Broccoli, Zucchini, Pepper Lasagna

Creamy White Sauce:
4 cups skim milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoons nutmeg

Combine all and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and cook 7 – 10 minutes until thickened.

From Betty Crocker’s New Choices Cookbook

1 head of broccoli
1 large zucchini
1 bell pepper (I used a white one)
1 clove of garlic
2 cups non-fat ricotta
1 egg
1/2 cup mozzarella or more to taste
12 no boil lasagna noodles


Cook vegetables and garlic until tender. Meanwhile make white sauce and combine ricotta with egg.

I used a 9 x 13 pan.

Pour about ½ cup sauce on the bottom of pan. Layer 4 noodles crosswise and top with half vegetable mixture, half ricotta, and half cheese. Top with next layer of noodles, ½ cup of sauce, vegetables, and ricotta, but not cheese. Top with last 4 noodles, rest of sauce and cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes until hot and bubbly and noodles are done. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting. 6 servings.

Adapted from Betty Crocker's New Choices Cookbook

Moussaka

1 eggplant
20 ounces ground turkey
1 onion finely chopped
1 clove of garlic
1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 tablespoon tomato sauce
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of ground allspice


-Cut eggplant into 1-centimeter slices and place in colander over large bowl, sprinkled with generous amount of salt. Let sit for 20 minutes to draw out juices.
-Brown the garlic, onion and turkey until cooked through. Drain any liquid.
-Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, white wine, cinnamon, and allspice. Combine all and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Rinse the eggplant and pat dry. Fry in batches in a pan coated with non-fat cooking spray, a few minutes on each side until soft.
- Add meat mixture to pan and top with eggplant. Depending on size of eggplant, you may want to alternate layers of meat and eggplant, if the eggplant won’t all fit in single layer.

I froze at this point and added the following before I baked it in December:

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup flour

2 1/2 cups skim milk

pinch of ground nutmeg

1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

To make, melt the butter and blend with the flour. Gradually add the milk and whisk, stirring constantly over low heat until the milk starts to boil and thicken. The sauce should be very thick. Remove from the heat, stir in one tablespoon of the Parmesan. Pour over moussaka and top with remaining Parmesan. Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees, or until cheese is golden brown and the moussaka is heated through.

Adapted from moussaka recipes in The Essential Mediterranean Cookbook and a recipe I copied from something I think was called Tasty Low-Fat Recipes. It was a small booklet I bought from Border's.

Bulgur Chicken Salad

2 ½ cups Bulgur
2 cups water
½ cup lemon juice
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 cucumbers, peeled and diced
½ cup diced red onion
½ cup reduced fat feta cheese
2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half


-Cover the bulgur with water and lemon juice and let sit for about an hour, until liquid is absorbed
-Grill chicken breast and let cool before cutting into small pieces
-Combine all ingredients

Pizza/Calzone Dough

1 package active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons light vegetable oil (I use olive)
1 teaspoon salt
3 to 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast and warm water in large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar, oil, salt, and 1 cup of the flour. Beat until smooth. Mix enough of the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to make the dough easy to handle.

Turn out onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in glass or metal bowl, sprayed with vegetable oil cooking spray, turn over so greased side is up. Cover and let rise until almost double in size, about 30 - 45 minutes.

As pizza, cook at 400 degrees, about 30 minutes.

From Italian So Fat, Low Fat, No Fat by Betty Rohde

Green Beans in Dill and Walnut Sauce

1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed

For sauce
3/4 cup finely chopped green onions
1/2 cup, plus 1 tablespoon walnut oil
1/2 cup finely minced fresh dill (do not use dried)
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped walnuts

Cook beans until just tender. Drain well and run under cold water, drain again. Transfer to salad bowl.

Combine sauce ingredients in blender and puree until smooth (do not use processor or mixture will be too grainy). Pour over beans and toss well. Chill at least 2 hours before serving.

From "Cooking with Bon Appetit Vegetables"

Beet Spinach Salad

I followed this recipe from the Two Onion farm (pdf) newsletter, roasting the beets in a little balsamic vinegar and oil, using a whole can of garbanzos, and using both a baby red onion and green onion.

Beet Cake

3 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups sugar
1 1/2 cups cooked beets, pureed
1 cup cooking oil
1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together the beets, eggs, sugar, vanilla, chocolate, and oil. Add baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour, beat well. Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Frost with cream cheese frosting:
Combine 4 ounces cream cheese, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/4 stick butter, and enough powdered sugar until spreadable.