Lasagna Roll-ups

It seems I have been way too busy enjoying summer this week to cook or, you know, sleep. I'm tired but happy and waiting for the tomatoes to rippen. In the meantime, enjoy what looks to be my friend Maria's best effort to date--vegetarian lasagna.

There are so many things I love about Kroger (a grocery store you may or may not have in your town). The one I go to in Bloomington, Ind., was recently upgraded, so to speak. It's amazing. It's huge, they have great deals, it feels really clean and new. Their olive bar is amazing. Love it! Every month they send a coupon bookfull of recipes or household tips. This last one was perfect,"Budget-friendly vegetarian possibilities." One of the subheadings is"pack more protein into meatless meals." Seriously, just what I need. Within a week I made two meals from the book.

Growing up we ate lasagna fairly often at my dad's house. It was either pizza, lasagna, spaghetti, spaghetti pie or chicken friedrice. (Which one doesn't fit with the others?) I've only made lasagna once, despite my mom's insistence that it's a great meal to freeze and eat later. This recipe looked easy and the pictures were"cute." Yep, I pick my food based on a cuteness scale.

Vegetable Lasagna Roll-Ups: 6 whole wheat lasagna noodles, cooked al dente and drained 1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese 1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided in half 2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese 1 egg white, slightly beaten 1 tsp dried parsley 1/2 tsp dried basil freshly cracked pepper, to taste 1 1/2 tsp olive oil 2 cloves garlic, sliced 1/2 cup red pepper, diced 1/2 cup zucchini, diced 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced 1 cup fresh spinach, chopped 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray glass baking dish with cooking spray and lay the noodles across the bottom so they don't stick (use olive oil or cooking spray if necessary). In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, 1/4 cup mozzarella, parmesan, egg white, parsley, basil, and pepper.

Heat a skillet to medium-high heat. Add oil. Saute garlic for 1 minute. Add vegetables (I didn't have red pepper and I added onion)and saute for 3 minutes. Add spinach and saute just until spinach is wilted. Allow mixture to cool, drain well and combine with cheese mixture.

Spoon ricotta filling onto the noodles, leaving about 3 inches of space on each end of the noodle. Roll up the noodles and arrange in glass baking dish. Pour 1/4 cup tomato sauce over each roll-up. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the cover and top with remaining mozzarella cheese and bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes.

Notes: Do NOT ever, ever, ever buy fat free mozzarella cheese. Definitely an accident I will never repeat. It's disgusting. It doesn't even really melt. I love gooey, melty cheese and this certainly was not. In the before and after baking pictures, notice the cheese isn't melted on the top? Yeah, exactly.

Maria Cooks, Part 4

Editor's note (I've always wanted to do one of these): This is a slice from the life of Maria who is studying for a master's in criminal justice at Indiana University in Bloomington.

The butternut squash is next. I (Maria) was making dinner the night before I left for St. Louis. I hardly had any food left in my fridge, and what I did have was somewhat random. I had half a butternut squash left so I decided to follow the directions on the sticker. I cut the squash in half so that two spoon-type hollows form. I spooned out the seeds and other mush. Instead of baking in the oven I cheated and did the microwave. I put an inch of water into a glass baking dish and put the squash skin-side-up in. I microwaved for about 8 minutes. I then turned the squash over and spooned some butter and brown sugar into each hole. Microwaved for two more minutes. Delicious! I had just a tiny bit of lettuce and baby cucumber left, so I made a salad. The dressing was olive oil, red wine vinegar, honey and lemon juice.

I also had a small portion of basmati rice and tikka masala leftovers. I had sauteed chicken, asparagus, red peppers, orange peppers and broccoli, then added the sauce. It was restaurant-quality. The meal was all over the place but very tasty.

Editor's note (can't help it, the last one was so much fun): Here's a photo of Maria to appear online until Maria requests that I remove it (and replace it with a photo from New Year's last year, yeah, don't make me go there). Will she kill me for this? She posted this photo on facebook, so I assume it's OK for public viewing.

Maria Cooks, Part 3

Maria's photos couldn't have come at a better time, as I stubbornly refuse to buy more food before going out of town for the holidays (Mexico, Mo., here we come!). So tomorrow I'll be blogging about breakfast cereal, but today it's all about Maria.

Cinnamon Muffins:
2 medium eggs
3 cups of flour
1 cup of milk
1 cup of sugar
5 tablespoons of butter
5 tablespoons of shortening (or 5 additional T butter)
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg (I didn't have any)
Topping: I (Maria) combined some softened butter, sugar, cinnamon and flour in a bowl and crumbled it with my hands.

Cream together the butter, the shortening (butter) and the sugar. Beat in the eggs, salt, nutmeg and baking powder. Stir in the flour and milk alternately until mixture is just combined. Fill muffin cups almost to the top. Add crumb mixture until cups are filled. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

More to come from Maria later this week.

Maria Makes Risotto.

Maria called me the other night, "I'm making the risotto. So I cook the rice with stock not water and I saute it beforehand?" She sounded a bit frantic, as if she was calling mid-saute. My first reaction was excitement, "Someone is making something from my blog!" Then I thought, "Wait, that risotto was so-so, what if she doesn't like it and never comes back?!" "Maria, are you putting any meat in it?" "No, remember I only like chicken." "OK, put some other seasonings in it." "Can I use garlic?" "Sure, why not." Conversation ensued on whether it was acceptable to use bouillion cubes (I said yes). Fortunately, it seems that Maria's risotto was a success. Maria used pinot grigio instead of marsala (a good choice) and added broccoli and carrots to the squash and apples. She seasoned with thyme, salt and pepper (note: no garlic). Still creamy, still excellent. Thanks to Maria for demonstrating the versatility of this recipe. Maria's cat Ollie apparently likes Food Eaten just as much as she does. Well maybe not quite. Food Eaten is still accepting submissions for recipes (note: you will not be turned down, providing your dish is not obscene). Or, even better, you can invite me over for dinner and I will write about how wonderful you are. lrseyler at hotmail dot com.