Bruschetta

Sometimes, my bf and I (strike that, my FIANCE and I...since we just got engaged last night!) like to have an informal "snacky" and cold dinner - last night was one of those nights.  We hadn't made bruschetta for some time, so we whipped up a batch (recipe below) as well as a batch of hummous, and had a lovely picnic-style meal which included some fancy blue cheese, olives and french bread for dipping into the hummous. The thing I love most about homemade bruschetta is how FRESH it tastes.  It never tastes quite so fresh in a restaurant.   I was a pretty happy girl last night!

Bruschetta

4 fresh tomatoes, blanched in boiling water for about 2 minutes, then peeled, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 loaf French bread, toasted and sliced

Blanching the tomatoes and seeding them (takes a few minutes, but worth it, especially if you hate tomato slime like I do) takes the longest time in this recipe.  Once that's done, mix all ingredients together.  By this time, you should have toasted your slices of bread in the oven under the broiler with a bit of olive oil (watch they don't burn!), then dish the bruschetta on top. We grated a little parmesan over the top.  SO GOOD.  I even brought leftover bruschetta and hummous for lunch today...a perfect lunch.

Happy Thanksgiving (Canadians)!

Ugh - I ate so much last night I'm STILL full...that is the first time I can honestly say I ate for two, and I've been regretting it ever since.  As in most previous years, the bf and I participated in an orphan dinner with friends - those of us without close family in the Vancouver area each chipped in with a few dishes.  My contribution was my usual scalloped potatoes (to die for - recipe here), brussel sprouts, vegetarian gravy and some "chicken" legs from Veggie Favor - the place I've raved about in this blog in the past.  They are really amazing, and even one of last night's meat eaters ate 2 or 3 of them!  Friends chipped in with turkey for the meat eaters, regular gravy, two types of stuffing (one veggie, one meaty), glazed carrots, buns and pumpkin pie with cool whip (a weakness of mine).  Honestly, it was fabulous. But ugh. STILL so full.

Scalloped Potatoes (NOT vegan)

I got this recipe from a Bon Appetit magazine that was mistakenly delivered to our address.....for about 8 months  :)   To be fair, I'm not sure I would bother making these EVER if I didn't have a kick-ass mandolin slicer (or V-slicer) - it would just be too much work to thinly slice all the potatoes and fennel. Happily, I DO have a kick-ass mandolin that was worth every penny I spent on it, so this takes maybe 10 minutes to assemble. It is always a huge hit.  I will be making it again at Christmas!

Link here - all credit to Bon Appetit magazine :)

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2009/11/scalloped_potatoes_and_fennel

Spinach Lasagna

You know it's fall when I start craving lasagna! And yes, I'll be the first to admit I use real cheese in this recipe instead of a vegan substitute, though that is certainly an option.  It is WORTH it to buy farm-fresh cheese from a supplier you know if you want it and are going to eat cheese anyway.

And on a related topic, more than a few people asked me if I would start eating meat when I got pregnant (???) - I'm not sure if they assumed I would have "cravings" that would overcome my ethics or if they honestly just think being vegetarian is one thing for yourself, another to "inflict" upon an unborn baby ;)  Lol - whatever, I've been eating great, I will NOT "revert" back to eating meat, my child will be raised vegetarian, and that's that.

This is a recipe I've made many times, and it can be subtly adjusted in many different ways every time....last night's was actually my best yet, and I think it's because I made it in a long pan (8x12...or 14??) instead of a square pan as I usually do, where it usually turns out a bit too "saucy" for me.

SAUCE - feel free to buy pre-made...I always make my own.  Feel free to adjust the measurements here to suit YOUR tastes...my measurements are inexact.

1 large can regular tomato sauce or Italian flavoured
1 large can regular diced tomatoes
1 onion, diced small
2-4 cloves minced garlic, to your tastes
diced mushrooms (optional)
1 cup rehydrated texturized veg protein (TVP) or veggie ground round  (Also optional...just if you want a bit more protein)
.5 cup red wine
splash balsamic vinegar
oregano, basil, salt to taste
approx 1 tsp sugar

Sautee onions and garlic for a few minutes in olive oil, add TVP or ground round at this point if you're using.  Then, throw in everything else and simmer for at least a half an hour, tasting until it's "right".

Filling

1-2 packages frozen spinach, thawed or one large package fresh baby spinach, chopped
1 large-ish container ricotta cheese (not the small one)
mozzarella cheese
lasagna noodles
parmesan cheese

Cook lasagna noodles.  If you're using fresh spinach, sautee it in a pan for a few minutes with a few drops of water until it's wilted. Drain water. Drain water from thawed frozen spinach, if using.  Mix spinach and ricotta together in a bowl.

Assembly

Spoon a bit of the sauce over the bottom of your pan to keep the noodles from sticking and ensure sauce saturation.  Put in a layer of noodles (I use bits of cooked noodle to make sure the layer is complete as the noodles aren't quite long enough to cover the bottom), then cover that layer with sauce.  Cover that sauce layer with half the spinach & ricotta mixture as evenly as possible.  Grate a fine layer of parmesan over the spinach/ricotta layer, then cover that with just over 1/3 of the grated mozzarella.  Repeat those layers: noodles, sauce, spinach/ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella.  Finish with noodles (three layers total), the remaining bits of sauce and some mozzarella.

Bake in preheated oven at 350F for 30 minutes covered with tin foil, then remove tinfoil and continue to bake, uncovered for another 15 minutes. Let stand about 5 minutes before slicing. 

Sorry for the crappy picture - I already ate an entire piece before I remembered to take a picture, so my plate is kinda messy ;)