Recipe Review from 3/25/13

I fit in a couple new recipes this past week before I headed down to the Cities for my yearly SciFi convention.   I was able to find time to visit with the youngest Sis's family and this little guy!  He's all bundled up 'cause he's fighting an ear infection.

Easter 2013

[Turkey] Sausage and Spinach Lasagna (Ckng Lght Mar, 2013)  Can be vegetarian if substitute tempeh for sausage; Can be GF if substitute noodles and alternative thickener for the flour. 

My only substitute in this recipe was the Italian sausage - I can buy just 2 links in regular sausage whereas I have to buy a package of 6 in turkey.  I don't want 4 leftover sausages languishing in the freezer.  Otherwise, this does come together rather quickly.  While the white sauce is thickening, I got the spinach started (an aside - I do think a package of frozen spinach, thawed,  would work just as well in this dish as fresh), then just sauteed the sausage with the shallots and garlic rather than separately.  Seemed stupid to do otherwise.  I used 9 no-boil noodles as they weren't long enough to cover the end of the pan, so I just shortened three noodles for full coverage.

I really liked the flavors of this one. Not overwhelmingly 'sausagey' or cheesy, but a nice compliment of flavors.  Kitchen was cleaned up by the time we sat down to eat.  This will make about three meals for us - again, love the 7x11 size! 

photo by CookingLight.com

• 1.1 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 cup 1% low-fat milk
• 1 cup unsalted chicken stock (such as Swanson)
• 1 tablespoon canola oil 
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons water 
• 1 (12-ounce) package fresh spinach
• 2 (4-ounce) links hot turkey Italian sausage  (I used 2 links regular sausage)
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 6 no-boil lasagna noodles
• 1 1/2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 ounce shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 ounce fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through bay leaf) in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a whisk. Cook 8 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in salt and pepper. Spread 1 cup milk mixture in bottom of an 11 x 7-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons water and spinach to pan; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Drain spinach, pressing until barely moist. Increase heat to medium-high. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan; cook 4 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove sausage from pan. Add shallots and garlic to pan; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in remaining milk mixture, spinach, and cooked sausage. Remove pan from heat.
4. Arrange 2 noodles over milk mixture in baking dish; top with 1/2 cup ricotta and one-third spinach mixture. Repeat layers twice. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes. Remove foil.
5. Preheat broiler to high.
6. Broil 4 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes.

Krista Ackerbloom Montgomery, Cooking Light




South Indian Squash Curry (Penzey's Spring 2013 catalog)   GF, Vegetarian
I used squash instead of sweet potatoes because I had some in the freezer.  I halved the recipe because I was serving over rice and this was going to make a lot (full recipe listed below).  Besides, I don't think they meant one of my "large" squashes at 6lbs...

Anyway, this was a winner - it comes together so fast it's almost silly and there is even time to clean up the kitchen before sitting down for dinner.  I made some basmati rice ahead of time so it was waiting for the main dish.  My cilantro went compost-y so that was omitted.  The leftover can of coconut milk went into the next morning's smoothies.  A half recipe made enough for two meals for two of us. 

1 large butternut squash (or 4 medium sweet potatoes)  About 4 heaping cups squash.
1 TB. flaked almonds 
2 TB. oil (Jordan uses sunflower oil) 
2 medium onions, chopped 
1 tsp. GRANULATED GARLIC POWDER 
3 slices SLICED CHINA GINGER ROOT (or 1/2-1 tsp. GINGER POWDER) 
1 red chili, deseeded and sliced (or 1/2 tsp. CRUSHED RED PEPPERS) 
1 tsp. GROUND CORIANDER 
1 tsp. GROUND CUMIN 
1 tsp. BROWN MUSTARD SEEDS 
1/2 tsp. GROUND TURMERIC 
3/4 Cup coconut milk (about 1/2 of a standard 14.5 oz. can) 
1-11/2 Cups baby spinach, roughly chopped  
2 TB. fresh cilantro, chopped

1) Peel the squash or sweet potatoes. Discard the seeds and cut the flesh into 1-inch pieces. Toast the almonds in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat for 5-7 minutes and set aside. 

2) Heat the oil in a large saucepan and cook the onions until lightly browned, stirring regularly, 12-15 minutes. 

3) Add the GARLIC, GINGER, chili, CORIANDER, CUMIN, MUSTARD SEEDS and TURMERIC. Reduce heat to low and cook until fragrant, 3-5 minutes, stirring regularly.

4) Add the squash or sweet potatoes and coconut milk. Stir and cover, simmer for 20 minutes until just tender. 

5) Add the spinach and cilantro, and stir until the spinach is just wilted. Serve with rice, topped with almonds. Naan bread and a yogurt/cucumber/tomato raita salad are nice on the side.

Prep. time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 6