Category Archives: Signature Dishes

The dishes I love to cook and eat

Get your Omega-3 with this amazing Pasta dish

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Here in Italy it’s very common to use canned Tuna, it usually is in Olive Oil it renders the tuna more tasty and tender. You can always find either a salad or pasta dish with tuna. It’s quite delicious and healthy. This is a recipe that I developed a while back, I think I was about 18 I lived alone and I used to make it especially in the summer because it was light and easy to make. My friends would come over and we used to sit around and eat this and then get on with our day. They used to say that they loved this dish just as much as I did.

Everyone here in Italy has a version of this dish and they make it however they like, some add tomato sauce, some forfeit the olives, some add capers, and some just get the can and throw it on top of the cooked pasta without anything else; so as you can see it’s really optional and you can do however you like. I like it this version but in general I think that this dish is a fantastic way to eat something nutritional and light. Omega-3’s are very important in our diet and this is a simple way of getting them. I hope that you enjoy this dish and remember let’s be creative. I love spicy foods, so as you’ve probably noticed just about now there is always something spicy in my dishes, feel free to leave that out, it will taste just as good…that is one thing that I can’t seem to give up: my capsaicin. I love it!

Enjoy

 

Serves 2 – 3

Ingredients:

250 gr. Mezzemaniche*

2 cans Light Tuna (in Olive oil if possible), drained

6 Cherry tomatoes

5-6 Black olives (sliced)

½ Garlic clove

Chilies (optional)

Handful Parsley (chopped)

Olive oil

Salt to taste

 

Place a medium-sized pot of salted water to boil.

In a separate small pot put some water to boil, toss in your cherry tomatoes and allow to boil for about 2-3 minutes, just enough to get the sherry tomato skin off, drain and start to peel. Place on a cutting board and slice in half, over your kitchen sink squirt out the seeds and place the tomatoes aside.

In a pan over medium heat pour in some olive oil, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan, put your garlic (do not slice, you just want the aroma); allow 2 minutes to go by and join the tomatoes, allow to simmer for about 5 minutes and then add the rest of your ingredients, tuna, olives, chilies, parsley and salt; allow to cook at low heat for about another 5 minutes and then turn off heat and allow to rest.

In the meantime your pot of water should be boiling, throw in your pasta and cook for the time mentioned on the box generally 9 -11 minutes, drain and join with your tuna sauce, mix well and serve.

* I like Mezzemaniche, they are larger than Ditalini but you can use any pasta you like.

 

Healthy Eating: How I spent my Valentines day!

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Sorry I didn’t post anything yesterday but I was kept busy doing some special things for my Husband.
This is the first Valentine’s Day in Italy and also the very first we weren’t able to celebrate with a little wine or bubbly (or should I say I couldn’t drink)…. I take my responsibilities seriously and “the little Buddha” growing inside my belly was far more important than drinking, (although I really would’ve enjoyed it).

My Husband has been asking for pancakes for a few weeks now and I finally decided that when Valentine’s day came along I would wake up and make some pancakes for him, I am trying to still eat healthy throughout this pregnancy so  decided that I would go ahead and make healthy whole wheat pancakes. I did some research online of course to make sure that I had the right ingredients and also to see what recipes stuck out to me, I have to say that not one in particular did stick out to me, some called for buttermilk, others called for butter, some had a mixture of regular white flour and whole wheat flour so I decided that I would make them my way. They came out delicious and fluffy, that was my biggest fear being that they would be whole wheat I was afraid of them being heavy and not so exciting to eat. Well they came out fantastic….and the cappuccino along side was perfect!

You’ll need:

1 2/3 cup Whole-wheat flour

2 tbsp. Sugar

1 1/2 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. Salt

2 Eggs, separated

2 cups Lactose free low-fat Milk

In a bowl large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl beat your egg whites with a mixer or whisk until stiff peaks. In a separate bowl beat milk, yolks and vanilla until foamy.

Add milk mixture to the flour and stir, (it’s ok if a little lumpy) fold in your egg whites and stir until evenly colored. Heat your griddle or pan and add very little vegetable oil to the bottom and distribute evenly with a paper towel, once the pan is hot pour in your batter. Allow top of pancake to bubble and then flip and cook for another 2 minutes.You may serve with whatever you like. We served ours with strawberries and maple syrup. Enjoy.

After a delicious and healthy breakfast we both went off to run errands, work ..the usual. For dinner we decided that we would cook together so we started. My husband has been getting more and more into cooking as the years go by and likes to help out whenever he can and possibly learn a couple of things, which I am happy about because it’s nice to be cooked for once in a while. We both decided that we wanted a light and fish based meal, it ended up being 3 courses but extremely fast and easy. For the “antipasto” (starter) we decided to have “Gamberi con rucola e grana” which is very common to eat here and simple; it translates “Shrimp with arugola / rocquet and parmigiano”.

                                   

You’ll need:

200 gr. Peeled and deveined Shrimp

1 handful Arugola / Rocquet

A few Parmigiano flakes

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Boil your shrimp. In the meantime wash your arugola/rocquet and set aside. Grab your Parmigiano and make your flakes with a knife (just enough to put on top of dish). Drain your shrimp (remember shrimp cook fast, once they turn pink they are pretty much ready).

Lay arugola/rocquet at bottom of plate, add your shrimp and drizzle 1 tbsp. of olive oil and salt to taste. Now you may add your flakes of Parmigiano and enjoy! If you like you may drizzle a bit of Balsamic vinegar over top.

For the “primo piatto” which means “first course”, we had “Ravioli a forma di Cuore, riepieni di Ricotta e Spinaci, in salsa di Asparagi e Salvia” handmade (bought though) heart-shaped ravioli filled with ricotta and spinach, with an asparagus and sage sauce.

                           

You’ll need:

250 gr. Ravioli filled with Spinach and ricotta

1 cup of sliced Asparagus stems

1 – 2 sprigs fresh Sage

3 tbsp. Olive oil

1/2 tsp. Margarine

a few of Parmigiano Reggiano flakes

Red pepper flakes (optional)

Salt to taste

Put a pot of salted water to boil. Meanwhile grab your asparagus, chop the stems off and then slice them into 1/4 inch thick. In a medium saucepan place the olive oil, once heated add your asparagus and allow to cook at medium flame for about 5 minutes, now lower heat and add your sage leaves, red pepper flakes and salt and allow to cook for another 5 – 8 minutes. At this point your water should be boiling so throw in your ravioli and allow to cook for the time indicated on the package. Drain, and put in the saucepan with the asparagus add your margarine and mix until everything is fully coated. Begin to plate, add your parmigiano flakes and Enjoy.

Then for the “secondo piatto”; our “second course” we chose to have some “Spiedini di Gamberi e Calamari con Asparagi alla griglia” which translates into “Shrimp and Calamari Skewers with grilled Asparagus”. It turned out wonderfully and a great end to the feast.

                     

You’ll need:

10 Asparagus

1/4 lb Shrimp, peeled and deveined

4 Calamari, cut in 1/2 and ready to be skewered

Olive oil

Red pepper flakes (optional)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 lemon, quartered

Turn on your grill to medium and allow to heat (I used my stove top grill because it’s snowing outside).

Steam your asparagus for about 5 minutes, set aside. Grab a medium bowl and throw in your shrimp and calamari, pour a little olive oil on top, add red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, mix it altogether and start to skewer, some shrimp, a calamaro, some shrimp; on to the next. Once you are finished you may bring over to the grill and allow to cook, about 5 minutes on one side and then flip; don’t overcook. Always remember that once the shrimp turns pink on both sides it’s cooked. Add your asparagus as well and allow same cooking time as skewers and then flip. Once your done plate, drizzle some olive oil over your asparagus and ad salt as well. Squeeze lemon over the skewers and enjoy this dish as well.

I hope that you guys have enjoyed the recipes. I know this looks like a lot, but it wasn’t; it was simple and we really enjoyed cooking and eating what we had made together, it was a nice experience and my husband was a wonderful help. We topped it off with a Chocolate “Bacio” and Tiramisu (but this recipe is to still to come).

We ended up watching Casablanca because neither of us had ever watched it and it was a nice stay at home, just us night. We figured that this is the last Valentine’s that we were going to have our house all to ourselves before the “little Buddha” comes and we wanted to enjoy it to the fullest…..and of course the fact that I just felt too lazy to go out in the cold weather with this belly and all. But it was nice to know that after being married for 7/12 years we can still enjoy each others company without having to necessarily go out, and without wine.

I willl say goodbye with this; This is what my Chocolate Bacio read last night:

P.s. I am about 23 and 1/2 weeks pregnant, sorry about the cleavage.

Try this: Delicious Tagliatelle ai Funghi (Tagliatelle with Mushrooms)

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If you’ve been following my blog you know how much I love to eat healthy and when it’s vegetarian it’s all the better. I think that sometimes we do get the misconception that if it’s healthy it’s probably not quite as good or that it’s not going to curb that craving we are having at the moment for something not too healthy. Well, I can assure you that it is possible to have a delicious and healthy meal all at the same time!

As you already know I love mushrooms, they do have a reputation of being slimy, or too mushy; however the truth is that they aren’t. The mistake alot of us make when cleaning mushrooms is washing them. However, we are not supposed to wash mushrooms, (and please never, never soak fresh mushrooms) the way we are supposed to clean a mushroom is with a damp cloth, you should gently wipe away any dirt, and in the hard to reach places grab your marinade brush (make sure it’s dry) and gently brush away any excess dirt; voilà you have a clean and ready to cook mushroom. Mushrooms are very porous and moist already, so if you wash them they will absorb all the water and when cooked release all the liquid which in turn make it very soggy, cleaning it the right way will help the mushroom maintain a nice texture and also flavor.

In this recipe I use funghi Pleurotos, it’s a type of mushroom that is quite common here in Italy you can find it all the time at the grocery store. I have not ever seen it in the USA but I would replace it with a Portobello, Porcini or Champignon any mushroom you find should be fine. This is an easy and healthy dish, very few ingredients and time are required, but you’ll look like a million dollar chef. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

250 gr. Tagliatelle*

8 oz. of Mushrooms**

1 garlic clove

4 tbsp of Extra virgin Olive oil

a handful of chopped Parsley

grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Salt and Pepper to taste

crushed Chili pepper to taste (optional)

Place a pot of salted water to boil. In the meantime start cleaning your mushrooms, once they are clean you can slice into 1/4 inch thickness, if the stems are long remove the stem and slice separately then join together all sliced mushrooms and set aside.

In a medium or large sauce pan heat up your olive oil and join your garlic (whole but peeled). If you are using chili peppers you can throw in now as well. Allow the garlic to get golden and remove, throw in your mushrooms and let sauté at medium heat stirring occasionally (not too much). Also add salt; if you feel the need you may add a drop of water to the pan, so the mushrooms don’t stick.

By now your water should be boiling so throw in the Tagliatelle they should only cook for about 4 minutes (always follow box instructions). Drain the pasta and join to the mushrooms, mix together and turn off heat. Add the chopped parsley and pepper. Serve right away and top off with the Parmigiano Reggiano.

* If you don’t find Tagliatelle, you can use Papardelle, Linguine, or even Spaghetti.

** Whatever fresh mushroom you are able to find of course Porcini or Portobello is best but use what is fresh and available.

 


Low Fat and Low-Calorie: Zuppa alla Contadina (Farmers soup)

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Vegetable soups are very popular here in Italy, it seems that anywhere you go you can order a delicious soup made with farm grown seasonal vegetables, light and just simple flavors cooked together and delicious. I love soups! But I do hate when they are more fattening than eating a piece of fried chicken.

Soups for me are something I choose to eat when I am trying to stay light, detox and stay warm, not for the opposite. Don’t get me wrong there are lots of soups out there that are just over the top and taste great, I don’t know like say chicken and dumplings, potato soup, tomato soup, etc… but one thing they all have in common is how heavy they are and how many calories are in them. I say if you really are craving it and that is all there is to eat then feel free (I’m no one to judge) but I just can’t justify eating it all the time; and for the amount of soups I eat and how I was raised in Italy with all these fresh low cal and delicious soups, the soups mentioned above just don’t even fase me, or exist in this country for that matter.

I am going to say that I have had them a couple of times while in the States and I do like them, but I definitely didn’t eat them if I was trying to be healthy or detox.
All this is to say that there are alternatives to soups not all of them are bad and heavy, they can be light, nutritious and perfect for a cold winter day. I hope that you enjoy this soup and lets all have a light and wonderful day!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup each of mixed dried Legumes, soaked over night (makes sure you have at least 5-7 different ones)*

½ cup Barley

1 Carrot

2 Celery stocks

1 Onion

1 Garlic clove

2 small Potatoes

1 sprig of fresh Thyme

1 sprig of fresh Rosemary

5 leaves of fresh Sage

2-3 Bay leaves

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil + ½ cup Extra Virgin Olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Chop up your celery, carrot, onion, and potato into small cubes. Put a medium pot over medium flame and heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil, add the cubed, celery, carrot, onion and potatoes as well as your garlic clove peeled but still whole. Let cook for about 5 minutes, then throw in your soaked legumes and barley, mix together and add water, you always want to make sure when cooking legumes you add double the water (so if you legumes arrive to 1/4 of the pot add 3/4 water.)

Add bay leaves, salt and pepper and bring to a boil, lower heat and let simmer for 2 – 3 hours.

In the meantime chop up finely your thyme, sage and rosemary. Put 1/2 the cup olive oil over heat in a small pot or pan and add your thyme, sage and rosemary, allow oil to get hot and then turn off heat and let sit.

Once your soup has boiled and the legumes are cooked remove the bay leaves and grab 3 ladles and blend smooth rejoin the blended soup to the pot and mix. You may begin to plate once all are served get the aroma olive oil and drizzle over the bowl of soup and enjoy!

* I used: Adzuki beans, garbanzo beans, pinto beans, black-eyed peas, soy beans, dried split peas, dried lentils.

 

To eat or not to eat? A classic Italian Sunday Lunch

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Sunday is a very big day for families to get together and have lunch. It generally is held at your Grandma’s house or at your Mother’s house, she will more often than not make a 5 course meal where homemade pasta will made, with a delicious Ragù that has cooked for hours accompanied by a nice bottle of red wine; then followed by a vast array of meats and vegetables, cooked and served in various forms, from steamed to fried, boiled to sautéed, with all the in-betweens of bread, prosciutto, salami, cheeses, olives, etc… In other words it’s a day of sitting down around 1pm and getting up around 5pm.

My family is Traditional and we do (most Sundays) meet at my parents house in this cute town about an hour away from where I live with my Husband. The house is a typical old rustic house built somewhere about 80 – 100 years ago on a huge property with an old barn in the back, surrounded by vineyards. It’s perfect for family get-together’s although during the winter due to how old this house is it tends to be fairly cold. We are on the Adriatic coast north of Florence and South of Venice in the region of Emilia-Romagna, you may know the Region as this is where Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, Balsamic Vinegar, Lasagna, Tagliatelle, Ragù a la Bolognese, etc…are from; not to forget also where Ferrari and Lamborghini are manufactured.

We are a large family and we love to eat. Although we do make some large meals, most of the time we try to not make too much food (as most Italians do) on Sundays, we generally pick one dish and then accompany that with veggies, wine (of course), tea, coffee and some sort of dessert. Now that I am pregnant I am lucky enough to be the one that gets the phone call of what my cravings are for Sunday, what would I like to eat and so forth; this will of course lead to the occasional sibling phone call telling me to tell my Mom that I am craving…..whatever they are craving. I can occasionally cave in to that but I also opt out at times, because it is generally something a little more fattening than I would appreciate to eat. I know that I am pregnant but I am still not in that mentality that just because I am pregnant I need to eat constantly and without watching what I eat. Don’t get me wrong I do occasionally indulge (why should I not) but those are on rare occasions, after all I am only going to be pregnant for another 4 months, after that I will have work to go back to my weight and all the eating I do now will be a huge factor of how and if I can do it in a timely manner. Fortunately, I haven’t had crazy, gross cravings so far, but I’ll talk about that another time.

As I mentioned earlier, Tagliatelle is very typical of this area and one of my favorite dishes for a Sunday, not to forget accompanied with Ragù a la Bolognese and the world-famous Parmigiano Reggiano. So, this Sunday that is what my Mom prepared, she made the Ragù the previous day cooked it for hours and it was delicious.

              

Don’t let yourself get distracted by the plastic plates….it doesn’t take anything away from the amazing flavor of the food. I prefer my Mom to use plastic plates, we are about at least 10-12 and that’s on a regular day when not all my siblings, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, nieces, nephews can show up; if we had to use the regular plates and cups I think that it would suck to have to clean up after that, let me remind you that here in Italy there are seldom dishwashers so to wash by hand is more time-consuming than spending time together. BTW….yes that’s my gorgeous Mother at 50 after 10 kids…still looks smoking even with leggings and a big sweater.

We followed the meal with lots and lots of vegetables, we are a family that loves vegetables, so we had that along with whole grain bread and Gorgonzola. Here in Italy, it’s very common to serve raw vegetables, like carrots, celery, fennel, endive, radishes, etc…and then pour some olive oil and salt and dip your vegetables in and eat it like that, if your like me then you add vinegar…balsamic of apple cider; here in Italy this array of raw vegetables accompanied by olive oil is called Pinzimonio, one of my all time favorites. It’s perfect for get togethers, dinner parties, cook outs and it also helps you eat slower because you dip it take a bite and repeat.

             

After that we ladies sat around made teas and chatted about most possibly every subject you can think of. It was an amazing lunch and many more of course; to follow. I wanted to share this with you (the reader) because I think that this is an important part of life, we eat but how do we enjoy it?

I enjoy it this way! I find that one day a week you should be allowed to pick one dish that you truly enjoy and eat it, but what makes it all the worthwhile is when you are surrounded by the people you love and enjoy because then you truly enjoyed that meal, from start to finish. You are talking, eating and don’t even realize that you are full and satisfied without over eating, because in great company you tend to eat slower, talk a little more and get full faster. So all in all it’s a win win situation. This is a day to Eat!

P.s. Recipes for this day to follow………Have a wonderful WEEK!

           

Low-Fat oven baked Chicken with delicious Rosemary Potatoes

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What are making this weekend??? A nice home cooked meal is always the best if you are not going out to restaurant. Here is an idea….You can accompany this dish with a nice salad or roast vegetables.

Rosemary, being one of my favorite ingredients to use when baking, simply because the aroma it gives your dish is so wonderful and subtle and of course it makes the whole house smell delicious and warm. It’s such a simple and wonderful ingredient to use; I especially love to use it along with potatoes and chicken. In this recipe I don’t peel my potatoes because I quite enjoy the flavor, also the skin of the potatoes has lots of vitamins so in my defense why remove it. But you can peel if you like it will taste just as good.

I have to admit there is something that I just love about oven-baked chicken.

Of course, I love the whole chicken baked in the oven; but sometimes I just don’t have the time for that or sometimes all the fat that the skin of the chicken lets out and the skin itself (although flavorful) is just not that good for you. So when having little time to cook or being healthy I can say that I omit the chicken skin; (I don’t really eat it anyways) and still have the taste of this delicious traditional dish that I can say most people love; this is what I do.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 thick chicken Breast (or 4 thin breasts)

4 small Potatoes (or 2 large ones)

3 tbsp. Olive oil

3 fresh Rosemary sprigs (stem removed)

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Preheat your oven at 320 degrees.

In the meantime wash and slice your potatoes in half and then long ways (about 1/4 inch thick), kind of like fries. Put in a bowl and add 1 ½ tbsp. of olive oil, 2 sprigs of rosemary, salt and pepper to taste, mix until all the potatoes are covered with the dressing.

With your chicken add the rest of the olive oil and rosemary and then salt and pepper to taste.

Get a large baking pan, place your chicken down first, and then pour in your potatoes, try to get your potatoes on the sides of the chicken not on top.

Place in the oven and allow to bake for 20 minutes, then turning chicken over, mixing your potatoes and cooking for another 15 minutes. It should be ready.

Of course all ovens cook differently so if yours cooks faster you may remove before or if it cooks slower leave in there a bit more.

 

A Healthy twist on an Old Italian Recipe

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Bruschetta is a typical Italian dish that is served with bread. I happen to love bruschetta and it always seem to be so convenient to make especially as an appetizer, for yourself, for guests, at a dinner party and as hors d’oeuvres.

The other day for lunch I suddenly craved Bruschetta, I opened the cupboard and didn’t have any bread, which came as no surprise because I don’t keep bread in the house. So, I came up with the next best thing to satisfy this craving; make the bruschetta sauce and pour it over pasta.  I looked to see what type of pasta might be good with this and I had some whole-wheat penne, what a fabulous idea.

What I really liked about this was that I like to respect the quality of the ingredients I cook with, so of course when being able to make a dish that doesn’t require cooking any of the ingredients besides the pasta, makes me feel more wholesome and appreciative of the dish, also the ingredients are able to maintain their natural source of vitamins and color.

This is a simple, quick, and low-fat dish.  You can make it when out of time, as a pasta salad and when you want to eat something light. Enjoy.

 

Ingredients:

 250 gr. Of Whole-Wheat Penne pasta

2 large vine Tomatoes

4 Basil leaves

1 small crushed Garlic clove

A handful of Rucola (arugola)

1 small fresh Mozzarella Ball (100 gr.)

3 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive oil

Salt to taste

 

Put a pot of salted water to boil, throw your pasta in and let cook for 9- 10 minutes. (Always follow the cooking time on the box).

Meanwhile, chop you tomatoes into small cubes, place in a medium bowl and add your garlic, olive oil and salt. Chiffonade your basil and add to tomatoes, mix the ingredients and let sit. Now cut your mozzarella into small cubes, add to tomato mixture.

Drain your pasta throw into bowl with tomato ingredients and toss together, until mixed well. Serve and enjoy.

 

Low-Fat, Healthy, Nutritious and Delicious Soup

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This is soup is so good for you in so many different ways, it’s packed with great nutrients and vitamins. You get Fiber, Iron, Magnesium, Antioxidants and also Molybdenum: This is a trace mineral that helps the body produce detoxifying enzymes. This prevents headaches that are caused by sulfites, a compound used to preserve baked goods, wine and various things. These are just to name a few things you can benefit from the Cannellini and Garbanzo Beans.

Then you get Vitamins, Minerals and Beta-Carotene from the Spinach helping to protect yourself against inflammatory problems, oxidative stress-related problems, cardiovascular problems, bone problems, and cancers at the same time.

So all in all this soup is perfect!! What better things are there in life than to know what you are feeding your body is completely beneficial and helping you live a healthier, happier and thinner lifestyle. I like the fact that this soup is so good for you, it makes me want to come back for more because I know it’s benefiting instead of ruining my internal and external system. Also it’s wonderful for a cold winter day, when all you want to do is cozy up to your loved one and not leave the house, or when you come home from being outside in the cold and need something to warm your body……this does the trick. I hope that you enjoy this soup as much as I do, It’s truly delicious!

Ingredients:

Time : about an hour

1 onion

1 carrot

1 celery stock

2 bullion*

200 gr. Pancetta diced (Optional)

1 6-8oz small can tomato paste

2 14oz cans Cannellini beans

2 14oz cans Garbanzo (Chickpeas)

1 lb. Baby or Chopped fresh Spinach leaves

5 cups of water

3 tbsp. Olive oil

Salt to taste

Parmesan (grated)

Chop up your celery, carrot and onion very finely. In a 5.5 qt. pot over medium heat add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot add your carrot, celery and pancetta and let sauté for 3-5 minutes, at this point you may add the onions and continue to sauté until onions are translucent. Add the bullion and let dissolve. You may add your tomato paste and mix well with your ingredients, now you may add your beans stir and add 5 cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil, but continue mixing. Add salt and set to low flame. You may add your Spinach leaves now and allow to cook for another 15 – 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat for the soup. Serve your soup and grate some Parmiggiano on top of soup. Buon Appetito!

* Make sure that the bullion is MSG free, and try to get more natural possible.

* Pancetta is Italian bacon, you can find it in the deli section, just ask them to cut you a chunk that weighs a quarter of a lb or 7 oz. and then slice it yourself at home into cubes.

* If you like you could boil some short pasta off to the side and some to your dish, but I like to eat this soup just as is.

* I love spicy so I chopped up some chiles and threw them in there.

 

 

 

 

Delicious Lo-Cal Eggplant Parmiggiana

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I love vegetables. I have said it many times before and will continue to make this statement. You can literally make anything with vegetables and still make it taste good. So, of course it wouldn’t go un-noticed that I love eggplant parmiggiana. The thing with eggplant parmiggiana, is that although it is made with eggplant, it still ends up being quite heavy and not something that you could eat all the time. I went through a period were I became Vegan for about 6-7 months. It wasn’t as hard as it sounds, but as most of you know you can’t eat anything that derives from an animal, again not that that’s hard (well maybe a little) but eggplant parmiggiana is definitely not something that you could eat considering that there is egg and cheese in there. My theory to cooking is that just because there is an ingredient you don’t like or can’t eat doesn’t mean you can’t make it or even eat it, you can substitute the ingredient or just plain leave out. So, I grilled the eggplant and portobello mushroom with some garlic and olive oil, made my red sauce and layered it stuck it in the oven and out came a delicious invention. My Husband loved it as did I.

I am not a Vegan anymore but sometimes I still like to have meatless days, this eggplant parmiggiana here is an in-between of the vegan and regular version. It is faster to whip up and lighter. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 medium-sized Eggplant

1 16oz can Tomato sauce

1 Garlic clove

1/2 lb. Mozzarella cheese Grated

Olive Oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven at 350 degrees.

Slice your eggplant into 1/4 inch rounds (or long ways it’s really up to you), salt them each individually and stack. In a medium sauce pan/pot drizzle olive oil and place over medium heat, add your garlic clove whole and allow the oil to get the flavor, now you may add your tomato sauce , some salt and pepper to taste, cover and let simmer.

Put a skillet over medium flame and drizzle olive oil, lay out your eggplant and allow to turn golden and then flip. Continue this process until all of them are done cooking.

Turn off your sauce. Get your baking dish, put first a little bit of sauce at the bottom and then lay out your eggplant evenly, pour some tomato sauce evenly over the eggplant and then sprinkle some mozzarella, continue this same process until your baking dish is filled and put in the oven for about 20 minutes. You will now when to remove from over your cheese will be completely melted and turning a light shade of gold.

Remove from oven and allow to sit for about 10-15 minutes before serving. Cut into squares and serve.

Lasagna with: Spinach, Mushrooms and Artichoke

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I sometimes prefer to have an all-Vegetarian meal, and that doesn’t mean that I have to give up on the things I love.  I actually made this recipe years back because my sister-in-law was vegetarian and I was making Lasagna but she couldn’t eat it, so I decided to go ahead and see what I could whip up for her and I looked in the fridge and these were the vegetables that I had and that is what I used, it turned out great and every now and then I like to make it again, even for myself.

It’s very nutritious and doesn’t leave you feeling too full or guilty. Lasagna is delicious done pretty much anyway as long as you put some love and good flavors in it. I think that these vegetables are very good for the lasagna because the Spinach and Mushrooms are very moist s it helps the lasagna to not turn out dry.

Please Enjoy!

 

Ingredients:

1 lb. Spinach*

½ lb. Mushrooms sliced

½ lb. Artichokes quartered*

1 Garlic clove

3 tbsp. olive oil

Salt to taste

For the Besciamella:

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup white flour

1 cup of milk (I use non-fat)

1/2 cup of water

Salt and pepper to taste

Remaining ingredients:

1 lb. mozzarella shredded or diced

1/2 cup parmiggiano shredded

500 gr. spinach lasagna*

 

In a large pan heat up your olive oil, then add your chopped up garlic, allow getting golden; and then adding your mushrooms, spinach and artichokes. Once they have all sautéed add some salt to taste and turn off heat and start your besciamella.

In a 13 by 9-inch baking dish, spread some of the sautéed vegetables; arrange pasta sheets side by side until the bottom of the pan is fully covered. Evenly spread a layer of your besciamella sauce, and a layer of the mozzarella. Arrange another layer of pasta sheets and spread a layer of the sautéed vegetables. Arrange another layer of the pasta sheets and add another layer of besciamella sauce, and then a layer of the mozzarella. Arrange another layer of the pasta sheets and spread another layer of the sautéed vegetables, add all the rest of the beciamella and parmiggiano evenly over the sautéed vegetables. (You may add another layer depending on how deep your pan is, or you can leave it like this just remember the final layer has to be the vegetables, besciamella and Parmiggiano.)

Cover the lasagna with some aluminum and place in the middle rack of the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until top is bubbling. Remove the aluminum and bake for another 15 minutes, you may now remove from oven and let sit for about 15 minutes. Then you may serve.

* Spinach: You may use fresh spinach or frozen, if frozen allow to drain and defrost.

* Artichokes: You may use canned (in water only) or frozen forllow same procedure as spinach of frozen.

* Lasagna sheets: I use spinach lasagna but you may use regular.