Zucchini Ribbon Lasagna

It's so good to be back in the kitchen after an epic summer of traveling, made even easier by the addition of a new cookbook from our most recent adventure to north Alberta. So far north, that it's the start of the Mackenzie Highway, made famous by the TV show "Ice Road Truckers" because some of it is actually only passable when the tundra is frozen!

Our time there for my husband's family reunion was mostly sunny and warm, with a few prairie thunderstorms that are like nothing this city girl has ever seen. We also ate like kings, between the cattle ranched by one of the uncles, the smoked meats and salmon hunted and fished by multiple members of the family, and the loving creations the local crew cooked up for the 64 family members who attended!

We also each went home with a family cookbook, filled with favorite recipes that made my mouth water the whole drive home through Jasper and Banff National Forests (must-sees!!!). The first recipe I decided to tackle was Aunt Jac's Zucchini Pizza Casserole, but I made enough changes to it that I decided I needed to write it down myself so I can make it again and again!

Zucchini Ribbon Lasagna

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground Italian sausage
32-oz. jar marinara sauce
3-inch piece of Parmesan rind, if available
4 pounds mixed zucchini
1 cup grated Parmesan
16 oz. sliced fresh mozzarella

Heat oil over medium-high in a large stock pot. Add onion and bell pepper, and cook until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic for the last minute and stir until fragrant. Break up sausage and add in, stirring until cooked through. Add marinara and Parmesan rind, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200 degrees, then cut zucchini into ribbons using a Spiralizer (or a potato peeler, but I wouldn't recommend that as it is quite tedious!). 

Layer paper towels on two large baking sheets. Spread zucchini ribbons evenly over both, sprinkle with salt, then heat in oven. After about 15 minutes, remove zucchini from oven, and turn up the heat to 400. Squeeze zucchini with paper towels to try to extract additional moisture.

Once sauce is done, remove the Parmesan rind, then spread a small amount on the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan, then do two layers each of:

Zucchini
Parmesan
Mozzarella
Sauce

Top with additional Parmesan, then cook until bubbly, about 20 minutes and cheese is starting to brown.

Let cool for 5-10 minutes, which gives you time to remove any excess liquid so it's easier to serve. I used a turkey baster and will reserve the liquid for the next time I make minestrone!

Overnight Steel-Cut Oats Soaked in Homemade Hemp Milk

For most of my adult life, I've regularly shaken up my breakfast routine in search of something that's delicious, nutritious and — most importantly — filling, so that I'm not searching for a snack halfway through the morning.

Some mainstays have been grits with an egg mixed in (not quite filling enough), smoothies (OMG they just make me ravenous!) or a egg-meat-cheese-muffin sandwich (very yummy and filling ... and my waistline responded accordingly).

But this year, I do believe I've discovered my perfect whole-grain breakfast: Overnight Steel-Cut Oats Soaked in Homemade Hemp Milk.

The Soup Cleanse

First, let me start at the beginning. A while back, I read an article in Mother Earth Living on Soup Cleansing for a New Year Detox. The New Year was right around the corner, so I thought, why not give it a try?

I borrowed The Soup Cleanse from the library, and filled the fridge and the freezer with a variety of soups. Although the book only recommends doing a cleanse for a few days, I ended up following my own path and tried it for a month, with amazing results.

The takeaways for me are similar to the comments of the Mother Earth Living writer. Besides always having a freezer full of hearty soups that I can grab for an instant lunch at work, I also start my work day with a big glass of room temperature water and a steamy cup of broth, plus an afternoon smoothie (beet-cucumber-apple-kale is my go-to).

You'd be surprised how much a mug of broth can do for you in the morning. It wakes up the digestive system and gives me the energy to start my day satiated enough to drink a cup of dandelion tea at the office before busting into the oatmeal.

Meal Prep Sundays

That means I spend a lot of Sundays doing meal prep. The Instant Pot is the star, first for my beets, then for the stock. Even though both require minimal hands-on time, planning is key. I like to let the stock sit in the pot for a few hours after the 30-minute pressure time, then it requires time and space to extract all of the liquids, pour stock into pint jars, and bring them to room temperature before refrigerating.

During all that waiting, there's always time to make the Homemade Hemp Milk that gives my oatmeal the fat to keep me full all morning in addition to a full day's supply of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

The below recipe fills a little more than a quart-size mason jar when it's fresh and frothy, so I always get out an extra pint-size jar and fill it a little above the 3/4-cup line for my first oatmeal jar of the week.

Homemade Hemp Milk
3 cups filtered water
1 cup hemp seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract*
2-3 Medjool dates

Blend all ingredients in Vitamix for about 2 minutes, gradually increasing speed from low to high. Pour into 1 quart-size mason jar and refrigerate.

*For a special treat, use 1 whole vanilla bean instead. It is luscious!

Overnight Steel-Cut Oats
3/4 cup hemp milk
1/4 cup steel-cut oats
Spices to taste (I use cinnamon, cardamon, turmeric plus a tiny dash of salt and pepper)
Fresh or frozen fruit
Nuts

Stir hemp milk, oats and spices in a pint-size mason jar and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, add fruit and nuts (I use frozen mangoes and pistachios). Frozen fruit works great if you're transporting your jar, and of course cuts down on precious morning prep time.

Your oatmeal is ready to eat if you like cold oatmeal, but I prefer to warm mine for about 2 minutes in the microwave.

Prepare to make your co-workers very, very jealous.

Spring Vegetable-Mushroom-Tarragon Frittata Bites

When my work started recruiting for a "Top Chef"- style competition at the office, I might have gotten a little too excited. Especially when they announced that the "secret ingredient" was leafy greens!

I'd already decided to do an appetizer just because they're so easy to share, and since the goal was to encourage people to eat more vegetarian foods, I decided to make my dish vegetarian and dairy-free.

That was a hard decision to stick with after I decided to make the below Frittata Bites, because I knew I could kill it if I added prosciutto and goat cheese. Instead I included those in the end as optional add-ins, making this dish not only vegetarian, but also GF and DF! Pretentious? Perhaps ... but also inclusive while still being tasty!

Spring Vegetable-Mushroom-Tarragon Frittata Bites with Roasted Red Bell Pepper Coulis
Makes about 40 Frittata Bites (Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)

Ingredients:

For the Coulis:
2 red bell peppers
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste

For the Frittata:
1 bunch Tuscan kale or other leafy green, tough stems removed
3 teaspoon sea salt, divided
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for muffin tin
1 leek, white and light green parts thoroughly rinsed and chopped
1 pound mushrooms, diced
¼ teaspoon pepper
8 eggs
3 tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped and separated

Directions:

For the Coulis:
Roast peppers (I cut them in half, discard seeds and stem, then broil skin-side up until the skin is completely black – or turn until charred all over on a grill or gas stove), then place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap until cool enough to handle, at least 15 minutes.

Heat a skillet over medium high. Add olive oil, then cook shallots until soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer to food processor. Once peppers are cool enough to handle, peel and discard skin. Add to food processor, along with sherry vinegar. Blend until smooth, then add salt and pepper to taste.

Set aside or refrigerate while you prepare the Frittata.

For the Frittata:
Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease mini muffin tin with olive oil.

Heat a large pot with 1 inch of water to boiling; add 2 teaspoons sea salt and stir in kale until just slightly wilted, about 1 minute. Remove to bowl of cold water to stop cooking. Squeeze kale dry, then chop.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high (I used the same one that I cooked the shallots in for the Coulis). Add olive oil, then cook leeks until wilted but not brown, about 4 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have lost their liquid and begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon salt and pepper, stir in kale, then transfer to a bowl to cool.

Once vegetable mixture has cooled for at least 10 minutes, stir in eggs and 2 tablespoons tarragon. Spoon mixture into muffin tin, filling almost to the brim. (If you only have one muffin tin, refrigerate Frittata mixture while first batch is cooking. If you use two muffin tins, rotate racks halfway through baking time.)

Bake for 20 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack to rest for 5 minutes. Gently lift frittata bites to cooling rack, then serve warm or at room temperature. Garnish with Roasted Red Bell Pepper Coulis and remaining 1 tablespoon tarragon.

Optional non-vegetarian and dairyful add-ins:

2 oz. prosciutto, chopped
Before cooking leeks, saute prosciutto in olive oil until crispy, about 2 minutes; remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Fold in with eggs and tarragon before cooking frittata.

½ cup goat cheese, crumbled
Fold in with eggs and tarragon before cooking frittata.

Savory Oat Risotto with Bacon, Kale and Delicata Squash

A three-day weekend with record-cold temperatures is a breeding ground for comfort foods full of stick-to-your-bones goodness.

That's exactly what I spent the weekend doing, starting with a Savory Oat Risotto with Bacon, Kale and Delicata Squash topped with a ramen-style egg care of one of my favorite new toys, the Joule sous vide machine.

Savory Oat Risotto with Bacon, Kale and Delicata Squash
1 small delicata squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
6 cups chicken broth
6 slices bacon, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
2 cups steel-cut oats
4 cups baby kale, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Roast squash until tender, about 10-15 minutes.

Heat broth in a medium pot. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, cook bacon until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Saute shallot in remaining bacon grease until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add oats and stir until aromatic, about 2 minutes. Begin adding broth in increments, about 1/2 cup at a time until liquid is absorbed.

When all but about 1 cup of broth has been added to oats, stir in kale with second-to-last ladle of broth. Add bacon with final ladle; season with salt and pepper, then serve.

(So what was out stick-to-your-bones dinner, you ask? A delicious Porchetta-Spiced Pork Roast that I slogged through the snow for to gather fresh sage and rosemary. Well, technically, there was no slogging involved since the snow wasn't actually sticking, but I sure do like that image!)

Red Curry Pasta with Butternut Squash, Ground Pork and Roasted Garbanzos

I've been on a ground pork kick the last couple of weeks after experimenting with substituting half of the ground beef with ground pork in my current go-to chili, Smoky Beef-and-Bacon Chili. The result? Moist and flavorful with a much better mouth-feel.

With that in mind, I planned to make another favorite, Red Curry Sloppy Joes, by substituting the ground beef with ground pork. But on a whim I decided to turn the whole idea into a pasta recipe that also utilized a delicata squash that I'd been holding onto along with a go-to appetizer, Pimenton Roasted Garbanzos.

And after my co-worker was enviously commenting on my leftovers right after he'd finished his own, I figured it was definitely one to share.



Red Curry Pasta with Delicata Squash, Ground Pork and Roasted Garbanzos
Pimenton Roasted Garbanzos
1 can coconut milk
2 T. red curry paste
1-2 T. fish sauce
1-2 T. sugar
1 T. lemon or lime juice
1 small delicata or butternut squash, cut in bite-sized pieces
8 oz. penne or other bite-sized pasta
1 T. coconut oil
1 pound ground pork
1/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
1/4 chopped fresh basil, divided

Prepare Pimenton Roasted Garbanzos, then lower oven heat to 350 degrees.

Mix coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce, sugar and lemon juice in a blender. Combine about 1/2 cup of curry mixture with butternut squash, then roast on a sheet pan until cooked through, about 10-20 minutes depending on size of chunks.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.

Preheat a large saute pan over medium high heat; add coconut oil, then crumble in ground pork and stir until cooked through. Pour remaining curry mixture into sausage and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Once pasta and squash are finished, stir in with sausage and add half of green onions and basil. Transfer to a serving bowl and top with about 1 cup garbanzos and remaining green onions and basil.

Craving Cured Meats for Oktoberfest

With Oktoberfest just around the corner, I find myself craving cured meats even more than usual.

Funny story: When I moved to Germany in 1997, I was actually a vegetarian (or flexitarian, as my in-laws would call it since Mom refused to believe that chicken broth or fish were truly vegetarian). But before I even moved, I decided that in order to fully experience Bavaria, I would have to give up my vegarianism. After dozens of Weisswurst, Bratwurst, Currywurst and Rostbratwurst, not to mention also discovering liverwurst and other creamed meats, I never looked back.

The above photo is not actually from Germany, because, well, it was 1997. But if ever you want two glorious pounds of housemade German sausages in Seattle, Rheinhaus on Capitol Hill will certainly whet your craving (although I would be remiss to not also mention Bavarian Meats at Pike Place Market, I just don't have a picture of their extremely authentic selection).

Despite my love of cured meats, I still haven't taught myself how to make sausages. But I did make a delicious dish with prosciutto last night that calmed my craving for the night.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken with Potatoes and Artichokes
1-1/2 pounds fingerling or new potatoes, cut in 1/2-inch chunks
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
8 chicken thighs
8 slices prosciutto
8-ounce package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
2 tablespoons minced fresh sage
2 cloves garlic

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss potatoes with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, then roast for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, wrap each chicken thigh in a piece of prosciutto, sealing on the bottom.

Remove potatoes from oven and stir in artichoke hearts, sage, and garlic. Nestle chicken among the vegetables, then roast for about 25 minutes.

Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Note: This recipe is also good with cauliflower, as shown in this Epicurious recipe, but it's even better if you add some fresh figs!

Bring on the Vitamin D - An Excuse to Indulge in Mushrooms

Like many residents of the Pacific Northwest, my vitamin D levels tend to skew on the low side. It's just hard at this latitude to get enough vitamin D from the sun since we can only really process it from March to October.

Food isn't the best alternative source, but it's something. And it certainly helps that some of the foods that are high(ish) in vitamin D are also among my favorites: fatty fish, mushrooms, eggs (don't skip the yolk!!!) and beans, yum!

Maybe that's why when the days start shortening, I just can't get enough mushrooms. It doesn't matter what kind, I just want them in my belly. Since it's not quite mushroom season yet, I've been going crazy with the commercially grown portabellas and creminis.

Mushroom-Veggie Curry Pasta
1 cup mushroom (or any other) broth
2 tablespoons lime juice
*4 dates
1/2-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup basil leaves
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
8 ounces bite-size pasta such as penne
2 tablespoons coconut oil, more if needed
4 cloves garlic, minced, separated
**2 portabella mushrooms, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
**8 ounces cremini mushrooms, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 bunch lacinato (or any other) kale, stems removed and thinly sliced
1 cup soy edamame, defrosted

Make sauce by blending broth, lime juice, dates, ginger, curry, red pepper flakes and basil until smooth. Stir in sesame seeds and set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Add coconut oil, and stir in 2 cloves minced garlic for about 30 seconds. Add mushrooms and stir periodically until mushrooms lose their water and start to brown. Remove mushrooms with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add more oil if needed, then add onion and pepper to the skillet and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add remaining 2 cloves minced garlic near the end, then add kale and stir-fry until kale is wilted.

Stir in mushrooms, pasta, edamame and sauce, and serve.

*The original recipe called for 2 Medjool dates, which I would have done if I had them. It's nice to know the cheaper dates work just as well if you double the amount!

**This recipe would taste great with any combination of mushrooms, just be sure to use a lot!

— This recipe was adapted from Portabella Mushrooms and Noodles.