Recipe Reviews

So I made the first three recipes. The Spicy Cauliflower Stew turned out deliciously. The goat cheese gave it a great flavor. The second one didn't turn out as well. I used fat free milk instead of 1%, and so my creamy sauce didn't thicken the way it should have. Tonight I made the Vegetable Pie, and I had the same problem. I used less milk 'cause I thought that would help with the thickening, and it looked very promising until I baked it. The sauce got really thin during baking and lost all resemblance to the picture. It just looked watery. No creaminess. Next time I'll be sure to get 1%. I guess chemistry requires a little fat.

Now I'm making chocolate chip cookies. They never let me down. I've got that recipe down pat.

Tomorrow I'm going to a Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner hosted by some girls from work, and I'm making a butternut squash apple casserole. I hope it will be good. If not, I'll ply them with the cookies to distract them.

Recipes On Tap

Here are the four recipes that I'll be making this week (I figure since I cook for one I'll get two to three meals out of each dish):

1) Spicy Cauliflower Stew With Spinach - features carrots, cauliflower, red potatoes and spinach (from Time Life's Great Taste Low Fat Vegetables Cookbook). Flavored with garlic, dijon mustard, goat cheese, and yogurt.

2) Pasta With Vegetables In A Creamy Cheese Sauce - features scallions, bell peppers, cauliflower, and rotini (from Time Life's Great Taste Low Fat Vegetables Cookbook). Flavored with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and Cheddar and Parmesan cheeses.

3) Vegetable Pie - features potatoes, rutabaga, parsnips, mushrooms, pearl onions, carrots, and green beans (from Time Life's Great Taste Low Fat Vegetables recipe). Flavored with garlic, salt, black pepper, milk, sage, and Parmesan cheese.

4) Spicy Kale With Baked Salmon - features kale and onions flavored with vinegar and red pepper flakes (from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home). The salmon isn't from a recipe book (just my brain) so I'll probably just cook with olive oil and some 21 Spice from Trader Joe's.

So I'm pretty excited about making these delicious and nutritious meals! I hope that they turn out well.

A picture is worth a thousand words

I made these meatless lasagna rolls last Sunday. They were spectacular. Although, I would probably change the sauce that I used. Here's the recipe:
-10 lasagna rolls (I only ended up using 8)
-1 egg
-1 lb ricotta
-1&1/2 cups fresh mozzarella
-1/2 cup parmesan
-1 cup veggies, such as spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, tomatoes, finely chopped (I used more than a cup - two small-ish tomatoes, a handful of spinach, half a zucchini and about a half cup chopped broccoli)
-1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
-garlic salt and pepper to taste
-2 cups tomato sauce
1. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Drain.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a large bowl, combine egg, ricotta, half of the mozzarella, parmesan, veggies, parsley, garlic salt, and pepper. Mix well.
4. Spread the noodles out on a cutting board. Spread a thin layer of the veggie mixture evenly over each noodle.
5. Starting at one end, roll up each noodle.
6. In a shallow baking dish, spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce on the bottom.
7. Add the rolls, seam side down, so they don't unroll and fall apart. Add remaining tomato sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese on top of the rolls.
8. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until cooked through and cheese is melted.