One day, while surfing Foodbuzz’s “Daily 9”, a photo called the Greatest Vegetable Lasagna in the World caught my eye. I clicked on it and scanned the recipe, the blogger was from Iceland (if I remember correctly) and linked to two sites that inspired her adaptation. The photo at Ezra Pound Cake resulted in a Pavlovian response of instantaneous salivation and made me determined to develop my own mouth-watering rendition.

Preparing all the components for lasagna can be time-consuming, but if you love losagna, it’s totally worth it! I had a rainy afternoon to dedicate to it and there are shortcuts* that can save you time, yet don’t sacrifice taste. This dish is meatless but is chock-full of flavor with a bit of a punch from the Arrabiata sauce.

Veggie Lasagna with Arrabiata Sauce

1 pkg. organic oven-ready lasagna*
2 -25 oz. jars prepared organic Arrabiata Sauce*
(one for additional sauce at the table)
1-16 oz. container part-skim ricotta cheese
½ c. prepared pesto sauce
2 T. olive oil
8- oz. grated mozzarella

Vegetables:
2 medium eggplants, cut crosswise into ½ inch rounds
4 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise into ¼ inch slices
2 red or yellow peppers, cored and seeded
½ onion, sliced
¼ c. olive oil
1-16 oz. pkg. prewashed spinach, steamed and drained

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two cookie sheets with oil. Brush the vegetables with olive oil. Roast in batches, turning once – about 5 minutes per side or until softened. The peppers need to roast until the skin is blackened. Allow to cool, then remove the skin and slice into strips.

2. In a glass bowl, mix the ricotta with pesto sauce and 2 T. olive oil.

3. Spray a 13×9 baking or lasagna pan with oil. Spread sauce to cover the bottom of the pan. Layer with lasagna, overlapping the pieces. Then a layer of ricotta – use a rubber spatula to spread. Followed by a layer of vegetables, then topped with half of the grated mozzarella. Spoon more sauce on top and repeat layering, ending up with mozzarella and spoonfuls of sauce.
Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, allow the lasagna to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

I served the lasagna on a bed of spinach which was meant to be included IN the lasagna Heat additional sauce to spoon over lasagna at the table.

Enjoy

* Note: these are shortcuts that can make preparation of this dish less labor intensive. Also, I always suggest buying organic for all ingredients.

So many of us have made resolutions, set goals, voiced intentions, or whatever you wish to call it, to eat healthier this year; and I’m no exception. My intention is to eat less meat and I’ve challenged myself to cook more vegetarian meals that my family, and yours, will find pleasing to the eye and the taste buds, whether they be the young, the finicky, or the only-meat-and-potatoes type.

Primavera means “spring” in Italian and Pasta Primavera is a pasta dish with a variety of vegetables; perfect for a quick dinner, it is a cinch to prepare and great for using whatever is in the fridge.

Pasta Primavera

8 oz. Barilla multi-grain rotini, penne, or spaghetti pasta

12 oz. grape tomatoes, sliced lengthwise

2 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and chopped

8 oz. package spinach

½ onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

red pepper flakes

Prepare 8 oz. of  pasta according to package directions.  Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of oil, sprinkled with red pepper flakes, sauté spinach over medium heat for two minutes, turning to expose heat to top leaves. Remove and set aside.  Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and sauté onions over medium heat until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes, stir in garlic. Add tomatoes and cook until softened and juices make a sauce.

Place the drained pasta back in the pasta pot, top with tomato sauce, add spinach, toss. Sprinkle with grated parmesan if desired and serve.

Serves 4.

Note: If you’re not interested in meatless, add pancetta or crumbled or sliced Italian sausage. Remember recipes are just a jumping off point for your creativity!

Eating Hoppin’ John blackeyed peas is a Southern New Years tradition to bring good luck and, with the addition of greens which represent money, prosperity in the new year.  According to Wikipedia these “good luck” traditions date back to the Civil War, when Union troops, especially in areas targeted by General Sherman, typically stripped the countryside of all stored food, crops, and livestock, and destroyed whatever they couldn’t carry away. At that time, Northerners considered “field peas” and field corn suitable only for animal fodder, and didn’t steal or destroy these humble foods.

I figured that posting a Hoppin’ John recipe as my first of  2010 was so very appropriate because: (1) blackeyed peas fit right in with a recession budget,  (2) good intentions to eat healthier, and (3) football.  How’s that, you might ask?  Well, black eyed peas are really beans not peas and beans, whether dried or canned, are very inexpensive.  Beans are also packed full of protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.  (If you’d like more specific information on the health benefits of beans and legumes visit the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.)  As far as (3) football, I’ve adapted this economical and nutritious dish to appeal to sports fans and folks who have only a fleeting interest in nutrition by substituting them for black beans in that all-time favorite:  NACHOS.

The Bowl games may be over but there’s plenty of football yet to come, so bookmark or print this to serve as one of your munchies during the  playoff games and/or the Super Bowl on Sunday, January 31st.

The addition of corn in a black eyed pea salsa recipe, aptly named Recession Caviar from Foodie with Family, works well for those unfamiliar with blackeyed peas.  Hoppin’ John is tasty served as a salsa or spooned on top of chips and sprinkled with cheese for nachos.

Hoppin’ John

1 cup blackeyed peas

1 cup frozen corn

2-3 fresh Anaheim green chiles or jalapenos* (or 1 – 4 oz. can)

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. chopped fresh cilantro

1 T. olive oil

1 t. chili or cajun spice

Juice from 1 fresh lime

salt & pepper

Seed and chop the chiles. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.  Allow flavors to meld for at least an hour.  Serve with tortilla chips as a salsa or spread salsa over chips, sprinkle with shredded cheese and bake at 450 degrees until cheese melts, about 10 minutes. (The salsa is vegan, the nachos have cheese, so are not.)

*use jalapenos if you like it spicy, green chiles for mild

There’s been a lot of talk about brussel sprouts this past week:  about children wanting to eat them (for real!) and a mom who just can’t stomach it, to Thanksgiving recipes for the cruciferous veggie (how did brussel sprouts become a Thanksgiving tradition anyway?).  In response to the parents commenting on the Whrll slideshow I challenged myself to find a recipe that children, and adults – admit it, the hate starts here, could enjoy, maybe…

But first, the Photo of the Week:

Did you know that brussel sprouts grew like this?  I didn’t, but now the fact that they belong to the cabbage family, along with broccoli and cauliflower, becomes more clear to me.  Kids are always curious about where things come from so I think they would be intrigued by this photo. I found the real thing at Trader Joes in case you want to buy some yourself.

Now the recipe, from Cat Cora of  Top Chef fame:

Ingredients
3 pounds Brussels sprouts 
¼ cup unsalted butter 
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Kosher salt 
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
4 tablespoons capers 
2 tablespoons lemon juice 
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Directions
Prepare the brussel sprouts by peeling off the tired outside leaves and cutting off the stem. Mark the core where the stem was with an X using a paring knife. Cut the sprouts in half.

In a 4 quart sauce pan bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Season with 1 tablespoon of salt. Blanch the sprouts for 10 minutes, or until fork tender.

In a 10 inch sauté pan, brown the butter and add in the sprouts. Cook on medium high heat, rolling the sprouts in the pan, until the sprouts are caramelized, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat, and add the capers and lemon juice. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Serves 4 to 6

* I cut the recipe in half – my little family was not going to eat 3 ½ lbs. of brussel sprouts : )