Squash, Mac & Cheese

While not regularly featured in my cooking, this is recipe I really like to make when I'm in the mood to add in veggies I don't usually use. Now, you can't go into this expecting macaroni and cheese as you know it. You gotta be open minded, and know that this will taste much more like veggies than cheese, but that's OK. It's good. Seriously.

The original recipe by Ellie Krieger is a bit more involved, only in that it asks for a few more ingredients which I usually don't have on hand. The following is what I tend to do on those days when I decide to buy frozen squash but nothing else from the original recipe, knowing full well that I can still make something tasty that was inspired by it. I like it because it allows me to eat a veggie I wouldn't usually eat, while reminding me a bit of that once-a-year indulgence, mac n cheese. Plus, the way I make it has that "little bit of this, little bit of that" attitude I enjoy in cooking.

Squash Mac & Cheese

Inspired by Ellie Krieger's Recipe

Ingredients

1 package of frozen squash

1 cup skim milk

2-3 cups pasta, depending on how much you have and how saucy you want it

a hefty handful of grated cheese (I used meunster today)

salt, to taste

ground cayenne pepper, to taste

a few bread sticks to stand in for breadcrumbs

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. Boil pasta for 5-8 minutes so that they are cooked but still sturdy (they'll be going into the oven and you don't want them to fall apart)

3. In a saucepan combine frozen squash and milk and cook over low heat until defrosted. Once it's broken down, increase heat to medium until almost a simmer, then remove from heat.

4. Add cheese, salt and cayenne.

5. Add your drained pasta to the squash mix, then place in a greased pan (today I used a glass bread loaf pan, but something flatter/wider would work even better).

6. Top with crushed bread sticks for a crunchy finish before placing in the oven to bake for about 30 minutes, plus 3 minutes under the broiler.

'Tilde's Lasagna

My absolute favorite lasagna. Ever. Since before I was born.

When my Ma was pregnant with me she regularly met with a nutritionist who advised her on how to keep herself and the Caro-to-be healthy. This is the lasagna she taught my mom to make, the one she ate whilst I was a bun in the oven, and the one I have loved ever since. 

Now, don't expect this to be traditional in any way. Instead of tomato sauce, tomato soup forms the sweet base for the ground beef (or, in my update, sometimes turkey) filling, and instead of Mozzarella and ricotta, we've got Swiss or Provolone and --get this-- cottage cheese! If you keep your cheeses low-fat and go for lean meat (or sub in veggies) this is lasagna might even fall on the "healthy" side. That being said, I know Sandra Lee (my favorite and yours!) has gotten quite a bit of bad press about her own cottage cheese & soup recipe... and I'm not a fan of things semi-homemade.... Still, I'm telling you, I will eat this lasagna for days and days, straight from the fridge and cold, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

And that's why I make this once or twice a year.

Oh, and one more thing: I recently served this to a couple of picky eaters whose Mama said they don't eat cottage or Swiss cheese. Well, they do now :)  

'Tilde's Lasagna

Ingredients

1 box dry lasagna (you'll need about 13 pieces)

2- 8 oz cans Campbell's Tomato Soup

32 oz tub of low-fat cottage cheese

1- 2 packages of sliced, low-fat Swiss or Provolone cheese

1 lb ground beef or turkey

1 onion, diced

1/2 Tablespoon salt

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

about 1 teaspoon of oregano

grated Parmesan cheese 

Directions

1. Season your meat: In a medium bowl, combine ground meat, diced onion, salt, garlic powder, and oregano. You can mix it up with a spoon, but if you're like me, you're gonna want to get down in there with your hands and squish it all together. Just to make sure you get the seasoning on everything, you know? Set in the fridge for 15 minutes to let the spices do their thing a bit.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil for your lasagna. You'll need 13 pieces, but I often cook 15 in case any break or tear as they move from the pot to the baking pan. When it finally does boil, add your pasta and cook for 8 minutes. Once cooked, drain and shower with cold water to cool.

3. In a large pot, heat a little bit of cooking oil on medium heat and add your meat. Cook until just brown, and add the two cans of soup plus two cans of water (just fill each can with water, stir around to get any leftover soup, and pour into the pot). Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally to break up the meat. Lower heat to a simmer and allow the sauce to thicken over 45 minutes. Once thickened, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

4. Now you're ready to assemble the lasagna! Lightly grease your 9x11 pan and lay down 4 strips of cooked lasagna, making sure the edges touch. Next, spoon some cottage cheese over each other strips to form a thin layer -- don't worry if you have gaps, just use enough such that it will last you for four layers. Next, ladle your meat sauce onto each lasagna strip. Lastly, take 1-2 slices of cheese, and tear them up and toss them on top of your lasagna -- they'll melt in the oven, so space them out and don't worry about covering every inch. Place three strips of lasagna atop the cheese and repeat the instructions in this step until you've used up your pasta. When you get to the top, generously sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the delicious aroma of lasagna fills your home and you just can't help yourself anymore.

Ania's Fresh Tomato & Spinach Pasta Sauce

Handwritten notes are still irreplaceable in my book.

Recently, I've made a real effort to throw away a lot of the junk I've accumulated over the past few years. It's amazing to me how despite several moves -- from dorm to dorm in college, from Ma's apartment to my own places, I've somehow failed to detach myself from the clutter I've accumulated.
Until now. Now, don't get wrong, I was by no means a hoarder. Still, I had a few papers too many, and perhaps just a small excess of unnecessary mementos lying around. The great news is, for some reason, something just clicked for me in the past year and a half and I realized, as corny as it may sound, that I don't need to hold onto objects as if they formed some kind of security blanket.

My home no longer resides in things, but in people.

This doesn't mean I'm ready to start living out of a single suitcase; it's just gotten a lot easier for me to distinguish the trash from the treasures.

Pictured above and transcribed below is one such gem I discovered in a recent purge of my room. A few times during senior year, Ania made this simple yet incredibly tasty pasta dish which perfectly incorporated two of my favorite farmer's market staples: spinach and tomatoes. As always, she was generous enough to share both the dish and the recipe. Just like my aunt's flan recipe, this sheet of paper managed survived three moves, and that's a bit of a wonder to me, which is why I thought it high time to save here :)

Thanks again, Ania!  

Fresh Tomato and Spinach Pasta Sauce
- 1 lb fresh tomatoes, diced
- 10 ounces fresh spinach, washed & chopped
- 3 glove cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
- 1 TB olive oil

1. Oil a frying pan & place over medium heat.
2. Add onions & garlic & stir until they begin to soften. Stir in spinach & cook until it begins to wilt.
3. Add tomatoes, basil [Caronote: hey! that's not in the ingredients! :)], salt & pepper & cook for several minutes, until tomatoes are heated through.
4. Serve over pasta.

Antoinette's Peanut Buttery Chicken with Pasta

Not only did Antoinette teach me that ketchup is a suitable marinade for chicken; it appears peanut butter and soy sauce make a delicious and quick sauce for pasta. I make this at least once a month, and it's one of those recipes you can throw anything on hand into and it'll be just as good.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1/2 bag of frozen veggies

2 cups spaghetti or any pasta you like

1 Tablespoon peanut butter

1/4 cup soy sauce (or less, you only need it for a little taste)

Juice of 1 lime 

Directions

1. In a small bowl, marinade chicken using whatever spices you like (I always go for salt, pepper, garlic powder and a pinch of oregano).

2. Meanwhile, cook your pasta as usual.

3. Also, meanwhile, thaw the veggies in the microwave.

4. In a separate bowl, mix together the soy sauce, lime juice, and peanut butter until well blended. 

5. In a large saute pan/ casserole pan, cook the chicken until completely cooked through. Add drained pasta, veggies, and peanut butter sauce on low heat until everything's covered.

Pretty easy, huh? :)

Γαρίδες Γιουβέτσι (Garides Giouvetsi -- Shrimp Orzo)

As anyone who's ever lived within earshot of me knows, I am an avid listener and frequent singer of Greek music. You give me a track that's heavy on bouzouki and features a mellifluous, Greek voice drenched in emotion, and I guarantee I'll be singing along in minutes, even if I'm not quite sure what's being said. Maybe it's the way the vowels, the r's and the d's sound so much like those in Spanish, or maybe it's the way music absolutely has a way of transcending national borders. Whatever the reason, the way I see it, if you want to know about passion (in terms of both pleasure and pain) just listen to the likes of Giorgos Dalaras and Glykeria for a lasting dose. If they don't set your soul ablaze, your heart may just be made of stone.

I'm just saying... you might want to get yourself checked out* ;)

Enter my love of Greek cuisine. I'll save my verbal musings for another day, but for now, let it suffice to say that I was literally jumping for joy on my last birthday when 'Chefski surprised me with the most mouth-watering feast from a Greek deli whose food I'd been dying to taste. 

That meal inspired this culinary adventure. From what I've researched, Γιουβέτσι, a.k.a. Giouvetsi (pronounced yoo-VET-see), is a classic Greek casserole that involves tomato sauce, orzo, and whatever protein you like. This one stars shrimp, though I definitely want to try chicken and lamb versions down the line :)

*My eternal thanks go to my dear  Dr./Dr.-in-training SZ for showing me the light. 

Γαρίδες Γιουβέτσι ~ Shrimp Casserole

Adapted from a recipe on this cool Greek-cuisine website Kalofagas  

Serves: 4

Ingredients

2 cups of shrimp raw shrimp with shells (preferably deveined, but if not you can do that pretty easily)

4 cups water

1/8-1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I used closer to 1/8 and that was enough)

1 small red onion, thinly sliced (original recipe calls for 6 scallions, which I'll consider using next time)

1/2 green bell pepper, diced
(and if you have them: 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, 1/4 cup grated carrot, 1/4 red bell pepper)
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup orzo

pinch of red pepper flakes

pinch of oregano

dash of dill

salt and pepper to taste 

Directions

1. Peel the shells off your shrimp and collect in a bowl. Why? You're gonna make shrimp stock for your orzo! This is also the point at which I take the tails off the shrimp, because for me there's little worse than being bothered with shrimp-tails when I'm just trying to eat.

2. If your shrimp aren't deveined, make sure to do so now. Check out this video for tips on how. Rinse and drain your shell-free shrimp, place in a separate bowl and keep in the fridge til it's time to cook them.

3. Place the shells and a pinch of salt in a pot with 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Let simmer for about 20 minutes. Your liquid will reduce by about 1/4. 

4. In a large skillet (I used my favorite stainless steel casserole pan), heat your olive oil over medium heat and saute your diced pepper, garlic, and sliced onions for about 5 minutes, adding a pinch of salt to help the vegetables sweat. 

5. Add the tomato paste to the vegetables and stir a bit to coat them well.

6. Add the dry orzo. Toss around to toast the pasta a bit and coat with the tomato paste.

7. Strain your shrimp stock and discard the shells. Add the stock to your orzo, bring to a boil, and continue to stir occasionally. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 F.

8. Adjust seasoning by adding salt and pepper and the pinch of red pepper flakes. 

9. Since I've used this casserole pan both on stove-top and in the oven before, I felt comfortable placing it directly in the oven for this step. However, you can also place the orzo in any oven-safe dish at this point. You should have about an inch of liquid above the orzo, and if not, just add some water and adjust the seasoning. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, and while this is going on, take your shrimp out of the fridge and allow to come to room temperature. 

10. After 30 minutes have elapsed, add the oregano and dill, stir, then place your shrimp atop the bed of orzo, and bake for an additional 5 minutes, until the shrimp are orange and have formed a C-shape (this is a tip courtesy of Kalofagas... apparently, if your shrimp have formed an O-shape, you've overcooked them). Enjoy the fruits of your labor (and these fruits de mer, fruits of the sea).

Pesto Pasta

After making (and tasting!) that pizza a few weeks ago I've gotten to thinking about what other toppings I could use, including a different sauce. Green so happens to be my favorite color, so I immediately though "Pesto!"

Now, you'd think you could find a straight-forward pesto recipe online, but there are so many small variations that I decided to maintain this spirit of experimenting and kind of combined two recipes I saw online. The only thing I'd change for next time is maybe use a little less EVOO, though the outcome was more delicious than I expected anyway.

** Pine Nut Warning: It turns out sometimes consumption of pine nuts can result in a bitter/metallic aftertaste that can last for several days after the fact. Some say this can happen if the pine nuts have gone bad, others only if the pine nuts are raw... either way 'Chefski had to deal with these consequences after enjoying a hefty handful. He still insists that the pesto was delicious, though next time we'll use walnuts instead.

Pesto Pasta

Adapted from Annie's Eats, and Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients

1/4 cup pine nuts

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup fresh basil

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Heat a small skillet over medium heat and toast pine nuts for a few minutes until golden, maybe 2-4 minutes. Toss them in the blender to wait for the rest of their pesto-mates.

2. Using a little oil or non-stick spray, sautee the garlic for a few minutes until fragrant. When you've cooked them about 1-2 minutes, toss those in the blender too.

3. Add basil, olive oil, salt, and grated Parmesan cheese and blend! 

4. If you've made some pasta, just pour the pesto atop it and mix well to incorporate. If you want to save pesto for later, you can freeze it in an ice cube tray, then transfer the pesto cubes to a plastic bag and just grab one or two as you need them, when you need them.