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!



Fried Okra!

We use okra several ways in our cooking in the South, probably because the hotter the summer the better it grows.  We put it in soups and stews and gumbos to thicken them.   We cook it with tomatoes and onions and bacon and such. You can also pickle okra whole and it's tasty.  Some people actually just boil and season it and eat it just like that.  I am not one of those people. It can be a little slimy, unless you cook it certain ways.  I think okra needs a little something to make it really good.

  One of my favorite ways to eat okra is to batter it and fry it.  I do like to deep fry mine, because it cooks so much more quickly and evenly and it's not as greasy.   It's also not nearly as messy to do.   If you prefer pan frying, you can do that also, but just try the deep fry method and I think you will like the results.  

 Here is what you need for this fried okra: 

1 lb. of fresh okra, washed and sliced across in about 1/2 inch pieces

2 cups buttermilk

1 tsp. hot sauce (optional)

2 cups self rising flour

2 cups corn meal

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. Cajun seasoning (optional)

1/2 tsp. black pepper

oil for deep frying

 Mix the hot sauce in with the buttermilk if you are using it.  This cooks out and really isn't all that spicy, but gives the okra a good flavor. Place the okra slices in a bowl and cover with the buttermilk, coating each piece. 

In a gallon size Ziploc bag, mix the flour, cornmeal, salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning.  If you don't like a little zip to your okra, you can leave the Cajun seasoning out.  I think it adds some extra flavor to it.  If you don't use the Cajun seasoning, you might need to sprinkle the cooked okra with a big more salt as soon as you take it out of the oil.

Dip the okra out of the buttermilk with a slotted spoon into the flour/cornmeal mixture in the Ziploc bag.  Close the bag and shake until all of the pieces are well coated.   You will need to do two or three batches.  Don't put too many at one time in the bag. 

Heat the oil in a deep fryer to about 375 degrees.  I usually just use my Fry Daddy for this so it doesn't have a temperature control, but you can drop one piece and tell when the oil is ready.  It should bubble and roll when dropped.   Fry in batches and don't over crowd.  Roll the pieces over once or twice during cooking.  Don't move them around too much or you will knock your batter off.

 

When they are nice and brown, after about 4-5 minutes or so,  remove with slotted spoon to a paper towel lined bowl or dish to drain.  Serve immediately!



Fried Green Tomatoes...a Southern Delicacy!

What sort of southern food blog would this be without a recipe for fried green tomatoes.  They are like sweet tea, cornbread, and fried chicken, such southern staples that if you don't know how to cook them, you are not considered legitimate as someone who should be trying to tell others about southern food.  However, I will say that they are not as widely well liked as the other foods I mentioned.   Not all southerners love fried green tomatoes, you either love them or you hate them.  I happen to fall in the love category, my husband definitely falls in the 'get those things away from me' category.

   
When I first got married, years ago, I thought that I could change my husband's picky eating habits just by introducing him to the foods he said he hated.   I was wrong.   One night, I fried some green tomatoes for supper and when he came in that night, he said, something really smells good.  He didn't see the green tomatoes, so when we sat down I told him to close his eyes and I had a surprise for him that I just knew he was going to love.  He said it better not be liver or something...no chance of that, I hate liver myself.   I cut a bite of the fried green tomato and put it in his mouth and he bit into it and if you could have seen his face!  He spit and gagged and carried on like I had poisoned him.  If he had swallowed it, I just know he would have had to have gone to the hospital and had his stomach pumped or something.  I should have known that someone who doesn't even eat ripe tomatoes was probably not going to to eat green ones.


When fried green tomatoes became such a talked about southern food, mainly because of the movie with the same name, people in the south found it sort of funny.  All of these Hollywood types trying them for the first time, people cooking them on food shows and talk shows, it just seemed sort of bizarre to us.  Fried green tomatoes, originally,  were a food basically of poor country folks who more than likely breaded and fried just about anything to feel like they had meat and something filling to eat.  They are much like so many foods we eat in the south, they came about because people took what they had available and made the best of it.  A talent that more people are going to have to develop to get by in the future more than likely.  


Just like cornbread, fried chicken and sweet tea, each southern cook probably fries green tomatoes a different way to some degree.  Some use corn meal, some use flour, some use a mixture of both.  Some fry in oil, some in bacon drippings, some in shortening. Some dip in milk, some in buttermilk, some in an egg wash...on and on.


Here is what I use:

2-3 medium to large size green tomatoes
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup flour (plain or self rising, doesn't matter)
salt
pepper
Cajun seasoning (optional)
oil for frying (I use Canola)
1 tsp. bacon drippings (optional)

Slice the tomatoes in thick slices, not too thick, about 1/4 inch thick.  Place in a bowl and pour the buttermilk over them.  Let them sit in the buttermilk for 15 -20 minutes.

Mix the cornmeal and flour in a shallow dish or pie plate and dredge the tomato slices a couple at time in the mixture.  Turn them over and pat the cornmeal mixture into them well. 

Pour about an inch of oil in a skillet and heat to around 350 degrees or until it is sizzling.  Make sure your oil is hot enough (but not too hot) or the tomatoes will be greasy and the batter may not stay on.  Drop a little of the cornmeal mixture in the oil and it should sizzle. Leave room in the pan to turn the slices.   Some people fry their green tomatoes in bacon drippings and while that sure does taste good, it's probably not really all that healthy.  I get the same flavor by using Canola oil and just dropping about a teaspoon of bacon drippings in it.  It really does enhance the flavor without being pure bacon grease.

Sprinkle each slice with a little salt, black pepper, and some Cajun seasoning, which is optional.  It gives them a little spiciness, but if you don't like spicy just leave it off.   Only turn once or twice while cooking or they will fall apart.

 Remove to a paper towel lined plate and serve immediately.

Aunt Vel's Southern Fried Corn!

Fried corn is just about as southern as you can get and when the corn is fresh and it's done right it's delicious.  In the summer, we usually serve it with vine ripe sliced tomatoes and whatever other fresh vegetables we have at the time.  

 I think it's best when you use fresh cut right off the cob corn, but you can also use corn that you have put up or frozen (or canned) yourself.   

 We all cook corn this way, but the person in our family that is known for her fried corn is my Aunt Vel.  You know how some people just cook certain things better than other people and you can't figure out exactly why?  That is my Aunt Vel and her fried corn. 

 This is her recipe and it's the one we use, and even though it's really good, it never tastes as good as when Aunt Vel cooks it.  Anytime we have a dinner, we always ask her to bring her corn.  This isn't hard to do at all, but you do have to use what is called for and don't skimp on the ingredients or it won't be good.   

Here is what you need:

6-8 ears of fresh corn (sweet corn is best)

1 Tbs. bacon drippings

2 Tbs. butter

1/2 cup milk

1 Tbs. cornstarch

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

 

Shuck and silk your corn.  Make sure to remove all of the silks and then with a sharp knife cut the corn off into a bowl.  Once the kernels are all cut off, take your knife and scrape down the cob to remove any juice that is left in it.  This is what makes the corn creamy, so don't skip this step.

In a skillet heat together the bacon drippings and the butter.  If you don't understand where you get the bacon drippings, because we haven't cooked any bacon, you might not be ready for this recipe...lol.   But if you are not a bacon grease collector, like most good southern cooks are, cook about 5 or six pieces of bacon and use the drippings for this corn. 

Use the bacon for another recipe or eat it or save your bacon drippings from breakfast.  You cannot leave the bacon drippings out of this though.  It just won't be fried corn if you do.

Add the corn and let it cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes.   Mix the cornstarch and the 1/2 cup cold milk until smooth.  Pour that mixture into the corn and bring it up to a bubble.  Stir and cook just until it thickens.   Add the salt and pepper and stir again and serve.





Southern Green Beans with New Potatoes and Bacon!

We love green beans cooked just about any way, but there is nothing better than fresh green beans right out of the garden cooked with new potatoes and garnished with bacon and onion.   This is one of those things that some southerners might refer to as a mess...as in, "I picked me a mess a green beans out of the garden this morning"   It's debatable just how much 'a mess' is, but I have always taken it to mean enough for a meal.   I used to hear my mother use this term a lot when I was a kid, especially when someone had gone fishing, she would always ask, "Did you get you a mess of fish?" when they got back.  Being the analytic kid that always asked too many questions, I asked her one day why she used the the word mess and how much was  a mess.  Her answer was that it was enough for a meal. I asked her how a mess for one family could be the same as a mess for another, because her family growing up had 13 people in it,  our family only had 4 people in it.  How could  a mess be the same thing for both?  Her answer to me was very simple and so Mama,  "For my family growing up, that was a big ole mess, for our family now, that's a little ole mess."  lol   That answer worked.  This recipe is a more of a 'big ole mess', cook half as many for  a 'little ole mess'. 

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs. fresh green beans, washed and broken with strings removed.

3-4 slices bacon

1 medium Vidalia onion

1 Tbs. chopped garlic

2-3 cups chicken broth

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

9-10 small red potatoes

With your kitchen shears or a knife cut your bacon in pieces and brown in a dutch oven. I like to use my cast iron dutch oven for this. 

Once the bacon is crisp, remove it to a paper towel lined plate.

Chop the onion and put the chopped onion and the Tbs. of garlic in the bacon drippings.  There won't be a lot of drippings from that much bacon and that's fine, you want just enough to season the beans, not have them swimming in it.  Saute until just soft.

Add the green beans to the hot bacon drippings and sauteed onion/garlic mixture and stir to coat them.  Add the salt and black pepper.

Add 2-3 cups of chicken broth or just enough to cover the beans.  You can use canned or the chicken bouillon cubes.   Bring to a boil and then turn down to low,  cook on low and covered for about 30 to 40 minutes.  Don't cook on heat set too high or they will scorch.

Wash the potatoes and if they are really small, just peel a strip right around the center.  If they are  little bigger, like mine were, halve them or quarter them and place them on top of the beans.  Sprinkle the potatoes with a little salt and pepper.  Cover and cook for about 30-40 more minutes or until fork tender.  It's important to not overcook the green beans.  They should still be 'green' at the end of the cooking time, but it's also important to not under cook them. Fresh green beans need time to cook on low heat,  remember that unlike canned beans, they haven't been processed at all.

Once the potatoes are cooked, give the whole pot a stir to mix the potatoes, beans and cooking liquid.  Taste for seasoning.  You might need to sprinkle with a dash more salt and pepper depending on how many beans you cooked. Sprinkle with the reserved bacon.  You have 'Southern Green Beans with New Potatoes and Bacon"!

COOKING TIP:   If you don't have fresh green beans and want to use canned, and you want them to taste more like fresh, drain all of the canning liquid off of the beans and rinse them.  Then follow this recipe as directed, but cut the cooking time in half and reduce the salt to taste,  since the canned beans have already been processed.

Mama's Macaroni and Tomatoes...My Comfort Food!

"Macaroni and Tomatoes" is a dish that my mother has been making all of my life.  It just says comfort food to me!  Every year, when my mother asks what I want her to cook for my birthday dinner, I always say macaroni and tomatoes or breaded tomatoes, which I also love. 

 Nobody makes either dish that tastes exactly like Mama's does.  You know those recipes that only your mother or grandmother make to taste just that certain way and even though they might be good, they are just not the same as theirs.  This is one of those dishes for me.

Several of you have written and asked me about a recipe for Macaroni and Tomatoes and sort of like the Southern Goulash, I used to think we were the only family that ate it, but I have learned a lot of you grew up with it also.  It seems like such a simple thing to prepare, but to get it right, there are a few key ingredients.

 It also might seem like a dish, kids wouldn't eat, but we have some children in our family that will eat all of this you can make and set in front of them, and it's not nearly as fattening as macaroni and cheese! Mama usually served it with pinto beans and cornbread, which was really good! 

 Here is what you need for this old fashioned recipe:

1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni

2 cups water

1 tsp. salt

1  (15 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained

2 cups V-8 juice

1 tsp. bacon drippings

1 Tbs. butter

2 tsp. sugar

black pepper to taste

Place the macaroni in 2 cups salted boiling water and cook until the pasta is  just starting to soften.  Add the tomatoes,  V-8 juice, bacon drippings, butter, sugar and black pepper to taste.  Cook just until the pasta is done and has absorbed some of the juices.  Don't leave the bacon drippings out, that is one of the keys to the flavor! 

You can add cheese to this or sprinkle with Parmesan, but this is one dish I don't like to add cheese to!  I know it's hard to believe, but it's true!



Tomato Pie!

This tomato pie is the one recipe I can't wait to make when the first tomatoes of the season get ripe.  It's a really simple recipe, but it's so good and can be served for really any meal of the day. It's perfect for brunch, lunch or dinner.   My sister usually eats the leftovers for breakfast the next morning if she is here when I make it.  With the fresh tomatoes, it just tastes like summer.   Here is what you will need to make a tomato pie:

1 deep dish pie crust

3 medium size tomatoes

1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped or about 1 cup

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried basil

1/4 cup fresh oregano or 1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

salt

black pepper

1/2 tsp. Nature's Seasoning

Bake the pie shell in a preheated 350 degree oven for 5-7 minutes just to brown it. 

Slice the tomatoes and put them on a double thickness of paper towels. Slice them sort of thick, about 1/4 inch and if the peel seems tough at all, peel them.   Salt each slice and let them sit for at least 30 minutes.   This takes some of the water out of them.  Don't skip this step or your tomato pie will be soggy and won't hold up well.

Dice the Vidalia onion and sprinkle in over the bottom of the pie shell.

Place the tomatoes in the pie crust over the onion in a single layer.  Sprinkle them with black pepper. Sprinkle the chopped oregano and basil over the tomatoes.

In a bowl mix the sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic powder, Nature's Seasoning and Parmesan cheese until well blended.  This is one recipe that you cannot substitute the low fat sour cream or mayonnaise in.  They contain a lot of water and will make the pie very soupy and watery.  Use the real thing in this and just eat one piece if you are watching your fat intake.

This is the Nature's Seasoning.  I use it place of salt and pepper a lot. It's a great overall seasoning and doesn't contain MSG. If you don't have this, just use salt and pepper.

Spread the sour cream/mayonnaise mixture over the tomatoes and to the edges of the crust.

Sprinkle the top with a little more Parmesan cheese and the shredded Cheddar cheese.  Place in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes.  I place the pan on a cookie sheet or pizza pan and it bakes more even and catches any spillovers.

The cheese should be nice and melted and the top just starting to brown.  Let the pie sit for at least 10 minutes before you slice and serve.

 

Oven Fried Parmesan Potatoes!

This is one of my favorite, easy potato recipes when I want potatoes as a side dish, but don't want anything too complicated.   There are never any leftovers when I make these, because everybody loves them.  They also don't take long to cook and you don't need many ingredients.  They are like a potato gratin without the fattening cream added.   You won't believe how easy this is and it will become an old stand by once you make it.  Here is what you need:

4-5 medium size potatoes, peeled or if you scrub them well you can leave the skin on

4 Tbs. butter

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup Asiago cheese, shredded (if you don't have Asiago you could use shredded Parmesan or Swiss)

2 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

salt

black pepper

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

Spray a shallow baking dish well with nonstick baking spray.  You can even use a deep pie plate.  I used my quiche pan.   Slice the potatoes in the thinnest slices you can get.  If you have a mandolin, that works great, otherwise just use a good sharp paring knife and slice very thin.  If they are too thick, they won't cook through and crisp in the cooking time I give here.  Layer half of the potatoes in the pan.  Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Slice half the butter in thin slices and lay over the potatoes.  Sprinkle with half of the Parmesan cheese.

Repeat another layer with the remaining potatoes, butter and Parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle with salt and black pepper and the garlic powder and seasoned salt. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese and top with the shredded Asiago cheese.  Drizzle the top with the olive oil, it's make the top crisp nicely.   Place in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Move to the top rack for 10 minutes longer to allow the top to get brown and a little crispier.

 Remove and serve immediately! 

OPTIONAL COOKING TIP:  If we are grilling out, I have cooked these on the grill.  Place them in an aluminum throw away type pan and follow the recipe instructions just like for the oven, except cover with foil and cook for about 20 minutes.  Carefully remove the pan to a plate and uncover.  They won't crisp as much on top, but will still be really good and you don't even have to turn the oven on.

These are so good and go with just about any main course!





Layered Pea Salad...a Southern Favorite!

This is a salad that has been around a long time.  I am not sure when people began making it, but it was probably in the 1970's or earlier?   Some call it 7 layer salad, some layered pea salad and some just call it pea salad, which is what we have always called it. 

It's an interesting mixture of ingredients that you layer in a pretty bowl or trifle dish and then 'ice' with mayonnaise and sugar.  Yeah, I know, only in the south.  But if you are not from the south or haven't ever had this pea salad, don't be so quick to judge.   It's delicious, it can be made ahead and it will feed a crowd. 

My mother wouldn't think of not having a pea salad in the fridge when my sister and her family are coming to visit.  It's one of their favorites. There must be something that folks like about it, because it's still around and people are still asking about how to make it. You will always find it at a church potluck or many times at holiday meals.   

Here is what you will need to make it:

4 cups of chopped salad greens (usually iceberg lettuce)
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
4 hard boiled eggs, sliced or grated
1 bag frozen peas, thawed or 1  15 oz. can baby peas, drained (like LeSeur)
2 cups mayonnaise mixed with 2 tsp. sugar
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
7-8 slices crisp cooked bacon or 1 pkg. real bacon bits (the bacon bits hold up better if you are making it the night before or to travel)

Place chopped salad greens in a pretty salad bowl or trifle dish. Next layer chopped onion and sliced celery over that.  Next layer the peas over that.

Layer the egg over the peas.  Some just sliced the eggs, I usually grate them.

Mix the mayonnaise and sugar and spread over all, sealing to the edges. Sprinkle with cheese and bacon or bacon bits.  Refrigerate until time to serve.  This can be made the night before.  Sometimes to change it up a bit I add 2 tsp. Ranch dressing and 3 Tbs. Parmesan cheese to the mayonnaise mixture and add a layer of water chestnuts after the egg layer.  You can add or leave out whatever your family likes.