Food for Thought...

During the past two months I have been dealing with injuries from my automobile accident which has prevented me from doing much cooking. As you can imagine not feeling up to doing one of the things that brings me a great amount of joy has really bummed me out. I decided that the days I feel up to it I am going to spend them in the kitchen doing what I love - cooking. And so that you can all share in my favorite past time I always make sure to take pictures despite my kids complaining that I take too long and they are on the verge of dying from hunger. I'm not going to try to recall all the details of each meal but here are some of the dishes I have created over the past couple months

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Quick, Delicious & Healthy

I constantly hear people say that it takes too much time to make meals that are healthy and delicious. Well this post is to prove to them that they are wrong! The only thing that was planned for the following meal was for site to take the fish out of the freezer this morning before I left for work. Because I knew we were eating fish Rebecca set the timer on our steamer and set it up so the rice would be finished cooking around dinner time. From start to table the preparation and plating of the meal was less than 20 minutes. The entire meal was cooked with fresh ingredients, herbs, spices, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of butter and a splash of local maple syrup on the salmon and white wine on the bass. The entire meal with the exception of the rice was cooked on the grill which resulted in a smell free kitchen and minimum dishes to clean up.

I thick sliced a sweet vidalia onion and lightly tossed with olive oil in a large bowl. Once the onions were on the grill I saved the bowl with the olive oil for tossing my peppers in once they were roasted  and peeled. (I started the veggies first and while the fish was cooking I peeled and sliced the peppers)

Both the maple glazed salmon and the lemon garlic striped bass were cooked in foil pouches over direct, high heat on the grill.

I garnished with basil and parsley that was picked out of the planters next to the grill on the back deck and finished with juicy lemon wedges.

The best part of this dinner is that both my children ate every morsel on their plates and thanked me for an amazing dinner when they were done. It felt good to have a belly full of food that not only was delicious, it was quick to prepare and healthy for not only me but my entire family! Oh and the plates were disposable so  clean up was a breeze, we just tossed them into the garbage when we were done!

Lasagna Rollatini

Recently I saw a picture with a recipe attached shared on Facebook. The picture immediately caught my eye and after looking at the recipe I knew for a fact that I could make them even better by using my imagination and disregarding the recipe! Tonight I made them for dinner with some input from my children as to what they would like theirs to contain. I made these from start to table in just over an hour.

I started by getting a large pot of salted water boiling and cooked 5 sheets of dried lasagna noodles at a time. While cooking the noodles I finished prepping the rest of my ingredients. I mixed 1 pound of ricotta cheese with a large egg (beaten lightly) and a little bit grated pecorino cheese. I then sliced several fresh off the vine tomatoes. Diced a handful of garlic cloves. Chopped up some spinach, diced a red pepper and an onion as well as some parsley and basil. Once my noodles were cooked al dente I removed them from the pot and layed them flat on a cutting board. Then the fun part began!

Alex requested his to have a clam sauce filling so I sauteed some of the diced garlic in olive oil along with the diced red pepper and onion. I added some clam juice along with chopped clams and a pinch of dried thyme and a diced fresh tomato. I seasoned it with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and let it simmer down till the liquid had reduced and what remained was nice and thick! I then took it off the stove and sprinkled in some fresh chopped parsley. I let the clam sauce cool while I coated each noodle with the ricotta mixture. Next I sprinkled mozzarella cheese and spooned the clam sauce down the center of each noodle and finished with a light sprinkle of pecorino.

Clams and Peppers and Onions, Oh my!

Ariel requested that I make hers like a margherita pizza. Once again I coated the noodles with a layer of ricotta, a sprinkle of mozzarella fresh basil (mine was frozen from last years garden) and finished with a layer of thinly sliced tomatoes and a sprinkle of pecorino.

As beautiful as the Italian flag

The last ones were my idea. I use to make a veggie lasagna when I was a chef for a living and everyone use to rave when I would put in a layer of my seasoned chopped spinach. So I figured if it works in a pan why not in a roll! I sauteed the chopped spinach with olive oil and garlic. I seasoned it with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Once it was all cooked I placed it in a strainer to get some of the liquid out. Once again I coated the noodle with ricotta and mozzarella. Next I added the spinach and finished by adding more shredded mozzarella!

Once all the filling was in place I rolled them into pinwheels making sure to tuck any of the filling back in from the side if it started to fall out. I placed them in my favorite deep sided baking pan and coated them with my homemade sauce that I always have on hand for pasta.

I placed them in the oven for 15 minutes at 450*F. Once the sauce was bubbling and the filling piping hot I covered them all with a handful of shredded mozzarella and put them back in the oven for 5 more minutes!

After the cheese had melted I placed the pan on the counter for 10 minutes to allow the filling to set and make them the perfect temperature for serving and eating!

I hope you are inspired to make this meal yourself and fill it with whatever your taste buds desire!