Tofu Spinach Lasagna

I'd heard it done before, but it still sounded a bit weird... turning tofu into ricotta? Hmm... I had to try this out for myself.

I found this recipe on the lovely Whole Foods website. Seemed pretty simple and I had most of the ingredients, so with the following minor substitutions this lasagna was born...

Ingredients (with my substitutions)

1 (14-ounce) package soft tofu (not silken), drained 
2 tablespoons olive oil 
1/2 large onion, finely chopped 
1/2 pound italian sausage
14 oz package button mushrooms 
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided 
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
12 oz package frozen cut spinach 
2 cups tomato or marinara sauce 
2 eggs, beaten 
1 tbsp potato flour
1 (16-ounce) package gluten-free lasagna noodles (I use DeBoles - they are precooked!)

To Prepare

For the filling, coarsely crumble tofu onto a lint-free dish towel. Wrap tofu in the towel and lightly press out excess moisture; set aside. 

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Add italian sausage and cook, stirring frequently, until mostly cooked through. Add mushrooms, garlic, oregano, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and pepper and spinach, cook until spinach has fully thawed (about 10 minutes). Add a heaping spoonful of the marinara sauce and stir to incorporate. 

Whisk eggs and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt together in a medium bowl. Add potato flour and whisk until well blended and slightly thickened. Unwrap tofu, crumble it into small pieces and add it to egg mixture. Stir well; set aside. 

If you are using precooked noodles move to the next step. If your lasagna noodles are not precooked, cook noodles according to package directions in salted boiling water, but reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes. The noodles should be slightly firm, as they will continue cooking in the oven. 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Begin assembling the lasagna: ladle a spoonful of the sauce into the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch baking dish and spread it out evenly. Arrange 3 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. Place 1/2 of the tofu mixture on the lasagna sheets along with about a 1/2 of the sausage/spinach/mushroom mixture, distributing it evenly. Repeat layering one more time with 3 lasagna noodles, the rest of the tofu mixture and the sausage mixture. Finish by covering the top layer with shredded mozzarella (if you tolerate dairy) or, my favorite, use Diaya Mozzarella Style Shreds. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 45-50 minutes. Remove foil and turn on broiler for 2-3 minutes until cheese just begins to brown. Remove from oven, set aside uncovered and let stand about 5 minutes, then slice and serve. 

As there isn't much sauce in the lasagna itself I heated about 1 cup marinara sauce to top each slice when plated. Make a simple salad to accompany this dish and there you have it - Tofu Spinach Lasagna! Mmm Mmmm so good!

Side note: I didn't tell my roommate there was tofu in it (because I knew he wouldn't eat it) and ya know what he repeatedly had to say about it? "This is really good!" Give this recipe a try and don't tell your guests what the filling is... I promise they'll never know! ;-)

Roasted Veggie Pepperoni Pasta

This was definitely one of those... spur of the moment dinners.

I can't, well I try to avoid serving something for dinner that *gasp* doesn't have any meat. My boyfriend and our roommate well, if there isn't meat they are back in the kitchen in less than the usual time after we've finished dinner. (Yes... I'm saying they are grazers ;-))

I got home from a long day at school and had pasta on the mind. Perfect! A quick and easy dinner... but wait, it's the end of the week and we're running low on any meat besides chicken.. but wait! There is still some pepperoni in the fridge from our homemade pizzas a few nights earlier.. great! But it still needed something else... and to satisfy the boys without satisfying the cook... well that would just be wrong! What better way to satisfy the cook (*cough* me**) than to load the pasta with veggies!!

I decided to try a new way of cooking frozen vegetables rather than the typical steaming method.. and that's where the dish was born.

Ingredients
Your choice of pasta (I used gluten free angel hair)
Pasta sauce (whatever you have on hand is fine)
Mixed frozen vegetables (or if you aren't pressed for time use fresh!)
Pepperoni slices
Olive Oil
Seasonings of choice

*I realize these are all store-bought ingredients but hey... give it a shot!*


To Prepare
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Begin to boil water for pasta and cook as directed. Line a cookie sheet with foil, place all veggies on the sheet and lightly cover with olive oil and whatever spices you like (garlic powder, salt, pepper, italian seasoning - just some ideas). Place in oven and let the veggies roast until they start to brown (about 15 minutes). Meanwhile, heat up your pasta sauce in a medium saucepan (I always like to throw in extra seasoning just for good measure). Continue to check on veggies until they seem done, then turn oven off and remove the veggies from the oven. When the pasta has just a few minutes left to cook, add the pepperoni slices to the veggies and put back in the oven to warm. Drain the pasta and plate with sauce. Take the veggies and pepperoni out of the oven and lay ever so beautifully on top of your pasta. Grate some fresh parmesan (optional) and you are ready to eat!

This dish is simple yet pleasing to the eye. The slight spice of the pepperoni mixed with the roasted veggies transform your typical spaghetti night into one that your guests will be asking for weekly! Use different veggies, fresh or frozen, as the seasons allow and let your mind wander with spice!

As always, most importantly... enjoy!

Breakfast Meatloaf for Dinner

When I was a kid I was never really a fan of meatloaf... something about it just didn't appeal to me and there was never a time where the flavors blew me away. When I first got together with my boyfriend several years ago his mom made meatloaf for dinner one night. I wasn't super thrilled but of course, I kept an open mind. It turned out to be DELICIOUS, and from then on, meatloaf has been in my repertoire.

I came across this recipe on Affairs of Living. While this is not a traditional meatloaf it packs a whole lot of flavor in a non-traditional way. I followed the recipe exactly except for a few modifications -
*Instead of using all breakfast sausage I used about 3/4 breakfast sausage and 1/4 italian sausage.
*I also added some extra carrots just on principle.
*In substitution of the aleppo pepper I used a mixture of chile powder, cumin & paprika.
*Lastly, butter or another oil is fine to use in place of the coconut oil.
I topped with Annie's Ketchup instead of the suggested sauce but if you make it with this please let me know how it is!
You can find the original recipe here.

To accompany the meatloaf I made glazed carrots (yup.. this dinner was carrot crazy!). My boyfriend and roommate had rice as a starch and I had some of my delicious flatbread toasted with butter.

The meatloaf is simple to prepare and leaves your kitchen with smells that will have you counting down the minutes until it is done. I hope you like it as much as I did!

Jambalaya.. More like Upside down Shepard's Pie

The title of this post may have you a little confused... Allow me to explain...

The refrigerator in my condo is 'apartment size'... meaning it is smaller than a typical refrigerator. This also means that our freezer has been absolutely packed for quite some time. Because of this I resolved to create meals that use what is currently in the freezer rather than buying new foods. Sounds like a good idea right?

I knew that we had four Bison Hot Dogs  (yes, bison! You can find them at Costco, they are delicious and healthy!), and plenty of homemade Italian Sausage from my boyfriend's dad's restaurant - Benders Brat Haus (Aurora, Colorado).

I also had bought Millet quite some time ago and had yet to use it. I think that I slightly overcooked it because the texture resembled that of sticky oatmeal or when rice sticks together... The taste is very neutral which went well with this dish but by itself would definitely need some added flavoring.

In my head I was thinking of creating a fish-less Jambalaya with the ingredients we had. As I said earlier,  it ended up looking more like upside down Shepard's pie - but the flavor was still very good.

Ingredients
4 Bison Hot Dogs (precooked)
Italian Sausage (about 1/2 pound)
Diced Canned Tomatoes (I used Fire Roasted)
2 Roasted Green Chiles (fresh if you have them leftover from any Farmer's Market you may have visited, if not canned will work just fine)
1 c. Millet
1 c. Peas (plus any other veggies you want to throw in)
Garlic

How to Prepare
Cook millet according to package directions (warning - 1 c makes a lot!).
While millet cooks, cook the italian sausage or any other spicy sausage you have on hand.
Cut bison dogs into rounds.

Chop 2 gloves garlic and add to sausage along with green chiles.

Add tomatoes (and their juice) to pan with sausage and garlic. 

Add peas to pan and continue to let mixture simmer until peas are heated. 

Taste and add any extra seasoning, salt & pepper. 

By now the millet should be done and you are now ready to eat!

The way I served it was by placing a good amount of millet in the middle of the plate and topping with the meat mixture.

It didn't take long for all of us to mush everything together... the flavors blend better and it looks almost as pretty...

This dish can be made with so many different ingredients. Use whatever you have on hand and throw in as many extras as you like! Enjoy!

Classic BLT and Zucchini Soup

Homemade Zucchini Soup, courtesy of The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen, and a classic BLT sandwich... This was the perfect way to end the long weekend before going back to the craziness of every day life.

I love when simple dinners come together perfectly and everyone is pleased with the outcome!

I had wanted to make this soup several days ago but after an outdoor workout, the heat changed my mind about having soup for dinner. However, I still had two mondo zucchini from my parent's garden taking up space on the counter and decided that tonight was the night. When thinking about what to have with soup my mind instantly thought sandwich, the perfect pair! We had just had grilled cheese sandwiches the other night so I had to think of something new... I saw the fresh tomatoes (again from my parent's garden, thanks dad!) and a lightbulb turned on.. BLTs!

To create this delicious meal I followed the directions for the soup exactly except for substituting cooked quinoa for the rice, and adding a little rice wine vinegar and other spices at the end.

For the sandwiches... well if you know what a BLT is then you know how to make it... Cook up some crispy bacon, slice several fresh tomatoes, clean the lettuce and you are ready! Toasting the bread is something I always do but if you'd prefer a softer sandwich that is entirely up to you. The bread I used here is from Ener G Foods, their Brown Rice Yeast Free Loaf.

The flavor of this bread is well, different at first bite, but the more you have it (as with most gluten free things) the better it seems to get. It's great for sandwiches (it actually stays together, no crumbling whatsoever!) and is also good for breakfast as toast with jam or nut butter. 

To assemble the sandwich I lightly buttered both sides along with some vegenaise. I put lettuce on the bottom piece, added as many tomatoes as I could fit, 2 pieces of crispy bacon, more lettuce and topped with the other piece of bread. And there you have it... an absolutely delicious and simple dinner... Enjoy!

This last bite was savored for quite some time... I'm sure you'll want to do the same!

Flatbread Grilled 'Cheese' with Chicken & Tomatoes

The hardest part in eliminating my reactive foods has definitely been cutting out CHEESE. No matter how many alternatives you try, or the different 'nut' cheeses you make... nothing can substitute cheese. One day while I was wandering the aisles of Vitamin Cottage I found a dairy free cheese... there are several actually but this one was the only one I could find that didn't have yeast. By itself the taste is...similar to plain rice milk with a hint of cardboard... (sorry Galaxy). With something the taste completely disappears and it tastes like... nothing really... So I guess lesson learned is that if you are intolerant to dairy but crave a grilled cheese every time your boyfriend makes one... Suck it up and eat the cheese! Sure you may have a slight stomach ache but hey... you only live once!

Anyway... Back to the recipe of this post!

The plan for dinner was for me to make a homemade soup and delicious filling for a grilled cheese on the side. The soup idea fluttered away once I got home from a very hot and long bike ride, but my determination to have a grilled cheese was still in sight. 

Using the recipe I posted for the Gluten free, Dairy free, Yeast free Pizza, I made flatbread!

For the pizza I used Quinoa flour, Amaranth flour and Millet flour (which held together nicely and when toasted gave a great crunch!) For the flatbread I used Amaranth, Millet and Sorghum and added 1/2 tsp of sugar. This was yet again delicious but did crumble more than the pizza. Without toasting the flatbread feels a bit soft and may actually hold together better than when heated (if you try this let me know!), but you can't hope for rice cheese to melt without heat so yes.. I assembled my sandwich and put it into the George Foreman. The cheese didn't really melt at all but the warm sandwich was still nice. 

What I love about a grilled cheese for dinner is that there are endless possibilities for what can accompany the cheese and bread. In this case here's what I did... 

For the Chicken:

2 c shredded rotisserie chicken (I always keep some in the freezer for nights when you want to get creative!)

1 1/2 c mushrooms

2 cloves minced garlic

a generous amount of italian seasoning

salt & pepper

1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar (or more to taste)

1 tbsp olive oil

fresh sliced tomatoes

How to prepare:

Heat oil in a medium skillet, add mushrooms and sautee until soft. Add garlic and sautee with mushrooms until fragrant. Add shredded chicken, spices and vinegar. That's it! Feel free to cater the spices to the type of sandwich you are craving, or use fresh spices if in season. 

Assemble grilled cheese as normal (if I could have cheese I'd put one slice on the top and bottom pieces of bread), add as much of the chicken mixture as you like and grill! (If you don't have a George Foreman or a Panini Press you can use a skillet.. it'll work just fine!) Wait to add the tomatoes until the sandwich is ready, the moisture will make your bread soggy. 

And voila! Dinner is served! 

One more note, if you have a certain bread you like or can tolerate store brand GF bread, Udi's makes a great one for sandwiches! However, you'll give yourself even more praise for this truly homemade sandwich ;-)

Enjoy!

Pork Soft Tacos with Cabbage & Corn Slaw

In our house, mexican food is a common dinner. It's easy to throw together, it's cheap, and there are many different things you can create. For us, it's usually burritos. If I'm feeling lazy I sautee all the veggies we'll be using, cook the meat and set everything out on the counter for everyone to make their own burrito as they like. If I have a bit more ambition I'll put the burritos together myself, roll them so that nothing falls out and place on a baking sheet, brush with a butter/olive oil mix and bake at 400 until crunchy on one side, flip and cook until the other side is crunchy and serve! They are a bit more... up-scale and the crunch makes you feel like you're eating a chimichanga! (I'll post one of these sometime soon...)

However, I was feeling a bit creative and wanted something new and different. So... I came up with these lovely tacos... Here's what you'll need...

Ingredients for Pork

3 boneless pork chops (cut into thin strips)

1/4 c salsa (any kind you have on hand will work)

1/2 tsp garlic

1/4 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp dried sage

1/4 tsp italian seasoning

salt & pepper

Ingredients for Slaw

1 c green cabbage (chopped into thin strips)

1/2 c corn (canned, frozen, or fresh is fine)

1/4 c veganaise (if you can tolerate dairy, use sour cream)

Avocado dressing or Avocado oil (or fresh chopped avocado...hmm that's an idea!)

1/4 c chopped cilantro + 1 tbsp

garlic

cumin

salt & pepper

To Prepare

In a medium bowl place all ingredients for pork and mix so that pork is throughly covered. Cover and place in fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours. When you are ready to cook transfer pork and marinade into a medium skillet (most of liquid should be soaked into pork, a little leftover in the bowl is fine...it ads flavor!). Cook until pork is cooked through. Set aside. 

In another bowl add cabbage, corn and 1 tbsp cilantro and mix. In a small bowl mix thoroughly the veganaise or sour cream, 1/4 c cilantro. Add spices to taste - if you like spicy add more cumin! Just before you are ready to serve mix slaw and dressing together to top the tacos. 

I used white corn tortillas (but be careful... they fall apart easily if packed to full!), add some of the pork mixture, top with the slaw and you are good to go! I didn't use beans or cheese, sadly because I can't tolerate either... but if you can have them give it a shot if you'd like. Personally, I think the flavor is delicious enough without beans or cheese but as I said before, you can cater mexican food to your liking!  We ate the tacos with fresh, juicy watermelon.. the spicy pork combines beautifully with the sweet watermelon and gives this dish the perfect summer feel. 

Enjoy!

BLT Quinoa Pasta + a Quinoa Sidenote

Quinoa is... an acquired taste. The first time I had it I wasn't exactly thrilled, but through trial and error I've come to love it and have learned what forms of it are best and the best ways it can be put to use :)

Exhibit #1: Quinoa Flakes
They are okay as a hot breakfast cereal as long as you add the right amount of sweetener, fruit and whatever milk you can tolerate. They are also GREAT to use in baking recipes, they can (for the most part) be substituted for oats if (like me) oats are not part of your diet. I really fell in love with quinoa flakes when I made Karina's Quinoa Breakfast Brownies from Gluten Free Goddess. Make them!! I promise you won't regret it :)

Exhibit #2: Quinoa, the grain
Unless you plan to use it for something sweet I've found that the best way to cook quinoa is with a broth rather than water. Quinoa is cooked similar to rice, a 1:2 ratio. I have only used chicken broth but I'm sure vegetable would be great too. If you're still a little hesitant about quinoa, check out my Summer Quinoa Salad and I'm sure you'll change your mind.

Exhibit #3: Quinoa Pasta
Simply delicious in any form... hot pasta, pasta salad, leftovers - you name it! Which brings me to the BLT Quinoa Salad...

The boys in my house were going to have one of those boxed mac 'n' cheese dinners but this one is from Paula Deen... Creamy Cheesy Bacon Shells... sounds pretty good right? I knew they'd want some extra bacon to throw in which made me think... well if they're having bacon so am I!!! While I was cooking the bacon I noticed the fresh garden tomatoes I had just gotten from my dad and thus... the BLT Quinoa pasta was born.

What you'll need 
Quinoa Pasta (any of your favorite type of pasta will work here)
Fresh Tomatoes
Baby Spinach
Bacon
Olive oil
Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Italian Seasoning
(*you'll notice I don't have specific measurements here, cook by taste! It turns out better and gives you more wiggle room)

Gather 3X the amount of spinach you actually want, it shrinks!

To Prepare
Cook bacon until crispy, then set aside. Cook quinoa pasta (takes 6 - 9 minutes), while cooking cut your tomatoes and gather spinach. Once pasta is cooked al dente drain and place back in warm pan but not over heat. Add about 2 tbsp olive oil to the pasta and immediately add the spinach. Stir and cover the spinach with the pasta, the heat of the pasta will wilt the spinach. Once wilted add the tomatoes and as much or as little spice as you'd like, and a little more olive oil. Serve in pasta bowls and top with crumbled bacon. This is a light, flavor-filled and nutritious meal made for a warm summer's night. Enjoy!

Hawaiian Meatballs with Red Pepper Mango Sauce

I have seen several recipes for sweet and sour meatballs, but all contained pineapple which I cannot have. I substituted with fresh mango and added spices as I went along - sometimes improvisation works better than set recipes! I hope you enjoy this fun, easy recipe as much as we did!

½ c diced white onion

1 lb ground beef

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

2 tsp minced ginger

1 tsp dried marjoram

½ tsp dried chives

1 tbsp olive oil

¾ c mango nectar

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 red bell pepper (cut into bite size pieces)

2 ripe mangos (cubed)

¼ c water

Prepare all produce – dice the onion, cut the pepper into bite size pieces (about ½ inch wide), cube the mango and set all aside.

Combine the onion through dried chives into a large bowl, mix thoroughly with hands and shape into meatballs (I got meatballs, some 1-inch wide some 1 ½ inch – choose the size you like). Warm olive oil into a large skillet, place meatballs in skillet and let brown on all sides until done (about 15 minutes).

Once cooked through, remove meatballs from plan and set aside. Drain excess grease from pan (keep any onions or caramelization that has formed). Place ½ c mango nectar into skillet and warm until simmers. While the nectar is warming mix the cornstarch and ¼ c cool water. Once nectar is simmering turn off heat and slowly add the cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly until thickens. Add the remaining mango nectar and red pepper to mixture and heat on low for 5-10 minutes, or until peppers have softened. Add meatballs to warm through and serve immediately.

*We enjoyed this meal with fresh corn on the cobb – try grilling your corn for an extra treat! The boys also had biscuits with this meal, any gluten free bread or muffin would accompany this dish wonderfully as well.  

Enjoy!

Spicy Pork Chops with Apple Chutney & Caramelized Zucchini

I found this recipe and after the first time making it I knew it was one to keep in the rotation! It comes from the wonderful Cooking Light magazine and guess what... it's already allergy free! You can modify it and incorporate different fruits along with the apple, or leave as is and let it melt you away... You can find the original recipe on My Recipes.

Chutney:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 5 cups (1/4-inch) cubed peeled apple (about 3 apples)
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 
  
• Pork:
• 3/4 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut pork loin chops, trimmed
• Cooking spray
• 
  
• To Prepare:

• 1. To prepare chutney, melt butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add apple; sauté 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Add cranberries and the next 6 ingredients (through allspice); bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until apples are tender; stir occasionally.
• 2. To prepare pork, while chutney simmers, heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Combine chipotle and next 4 ingredients (through black pepper); sprinkle over pork. Coat grill pan with cooking spray. Add pork to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until done. Serve with chutney.

*I usually only use two apples, cut into small pieces. This time I used only one and substituted two ripe plums for the raisins (delicious!) Prepare the chutney as usual but wait to add the plums until the end to avoid them becoming to mushy. 

Caramelized Zucchini

2 medium zucchini (cut into rounds about 1/4 inch thick)

1/3 c sliced onion

salt, pepper, garlic (and any other of your favorite seasonings)

Warm a large skillet and add a small slice of butter to coat the bottom of the pan. Dump in the onions and let cook until translucent and have browned. Set aside. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to the pan and place your zucchini flat on the pan, add your spices, then layer on the rest of the zucchini adding more spice to the top. Let cook on medium heat until you begin to see browning. Toss and turn until all zucchini are evenly cooked. Enjoy!