BB Time

Vegetable Lasagna

Last week, I finally made this vegetable lasagna recipe which I've had on my to-cook list for a while.

It was pretty annoying to chop up all the veggies, but otherwise all the steps were quick.  Next time, I would use the mandolin and just slice everything thinly.  That would have made the prep work a breeze.  The flavor was great and of course it made enough to feed an army.

The real test was whether or not BB liked it.  He loved it!  Gobbled it up like crazy.

Vegetable Lasagna
Courtesy of Cooks Illustrated

No-Cook Tomato Sauce

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

No-Cook Cream Sauce

4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (2 cups)
1 cup whole milk cottage cheese
1 cup heavy cream
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Vegetable Filling
1 1/2 pounds eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 7 cups)
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 pound zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
1 pound yellow squash, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
12 ounces baby spinach (about 12 cups)
12 no-boil lasagna noodles
1/2 cup minced pitted kalamata olives
12 ounces low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 3 cups)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE: Whisk all ingredients together in bowl; set aside.

2. FOR THE CREAM SAUCE: Whisk all ingredients together in bowl; set aside.

3. FOR THE FILLING: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Toss eggplant with 1 teaspoon salt in large bowl. Line surface of large plate with double layer of coffee filters and lightly spray with vegetable oil spray. Spread eggplant in even layer over filters. Wipe out and reserve now-empty bowl. Microwave eggplant, uncovered, until dry to touch and slightly shriveled, about 10 minutes, tossing once halfway through to ensure that eggplant cooks evenly. Let cool slightly. Return eggplant to bowl and toss with zucchini and squash.

4. Combine 1 tablespoon oil, garlic, and thyme in small bowl. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add half eggplant mixture, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Push vegetables to sides of skillet; add half of garlic mixture to clearing and cook, mashing with spatula, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir to combine garlic mixture with vegetables and transfer to medium bowl. Repeat with remaining eggplant mixture, 2 tablespoons oil, and remaining garlic mixture.

5. Return skillet to medium-high heat, add remaining teaspoon oil, and heat until shimmering. Add spinach and cook, stirring frequently, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Transfer spinach to paper towel–lined plate and drain 2 minutes. Stir into eggplant mixture.

6. TO ASSEMBLE: Spray 13 by 9-inch baking dish with vegetable oil spray. Spread 1 cup tomato sauce in bottom of baking dish; shingle 4 noodles on top of sauce. Spread half of vegetable mixture over noodles, followed by half of olives, half of cream sauce, and 1 cup of mozzarella. Repeat layering with 4 noodles, 1 cup tomato sauce, remaining vegetables, remaining olives, remaining cream sauce, and 1 cup mozzarella. Place remaining 4 noodles on top layer of cheese. Spread remaining 1 cup tomato sauce over noodles and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella. Lightly spray large sheet of aluminum foil with vegetable oil spray and cover lasagna. Bake until -bubbling, about 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack 25 minutes. Cut into pieces, sprinkle with basil, and serve.

Blueberry Muffins

Finally, a post!  It's been too long.

This morning I made blueberry muffins.  Nothing like a delicious pastry straight out of the oven first thing in the morning.  These muffins were easy to whip up and not overly sweet like store bought muffins.  I used plain greek yogurt and stuffed the batter into 6 big muffins (too lazy to bake 2 batches since I only have a 6 muffin pan).

Will definitely make again.


Perfect Blueberry Muffins
Courtsey of Smitten Kitchen, Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

Makes 9 to 10 standard muffins
5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces or 71 grams) unsalted butter , softened
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces or 100 grams) sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 cups (6 3/4 ounces or 191 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon (7 grams or 1/4 ounce) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon (2 grams) salt
3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces or 105 grams) blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, don’t bother defrosting)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well, then yogurt and zest. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a sifter and sift half of dry ingredients over batter. Mix until combined. Sift remaining dry ingredients into batter and mix just until the flour disappears. Gently fold in your blueberries. The dough will be quite thick (and even thicker, if you used a full-fat Greek-style yogurt), closer to a cookie dough, which is why an ice cream scoop is a great tool to fill your muffin cups. You’re looking for them to be about 3/4 full, nothing more, so you might only need 9 instead of 10 cups. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean (you know, except for blueberry goo). Let cool on rack (ha), or you know, serve with a generous pat of butter.

Coconut Bread

I saw this coconut bread recipe from smitten kitchen last week, and immediately set forth making it.  Totally forgot to take a picture sadly.  That either means I was very absent minded last week, or we ate it too quickly.  Maybe a little of both.

Anyway I used a bundt pan since I couldn't find my bread pan.  Very tasty and addicting.  Will definitely make again.

Tofu Curry Salad

Since Badge is trying to eat less meat these days and I had mayo to use up, I decided to make this delicious curry salad with tofu instead of chicken.  Of course, it's not as good as the original but I was surprised that the flavor still held.  The salad has more liquid from the tofu, but I imagine that's not a bad thing when eaten with bread.  We, on the other hand, ate with leftover tortilla wraps.

Easter Egg Hunt

Today was BB first easter egg hunt.  It was an event held at my company.  BB was more busy picking up rocks, staring at the waterfall, and attempting to dive into the koi pond than hunting eggs, but I think he still had a great time.

My Body Hates Me

This past week, I made my body do many painful things, some of which include, but are not limited to:

Kapotasana

Viparita Shalabhasana - here's me doing it almost 3 years ago.  I was surprised to be able to do it again after so long (still touched my feet to head), but I think I tweaked something in my lower back.  Doh!

Insanity - my coworkers are doing the full thing but I just randomly join on Thursdays.  This week I did Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs, which was Pure Pain.  The first time I did Insanity, I thought I was going to pass out.  This time, I actually felt like I was able to keep up better and push myself harder.  It was still beyond difficult and wheeze-inducing but I think I see some progress?

And I ran 5 miles on Mon.  I've been trying to up my mileage from 3 miles to 4-5.  Feels ok now that I've done it a few times but afterwards my right hip always aches.  I can't decide if thats from an old yoga or old running injury.

All that activity and my body is just pooped.  Well incredibly sore, but also pooped.  Will try to rest before doing it all over again next week.  Must lose final 5 lbs of baby weight!