"MEATLESS LASAGNA"

I am sharing with you my "Meatless Lasagna" recipe that my family truly enjoys! My husband said this lasagna tastes like it has meat in it, and that it has the texture of a regular lasagna. The chunky vegetables do the trick. Try it, and you'll be surprised how good it is.

[CHICHAY TIP: if you wish to add meat in this recipe, replace portions of the vegetables and tofu with the ground meat, and brown the meat and drain it (the fat liquid) first before cooking it with the sauce.]

-CHICHAY
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"MEATLESS LASAGNA"

What You Need:

• 12 lasagna noodles


• 2 teaspoons olive oil


• 1 small onion, finely chopped


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 1/2 lbs fresh mushrooms of your choice (assorted or plain mushrooms, try
  portobello, cremini, shiitake, brown, button...), chopped


• 1/2 cup chopped eggplant


• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped


• 2 blocks hard tofu, drained and chopped


• 1 1/2 cups tomato pasta sauce (homemade or store-bought)


• 1/2 cup grated asiago cheese

How To:
-Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Then drain and set aside.
-Heat oil in skillet and saute the garlic, onions and then all the vegetables together for about 5 minutes.

-Stir in the tofu, and cook for another 3 minutes.

-Season with sat and pepper. Set aside.
-Spread the bottom of a 13"x9" inch baking pan (or any baking pan you have)
with 1/4 of the sauce.

-Top with 3 noodles, then 2 tbsp cheese a bed of the cooked vegetables and
some sauce.

-Repeat layers twice.

-Cover with remaining noodles and sauce. Cover with foil.

-Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

-Remove foil, top with the remaining asiago cheese, and bake some more for about 5-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

-Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

"VEGETABLE FIESTA (Toppings for Rice or Chow Mein"

This dish is simply a combination of several organic vegetables that I bought fresh from the farmers market, plus some pieces of marinated meat. This "Vegetable Fiesta" is a delicious toppings for noodles (like chow mein) and rice.
The meat I used here is pork, but you can substitute it any meat of your preference. I suggest use any veggie mix you want to use, or anything that you have in your kitchen. Feel free to try different kinds of vegetables and mushrooms, just so you can discover what your family likes. Listen to what they say, and remember what they like (or do not like). The fun thing about having mixed veggies in dishes like this is that you can have a "compromise" - meaning have what everybody likes in one dish. See, I like bell peppers, but my husband doesn't enjoy it, and so I add zucchini which he likes, plus my bell peppers. We then both have our favorites in one dish!

(Did I say I like garlic and celery? Ok, ok, and he likes cauliflower and spinach so we are even.)

-CHICHAY

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"VEGETABLE FIESTA TOPPINGS"

What You Need:

• 4 cups of chopped vegetables (like zucchini, bell peppers, celery, fresh wild mushrooms, snow peas, spinach, cauliflower, bokchoy, cabbage, lettuce...)
• 1 medium size onions, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of meat cubes

Sauce mix:

• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp cornstarch

meat marinade:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 tsp sugar (or 1 packet if Splenda)
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin (optional)
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp low sodium soy sauce (or patis)
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro (or parsley)

Prep:
-Mix the marinade ingredients together in a bowl, and marinate the meat in this mixture for at least an hour.

How To:
-Drain the marinade from the meat.
-Brown the meat in a heated large skillet. Once browned, add half of the marinade to the meat in the pan, bring to a boil, then lower heat. Let this simmer for about 3-5 minutes or until the sauce is reduced.
-Add in the mixture of sauce ingredients to the pan and let this simmer for a few minutes or until reduced. Stir constantly while simmering.
-Meanwhile, in another heated pan, saute the onion and garlic, then add in the vegetables, stir well and season with salt and pepper.
-Once the vegetetables are almost done, mix it with the meat and sauce.
-Make sure the vegetables are coated well with the sauce.
-Adjust seasoning if necessary, or add some water if the sauce becomes too dry (and let this heat up some more for everything to be blended well).
-Once cooked, use your Vegetable Fiesta as topping for rice or noodles.

"BUTTERED ASPARAGUS AND ZUCCHINI"

Here's an easy side-dish option that is perfect with pork chops, fish, or barbecued chicken too.

"Buttered Asparagus and Zucchini" is something that I can eat for lunch. It's funny the other when I cooked this as supposedly our side dish with our barbecued chicken, I liked it a lot, that I about 2 cups of it with my rice, and totally forgot about my chicken!

[CHICHAY TIP: There are two kinds of asparagus, the "pencil" asparagus, or the thinner one, and the other kind which have thicker stalks. If you are using the thicker one, asparagus stalks will be quite tough, and you need to peel them and get rid of the tough outer fiber. Soak the peeled ones in cold water while peeling the others. I normally separate the stalks from the crown part, cut it in bite-size pieces, and cook it (blanch in hot water for a few minutes) until soft, before I saute it with the crown part. The stalks can be very tough and fibrous if not cooked properly. The crown part of the asparagus is more tender and less fibrous, so it doesnt need par-cooking. Be careful though not to overcook it as it sort of "melts" when it is overcooked.]

-CHICHAY

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"BUTTERED ASPARAGUS AND ZUCCHINI"

What You Need:

• A bunch of pencil asparagus, cut to bite pieces.


• 1 zucchini, sliced


• 1 small shallot, minced


• 3 cloves of garlic, minced


• 1 tbsp of unsalted butter
  
• 2 tbsp water


• 1 tbsp oyster sauce (optional)


• salt and pepper

How To:

- Heat up butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat.

- Add the shallots and garlic, lower the heat, and cook until softened.

- Add the zucchini, season with salt, and saute while stirring constantly for about 2-3 minutes.

-Add the asparagus, the oyster sauce (if using) and water, stir a bit, cover and cook on low for about 5-8 minutes, until the asparagus are tender.

-Season with salt and pepper and serve.

"BEEF WITH ZUCCHINI"

The zucchini is a small summer squash, and sometimes I see it labelled as "Italian squash" in stores. The zucchini is low in calories, and also contains folate, pottasium and vitamin A.
Do you know that the zucchini is (an immature) fruit (being the swollen ovary of the female zucchini flower)? In cooking though, it is treated as a vegtable, usually cooked and presented as a savory ingredient in dishes. My husband enjoys zucchini, and so we use it a lot in my cooking. He said it absorbs the flavor of any dish so whenever I get a chance I add it to any dish with sauces, like in lasagna, sauteed marinated meats, or anything I cook with garlic brown butter. The zucchini is the key ingredient in the dish 'Ratatouille'! I want to try and make this dish one day.

Today I just stir-fried zucchini with some marinated beef strips for lunch. As usual, we enjoyed it with some rice.

You can always substitute the beef strips here with chicken or pork, or make it meatless and use tofu.

-CHICHAY

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"BEEF with ZUCCHINI"

What You Need:

1 lb beef steaks, sliced into strips of 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp Hoisin sauce

2 tbsp. olive oil2 small zucchini, sliced

1 medium sized white onion, sliced

1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp water

1 small cube of butter (about 1/2 tbsp)salt and pepper to taste

Prep:

-Marinate beef slices in a mixture of Hoisin sauce, Worcestershire sauce and
garlic powder for at least half an hour.

-Drain the marinade from the beef and keep this for later.

How To:

-Heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet.

-Add beef strips (1/2 at a time), stir-fry over high heat for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.
-Remove the beef from the skillet with slotted spoon, and transfer to a dish, cover with foil to keep warm.

-On the same skillet, cook and stir onions in some more olive oil over medium-high heat for 1 minute.

-Add zucchini, season with salt and pepper, and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until crisp-tender.

-Remove from heat and transfer to the dish with the beef.

-Add the reserved marinade to the skillet and add the soy sauce and water, bring
to a boil, then lower the heat and let this simmer for 2-3 minutes.

-Return the beef and zucchini to the skillet, add the butter, stir and simmer for
another minute.

-Serve this with hot rice or pasta.