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.