One For The Road

By: Teri

My father is always experimenting with new ideas to cook for me when I come over. He isn't a vegetarian, but he makes a great effort at including me in the family meals. It's a clever ploy to get me to bring the Grandson over to see him. But hey, I don't mind being bribed with good food.

I thought I'd quickly share a recipe he's been tweaking for vegetarian lasagna. We had this last night and it was amazing. Perfect for the upcoming colder weather! He used all organic ingredients, and a variety of different Heirloom Tomatoes for the different flavors. The basil was fresh from his own plant. If you don't have a basil plant, you'll want to buy a few sprigs of the fresh stuff from the grocery. It isn't the same without it.

John's Vegetarian Lasagna with Heirloom Tomatoes and Caramelized Onions

(how is that for a title!)

1 box whole wheat lasagna noodles, cooked al dente

16 oz (one container) whole milk organic ricotta cheese

1/2 red onion, sliced

1 small green bell or banana pepper, sliced

1 small red chile pepper, seeded and minced

1 large portobello mushroom cap, chopped

1 handful baby spinach leaves

1 small handful fresh basil leaves (NOT torn or chopped!)

2 medium sized Heirloom Tomatoes, sliced

marinara sauce

olive oil

organic cane sugar

oregano

cheese (we used a five cheese organic Italian blend that contained asiago, mozzarella, parmesan, provolone and romano)

Boil noodles to al dente in heavily salted water; once drained, coat lightly with olive oil and set aside. Add sliced onions and bell/banana pepper to olive oil in a small saucepan, set on medium high heat. Add a pinch of sugar and reduce heat to medium, stirring occasionally so as not to burn. Once the onions are light brown and soft (about 10 minutes), remove from heat.

Set aside half the sliced tomatoes. Begin layering the lasagna, starting with noodles, then ricotta, then spinach and basil, then vegetables, then sauce, and repeat until all the noodles are used. On top of the last layer of noodles, lay out the remaining tomatoes and top with cheese, oregano, and if you wish, bread crumbs. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly. We set the lasagna under the broiler for the last 5 or so minutes to get the top layer very browned.

We didn't have any wine with this meal (shocking!), but I can't imagine any smooth red that wouldn't go with it amazingly. This lasagna has a lot of depth, being that it has elements of sweet (the caramelized onions and basil), spicy (the red chilies), and savory (the portobellos). You could subsitute and/or add just about any vegetable you desired, but we liked this particular combination. Its also reasonably healthy; all our ingredients were organic, and save for the cheeses, nothing was particularly fattening.

The best part: the leftovers are even better than the first time you eat it.

Bellissimo!

It was a dark, stormy night...

By: Teri

Last night was gloomy and doomy, promising rain (which I'm watching right now as I write this, from my window...), and I was craving some comfort food. I thought the perfect accompaniment to our meal on such an overcast, chilly evening would be one of my favorites of the British pub fare - yorkshire pudding! My family in New Zealand made this frequently with roast dinners. Traditionally it is cooked in the fat of whatever meat you are serving; in most cases, roast beef. Naturally I, being stubborn and completely unwilling to deprive myself of any yummy carbs, wanted to create a vegetarian friendly version. The thing about yorkshire pudding, though, is that its rather bland on its own. Not only is it usually cooked in beef fat, but its also drenched in gravy. Gravy I can do. But I wanted to add a little oomph to the usual recipe to lift some of the blandness.

I happened to have sour cream and chives laying around, leftovers from the weekend's chili, and I thought, why not? I've substituted the sour cream for milk in this recipe - it added a little extra fluffiness as well as flavor. I also added one tiny red chile pepper from our own garden, along with the chives. You don't have to do that unless you're feeling particularly brave. I was!

Yorkshire Puddings with Sour Cream and Chives

1 cup sour cream (full fat)
1 cup flour, packed
3 medium sized eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 large stalk chopped chives, down to the whites
1 small red chile pepper, seeded and chopped finely
vegetable oil

Mix flour and salt, then add sour cream and eggs, blend well. Mixture will be a wet dough. Once blended, don't over-stir, as stirring too much will toughen the puddings. Add chives and chile pepper, stir lightly to incorporate. Add a small amount of vegetable oil to each cup of a muffin tin; just enough to cover the bottom. Spoon batter into the muffin cups. As it hits the cup, the vegetable oil should rise a bit and almost cover the dough. If this doesn't happen, add a bit more oil to ensure there is enough to cook the puddings. Bake for 20-25 minutes on 350 degrees, or until lightly browned on top.

I served these with a mild mushroom gravy (I'll save that recipe for another time), three-pepper dirty rice, and corn on the cob. The carnivore hubs had a steak and declared that the yorkshire puddings went perfectly with his meal. So I suppose if you insist on a slab of beef, this recipe could be adapted to meat-friendly once more. Just don't tell me about it!

These yorkshire puddings are easily suited to your own taste - you could substitute dill and cheddar, or even ricotta for the sour cream and a dash of cinnamon, and serve 'em for breakfast. The sky is the limit. I figure if you're going to be untraditional and make a standard staple your own, do it with gusto! Cooking is nothing if not an ongoing experiment!

As for a tasty beverage to serve with this meal - leave it to me to break with tradition on the second post and have a beer instead of a glass of wine! C'mon, its pub food! British food goes so well with a nice cold one, and these yorkshire puddings are no exception. I happened to have one of my favorite beers in the fridge and it worked perfectly.

Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blonde is a light, pale ale with a hint of juicy strawberry. The berry flavor isn't overpowering; just a crisp, subtle berry flavor that went perfect with our meal. It offset the spiciness of the dirty rice and the savory depth and heaviness of the yorkshire puddings and gravy. Nom...