Cream-less Alfredo

I wanted to make an alfredo dish for dinner tonight using our leftover broccoli and asparagus that was on its last leg. Unfortunately it is a Sunday (we don't shop on the Sabbath) and I didn't have whipping cream, cream cheese, or half-in-half in the house, so I knew it would be a BIT tricky. Luckily, thanks to my good friend the Internet, I was able to find this recipe and it actually turned out really well. Plus, it's got to be a lot healthier than regular alfredo sauce, so that is a plus! Oh, and sorry, no picture of this one!

Original recipe, here (randomly). It sounds like it is from The Good Housekeeping Step-by-Step Cookbook.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 cups skim milk (I used whole because we had some and I figured it would be closer to cream)
  
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet on med-high heat, add onion and garlic and cook until golden.
   
2. In medium bowl, whisk together the milk, broth, flour, salt, and pepper until well-blended. Stir the mixture into the skillet, turn heat to high, and cook until the mixture boils and thickens.
   
3. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.
   
   This is enough sauce to coat a one lb. box of fettuccine when it has been cooked.

Crazy Bread Sticks

I got this recipe from my friend, Anah, and I hope she doesn't mind that I am posting it here. I have made these a few times and like them because, not only do they taste good, they are fairly quick and easy. Plus, every time I have made them (whether a 1/2 batch for just Jeff and I) or a full batch when I've had a handful of people over, they are ALWAYS gone that night. No leftovers! [And, unfortunately, I can't keep the picture from being sideways!]

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c warm water
• 2 Tb sugar
• 2 Tb yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 c flour (*every time I have made these, they have been pretty sticky, so I might try more flour next time)
  
• 1/4 c butter
• garlic salt or parmesan cheese, optional
  

Directions:

1. Dissolve water, sugar, yeast, and salt together. Mix in flour and let sit for 10-20 minutes.
2. Dump onto a floured cutting board and flatten with hand. Cut into strips with a pizza cutter. (Because of the stickiness, I don't use a rolling pin and I often end up forming the bread sticks with my hand. They don't look the greatest, but they taste good!)
3. Melt butter and pour onto large cookie sheet, reserving about 2 Tb.
4. Place strips on cookie sheet. Brush tops with a basting brush dipped in the remaining melting butter. Sprinkle with garlic salt or parmesan cheese, if desired. (You can also add the garlic salt to the mixed butter and spread it on that way.)
   
5. Let raise an additional 15 minutes.
6. Bake at 375 for for 20 minutes.

Cheesy Vegetable Lasagna

Lest you think I dropped off of the face of the Earth or stopped cooking, don't worry, I didn't! Earlier this month, I was trying to decide what to do with all of my veggies and stumbled across this recipe and made a few modifications. Since I'm borderline vegetarian at times, I loved it. My husband thought it was ok until he had some leftovers the next day and then he thought it was really good! It reheated REALLY well. Next time I think I'll add more tomatoes because they really added a nice flavor. Yum!

Original recipe, here.

Prep Time: 35 min
Cook Time: 45 min
Ready In: 1 hour, 20 min

Ingredients:

• 12 lasagna noodles
• 2 Tb olive oil
• 2 heads fresh broccoli, chopped (I think I only used one since it was big - I also used a food processor)
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced (I used a food processor for this too)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 green bell peppers, chopped
• 2 small zucchini, sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups milk
• 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
• salt, to taste
  
• pepper, to taste
• garlic powder, to taste
  
• basil, to taste
• oregano, to taste
• crushed red pepper, to taste
  
• 2-3 cups of fresh spinach (the recipe called for frozen, but I used fresh and just guessed how much to use.)
• 1 (8oz) container small curd cottage cheese
• 24 oz ricotta cheese (I used less ricotta and more cottage cheese, since it is cheaper. Even then, I think I used less cheese overall and it was still plenty.)
• 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided (I don't think I used this much. I just kind of guessed and used what I had on hand. I did use some mozzarella and some Italian blend, including Parmesan, but it was all kind of guesstimated).
• 1 tomato, sliced (I added this per one of the suggestions and in the future would probably add more tomatoes and include them between the layers.)
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish. (I used a foil-lined stoneware casserole dish that I had. This makes a really big lasagna, so I'm not sure a regular 9x13 would be large enough.)
   
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add lasagna noodles and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. Heat 1/2 of the oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot add broccoli, carrots, onions, bell peppers, and 3 cloves of garlic. Heavily season veggies with basil, oregano, salt (several large pinches), pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Saute for 7 minutes; set aside.
4. Heat remaining 1/2 of the oil and add zucchini with remaining 2 cloves of garlic. Season the same way as the other veggies, saute, and then set aside.
   
5. Place flour in a medium saucepan and gradually whisk in milk until well blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook 5 minutes, or until thick, stirring constantly. Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and garlic powder (to taste) [can also add a little butter]; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in spinach. Reserve 1/2 cup spinach mixture. In a small bowl combine cottage and ricotta cheeses; stir well.
6. Spread about 1/2 cup of spinach mixture in the bottom of the prepared pan. Layer noodles, ricotta mixture, vegetables, spinach mixture and 2 cups mozzarella cheese, ending with noodles. Top with reserved spinach mixture, tomatoes, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.
   
7. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Cool for approximately 10 minutes before serving.

Serves: 12