Veggie Lover Lasagna!

If you have followed this site or read many of my posts and recipes for long, you know I am not a vegetarian.    However, I do love vegetables and eat tons of them. I can't even think of a vegetable I don't like.  Well, maybe brussel sprouts which I am not crazy about, but my sister showed me a way to cook them that made me actually like them. 

 I did try to give up eating meat once, for some reason that I cannot now imagine, and it was not pretty.  By the end of a week, I was meaner than a junkyard dog.  Everyone around me, who had to put up with me, begged me to just eat a pork chop!  I was just not designed to be an herbivore.  Bunny rabbits are cute, but it isn't me! 

  I do get requests for vegetarian dishes quite a bit, but I also get requests for low fat and sugar free ones and when I post them, no one pays much attention to them.  I always wondered why there weren't more food blogs dedicated to vegetarian, vegan, fat free, sugar free, gluten free, light...now I know!  Nobody reads them!  

I do love this vegetable lasagna though and I promise you, you will not even miss the meat.  I promise!  I think Italian food can get away with not using meat easier than most, because of all of the flavor you put in it and of course, the cheese.   This is a great recipe for summer when zucchini and yellow squash are so abundant.  

 Here is what you will need for this:

9 lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions

3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

1 medium sweet onion, diced

1/2 cup green or red bell pepper, diced

1 Tbs. garlic, minced

2 cups zucchini, diced

2 cups yellow squash, diced

1 cup shredded carrot or cut in very small matchsticks

2 cups fresh mushrooms diced

1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 (6oz.) can tomato paste

1 cup water

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 Tbs. dried parsley

2 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. sugar

32 oz. carton of ricotta cheese

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

3 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided

In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil and add the onion and green or red pepper.  Saute until just soft.  Add the zucchini, yellow squash, garlic and carrots.  I like to cut the zucchini and yellow squash in thin circles and then diced.  I don't think they work as well if left in big hunks or huge slices. This should all cook down somewhat into sort of a vegetable ragout.  Add the mushrooms right at the end, because the will cook fast and does not need to be cooked too much.  You want the veggies soft but still with a little bite to them, not mushy.

Once all of the veggie are just soft, but still have some body to them, add the tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste.  If the tomatoes are in big hunks, take your kitchen shears and cut them up some.  I hate big hunks of tomato in my lasagna sauce.  That's just me, if you like hunks, leave them in! 

 Add all of the seasonings, sugar and water to the sauce.   Bring up just to a bubble and then lower heat to low, cover and simmer while you assemble the other ingredients.

Mix the ricotta with the beaten eggs until smooth.  Add 3/4 of the Parmesan cheese, and 2 cups of the Mozzarella cheese and mix until well combined.  This mixture should be fairly thick.

Spread a layer of the sauce in a deep 9"x13" baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. 

Lay three of the lasagna noodles on top of the sauce.  Dollop the cheese mixture over the noodles.

Continue to repeat the layers.

Finish with the sauce and the other 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.

Finish the top with the last cup of Mozzarella and bake uncovered for about 40 minutes.

It will be bubbly around the edges!



Broccoli Corn Bake!



It's that time of year when we start to think about holiday dinners, with all of the trimmings, which in the South, includes about a gazillion side dishes.   I sometimes think we actually put more time and energy into our sides dishes for these huge meals than anything else.  I enjoy all of the veggies and casseroles just as much as the main courses and desserts...most of the time!   There will usually be either a broccoli casserole or a squash casserole at any southern holiday meal or at our meal, probably both!

 This one is a recipe my mother came up with by combining several broccoli casserole recipes and it is so good!  It can also be prepared ahead of time, like a day or two ahead and then baked just before your meal.  I love things I can do ahead when I am cooking for a crowd so that the day of is not so crazy! 

Here is what you will need for this casserole:

2  (10 oz.) pkgs, frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained (can use an equivalent amount of fresh broccoli, steamed and chopped)

1 small onion, diced

1/2 cup celery, diced

1 cup of corn niblets (frozen or canned)

1  1/2 cups instant rice, uncooked

1 cup milk

1  (10.5 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup

8 oz. Velveeta cheese

1/2 cup butter ( 1 stick)

1/2 tsp. black pepper

Topping

1 tube Ritz crackers, crushed

4 Tbs. butter, melted (1/2 stick)

Combine the broccoli, onion, celery, corn, and rice in a mixing bowl.  In another bowl combine the 1/2 cup butter, mushroom soup, milk and cubed Velveeta cheese.  Microwave until the cheese has melted, about 2-3 minutes and stir until smooth.    Pour over the broccoli mixture and mix until combined.   Pour into a 2 quart casserole dish that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.  

Combine the crushed Ritz crackers and butter and sprinkle evenly over the top.    Place in a 325 degree oven for 50 -55 minutes.  It will be just starting to brown. 

Garden Fresh Casserole!

 

 

I never get tired of fresh summer vegetables from the garden or from the farmer's in our area.  We have several really good farmer's markets in our city that set up about three days a week and we also have a farmers that sell their produce right at their farms. There is a considerable population of Mennonites in the counties around us and they sell some of the best produce you can find at a very reasonable price.  The corn in this casserole is Silver Queen corn from one of their farms and it is the best corn you will ever put in your mouth.  

 

Corn is one of the few vegetables my husband will actually eat (weird I know), so I have cooked corn almost every meal for over 30 years...corn on the cob, corn casserole, corn pudding, fried corn...you get the picture!   Needless to say, I was burnt out on corn about two decades ago.  However, this Silver Queen corn, is something I wait for every year, because it's a corn even I can love again!   If you have never tried it and can find some in your area, get some and try it, you won't be disappointed. 

 

This is a casserole, my mother came up with and it really did come mostly right from the garden.  It's simple, fresh tasting and just delicious.   I could actually make this a meatless main dish meal.  Here is what you will need:

 

4 Tbs. butter

1/4 cup sweet onion, chopped

3 cups zucchini, diced

3 cups fresh cut corn, 6-7 ears (could substitute a 10 oz. bag of frozen niblets)

1 large fresh tomato, diced

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 Tbs. chopped parsley

1 cup buttered bread crumbs

 

 

Saute onion and zucchini in the butter in a skillet over medium heat until tender.   Mix in corn, chopped tomato, parsley, salt, and pepper.

 

Pour into a greased casserole dish and sprinkle the top with buttered bread crumbs. 

 

 Place in a 350 degree oven for 35 -40 minutes or until the bread crumbs are browned.  Serve hot from the oven!