Here’s a cool twist on vegetarian lasagna: in addition to vegetables like zucchini and carrots, red lentils provide an unexpected texture and a boost in protein. The recipe comes from Fitness Food — this book continues to be a source of interesting, healthy meals.

I like nights that you cook.

Lisa says:

Why’s that?

Chris says:

You choose recipes that I probably wouldn’t have.

Lisa says:

Ha, you wouldn’t have picked this one? Why not?

Chris says:

Dunno; just didn’t sound appealing to mein ears.

Lisa says:

Yet, and guess what happened?

Chris says:

I know, I freaking love it!

Lisa says:

Me too — so different. I’ve been in the mood for lasagna for a while now. We never make it!

Chris says:

Well if they turn out like this, I’m all for more.

Lisa says:

You know, I like nights that I cook, too.

Chris says:

Why’s that?

Lisa says:

I don’t have to do the dishes.

Red Lentil & Vegetable Lasagna
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stalk celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1/2 cup red lentils
2 15-oz cans chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
2 cups low-fat ricotta (or sub with cottage cheese)
1/2 cup skim milk
9 instant lasagna noodles
3 handfuls basil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup low-fat grated cheddar

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the onion and garlic, and cook over low heat until softened. Stir in the celery, carrot, and zucchini and cook for 2 more minutes.
Add the lentils, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, and oregano. Add 3 cups of water, stir, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 40 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked. Stir frequently, and season to taste with salt and pepper. While the lentils are cooking, preheat the oven to 350F.
Combine the ricotta and milk in a bowl. Spoon half the lentil sauce into a 9 x 10 ovenproof dish. Top with 3 lasagna noodles, then half of the ricotta/milk mixture. Cover with the basil leaves. Top with 3 more lasagna noodles, then spread the remaining lentil mixture over the top. Top with the remaining lasagna noodles.
Beat the egg into the remaining half of the ricotta/milk mixture. Spread the surface with the ricotta mixture and cover with the cheese. Bake for 40 minutes. If the top starts to dry out, sprinkle with water.
Top with additional basil ribbons.

6 Servings

I adapted this recipe from Fitness Food, omitting the ham and white wine (didn’t have any on hand — added more shrimp and broth), and replacing the peas with chopped green beans (ditto — use what you got, folks!). I guess you can’t really call this a true paella as it uses long-grain basmati rice instead of bomba or calasparra, but the method is pretty similar, and hey — you cook it in a paella pan.

Let’s eat!

Lisa says:

…wait, this is just four servings?

Chris says:

Sho’nuff… Fitness Food and Great Bowls of Fire seem to have quite a few of the generous-portion dishes.

Lisa says:

Wow, that’s awesome. It’s really delicious in my mouth.

Chris says:

Well, good, because that’s where it’s supposed to be.

Lisa says:

I heart anything with mushrooms.

Chris says:

Totally! Also, I’ve noticed we’ve been making pretty colorful dishes lately.

Lisa says:

You know what else I like?

Chris says:

What’s that? The saffron?

Lisa says:

Knowing that I’m going to enjoy tomorrow night’s dinner — these leftovers!

Paella-Style Rice with Shrimp and Veggies
2 tsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 serrano pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 red onion, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups basmati rice
1 tsp paprika
pinch saffron threads
1 zucchini, diced
4 oz cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 tomatoes, grated (skins discarded)
5 1/2 cups hot vegetable stock
1/2 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on
3/4 cup green beans, chopped
1 handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped, to garnish

Heat the oil in a deep paella pan at least 12-inches across the bottom and 2 1/2 inches deep. Add the garlic, serrano pepper, and ginger and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add the onion and red bell pepper and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes, or until softened.
Stir in the rice, paprika, saffron, and 1/2 cup of the broth. Cook, stirring, until the broth is absorbed. Add the zucchini, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Add the remaining stock (or as much as will fit in the pan) and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Arrange the shrimp over the rice, pressing them in a bit. Cover tightly with foil and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the shrimp and rice are fully cooked. Stir in the green beans and top with the parsley.

4 generous servings

Another easy recipe from Barefoot in Paris — this time, a simple side dish to contribute to a recent dinner gathering. Our garden is still producing tomatoes and zucchini, and we had some veggies left over from our last CSA box, so we adapted the recipe to use those up — the only item we didn’t have on hand was the potatoes. A casserole dish is filled with softened onions, then the vegetables are packed in a single layer on top, roasted, topped with shredded gruyere, and baked again until browned. Awesome.

Holy crap, are you sure we have to bring this over?

Chris says:

What do you mean?

Lisa says:

Can’t we just eat it all now and claim we forgot to bring something?

Chris says:

Bzzzzt… too late, I already told them what we were planning on bringing.

Lisa says:

Dammit! Okay, but I’m not going to be able to wait very long before digging in.

Chris says:

Well don’t dig in yet, I gotta take a picture first, and this is a pretty dish!

Lisa says:

Okay, but I’m just sayin’… the clock is ticking.

Vegetable Tian
Olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, cut in half and sliced
1 large shallot, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb yukon gold potatoes, unpeeled
2 medium zucchini
1 patty pan squash
2 large carrots
1 pound medium tomatoes
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, plus extra sprigs
2 oz Gruyere cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Brush a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking dish with olive oil. In a medium saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook the onions over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Spread the onion mixture on the bottom of the baking dish.

Slice the potatoes, zucchini, squash, carrots, and tomatoes in 1/4-inch thick slices. Layer them alternately in the dish on top of the onions, fitting them tightly, making only 1 layer. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme leaves, and thyme sprigs and drizzle with 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Uncover the dish, remove the thyme sprigs, sprinkle the cheese on top, and bake for another 30 minutes until browned.

4 side-dish servings

Before we get to the couscous, I wanted to let Android and iPhone users know that starting today you’ll see a new, faster-loading version of this site when viewing with your mobile browser. You’ll still be able to leave comments, search, and access everything as usual, but in a more convenient, better-formatted version.  This is accomplished with the excellent WPTouch plugin, which automagically detects your  browser and displays the mobile version.  If you wish to use the full-featured version, you can click the link at the bottom of the page.  Enjoy!  Okay, back to it…

This simple recipe comes from Barefoot in Paris, which we inherited from Megan before she started tramping across the globe. Carrots, squash, zucchini, and onion are oven-roasted and then mixed with a richly-flavored couscous prepared butter, chicken stock, and saffron threads.  It’s supposed to serve as a side dish, but we had it on its own, without feeling like we were missing out on the main event.

…don’t forget to mention how buttery it tastes!

Chris says:

Wow, we haven’t even star–

Lisa says:

So buttery!

Chris says:

Geez! Yeah, it’s buttery, and combined with the saffron makes for nice, intense flavoring. I really like it.

Lisa says:

And all the veggies either came from the back yard or the CSA box, that’s always fun.

Chris says:

Yep — I do like not having to do special shopping trips for what would otherwise be a really quick dinner.

Lisa says:

Okay, you finish typing this up, I’m going back to this buttery, saffron-y delicous dish.

Chris says:

I’m gonna be done, too — so I can get some goodness myself.

Moroccan Couscous
2 cups diced butternut squash
2 cups chopped yellow onion (2 onions)
1 1/2 cups diced carrots (4 carrots)
1 1/2 cups diced zucchini (2 medium)
2 tbsp (30 mL) good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp saffron threads
1 1/2 cups couscous
2 scallions, white and green parts,chopped

Preheat oven to 375 F.
Place the butternut squash, onions, carrots and zucchini on a baking sheet and toss with the olive oil, 2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender, turning once with a spatula.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil and turn off the heat. Add the butter, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, the cumin and saffron threads and allow to steep for at least 15 minutes.

Bring the chicken stock just back to a boil. Place couscous and cooked vegetables in a bowl and pour the hot chicken stock over them. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let stand for 15 minutes. Add the scallions, toss the couscous and vegetables with a fork and serve warm or at room temperature.

6 Side-Dish Servings

This recipe from Mccormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant Cookbook was deeeelicious and a great summer meal. We needed the grill on for the fish anyway, so we grilled the corn on the cob for the pan salsa. The recipe as written in the book uses a lot more butter and store-bought salsa, but we had just received tomatillos in our CSA box so I decided to make a roasted tomatillo salsa and use that instead.

Hey, it’s Black Bean Mountain!

Chris says:

Yes, but look what you get to eat at the summit.

Lisa says:

Mmmm… if only this was served at the top of *real* mountains…

Chris says:

Pretty good, huh? That corn salsa is good, and I’m glad I made that tomatillo salsa to go with.

Lisa says:

Yeah I’m a big fan of this one.

Chris says:

Can’t really go wrong with grilled fish — well, unless you overcook it…

Lisa says:

…which you didn’t, so no worries.

Chris says:

I heart summer!

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Pan-Roasted Corn Salsa and Black Beans
2 6-oz mahi mahi fillets
4 oz barbecue sauce
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup finely diced green bell pepper
1 cup corn, fresh off the cob
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup Roasted Green Tomatillo Salsa
1 28-oz can black beans, warmed

Grill the mahi mahi, basting frequently with the barbecue sauce. Meanwhile, saute the onions, peppers, and corn in the butter until cooked but still firm. Season with the cumin, salt, pepper, and lime juice. Add the tomatillo salsa. Toss to blend. Place a mound of the black beans in the center of each plate and top with the mahi mahi fillets and corn salsa.