Clam and Garlic Tortilla Pizza II

 Homemade pizza without the work?  Yes, please!  This is an easy, quick recipe with just a few ingredients and you can include your kids in the process.  For all that ease it is incredibly good!  A special bonus is that it is entirely wheat and gluten free for those of you with food allergies.

I also love that the crust doesn't take over the flavor of the pizza, which is so often the case with cheap pizza.  You can really add any toppings you want keeping in mind that all you need are good small corn tortillas (I use sprouted corn) and good pizza sauce.  I don't recommend buying the cheapest corn tortillas for this as the "crust" is an important part of the pizza.  The pizza sauce can be homemade if you have the time.  I get a good organic one from my local grocery store.  Have fun with this!

Gluten Free and Low-Fat Asparagus and Ground Turkey Lasagna

It all started because I couldn't find my book to read.  After searching the house fruitlessly I settled on Sunset magazine, opening up to their article, "Comfort Food Makeovers" with a big dish of lasagna staring up at me.  I must have been hungry, and it was just too much.  I thought, Wow I have never made lasagna.  The challenge was on.  

I adapted Sunset's recipe in several ways, although mainly to include asparagus, which is currently in season here in Washington.  Another big change was to do fewer layers of noodles and sauce.  I'm not sure how they worked the layering with the amounts listed except that I just did not have enough ragù to make the extra layers when all was said and done.  This turned out to be a blessing of sorts, as fewer layers was more than enough!  I also doubled the recipe and froze a pan full for later use.  I figured why both spend all the time cooking if I don't have a lot of leftovers? Although, it does make the preparation time longer.  The recipe I posted below is not doubled.

Despite the long preparation time, it was all worth it in the end, the lasagna was amazing!  This was due, at least in part, to the delicious ragu sauce which is made from scratch and entails reducing the liquids in the turkey and vegetable saute: first the milk, then the wine, then the tomatoes and tomato sauce.  This recipe is low fat and wheat-gluten free.  I usually don't care one way or another whether a recipe is low fat or not, but in this case, it is great as there is less cheese and dairy.  As it is, the recipe still uses Parmesan cheese, milk, and cottage cheese.  It still tastes rich and satisfying. 

Asparagus Lasagna with Ground Turkey Ragù Redux

Serves 6-8, Cooking time 2 hours, longer if doubled

2 TBS olive oil

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 large onion

1 1/2 pound ground turkey

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup of milk

1/2 cup dry white wine, I used Pine and Post Chardonnay

1 can whole tomatoes with juices (chop or crush with your hands)

1 cup tomato sauce

1/4 tsp ground pepper or 1/2 tsp if you like it spicier

2.5 cups cottage cheese

2 eggs

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp nutmeg

12 oz lasagna noodles, I used brown rice lasagna noodles (see pic below)

1 pound of asparagus, cut off hard ends then break into 1.5 inch pieces

Ragu

1. In a large saucepan on medium heat cook chopped onion in 1 TBS olive oil for about 4 minutes.  

2. Next add carrots and celery, cook for another 5 minutes.

3. Then add ground turkey, breaking it up in the pan as it changes color.  

4. When turkey is cooked, add milk and stir occasionally until it has evaporated.  This will take about 15 minutes.  

 Above: The turkey, carrots, celery and onions before milk, wine, and tomatoes are added

5. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half, then add tomatoes and tomato sauce.  Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer.  Cook for 30-35 minutes or until liquid reduces to a 1/3. 

Meanwhile make the White Cheese sauce: 

In a food processor add the cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, pepper, and nutmeg.  Mix until smooth.  Set aside for layering with the noodles.

 Above: The white sauce, or cheese mixture

Stir Fry Asparagus

trim the asparagus ends by 2 inches or so, then break them into 1.5 inch pieces.  Heat pan with olive oil on medium heat.  Add asparagus and cook, stirring regularly for 5-8 minutes.  The asparagus should be firm.  It will cook in the oven as well, so it is better to cook it less.

 

Above: the asparagus

Preheat oven to 375 F Bake.  Now it's time to make the noodles.  Follow directions on package, being careful not to overcook.  Drain noodles and spread them flat on kitchen towels without touching each other.  

Above: brown rice lasagna, it was excellent in the recipe!

Layering Lasagna

Oil a 9x13" baking dish, below is the order of ingredients to add to the pan:

1. Spread a 1/2 inch layer of ragu, or about 1/3 of the ragu

2. Add a single layer of noodles (about 3 sheets per layer)

3. Spread another 1/2 inch of ragu (1/2 of the remaining mixture)

4. Another layer of noodles

5. Half the cheese mixture

6. Noodles

7. End with remaining ragu and cheese mixture.  Top with the stir fried asparagus.

 

Above: the layering

Cook for about 30 minutes at 375F Bake, or until thoroughly warmed up.  Let cool for 15 minutes and serve with a salad, or all by itself, if you are time-challenged like me!

Spinach-Feta and Italian Sausage Quiche with a Quinoa Crust (wheat-gluten free)

Quiche has a lot of things going for it this time of the year. I love to cook with ingredients that are in season and both eggs and spinach are becoming more available. They are becoming more available if you have your own chickens as they begin to lay more eggs as the days get longer. And this is the time of year you can plant spinach here in the northwest. Spinach likes the cool and wet qualities of spring. Although it is maybe a little early to plant the spinach, it just snowed today. It was only a half inch, if that, but it covered up spring so fast! By afternoon it was--poof--gone! Or should I say, drip, it was gone.

Also included in this recipe is my very favorite quinoa crust recipe, which I created during a frustrated rage at the disgusting wheat and gluten free all-purpose flour by Bob's Red Mill. Bob's has this flavor that is just gross, like bad garbanzo beans, and I love garbanzo beans. So here is a great alternative: Quinoa Flakes and butter.

Quiche Ingredients:
3 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 # Italian Sausage (ground)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups quinoa flakes
1/2 cup butter
1 cup grated carrot
approximately 1 to 1 1/2 cup feta (I like the sheep feta)
several slices of yellow cheese
olive oil for cooking

Quinoa Flake Crust: makes 1 pie shell

1 1/2 cups quinoa flakes (2 cups for larger pie dish): Quinoa is a dry cereal flake form of quinoa, which is normally round and small. The flakes are just that-- flakes, very thin and powdery. If you live on Whidbey Island you can get them at Payless in the "health food isle" by the cereal and the chocolate/energy bars. I think they also have them at the Star Store. Be prepared, one box (about 3 1/2 +/- cups, or two pie shells) is about $7.

1/2 cup of butter, chopped into small squares

Put chopped butter and quinoa flakes in a blender and blend until it forms a wad of dough. Press into a regular sized pie dish. You can add a little more quinoa flakes for a thicker crust. I press the crust so it is thin but it covers the whole dish. Start from the middle and press toward the sides.Now place sliced yellow cheese around the edges of the crust and fill the whole bottom of the crust with feta, as shown in picture below. Place in preheated 375F oven for 5-10 minutes. You want to melt the cheese to form a moisture barrier. Make sure to not overcook the shell. Lightly browned quinoa shell is okay, but no more than that.

Melted yellow cheese and feta (above)

Now it is time to prepare the sausage. Cook on stove top with olive oil breaking into small-ish pieces as it cooks. cook until done and set aside.

Now for the "Insides" of the Quiche! Mix 4 eggs and 1 1/2 cups of milk until blended.

Above: Egg and Milk mixture (about to be blended, by hand)

Mix the blended egg/milk mixture with sausage and 3 cups chopped spinach. Pour into quinoa pie shell and place grated carrot on top for a nice color contrast. Place in a 350F oven for 30-40 minutes. Check periodically to see if egg mixture is firm. The middle is the last part of the pie to finish cooking, and you can touch it with our finger to see if it is firm. if it is you are done!

Quiche pie with spinach, eggs, milk and sausage, uncooked

carrots on top, uncooked

Luc's Clam & Garlic Tortilla Pizzas: Wheat & Gluten Free

Here is a fun wheat free pizza that Luc created. We love getting the clam and garlic pizza in Langley at the Pizzaria, and this is a healthy at-home alternative. Our 3 year old daughter Marina LOVED it! She kept taking garlic-clams out of the pan and eating them before they even made it on to the pizzas. She enjoyed them on the pizza too! If you are ever in Langley and looking for dinner, try the Langley Pizzaria. This recipe is an approximation. So enjoy making it with your own twists and creativity.
We used 100% corn tortillas, small size, put tomato pizza sauce as the first layer then clams (canned or fresh, chopped & Sauteed with lots of garlic). Next cover sauce with a light layer of grated melting cheese (not pictured). The bottom layer of tortilla pizzas (pictured above) has pesto and pizza sauce, which I really liked. Butter a baking tray and place tortillas on top. Bake until cheese is melted & bubbly and tortillas are hot. Serve with green salad.

Garden Fresh Quiche with Tuna: Using Spinach and Chard from the Garden (with a wheat & gluten free crust)

We are getting a lot of eggs from our chickens this time of the year. They lay the most eggs during the lightest time of the year. Our garden is also beginning to offer us some beautiful bounty. I planted later than usual this year, as it has been rainy and cold and I have been busy enjoying my little Stella, who is now 4 months old. So here is a recipe that you can enjoy using in season ingredients. It's lots of fun to get the ingredients from your own garden and your own chickens or you can get them at the farmers market. This recipe is for one quiche pie and serves from 2 to 4 people, depending on the portion size. I like to make two pies and have leftovers.

Quiche filling:
2 cups chard, chop small
2 cups spinach, chop small
1/2 cup or 3 carrots chopped small
1 can of tuna
2 TBS mayo
1/2 pound sheep feta, or other high quality feta

Egg Mixture:
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk and it was great!)

Pie Crust:
1/3 stick cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cup flour, I use quinoa flakes, a quick cooking cereal, it is wheat and gluten free
pinch of salt
Up to 3 TBS water

Mix butter and quinoa flakes in a blender and then add salt and water as needed. Press crust into a buttered 9-inch pan. I slowly work the crust from the center of the pi dish to the sides and then up the sides.

Stir Fry the carrots, chard, spinach. Herat a pan on medium. Begin with some oliveoil and then add carrots, chopped small. Cook for 5 minutes then add chard and spinach. Cover and turn temperature to low. Cook for 2-4 minutes, just enought o soften the chard and spinach.
Set aside.

Put the Two Together: Preheat oven to 375F
Now you have the crust ready and the ingredients set aside and cut to the right size. Crumble the feta on the crust. Cheese is the first ingredient to go on the pie. It helps make a moisture barrier. Spread the feta evenly over the crust. Put the crust with feta in the preheated 375F oven for 5 minutes to melt cheese and harden the crust a little.










Remove from the oven and place the stir fried carrots, chard and spinach over the feta / cheese. Reserve a small handful of greens to put on the pie right before you place it in the oven.









Mix one can of tuna with 2 TBS mayo. Spread the tuna over the stir fry ingredients on the quiche.










Mix 4 eggs with 1 1/2 cups milk. Pour the egg & milk mixture in the quiche (on top of the greens and tuna. Sprinkle the top of the quiche with the leftover greens to make it look pretty.










Now put it in the preheated oven on 375F. Cook for 35-45 minutes or until the middle and sides of the quiche are firm, not watery. Here's the final product:

Green Kale and Lemon Salad

I have a lot of over-wintering kale in my garden. As the weather has warmed up tender green leaves have emerged and they make a wonderfully delicate and mild salad. The lemon dressing is just the right complement to the kale.

Dice as much kale as you and your family want to eat, then toss with this dressing. You will most likely have extra dressing left over.

Dressing:
3 TBS fresh lemon juice (1-2 lemons)
5 TBS olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1-2 TBS honey (optional)

Red Stroller Pasta

After a hour of errands in town and an hour of my car's lights on, my car would not start. My daughters and I filled up our red stroller with groceries and walked home. This began my process of creating this rich red pasta sauce. I like to pair the pasta sauce with a quinoa-corn noodle blend. This is an easy and quick recipe!

36 oz tomato sauce
1 medium onion
2 TBS olive oil
4 cloves garlic
10-15 mushrooms
4 TBS red table wine
1# ground turkey or 1# your choice sausage
several pinches of fresh or dried thyme
salt or tamari to taste

Saute onion with olive oil on medium heat. Add sliced mushrooms to onion when onion is softened. Add red wine to mushroom-onion when mushroms are softened. Cook for 1 more minute then add to lightly boiling tomato sauce. Add turkey or sausage meat in small balls (or sliced, in the case of the sausage) to tomato sauce. Start cooking noodles of your choice.

Serve pasta sauce with thyme on the top or side and a green salad. Pour yourself a glass of red wine and enjoy!