Recipe Review from 1/10/11

Kale Lasagna Diavolo (Vegetarian Times, Jan/Feb 2011)

A most excellent dish.  This came together surprisingly quickly - especially if you use the no-boil noodles.  While the water is coming to a boil to blanch the kale, I had chopped some onion (my addition) and the garlic and started them sauteing.  Quickly mashed together the goat cheese and ricotta, de-stemmed the kale and tossed in for two minutes, sprayed the casserole dish, and then assembled.  I think I had to wait a few minutes for tomato sauce to simmer a bit more.

Downside - this did use a fair amount of dishes.  Upside - once in the oven, I could wash everything and still have time to set the table.  I didn't think the sauce was a 'spicy' as the recipe led me to believe, but that could have been because I just used the full 28oz can rather than measure out 2 cups.  I like my Italian saucy and I had no idea what I was going to do with leftover puree.  I should have upped the garlic and pepper flakes.

Oil for pan and pot
1 8oz bunch kale, stems removed

1 15 oz pkg fat free ricotta cheese (I used part-skim)

4 oz chevere or soft goat cheese, softened
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup onion (my addition)
2 cups prepared tomato puree
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
6-8 lasagna noodles cooked and drained OR
      no-boil lasagna noodles (I used 8 no-boil)
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese

1) Preheat over to 400*; Coat 8" square baking pan with cooking spray.

2) Cook kale in large pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes.  Drain and rinse under cold water until cool to touch.  Thoroughly wring out kale then chop.  Season with salt and pepper if desired and set aside.  (I skipped seasoning.)

3) Mash together ricotta and chevere in bowl; set aside.

4) Heat oil in small saucepan over medium-low heat; add garlic (and onion).  Cook until [softened] and fragrant.  Add tomato puree and red pepper flakes; simmer 5 minutes or until thickened.

5) Spread 1/4 cup sauce in prepared dish.  Place 2-3 lasagna noodles on top of sauce.  Top with half of cheese mixture, half of kale, and 1/3 cup sauce.  Top with 2-3 more noodles, remaining cheese and kale.  Top with remaining noodles and cover with sauce. **  Sprinkle with Parmesan and bake 40 minutes or until cheese has melted and lasagna is bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving

**If using no-boil noodles, don't add Parmesan but cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes.  Remove aluminum foil, top with cheese, and bake remaining 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce bubbly.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving


Pork and Wild Rice Soup  (Ckng Lght Dec 2010)

photo from Cookinglight.com

This turned out just...okay.  I think it was too brothy for our tastes - we like our soups on the creamier side.  It certainly wasn't hard to assemble - chop pork, saute until lightly browned.  Set aside. Saute veggies (I added some yellow pepper that was in need of being used up) and rice,  add water, broth and pork and simmer until rice is cooked.  I think if I had added some flour when sauteing the veggies it would have made a big difference - more creamy, less broth.  Flavor was good; with 2 Serrano chilies it definitely had some zing. 

I also skipped the avocado and cheese.  The flavors and texture just seemed out of place on a broth soup. 

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 1/3 cups soup)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 pound pork tenderloin sirloin steak, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces  (tenderloin is too expensive for soup, IMO) 
1/3 cup brown and wild rice blend

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 of yellow pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Serrano chiles, seeded and minced
1 cup water
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1 (32-ounce) carton fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
1 (15-ounce) can black beans  navy beans,  rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons crumbled queso fresco
1 sliced peeled avocado
24 baked tortilla chips

Preparation
1. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown pork on all sides. Remove from pan.

2. Heat remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add rice, onion, garlic, and chiles; sauté 3 minutes or until onion is tender. Add pork, 1 cup water, oregano, broth, and beans; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in cilantro, juice, salt, and pepper; simmer 2 minutes. Top each serving with cheese, avocado, and chips.