Lasagna Stuffed Shells

I can't remember having stuffed shells. I'm sure at some point in my life I did, but I just don't remember it. They look good, and they smell good, but they are filled with evil, evil cheese. I wanted to try them out but honestly didn't think they would be good with nothing but pasta and tofu in them. Then I found a different recipe and my whole view changed.

I have already perfected dairy-free lasagna. I love it but it is a pretty heavy dish. Tons of pasta, sauce, meat...well, tons of everything really. These shells seemed like the perfect solution. I could have the taste of lasagna that I loved but in a smaller commitment. I love how they turned out. I will be making these again, once my freezer stash has dwindled.

Lasagna Stuffed Shells

From Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
1 Box Jumbo Pasta Shells (about 40 shells)
1 Pound Ground Turkey
12oz Firm Tofu
8oz Veggie Shreds Parmesan/Mozzarella Mix Flavor
2 Large Eggs
1 1/2 Jars Tomato Sauce (I used Tomato & Basil flavor)

Directions

1. In a large stock pot, bring about 4 quarts of water to a boil.
2. Once the water is boiling, salt the water generously and add the shells.
3. Cook the shells for about 10 minutes. You want them to be slightly under-done.
4. While the shells are cooking, cook the turkey in a skillet and set aside.
5. In a bowl, mash together the eggs, tofu, and veggie shreds.
6. Once the shells are cooked, remove from the water and rinse with cold water.
7. Spread tomato sauce on the bottom of two 9x13 baking pans (or 3 8x8 pans).
8. Take a shell and spoon about a teaspoon of turkey into the bottom of it.
9. Next, spoon a heaping teaspoon of tofu mixture onto the turkey.
10. Place the shell into a baking dish.
11. Continue with the remaining shells.
12. Once all of the shells are in the pans, spoon tomato sauce onto the top of each shell.
13. Bake the shells at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, just until the cheese/tofu is melted.

Optional: Feel free to cover the tops of the shells/sauce with more shredded cheese.

Yields:12 servings

These are really filling and very yummy. They freeze well too. The best part is the stats.

Spanakopita

Spanakopita is a Greek spinach pie. It is usually seen being passed around at wedding as tiny hors d'oeuvers. I found a recipe for dinner Spanakopita on one my new favorite cooking blogs, Branny Boils Over. I, of course, took that recipe and modified it to make it dairy-free and higher in protein.

I think it turned out awesome. Vince on the other hand, didn't like it. He said the flavor was good but he didn't like the flaky pastry shell. He's "not a flaky crust kind of guy". Oh well, I guess I can't win them all with him. I'm still making a batch to put in the freezer. I can take them out and heat them up for a quick, yummy lunch.

This recipe does call for the use of phyllo dough. I know that can be intimidating but it really is easy to use. I'll walk you through it. Don't panic, it will be ok.

Spanakopita

From Branny Boils Over

Ingredients

14 Sheets of Phyllo Dough (about 1/4 of a package)
1 10oz Box of Frozen Spinach, Thawed and Drained
4oz Soft Tofu
2oz Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
2 Tablespoons Parmesan Flavor Veggie Shreds
1/2 Medium Yellow Onion, Diced
1.5 Tablespoons Pine Nuts
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Large Egg
1 Large Egg White
1.5 Tablespoons Seasoned Bread Crumbs
1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
4 Tablespoons Margarine, Melted

Directions

1. In a skillet, fry the onion until caramelized (about 3 minutes).
2. Briefly add the spinach to the skillet, just long enough to steam off any excess moisture. You want it to be completely dry.
3. In a bowl, mix together all of the ingredients, except for the margarine and the phyllo dough.
4. Set the filling aside.
5. Open the package of phyllo dough and roll out the sheets.
6. Place a damp paper towel over the sheets to keep them from drying out while you work.
7. Carefully take one sheet and lay it out flat.
8. With a pastry brush, brush the sheet with melted margarine.
9. Carefully lay a second phyllo sheet on top of the first.
10. Brush the second sheet with melted margarine.
11. Lay a third phyllo sheet on the stack.
12. Brush the third sheet with margarine.
13. Lay a fourth sheet on the stack.
14. Do not brush the top of the fourth sheet.
15. Cut the stack of phyllo sheets in half, lengthwise.You will now have two long rectangles of phyllo dough.
16. Make 4 more long rectangles of dough in this way.
17. For the last (7th) rectangle, take one sheet of dough and brush margarine on half of it (lengthwise).
18. Fold the sheet over itself lengthwise.
19. Brush margarine on the top of the sheet.
20. Place another sheet on top.
21. Brush margarine on half of this sheet.
22. Fold the second sheet over itself. You will now have one long rectangle of dough.

Assembly

1. Place 1/3 cup of filling onto one end of one of the rectangles.
2. Take the corner of the rectangle, with the filling, and fold it towards the edge of the dough.
3. Continue folding the dough until you have a large triangle.
4. Place the triangle on a cookie sheet.
5. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake the Spanakopitas in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes. You want them to be golden brown and flaky.

Yields: 7 servings

These are pretty quick to make and are very filling. The best part is that they are each under 200 calories! The stats below are for each pastry triangle. You could also add in some Fiber One powder to up the fiber, it is pretty low.

Pepino Melon-Banana Protein Smoothie

I recently found Pepino melons at the grocery store. I had no idea what they were or what they tasted like but I was curious. So I bought a few.

These are Pepino melons:

They are about the size of a lemon. The skin is very thin and smooth, almost like the skin of a plum. They have a very sweet banana-like fragrance.

After I got them home, I had to look them up on the interwebz to figure out how to eat them.

It turns out that the whole thing is edible, just like a plum. Just wash it and take a bite! The flavor is pretty sweet. It tastes like a cross between a cantaloupe and a banana. They are very juicy so be prepared with napkins. You can tell they are ripe by the purple stripes along the side, those don't show up until the fruit is completely ripe.

Since I had this fabulous fruit sitting in my fridge and I also happened to have a couple of almost-too-ripe bananas in the fruit bowl, I made a smoothie. It was thick and creamy. Sweet with a unique taste of banana and melon.

Pepino Melon-Banana Protein Smoothie

Ingredients

1 Pepino Melon
1 Ripe Small/Medium Banana
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Soy Milk
1/2 Cup Water
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
1/8 Teaspoon Xanthan Gum (optional)
5 Ice Cubes

Directions

Cut the fruit into large cubes and add to the blender along with all of the other ingredients. Blend until smooth.

This packs a punch calorie and carb-wise but if you are using it as a meal replacement, go ahead and put in a full cup of milk instead of doing half water/half milk. You could also add in another banana for more carbs if you are drinking it right after an extremely vigorous work-out.

Blackberries & Cream Protein Smoothie

Today has been a good day diet-wise. After all of the house cleaning and organizing was done. I had time to fit in a 30 minute elliptical session. Since it was only 30 minutes long, I decided to make it a little more difficult by doing hills. I was only on level 5 (so the hill goes up to level 5 and then back down) but it was an excellent work-out.

After a nice long shower I decided to make myself a protein smoothie. It turned out really yummy. You could make this with any variety of fruit, but I had blackberries so that's what I made. The possibilities are enormous. Play around with it and come up with something yummy!

Blackberries & Cream Protein Smoothie

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Lite Coconut Milk
1/2 Cup Water
144 Grams (~1 Cup) Blackberries
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
2 Tablespoons Plain Yogurt (I use soy)
4 Packets of Splenda
6-8 Ice Cubes

Directions

Put everything into the blender and blend it until thick and smooth.

You may want to add about 1/8 teaspoon of Xanthan Gum to thicken it up and keep it from separating.

Squash & Spinach Stuffed Rotolo Pasta

Jamie Oliver is awesome. I've been watching the Food Revolution on ABC Friday nights. I've been a fan of Jamie's cooking for awhile but this show is what really sparked me to start cooking more food from scratch. In the show, he tries to get the public schools in Huntington, West Virginia to change the cafeteria menus to healthy food. He sets ups a "kitchen" in town where he gives free cooking lessons to anyone that walks in. He does fund raisers to have the cafeteria cooks retrained on how to cook actual meals, instead of just adding water and reheating precooked junk. It really is fun to watch the transformation and his enthusiasm for healthy cooking is infectious.

So, I took what Jamie was teaching in the schools and applied it to my own life. Basically, he says that you can still eat the food you love, you just have to make it healthy. So the journey began. There have been some disasters and some pretty good finds. I'm slowly adding to my recipe rotations and having fun trying new stuff.

This recipe is an adaptation from one of the recipes in the book Jaime's Italy.

This is a great summer meal. It is light and filling. There is no heavy sauce to go along with it, although Vince thinks this is a great tragedy. It is also very pretty. It makes a great presentation for guests.

Now don't panic, but you will be making your own pasta for this recipe. Deep breaths...really, it will be ok. It is not that hard to do. I'll walk you through it step by step. Just take it slow and it will turn out beautifully. I promise.

Squash & Spinach Stuffed Rotolo

From Branny Boils Over

Pasta

Ingredients

1 & 1/2 Cups Flour
3 Large Eggs
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Directions

1. Place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl.
2. Make a hole in the center of the flour.
3. Break the eggs into the hole.
4. Whisk the eggs until pale yellow.
5. Continue whisking while slowly incorporating the flour.
6. Continue to incorporate the flour until a dough has formed.
7. Once a dough ball has formed, begin to knead the dough until it is no longer sticky.
8. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface to roll out.
9. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a large rectangle shape. It should measure about 10 inches by 15 inches. It should be about 1/4 inch thick.
10. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap until ready for use.

Filling

Ingredients

1 Small Squash (I used acorn)
3/4 Teaspoon Coriander
1 Teaspoon Fennel Seeds
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic
About 2 Cups Baby Spinach Leaves
1 Tablespoon Butter/Margarine
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese (I used Soft Tofu)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cut the squash into quarters.
3. Scoop out the seeds and place the squash, flesh side up, into a baking dish.
4. With a mortar and pestle, grind the fennel seed with the coriander and salt.
5. Season the squash with the ground spices.
6. Cover the squash with tin foil and place in the oven for 25 minutes.
7. After 25 minutes, remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and let cool.
9. Once cool, scrape the flesh out of the skin and into a bowl.
10. Mash until smooth.
11. In a large saute pan or skillet, melt the butter and brown the garlic.
12. Add the spinach and cook until completely wilted.
13. Add the nutmeg and toss.

Assembly

Directions

1. Lay out a large piece of cheese-cloth or a clean dish towel (bigger than the pasta).
2. Lay the pasta onto the cloth.
3. Spoon the squash across the long end of the pasta that is closest to you.
4. Spoon the spinach across the pasta right next to the squash.
5. Spoon the cheese/tofu across the remaining edge of the pasta, be sure to go all the way to the edge.
6. Begin slowly rolling the pasta up, jelly-roll style. Start at the squash end and roll towards the cheese/tofu. Roll fairly tight but don't squish out the filling.
7. Use the cheese/tofu to seal the end of the pasta to itself.
8. Wrap the cloth/towel around the rotolo.
9. Tie the cloth on each end and 2-3 times in the middle using kitchen twine.

Cooking

Directions

1. Fill a large pasta pot (or stew pot) with about 6 inches of water.
2. Generously salt the water and bring to a boil.
3. Once the water is boiling place the rotolo (towel and all) into the water. You may need to place a plate or other object over the rotolo to keep it from floating to the top of the water.
4. Boil for 25 minutes.
5. After 25 minutes, remove from the water and place on a cutting board.
6. Carefully unwrap the rotolo and slice into 1/2 - 1 inch pieces.

Yields: 6-8 servings

I served this without any sauce but Vince "needed" it. He has an aversion to pasta without sauce. *sigh* He put basil tomato sauce on it, which I would not recommend. If anything, I would do a light cream sauce but it was really yummy without anything.

Thai Pineapple Rice with Shrimp

I first had this dish at Pasara Thai restaurant in Kingstown, VA. It comes served in a pineapple shell. A beautiful presentation. It is a little on the sweet side but could also be served cold as a refreshing summer dinner dish.

I did not serve our dinner in pineapple shells but Vince seemed to like it anyway. It was relatively easy to make, it just required a little bit of prep work. I used shrimp as the protein for our dinner but you can substitute anything you would like. I don't think the sweet flavors would work well with red meat though so I would stick with poultry, pork, and seafood.

Thai Pineapple Rice

Ingredients

1 Fresh Pineapple, diced
3 Cups Cooked Rice (I used brown)
3/4 Cups Coconut Milk
1 Medium Onion, diced
2 Tablespoons Raisins
2 Tablespoons Cashews, chopped
2 Tablespoons Oil, olive or peanut
1/2 Tablespoon Sugar
1 Tablespoon Cumin
1 Tablespoon Coriander
1/2 Tablespoon Ground Ginger
1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric
2 Teaspoons Minced Garlic
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
30 Shrimp (I used precooked frozen)

Directions

1. In a blender add the cumin, coriander, ginger, turmeric, garlic, salt, 1/2 of the diced onion, and 1/4 cup coconut milk. Blend until it becomes a thick paste.
2. In a large saucepan or wok, cook the shrimp (or heat through if precooked, frozen).
3. Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside for later.
4. Remove water/juice from the pan.
5. Add oil to the pan and heat.
6. Add 1/2 of the diced onion and cook until soft.
7. Add the paste to the onions and fry for about a minute, until browned.
8. Add the pineapple, rice, coconut milk, raisins, and cashews to the pan.
9. Stir and cook until the milk is completely absorbed.
10. Add the sugar and the shrimp to the pan.
11. Cook until the shrimp is heated through.

At this point, you can be fancy and serve the rice in the pineapple shell or you can be unfancy, like me, and serve it in cereal bowls. You can also be adventurous and try to eat it with chopsticks. Although we do own chopsticks, I have not yet mastered eating rice with them. So we used spoons. However you decide to serve this or eat it, you will love it.