Recipe Post: Artichoke Lasagna

Ingredients:

• cooking spray

• 9 uncooked lasagna noodles (I have gluten-free ones, so all's good there.)

• 1 onion, chopped (Check.)

• 4 cloves garlic, chopped (There's some kind of garlic somewhere.)
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can vegetable broth (Broth...I should have some in my bag from Florida)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (First snag, no rosemary. But I'll just use thyme instead.)

• 1 (14 ounce) can marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (Got the artichoke!)
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry (No spinach....but that's not something to cry over. Haha)

• 1 (28 ounce) jar tomato pasta sauce (There happens to be homemade sauce in the fridge....score!)
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided (There's mozzarella cheese, as well as some other kind)

• 1 (4 ounce) package herb and garlic feta, crumbled

So I had an ingredient list that is almost like the original. Everything is good so far.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Artichoke-Spinach-Lasagna/Detail.aspx

The directions, as on the website.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium-high. Saute onion and garlic for 3 minutes, or until onion is tender-crisp. Stir in broth and rosemary; bring to a boil. Stir in artichoke hearts and spinach; reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in pasta sauce.
4. Spread 1/4 of the artichoke mixture in the bottom of the prepared baking dish; top with 3 cooked noodles. Sprinkle 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese over noodles. Repeat layers 2 more times, ending with artichoke mixture and mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle crumbled feta on top.
5. Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover, and bake 15 minutes more, or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

I started by filling up a pot with water and sprinkling salt in it. I put it on the back burner on high. Easy enough. I then thought that since this would take a little bit on time, I could start sauteing the onions and garlic. So, I sprayed the pan and began heating it up while I cut the onion. Everything is going according to plan. I looked in the drawer and saw only half a clove of garlic. Hmph. No biggy, I had some garlic powder. I estimated. I figured that it was more concentrated. I throw them all in the pan. While that began to cook, I went to take out the broth to measure. I see that instead of broth, I have stock. I don't know what the exact difference is, other than the statement about the lesser amount of sodium on the cartoon. I measure out the 14/15 ounces and begin to chop the artichoke hearts, while stirring the onion and garlic mixture. I added the stock and thyme,

brought it to a boil and dumped the artichoke hearts in, and turn the heat down and cover. I then realized that I didn't turn on the oven, so I do so. Meanwhile, the pot has finally come to a boil so I threw the noodles in.

I look to see what is next on the list. "Stir in pasta sauce." Shit, I think. I forgot to defrost it. I take 4 8oz Tupperware containers of sauce out of the freezer and through them in the microwave, while setting the time on the oven to 5 minutes (the amount of time the skillet has to simmer). During the little time I have, I take the cheese out and notice that one container is past its "use by" date. No problem, I just used cheddar cheese instead. At this time, the 5 minute simmer is up. I open the microwave. The sauce is not completely defrosted. I went to take them out, and I end up spilling some in the microwave. Wonderful. I'll clean that up after. I threw them in the skillet anyway, and hoped

that the mixture will melt the rest of the sauce. I re-cover the skillet, hoping to defrost the rest.

I drained the noodles in the meantime, and after seeing how hot they are, I rinsed them with water. Of course, there is no room to put anything, so I kept throwing things into the sink and garbage to make room. The sauce has defrosted and so I put a layer at the bottom. Of course, I can't figure out how much I should put, so I poured enough to cover the bottom and then some. Put 3 noodles down, covered with a handful of cheese. Another layer of mixture, noodles cheese. Not much mixture left, so I put most of the rest of the sauce on, noodles, and a good amount of cheese and sprinkled the rest of the mixture on top.

I covered it with foil and put it in the oven. Set for 40 minutes.

I'm not eating it until tomorrow, but it should taste good. I mean, it's mostly tomato sauce, noodles, cheese, with some artichokes.

Out of the oven:

Recipe Post: Gluten-Free Meatloaf and Spinach & Feta Pasta

While the majority of the recipes will be vegetarian (but always gluten-free), I though it'd be helpful to include a non-vegetarian recipe:

First up is gluten-free meatloaf:

2lbs of ground meat (beef, turkey, any kind)

1.5 cups of either rice, potato flakes, or a combination (I used rice)

4 oz of BBQ sauce

2 eggs

ketchup

Mix meat, rice/flakes, BBQ sauce, and eggs all together. Put mixture in a loaf pan. I like to put a layer of BBQ sauce and ketchup on the top. Cook for 1.5-2 hours at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Spinach & Feta Gluten-Free Pasta

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package penne pasta
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 cups chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 2 cups spinach leaves, packed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• 8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente; drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add onion and garlic, and cook until golden brown. Mix in tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook 2 minutes more, until tomatoes are heated through and spinach is wilted. Reduce heat to medium, stir in pasta and feta cheese, and cook until heated through.

While the water was boiling, I chopped the onion and put it in a huge measuring cu

p with the chopped garlic (I estimated the size of the clove). After the water boiled, I put the pasta. While the pasta was cooking, I cooked the onions and the garlic. I wanted everything to be done at the same time. Amazingly I didn't have to wait for the pasta to finish while the skillet mixture was cooking!

I began to chop the tomato, going back and forth between stirring the pasta and stirring the onion and garlic. How I was able to do this, I don't know. It's quite a workout!

I put the tomatoes in the measuring cup, along with the mushrooms.

I put the tomato, mushroom, and spinach leaves in the skillet (which was JUST big enough) and drained the pasta. There was no way that I would be ab

le to get the pasta in the skillet, so I instead put in the mixture in the pot with the pasta, with the cheese/

And here's everthing all done! After I put the skillet mixture in the pot, the dip was done!. From left to right, it's the pasta, the dip and the meatloaf all the way in the corner!

I don't know how I manage to time everything perfectly, but it worked out!

I hope you all enjoyed these recipes. One more to come today!

Recipe Post: Artichoke Heart Dip

I got this recipe from my wonderful (second?) cousin. Because I was making this for a number of people, back for an Academy Awards party, I double the recipe.

1 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1 Can Quartered Artichoke hearts, drained and chipped.
1 Cup Mayonnaise (I use light mayo)
Cayenne Pepper, to season

I first mix the cheese and mayo together, because it's easier to get a thorough mixture of all the ingredients. Just mix in the chopped artichoke hearts, sprinkle cayenne pepper on top and cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Eat with Tostitos or chip of your choice!  Simple!