busy like a bee

It's gearing up to be a busy fall. For the next few weeks, I'll be working away from my home sweet home and facing office culture head on. Not that I mind, really. Working on design projects in my lil' home office space has it perks, but it can be socially stiffling at times, so I relish these little social opportunities to chat around the water cooler. It's also very familiar since I'm working at a company I used to work for years ago. It's corporate work, but it's still design work and I like the people (even though I hate the fact that I can't wear jeans!). Oh well, a small price to pay for a regular paycheque!

Yesterday after riding -- or rather flying home (I can be quite speedy on my bike when I want to be), I quickly made Helios' Tortellini and Zucchini Soup (with a few modifications, of course). Even Cornelius who normally isn't so fond of "the soup", loved the soup! It really was the perfect quick weeknight meal for a rainy night and it helped to power my bike ride to the bowling alley and back for my Monday night bowling league game.

Tonight's dinner was another success and an easy meal to whip up on a busy night. It may look like a lot of steps, but once you start this recipe, you'll be eating in just over an hour. A veggie lasagna filled with zucchini, spinach and cheese. Really, what's not to love about it?

zucchini & spinach lasagna
tomato sauce:
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1 t crushed chili peppers
1 t dried basil
1 t oregano
1 large can of tomatoes
1 c tomato sauce

1 box of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 clove of garlic, minced

1 small zucchini, cut into half moons
1 t oregano
salt & pepper
1 clove garlic minced

1 small container of cottage cheese
2 T parmesan cheese

8 no-cook lasagna noodles
3/4 c mozzerella cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Make the tomato sauce by sauteeing garlic, onion, celery in oil. When translucent, add in tomatoes, sauce and spices, breaking apart tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Let the sauce simmer and breakdown until you are ready to put together the lasagna.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the zucchini, oregano, salt, pepper and garlic. Set aside. In another small bowl, mix together the spinach and garlic and set aside. And in a third small bowl, combine the cottage cheese with the parmesan and yes, set aside!

3. Spread enough tomato sauce to cover the bottom of a square baking dish. Add 2 lasagna noodles on top. Next, layer the spinach mixture followed by another layer of noodles. Add the cottage cheese mixture and 2 more noodles. Add another layer of sauce and top with the zucchini and another layer of noodles. Add the remaining tomato sauce and top with grated cheese. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 15 minutes until the top is golden brown and bubbly. Let cool 15 minutes before serving to help the lasagna set.

busy like a bee

It's gearing up to be a busy fall. For the next few weeks, I'll be working away from my home sweet home and facing office culture head on. Not that I mind, really. Working on design projects in my lil' home office space has it perks, but it can be socially stiffling at times, so I relish these little social opportunities to chat around the water cooler. It's also very familiar since I'm working at a company I used to work for years ago. It's corporate work, but it's still design work and I like the people (even though I hate the fact that I can't wear jeans!). Oh well, a small price to pay for a regular paycheque!

Yesterday after riding -- or rather flying home (I can be quite speedy on my bike when I want to be), I quickly made Helios' Tortellini and Zucchini Soup (with a few modifications, of course). Even Cornelius who normally isn't so fond of "the soup", loved the soup! It really was the perfect quick weeknight meal for a rainy night and it helped to power my bike ride to the bowling alley and back for my Monday night bowling league game.

Tonight's dinner was another success and an easy meal to whip up on a busy night. It may look like a lot of steps, but once you start this recipe, you'll be eating in just over an hour. A veggie lasagna filled with zucchini, spinach and cheese. Really, what's not to love about it?

zucchini & spinach lasagna
tomato sauce:
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1 t crushed chili peppers
1 t dried basil
1 t oregano
1 large can of tomatoes
1 c tomato sauce

1 box of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 clove of garlic, minced

1 small zucchini, cut into half moons
1 t oregano
salt & pepper
1 clove garlic minced

1 small container of cottage cheese
2 T parmesan cheese

8 no-cook lasagna noodles
3/4 c mozzerella cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Make the tomato sauce by sauteeing garlic, onion, celery in oil. When translucent, add in tomatoes, sauce and spices, breaking apart tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Let the sauce simmer and breakdown until you are ready to put together the lasagna.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the zucchini, oregano, salt, pepper and garlic. Set aside. In another small bowl, mix together the spinach and garlic and set aside. And in a third small bowl, combine the cottage cheese with the parmesan and yes, set aside!

3. Spread enough tomato sauce to cover the bottom of a square baking dish. Add 2 lasagna noodles on top. Next, layer the spinach mixture followed by another layer of noodles. Add the cottage cheese mixture and 2 more noodles. Add another layer of sauce and top with the zucchini and another layer of noodles. Add the remaining tomato sauce and top with grated cheese. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 15 minutes until the top is golden brown and bubbly. Let cool 15 minutes before serving to help the lasagna set.

wait, there's green in my muffin!

The other night I discovered a new food blog, Pinch My Salt. It's filled with lovely photographs and beautiful looking recipes. And when I spotted the recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, I knew it would be the perfect recipe to start off the long Labour Day weekend. These muffins use applesauce instead of a lot of oil and I definitely liked the sound of a low-fat treat. I had a little bit of applesauce in the fridge, but I quickly made some more out of 2 very large and truthfully, rather unappealing Granny Smith apples. Here's my very simple recipe for applesauce.

applesauce
2 large apples, diced or sliced thinly
1/4 c of water or more
1 t cinnamon

1. Combine all three ingredients into a medium sized pot. Turn heat to medium and cover. Stir occassionally, adding more water if needed. About 20 minutes later, you should have applesauce! You can blend it or mash it with a fork to acheive a fine purreed consistency. Or enjoy it a bit chunky. Makes about 3 cups.

Cornelius is pretty much enamoured with these muffins...the only thing he would have changed to improve them slightly is to add mashed bananas instead of the applesauce. I'd have to agree.

chocolate zucchini muffins
(adapted from Pinch My Salt)
1/4 c sugar
3 T vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 c applesauce or mushed bananas
2 c all-purpose flour
2 T unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 t baking soda
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 c finely shredded zucchini
1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, oil and eggs until pale and creamy. Add in the fruit puree and mix well.

3. In another bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add this dry mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring until just combined. Add in the zucchini and chocolate chips and mix well.

4. Drop batter into muffins tins sprayed with oil. Fill about 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until done. Makes about 18 muffins.

The Almighty Tong

Last week, i went to daiso (a huge japanese dollar store chain that has 1 store in Vancouver) and bought a tong. The label on this utilitarian utensil said "The Almighty Tong". Call me a sap but I was ready to believe.

The first time I made use of this simple kitchen implement, it was to retreive some papers that had slid behind a bookcase. The Almighty Tong did not disappoint. I was able to use the tongs as an extension of my own limited reach and grab the dangling papers.

Today, I used the tongs for their intended purpose: cooking. Inspired by this blog, I had sliced some zucchini into batons, drizzled them with some extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. When my lovely LeCruset grill pan was hot, I used The Almighty Tong to carefully place the batons into the pan and after a few minutes, I used The Almighty Tong again, flipping each baton, revealing beautiful grill marks.

Once that job was done, I wasn't ready to put down The Almighty Tong! I reached into my hot oven and skillfully pulled out 4 piping hot baked potatoes...The Almighty Tong was really working it's magic! Once more, I felt it's power as I took out my roasting chicken thighs (smeared simply with dijon mustard and rosemary) and arranged the chicken onto a plate ready to serve.

I sincerely cannot believe that I have gone without such a tool. All bow down before The Almighty Tong!