usual direction those conversations take. Because of where we live, I think we are really lucky with all the access we have to fresh, grass fed, farm grown by the-farmer-who-knows-your-name, meat. More often than not, people around here have a whole extra freezer just for the entire cow, pig, or sheep they bought to last them through the year! But that’s hard core. When we do buy meat, especially from our local grocer, we know that it didn’t come from Sacramento area, it wasn’t pumped full of hormones, and it ate grass. Which makes me happy.
So we got ourselves some nice flank steak and seared it up into an amazing spicy beef stir fry. I loosely based it on a Jamie Oliver recipe, but found myself substituting for a lot of things that we didn’t have hanging around, and it worked out perfectly. The cherry tomatoes were a really great addition, as were the snow peas and fresh spinach leaves. The sauce was based with the tang of ume plum vinegar, some soy sauce, red chili paste, sesame oil, a touch of toasted sesame oil, and a touch of honey–incredible. All of those flavors sauteed with a red onion until it was nearly caramelized so it melted in your mouth, paired perfectly with the slight chewiness of the beef strips.
This meal satisfied both of our food needs, which is a focus we’ve been having lately. I was happy with knowing that the meat was fresh and from a farm, and Andrew was happy with eating it. And I must admit, I was too. Cheers!
Spicy Beef Stir Fry, recipe adopted from Jamie Oliver
Light soy sauce 1 clove of garlic ¾in/2cm piece fresh ginger 1 fresh red chilli or red chili paste 1 small carrot, or two handfuls of snow peas, or a cup and a half of cherry tomatoes (or all of the above) 1 small red onion Three large handfuls of fresh spinach Small bunch of fresh cilantro 7oz/200g beef flank steaks–this is nice and thin, then you cut it into thin strips Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Olive oil 2-3 teaspoons ume plum vinegar 2 tsp runny honey Sesame oil
Peel and slice the garlic. Peel the ginger and chop into matchsticks. Deseed and finely chop the chilli. Peel and finely slice the carrot, cut off stems of the snow peas, and thinly slice the red onion.
Heat a wok up nice and hot on the stove, add your olive oil. When it starts to shimmer, add the garlic and the red onion, turn the stove to medium high. Sautee for 2-3 minutes. Add the vinegar, chili/chili paste, a splash of sesame oil, more vinegar (as it evaporates), the ginger, and the soy sauce to taste. Add your thinly sliced beef strips and cook, adding a little more soy sauce or vinegar to taste as it cooks. When it is done, put in a plate on the side.
Add a little more olive oil and sesame oil to your same wok and then add the veggies–carrots, snow peas, tomatoes. Saute with a little more vinegar, soy sauce, chili paste. When the tomatoes look like they are going to pop, add the spinach, cook for just about a minute, then re-add the steak. Turn off the heat, toss well together and serve over rice. Enjoy!
