Skillet Lasagna

I love my mother's lasagna. It's one of the few tomato-based Italian meals that I would tolerate growing up. (This means that I would eat the noodles and cheese covered in sauce but the meat was passed on to my lucky parents.) It can be a time consuming process but the flavors blending together is certainly worth it.

Last year I saw this recipe for a non-traditional, broken-pattern lasagna on A Foodie in Utah's blog. It looked really good and I wanted to try it but for one reason or another it didn't make it to our kitchen until this week.

I like that we didn't have to heat the oven and the recipe was easy to follow. The next time I make it I'm going to use my canned tomatoes to give it a little more taste of home. The original recipe calls for "meatloaf mix" which is a blend of beef, pork, and veal but my local grocer didn't have this. If you can't find prepackaged "meatloaf mix" I suggest you do half beef and half pork or take the Foodie's advice and use Italian Sausage. We used ground beef and it was lacking a little.

Skillet Lasagna
America's Test Kitchen
Total Time: 45 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• Salt
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 pound meat ( ½ lb ground beef and ½ lb ground pork – or if you like a little spiciness –use 1 lb Italian sausage)
• 10 curly-edged lasagna noodles (8 ounces), broken into 2-inch lengths
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated ( ½ C)
• 8 ounces whole-milk ricotta cheese (about 1 C)
• 1/4 c minced fresh basil

Directions

1. Pour the tomatoes with their juice into a liquid measuring cup. Add enough water to the tomatoes to measure 4 cups.
2. Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and ½ tsp salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the meat and cook, breaking up the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
4. Sprinkle the noodle pieces over the meat. Pour the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce over the pasta. Do not stir at this point. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, about 20 minutes.
5. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in all but 2 Tablespoons of Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dot heaping tablespoons of the ricotta over the noodles. Cover the skillet and let stand off the heat for 5 minutes.
6. Sprinkle with the basil and the extra Parmesan cheese.

This week we also made the America's Test Kitchen Baked Ziti. It was fabulous and I will certainly make it again! Check out their website or check your local listings for their show. It's my Saturday morning favorite.

What to do with Dried Cranberries

After Christmas dried cranberries were on sale, and I mean ON SALE. I couldn't resist. I knew that if I bought them, I'd find something to do with them. So, last month I thought I should figure out what to do with those silly dried cranberries. I could have sworn that I'd seen some ideas on a fellow foodie blog and I found plenty!

I am excited to say that I tried the Oatmeal Cookies with Cranberries and White Chocolate! Now, what's the title of this blog? Oh, yes, Discovering DELICIOUS. That's exactly what these are, delicious. I've been itching to make them again, and I know that if I see dried cranberries on sale they have a purpose in cookies.

Photo provided by twopeasandtheirpod.com

Ingredients:

½ c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
1 egg
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Baking soda
1 1/4 c. flour
1 1/4 c. oats
1 cup of dried cranberries

White chocolate- I chopped up good white chocolate, but you can use white chocolate chips too! I used about 1 cup or so.

Directions:

1. With a mixer, beat butter and sugars until smooth. Mix in eggs, and vanilla.  In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix in slowly to wet ingredients. Add your oats, cranberries, and white chocolate.

2. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes! Don’t let them get too done…they are better when they are soft! **I used dark cookie sheets and given variations in ovens I baked them at 350.

Daydreaming about Thai Chicken

Do you crave food? Do you pick out one of your favorite recipes on Sunday afternoon to make in the week ahead? I do. Mmmmm...this week I was so excited for Thai Chicken that I salivated thinking about it during my workday. When I finally got home there was no stopping the Thai train charging through my kitchen.

This is a very easy recipe and if you put the "dressing" together one night and marinate the chicken overnight then the cooking part will only take about 15 minutes. If you do it all in one evening you're looking at more like 50 minutes because the chicken needs to marinate for 30.

I love that this is a wonderful excuse for me to load up on veggies and eat "take-out" at home. I also really like the leftovers. You can keep the warm food separate and heat them up the next day or throw it all together and eat the combo cold. Both are scrumptious!

Photo from marthastewart.com

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced crosswise
• Coarse salt
• 3 1/2 ounces Chinese rice noodles, broken in half if long
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 carrots, sliced into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
• 1 English cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, torn - I've gone without
• Bean sprouts, chopped peanuts, fresh mint leaves, red-pepper flakes, and sliced scallion greens, for garnish (all are optional but I've made my choices)

Spicy Asian Dressing - Mix all of these ingredients in a bowl

• 4 thinly sliced scallion whites
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste (or 1 minced canned anchovy)
• 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

Directions

1. Place chicken and half of dressing in a resealable plastic bag (reserve remaining dressing). Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes (or refrigerate up to overnight).
2. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles until tender. Drain, and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. (Optional plating idea: Transfer to a platter.)
3. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Working in batches, cook chicken (do not crowd skillet) until cooked through, 2-3 minutes; transfer to platter on top of noodles.
4. Top with carrots, cucumber, and basil. Drizzle with reserved dressing, and sprinkle with garnishes, if desired.

Here fishy fishy fishy...

I don't know how we came about it but it was time to finally try some fish tacos. I searched a favorite site for easy and reliably tasty treats and found a recipe to try. It did not disappoint. The fish was flaky and tender and delicious and the veggies made a good side and healthy filler. I like a little extra lime wedge to squeeze on my assembled tacos. I'd recommend this for anyone weary of fish in their tacos.

photo courtesy of marthastewart.com

Fish Tacos
from Everyday Food
45 minutes from start to finish

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1/4 small red cabbage, thinly shredded (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 jalapeno pepper, halved lengthwise, one half minced, remove ribs and seeds for less heat or choose a poblano/pasilla pepper instead
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound tilapia fillets (or other firm white fish), cut into 16 equal strips
  
• 8 flour tortillas (6-inch)
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

*Note that this recipe calls for 1 lb of fish but should feed 4 adults. I purchased less fish and fed 2. Leftover fish is just one thing I won't do.

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine sour cream and lime juice; season with salt and pepper. Transfer half the mixture to another container; set aside for serving. Toss cabbage, scallions, and minced pepper with remaining sour-cream mixture. Season again with salt and pepper.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil and remaining pepper half over medium-high heat; swirl to coat bottom of pan. Season fish on both sides with salt and pepper. In two batches (starting with larger pieces), cook fish until golden brown on all sides, 5 to 6 minutes. Discard pepper.
3. Meanwhile, warm tortillas according to package instructions. (I would do this before step 2 if you have a way to keep the tortillas warm.)
   
4. To make tacos, fill tortillas with slaw, fish, and fresh cilantro leaves. Drizzle with reserved sour-cream mixture. Serve immediately.

Part of my motivation was to use some left over red cabbage from other recipes. I do have to say that one head of red cabbage is about 3 times what I really want. On the up side it does help me try new recipes and the vibrant color is bound to be full of nutrients.

New Year, New Recipes

At Christmas this year my family gave me a new cookbook. I have found a love for new recipes and if you can't already tell I have my go to source and sometimes I need something new beyond that. Don't get me wrong, I love the roots of my new-found love for food, but it's important to stretch yourself from time to time.

This new year brings with it renewed hope for better living. For whatever reason it's often easier to begin new life trends with a new year. This year is no different. I want to cook more often, blog more often, and in the mean time find balance and joy in the things I do.

To kick off the new year my love and I tried a new salad dressing recipe. We put it together last night and had our first real taste this afternoon. The cilantro flavor is mild and it seems to have just a little bite, I blame the vinegar and garlic. I like to cook with cilantro but I'm not as big of fan as some people I live with. If you're timid about cilantro this is still worth a try.

This week we are going to pair this dressing/marinade with some fish. I imagine it will work really well together.

Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette by Our Best Bites
Ingredients

• 1/4 c. fresh lime juice (about 2-3 juicy limes)
• 1/4 c. white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp. Kosher or sea salt
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1 c. canola oil
• 1/2 c. roughly chopped cilantro, stems removed
  

Directions

1. In the jar of your blender, combine lime juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, and sugar. Blend until ingredients are completely combined.
   
2. With the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream. Add cilantro and blend until the cilantro has broken down but still maintains some of its texture.
   
3. Serve with greens, on any type of Mexican salad, or use as a marinade. *It's best if you can refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.
   

Home Savory Home

After many days and nights away from home I get a little cranky and tired and I long for some good home cookin. With time I have come to recognize the things my mind and body need. I have no shame in telling you one of these things is milk. I will go out of my way now to buy milk for those we stay with, namely my papa. It helps me feel like I'm getting some of the nutrition I need. Milk, it does a body good.

After a wonderful holiday I needed a traditional Sunday dinner to start the week/year off right. I chose to make a roast and serve it with potatoes and a green salad. How can you go wrong?! I like to cook my roast in the crockpot because it is easy, the clean up is quick, and the roast doesn't dry out like it can in the oven. Here's an easy way to season it.

Mom's Roast
Ingredients

• A good quality roast. All your meals will turn out better when you choose good meat.
• 8 teaspoon dried onion
• 4 teaspoon beef boullion
• 1 teaspoon onion powder

Directions

1. Mix the seasonings together in a small bowl.
2. Sprinkle seasoning over roast in pan.
3. Cook roast.
4. Enjoy!

The leftovers served us well for 2 more meals. You can also use this as onion soup mix by itself or in other recipes.

*Depending on the size of the roast and your personal preferences you can cut the seasoning measurements in half. Make more or less according to your liking.

Thanksgiving Treat

As you may know I was in charge of Thanksgiving dessert. I did make the Pumpkin Icebox Pie as previously noted. I love how easy and delicious it is. It made Thanksgiving Day a bit easier for me. My second gift to the family (we all know it was really a gift to myself) was Emeril's Apple and Cranberry Crisp. Mmmm...I think I may wish myself this gift again for Christmas.

I really enjoyed how the apples were sweet and the cranberries were tart. The orange zest and juice offers a delicious fragrance. I also love the mix of textures of the dish. Texture is one thing that can turn me away from a food so I feel it's important. And what girl would turn down a pink dessert? Not this one and not her niece.

I suggest you give it a try while cranberries are on sale.

Emeril's Apple and Cranberry Crisp
Ingredients

• Unsalted butter, for baking dish
  
• 2 1/2 - 3 pounds sweet, firm apples, such as Gala or Braeburn, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 12 ounces cranberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest, plus 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

Crisp Topping

• 6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
For crisp topping:

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Using an electric mixer, beat on low until coarse crumbs form. (I found that a pastry blender worked a lot better with the cold butter.)

For fruit:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, combine apples, cranberries, sugar, flour, vanilla, and orange zest and juice. Transfer to baking dish and sprinkle with topping.
3. Bake until topping is browned and juices are thick and bubbling around edges, 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.

We topped it with real whipped cream but it would be fantastic with some cinnamon ice cream. Fa la la la la...