The juxtaposition of savory protein and fresh greens elevates sandwiches to other worldly status in my opinion. The decadent Bahn Mi is case in point. I translated this concept for dinner two ways:
Pulled pork topped with cucumbers, tomatoes, fresh basil, spinach, salt and pepper
Ground turkey (seasoned with garlic, salt, pepper) with cheddar and cucumbers
Four years ago we lived in San Francisco and “Dinner with David” was born in our tiny little kitchen. On Oscar night that year, I tried a milk-braised pork recipe. The following year, we feasted on fiber-rich turkey meatballs and pasta. Things haven’t changed all that much. So tonight I decided to revisit the pork recipe, this time using almond milk and pappardelle noodles.
My supply of vegetables was rather sad, and after setting my sights on lasagna, I realized the ground turkey had expired four days ago. In these situations, my instinct is to experiment and hope all goes well.
For this particular veggie lasagna, I simmered diced tomatoes seasoned with salt and pepper; and went to work on a sauce. I started by boiling frozen corn in chicken broth, to which I added some leftover goat cheese, a scoop of plain yogurt, and a generous amount of almond milk.
For the architecture of the lasagna, layer 1/3 tomatoes, followed by 1/3 corn mixture; sprinkle a layer of Parmesan, followed by three no-bake lasagna noodles. Repeat three times. Finish with more almond milk and parmesan to cover the top layer of noodles. (My top layer of noodles dried out, so make sure they’re covered in liquid.) Bake covered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Lasagna noodles saved dinner, once again. Hidden in the bowels in the cupboard, they’ve come to the rescue many times before, paired with unexpected partners like beans, goat cheese and butternut squash.
This time around, I used ground turkey, spinach and crushed tomatoes for the bolognese; and yogurt and almond milk to make a bechamel sauce, inspired by this eHow recipe. The sleeper hit? Cinnamon…
Turkey Lasagna with Yogurt Bechamel
In a large pan, sauté 1 chopped onion in 4 tbsp butter. Add fresh spinach by handfuls, and simmer on low.
In a separate nonstick pan, brown ground turkey. Add 1/4 tsp each of cinnamon and pepper; and 2 cans crushed/diced tomatoes. Reduce heat and bring to simmer. Add 1 cup almond milk and 1 tsp salt.
Combine turkey with spinach, simmer on low.
Meanwhile prep yogurt béchamel sauce:
In a sauce pan over medium heat, whisk together 4 tbsp olive oil and 4 tbsp white flour. Stir constantly until the mixture starts to bubble and turn a light golden color. Turn off heat.
Mix in 2 cups cold almond milk and 1 cup of yogurt. Stir constantly and turn a medium-high heat until the mixture starts to boil.
Add 1/3 cup of grated Gruyere cheese and 1/3 cup of Parmesan. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and a sprinkling of nutmeg and black pepper. Mix together until melted and remove from heat.
For the layering, I used no-bake lasagna noodles, in the following order:
Bolognese
Parmesan
Béchamel
Noodles
Bolognese
Parmesan
Béchamel
Noodles
Bolognese
Parmesan
Béchamel
Noodles
Béchamel
Parmesan
Bake covered with foil at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Enjoy the smell of cinnamon throughout the house, and every time you heat up the leftovers!
Confession: this recipe does not actually contain paprika. But When Harry Met Sally is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I did technically get the idea from a turkey paprikash recipe in the September issue of Everyday Food.
Here’s my pork (faux) paprikash recipe:
Cut pork tenderloin into 2-inch pieces of equal thickness. Saute in 2 tbsp butter, until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper while cooking. Move to a plate and cover with foil, but leave juices in pan.
Saute onions in juices, and add tomatoes and the remaining butter. Cook on medium for a couple of minutes, then add chicken broth. Bring back to a simmer. Stir in yogurt, then add pork back in and sprinkle a bit more salt if you like.
I let the whole thing simmer for an extra 10-15 minutes on low, while my rice cooker went to work. Traditional recipes use egg noodles, but the rice really soaks up the juices. The pork was nice and tender too.
Verdict? David liked it, and it was a perfect segue into fall stews.
Here’s another healthy take on the traditional hamburger sour cream casserole, this time using yogurt and goat cheese in place of sour cream and cream cheese. I also swapped in ground turkey, like last time. Can you tell my kitchen lighting and iPhone camera pixels have improved?!
“Hamburger” Casserole with Goat Cheese
Brown 1+ pound of ground turkey in skillet with 1 minced garlic clove. Add two cans of tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes, and simmer for 20 minutes or so. Meanwhile, boil a bag’s worth of egg noodles and drain. Next, stir together one bunch worth of sliced green onions with a 5 oz. cube of goat cheese and 1+ cup of yogurt, or enough to create a sauce. Layer all three (meat, noodles, sauce) in a casserole dish, and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Stir halfway through baking so the noodles don’t get too try.
Bonus: leftovers for a couple of nights, depending on how hungry you are!
In this installment of making dinner from scraps, I whip up a simple yet flavorful lasagna with goat cheese, gruyere and butternut squash pasta sauce. I took inspiration for the goat cheese sauce from Fine Cooking, the layering from Keep it Luce, and I used about half a bottle of Dave’s Gourmet Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce (which is delicious and dairy-free; I highly recommend it on gnocchi).
Instructions:
To make the goat cheese sauce, I whisked 1/4 cup of flour in a sauce pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil (butter would have been better, but of course I didn’t have any). Next, I whisked in 3 cups of unsweetened almond milk and let it thicken for about 10 minutes or so. From there, I stirred in 5 oz. of goat cheese, 1/2 cup shredded gruyere, 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, 1 tsp salt, and a couple clicks from the pepper mill.
Meanwhile, I toasted raw walnuts at 375 degrees in the oven, and then crushed them under foil with a rolling pin.
Then came the construction of the lasagna, using no-bake lasagna noodles. I used a 9×13 pan, but my lasagna came out very thin, so better to go with a smaller pan or double the recipe.
First, I layered 1/3 of the goat cheese sauce, followed by noodles, and 1/2 the butternut squash pasta sauce. Next, I added another layer of goat cheese sauce, noodles, and the pasta sauce. Then, I added a layer of toasted walnuts. (Note: I was also conservative with only one layer of toasted walnuts, but next time I would double it.)
After one final layer of noodles, goat cheese sauce, and pasta sauce, I sprinkled a healthy dose of grated gruyere on top. I baked it in the oven, covered with foil, at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes or until bubbly. I finished off a few extra minutes without foil at the end to melt the gruyere.
Delicious, easy and David-approved!
Two-timers are welcome in my kitchen. (See “Beg, Borrow and Meal” exhibits A, B, C, D and E.) And since we have burritos nearly every week, I often have a surplus of leftover, seasoned ground turkey (herein referred to as night #1).
I’ve experimented with leftover turkey before (exhibit F), but this time the stakes were higher, since I used a more traditional taco seasoning on night #1. Due to the complex layers of flavors – I presume – this pasta dish received rave reviews on night #2.
Here’s how it goes:
On night #3, the other half of the white beans and mushrooms inspired me to create an antipasto salad using chopped salami, tomatoes, spinach, and dried oregano. I paired it with my favorite store-bought, 100% natural (and low-lactose) Wild Mushroom Ravioli.
Buon appetito!
So I don’t spend that much time on Pinterest – honestly – because they don’t have an iPad app yet. But… I stumbled on this gem, Pulled Pork Stroganoff, and decided to put both my slow cooker and a pork tenderloin to use.
Here are a couple of adjustments I made:
The results were much more universal than expected. After having stroganoff the first night, David proceed to make a burrito with leftovers, and on the final night I made sandwiches with sauteed bell peppers and cheddar. They were like delicious, gooey Philly cheese steaks. Yum!
I’ve been wanting to try a flank steak recipe for some time, so tonight I modified Everyday Food’s Asian Steak Salad with Napa Cabbage.
I used radicchio in place of napa cabbage, and half an orange instead of two limes. I also used the same stoneware casserole dish to marinade and cook the steak. Since the radicchio is more bitter than cabbage, I cut it with a diced fuji apple. Lastly, I diced up the other half of the orange for extra sweetness.
Results: delicious!
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