Saucy Zucchini

• 2 medium sized zucchini, cut into 1 inch rounds
• 2 cups mariana sauce (either bottled or homemade -- see recipe for marinana sauce a few entries below under "pasta with marinara sauce and meat(less) balls")
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Cover the bottom of a small cassarole dish with 1/2 cup of sauce. Place one layer of zucchini rounds on the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle with approx. 1/4 of the mozzarella cheese. Add another 1/2 cup of sauce. Add another layer of zucchini. Sprinkle with approx. 1/4 of the mozzarella cheese. Add another 1/2 cup of sauce. Repeat. After layering on final portion of sauce, add the rest of the mozzarella cheese and the parmesan. Bake in 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes. Serve with bread.

Mushroom Risotto with Peas

Another Giada DeLaurentiis recipe. I made this for dinner last night, and it was awesome. Giada's recipe calls for chicken broth, so I changed it to veggie broth. You could use mushroom broth instead, if you like.

• 8 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2-ounce dried porcini mushrooms
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 2 cups finely chopped onions
• 10 ounces white mushrooms, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or short-grain white rice
• 2/3 cup dry white wine
• 3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, optional

Bring the broth to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Add the porcini mushrooms. Set aside until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Keep the broth warm over very low heat.

Melt the butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the white mushrooms and garlic. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the porcini mushrooms to a cutting board. Finely chop the mushrooms and add to the saucepan. Saute until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and let it toast for a few minutes. Add the wine; cook until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of hot broth; simmer over medium-low heat until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Continue to cook until the rice is just tender and the mixture is creamy, adding more broth by cupfuls and stirring often, about 28 minutes (the rice will absorb 6 to 8 cups of broth). Stir in the peas. Mix in the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Pasta with Marinara Sauce and Meat(less)balls

Marinara Sauce:

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 small onions, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• 2 dried bay leaves

In a large, heavy bottomed pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before using.)

Meat(less)balls:

• 1 package of GimmeLean! ground beef substitute
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon of onion powder
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon A1 steak sauce
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Combine all ingredients, except for the olive oil, in a bowl and mix well with hands until all ingredients are completely incorporated. If mixture is too wet, add a little bit more breadcrumbs.

Roll tablespoon-sized amounts of the mixture between palms to form balls. Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. When all meatballs are formed and oil is hot, add the meatballs to the pan in small batches, taking care not to crowd the pan. Using tongs, brown the meatballs on each side for about 1 minute -- don't let them sit longer than a minute per side or they will burn. Once the meatballs are browned, remove them from the pan and add the next batch.

After all of the meatballs have been browned and removed from the pan, add the meatballs to the sauce and heat over low heat for about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve sauce and meat(less)balls with your favorite pasta, cooked according the the instructions on the pasta package.

Chick'n and veggies in "hunan" sauce

Here's a re-do on the stir-fry below. This time I used the LightLife Chick'n Strips instead of the MStar Farms version, and it was sooo much better this time.

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil


• 1 package of LightLife"chick'n" strips


• 2 heads of fresh broccoli, cleaned (I only used the florets and discarded the stems)


• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced into thin strips


• 1 can water chestnuts, sliced


• 1/2 can of baby corn on the cob


• 2 cups of fresh mushrooms, sliced


• 1/2 of a red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces


• 1 tablespoon soy sauce


• 1 teaspoon of chili paste


• 1 teaspoon of bean paste


• 4 tablespoons of store-bought schezwan sauce (or other brown sauce)

Heat the oil in a skillet or wok. Cook the chicken strips for about 3 minutes. Add all of the veggies to the pan and the soy sauce and cook for about 4 minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix the chili paste, bean paste, and schezwan sauce into cominbed. Taste and add more chili or bean paste to taste.

Add all of the sauce mixture to the pan and toss the veggies and chick'n well with the sauce. Allow sauce to simmer and thicken a bit.

Serve with rice.

One note: the sauce tasted great, but was not as thick as I would have liked. Next time I will try adding some cornstarch to thicken it up before adding it to the veggies.