Vegetarian Lasagna

This one goes out to my vegetarian readers.  Just like the meaty lasagna, it's inspired by Gayle's recipe.  The basic ingredients are the same; however, this version is meatless and the sauce is made from scratch (we usually use a pre-made spaghetti sauce).

Vegetarian Lasagna

15 whole wheat lasagna noodles

1 (24 oz) container cottage cheese

1 (8 oz) bag shredded mozzarella cheese

1 (4 oz) bag of shredded Parmesan cheese

Tomato Sauce:

1 T olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, chopped

1 medium zucchini, chopped

1 t. sea salt

1/2 t. crushed red pepper

1/2 c scotch 

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

6 oz water

2 green onions, sliced

1-2 T fresh basil, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

To make the tomato sauce, heat the oil in a large skillet.  Once hot, saute the onion, bell pepper, and zucchini with sea salt and crushed red peppers for 2 minutes.  Add the scotch and diced tomatoes.  Simmer for 2 minutes.  Then add the tomato sauce, paste, and water.  Simmer for another 2 minutes.  Finally add the green onions, basil, and garlic.  Simmer for 1-2 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease the bottom and sides of a 9"x13" cake pan.  Spread a thin layer of the sauce on the bottom of the pan.  Start the first layer by placing a layer of lasagna noodles (5 noodles) on the sauce.  Spread cottage cheese on noodles.  Cover the cottage cheese with the tomato sauce.  Sprinkle some mozzarella and Parmesan cheese over the sauce.  Repeat the layering process twice, for a total of three layers.

Once all three layers are made, bake the lasagna in the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until a fork can easily pierce through the noodles.  Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.   

Lasagna

A year or so ago, Ryan's mom, Gayle, gave us a simple lasagna recipe.  We liked it so much that we use it as a foundation any time we make lasagna.  We usually end up adding or altering ingredients.  The following recipe is one of our alterations. 

Lasagna

• 1 lb Ground Beef, Turkey, Pork, or Sausage
• Garlic, Sea Salt, and Pepper, to taste
• 1/2 Small Onion
• 1 Jar Prego Sauce (preferably the Roasted Red Pepper variety)
• 2 Shots Scotch, Whiskey, or Bourbon
• 2/3 Red Pepper
• 15 Whole Wheat Lasagna noodles
• 24 oz Cottage Cheese
• 2 c Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/2 to 1 c Parmesan Cheese

Brown ground meat in a large skillet.  Season with garlic, sea salt, and pepper to taste.  Add onion when almost fully cooked.  After meat is fully cooked, add Prego, liquor, and red pepper.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 9"x13" pan with cooking spray.  Spoon some of the meat mixture into the pan.  Add three layers of noodles, cottage cheese, meat mixture, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese (in that order).  Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a fork can easily pierce through noodles.  Top with more Parmesan Cheese, if desired.  Cool for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Great Divide

Went hiking in Golden Gate Canyon State Park today. It was beautiful, even though we had to deal with intermittent light rain. We'll post pictures soon.

On the way back, we tried to stop by Golden City Brewery, "the second largest brewery in Golden." They stop serving at 6:30pm every day, so we missed the boat. Onward to Great Divide in downtown Denver.

We hadn't been to the Great Divide taproom since November. Besides the usual suspects, they had Rumble IPA and Smoked Baltic Porter. The porter was pretty much perfect. Similar to O'Fallon's Smoked Porter without invoking bacon, and balanced enough to drink more than one. Of course, I only drank one and then moved onto the Rumble IPA. This is easily one of my favorite beers. If you've heard me bullshit about beer, you know that I'm all about balance. I really don't care for the over the top west coast IPAs, nor do I care much for one-dimensional (I'm looking at you, Shiner Bock) darker beers. Rumble IPA is wood-aged, 7.1% ABV, balanced bliss. Snag some, if you can find it. We picked up a six pack on our way out of the brewery.

Now, if we can only make it to Golden City on time..

Hop-ricot

Support your local brewery. Or breweries. Seriously. You'll never know what kind of delicious beer you're missing out on until you find and then visit them.

Our new home is very close to Dry Dock Brewing Company in Aurora, CO. Dry Dock won "Small Brewing Company of the Year" at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival. They've also won "Best Brewpub" the past three years from the local ABC affiliate, which is quite a feat given the number and quality of brewpubs in the area. Of course, when I think of a brewpub, I think of a restaurant that brews beer. There's no kitchen at Dry Dock. There is popcorn, and you're welcome to bring your own food.

The real star is the beer. I have much respect for any brewery that has a Double IPA included in their year-round ("home fleet") lineup. Especially when it's a damn tasty Double IPA. They also tap a Firkin keg every Friday afternoon. From what I gather, it's usually one of their regular beers with a twist. Today's Firkin is called Hop-ricot and is half IPA, half Apricot Blonde. It was fantastic. Hazy peach color with a hop bite on the front and apricot finish. Sort of like a kicked up Magic Hat #9.

So far I've really enjoyed the Pale, IPA, Double IPA, and ESB from Dry Dock. I look forward to trying the rest of their beers. What's brewing in your neighborhood?

Sunny Quinoa Salad

I love the quinoa salads found in The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, but I decided that it was time for me to make up my own quinoa salad.  Here's how I made it:

Sunny Quinoa Salad

1 c. quinoa
1-3/4 c. water
pinch of sea salt

4 green onions, sliced
1 c. chopped cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
1/2 red pepper diced
1-1/2 ears of corn, cooked, corn cut from the cob
1 c. canned black beans

Dressing:
1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 T extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 t. sea salt

Topping:
Raw sunflower seeds
Olive Oil
Sea salt

1. Prepare quinoa:
Rinse the dry quinoa in a fine mesh strainer under warm running water. Place quinoa in a medium sauce pan with the water and sea salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

2. While the quinoa is cooking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the additional ingredients (green onions, cilantro, jalapeno, red pepper, corn, and black beans). Once the oven is preheated, roast raw sunflower seeds in a cake or pie pan with a little olive oil and sea salt for about 10 minutes, stirring once. Remove pot of quinoa from the stove and let cool.

3. Once the quinoa is cool, transfer to a bowl with a lid. Add the green onions, cilantro, jalapeno, red pepper, corn, and black beans to it.

4. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a separate small bowl. Pour over the quinoa and vegetables. Toss salad together.

5. To serve, spoon salad on a plate or bowl and top with the roasted sunflower seeds. The salad can also be chilled for later use. I recommend adding the sunflower seeds right before you serve it so they don't get soggy.

Cilantro Black Beans

A month or so ago, my sister made some black beans with cilantro to go with her absolutely delicious sour cream chicken enchiladas.  They were delicious, so I asked her for the recipe.  I used her recipe, except I also added a green onion to the beans.  Here's how you make it:

Cilantro Black Beans

2 (15.5 oz) cans of black beans
1/2 t sugar
1/2 t chili powder
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t cumin
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1 green onion, sliced

Place all ingredients in a medium sauce pan.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  These beans go great with enchiladas or grilled chicken.

Chicken Basil Pizza

Over a year and a half ago, Ryan bought a bread machine.  Since he bought it, we had only used it three times.  So today we decided to use it for the 4th time and make some pizza crust with it.  The pizza we made turned out amazing!  Here it is:

Chicken Basil Pizza

Crust--made in a bread machine:

• 1 c. plus 2 T water
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 t. dried Italian herbs
• 1 t. sugar
• 1 t. sea salt
• 2-1/2 t active dry yeast

Place all ingredients in bread pan in the oder listed.  Select the dough cycle on bread machine, and start machine.

Move oven rack to lowest position.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease two cookie sheets.  Divide dough in half.  Pat each half into a 12" circle on cookie sheet with floured fingers.  Bake dough for 10 minutes.

While dough is baking make chicken and sauce.

Chicken:
Heat 1 T olive oil in skillet.  Season chicken with Italian seasoning, salt, black pepper, and red pepper.  Cook chicken in skillet until done.

Sauce:

• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 T fresh oregano
• 1 T fresh basil
• 1/2 t. crushed red pepper
• 1 t. Italian seasoning
• 1 bay leaf
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Mix all sauce ingredients together in a skillet or small sauce pan.  Heat through.

Build the Pizza:
When dough is done baking, take it out of oven.  Spread olive oil on the crust.  Then spread the sauce.  Sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese.  Top with your favorite toppings, or use ours:

• Sliced tomatoes
• Diced red, yellow, or orange peppers
• Diced onions
• Sliced black olives
• Chicken
• Fresh basil
• Fresh mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese
• Sea Salt
• Pepper

Place the pizza directly on the oven rack.  Bake for an additional 10-12 minutes.  Enjoy with a glass of wine.