Safe Diet Plans: 119

Grilled Zucchini Lasagna

This lasagna is evil. Usually I say that and mean its so good it needs to be locked away so that one isnt tempted to eat the whole thing. This time I actually mean it, this recipe is evil.

Several times while making it either the fella or I have had to leave the room or house, tensions run that high while trying to make it. It is a complicated little bugger. Getting the sauce the proper consistency, the noodles cooked just right, and zucchini grilled is enough to make the best cook rip out their hair. We learned after the first time not to bother making the roasted pepper ourselves, it just adds to the stress.

Ive made much more intense and complicated recipes without losing my head so Im not quite sure what makes this recipe so irritating. Probably doesnt help that the original recipe is written in confusing language bordering on gibberish, which is a problem with all the recipes in this particular book. Unfortunately the recipes in High Flavor Low Fat Vegetarian Cooking are so good we keep going back to it even after being tortured by it time and again. Its just we let 6 months or so go before we attempt to cook anything in it, which is about the amount of time it takes for me to forget how frustrated the recipes make me and decide its a good idea to create one of them again.

The good news is the end result is almost worth all the effort. For a dairy free vegetarian recipe it does a very good job of faking the taste of a big cheesy high fat lasagna full of grease and other bad things. Its surprising what well seasoned sauce and grilled vegetables can achieved. Its rather filling and satisfying and went really well with the Cline Syrah. Then again Im biased and have loved everything from Cline.

Cline is solar powered and self sustaining though not certified organic (they arent all natural and that certification process is damn expensive.) Last summer the fella, his two sisters, and I went on a trek through Sonoma and had the best time at Cline. They had a farmers market of veggies grown on the grounds and the garden they do their tastings in is beautiful. I cant wait to go back soon.

Sadly only their very basic wines are readily available in Madison. Their Cool Climate Syrah is to die for but I havent found a bottle of it since Sonoma. Their basic Syrah was a decent substitute, nice fruit and tannin balance. It was everything I expect out of a $10 California Syrah, it was easy to drink and not too big though I do love a fruity Australian monster Syrah just as much. When Im in the mood for a particular varietal but cant make a decision I go for the Cline, all of their wines are winners. And they help take the edge off after waiting endlessly for dinner to finish cooking.

Grilled Zucchini Lasagna

RED PEPPER SAUCE
4 roasted red peppers (homemade or from a jar)
1 tablespoon oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 cup bread crumbs (we skipped this)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon saffron, soaked in a tablespoon of hot water
2/3 cup vegetable stock (1/3 cup if not using bread crumbs)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

LASANGA
6 medium zucchinis
2 teaspoons oil
9 whole wheat lasagna noodles
20 basil leaves

Roast, peel, core and seed the red peppers if roasting them yourself. Set aside.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat, cook onion and garlic until soft but not browned, about 4 minutes. Combine peppers, onion mixture, and bread crumbs (if using) and puree to a smooth paste in a food processor. Add vinegar, saffron, and enough vegetable stock to make a thick sauce (it should be the consistency of soft ice cream.) Correct the seasoning, adding salt, pepper, cayenne and vinegar to taste.

Preheat a grill pan to high heat. Cut zucchinis lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices. Brush zucchini slices on both sides with oil and grill until limp, about 2 to 4 minutes per side.

Cook the lasagna noodles in rapidly boiling salted water for about 8 minutes or until al dente. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water.

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly oil a 8 by 11 inch baking dish. Spread 3 of the noodles over the bottom. Arrange 1/3 of the zucchini over the noodles. But 1/3 of the basil leaves over the zucchini, then 1/3 of the red pepper sauce on top of that. Make a second and a third layer in this fashion.

Bake the lasagna for 30 to 40 minutes or until thoroughly heated through.

Original recipe from High Flavor Low Fat Vegetarian Cooking.

The Mysteries of Celery Revealed

I finally figured out what Boulud is going on about when he keeps saying things like "1 stalk celery, peeled." Until now I thought he was just being overly picky but while making the delicious Angel Hair Pasta And Vegetable Ribbons, it became clear to me what was going on. This was the first French recipe I made for this blog and certainly the first recipe that ever called for celery peeling. The first time I made it I was so confused by the directions that I didnt put it together.

Doing it a second time was much simpler and still just as tasty. But this time I wasnt thrown off by the vegetable ribbons, Im actually quite obsessed with them now and ribbon vegetables whenever possible much to the fellas amusement. The mystery of the peeled celery came to me when I had the celery round side down on the cutting board and was shaving the ribbons off the side facing up. As the perfect long thin ribbons came off all that was left was the tough stringy darker green part on the cutting board that refused to be ribboned. The ribbons were tasty and crunchy but the left over bit was tough and tasteless. It totally makes sense to keep that part out of the final product.

All this time I had no idea the hidden depths of celery. This discovery isnt going to change my life or anything but it was pretty nifty to figure out. It made me understand Boulud and French cooking better, all the picky instructions arent there to make life difficult for the average cook but they are all little ways to make the dish turn out more perfect. Getting rid of the tough celery "peel" did make the veggies ribbons that much better.

Hopefully with this revelation I can stop having really urgent dreams about the need to make the perfect veal stock to keep the world from ending. Its been four nights in a row now and its starting to get creepy. Cooking, its taking over my brain.

Raw Clementine Gelato

I wish I could have gotten a picture that captured how very tasty this was. Youll just have to look at the pictures at the Raw Food Blog that actually do it justice instead of making it look like a bowl of scrambled eggs.

Until recently I didnt give the Raw Food movement much thought, it seemed a little too crazy even for me. However in my search for truly unsweetened desserts I kept running into Raw recipes that looked really tempting. Aside from honey and dates I can eat everything they cook with, which are a lot easier and cost effective to substitute than Splenda or other nasty fake sweeteners in diabetic recipes that are so heavy in sugar substitutes it makes me cringe.

The second I saw this recipe I knew I would be making it. After the success with the gelato I plan on making the accompanying cheesecake very soon. The only problem is Im wary to buy an ice cream maker, I feel like the second I had one the urge to make ice cream would disappear. So I had to get creative to get something resembling gelato consistency out of this recipe. As it freezes it turns into a triple layer terrine as the nuts sink to the bottom, the coconut oil sits in the middle and the juice floats to the top. I found running a fork through it and treating it like a granita worked out alright. It mixed the layers together but didnt quite get it creamy. After a month with no dessert other than carob chips and homemade sorbet this was heavenly regardless of the texture.

Now we have a box of left over Clementines to snack on and the ingredients to experiment with other Raw desserts on hand. These are both exciting things. I also discovered that Breyers has a whole line of low carb ice cream bars. The fruit bars are sweetened with fructose and something I loved even before this diet so it was a nice surprise to find out I could still eat them. And they have chocolate bars that have small amounts of Splenda in them which could come in handy next time I have an emergency chocolate urge.

Raw Clementine Gelato

2c cashews
1/ 2 cup coconut butter/oil
1/ 4 cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cup almond milk (we used unsweetened hazelnut milk)
1 cup Clementine juice
2 teaspoon Clementine zest

Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth. Taste for sweetness, you may need to add extra agave if your Clementines weren’t that sweet.

Pour mixture into a rectangular container and place in the freezer to set. Once set but not frozen through, run a fork through it breaking up the layers of the gelato that will have separated while setting. Blend the gelato together in a bowl using fork or mixer to combine. This wont make a smooth gelato consistency but it tastes lovely without buying another kitchen appliance. Alternatively, you can pour the mixture (unfrozen) into an ice-cream maker if you have one.

You can make your own almond milk(it is difficult to find unsweetened nut milks in the store) by blending 1 cup of almonds with 3 cups of water, and straining through a nut milk bag or sieve.

Original recipe from the Raw Chef Blog.