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.