Loose pasta bake

I'm very sorry for being so remiss in my postings. Largely it's because I haven't really done anything new. Well, I'm back.

Another good name for this dish would be "lazy person's lasagna." But I'm going with the post title instead.

Ingredients:

150 gr. any type of flat pasta shapes (I used bows), cooked to taste
150 gr. green cabbage, chopped
75 gr. soybean sprouts
10-20 snow peas
4 large mushrooms, sliced
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. olive oil
4-6 tbsp. Ricotta cheese (The one I get is more like a spread)
4-6 thin slices of turkey ham, diced
2 jars of spaghetti sauce, 540 gr. each
Grated Parmesan cheese to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 180 C (around 460 F)

In a deep pan or wok, heat the olive oil. Saute the onion, garlic and bell pepper (I like my bell pepper well-cooked and soft) until the onion begins to turn translucent. Add the mushrooms and keep coking for 2-3 minutes. The  add the rest of the vegetables and cook until the cabbage is soft, say for 10-15 minutes.

While this is going on, cook your pasta shapes.

In a baking dish ad a layer of sauce and spread it with a rubber spatula. Then add a layer of pasta (not all the pasta), again, flattening and spreading it with the spatula. Add the ricotta, again flattening and spreading it Add the vegetables and ham, flattening as needed. Next another layer of sauce. Another layer of pasta (now use it all up. A last layer of sauce to cover it all, and spread some Parmesan on top.

You may want to add a little low-fat sour cream or Greek yogurt on top as well. This is entirely optional, naturally. I actually used fresh jocoque, which is a kind of strained yogurt. I like it better as a sour cream substitute, as it is thick and not sweet at all.

Place the dish in the oven for 25-35 minutes, or until the sauce bubbles.

You'll need a spoon to serve it. When you do, it will look like this:

Enjoy!

Re: Cabbage Soup

As I was saying, I updated the recipe for cabbage soup. This version tastes more like cabbage with chicken broth than chicken broth with cabbage.

And I took a photo:

I used green cabbage rather than red, because the red tends to dye the other ingredients. Not to mention the broth turns purple. But you can use red cabbage if you like it better. 

1/3 of a head of green cabbage chopped or 1 small red cabbage
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
4-5 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
1.5 carrots (I cut it into sticks, but go any way you like)
About 1/4 of a medium sized jicama (in sticks, too, or see about the carrot)
3/4 cup soybean sprouts
2.25 liters of water
2 cubes chicken bullion low-fat, low-sodium
1 teaspoon olive oil 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
Ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Oregano
1 teaspoon fine herbs
Worcestershire sauce

Preparation

Saute the garlic and onions with the olive oil in a soup pot until the onion turns translucent. Then add the bell pepper and mushrooms and cook for two minutes. Add the carrot and jicama and cook for another two minutes. Add the cabbage and soybean sprouts. Cook for about 10 minutes, don't let the veggies get too soft. While this is going on, add pepper to taste.

Lower the heat to medium and add the water. Add Worcestershire sauce, ginger and fine herbs. Stir.

When it warms up, add the chicken bullion cubes and stir until they dissolve (if possible, crumble them first). Reduce the heat to minimum and bring to a slow boil. When the soup begins to bubble let it simmer for 5 to 10 minutes and then remove from heat.

I do like the stronger cabbage flavor.

Kathy's Lentil and Barley Casserole

I'm not really sure if this qualifies as a casserole, but I like the sound of it.

Again, this is an original recipe. Mostly I took what i found in the fridge, plus lentils. I like how it came out.

Ingredients:

1 Cup lentils
4 Tablespoons Barley
1 Cup of rice cooked to taste (the cup refers to pre-cooked measurement)
1 Clove of garlic, minced
1/2 Onion, chopped
1 Green Bell pepper, diced
4 Strips of turkey bacon, sliced
4 Turkey sausages, sliced
1 Cup soybean sprouts
1/4 Green cabbage, chopped
1/3 Teaspoon ground cummin
1 Teaspoon oregano, crushed
A pinch of fine herbs, crushed
1 Teaspoon vegetable oil (any kind)
1.5 Liters of water

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a pot and add the bacon. Cook for two or three minutes, then add the onion and garlic. Cook until the onion begins to turn translucent. Add the rest of the vegetables and the sausages, and cook until the cabbage begins to soften.

Add the water and reduce the heat to minimum. Add the lentils and barley and stir well. When the water begins to warm, add the spices and stir well. Let the water come to a boil, stirring occasionally. Keep boiling until most of the liquid is consumed or the lentils are tender. At this point add the cooked rice and stir well to mix everything together. let the whole thing sit on the flame for a bit longer, then let it cool and serve. You want as little iquid as possible, but if some remains that's not a problem.

Kathy's Citrus Cabbage Salad

I tried something unusual and entirely original. At leas, I came up with the recipe all on my own. So I'm putting my name on it.

Ingredients:

Salad:
1/3-1/2 a Head of red cabbage, chopped
1 Teaspoon olive oil
2 Cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 Onion, sliced
2 Carrots, thinly sliced (you may want to use a slicer, like a Presto Salad Shooter)
1 1/2 cups soybean sprouts
Ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup orange juice
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
4-5 mushrooms, sliced

Dressing:
1 Teaspoon olive oil
1 Teaspoon sesame seed oil
1 Teaspoon honey
1 1/2 - 2 Teaspoons mustard (I used plain yellow mustard, but any mustard is good mustard)
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Ok, in a large, deep saucepan or a wok, heat the olive oil and roast the garlic in it for about a minute. Add the carrots and onions and cook for about two minutes more. Sprinkle some black pepper, stir well. Add the cabbage and soybean sprouts. Continue cooking for 2 minutes. In a cup mix the orange juice and 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Add it to the pan and stir well. Cook for about three minutes more, but don't let the vegetables get too soft. Remove from heat.

With a slotted spoon or a large serving fork, transfer the vegetables to a salad bowl, leaving in the pan most of the remaining o.j. vinegar mix. Add the raw, sliced mushrooms.

In a bowl mix the dressing ingredients and whisk well. You want a brownish, thick, homogenous mixture. When you get it, add the liquid left in the pan and whisk some more. Again, you want a homogenous mixture.

Pour the dressing on top of the vegetables and toss well.

I recommend letting it cool before serving. In fact I cooked this rather late yesterday, so I put it in the fridge overnight. I had it for lunch the next day and it was delicious at room temperature. I do like to let salads soak in dressing overnight, too.

Sweet and Sour Cabbage, Second Draft

I'm more nearly there, I think,  but the recipe still needs some work.
I went in a different direction, foregoing ketchup entirely and using canned pineapple bits in syrup, which happen to be sweet and sour.

Ingredients:

Sauce
1 Cup chicken broth
1/4 Cup Rice vinegar
1/4 Cup white sugar cane vinegar
1/3 Syrup from canned pineapple bits
210 Gr.tomato puree
1 Teaspoon powdered turmeric
3 Tablespoons Soy sauce (low sodium)
3 Tablespoons corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup of water

1/2 Head of green cabbage
1 Carrot, cubed.
1 Cup snow peas
1 Red onion in thin slices
2 Cloves garlic
1 Teaspoon sesame seeds
1 Cup pineapple bits, drained of syrup

For the sauce mix the chicken broth, both types of vinegar, syrup, tomato puree, turmeric and soy sauce in a  bowl and whisk vigorously. Set aside. As always, taste it and adjust ingredients to your taste.

In a pot heat some olive oil. Saute the onion and garlic for a few minute, then add the sesame seeds and saute for another two minutes. Add the cabbage, carrot and snow peas. Don't add the pineapple yet. Stir fry until the vegetables soften a little. Reduce heat to minimum and add the sauce and pineapple. Stir well so everything is well covered in the sauce.

Let the dish come to a slow boil. When it boils, add the corn starch solution and stir well, again making sure everything gets well covered. You'll feel the sauce thicken while you stir. Let it simmer for a minute or two, let it cool a bit and serve.

I'm not satisfied with the dish as it is, or with the sauce. But I think I'm headed in the right direction. I'll likely rest from sweet and sour, and tomato puree (see following post, eventually) for a week or two, then get back to it.

But the way, the sauce does look a little more red than it shows in the photo.

Sweet and sour cabbage, first draft

I thought this one up while at work late this afternoon. I've tried some sweet and sour recipes before, but was disappointed with the results. This one comes close to meeting my expectations, but it's not all it could be yet. Think of it as first draft.

Ingredients:

1/2 A head of green cabbage, shredded
1/3 Onion, quartered
2 Cloves of garlic, minced
1 Cup soybean sprouts
1 Cup snow peas
1 Cup chicken broth (Ok, I used a cup of hot water and one cube of low sodium, low fat chicken bullion)
3 Tablespoons soy sauce (low sodium)
4 1/2 Tablespoons vinegar
1/4 cup Ketchup (I used low-sugar ketchup)
2 Tablespoons Splenda (you can use sugar in the same proportion)
Black pepper to taste
1 Teaspoon sesame seed oil
3 Tablespoons corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup of water

Preparation:

First do the sauce. In a bowl mix the chicken broth (cold or warm, not hot), ketchup, soy sauce and vinegar. Whisk until you can't see lumps of ketchup. Taste to see if it's sour enough. if it isn't, add more vinegar (carefully, you don't want it too sour). Add the Splenda and whisk again. Taste again to check if the sweet and sour balance is ok. if not, adjust as needed by adding more sweetener or vinegar. Just be careful not to mess it up, or to add too much liquid. Set it aside.

Heat the oil in a pot. Add the onion and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the cabbage, snow peas and soybean sprouts. Sprinkle with pepper, if you want, and stir well. Stir-fry for ten to fifteen minutes, or to the point where you think the veggies are soft enough.

Reduce the heat to minimum and add the sauce (it won't hurt to give it a last whisk). Stir well so everything gets coated. You may need to toss it like a salad. Let it simmer for three minutes and add the corn starch dissolve din water. Stir/toss well again, insuring everything gets well-drenched in sauce. Let it simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, remove from heat and serve.

I need, and I will,make some improvements. For one thing I should add sliced carrots and pineapple bits in syrup (which would alter the sweetener amounts). It might also serve for sweet and sour meats like chicken or pork.

Enjoy!

Green Bell Pepper Fettuccine

As promised, here it is:

You'll note is very similar to my Fettucine with poblano chile sauce. It's not a coincidence, as both are based on the same use of cottage cheese as a creamy, thick base. The green pepper one I made sooner, after several iterations.

Ingredients:

250 gr. Fettuccine cooked to taste
2 Green bell peppers cut in bite-sized pieces, divided
1/2 Onion, chopped
2 Cloves of garlic, minced, divided
2 Scoops, about 220 gr. cottage cheese
1/2 Cup skim milk
1 Teaspoon oregano
1/3 Teaspoon dried pesto
1/3 Teaspoon fine herbs
1 Cup finely shredded green cabbage
1 Cup soybean sprouts
2 Teaspoons olive oil
2 1/2 Teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup of water

Preparation:

First heat up 1 teaspoon olive oil and add one (1) of the green bell peppers, plus a little bit of the chopped onion. Saute until the bell pepper is a little burnt (the onion will brown and go limp sooner). When they're done, let it cool for a few minutes. You can cook the pasta at the same time.

Once they've cooled enough, say till they're only warm to the touch, put them in a blender with 1 clove of garlic, the cottage cheese, milk and a pinch each of oregano, fine herbs and dry pesto. You know what comes next, don't you? That's right: Liquefy throroughly. Set it aside.

In a deep saucepan or wok heat up 1 teaspoon olive oil and add the rest of the onion and 1 clove of garlic. Saute for a few minutes. Add the cabbage, soybean sprouts and the other bell pepper and stir fry until you achieve the desired softness for your veggies.

Set heat to low and add the sauce you blended. Mix well. Add the oregano, fine herbs and pesto and stir some more. Let it come to a slow boil. When you see any bubbles, add the cornstarch dissolved in water. Keep stirring until large bubbles form.

Now you can either add the sauce to the fettuccine, or the fettuccine to the sauce. It works out the same thing. Let it cool a bit and serve.

Oh, there's a  reason to cook the bell pepper before blending it. Raw bell peppers have a very subtle flavor. When you cook them in a bit of oil, the flavor becomes stronger and mixes better with the other ingredients. I first tried 1 raw pepper for the whole recipe, half in the blender, half sauteed with he other vegetables. I found the sauce barely tasted of green bell pepper.

So naturally in the next go round I used a whole pepper in the sauce. I got the same result. So I gave up on the recipe. But a few days later while eating something else I cooked (I forget what exactly), I noticed sauteed peppers tasted more strongly of bell pepper. Then I decided to try again.

It just goes to show you should experiment and pay attention to the things you eat. How they taste, what texture they have, what color, etc. You never know when one thing can work in another recipe.

Oh, as a bonus here's a photo of part of my kitchen. As you can see, it's a working kitchen :)

I love the overhead light on the GE stove

Barley Stew

Sorry I haven't posted. Last week I tried some new recipes and they didn't come out quite right. But I've fixed them, and here's the first:

3/4 Cup barley
4 Turkey sausages, sliced thinly
2 Cups shredded red or regular cabbage
1 Cup soybean sprouts
1 Carrot, sliced thinly
1 Small green bell pepper
1 Clove of garlic, minced
1/3 Chopped onion
5 Cups chicken broth
1 Tablespoon oregano
420 grs. Tomato puree
Ground black pepper to taste
4 Tablespoons barbecue sauce (I used Kraft Original flavor, but any kind will do)
1 Teaspoon olive oil.

In a soup pot heat the olive oil and slightly brown the sausages and bell pepper, for about 4-6 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the barbecue sauce and bring to a boil. If you use chicken bullion cubes rather than chicken broth, wait for the water to boil before adding the cubes; they don't dissolve well in cold or warm water. Stir well and reduce the heat. Let simmer covered for about an hour, stirring every 10 minutes or so. You want to let the fluid almost be consumed.

When there is little liquid left, add the barbecue sauce and stir well. Check to see if the remaining liquid feels thick. if it does, remove from the stove, allow to cool and then serve. If not, let it simmer a little longer, keeping an eye on it at all times. When only a little liquid is left, it goes fast.

If things go well tomorrow, I'll post my recipe for cottage cheese enchiladas.

Ginger Chicken

This is one of my first recipes, the very first to use chicken. It's very simple, but there's a lot of chopping involved.

Ingredients:

3 Chicken breasts
Sesame seed oil
Half an onion, chopped,
2 Cloves of garlic, chopped,
1.5 Carrots, chopped
2 Stalks of celery, chopped.
1/3 of a head of cabbage, shredded
1/3 cup jicama, chopped.
10-15 snow peas
2.5 teaspoons fresh ginger (2 minced, 1/2 grated)
3 teaspoons soy sauce
1/3 teaspoon turmeric
3 teaspoons corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup of water
1 1/2 cups chicken broth






First saute 1 teaspoon of minced ginger with some sesame seed oil for 2 minutes, then cook the chicken. Cut it into bite-sized pieces and set it aside. In the same wok, stir-fry the vegetables with the rest of the ginger and 1 teaspoon of oil. Cook until the vegetables are as soft or crunchy as you want them.


Add the soy sauce and turmeric to the chicken broth and stir well. Add the chicken to the vegetables, pour the chicken broth on top and mix well. Add the corn starch mix and again mix everything well. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 5 minutes, mix occasionally so that everything is covered in the sauce.


This dish goes well with plain white rice or with  curry rice

Stir-fried Red Cabbage with Soy Sauce

Sometimes I'll go to the grocery store and just pick up some vegetables I think will go well together. This is one such result. You may notice it's similar to my cabbage soup. That's no coincidence. I tend to try similar things from time to time.

Again I used jícama in this recipe. And again it's not essential.You can skip it or use a substitution, like celery, or even mushrooms if you don't want more crunchy veggies.

Ingredients:

200 grs. red cabbage shredded
100 grs. soybean sprouts
1/2 red bell pepper chopped
100 grs. snow peas whole
100 grs. jícama, cut into short strips.
1/4 onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic minced
3.5 tablespoons soy sauce (low sodium)
1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce
1/2 teaspoon vinegar (any kind, but white sugar cane vinegar works best)
The juice of one lime
Sesame seed oil
Ground black pepper to taste

Heat a few drops of oil in a pan or wok. Add the onion and garlic and stir fry or saute until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the rest of the vegetables and sprinkle some pepper. You may want to add some more oil in this step. if you do, move the onion and garlic to the side and add the oil to the center of the pan or wok.

In a cup mix the soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, vinegar and lime juice. Add it to the veggies before they're too soft. Stir well and continue cooking until you achieve the desired softness for your vegetables.

A good side for this dish is curry rice, which you can see on the picture. I'll post that recipe tomorrow. Or try plain, boiled white rice if you like it.

Cabbage soup

This is the first recipe I tried making on my own. I find it tasty and hearty, yet low in fat. It keeps for about a week in the fridge.

I used jícama in this recipe, but it isn't essential. If you can't find any, just skip it and add more carrot or other crunchy vegetable you like. Celery ought to work well.

Ingredients:

1/4 white cabbage shredded, or 1/2 re cabbage shredded

1 clove of garlic finely chopped or minced

5 small mushrooms chopped

1/2 onion chopped

1 carrot (I cut it into sticks, but go any way you like)

About 1/4 of a medium sized jícama (in sticks, too, or see about the carrot)

Chicken stock or broth (enough to cover the vegetables)

1 teaspoon olive oil (or more or less to taste; and you can use any kind of oil)

Ground black pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

A dash of Tabasco sauce or to taste

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a pot for a little while, then add the onion and garlic.Saute until the onions begin to turn translucent. Next add the rest of the vegetables and cook uncovered until they reach the level of softness you want, or until the mushrooms turn brown. Stir occasionally

Reduce heat to low and add the chicken broth or stock. Bring the soup to a slow boil, stirring occasionally. When it starts to boil, add the pepper, oregano, Worcestershire and Tabasco. Once it boils, let it simmer uncovered for about five minutes. Remove from heat, allow it to cool a bit and serve.