Vegetable Lasagna

This is a vegetarian lasagna worth making and eating tonight! The lasagna's step of roasting the vegetables with copious amounts of garlic really brings out everything wonderful about eggplant and summer squash. The original Cook's Illustrated recipe leaves out the traditional layer of creamy ricotta—I put it back in because it just adds so much. This lasagna was supposed to have 3 layers of traditional noodles, however, I ran out of them. I substituted penne in the top layer, and I must say, the crunchy, nutty taste of it was intoxicating—like eating a slice of baked ziti (mmm...baked ziti). This makes 8 slices in a deep lasagna dish.

Slow-Cooker Tequila Lime Chili

It's been hot all week and today I finally got smart and remembered my slow cooker. I discovered this amazing, summery chili recipe in America's Test Kitchen's Slow Cooker Revolution. With very little prep in the morning, I had a flavorful and nutritious dinner by the heat of the evening. My husband and I topped our bowls with only some shredded cheese—nothing else necessary! Serves 6.

Simple Italian-Style Meat Sauce

Lately, this is my go-to, easy spaghetti sauce. It comes together quickly with minimal effort, but tastes like its been simmering on the stove all day! Oh, and the sauce gets even better the next day. For an extra veggie punch, you can put 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree in the sauce when adding the tomatoes. Serves 8-10 (feel free to freeze 1/2 of the sauce for later!).

Chicken Saute with Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes

Delicious food in 30 minutes with minimal effort is my goal these days with a seven-month-old baby, so I was pleased to discover this recipe today at Central Market in Poulsbo. This has big flavor with in-season ingredients and was a definite crowd-pleaser in my house this evening. Serves 4.

Slow Cooker Indian Butter Chicken

Good Indian food in a slow-cooker? Yep, that's exactly what this is. Also, inexpensive and completely from the pantry? Again, yes, unbelievably. When I want something tasty, inexpensive and done by dinner, this is my new go-to recipe. It's completely hands-free when I make brown rice in my rice cooker. At that point, it's basically take-out because you can eat at any time you'd like. This meal is awesome especially because I've got a new baby in the house!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

First of all, sorry for the lack of a picture. I could take a picture of the empty stockpot, but that would do us no good. Yes, this disappeared as quickly as it was made, if that's any testament to just how good this version of Mexican tortilla soup is. Forget any sorry excuses of this soup you've had in the past—this is where it's at. Serves 6-8

Spaghetti with Bolognese-Style Sauce

The key to this classic dish is "low and slow." Indeed, the sauce takes a whole three hours from start to finish. Is it worth the time? Yes. Yes it is. The flavors are meaty, satisfying, and downright beautiful. With an easy ingredient list, this recipe is great to prepare all-year-round. This recipe was adapted from Mark Bittman and makes about 4 cups of sauce.

Pan-Roasted Chicken Breast with Red Potatoes and Baby Carrots

This is, amazingly, a 30 minute meal. It hails from America's Test Kitchen Best 30-Minute Recipe cookbook. That book was a wonderful find. We all have those (week)days when we feel uninspired and have no desire to cook, well, this book helped me over that hump.

Harvest Salad

The description is simple: mixed greens topped with roasted beets, diced Gala apple, grilled chicken, crumbled goat cheese, and toasted walnuts served with a rosemary-balsamic vinaigrette. This is an elegant anytime salad, and, without the chicken, could be a wonderful first course salad for Thanksgiving. As is, this recipe serves one.

French Provençal Dinner Menu

Today, I made a meal that transported me to distant, sun-drenched paradises. There is nothing that makes me think of summer more than veggie-filled mediterranean favorites. Everything seems to be at the height of its tastiness, so I urge you to seize the eggplant!

This dinner consists of: Ratatouille, Lemon Risotto with Broccoli, and, because my family needed a protein, grilled chicken. Serves 6 (or 2 with 4 "TV dinners" going into the freezer for later)

Ratatouille

The original French Provençal peasant food that makes me want to say it would not be so bad being a French peasant. Mark Bittman calls this "the original 'what do we have on hand?' recipe" and, indeed, you should go into this with such a mindset. If you'd like to throw in mushrooms or a different kind of squash, please go right ahead. The essentials are zucchini (and/or eggplant) and tomatoes, otherwise it's up to you.

Lemon Risotto With Broccoli

Today is a day for experimenting and one of those dishes I've been meaning to try is risotto. I picked up the basis for this recipe from Central Market a couple months ago. It is an understatement to say this dish was the perfect use for some extra broccoli. It was delicious, fresh, and ethereal! You must try this!

Jim Lahey's No-Work Bread My Way

This is the now-famous bread recipe of perfectly textured french bread baked in a heated Dutch oven. There are many variations (and opportunities for variation) of this recipe. This loaf was fairly close to the original. Be aware: this recipe takes about 24 hours from start to finish, so please plan ahead.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

This is a lovely recipe adapted from America's Test Kitchen. You'll notice the unusal addition of baking soda to this soup. The baking soda helps break down the broccoli—without it, the brocoli would have to cook for a good hour to be soft enough for our purposes. This hearty soup serves 6 to 8. I think this would also be really good over potatoes—baked or boiled or on grilled chicken.

Chicken Braised in Soy Sauce and Lemon

I've been making this affordable dish since college. Serve the chicken with a little of the sauce over brown rice or rice pilaf.

Every spring when the asparagus is cheap, this recipe seems to be a natural pairing. I make a little asparagus drizzle sauce by shaking together 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, salt, and lots of pepper.

Cornbread Muffins

The perfect accompaniment to Turkey Chili, this recipe is a Jessica Seinfeld creation. These usually become desserts to my meals. I warm the muffins, drizzle them with honey, and serve with green Tabasco sauce. Divine!

Glazed Carrot Soup

Another delicious recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. Before this recipe, I'd started to give up on ever coming across a truly delicious creamy vegetable soup. This soup completely blew me away. It needs no accompaniment...it's just that delicious. Although, serving with some french bread is lovely.

Roasted Beet and Beef Borscht

I have fallen head-over-heels in love with Mark Bittman's cookbooks: How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and How to Cook Everything. This recipe comes from his vegetarian cookbook and I modified it to have lovely tender chunks of beef and potatoes. This is health food at its most elegant and tasty. Unfortunately, no photos are available this time due to technical difficulties, but trust me, this soup is a beautiful magenta colour.

Turkey Chili with Kidney Beans

This chili is absolutely fabulous either on it's own or over a baked potato with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, and chives. The flavor of the chili improves with age. Try to make it a day or two before serving. It can also be frozen for a month.

Tikka Masala

I know I haven't written in awhile and I apologize for that. However, I recently have found inspiration in a new cookbook called How to Cook Indian by Sanjeev Kapoor. The flavors are huge and comforting and the texture is absolutely luscious. I served this with some homemade garlic naan and spiced brown rice. You can easily make your own spiced brown rice by adding 5 whole cardamom pods, 5 whole cloves, and 2 cinnamon sticks to your pot of rice—the result smells like dessert! It would probably make a lovely rice pudding as well.