A Sunday in the Kitchen

This weekend brought a variety of activities that kept me running around town.  On Friday night, I taught an interviewing workshop at Wake Correctional for 30+ inmates.  Because my coworker wasn't allowed in by the correctional officer at the gate, I was left alone to teach the class.  The workshop went very well though.  Considering the students had nowhere else that they needed to be, they asked great questions and really paid attention. 

On Saturday, I started my day with a morning run.  Because I've relied so heavily on my YMCA membership over the past few months (and neglected my regular runs), it was quite a challenge to re-introduce my legs to running.  Annie definitely appreciated the outing though!  The rest of Saturday was taken up with seeing my best friend in a wedding dress for the first time (gasp, we really are of the marrying age!), volunteering in Cary, and babysitting until the wee hours of Sunday morning.

By the time I rolled out of bed on Sunday to go to church, I had all kinds of recipes dancing in my head for a relaxing afternoon in the kitchen.  Cookies? Mexican food? Lasagna?  I finally decided to try a recipe from Moosewood Cafe, one of my favorite cookbooks.  Enjoy!

3 things about this recipe:

1. You don't have to pre-cook the noodles, nor do you have to buy the no-cook noodles.  The extra sauce of the recipe cooks the noodles to perfection!
2. With less cheese in this lasagna, this recipe is low fat...347 calories per serving and 8.6g Fat.  Not too shabby!
3. Buy canned whole tomatoes (all the time) instead of crushed or diced tomatoes.  Tomato canning companies use the highest quality tomatoes for canned whole tomatoes and scrape the scraps into the crushed and diced tomato pile.  Plus, it's so fun to crush the tomatoes by hand!

Vegetable Lasagna Bechamel
1 T. canola or other Veg. oil
2 T. unbleached white flour
2 1/2 cups 1% Milk
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 tsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped leeks, white and tender green parts

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1 cup dry white wine

1 1/2 cups peeled and diced carrots
1 zucchini, chopped

1/2 cup peeled and diced broccoli stalks

2 1/2 cups broccoli florets

3 cups canned whole tomatoes, 28-oz. can

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

3/4 pound uncooked lasagna noodles

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup grated low fat mozzarella

Warm oil in a small sauce pan and then stir in flour. Slowly whisk in milk, 1/2 cup at a time. Continue to cook, stirring often, until sauce thickens a bit.  Bechamel will not be very thick at the end. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a heavy non-stick skillet, on medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add garlic, leeks, and thyme and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add wine, carrots, and broccoli stalks, cover, and simmer for about 5 min. Add broccoli florets and zucchini, cover and cook for 3-4 min, until all veggies are tender but still firm. Add salt and pepper to taste, and set aside.

Pour canned tomatoes and juice into a bowl and crush tomatoes by hand.  Add fresh basil and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare an 8x12 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Assemble the lasagna. Layer half of tomato-basil mixture on the bottom of the dish, then add a single layer of noodles, half of veggies, a cup of bechamel, 1/4 cup of Parmesan and 2 T. of mozzarella cheese. Top with a second layer of noodles, the rest of the veggies, and bechamel sauce.  Add a third layer of noodles, the rest of tomato-basil mixture of remaining cheeses.

Cover and cook for 50 minutes. Uncover and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Allow the lasagna to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

My First Great Love

Exactly two years ago, I headed out to Saving Grace Animal Shelter in hopes of falling in love with a sweet dog.  Upon arriving, the owner opened the gates and I was flooded with lots of rescue dogs of all ages and sizes.  Of course, my attention was drawn to the muddy hound who greeted me with a kiss (a habit we've spent the last 2 years trying to break.)

Annie has been such a fun first dog.  Being that I like to be in control of all parts of my life, my wild little beagle has certainly taught me to relax a little bit... and we've, of course, had our bumps in the road.  I'll never forget how close I was to making beagle stew when Annie chewed up my roommate's beloved Blackberry.  She also had a terrible habit of turning my food guru's beautiful yard on Bickett St. into a graveyard in a matter of minutes.

At the end of the day though, I love how Annie snuggles up to me.  I also love how happy she is in the woods or on afternoon runs.  She is a joy to my life and has transformed my lonely single gal days into adventures.  For that, I am incredibly grateful! 

Thinking of adopting a dog?  Check out Saving Grace!  As for a recipe, my days have been incredibly busy with turning in paperwork for school, finishing up my month with AmeriCorps, and  trying to get moving arrangements squared away for Chapel Hill.  My dinners have included simple but delicious summer vegetables that don't really require a fancy recipe.  I did have a yummy egg and sundried tomato english muffin today though.

Egg and Tomato Muffin

2 eggs

1 english muffin

goat cheese

sundried tomatoes, sliced

butter/vegetable oil

Beat egg and fry it in a pan with butter or vegetable oil.  Heat the english muffin with goat cheese under the broiler for about 3 minutes.  Add egg and sundried tomatoes to the sandwich for a quick and filling breakfast!

Family Memories and Figs

My grandmother's 87th birthday was this past weekend, and I spent my Wrightsville Beach time celebrating her wonderful life.  Especially at 87, my grandmother is an amazing woman with tons of energy.  I wanted to capture some of her life stories on tape so that I could continue to share them with future generations in the decades to come. 

During my interview, I focused more on the personal stories and less on the family history.  My grandmother has experienced a lot: a loving 50+ year marriage, motherhood, the passing of loved ones, the Great Depression, WWII, Vietnam, Integration.  I loved hearing about how all of these life events affected her personally.

As I interviewed my grandmother, I began to realize just how large of an impact one's 20's have on an individual... even many decades later.  I asked her, what was the most exciting time in her life?  She said that she loved it when she and my grandfather were dating, and he would fly his plane over her house (he was in the military.)  In regards to my grandfather, she described him as "a man of principle who [she] admired greatly."  As for the secret to a happy marriage? Patience, and a willingness to do the things that your spouse likes to do.  "Mac loved to fish and hunt.  I had never done any of those things before, but I hunted and fished and ran and jumped over fences because that's what he liked to do."

I so enjoyed listening to my grandmother's memories.  We can all learn from our elders' experiences, and I encourage you to take some time to document stories from your grandparents.  For instance, my grandmother said that she barely felt the weight of the Depression, because her family had an extensive garden...they never were short on food.  If only we all continued to grow our own food; we could have certainly save a lot of money during these tough economic times.

For the following recipe, I used home grown figs from my friend Jordan's garden!

Fig and Prosciutto Pizza
Cornmeal (for sprinkling)
1 lb. package purchased pizza dough
2 cups (generous) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (about 8 ounces)
6 small fresh figs, cut into 1/4- to 1/3-inch-thick slices (Jordan's figs, if you're lucky enough!)
2 Tbsp. fig balsamic vinegar, divided
8 thin slices prosciutto (from two 3-ounce packages)
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
8 cups arugula

Preheat oven to 450°F. Sprinkle large rimless baking sheet generously with cornmeal. Roll out dough on floured work surface to 12x10-inch rectangle; transfer to prepared sheet. Sprinkle Gorgonzola over dough. Sprinkle with pepper. Place figs in medium bowl; drizzle 1 tablespoon vinegar over. Set aside.

Bake pizza until crust is golden brown on bottom, 15 to 20 minutes. Immediately drape prosciutto slices over, covering pizza completely. Arrange fig slices atop prosciutto. Bake until figs are just heated through, about 1 minute. Transfer pizza to cutting board. Whisk remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar and oil in large bowl; add arugula. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Mound salad atop pizza. Cut into pieces and serve.