Variation on the Lasagna Theme

When we created the fall menu, I tried to include items that I thought would allow me to vary the recipe while staying roughly within the bounds of trying to provide more consistent offerings to our family. So when I wrote lasagna, I thought "vegetarian lasagna, beef lasagna, chicken lasagna, black bean lasagna." I've never made a chicken lasagna, but I had left-over cooked chicken from the chicken and dumplings last week, so I thought I'd give it a try. I looked up a few recipes on allrecipes.com and decided to modify one that used a red sauce since several called for jars of alfredo sauce or cream of chicken soup, neither one of which sounded appealing to me.

Chicken Lasagna
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 8 oz. bag of spinach
2 cups cooked chicken (approximately)
8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese, softened
2 cups Italian blend cheese
1 jar spaghetti sauce
lasagna noodles

Sautee onions, peppers and spinach in olive oil.
Mix veggies together with chicken and cream cheese.
Spray 9 x 13 pan with non-stick spray.
Place a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the pan.
Put a layer of noodles atop the sauce.
Spread 1/2 of chicken and veggie mixture.
Another layer of sauce.
Sprinkle with cheese.
Repeat noodles, chicken, sauce, cheese.
For final layer, add more noodles, the remaining sauce and a sprinkling of cheese.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes covered, 15 minutes uncovered.

We had this with a simple salad of mixed greens, craisins and feta cheese. K (who is 5 and weighs only 32 pounds) ate three servings of the lasagna. That girl is a carb-o-holic.

Pumpkin Soup

Sorry it's been a while since I included any actual recipes on here, but I've been short of time... here's a good soup recipe that we had tonight. Unlike my last pumpkin soup, this one has a bit of a kick to it.

Southwestern Pumpkin Soup
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
5 pickled jalapeno sliced, diced
1/2 chipotle chile in adobo sauced, finely diced
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 medium sweet potato, peeled & diced
2 medium white potatoes, peeled & diced
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 can pumpkin puree
1 can black beans, drained
sour cream
fresh cilantro

Sautee onions, jalapenos and chipotle in olive oil.
Add water, potatoes and spices.
Cook for 30 minutes or so until potatoes are soft.
Smooth out with hand blender.
Stir in pumpkin puree and black beans and cook until ready to serve.
Add a dollop of sour cream (and a pinch of fresh cilantro, if you have it) to serve.

We had this with cornbread and everyone (even J, who is no fan of soup) enjoyed it! If I were making it for someone other than my children, I would have made jalapeno cornbread. I decided not to kill them with the spiciness and left the bread mild.

Cooking, Just Not Blogging

Once again, I've spent more time during the last week cooking than blogging. My family would tell you they'd rather have it this way than the other. Here's what we've had lately:

Mango Pork Sandwiches & Roasted Veggies
Zucchini Soup
Shredded Beef & Harvest Grains with Broccoli
Broccoli & Cheese Soup with Quiche and Vegetable Tart
Traditional Chili with Ground Turkey, Ground Beef & Kidney Beans

One thing I've discovered after trying the menu for a few weeks is that I need more soup options. When it's chilly outside, a bowl of liquid warmth is what I crave. Plus, I love making soups and my girls love eating them. Soups are a sure-fire way to pump the veggies into my daughters.

Most of these weren't new recipes, but the Vegetable Tart was an experiment that I thought was pretty successful. Here's what I did, to the best of my recollection:

Vegetable Tart
1 refrigerated pie crust
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 small zucchini, sliced in circles
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 tbsp romano cheese
1/2 tbsp olive oil

Place pie crust flat on pizza pan and coat with 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil.
Spread mozzarella.
Top with zucchini and bell pepper.
Brush 1/2 tbsp olive oil on veggies, then top with romano.
Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and veggies are crisp, but slightly cooked.

I tried this tart as a variation on the tomato tart for when fresh tomatoes aren't in season. Since J is not a big fan of soup, I thought that making a quiche or tart to accompany a soup might be a solution to satisfy the whole family. If I keep pie crusts on hand, this could easily be adapted for whatever fresh veggies are in the fridge.

The Week That Was

While I haven't blogged faithfully, I have been (mostly) faithful to our fall menu. Monday brought to a close our home renovations, so I spent that afternoon clearing out drywall dust and we ate frozen pizza. After that things went more smoothly:

Tuesday - Black Bean & Chorizo Chili
Wednesday - Sausage & Chicken Jambalaya with Broccoli
Thursday - Carrot Souffle and Roasted Veggies

I wrote down how I made the chili and then lost the note... so I'll let you know about that the next time I make it. Same with the other recipes.

Maybe next week will bring more detailed blogging... have a good weekend!

Company's Coming

Week One with the fall menu has gone incredibly well. While last night found us eating out as a family (something we almost never do, especially on a week night), it was prompted by the simultaneous demands on my time to help B with a science project and clean both my kitchen and living room of drywall dust (no easy tasks). I finished these things up at about 6:45, making it necessary to skip the planned Chicken & Biscuits and head to Las Maracas. So Thursday night was a wash. But Wednesday night went as planned. Two dear friends came over for dinner and I thought lasagna was just the thing. I rarely make lasagna the same way twice. Here's what I did this time around:

Veggie Lasagna
Uncooked Lasagna Noodles
2 jars spaghetti sauce
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
5-8 leaves fresh basil
16 oz. ricotta cheese
12 oz. cottage cheese
1/2 cup frozen spinach
2 yellow squash, grated
1 1/2 cups mozzarella, shredded
3/4 cup romano cheese, shredded

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onions, celery and peppers until soft. (Next time, I will leave out the celery. While a soup softens the celery to the point of being a non-issue, I was unable to get the crunch completely out of them and I thought they took away from the overall lasagna.)
Add jars of spaghetti sauce to sauteed vegetables.
In separate bowl, mix together ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, grated squash and spinach.
Ladle one cup of sauce into a greased 9 x 13 and 1/2 cup of sauce into an 8 x 8.
Put a layer of uncooked noodles down.
Top noodles with ricotta mixture, then sauce, then mozzarella and romano.
Repeat.
For final layer, put more sauce on top of noodles and top with mozzarella and romano.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes covered, 15 minutes uncovered.

We had this with a nice crusty bread and steamed broccoli that was topped with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The entire meal was a big hit. K ate three helpings and both B, A and our guests all had seconds of everything (including the broccoli!).