mmmmm zucchini

This recipe is so easy I almost feel guilty posting it. An old roommate of mine, who happened to be vegan, taught it to me one Thanksgiving and I've made it a few times since then.

Ingredients

1 zucchini

1 small handful sundried tomatoes

1 small to medium onion

Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice zucchini thinly; chop up sundried tomatoes so you have slivers instead of chunks; thinly slice the onion (I cut the ends off, then chop it in half, then make half-moon slivers).

Mix up in a baking dish, generously douse with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper (don't go overboard, you can always add more later).

Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes, until it's nice and tender and the edges are starting to look a little crispy.

You can also make this in a pan on the stovetop if you desire, just be sure to stir frequently.

Delish, and healthy!

pie.

 my friend lori shares her apple pie recipe. there's no way it's bad :-)

easy lasagna

I had never attempted to make lasagna before last week, having always opted for the cheater "lasagna" from Real Simple. With food allergies to consider, however, I took on the challenge of veggie lasagna from scratch. I modified this recipe and was pretty pleased (with the exception of an important omission that I've added back in here).

Ingredients:

• 1 8 ounce package oven-ready lasagna noodles
  
• 1 9 ounce package frozen raw spinach
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 eggs
• 3 cups low-fat cottage cheese
• 3+ cups pre-made tomato sauce (see below: 28oz diced tomatoes, 2TB tomato paste, Italian seasonings, garlic, onion and a little water) or jarred pasta sauce
  
• 3 cups grated low-moisture part skim mozzarella cheese

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Make your tomato sauce:
Sauté a few cloves of garlic (to taste) and one small onion with olive oil in a medium sized pot. Add large can (28oz) diced tomatoes (don't drain), 2TB tomato paste, about 2TB Italian seasonings (marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano and basil), and a little water to match up with the tomato paste. Mash everything down to crush the tomatoes farther than they already are (I used a potato masher), and let it all simmer a little bit so the spices distribute and soak up nicely.  Next time I'd like a little more than 3 cups, but I like lots of tomato sauce.

Make the rest of the lasagna:
In medium mixing bowl, beat eggs; add cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese.
Spray a 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Put one layer of slightly cooked lasagna noodles flat across the bottom of the baking dish.
Add a thin layer of the tomato sauce and 1/2 the leaf spinach, pressing down lightly and evenly over noodles.
Top with another layer of lasagna noodles.
Top this layer of noodles with another thin layer of tomato sauce and the cottage cheese mixture; add the remaining spinach.
Then add the last of the lasagna noodles laid evenly on top of spinach.
Spread the remaining pasta sauce evenly over the top; sprinkle with a little more Italian seasoning and the mozzarella cheese.
Press down lightly.

In a nutshell: 
You're layering noodles, spinach, the cottage cheese mixture, and pasta sauce throughout then topping with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. I like my ingredients evenly spaced, but you may want to mix it up a little.

Other things you might consider adding: mushrooms, shredded chicken, tofu, ground beef (or the fake version of it)...As always, think about what you'd like to be eating later ;-)

Finally:
Cover baking dish with foil, using foil sprayed with cooking spray and keeping foil off the center of the lasagna. Secure sides tightly over baking dish.
Bake about 1 hour 15 minutes in oven. To lightly brown the top, remove foil for a few minutes at the end of baking time.

Peppermint buttercream icing

I took this buttercream icing and modified it to go with my cinnamon mocha cakecones, and thought it was enough of a raving success I should share. Not my recipe, and apparently not Annie's, so many thanks to Cook’s Illustrated for this stroke of easy brilliance. (thx to kah for pointing me to annie's page :-)

As you can see, best served with red sprinkles and a maraschino cherry!

Easy Peppermint Buttercream
Ingredients:
20 tbsp. (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tsp. peppermint
2 tbsp. heavy cream  

Directions:
In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds.  Add confectioners’ sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds.  Scrape down the bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds.  Scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds.  Then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.  

Source: The Way the Cookie Crumbles, originally from Cook’s Illustrated, April 2007

cinnamon mocha cupcakes

I make no secret of the fact that I am a fan of cupcakes. Well, really, baked goods in general. But I really, really like cupcakes. They appeal to my designer self, they appeal to my kid self, they're simply appealing in general for the multitude of options they offer.

I thank Denise for the reminder that cupcakes can be baked in ice cream cones (they're even callllllled cake cones) to take these from tasty to quite joyous.

The original recipe lies here but I've modified as per usual. I plan to ice these with peppermint buttercream icing, or a basic chocolate icing. They're pretty awesome without icing, too, if that's your thing.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar plus a couple of spillovers so it's not quite 2/3 but more than 1/2
  
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 14 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon: Next time I may add even more
  
• 1/4 cup brewed espresso: I use one of these Bialetti stovetop espresso makers
  
• 3 tablespoons buttermilk

Directions

1. In a small mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, baking powder and cinnamon; add to creamed mixture alternately with coffee and buttermilk.
2. Put cake cones one each in a muffin tin to keep them steady, then fill them to just shy of the top. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

beet and cabbage soup, aka borscht

The original recipe is pulled from Epicurious, but I've modified it for a few reasons: I read the reviews carefully and agreed with a lot of what I read based on my own borscht experience; I knew I wouldn't use the rest of the cabbage later in the week; and I experienced the Great Beet Disaster of 2010 somewhere mid-recipe. There's nothing quite like the hot pink carnage of beets on the white tiles of your black/white kitchen floor...

Ingredients:

• 3–5 tablespoons (TB) olive oil (more or less...i add until it looks appropriate, so i probably hit closer to 5TB)
  
• 3/4 pound russet potato, chopped: this equaled one 3/4 pound potato for me
  
• 1 small to medium head of cabbage, chopped (peel off the outer layers where it's been exposed to nasty in the store, and don't use the core)
  
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 8 cups (or more) vegetable or beef broth: I keep Better than Bouillon in my cabinet for just such an occasion
  
• 6 2-inch-diameter beets, peeled, chopped: Or 3, if you splatter half of your goods all over your kitchen
  
• 2 TB tomato paste, if desired: I skipped this, and it did not suffer
  

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• Low-fat sour cream: vegan or original
  
• Chopped fresh dill, or dried dill if that's what you have and you're tired of buying stuff

Directions:
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat.
Add potatoes, cabbage and onion and sauté until cabbage softens, about 5–10 minutes.
Add 8 cups broth, beets and tomato paste (if you're using it).
Bring soup to boil.
Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes to an hour.

Add lemon juice; season with salt and pepper.

Top with spoonful of sour cream; sprinkle with dill (makes it yummy!)

PS. Borscht rocks for good healthy stuff. See here for beet information and here for cabbage information.

confections of a master baker

You may notice a new link over there, Confections of a Master Baker. I just devoured (no pun intended) her book last night on our trip home from Denver, and can't wait to dive into her recipes. Fantastic book. FANTASTIC book. Well written, and for anyone who loves pastries, breads, sweets....it's a dream to read. It's probably a good thing I was trapped on a plane as I read it: I wanted to try the recipes she's scattered throughout the chapters immediately.