Salsa Verde Vegetable Lasagna / Pasta Bake

Under pressure from my daughter I bought tomatillos for salsa verde sauce. A couple of days later I realized I was not going to have time to make enchiladas. But I did not want the tomatillos to go to waste so I made the salsa verde sauce, put it in the refrigerator and bought myself another day. The next day I had to use it up. I happened to have colored bell peppers and zucchini in the refrigerator. I also had some left over paneer.  So I whipped up this lasagna with the ingredients I had.

The taste was great. All the vegetables made it filling too. The paneer added the protein and the salsa added the taste. Next time I make it I will make a thicker salsa. There was some liquid left over on the bottom. I like all the liquid to be completely absorbed. An alternative to this recipe would be using penne or a fusilli pasta instead of the lasagna.



My daughter was not happy when she saw me use up her favorite salsa for something other than enchiladas. But once she tasted the dish she was fine.

You will need
6-7 lasagna sheets or 1 cup dry pasta (penne or fusilli)
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 tsp red chilli pepper powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
4 oz. paneer, cubed
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow red pepper, sliced
2 zucchini, sliced in rounds
2 carrots, sliced in rounds
1 serving salsa verde sauce
1/4 cup cotijo or mozzarella cheese, shredded
salt to taste

In a bowl mix the yogurt, red chili pepper powder, black pepper and salt. Add the cubed paneer and keep aside for 15 minutes or a few hours. I kept this overnight because I had prepped the paneer for another dish.

Dice and slice the vegetables.

Put it all together. Preheat the oven to 375 F. In a oven proof casserole dish start building the layers. Heat some water and place it in a wide pan. Take it off heat. Place the lasagna noodle in the pan until it is just soft. Do not cook it. You just want it to be flexible so that it does not break. Ladle a little salsa on the bottom of the casserole dish. Place a few sheets of lasagna to cover the bottom. Add half the sliced vegetables.

Over the vegetables add the marinated paneer pieces. If desired you can add a layer of cheese. I added cheese only to the top. Pour half the remaining salsa over the paneer.

Place a layer of the softened lasagna sheets over the salsa.

Then repeat all the layers, the vegetables, the paneer and the remaining salsa. Shred the cheese over the top.

Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes. Then uncover and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is starting to brown,

Enjoy!

Lebanese Paneer Potato Stew

"This is the best stew you have ever made" was the comment I got from my daughter when I made this dish. Lebanese stews are not vegetarian but as with a lot of non-vegetarian dishes with gravies it is fairly easy to replace the non-vegetarian ingredients with vegetarian ones and get a flavorful dish. I did just that with this stew. I used paneer and made it vegetarian. I also adjusted the cooking times for the paneer that cooks a lot faster than any non-vegetarian ingredient.

The spice blend makes this dish. I made a scant tablespoon of the spice mixture called Lebanese 7-spice. A little goes a long way. I had some of the spices in powder form and the other whole. I put them all together and pounded them to a powder with my mortal/pestle. I got the ingredients for this spice blend here. The aroma of these spices together was amazing. I used equal quantities of black pepper, coriander seeds, allspice, dried ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. Try it, you will have your family gliding into the kitchen following the aroma. 

You will need
1 tbsp. oil
7 oz. paneer, cut into cubes
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
a handful cilantro, diced
1 1/2 tsp. Lebanese 7-spice (recipe in text above)
1 tsp. paprika or cayenne powder (optional)
1 large potato, boiled and cubed
1/2 to 1 cup warm water
2 tsp. tomato paste
salt to taste

Heat oil in a pan and brown paneer cubes in it. Flip the cubes over when brown until well done. The oil will get sticky with residue that will be collected later. Add the onion and the cilantro.

Saute until the onion is translucent. Add the spice and paprika if you are using it. Mix well until the aroma of the spices fills the kitchen, about a minute.

Add the potatoes and the warm water. Bring it to a boil and then lower the heat and allow it to simmer and thicken.

Add the tomato paste and salt to taste. Let it cook until you are happy with the gravy consistency.

Turn off the heat.

Enjoy!

This is my entry for week 39 of the 2014 52 week challenge for the theme stew.

Kartoffel Apfel Auflauf (Potato Apple Casserole)

Auflauf is German for casserole. This potato and apple auflauf is very tasty having a lot of different flavors blended together. In addition to the potato and apple the casserole has cream, cheese and cilantro adding to the flavors.

My daughter loves potatoes. Baked, boiled, mashed any potatoes and she is happy. These were very different from any potato dish I have made before. The apples and potatoes go very well together.

Recipe adapted from here
You will need
2 medium white potatoes
1 apple
1/4 cup cream
1 clove garlic
1/2 inch piece ginger
cilantro
1/4 cup cheese
salt to taste

Boil the potatoes in a pressure cooker or in a pan until tender. Preheat oven to 350 F. Peel and slice the potatoes. Layer them on the bottom of a buttered dish. Sprinkle some salt over them. Core and slice the unpeeled apple. Layer the apple over the potatoes. Pour the cream over the top. Mince cilantro, ginger and garlic. Sprinkle over the apples.

Shred the cheese over the top. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted and browned slightly.

Mexican Casserole

This is not an authentic Mexican dish. However, all the ingredients that make up this dish are used in the Mexican cuisine so I call this the Mexican Casserole. I put this together based on a recipe I found at least 10 years ago. Since then I make it a few times a year. It has evolved over time and I do not even remember what changed or why.

If your children like Mexican food like mine does then they will love this casserole. The cooking time for this dish is long but you don't have to watch it. That makes it perfect on days when you are tired and want dinner to cook itself. The best part of it is everyone is happy.

You will need
1 1/2 cups brown rice
1 1/2 cups salsa, any kind
1 tsp. paprika (optional)
1 can refried beans or you can make your own
8 oz. frozen yellow corn
2 handfuls baby spinach leaves
1 cup shredded cheese, sharp cheddar or similar
1/2 tsp. olive oil to coat the casserole dish

Put the frozen corn on the counter top to thaw. Wash and cook the brown rice. Keep it aside uncovered to cool down. Mix the salsa with the cooled rice.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix the thawed corn and paprika with the refried beans and keep aside.

Chop the baby spinach and keep aside.

Grate the cheese.

Oil the bottom and sides of a casserole dish. Layer almost half of the salsa rice mixture on the bottom of the dish.

Add the bean and corn mixture on the top and spread it to form a second layer.

Layer the chopped spinach over the bean and corn mixture.

Add 3/4 of the cheese over the spinach.

Layer the rest of the rice mixture over the top.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese.

Cover with aluminium foil and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Uncover and brown the cheese for another 5 minutes.

Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Fondue

Cheese Fondue is the National dish of Switzerland. In the mountain valleys of Switzerland, where very little was available during the harsh winter months, freshly baked rustic bread like Weizenbrot coated with warm cheesy fondue made a hearty and filling meal.

I have fond memories of fondue. Outside my daughter's dance school every Friday night the Moms would set up a tailgate party. Fondue takes me back to the parking lot on the far side of the school. We talked and laughed around the food. When the girls got out they made a beeline for the leftovers. We always had plenty and it would be gone within minutes. That was when I invested in a fondue set. Nancy made the best fondue and I wanted to try it at home.

I have not used the set in a long time and we are having a really cold spell so fondue seemed ideal on a particularly cold night. Warm fresh out of the oven Weizenbrot covered with gooey cheese...dinner was good.

Fondue contains a good amount of wine. I substitute apple cider and it tastes great. Make sure you use good quality cheese as it is the cheese that will determine the taste of the fondue. If you don't have a fondue pot you can use any stove safe pot or pan.

You will need

7 oz Gruyere
7 oz Emmenthaler
3/4 cup apple cider divided
1 pod garlic
1/2 tsp. cornstarch

Dissolve cornstarch in a little cider and keep aside. Place the fondue pot on medium heat with cheese and the remaining cider. Cook until the cheese melts.

Add the cornstarch and cider mixture. Cook until the mixture is homogeneous.

Light the warmer on the fondue server. Transfer the pot of cheese to the fondue server. Serve with fresh made Weizenbrot cut into bite size pieces.

Enjoy on a cold winter night.