greens

Hello, I thought that I would share my favorite recipe for vinaigrette with greens. I think that this is one of the most useful recipes to have in one's arsenal. Homemade dressing immediately elevates any dish, and greens are versatile enough to be served with nearly any meal. Some of my favorite (but certainly not original) ideas for greens include: with eggs for breakfast, atop crusty bread with goat cheese, or next to a hearty seasonal minestrone. This recipe is very flexible and I suggest playing around with it, please let me know if you have suggestions or ideas.

Simple Vinaigrette


Ingredients:
1 teaspoons whole grain dijon mustard
1-2 small garlic cloves, minced or pressed
3 tablespoons vinegar (I generally use balsamic, but any other kind will do)
Optional: 1-2 teaspoons fresh orange juice
Salt and Pepper
1/2 cup olive oil (other vegetable oils work too, or flavored olive oils)
Greens mix
Optional: any chopped fresh herbs (dill, cilantro, parsley, or any combination work great)

Directions:


1. In a small bowl whisk together the mustard, garlic, vinegar, juice (if using), salt, and pepper.

2. Continue whisking and slowly drizzle the olive oil in to the mixture is emulsified.

3. Toss or drizzle over mixed greens. Enjoy!

Another great tip, which I learned from watching The Barefoot Contessa is that if you want to make the dressing and salad ahead but don't want the greens to get saturated and wilted you can pour the necessary amount of dressing into the bottom of your salad bowl and then gently place your greens on top of it, without mixing. Then you can put the bowl in the refrigerator and toss together just before serving. (Image from Smitten Kitchen, my favorite food blog)

hasty tasty lasagna

the layering process: sauce, noodles, cheese, sauce, noodles, cheese...

So, a couple of weeks ago I decided that I wanted to try to make lasagna. Though I've had lots of experience in the kitchen, I'm ashamed to admit that I'd never tried to make this classic dish before. Unfortunately, I was quite limited in time and so I had to develop a recipe that would be quick to make but also (hopefully) taste delicious. So, I did what I always do in these situations and googled easy lasagna, the first thing that popped up was this recipe. At first glance (sorry to the creator of the recipe) the recipe seemed lacking. First, I don't eat beef or like to cook with it and second, canned mushrooms? Gross. However, the "bones" of the recipe seemed good, so I reworked it a bit (recipe follows below) and now I've made my version twice, both times with excellent results. Once again, all of the ingredients I used were purchased at Trader Joe's, so I suggest going there to obtain ingredients if you have the choice. Also this lasagna can be prepared, cooked, and ready to eat in about an hour and a half. (Photo Credit: Me)

Hasty Tasty Lasagna
Serves 6-8

Ingredients
1 pound uncooked Italian seasoned chicken sausage, removed from casings
3 large garlic cloves, crushed or minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound sliced brown mushrooms
1 28 oz. can tomato sauce (I used Trader Joe's Tuscano Marinara Sauce)
1/2 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 15 oz. containers of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese (divided)
3/4 cup part skim mozzarella cheese (divided)
3/4 cup chopped chives
1 package no-boil lasagna noodles (you'll probably only need 1/2 the package)
Crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper to taste.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet or saute pan, cook chicken sausage over medium-high heat, breaking chicken up into pieces as you go until sausage in cooked through, and lightly browned on the outside. Add the garlic, onion, and mushrooms to the pan, and saute until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the can of tomato sauce and cook until sauce is heated through. Stir in the parsley. Season with crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper to taste.

2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese, and the chives. Season with black pepper to taste.

3. In the bottom of a 13x9" baking pan, spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce mixture. Place the lasagna noodles on top of the sauce mixture, and then layer some of the cheese mixture on top of the noodles, then layer more of the tomato sauce mixture. Continue in this way until all of the sauce and cheese have been used up. I did three layer of noodles for mine a layer of cheese and small layer of tomato sauce over the very top (see photos if this doesn't make sense). After that, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese and the remaining 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese on top.

4. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes. During the last 5-7 minutes of cooking time I cranked the oven up to 500 degrees to allow the top to get lightly brown and crispy which I highly recommend (but make sure to monitor closely while doing so). Remove the dish from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy with greens and bread.

*Variation: The second time that I made this lasagna, during the time that I was cooking the meat, garlic, mushrooms, onion etc. In a second saute pan I wilted some kale which I then layered on top of the tomato sauce mixture while assembling the lasagna. When the lasagna was cooked the kale added a delicious flavor and was slightly crispy around the edges---certainly a welcome addition.