Mexican Style Lasagna

I have a basic Mexican Style Lasagna recipe that I enjoy improvising. Sometimes I use spinach, sometimes I do not. It really depends on what cheese I use too.  Sometimes I go to a Mexican store and get authentic Mexican cheese, sometimes cheddar, and sometimes pepper jack.  

Mexican Style Lasagna

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves

4 scallions, coarsely chopped

Coarse salt Freshly ground pepper

10 ounces fresh baby spinach

8 corn tortillas (6 inches)

2 cups of cooked black beans

2 cups of corn

1 cup salsa (medium or hot)

8 ounces pepper jack cheese, grated (about 2 cups)

Vegetable cooking spray

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1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a food processor, combine cilantro, scallions, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper with as much spinach as will fit; pulse, adding remaining spinach in batches, just until coarsely chopped.

3. Coat an 8-inch square baking dish with butter

4. Lay four tortillas in bottom of the dish, overlapping slightly.

5. Layer with half of the beans, salsa, spinach mixture, and pepper jack; repeat with remaining ingredients, beginning with tortillas and ending with cheese, and pressing down gently.

6. Cover dish with foil and place it on a rimmed baking sheet.

7. Bake until bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes; remove the foil, and continue baking until golden, 15 to 20 minutes more.

8. Cool, 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

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Beet, Cheddar, and Apple Tarts

Beet, Cheddar, and Apple Tarts

Made these at my restaurant.  They are great if you just want a snack or as an appetizer.  Tart apples work best, especially since beet are sweet.  They are simple to make and tasty.  The pictures are from a few times I made them, sometimes with white cheddar and sometimes with yellow.  Different beets can be used too.  

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed and cut into six 4 1/2-inch rounds

• 3/4 cup shredded white or yellow cheddar 

• 1 small apple, cored and very thinly sliced

• 1 small beet, scrubbed, peeled, and very thinly sliced

• Coarse salt and ground pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

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1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. Place pastry rounds on a parchment lined baking sheet and prick all over with a fork. 

3. Divide half the cheese among pastry rounds. 

4. Top each with 2 to 3 apple slices. 

5. Tuck 2 to 3 beet slices among apple slices and top with remaining cheese. 

6. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with thyme. 

7. Bake until pastry is golden brown and slightly puffed, 13 to 15 minutes. 

8. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Butternut Squash, Sage, and Swiss Chard Lasagna

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Butternut Squash, Sage, and Swiss Chard Lasagna

2 medium-sized butternut squash

Cooking spray

1 teaspoon olive oil

4 large cloves garlic, chopped

1 lb of Swiss Chard, chopped, separate stems and leaves 

1/4 teaspoon salt

11 ounces evaporated milk

3 medium-sized shallots, sliced

1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped

1/8 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

8 ounces lasagna noodles

1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut 1 squash in half lengthwise.

3. Peel the other squash and cut into ½-inch cubes.

4. Coat a nonstick cookie sheet with cooking spray.

5. Remove the seeds from the squash that was cut lengthwise and place cut side down on the cookie sheet.

6. Roast until very soft, about 35-40 minutes.

7. Remove from the oven and let cool.

8. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

9. Add 2 chopped garlic cloves.

10. Swirl the skillet to mix and cook until fragrant, about 10 seconds.

11. Add the Swiss chard stems and ¼ teaspoon salt.

12. Increase heat to high and cook, stirring often, for 6 minutes.

13. Remove from heat and stir in the cubed butternut squash and Swiss card chopped leaves. Let cool.

14. Put the evaporated milk, shallots, remaining 2 garlic cloves, and sage in a medium-sized saucepan.

15. Bring to a boil, cover, and remove from heat.

16. Scrape the flesh of roasted squash halves into a large bowl.

17. Mash with a potato masher and then add the milk mixture.

18. Mash to mix. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

19. Coat a 9-by-9-inch pan with cooking spray.

20. Spoon ½ cup of the mashed squash into the bottom of the pan and spread into an even layer.

21. Top with 3 uncooked noodles and spoon 1 cup of the Swiss chard-squash mixture on top.

22. Top with ½ cup of mashed squash and repeat the layers 2 more times ending with ½ cup of mashed squash.

23. Cover the pan with foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

24. Remove the foil, sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top of lasagna and bake 10 more minutes.

25. Remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes before slicing into 6 pieces.

Hearty German Soup

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Hearty German Soup

2/3 cup carrots, diced

2/3 cup green cabbage, diced

2/3 cup potatoes, diced

1 small onion, finely minced

1 tbl minced garlic

1 heaping tbl caraway seeds

1/4 cup sesame oil

3 tbls cider vinegar

1 cup ground seitan

1 ½ cups tomato sauce

10 cups water

3 tablespoons barley miso

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon sea salt

1. Sauté the carrots, cabbage, potato, onion, and garlic with the caraway seeds in the oil until almost soft.

2. Add the vinegar, seitan, tomato sauce, and water. 

3. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Dissolve the miso in about 1 cup of the soup and add this mixture back into the soup, together with the pepper and salt.

5. Simmer very gently for 5 more minutes to cook the miso. Serve hot. 

Chard Dumplings in Chive Broth

I came up with this recipe at my tea house.  It works best in shallow bowls.  It looks gorgeous, unfortunately, I do not have pictures of the soup.

Chard Dumplings in Chive Broth 

1 bunch chard, leaves and stems separated

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup finely chopped green onion

¼ cup water

¼ cup smoked provolone cheese, grated

2 cloves garlic, minced

Zest of 1 lemon

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/3 cup dry white wine

¼ cup ricotta cheese

1/8 teaspoon salt

36 wonton wrappers

8 cups veggie broth

1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper

1 cup thinly sliced fresh chives 

8 teaspoons finely shredded Parmesan cheese

Fresh ground cracked black pepper

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1. Finely chop enough chard leaves to measure 3 cups; set aside.

2. Finely chop enough chard stems to measure 1/4 cup. 

3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

4. Add onion and the chard stems and cook, stirring often, until beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes.

5. Add water and cook until the liquid has evaporated, 2 to 4 minutes.

6. Stir in garlic, lemon zest and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

7. Stir in wine and the reserved chard leaves and cook, stirring until the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is somewhat dry, about 5 minutes more.

8. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let cool for 5 minutes. Stir in ricotta, smoked provolone and salt.

9. Use a baking sheet lightly dusted with flour and a small bowl of water.

10. Cut the wonton wrappers in half on the diagonal.

11. Cover them with a clean kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out.

12. Lay 6 wrapper halves on the work surface.

13. Spoon about ½ teaspoon of the filling in the middle of each.

14. Moisten a fingertip and run it along the edges of the wrapper.

15. Fold in half to contain the filling, forming a smaller triangle.

16. Press the edges to seal.

17. Place the dumpling on the prepared baking sheet; cover with a damp paper towel until ready to cook.

18. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

19. Bring broth and crushed red pepper to a lively simmer in a large pot.

20. Stir the liquid while carefully adding half the dumplings.

21. Cook for 4 minutes.

22. Remove the dumplings with a slotted spoon and divide among 4 soup bowls.

23. Repeat with the remaining dumplings, dividing among 4 more soup bowls as they are done.

24. Ladle about 1 cup of the broth into each bowl.

25. Serve immediately, sprinkled with chives, Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.

TIPS & NOTES• Prepare dumplings through Step 18, arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet (or in two layers separated by parchment paper in a smaller container), lightly dust with flour and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for up to 1 day or freeze for up to 3 months.

Curried Japanese Pumpkin, Tofu Soup

This soup is inspired by a trip to Berkeley to a Japanese restaurant that served sushi and a curry soup.  Never knew Japanese used curry, so I had to taste it.  It had a delicious flavor: it was mild and definitely not a hot curry.  This is my version, it has been over 7 years ago, but remember the curry was flavorful yet mild.  The rest is what I think would taste good and could be used in a Japanese soup. Forgot I made toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish, not in the photo.

2 cups of pumpkin, cubed

1 lb of extra firm tofu, cubed and pressed overnight

1/4 cup of sesame oil

1/4 cup of soy sauce

1 tbls. of minced fresh ginger

4 bunches of green tea noodles

2 carrots, grated

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

1 bunch of green onions, diced

3 cups of mizuna, ripped around 1-2 inch pieces (kale can be used too)

12 cups of vegetable broth

1 tbls. of yellow curry (should be flavorful, not hot)
roasted pumpkin seeds (1 tbl soy sauce and 1 tbl sesame sauce), garnish

1. Set the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Put the tofu in a plastic bag with the soy sauce and ginger.
3. Refrigerate overnight the bag of tofu marinade.
4. Place cubed pumpkin and 1 tbls. of sesame oil in a pan single layer and roast for 30-45 minutes.
5. Turn pumpkin half way through.
6. In a medium fry pan place 1 tbls. of sesame oil and get the pan to medium-high heat.
7. When the pan is hot drain the tofu and fry in the pan for 10-15 minutes.
8. Reserve the soy sauce and ginger for the soup.
9. Take a large pot and boil water.
10.  Take the noodles and place in pot to boil for 5 minutes (noodles should be mainly cooked, but will cook more in soup).
11. Drain noodles and place back in the pot.
12. Place broth, reserve soy sauce-ginger mixture, 2 tbls. sesame oil, carrots, red pepper, green onion, mizuna and yellow curry.
13. Heat on medium heat for 5- 10 minutes.
14. Ladle into bowls and eat.

Note: Marinating and frying tofu and roasting pumpkin can be done up to 2 days beforehand.  Soup is really easy to make if you do decide to do this.  Roasted pumpkin seeds can be made 2 days beforehand too, just remember them, unlike me :-)

Chipotle Black Bean Dip

This recipe I made last week for an early Halloween party I attended. For me, I personally used black beans that I grew myself, so I had to first cook the beans beforehand. This added 45 minutes to my cooking time (the beans were freshly dried, so I did not pre-soak the beans and wanted them easily pureed) otherwise, a can of cooked beans are acceptable.

Chipotle Black Bean Dip

2 tbls. olive oil

1 medium clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

1/8 tsp. ground coriander

2 cups of cooked black beans

2 tbls. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro; more for garnish

juice of 1 lime

2 tsp. seeded, minced chipotle chile (from a can of chipotles in adobo)

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbls. water or broth

1 red pepper, minced reserve 1/4 cup for garnish

2 green onions, minced reserve 1/4 cup for garnish

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1. Put the first ten ingredients into a food processor and puree until smooth or a little chunky if preferred.

2. Put puree in a bowl.

3. Stir in red pepper and green onions.

4. Transfer to a serving bowl.

5. Garnish with cilantro, red pepper, and green onions

6. Serve.