Steak lasagna with red wine mushroom marinara sauce and balsamic parmigiano roasted cauliflower

That title is a mouthful. Just a warning, while the basis of this recipe is healthy, and it is whole food, it is definitely not low calorie. We're dealing with a lot of cheese here. But, wow...is it ever tasty.

I'm slipping into a Cabernet-and-pasta coma as I type, so let's get into why this hearty dish is a good idea:

Tomatoes, especially when cooked, are genuinely stupid good for you. Honestly, it's too many nutrients to list here, I'd encourage you to click the link. Cooked tomatoes are also very rich in an extremely potent antioxidant called Lycopene. Most nutritionists will tell you that you should be eating a meal with cooked tomato sauce at least once a week (you better believe I do, but mostly because it's freaking delicious).

Mushrooms are in the same vein as tomatoes in terms of nutritional richness and diversity. They have protein, several B vitamins and every essential mineral (except calcium).

Red Wine, in addition to being very tasty, contains a chemical compound called Resveratrol which is being touted as an anti-aging miracle by emerging research. Effects such as cancer prevention, anti-inflammation, lower blood sugar and life extension have been observed in animal test subjects who were treated with it. Could be the next big thing.

Cauliflower...ah, so hated, so mistreated. Poor thing. Fortunately, I've got a few tricks that will make you love this uber nutritious veggie you may have hated as a kid. Cauliflower is particularly rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin K, B6, Folate, every essential mineral, and of course fiber.

Now, I could brag about the fresh herbs and the olive oil, but I think this justification has gone on long enough. Let's cook!

This recipe will make two servings (plus two additional servings of lasagna for leftovers):

6 lasagna noodle sheets

1 cup organic tomato puree

5 cloves of garlic

6 cremini mushroom caps

4 oz. top sirloin steak

3/4 cup part skim ricotta cheese

1 shallot (red onion works too, I just used mine up on that tandoori chicken marinade)

1/2 lb. cauliflower florets

2 tsp. balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

6 slices (1/5 lb.) of extra sharp provolone cheese

Couple good glugs of red wine (I used Cabernet Sauvignon)

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup of chopped fresh basil

1 Tbsp. fresh chopped sage (this is optional, I'm just trying to use it up, and it works here)

To taste salt, pepper, red pepper, coriander, whatever you like

Prep, prep and more prep. Mince your garlic and shallot, slice your mushrooms, oil and season your cauliflower florets and set them aside on a baking sheet. Put a large pot of water on to boil and get a medium sauce pot on medium low heat, little oil in the bottom.

In that medium sauce pot, add the shallot, then most of the garlic (you're saving some for the ricotta). Sweat that a bit, then add your mushrooms. Mushrooms like to suck up all the liquid in a pan, so if you need more oil, add it. Don't salt them, but you can add pepper, coriander, whatever else you would like while they brown.

While those work, you can slice your steak and prepare the ricotta. Slice that steak as thin as you can get it, carpaccio style, the roll it around in some salt, pepper and whatever else you see fit. Set it aside.

In a bowl, work your ricotta, 1/4 cup of the parmigiano, a little bit of those herbs and the rest of the garlic together with a fork, set it aside.

Now your mushrooms should be good and brown. Go ahead and add a glug or two of that wine and crank the heat. You need it to reduce to a syrupy consistency. When that happens, add your tomato puree, the rest of your herbs, a little fresh olive oil and kill the heat.

Briefly boil your lasagna sheets in that water (I salted my water first), drain them and immediately separate them.

Assembly time! Get yourself a 9x9 baking pan (preferably glass). Sauce on the bottom, two sheets, ricotta, steak, sauce, provolone, two sheets, ricotta, steak, sauce, two sheets, sauce, provolone on top. Now, is there a method to my madness? Nope! You can put this together however you'd like. That was just what I did, purely by chance.

Put that in a 400° oven. In fact, put your cauliflower in there too. The lasagna gets 15-20 minutes (until the cheese browns). After that, take it out and let it cool before you cut into it, you'll regret it if you don't. When you take the lasagna out, take the cauliflower out as well. Turn the florets, baste them with the balsamic vinegar and sprinkle the remaining parimigiano cheese on top. Set them back in the oven for 5-10 more minutes.

And hey, your lasagna is adequately cooled when your cauliflower is perfectly roasted! Love that timing.

To plate, pop yourself out a nice slice of that lasagna, spoon your cauliflower right up next to it and drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over the top it it all, if you like.

Tomorrow, we're globetrotting over to Thailand. Do come back.

Dijon parmigiano seared sockeye salmon with gnocchi in a brown butter sage sauce

Edit: Here's the photo!

Unfortunately, my digital camera card reader is swimming in a big bucket of fail sauce, so the resplendent photo I snapped of this dish tonight won't be seen 'til I can swing by Best Buy and pick up a new one (P.S. screw you, Wolf Camera). But it was a rocking plate and I will definitely post it.

This was actually an incredibly simple meal to prepare. I encourage any budding chefs that may be reading this blog to really consider trying this one out.

First and foremost, why this dish loves your brain:

Wild Sockeye Salmon, as many people have figured out, are extremely rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, but you may not know that they also have loads of Vitamin B12 (enough for a whole day's supply in one serving) in addition to decent and high amounts of every other B vitamin. Oh, lots of Selenium, Phosphorus and Potassium, too. Salmon is also a powerful anti-inflammatory.

Potatoes, from which gnocchi are made, while not so fabulous for you when a certain purveyor of nastiness McFries them, are much better for you when mixed with a little flour and served in pillowy dumpling form. They're a great source of B6, Vitamin C and Potassium and have respectable amounts of many other nutrients.

Sage has a ton of Vitamin K in it as well as smaller amounts of several other nutrients, even a little bit of fiber.

Butter...um, well...if you click that link, I'll admit that the tale looks a bit grim. But if I may present another piece of evidence, you may be more persuaded to let a little buttery love slip into your diet without guilt. Just keep your calories in check like the French do, maybe follow it with a glass of red wine, and I say you'll be fine. So does Michael Pollan.

Let's cook!

This makes two servings:

1/2 cup of prepared gnocchi (they very often sell this in the pasta aisle of your grocery store, it may also be refrigerated or frozen. I have made gnocchi many times before, and I can tell you it's not hard, but it is time intensive and this little bit of help from the store was much appreciated)

3/4 lb. of wild Sockeye salmon filet

2 Tbsp. of Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

2 Tbsp. of unsalted butter

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage

To taste salt, fresh ground pepper, whatever else you'd like

That's it! Not bad, huh?

Baste your filet with that Dijon on both sides, season it with salt and pepper, and add the cheese to presentation side of the fish (this is the side you cook first, it gets the best sear and generally ends up nicer looking than the other side). Set that aside for now.

Get some water on to boil. Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions, or until they float to the surface. Remove them with a slotted spoon (save that water) into a bowl and set them aside.

Heat up two pans now, one large non-stick pan for your fish (oil it well, medium heat) and a smaller skillet to brown your butter (medium low heat).

When your larger pan is hot, add your fish (remember, presentation side down first). Not gonna lie, I did not cook this fish all the way through, I did it 'til about a medium, 4 minutes per side. This fish is too good to overcook. Think of it like a sushi grade tuna.

Melt your butter into the smaller skillet and let it foam. It will start to brown, which you do want, but once it gets brown turn the heat down as low as it goes and add your chopped fresh sage. You'll want to add a splash of the starchy gnocchi cooking water now. Couple pinches of salt, little pepper.

Toss your sauce with the gnocchi and get it on the plate, letting a little spill around it. Pile the fish next to it, garnish in the middle with a little fresh sage.

This dish had remarkably clear and clean flavors and incredible depth considering how few ingredients were involved.

Tomorrow, we're doing a little Italian fusion. Do come back.

Tandoori chicken with roasted roots in a ginger lime oil and basmati rice

Okay, so this ended up drifting more toward India than I expected when I stepped out on this culinary limb, but I am more than satisfied with the result. Marinating that chicken for 24+ hours really made its flavor intense, it was very unfamiliar and exciting to my palate.

Before we get into the recipe, let's take a gander at why this dish rocks your body:

Celery Root, while terribly ugly before a good peeling, is quite good for you. It's rich in manganese, magnesium, Vitamin C, potassium and a couple B vitamins. And of course, plenty of fiber.

Radishes are a fab source of Vitamin C, Folate (B9) and Potassium, as well as fiber. They're also incredibly low in calories; an entire cup of sliced radishes contains only 19 calories.

Ginger, while not too nutritionally useful in the quantities seen here in this recipe, has been used medicinally for centuries to ease stomach ailments, cure nausea and reduce inflammation in the body.

Fun fact: Jains do not consume root vegetables for religious reasons.

Alright! Enough of all that jazz, let's get cooking.

Well, let's get marinating first.

This will successfully marinate 4 chicken thighs:

1 cup of Greek yogurt

1/4 of a red onion (chopped)

6 garlic cloves (smashed)

1 tps. turmeric

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1 Tbsp. ground caraway seeds (toast them before you grind them)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Put all that stuff in a large resealable plastic bag, smoosh it around a bit to mix, then add the chicken and give it another smoosh. Place the bag in a mixing bowl or a tupperware container or something to protect your fridge in case it leaks.

Let that groove for a day or so.

Okay, here's what you'll need for rest:

1 celery root

5 medium radishes

1/3 cup of basmati rice

A one-inch knob of fresh ginger

1/4 inch slice of lime's worth of juice

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

To taste salt, pepper, whatever other spices you'd like to use

Before you do anything, take your chicken out of the fridge, remove it from the marinade and set it aside. You need to get the chill off of it a bit.

Preheat your oven to 400° and start prep on those roots. Take all the brown stuff off of that celery root with your knife (be careful, it's dense and can be difficult to slice). Chop it into half-inch cubes. Rinse, dry, chop the ends off of and quarter your radishes.

Transfer your roots to a baking sheet, drizzle a little oil on them, salt and pepper, toss to coat. Those will go in your oven for 20-25 minutes, you should probably stir them around a bit about halfway through the cooking for even browning.

While the roots are roasting, you can start your rice and make your yummy oil. Cook your rice according to the package directions, it should take at least 15 minutes if not 20 or more. I would season your water with a couple pinches of salt at the very least, you can add other spices if you like, but basmati is pretty tasty without help. Check it while it's simmering to make sure you don't need to add more water (burnt rice will ruin your day, believe me).

To make the ginger lime oil, combine about a Tbsp. and a half of extra virgin olive oil with the grated ginger, lime juice and black pepper. Set that aside to get happy.

Heat a heavy skillet (used my trusty cast iron here) to about medium. I took the time to fish out my garlic and onions from the marinade and pan roasted them real quick in a little oil to combine with the roots when they came out of the oven, totally optional, I just hate to waste good garlic. After that, should you choose to do it, re-oil the skillet and add your chicken. 5 minutes per side, standard.

To plate this beauty, plop some rice in the center of the plate, surround it with your roots, pile the chicken on top and spoon that oil on to your roots, maybe a little on the chicken too. This recipe makes two healthy helpings.

I lucked into the last day of a sale on Sockeye salmon, so I snatched up a heaping filet of it and will be making use of it in tomorrow's fun. Do come back!

Rain check!

I realize I promised a Middle Eastern dish today, and while that is well in the works (the meat is in the marinade!), my husband and I have decided to eat out tonight. Come back tomorrow for all the details of the aromatic meal I plan to craft.

Chipotle chicken tostadas with roasted tomatillo salsa

Looks are definitely deceiving in this photo. That red stuff is actually the tomatillo salsa; it's red because the grocery store only had a paltry three small tomatillos left for me to purchase, so I used a few canned whole red tomatoes I had leftover from a dish last week to fill it out. But trust me, that salsa wasn't missing one bit of the tangy pop you'd expect from a tomatillo salsa, it was tart and fabulous.

And that chicken (or I should say chicken and turkey; it was one chicken thigh leftover from the panini the other night and a third of a lb. of ground turkey) is so dark and earthy-looking from the adobo that it almost looks like beef.

Look at me, improvising. Adapt and overcome, Semper Fi, OORAH!

Ahem. Let's take a look at the some of the nutritional pros of this meal before we delve into the recipe:

Avocado is a nutritional powerhouse, packed with B6, Folate (B9) and Vitamin K and a literal slew of other nutrients. They're also rich in unsaturated fat and fiber.

Tomatillos are a good source of Vitamin C, Niacin (B3), Potassium and Manganese as well as fiber, like most fruits and veggies.

Turkey is a nice, lean protein rich in Selenium and every variety of Vitamin B.

Even that cilantro is a good idea with its rainbow of nutrients, like most fresh herbs.

And have you heard that the capsaicin in spicy peppers can kill cancer cells by attacking their mitochondria? Hit 'um where it hurts!

Who says Mexican food can't be healthy? Anywho, here's how this shaped up, this is the recipe for four heaping tostadas:

4 tostada shells

1 medium Hass avocado

1 chicken thigh (mine was cooked)

3 tomatillos

3 canned peeled tomatoes

1/3 lb. of ground turkey

1 chipotle pepper in adobo (you may want to use a half of one if you're weak in the knees to spicy things, these bad boys are HOT)

2 Tbsp. of adobo (this can be bought seperately [it's great to have around] or you can use the chipotle's marinade)

1 tsp. of ground coriander

1 clove of garlic

1/8 of a red onion

The juice of 1/4 of a lime

1/4 cup of extra sharp cheddar (this is definitely a non-authentic faux pas on my part, but I like the flavor and it's what I had in the fridge)

About a palmful of fresh cilantro

A little olive oil

To taste salt, pepper, red pepper, onion and garlic powder, whatever else you would like.

First and foremost, peel the paper off of those tomatillos, rinse and dry them, and cut them into quarters. Oil them up a little, salt and pepper, and put them in a 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

While they're in there, heat up a heavy skillet, medium heat, little oil in the bottom. When it's hot, add the turkey and leave it alone to brown a little, break it up with your spatula as it cooks. Add the chipotle (finely diced), adobo, coriander, salt and pepper. If the mixture gets dry, add water as needed to keep it loose, you know how turkey can be. If you have some leftover chicken like I did, chop it finely and add it now.

As that's browning, you can make your guacamole and start the salsa. Mash your ripe avocado into a bowl, get some lime juice on it right away, add salt, fresh ground black pepper, a wee bit of extra virgin olive oil and some onion and garlic powder. You can add other stuff if you like, I'm kind of a purist when it comes to guac.

Get out your hand blender or food processor and get to work on your tomatoes, garlic clove and red onion, season it appropriately. Add the tomatillos after they're done and cooled a bit. Add cilantro at the very end; I like to chop it by hand so it doesn't get pulverized.

Lastly, get those tostada shells in the oven for about 5 minutes on 350 to crisp them up.

Oh, and grate the cheese. Duh.

Assembly is entirely up to you, garnish with some cilantro.

Enjoy! Tomorrow we're going a little Middle Eastern, do come back.

Lemon barbeque tilapia with roasted garlic wasabi mashed sweet potatoes

I can see you on the other side of the internet looking at me in that same odd way my husband did when I told him what I was making this evening.

Well, let me tell you that it turned out beautifully.

...I should note that the aforementioned beauty was more apparent in the first picture I took of this dish, however the camera lacked its memory card at the time of the shot. About halfway through my meal, I realized what had happened, speedily rearranged my half devoured tilapia filet on my plate and took another, less impressive picture. I am a fan of that artful swoop of sauce though, très Iron Chef me thinks.

Anyway, enough of that silliness, here's what went down. This is the recipe for two servings:

2 tilapia filets (1/4 lb. per filet)

1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce (I used the remainder of a bottle of Russell's sauce that my dad gave us a few months ago)

1/2 of a lemon, zest it and juice it

1 large sweet potato

1 tsp. of wasabi powder

2 tsp. of balsamic vinegar

5 cloves of garlic (don't worry, we're roasting it)

1 Tbsp. of butter or buttery stuff (I like Smart Balance w/ olive oil)

2 or so Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil

To taste salt, fresh black pepper, red pepper, onion and garlic powder, whatever dried herbs you'd like.

Scrub that potato under some warm water, dry it and cut it up into one-inch cubes. Don't peel them, there's great nutrients in that skin and it'll give the side dish texture. Fill a large pot about halfway up with cool water, dump the potatoes in, put the lid on and crank the heat. This will take a while to come to a boil, so you have time to roast your garlic and prepare the sauce.

I like pan roasting my garlic, because it yields more brown crackly deliciousness than oven roasting, and it takes significantly less time. Peel your garlic cloves and add them to a medium low heat skillet with a little olive oil. Let them sizzle, turn every couple minutes, they'll brown and soften, remove them to a paper towel once they look and feel right.

To prepare the sauce, put your barbeque sauce in a small bowl, zest what you can from the lemon, and juice it (be mindful of the seeds). Doctor it up with spices if you want, stir to combine.

When your potatoes come to a boil, take off the lid. At this point, you'll want to check them every couple minutes to see if they can be easily pierced with a fork. That's when they're ready to be drained. When they're drained, return them to the hot pot they came from, add the butter, and mash away. Add the balsamic vinegar, wasabi powder and roasted garlic, keep mashing. Season it with salt, pepper, red pepper and whatever else you think it needs.

This fish is a breeze. Season it with salt and pepper, put it in that skillet you had the garlic in, make sure it's well olive oiled. Sear for 3 minutes on each side, medium heat, glaze the fish with the sauce once you flip it.

To plate, spoon some of those sweet potatoes on your plate and lean the fish against it. We had some sauce left over, so I served that on the side in case extra was desired (and it was, yum yum).

Enjoy! Come back tomorrow for more fun. I believe something spicy may be in order.

Grilled chicken and veggie panini with basil pesto

Note: Author does not enjoy or endorse the drinking of Tab. That stuff has been sitting there for about two years.

This week, I did something I had not yet done before. I wrote a menu for the week's dinners, deciding what I was going to make days in advance, and purposefully diversifying the meals from night to night. In the future, this blog will be updated with each recipe as I make it, but since this was week one of the endeavor, I'll simply recap the fun:

Monday:
Citrus saffron poached amberjack (dark-fleshed, firm fish, never had it before then)
Phytopasta salad

Tuesday:
Creamy butternut squash soup
Garlic bread

Wednesday:
Chicken and mushroom Parmesan
Prosciutto wrapped asparagus

Thursday:
Andouille and shrimp jambalaya
Cajun broccoli

Friday:
There were plans to make a Thai steak stirfry, but by sheer coincidence my husband and I were invited to go to Chow Baby with a good friend of ours, so perhaps next week I'll make my own.

Saturday:

...Oh, hey, that was tonight, wasn't it?

I made the hubs and I some grilled chicken and veggie panini oozing with basil pesto. Drooling yet? Here's the recipe for one full panino (like the one in the picture that my husband ate; I made a half version for myself):

2 slices of sourdough bread

1 chicken thigh

1/2 of a small zucchini

2 or 3 baby portobello (cremini) mushroom caps

4 thin slices of mozzarella cheese

1/6 of a medium red onion (I generally buy one onion a week and keep it in the fridge, chipping away at it for various recipes)

2 Tbsp. of basil pesto (handful of fresh basil, a couple slices of Parmigiano-Reggiano, one clove of garlic and a little fresh cracked black pepper)

To taste add salt, freshly ground black pepper, red pepper, garlic and onion powder, whatever dried herbs you feel like playing with.

Heat up your favorite cast iron skillet, grill pan or what have you, season up that chicken real nice and start there, searing for about 5 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness. Keep in mind that it's going keep cooking after you take it off. Set it aside.

Slice the zucchini thin (I did long, length-wise strips), peel apart and trim the onion pieces, leave the mushroom caps whole. Make sure that pan's got a little oil on it, then strategically place the veggies, don't overcrowd them. Season those veggies with everything but the salt while they sear, again about 5 minutes per side, then after they brown, salt appropriately (this draws out the water, which would cause them to steam had you added it earlier). Set them with the chicken.

At this point, you'll want to heat up your um...*cough* panini press *cough*. If you're left without one of these fanciful machines, you can just use that pan you've been using this whole time. Assemble the bread, mozzarella, chicken (slice it thin), veggies (slice those mushrooms now), and basil pesto however you would like and grill it until golden brown.

Mmm, sammich. Enjoy! Do pop in tomorrow for another recipe.