Seafood Lasagna



Now that I know how easy it is to make lasagna with the oven - ready, no - boil noodles, I feel like I could eat lasagna once a week!  The lasagna could be like my version of Rachael Ray's burger!  And why not slip in some spinach for the health benefits...and color, too.  When I served up a piece for my husband, he said it tasted like something he'd get from Graffiti's, one of our favorite Italian restaurants here in Little Rock.  That was quite a compliment!  By the way, my 7 year old daughter, Sasha took this picture.  Amazing, huh?  I think she's got some photography skills...

I started the seafood lasagna by sauteeing some shrimp, chopped cod, and crab with spinach in a large sautee pan.  It's amazing how much spinach can wilt from a big bundle down to this!  I added some mascarpone, an Italian cream cheese, to thicken the mixture slightly.

Then in a medium saucepan, I made a bechamel, then melted some tomato and basil feta cheese in it.  The tomato and basil flavor in the feta really gave the dish the delicious taste!

Once again, I used a square pan because our small family wouldn't eat a big rectangular pan of lasagna on our own.  If you wanted, you could double the recipe, make an extra batch in a foil pan, and freeze it.  When it's time to cook it, let it defrost overnight, then cook at the same temperature.

Another great cheese that can really add flavor to lasagna is fontina.  I shredded the soft cheese on a box grater, then added it on top of the 2 seafood layers.  It made the dish super creamy!

Ingredients:

• 9 Oven - ready lasagna noodles
• 6 oz. Package of tomato & basil feta cheese
• 4 oz. Mascarpone (Half of the package)
• 8 oz. Fontina cheese, coarsely grated
• 10 oz. fresh spinach
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 cup of milk, room temp
•  1 small can of crabmeat, undrained
• 1 pound of shrimp, chopped
• 8 oz. cod, chopped
• Canola oil spray

Directions:

1. In a large saute pan, add a light film of canola oil spray.  When hot, add the shrimp, cod, and crabmeat with juices.  Stir fry for a few minutes.  Add the spinach, and stir until wilted.  After a few minutes, add the mascarpone.  Mix well, then remove from heat.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour, whisk a minute or two, then add the milk while whisking.  Continue to stir well, while adding the tomato & basil feta.  Stir over low heat until melted.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray the bottom of a square pan with canola oil.  Layer 3 lasagna noodles, slightly overlapping on the bottom.  Spread a layer of half of the seafood mixture on top of the noodles.  Spread a handful of the shredded fontina on top.  Then, spread a third of the feta cheese sauce on top.
4. Spread 3 more noodles on top.
5. Spread the other half of the seafood, then the fontina, then the feta cheese sauce.
6. Spread 3 more layers down.
7. Top with the remaining feta cheese sauce.  Reserve a handful of the shredded fontina.
8. Cover with aluminum foil, then bake 40 - 50 minutes, until the noodles feel done.
9. Remove from the oven, then sprinkle with the remaining shredded fontina cheese.  Let rest 15 minutes before cutting.  A pizza cutter works great!  Garnish with crushed red pepper and parsley for a pretty presentation.

Oven - Fried Chicken

This way of cooking chicken is a great way to fill that craving for fried chicken without all the added oil, fat, and calories.  The outcome is tender, moist chicken with a crisp outer crust and lots of flavor.  I've been making this quite a bit lately.  It's just so good, and soooo easy!  Now, check out my new electric salt mill...I mean, Jereme's.  It was the perfect gift for his birthday!  The salt and pepper mills have a little light shining down on your food as you push a button and your spices are ground with very little effort.  For men who love to cook, it's the ultimate power tool in the kitchen!

The chicken is soaked in buttermilk for 30 minutes, or up to 8 hours, whatever you have time for.  I found on the Eating Well web site that if you don't have buttermilk, you can substitute one cup of regular milk and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to "sour" the milk.  That's exactly what I did, and I loved it!  For the coating, I used crispy Panko breadcrumbs.  I never use any other kind because these are so light and airy with a nice crunch.

Ingredients:

• 6 Chicken legs or boneless, skinless thighs
• 1 cup of Panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup of parmesan, optional
• Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 tablespoon of vinegar
• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon of Louisian hot sauce
• Canola oil spray

Directions:

1. Pour one cup of milk into a measuring cup.  Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar with the mustard, hot sauce, and garlic.  Mix well.
2. Place the chicken into a large sealable bag.  Add the milk mixture.  Marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes or up to 8 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
4. Place the Panko into a small dredging dish.  Add the parmesan, then the seasonings to taste.
5. Prepare a pan by lining it with aluminum foil or parchment paper.  Place a rack on top of it, then spray the rack with oil.
6. Dredge the chicken in the panko mixture, coating it well.  Place on top of the rack.  Spray the chicken with a light film of canola oil.
7. Cook 40 - 50 minutes or until done.

(Tip:  If you have leftovers, just wrap in foil.  To reheat the next day, place the chicken onto a pizza crisper pan that has holes in it, then convection roast it at 425 degrees for 6 minutes.  The outside is perfectly crispy again, and the inside is warmed again all the way through.)

No - Ricotta Lasagna

My husband is not a fan of ricotta or cottage cheese, so over the years, I've had to figure out how to make lasagna without it.  Luckily we have the Internet.  So I've spent the last week researching online recipes, browsing cookbooks and magazines at Barnes & Noble, and asking other foodie friends how they make their lasagna.

What it came down to was just using what I had in the fridge.  Fresh cherry tomato sized mozzarella, quartered.  It melted perfectly.  In most of the recipes that I researched that didn't use ricotta, they made a bechamel.  Which I wasn't in the mood to do.  I didn't even want to boil the noodles.  I just wanted to layer some stuff, put it in the oven, and eat it.  It was that kind of a day.

I also didn't want a huge pan of the stuff.  It was just for 4 of us, so I only made a square pan rather than the rectangular pan.  The no boil noodles that I found are just the right size for a smaller lasagna.

Well, I did have to brown the Italian sausage, but that was only one other pan that I had to get dirty.  I try not to cook with onions because little Gianna does not like them.  I tried to explain to her that onions give everything flavor!  But she spends half her time picking them out, so that doesn't seem like an enjoyable meal to me.  I find that using flavorful ingredients like Italian sausage really adds good flavor to dishes in place of onions.

One of the magazines that I read said to be sure and cover the top noodle with plenty of sauce so that it doesn't harden.  What is up with some of those lasagna dishes where you have an inedible, hard top layer anyway?  Well, I didn't have that hard top layer, and my friend Kristi loved it, so I guess this lasagna dish turned out okay anyway.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of Italian sausage
• 12 oz. fresh mozzarella, chopped
• 1 Jar of spaghetti sauce
• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella
• 1 cup of grated asiago cheese
• 1 package of no - boil, oven ready lasagna noodles
• Parsley flakes for garnishing

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, brown the Italian sausage, about 5 - 7 minutes.  Then, add the jar of spaghetti sauce, and simmer over low heat.
2. Meanwhile, spray the bottom of a square baking pan with canola oil.
3. Layer 3 lasagna noodles on the bottom, overlapping the noodles a little.
4. Remove the meat sauce from heat.  Spoon a layer on top of the noodles.
5. Spread half of the fresh mozzarella on top.  Layer half of the shredded mozarella on top.
6. Lay 3 more noodles on top, then the meat sauce, and the rest of the fresh and shredded mozarella.  Leave just a little bit of sauce for the top.
7. Layer 3 more noodles on top.  Spread the rest of the sauce over all the noodles, just a thin layer.
8. Cover with aluminum foil, and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.
9. Remove the foil, and top with the grated asiago cheese.  Let rest for 15 minutes before cutting.  Garnish with parsley flakes.

Chicken & Bowtie Pasta with Broccolini

Back in the day, in my early twenties, I spent a lot of time as a server at Romano's Macaroni Grill.  There was a 2 week schedule that went out, and on it I was scheduled to work 14 doubles.  That's a lunch shift and dinner shift everyday for 2 weeks straight.  I was saving up money to visit my honey at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. 

One of the best dishes at the time was called Farfalle con Pollo al Sugo Bianco.  I think it translates into Bowtie Pasta with Chicken and White Sauce.  This is not the recipe for that dish.  I think that dish may have 70 grams of fat in it.  I may be wrong!  But this is a close replica of the nostalgic dish that reminds me of so many great memories and great friends from back in the day. 

I wanted to add something green to the dish, just because I'm trying to eat healthy.  I used broccolini, which is also labled as baby broccoli in some stores.  At the Kroger Marketplace by my house, that's what they called it.

This dish is wonderfully flavored in several delicious layers.  Prosciutto, red onions, and green onions serve as the base to give the dish umami.  The Mac Grill dish used grilled chicken breast strips, but I use diced skinless, boneless chicken thighs because it's what I prefer as far as flavor and cost goes.  Also in a comparison of saturated fats between organic, free - range chicken versus regular chicken, the organic version had 1 gram less and didn't cost that much more.

Then I used mascarpone cheese, another staple from the Romano's Macaroni Grill days.  The restaurant uses it in their tiramisu, but you can also use the cheese in savory dishes as well.  You can find the cheese in the specialty cheese department.  I loved the turnout!

Ingredients:

•  1 cup of dry farfalle, (bowtie pasta) prepared per package directions, al dente
• 1 pound of organic boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced in chunks
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 3 green onions, diced
• 1/2 cup of diced prosciutto
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 4 oz. mascarpone cheese
• 1 bunch baby broccoli or broccolini
• 1 small can of sliced mushrooms, drained
• crushed red pepper flakes, optional

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat.  When hot, add the red and green onions with the prosciutto.  Stir.
2. Add the chicken and stir the mixture 4 - 5 minutes.  Add the white wine, stir for 2 minutes, then cover the pan with a lid for 3 minutes.
3. Cut the stems of the broccolini into small bite - sized pieces.  Leave the heads whole. 
4. Add broccolini to the pan, then add the mushrooms and mascarpone cheese.  Stir the mixture to coat everything with the cheese. 
5. Serve garnished with red pepper flakes and grated asiago cheese.

Crispy Noodles

My husband's favorite dish to order in a Chinese restaurant is called Crispy Noodle..  You can usually choose from beef, chicken, shrimp, or combo.  Then it arrives at your table with the usual assortment of Asian stir fry veggies, including bamboo shoots, snow peas, mushrooms, onion, and broccoli.  And it's all covered in a light brown sauce.

You can choose from just about any kind of noodle to prepare this dish.  But I chose to use the wonton noodle that you can find in the refrigerated section of Sam's Oriental.  I love this fresh noodle because it cooks in 45 seconds, it has .5 grams of saturated fat per 4oz. serving, and 17 grams of protein with 2 grams of fiber.  Now compare that to a package of just about any brand of Ramen noodle.  One block contains 7 grams of saturated fat, 1600 grams of sodium, and enough MSG that it's listed on the first line of the ingredients in the soup base.  Another interesting factoid about these noodles:  they are made with Potassium Carbonate and Sodium Carbonate.  Also known as:  Alkaline noodles, as made by David Chang of the Momofuku restaurant group, including Noodle Bar, famous for ramen noodles.  If you've read his book, you know that he calls his ramen noodles Alkaline Noodles.  So we're not too far off from ramen noodles, are we?  I now, enough with my obsession with the Momofuku restuarant group!

After all that talk about limited saturated fats in these noodles, I just go and fry them in peanut oil anyway.  Not sure how much I added back in.  If I used 2 tablespoons, does that mean I only added back in 4 grams of saturated fat?  That might not be too bad!  This crunchy noodle base topped with crisp - tender sauteed veggies and the light brown sauce is so worth the occasional splurge!  

Ingredients:

• 1 Bundle of wonton noodles (package contains about 5)
• 1 8 oz. flat iron steak
• 8 oz. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 medium white onion, sliced
• 1 bag of stir fry veggies (snow peas, broccoli, and carrots from the produce section)
• 1 small can of mushroms
• 1 small can of bamboo shoots
• 1 pouch of instant brown gravy
• 2 tbsp organic tamari
• Black pepper, to taste, about 1 tsp
• Garlic powder, to taste, about 1 tbsp
• 1 tbsp Turbinado sugar
• Peanut oil
• Sesame oil, optional

Directions:

1.      Slice the steak into strips by cutting across the grain. Marinate in the tamari, black pepper, sugar, and garlic powder. Place in the refrigerator about 2 hours.

2.      Cook the noodles per package instructions, about 45 seconds, then drain. Add sesame oil if desired.

3.      In a large saucepan, heat the peanut oil over medium high heat.

4.      Add the onion and cook about 5 minutes.

5.      Add the stir fry veggies. Toss to cook.

6.      Prepare the packaged gravy by adding water and wisking, per package instructions.

7.      Add the beef to the stir fry veggies. Remove some of the ingredients if needed to make room in the pan. Cook until the beef is medium.  Add mushrooms and bamboo shoots.

8.      Add the shrimp and continue to cook about 5 minutes until done.

9.      In a separate pan, add about 2 tbsp peanut oil and heat about 5 minutes until hot.

10.  Add a bundle of noodles, separating to make a thin layer around the pan.

11.  Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Flip over and cook an additional 5 minutes until crisp.

12.  Plate the crispy noodles, top with the stir fry mixture, then add the gravy on top.

Prosciutto - Wrapped Asparagus

Asparagus is high in folic acid, which provides a myriad of benefits when consumed.  So we should all be eating lots of it all the time.  Prosciutto is also one of my favorite things to eat, so put them together and you have delicious art.  On a scale of like it or love it, Gianna said that she loved it.

Pardon my brevity as I am trying to sell my house, get ready for school to start, and find some down time for myself.  More extensive posts to follow, I'm sure...

Ingredients:

• 1 Bunch of asparagus
• 8 oz. Prosciutto, thinly sliced
• Canola oil spray

Directions:

1. Wash and trim the asparagus, breaking the ends off at the snapping point.
2. Dry between 2 paper towels.
3. Wrap the slices of prosciutto around each stem.  You'll use anywhere from half a slice to an entire slice.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a pan with aluminum foil.  Lay each stem on top, drizzle with  canola oil spray, and cook for 10 minutes.

Opo Squash Soup

All of the Asian markets in Little Rock have this squash.  It's amazing how delicious one or two of these inexpensive things can be when combined with some flavorful broth and a little bit of protein.  My mom made this kind of soup for me as I was growing up, so it makes me happy that Gianna loves it too.  Now my parents are growing the squash, and it's great to get to eat homegrown veggies!

Pretty, huh?  We've always called this melon soup because we thought it resembled a melon.  In the Asian stores, things are often not labeled, you see.  But I did some Googling, and I found that it's called opo squash.  Sometimes an Asian market may carry some fuzzy squash, and the outcome when cooked the same is the same.  But getting opo squash without the fuzzy outside is better to me.

You can slice it pretty thinly.  Once it's cooked, it's just a translucent vegetable that soaks up all the flavors around it while disintegrating in your mouth.  The onions, garlic, and pork give the broth all the flavor that's needed, with a little bit more seasoning to keep it from being bland.

This is my favorite thing to do.  I love to capture the beauty of food.  I went home to Nashville to see my parents, and my mom was cutting up fresh herbs.  My sister - in - law Carla came in and said, "Don't you just love the smell of fresh herbs?"  I told her that I was just thinking the same thing!  Fresh herbs can penetrate your thoughts and give you a moment to enjoy, be happy.  Especially fresh cut green onions and cilantro.  Having those ingredients for this soup is essential.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium - sized opo squash, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, then sliced thinly
• 1 bunch green onions, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• handful of cilantro
• 1 lb. ground pork
• 8 oz. shrimp, peeled, deveined
• 6 cups water
• fish sauce, to taste
• 1 tbsp canola oil

Directions:

1. Heat a light film of oil in a medium stockpot until hot, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the diced green onions.  Add garlic.
3. Stir fry until fragrant, then add the pork.  Don't burn the garlic!
4. Brown the pork, then add the water.  Bring up to a boil.
5. Cover, reduce heat, and cook the pork 15 minutes.  Bring back up to a boil, then add the sliced squash. 
6. Once the water is back up to a boil, reduce heat, and cover for about 15 more minutes.
7. Add the shrimp and cook, uncovered, until the shrimp are done, about 3 minutes.  Garnish with additional chopped green onions and cilantro.  Season with fish sauce to taste.

Scoop up a big spoonful of the squash with some ground pork, shrimp, and fresh herbs.  Add salt and pepper if needed.  And yum, what a simple dish!  Even great in the summer time.