About a week ago I made black and white cookies. I'm not really a huge fan of these cookies, because they're more of a cake-y cookie than a cookie-y cookie, which is what I like. I have nothing against cake, but I just don't really think it belongs in cookie form. Expecting a cookie and getting cake? Not what I want. And then there's the whole Seinfeld thing, where Jerry eats the black and white cookie and does some big speech about integration but then gets sick. So every time I think of black and white cookies I think of Jerry Seinfeld throwing up. Not the best image. But I digress.
So my friend really likes black and white cookies, and I promised I would make some so I did. And I was pleasantly surprised. The batter was actually really really delicious, and the whole thing (both icings included) really wasn't that difficult and didn't take long at all. I got the cookie recipe here , from the Epicurious website (one of my favorite recipe websites that's not a blog). I basically followed the recipe exactly, except that for the icing I didn't have any lemons so I had to use lemon extract instead. I think I actually made my icing a little too lemon-y, because it just needed a hint of lemon, but it still tasted good- I just made sure to spread the icing thin. I also had no idea what I was really doing with the icings, but by some miracle the cookies actually looked really nice and clean, and even had shiny tops once the icing dried. So the black and white cookie still isn't my favorite, but it definitely exceeded my expectations.
Speaking of exceeding expectations, I made some awesome *mostly* healthy lasagna. I knew I wouldn't really have time to cook this week so I wanted to make something that I could easily heat up. I was going to make garlic knots to go with it but I couldn't find the yeast. Sad. That will have to wait for another time, I guess. Anyway, I really just threw it together and hoped for the best, so the recipe is going to be a little vague and approximated. But that's nothing new.
Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1/2 an onion
2 medium carrots
About 3/4 cup chopped broccoli
About 3/4 cup spinach (I used frozen)
5ish garlic cloves, depending on how much you like garlic
1 (15 oz) container part skim Ricotta cheese
Just over half a block of extra firm tofu
Garlic powder, oregano, salt, dried basil, pepper, any other spices you can think of that work
1 1/2 cup (?) Shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese, or other Italian-y cheeses (I'm not proud to admit that I cheated and bought a pre-shredded mixture. But fresh grated is better!)
1 Tbs ground flax seed mixed with 3 Tbs water (or 1 egg)
Tomato sauce
Whole wheat lasagna noodles (I used the kind that just cook in the oven)
Directions:
1. Mix together the 1 Tbs ground flax seed with 3 Tbs water and let sit for about 20 minutes. Also, press the tofu (put it between 2 plates with a heavy book or something on top) and let that sit too.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 375.
3. Heat up a little olive oil in the pan. Throw in chopped carrots and onion, and let it cook until the onions are translucent. Throw in the chopped broccoli, spinach, and minced garlic. Stir and then cover so the veggies can steam, making sure to check on it every few minutes and stir it around.
4. While the veggies are cooking, get a mixing bowl and squish the (now pressed) tofu. I used my hands because it's way easier, but if you want to be legit a fork works too. Just make sure its really squished up. Add in the ricotta cheese and flax seed mixture (it should have a kind of egg-like consistency now- kind of thick).
5. Mix in about a cup of whatever cheese you're using, then add spices to taste. I really have no idea how much of any one spice was used- it was just a sprinkle, mix, and taste type of deal. Which is alright since there's no egg in it.
6. Make sure everything is thoroughly mixed together. Hopefully at this point the veggies will be cooked through. Dump them all into the ricotta mixture and mix together.
7. Get a glass baking dish, and cover the bottom with the tomato sauce. Put a layer of noodles on top, then add a decently thick layer of the cheese/veggie mixture on top. Repeat with another layer each of sauce, noodle, and filling. Top with one more layer of noodles, sauce, and then sprinkle the extra cheese on top.
8. Cover with tin foil and cook for about 30-35 minutes, then uncover and cook another 10 minutes or so until the cheese is nice and melty but not too brown.
I thought this lasagna was great, especially since the only unhealthy part of it was the cheese....and I couldn't give up the cheese. I love it too much. But BESIDES the cheese, there's healthy whole wheat noodles, a good dose of protein from the tofu (which you can't even taste, btw), some great omega-3's from the flax, plus lots of veggies!
No comments:
Post a Comment