Roasted Spring Vegetable Risotto

Roasted Spring Vegetable Risotto (from AllRecipes, Servings: 8, Total Time: 1 hour)

Ingredients

·         1 lb. asparagus, cut into 2-inch lengths

·         2 cups whole baby carrots cut in lengthwise quarters

·         6 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

·         3 medium assorted peppers (yellow, red, green), cut into 1-inch strips

·         2 medium zucchini or yellow squash, cut into diagonal slices (I used zucchini)

·         1 cup halved fresh medium mushrooms

·         2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary leaves

·         3 ½ cups vegetable broth

·         1 Tbsp. olive oil

·         1 1/3 cups uncooked Arborio rice

·         ½ cup shredded Italian Five Cheese

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray 17x11-inch roasting pan with cooking spray.

2.       Mix asparagus, carrots, onions, peppers, squash, mushrooms, rosemary and ¼ cup broth in prepared pan.

3.       Roast 20 minutes or until done, stirring once. Prepare risotto while the vegetables are roasting.

4.       Heat oil in saucepot. Add rice. Cook and stir for 2 minutes.

5.       Add ½ cup broth and cook until broth is absorbed. Add remaining broth, ½ cup at a time, stirring until all broth is absorbed before adding more. (Total cooking time: 25 minutes)

6.       Add vegetables and cheese. Heat through. Serve immediately.

First off, I love this dish! Yum, yum, yum! My husband enjoyed it too.  With that said, I think that the recipe needs to be tweaked slightly.  If you use the size of veggies recommended, you need to roast for more than 20 minutes – maybe even up to 30 minutes.  The next time that I make it, I will probably chop all of the veggies smaller, more of a rough chop.  That is just the size that I would prepare in this risotto dish.  There are a lot of veggies, and I actually only put in about half because I knew that my husband would want more of the rice part.  I used the remainder as a “base” for my risotto!  More veggies for me!

Now, for the taste – even though there is only ½ cup of cheese, this was creamy and I could see the stringy cheese each time I brought a forkful to my mouth.  The rice was cooked through with only a slight crunch to it. The veggies were really crunchy (see above recommendation), a little too much for my husband, but I liked them that way.  Overall assessment – I cannot wait to make this again!

Sauceless Garden Lasagna

Sauceless Garden Lasagna (from AllRecipes, Servings: 6, Total Time: approx.. 1 hour)

Ingredients

·         1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced

·         1/3 cup chopped red onion

·         1 cup shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese, divided

·         ½ cup crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese

·         2 Portobello mushrooms, sliced into small pieces

·         4 cups fresh baby spinach

·         ¼ cup chopped fresh basil

·         1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano

·         3 cloves garlic, minced

·         3 Tbsp. olive oil

·         ¼ cup balsamic vinegar

·         1 tsp. sugar

·         ½ tsp. salt

·         ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

·         1 (8 oz.) package no-boil lasagna noodles

·         9 roma (plum) tomatoes, thinly sliced

Directions

1.      Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly coat a 9x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

2.      In a large bowl, toss together the zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, garlic, red onion, ½ cup mozzarella, and feta. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, stir in basil, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

3.      Place a layer of lasagna noodles into the bottom of the prepared pan. Make a layer of tomato slices over the noodles. Spread a generous amount of the spinach mixture over the tomatoes. (NOTE: it shrinks a lot while cooking.) Layer slices of tomatoes over the spinach mixture, then another layer of noodles. Start with another layer of tomatoes on top of the noodles, and repeat layers until ending with the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle remaining cheese on the top.

4.      Bake for 35 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until noodles, and vegetables are tender. Let stand for a few minutes to set, then slice and serve.

First, I’ll say that this dish is not too pretty to look at – the cooked spinach looks a little mushy.  But the taste is there, for the most part.  I think that there is a little too much balsamic vinegar and it slightly overpowers the taste – I recommend either less vinegar, or adding more olive oil.  The dish does become quite large, and I only used 3 cups of spinach and bout 1/3 of the box of lasagna noodles (it would have overflowed the pan with 4 cups of spinach and the whole box of noodles).  One other change I recommend making – remove the skins from the tomatoes, I had some stringy parts in mine.

The zucchini and red onions remain crisp, which adds a nice texture component compared to the softness of the other ingredients.  Surprisingly, the tomatoes were a little crisp too (probably because they were not fully ripe when we bought them).  My husband was OK with the dish, but did not eat any of the leftovers.  The above veggies also remain crisp upon reheating.  Enjoy!

Lasagna-Stuffed Mushrooms

Lasagna-Stuffed Mushrooms (adapted from AllRecipes, Total Time: 50 min., Servings: 2)

Ingredients

·         ¼ lb. Morningstar Farms Mealstarters burger crumbles

·         ½ cup fat-free small curd cottage cheese (I used a ½ cup mixture of shredded 5 Cheese Italian and Italian Pizza cheese)

·         1 egg

·         2 Tbsp. chopped green pepper

·         1 Tbsp. finely chopped green onion

·         1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

·         salt and black pepper to taste

·         ¼ cup prepared pasta sauce, divided

·         6 large fresh mushrooms, or more as needed, stems removed

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray an 8x8-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

2.     Cook and stir the crumbles in a skillet over medium heat, breaking apart as it cooks, about 10 minutes.

3.     Mix together the cheeses, egg, green pepper, green onion, parsley, and salt and pepper in a bowl until the mixture is well combined. Stir in the cooked crumbles.

4.     Place the mushrooms, hollow sides up, close together in the prepared baking dish. Spoon about 1 Tbsp. of the filling into the cavity of each mushroom, and allow remaining filling to overflow between mushrooms.

5.     Bake in the preheated oven until the filling is set, about 15 minutes.

6.     Remove dish from oven, and spread the pasta sauce evenly over the mushrooms. Return the dish to the oven, and cook about 5 more minutes.

7.     Let the mushrooms stand 5 minutes before serving.

Well, my mushrooms were kind of lasagna-stuffed.  The cottage cheese that we had in the refrigerator was not usable, so I used a mixture of 5 Cheese Italian and Italian Pizza Cheese.  Yummy!  I'm sure it would be tasty with cottage cheese as well.

I used portabella mushrooms and Tomato & Basil pasta sauce for this dish.  I thought that it tasted good and cheesy!  Next time, I will probably marinate the mushrooms in some balsamic vinaigrette, just to add to the overall tastiness.  Enjoy!

Italian Veggie Rolls

Italian Veggie Rolls (slightly adapted from AllRecipes, Servings: 6, Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 cup chopped mushrooms

·         ½ onion, diced

·         1 cup shredded carrots

·         1 cup green peas

·         1 cup chopped broccoli

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         ¼ cup dry red wine

·         2 cups shredded Italian pizza cheese

·         1 egg

·         2 Tbsp olive oil

·         ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

·         1 (16 oz.) package lasagna noodles – I only used about ½ to ¾ of the noodles in the package

·         1 (26 oz.) jar spaghetti sauce

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2.      Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Rinse, drain, set aside.

3.      Heat oil in a medium sauté pan. Add mushrooms, onions, carrots, peas, and broccoli; sauté over medium heat until tender. Add wine and garlic; cook five minutes, or until wine has just about evaporated. Remove from heat, and cool for ten minutes.

4.      In a medium bowl combine vegetable mixture, Italian cheese, 2 Tbsp. Parmesan, and egg. Mix well.

5.      Pour ¼ of the sauce into the bottom of a 13x9x2 inch baking pan. Spread 1/3 cup vegetable mixture over each lasagna noodle then carefully roll up the noodle. Place seam side down in dish. When finished placing all the noodles in the pan, pour remaining pasta sauce evenly over noodles. Cover with aluminum foil.

6.      Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

7.      Uncover, and sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese over noodles. Bake, uncovered, 5 more minutes.

My husband and I both enjoyed this dish very much.  It did take some time to assemble the rolls and some of the filling fell out when I was making them, but I think that it was worth it.  The mixture was tasty and I would not make any additional changes to it (though the original calls for mozzarella and I used Italian pizza cheese – I just think it has more flavor).  This is a great way to mix vegetables into a pasta dish.

Sicilian Lentil Pasta Sauce

Sicilian Lentil Pasta Sauce (slightly adapted from AllRecipes, Servings: 8, Total Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes)

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• ½ cup chopped onion
• 1 cup fresh sliced mushrooms
• 1 small zucchini, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup dry lentils
• 3 cups water
• 2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
• 1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
• 1 ½ teaspoons white sugar
• ½ cup water

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, mushrooms, zucchini, and garlic. Cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Add lentils and 3 cups water to vegetables. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 45 to 60 minutes.
3. Stir in tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, and ½ cup water (if needed). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. If necessary, add more water to keep the sauce from sticking. Be careful not to dilute; the sauce should be quite thick.

Neither my husband nor I found this dish to our liking.  There wasn’t much flavor and it needed some cheese, garlic powder, or other Italian seasoning to make it, well, edible.  It does meet my desire for healthy food with the lentils and vegetables, but I don’t like to sacrifice taste one bit.  I don’t think that I will be making this dish again.  I’d rather try out some different recipes.

Corny Spaghetti

Corny Spaghetti (slightly adapted from AllRecipes, Servings: 6, Total Time: 30-45 minutes, depending on how fast you chop veggies)

Ingredients

·         10 ounces thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta

·         2 tablespoons margarine

·         ¼ cup red onion, chopped

·         2-3 cloves garlic, minced

·         2 medium or 3 small zucchini, chopped

·         10 oz. button mushrooms, chopped

·         ¼ cup red wine

·         1 (16 oz.) jar pasta sauce (I used the Barilla Vineyard brand)

·         1 (15 oz.) can sweet whole kernel corn, drained

Directions

1.      Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente; drain.

2.      While pasta is cooking, in large skillet over medium heat, melt butter.  Sauté onions 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and zucchini and cook 3 minutes.  Add mushrooms and cook 5 minutes, or until mushrooms are soft.

3.      Pour in red wine and pasta sauce, reduce heat to low and simmer.

4.      Add corn and bring back to a simmer again to heat through.

5.      Serve sauce over pasta, or toss together.

As is, I did not find this recipe that tasty.  The sauce is very thick, but does coat the pasta.  It is a nice way to get in some healthy vegetables, but it needs something a little more – maybe some oregano or basil.  I did add a little grated parmesan cheese to the top of my leftovers and it was so much better!  Little enhancements can go a long way!  It did take a long time for me to chop all of the vegetables, which is why I increased the total time to 30-45 minutes.  My husband did enjoy this dish, even without adding cheese!

Spinach Mushroom Lasagna

I wanted to try this recipe because I am a huge fan of roasted red peppers, cheese, and pasta.  This seemed like it would be a pretty good mix.  The lasagna is very filling and healthy for a pasta dish – and the fat and calorie content can be controlled depending on your choice of ricotta and parmesan.  I did enjoy it and it made a ton of leftovers – I actually had to freeze about half of it because we just couldn’t eat it all!

Spinach Mushroom Lasagna (expected time 2 hours, 12+ servings)

(adapted from Kraft Foods)

Ingredients

1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce – I used a tomato/basil marinara.  Your choice in sauce will affect the overall taste of the dish, so choose wisely!

2 large  red peppers, roasted, seeded and peeled – I used canned roasted red peppers.  Much easier.

1 egg, beaten

2-1/2 cups  Light Ricotta Cheese

2-1/2 cups Shredded part-skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided

1 pkg.  (16 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry

1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided

1/2 tsp.  ground nutmeg

12 lasagna noodles

2 tsp.  olive oil

1 large sweet onion, chopped

1 lb.  fresh mushrooms, sliced

Directions

1.)    Heat oven to 350ºF.

2.)    Cook lasagna noodles as directed on package, omitting salt.

3.)    Blend spaghetti sauce and peppers in blender until smooth.

4.)    Combine egg, ricotta, 1-1/4 cups mozzarella, spinach, 1/4 cup Parmesan and nutmeg.

5.)    Meanwhile, heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add onions; cook and stir 5 min. or until crisp-tender. Stir in mushrooms; cook 10 min. or until tender and browned.

6.)    Spread 3/4 cup sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; top with layers of 3 lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, 1/3 of the mushroom mixture and 3/4 cup sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining noodles, sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover with foil sprayed with cooking spray.

7.)    Bake 1 hour or until heated through, removing foil after 45 min. Let stand 15 min. before serving.

I cooked my noodles with a half dry red wine – half water mixture.  It adds just a touch of a wine taste to the noodles.  This dish needed something extra.  It was OK as is, but a little garlic powder and cayenne pepper on the leftovers helped its taste tremendously.  Next time, I’ll probably add these two spices into the ricotta mixture – or sauté a few garlic cloves with the onions.  This should make this dish tastier.  The spinach and mushrooms were also slightly overwhelming. I will use only 10 oz. of spinach in my future endeavors and chop the mushrooms instead of using slices.  That should definitely help keep the focus on the overall lasagna and not its component parts.

Ricotta, Spinach, Tomato, & Mushroom Pizza

Ricotta, Spinach, & Mushroom Pizza (6 servings, total time approx. 45 minutes)

(adapted from Kraft Recipes and AllRecipes)

Yummy deliciousness!  Thick pizza crust (just the way I like it) and tasty toppings.  Cannot wait to make it again and again (while trying different toppings, too).

Ingredients

• Crust:

• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• Toppings:

o       1-1/2 cups shredded Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided

o       ¾ cup Part Skim Ricotta Cheese

o       ¼ cup grated Parmesan Cheese

o       1 tsp. dried basil leaves, crushed

o       ½ tsp. dried oregano leaves, crushed

o       ¼ tsp. garlic salt

o       ¼ tsp. ground black pepper

o       1 cup fresh spinach leaves, torn and patted dry

o       ½ cup fresh mushrooms, chopped and patted dry

o       1-2 roma tomatoes, sliced and patted dry

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Stir water, sugar and yeast together until dissolved. Add the olive oil and the salt. Stir in the flour until well blended. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
3. Pat dough onto a pizza stone.
4. Mix 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and seasonings; spread evenly onto pizza crust.
5. Top with spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, and remaining ½ cup mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and edge of crust are slightly browned.

The center of my crust took a little long to bake, so I added “patted dry” to the vegetable ingredients. I also added some vegetarian pepperoni to the top of my pizza because I had some leftover.  If you’re looking to increase protein, you can add the pepperoni, burger crumbles, or crumbled sausage-less sausage (either Trader Joe’s or Morningstar Farms would be my preference).

I like that this is a cheesy pizza, but it also very filling.  The thick crust (which is very thick even though I rolled it out to almost the edge of the pizza stone) and vegetables on top help the filling of fullness – I only needed one slice!  The ricotta/mozzarella mixture is quite tasty and works well with the veggies that I used.  A healthy pizza which is also tasty = a winner in my book!