Three Cheese Stuffed "Shells"

Today it was supposed to snow, but didn't, but it will be Snowmageddon tomorrow, or something...anyway, it's cold and what was on the menu for tonight didn't sound appetizing, so I made something more cheesy. I had to modify several things, but the original recipe is from Clean Eating. Sorry for the crappy picture.

Sauce Ingredients:
3 cups chopped tomatoes
12 oz roasted red bell peppers, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup packed whole parsley, roughly chopped

Shell Ingredients:
2 cups of corn, divided
9 whole wheat lasagna noodles*
1.5 cups low-fat ricotta cheese
4 oz goat cheese**
2 Tlbs chopped fresh parsley
1 large egg
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated mozzarella

Directions:
Mix all the sauce ingredients except the parsley in a saucepan over medium heat and bring it to a simmer. Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, then toss it into the food processor and puree it. Spoon one cup or so into the bottom of a 9x9 pan, then set the rest aside. Meanwhile, boil the noodles until al dente, then set them aside as well. Mix 1.5 cups of corn, the ricotta cheese, goat cheese, parsley, egg, and black pepper in a bowl. Lay out a noodle, and spoon about 1/4 cup of the cheese mixture on it. Roll it up, then put it in the pan. Repeat until you have 9 rolled packets. Spoon the rest of the sauce over the top, then the rest of the corn, and top with the mozzarella. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let it sit for 10 minutes or so before serving.

*This is supposed to be stuffed shells, but whole wheat shells are impossible to find, even here in Seattle. The only place I could find them was on amazon.

**I accidentally got peppadew, having never had goat cheese before. I figured it would go well with this recipe so I didn't really worry about it.

The original recipe called for mint in the cheese filling, which was just weird, and I didn't feel like buying it just for this recipe, so I skipped it. Other than that I followed the recipe pretty closely, except for replacing the shells with lasagna noodles and the plain goat cheese with peppadew. Also, I finally figured out where the roasted peppers are in the store (with the condiments??), so I can use them in other recipes that call for them. They gave a different taste to the sauce, that's for sure.

Rating: 4.5/5
Why? This has the cheesy comfort-food taste that I crave sometimes when it's cold outside, but with a definitely spicy twist that is a little unexpected. I wish that I could find the shells though.

Tomato Basil Pizza

I had never had pizza other than pepperoni and olive (my mom's favorite) or Canadian bacon and pineapple (my dad's favorite) until I went to college. One of my roommates introduced me to tomato-basil pizza, or as it is sometimes called, margherita pizza.I have attempted to make this pizza in the past, but it has never really tasted right, so I haven't tried in a while. Then in one of the recent issues of  Clean Eating, there was a recipe, so I decided to give it another shot. And I am very glad I did.

Ingredients:
1/2 recipe whole wheat pizza dough
4-5 Roma tomatoes
2 small cloves of garlic
1 tsp red wine vinegar
6-7 basil leaves
tiny pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 cup mozzarella
15-20 basil leaves

Directions:
Roughly chop the tomatoes into 1/4" chunks. Mince the garlic, then roll the 6-7 basil leaves into a roll together lengthwise, and slice them into narrow strips crosswise. Toss the tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, basil, salt, and black pepper into a saucepan, then heat over medium-low heat. Let the sauce simmer for 30 minutes or so, until the tomatoes are broken down and smell great. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450, and roll out the pizza dough to the size you want (mine was about 14" across). Put it on the pan or pizza stone (hint, hint...I would love one of those for Christmas....). Spread the sauce onto the dough as thick as you would like. Sprinkle half the cheese on top, then tear the remaining basil leaves in half, spread them on top of the cheese, then sprinkle the other half of the cheese on top of the basil. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes or so until the cheese is slightly browned.

This isn't exactly like the pizza my college roommate had, she prefers white (non-tomato sauce) pizza and I prefer it this way, with a chunky tomato sauce instead of tomato slices.  In the original recipe, it called for a 12 oz can of strained tomatoes, but I didn't know what those were so I went with my own gut on this and used fresh tomatoes instead. I also love basil, so I doubled the basil in both the sauce and the pizza.

This was really good and very easy, it took me about 40 minutes to put together, including the 30 minutes to simmer the sauce.

Rating? 5/5
Why? This was really easy to make and tastes great, as well as being pretty healthy. I like that there are limited ingredients and that it is heavy on the basil

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

I tried this for the first time last summer and while I do love traditional lasagna, this one immediately became my MORE favorite one. I love that you can use whatever vegetables you have on hand and it is really filling, but quite healthy. I am giving you the ingredients I used this time, but there is a lot of variation possible.

Ingredients:

2 small eggplants, sliced into 1/4" slices
2 red peppers, cut into 1" squares
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup sliced carrots
3 heads of baby bok choy, whites and greens separated, whites cut into 1" squares
2 Tlbs olive oil
black pepper
3 roma tomatoes, sliced
1.5 cup frozen corn
10-12 fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
grated mozzarella cheese
grated cheddar cheese
small container of low-fat ricotta cheese
6 whole-wheat lasagna noodles
1 can tomato sauce
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can chopped tomatoes
parsley
basil
oregano
tarragon
salt/pepper

Put the eggplant, peppers, carrots, bok choy whites, garlic, olive oil and black pepper into a ziploc bag and shake until the oil coats everything. Pour them onto a cookie sheet and roast for 25-30 minutes at 400 degrees, stirring thoroughly every 10 minutes. To make the tomato sauce, put the tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, and chopped tomatoes in a pot with parsley, basil, oregano, tarragon and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then simmer over low for a while. In another pot, boil the noodles until done, then drain and set aside. Spray olive oil into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Using a spatula, spread ricotta cheese on a noodle, then lay in the bottom of the pan. Repeat with two other noodles until the bottom of the pan has one layer. Ladle half of the sauce mixture over the noodles. Scoop half the roasted vegetables on top of the sauce. Layer half of the sliced tomatoes on top of the veggies, then sprinkle half the corn on top of the tomatoes. Sprinkle half the chopped basil over the corn, then sprinkle a thin layer of mozzarella on top of that. Repeat the entire layer process again, only adding cheddar as well as mozzarella on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, and let it sit for 10 minutes or so before serving.

I originally tried this recipe when looking for ways to use eggplant, which I dislike the smell of. I got the idea for the roasted vegetables from allrecipes.com, but the rest of it is my own. I like the fact that it is full of vegetables and still tastes like lasagna. The original version has other roasted vegetables, like mushrooms, but I used what I had in the fridge. I have never used bok choy in it before, but it turned out ok, although I don't know if I would use it again. I used the bok choy leaves in it as well this time, but I disliked it, so left it out of the recipe above. I have used black beans and loved them as well. Another thing I like is that this is easy to freeze in small portions for lunch.

Rating: 4.5/5
Why? I prefer to make my own tomato sauce, but I didn't have enough patience to simmer it down to a thick sauce, so the lasagna was a little runnier than I like. Also, I didn't like the bok choy. Normally, this would be a 5/5.

Four Cheese Ravioli

When I was growing up, ravioli was one of the things that we got as a treat on special occasions. My mom would get one of the giant cans from Chef Boyardee, add some cheese, and bake it in the oven. When I got older, I realized how unhealthy that stuff was, and what was more, how slimy the pasta was, and stopped eating it altogether. Then while reading a book called Cook This, Not That I found a recipe for ravioli and realized how easy it would be to make my own. This recipe is loosely based on that recipe.

1 package round wonton wrappers
16 oz ricotta cheese
3/4 cup grated mozzarella
3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 egg white
1 Tlbs milk

In a bowl mix the ricotta, mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan, and garlic powder together. In a small bowl, whisk the egg white and milk together. Take one of the wonton wrappers and put a small amount of the cheese mixture on one half of the wrapper. Make sure to leave 1/2" or so of free space around the edge of the wrapper. It takes some practice to get the amount right. I would say 2 tsp or so of the mixture, or an amount no larger than the size of a small super ball. Form it to make a half circle shape within your wonton wrapper. Then, using a small paintbrush, paint the edge of the wonton wrapper with the egg white mixture and fold over the wrapper so that you now have a closed half circle. Press the two edges together, using the egg white mixture as the "glue" that holds the two halves together. Make sure to press firmly and seal it completely from end to end. Then repeat until either your cheese mixture or your wonton wrappers are gone.

This is the perfect recipe to make and freeze. There is a bit of work that goes into assembling the ravioli, but to make it from frozen takes me exactly 5 minutes from freezer to plate. To freeze the ravioli, spray a cookie sheet with olive oil and lay the finished ravioli on the pan as you make them. Freeze them for half an hour, then lift them off the sheet, throw them into a ziploc bag, and put them in the freezer. To cook them, slide the desired amount into boiling water for about 2 minutes, then top with your desired sauce. Including the time to boil the water, it takes no more than 5 minutes. Perfect. It is important not to overcook the ravioli or the edges will come unsealed and then you have a mess, so keep a close eye on them. I would say between 1.5 and 2 minutes at the outside, if you put them into boiling water.

Although I haven't yet done it, I think this would be a great recipe to easily modify. It would be really easy to disguise steamed cauliflower (which I hate) or mushrooms (ew) or even good stuff like broccoli in these babies and no one would be the wiser. I do wish I could find whole wheat wonton wrappers, but this is still so much healthier and delicious than the canned version that I really don't mind.

Rating: 4/5
Why? This is a time-consuming recipe to put together. It takes about an hour or so, depending on how fast you are, to make an entire batch. However, when you are done, you have a large amount of ravioli that will last for months in the freezer, and if you keep the pasta sauce on hand, you have a dinner that takes less time than ordering a pizza and is far healthier. I think 4-5 of these would make one serving, topped with 1 cup or so of the tomato pasta sauce.

Penne with Chicken in Lemon-Cheese Sauce

Holy Moley, I want to put this sauce on EVERYTHING. I don't remember where this recipe came from, I got it from a roommate's cookbook in college I think.

3/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/8 cup non fat sour cream
1/8 cup grated parmesan
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon zest
3/4 tsp dill
a little pepper
olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 cupped hands of penne
1 chicken breast cut into 1/4 inch strips
1 small yellow squash, sliced about 1/4" thick
2 cups green beans (original recipe called for asparagus, but I didn't have any)
1/4 cup chicken broth

In a food processor (or blender), blend the cottage cheese until smooth. Add the sour cream, parmesan, lemon juice (then pick out all the lemon seeds your dropped in it....oh....that's just me?), lemon zest, dill and black pepper and process again until it's smooth.

In a saute pan, saute the onion on medium heat for 2-3 minutes, then add the chicken and saute for another 4-5 minutes. Then add the vegetables and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender (5 minutes or to taste).

Add the pasta and lemon cheese sauce to the chicken and vegetable mixture and toss to coat.

rating - 4.5/5
Why? only because I think it would have been better with asparagus rather than green beans. The sauce is like 18 stars out of 5. Holy cow,  I want to put it on everything. Seriously, I may be putting it on my cereal in the morning.