Cindy's Butternut-Kale Lasagna

Gruyere-spiked Bechamel drapes over the noodles and squash to give Butternut-Kale Lasagna velvety richness. Hearty, earthy kale perfectly balances the sweet kale, and crunchy, toasted pecans crown the top of this luscious lasagna.

Yield: Serves 4

Total: 55 Minutes

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup water 
• 1 (12-ounce) package prechopped fresh butternut squash 
• 3 cups prechopped kale
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1.1 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1/4 cup) 
• 2 3/4 cups 1% low-fat milk, divided
• 2 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded and divided
• 1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 
• Cooking spray 
• 6 no-boil lasagna noodles 
• 3 tablespoons chopped pecans

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. Combine 1/4 cup water and squash in an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish. Cover tightly with plastic wrap; pierce plastic wrap 2 to 3 times. Microwave at HIGH 5 minutes or until tender; drain. Combine squash and kale in a large bowl. Wipe dish dry.
3. Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes or until garlic begins to brown, stirring occasionally. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and 1/2 cup milk in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add milk mixture and remaining 2 1/4 cups milk to pan; increase heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute or until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 ounce Gruyère, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, salt, and pepper; stir until cheese melts.
4. Coat baking dish with cooking spray. Spread 1/3 cup milk mixture in bottom of dish. Arrange 2 noodles over milk mixture; top with half of squash mixture and 2/3 cup milk mixture. Repeat layers once, ending with remaining noodles and remaining milk mixture. Cover with foil; bake at 450° for 15 minutes. Remove foil; sprinkle remaining Gruyère and pecans over top. Bake, uncovered, at 450° for 10 minutes or until lightly browned and sauce is bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes.

Nutritional Information
Amount per serving
Calories: 420
Fat: 16.3g
Saturated fat: 5.8g
Monounsaturated fat: 7.3g
Polyunsaturated fat: 2.1g
Protein: 20.4g
Carbohydrate: 51.4g
Fiber: 4.5g
Cholesterol: 29mg
Iron: 3.1mg
Sodium: 556mg
Calcium: 557mg

From: 
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/butternut-kale-lasagna-50400000126276/


Cindy made this for Alex's 25th birthday celebration.

Cindy's Cherry Cheesecake

1 package graham crackers
1/3 cup sugar
6 Tbs butter, melted
8 oz package cream cheese
1 pint whipping cream ( I usually only use about 3/4 of this)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1 can cherry pie filling

Crush the graham crackers (I usually put them in a Ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin).  Pour them into a bowl, add the sugar and melted butter.  Mix them together, pour them into a pie plate or 8" square pan.  Pat them into place and bake at 350 for 7 minutes.  Let cool completely.

Put cream cheese in mixer bowl.  Wait 1/2 hour to let cream cheese soften.  Turn mixer on low and mix cream cheese adding whipping cream, powdered sugar, vanilla and almond as you run mixer.  Mix until thick.  Spread over graham cracker crust.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Before serving open cherries and spread them over the cream cheese mixture.

Made for Alex's 25th BIrthday.  Cindy/Alex/Maria

Trader Joe's: Almond Croissants

Easy to make - delicious and impressive looking!

Just need to put on oiled or paper the evening before you serve so they can defrost and rise.  Then bake in 350 over for 20 minutes.  Yum!

Gnocchi

Easy, Simple, but Plain Looking

Gnocchi with potatoes is what people usually think of - the kind where each pillow is rolled with a fork.  This one is very quick, the fork design would melt out so it takes half the time of potato gnocchi.

1 lb ricotta cream

2 eggs

1 c grated cheese

1 c cooked spinach or chard chopped well and drained with garlic

salt and pepper

start with about 2 c all-purpose flour - add if more needed

In a bowl mix both cheese with spinach, salt and pepper.  Add eggs and mix well.  Slowly mix in flour until you can turn a slightly sticky dough on a board and gently knead to form a smooth dough.  

Roll in a snake and cut in consistent lengths so about 3/4 inch by 3/4 inch.  

Can freeze* at this stage or cook about 3.5 minutes in boiling salted water.  

*  To freeze put in single layer on a plate in the freezer.  After frozen scoop up and put into a plastic bag. This way the pieces do not stick together and it will be easier to portion our what you want to use.

We made brown butter and sage sauce for the gnocci - but pesto or tomato sauce would be wonderful too.

Risotto

Base for all Risotto

1 c chopped onion, scallion or leeks

2 c aborio rice

1 c white wine

butter, hot broth grated cheese

Saute onions in 3 T butter until soft.  Add rice and cook about three minutes.  Add wine.  

When wine is absorbed slowly add broth a ladle at a time stirring constantly.  

Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.  

When the rice if fully cooked add options.  

Finish with up to 8 T butter and more than 3 T grated cheese.

Options:

Vegetable broth - roasted eggplant and tomato

Chicken broth - fontina and tomato

Mushroom broth - mushrooms

Add meat or really any other vegetables you have on hand!

Allow about an hour of stirring time to prepare this dish!

Pretty Quick (Chicken) Curry

2 servings - rice

Saute
2 diced carrots
1 diced potato
1 diced onion
1 diced chicken breast

Add
1 can coconut milk
6 T curry
1/2 c chicken broth
1.5 c left over 'hot and healthy soup"  Curried chickpeas, wilted spinach, brocoli, lentils in broth, pumpkin seeds

Heat until it's all done!

In little bowls so it can be added as desired
Coconut flakes
Sliced almonds
Apricot jam
Sliced banana
Diced apple

Nan

Delicious meal in about 30 - 40 minutes.

Next time try without coconut milk add more broth and get dried apricots for a little bowl so it can be added too!  I've done without chicken - that's good too - add more vegetables!

Sweet Potato Soup

June's Sweet Potato Soup

Dice an onion
Dice 3 stocks of celery
Heat pan and put a little olive oil in.
Cook the onion and celery until it starts to turn brown.

Scrape the skin off and dice one sweet potato (the orange kind - about 7 inches long)
Add to the pan, stir.

Add about 2 T vegetable stock concentrate and about 4 cups of water.

Cover and simmer until soft.

Use potato masher to break up the potato.

Serve.  Delicious.  It's a sweet warm wonderful soup and I recommend it!

We had it with the last of the salad fixings - greens, tomato, celery, carrot - sprinkled with celery seed before adding the dressing.

Add a glass of red wine - a wonderful meal on this cold, cold day.

Oh My Brie and Fig Preserve Stuffed French Toast

Last night we had purchased some challah bread so I tried to copy a delicious stuffed French bread that we had had at S&S Deli.  The photo I took doesn't do it justice so next time, here is what I did:

Brie and Fig Preserve Stuffed French Toast

Cut the bread in 1 to 1/25 inch slices.
Put in mixture of 5 eggs and about 1/4 c milk to soak.
Turned over and put two think slices of brie and about 1 T of the preserves on one side, then topped it with another piece (egg side in).  Then I returned it to the egg mixture to soak some more.

Preheat oven to 300. 

When the four sandwiches were done, I put a little butter in the pan and put the sandwiches in the pan to brown (turning them to try to seal the cheese in with egg but that didn't really work).  

Put the pan in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Served with unnecessary butter and syrup.  Delightful to have as a first meal of the day (around 2:30p).  If I was having company I would add some sausages and fruit.  We were so late with eating I thought it would be best to just eat!

Mushroom Soup

Mushroom Soup

2 T butter
1/2 yellow onion sliced
1 container of sliced mushrooms
salt and pepper
2 handfuls string beans cut into 1/2 pieces
1 cherry tomato cut into 3 pieces
1/2 carrot sliced thinly into coins

Stir while cooking on stove top

2 handfuls of wheat flour sprinkled on top
left over cream (about 2 T) sprinkled on top and stirred
about 1/4 milk stirred in

1 1/2 T vegetable broth mix
about 2 c water
stir and cover

(I should have added the cream and milk last as I was afraid to let it simmer for long.)

Very pretty and tasty.  More like a mushroom stew really than soup.

Earthquake Cake

Once at home we relaxed a bit - then Alex and I made Earthquake Cake....

Ready for Oven

EARTHQUAKE CAKE  (From Lib-quilter Mary in Panama)

1+ c. chopped pecans and.or walnuts
1+ c. coconut
1 chocolate cake mix (or make your own from scratch)
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 stick butter (1/4 pound)
1 box powdered sugar (approx 4 cups)

Spray PAM in a 9x13"  inch pan. Sprinkle nuts, then coconut on bottom of pan. Mix cake mix according to directions (see note below) and pour over nuts and coconut.

Baked

Melt butter and cream cheese together. Add the powdered sugar to the butter/cream cheese mixture. Stir to blend. Drop this mixture in blobs on top of cake mix by spoonfuls. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until done.

Note: Most often, I add 1/2 cup grated baking chocolate (preferably organic chocolate from the chocolate farm next door to us) to a packaged cake mix. And then I often sprinkle chocolate nibs on top. Nibs are the crushed (but not ground) roasted cacao beans.

It was delicious and cuts up very pretty slices with the nuts and baked in frosting peeking thru the dark cake batter.  

We had to add about 20 minutes to the baking time.  






We had with milk and enjoyed the experience of making it and eating it!

Added later:  The cake is even better after being refrigerated!

Made for the evening before Alex left Boston for San Diego.

Moroccan Mint Tea Recipe

Classic Moroccan Mint Tea is made by steeping green tea with spearmint leaves. Many families serve it more than once a day.

Moroccan tea pots vary in size, but a small pot typically holds about a half liter (six glasses) of tea, while a larger pot holds approximately a liter (12 glasses).

The measures below are for a small pot of tea and are approximates since tea leaves vary in quality and strength. Try a variety – not a brand – of green tea called Chinese Gunpowder.

The recipe reflects the fact that most Moroccans like their tea quite sweet. Adjust sugar to your personal taste.

Serves 2 to 4.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Green Tea leaves
• 1 large handful fresh spearmint leaves, washed  ** we have this growing in the side yard!
• 1/2 liter (about 2 cups) boiling water
• 1/4 cup sugar

Preparation:

1. Boil at least a liter of water. Rinse a small tea pot with about 1/4 cup of the water.
2. Add the tea leaves and another 1/4 cup boiling water. Swirl the pot to wash and rinse the leaves, and pour out the water.
3. Add the mint leaves and the sugar, and fill the pot with 1/2 liter (about 2 cups) boiling water. Leave the tea to steep for five minutes or longer, or set the tea pot over medium-low heat and bring the tea to a simmer. Remove from the heat, and allow to steep several minutes more.
4. Gently stir the tea, pour into small tea glasses and serve.

From: http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/teacoffeebeverages/r/Mint_Tea_Recipe.htm

Cranberry Sauce

It's interesting that this year Cindy, Barbara and I all made cranberry sauce rather than buying the cans. Somehow there is a feeling of accomplishment or beating the system to make it from scratch.   Just like pecan pie, it's something to make the night before or early in the day so there is time to get cold.

I prefer the whole berry kind of sauce, and I like to taste the cranberries, rather than tasting apples, or oranges or anything else.  Given that, I can't remember why I added blueberries this year.  Make the sauce so it didn't get as firm as it did when I only used cranberries.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 1 cup (250 mL) water
• 4 cups (1 12-oz package) fresh or frozen cranberries
• Optional Pecans, orange zest, raisins, currants, blueberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice.

METHOD

1. Wash and pick over cranberries. In a saucepan bring to a boil water and sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add cranberries, return to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes or until cranberries burst.
2. At this point you can add all number of optional ingredients. We typically mix in a half a cup of roughly chopped pecans with or without a few strips of orange zest. You can add a cup of raisins or currants. You can add up to a pint of fresh or frozen blueberries for added sweetness. Spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice can be added too.
3. Remove from heat. Cool completely at room temperature and then chill in refrigerator. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

Cranberry sauce base makes 2 1/4 cups.

From: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/cranberry_sauce/ (but I think it's what is on the back of a bag of cranberries too)

------

Cindy made this recipe, it has less sugar but adds pear to add the sweetness:

Pear-Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients

• 12 ounce(s) fresh cranberries 
• 1 cup(s) water 
• 1/3 cup(s) sugar 
• 2 ripe pears
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) ground cinnamon 
• 1 teaspoon(s) vanilla 

Preparation

1. In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, water, sugar and pears. Cook over medium heat until mixture is boiling, then reduce heat to medium low and continue cooking until berries pop, about 10 minutes. 
2. Remove from heat; stir in cinnamon and vanilla. Refrigerate, covered, until serving time. 

From: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pear-cranberry-sauce-188731/

------

This recipe sounds interesting so I'm pasting it here to remember.

Lani’s Cranberry Sauce with Dates and OJ Recipe 

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
• juice from one orange
• a dozen pitted dates (doesn’t matter what From:, I used a mix of medjool and deglet noor)
• 1/4 + cup water

Preparation

1. soak the dates overnight in the orange juice (you can probably skip this step if in a hurry – if so, maybe cook them a little to soften!)
2. blend the dates with the juice and water
3. put the dates/juice/water in a pot with the cranberries, bring up the heat quickly to get it hot and then and cook over medium/low heat for 15 minutes.
4. There you have it! You may need more or less water, depending on how juicy the orange, dates, and cranberries.

From: http://www.lanimuelrath.com/recipes/sugar-free-cranberry-sauce-with-dates-and-orange-juice/

Spaghetti With Sweet Potatoes and Ricotta

This year we made with the non-gluton noodles Alex brought.  We had four over - but had more than half left over!

Serves 4

Hands-On Time: 25m

Total Time: 25m

Ingredients

• 12  ounces  spaghetti (3/4 box)
• 2  tablespoons  olive oil
• 2  small yams, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 small sweet potato, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• seasoned black pepper
• 1/2 red onion sliced
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/4  cup  grated Parmesan (1 ounce)
• 1/3 - 1  cup  ricotta

Directions

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.

3. Add the potatoes, seasoned black pepper. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

4. Add the onion and rosemary. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, 3 to 5 minutes.

5. Toss the pasta with the potato mixture, Parmesan, ricotta to taste and reserved cooking water. 

Tip

This creamy dish is also great with butternut squash in place of the sweet potato. 

Nutritional Information

Calories 551; Fat 13g; Sat Fat 4g; Cholesterol 16mg; Sodium 566mg; Protein 20g; Carbohydrate 87g; Fiber 7g

Original recipe here:

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/spaghetti-sweet-potatoes-ricotta-recipe-00000000020553/index.html

UPDATE 2015:
Made even quicker variation.
1 bag butternut squash (was frozen) - put in frying pan with a little oil, cook until brown 
1/4 bag eggless noodles - prepare as it says on package
1 red onion - chop and saute until getting color in frying pan
2 small containers cottage cheese
rosemary

Combine the drained noodles, squash, onion, cottage cheese, rosemary and salt and pepper to taste.