Garden Lasagna

Cooking the lasagna noodles before assembling and baking the lasagna always seemed like far too much work to do.  The wonderful thing about vegetable lasagna is that vegetables release a lot of water for dry noodles to absorb.  This is an easy vegetable lasagna dish that can be made with either fresh vegetables in the Summer months, or any time of year with frozen vegetables (or a combination of both). 

Feel free to substitute whatever vegetables you like or are available to you.  Lasagna typically isn’t a cheap dish to make.  I find that frozen vegetables can be less expensive than fresh.  In the summer months you can grow your own or receive free tomatoes and zucchini from others who have gardens.

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil

3 tomatoes sliced (use the tops and bottoms too!) or 1 can diced tomatoes with juice

½ onion diced

1 medium sized zucchini sliced into half-moons

2 bell or sweet peppers sliced or diced

5 mushrooms sliced

1 bunch of fresh spinach leaves or 2 cups frozen chopped spinach

8oz uncooked lasagna noodles (1/2 of a box)

About 4 cups of marinara sauce (or about 32oz jar spaghetti sauce) homemade or store bought

1 cup water

Optional - 8 ounces (1 cup) of shredded mozzarella, parmesan, or cheddar (or sour cream if you’re out of cheese)

Bottom layer:  Spread olive oil evenly on bottom of 9X13 baking dish; and lay tomato slices and diced onion out evenly.  Mix marinara sauce and water to thin sauce. Cover tomatoes with ½ of sauce and ½ of the lasagna noodles.

Middle layer:  Spread out zucchini half-moons, peppers, cheese (if you’re using it), and ½ of the spinach evenly.  Put second layer of lasagna noodles on.

Top layer:  Spread out mushroom slices and the rest of the spinach evenly.  Cover with the rest of the marinara sauce and lightly sprinkle parmesan on top.

Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.

Wonderful Walnuts!

Walnuts are the most nutritious nut and have some interesting health benefits.  Notably, they can help combat stress and lose weight.  It seems that walnuts calm the adrenal glands which help suppress cortisol production when we're stressed out.  When the body has high cortisol levels, it puts on weight.  Researchers at Pennsylvania State discovered this effect and say it is due to the high levels of alpha-linolenic acid in walnuts.  Adding 1.3 onces (18 walnut halves) per day help relieve stress.  Check it out at http://live.psu.edu/story/48843.

A delicious way to add walnuts is in a delicious and healthy dessert.  Guests will love the aroma and the results!

Delicious Fruit and Nut Pie
Ingredients for Filling:
2 cups walnuts broken into pieces
2 cups applesauce
1 fresh apple diced
1 fresh pear diced
1 cup raisins
1 cup golden raisins
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp water

Ingredients for crust:
2 cups flour
1 & 1/2 tsp salt
1 & 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk

For pie crust sift the 3 dry ingredients together (or stir for 3 minutes).  Mix oil and milk.  Add to dry ingredients and stir.  Separate dough into 2 balls (one for top crust, one for bottom crust.  Refrigerate and roll.

While dough is refrigerating, mix all ingredients for filling.  Line pie plate with one crust, prick with fork to prevent bubbles.  Spread filling in evenly and top with top crust.  Cut 5 holes with scissors and crimp edges. Bake 1 hour at 375 degrees.

Just beginning?

For those who are considering becoming vegetarian but are worried about giving up great flavor... start with small steps.  Your taste buds (like every other part of you) takes a little time to adjust to change.  As you eat less and less meat, your tastes will adjust to eating less grease and fat.  And as for flavor... as you learn some flavorful vegetarian recipes and become more comfortable with vegetarian cooking, you'll find out that going vegetarian doesn't have to be bland.

Some of you may decide to become vegetarian and will choose to be either lacto-ovo vegetarian or vegan (or something in between).  Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat eggs and dairy products but no animals (including fish).  Vegans don't eat ANY animal products (including honey).

Some people start by cutting out pork, then beef, then poultry, and then fish.  Increasing consumption of vegetables at the same time, will increase your taste for vegetables and help your body adjust for the higher amounts of fiber in your new diet.  Introducing 1 new food a month can help you transition slowly and not feel like you are making any drastic changes that you can't handle.

When you start eliminating beef, try adding one new food like tempeh.  No one has to like everything new, but try some new foods and you'll find out what you like.  As we age, our taste buds mature and we are able to taste subtle flavors we never noticed when we were younger.

Part of your decision to become either lacto-ovo vegetarian or vegan will depend on the foods available to you and your knowledge of cooking and nutrition.  Whatever your decision, there are lots of tasty, inexpensive vegetarian recipes I hope to share with you to make your life healthier and tastier.

For Lacto-Ovo Vegetarians
Cornmeal Casserole
Ingredients

In a saucepan bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes:
1&1/2 cups frozen vegetables (peas, carrots, spinach, etc.)
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced bell peppers or sweet peppers
1/2 cup water

In a bowl mix:
1 cup diced zucchini or summer squash
1 cup salsa
1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheese (some people need to watch their cholesterol)
2/3 cup corn meal
1/2 cup of sour cream
4 eggs
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
6 dashes hot sauce

Let the ingredients in the saucepan cool 5 minutes and then add to bowl mixture.  Oil a 9X13 inch baking dish with olive oil and spread mixture evenly in pan.  Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.  Cool 15 minutes, slice into squares and serve.

Mediterranean Vegetable Stew

The cold winter months make warm, hearty soups and stews more appealing.  Sometimes we need a little variety in our hearty soups to keep it interesting.  This stew has an exotic taste and aroma to spice up a dull winter's day.

Yellow summer squash (or straight-necked squash) can be found year round in the grocery store.  The flesh is tenderer than the crooked-neck squash; and holds its texture better than zucchini.  One cup of diced summer squash provides about 10% of your daily requirement of B6, riboflavin, folate, potassium, and manganese.  It also has lots of your daily requirements of vitamin A (5%), C(35%), and K(7%) (Self, 2012).

Mediterranean Vegetable Stew

Ingredients;

2 yellow summer squash about 6-8 inches long (slice and quarter)

1 large onion
1 or 2 green, red, or orange bell peppers

1/4 cup of olive oil

4 cloves of garlic

2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground or flaked, coriander or cilantro

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp paprika

2 cups fresh or canned diced tomatoes (with the juice)

2 cups water
2 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce

Dice onion and saute' in olive oil for 5 minutes.  Mince and add garlic cloves. Saute' 5 minutes.  Add salt, and all spices and saute' for 3 minutes.  Add water, squash, bell pepper, tamari, and tomatoes.  Bring to boil and simmer 15-20 minutes.  Enjoy an entirely new kind of stew!

Herbalicious Rosemary

Eating a large variety of plants is necessary for adequate nutrition.  Part of the reason for the colony collapse disorder killing millions of bees, is the lack of variety in their diet.  Eating only a select few plants, as most Americans do, will only offer you a few nutrients.

Herbs as well as contributing lots of flavor, have nutrients and properties that are healthful too.  Rosemary has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, aids digestion, and is good for the memory/brain (McVicar, 1994).

Rosemary's fragrance brings to mind the memories of Thanksgiving stuffing, but is so much more versatile.  Warm, comforting, soup, grain, potato, and pasta dishes are made more mouth watering with rosemary.

Rosemary is a great herb for broke folks.  In the Spring buy a start at a garden center or grocery store, and grow it in a pot on your patio.  Clip what you need for your meal.  If your plant is getting large, snip off some twigs and dry in an open oven at about 70-90 degrees, or chop and freeze it.  Use as a flavoring in olive oil.  Place a twig in a bottle of olive oil to add a light aroma to any dish.

Try this:
Roasted Rosemary Potatoes
Ingredients
8 small or medium potatoes cut into about 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 large onion roughly chopped
1 Tbsp rosemary chopped (fresh or dried)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp granulated or powdered garlic
1 tsp dill weed or parsley
2 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce  OR  1 Tbsp vegetable boullion or brown miso dissolved in 1 Tbsp hot water
Optional add ins:
Uncooked fresh mini carrots or fresh broccoli florets
Or substitute sweet potatoes or cubed squash

Put all ingredients into 9X13 inch baking dish and mix until all the potatoes are coated and bake on 400 degrees for 45-50 minutes.  Enjoy the aroma...Aahh....

Warning: Never take too much of any herb. More is not always better.

Reference
McVicar, Jekka. (1994). Herbs for the Home: A definitive sourcebook to growing and using herbs. New York, NY. Penguin Group.

Oats, groats, and folks

Many folks are trying to incorporate whole grains into their diet.  Often times novices will make a rice dish because they are comfortable with recipes like Spanish rice, rice pilaf, etc.  Yet brown rice takes a long time to cook and not everyone likes it (because it often comes out chewy).  

In order to make brown rice more palatable, it should be prepared like a dry bean - rinsed and soaked in cold water for 8 hours before cooking.  Cook one part water to one part grain.  Bring to a boil and simmer for an hour.  The trouble with brown rice is, it requires planning ahead. 

To make a rice dish that is tender, loaded with fiber, lowers cholesterol, and does not need soaking - meet oat groats!  Oats that are not rolled or cut are called oat groats. They absorb water easily, making for short cooking time.

Oat groats uncut or rolled, do not produce the gluey texture of oatmeal that I always hated as a kid (Yuck!).  I have substituted oat groats for rice for years and guests never suspect it is anything but rice.  The texture is slightly different than rice but not noticeably in rice dishes and definitely better than chewy brown rice.