Improvisation

Last Friday, Ben wanted to stay home and do homework, but only after he saw the end of the Diamondbacks play-off game at his parents' house (who have cable). Since I knew this was going to be longer than he thought, I made supper there for all of us.

It was a supper of new and old things. The main dish was an improvisation of things that I had sitting around; specifically extra lasagna noodles and ricotta filling. I decided to use these to create broccoli lasagna roll-ups. Eventually, these ended up with the following: a lasagna noodle topped with ricotta, white sauce, broccoli, string cheese pieces (due to a lack of mozzarella) and then rolled up. All were placed in a dish and topped with more white sauce and a bit of cheddar cheese and then I baked the whole thing. It was a bit of an adventure, but it turned out pretty well :-) Also, yogurt dill sauce with roasted veggies was on the menu. I had bought strawberries this week and was waiting for a good reason to make strawberry shortcake and this was as good of a reason as any. (Who needs a reason for strawberry shortcake anyway??)

The very Greek yogurt dill sauce is from one of my favorite cookbooks, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and worked well on the random combination of veggies I had in the fridge (zucchini, red peppers, parsnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and onions). The strawberry shortcake is my all-time favorite. It's fantastic on it's own, but is killer with strawberries. It comes from the Mennonite Fellowship Meals cookbook.

Broccoli Lasagna Roll-Ups


8-10 lasagna noodles, boiled
2 heads broccoli, chopped finely
2 c. ricotta
3/4 c. parmesan, shredded
1 3/4 c. mozzarella, divided
2 t. oregano, dried
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. onion, chopped
2 1/2 c. milk
6 T. butter
6 T. flour
1 t. italian seasoning
1 t. parsley, diced
salt and pepper
2/3 c. shredded cheddar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 pan. Let noodles sit in a few inches of water to prevent sticking together. Chop broccoli finely and steam in microwave or on the stovetop.

2. Combine ricotta, parmesan, 1/2 c. mozzarella and oregano in separate bowl. Set aside.

3. Saute onion and garlic in butter. Add flour and stir till bubbly. Whisk in milk and stir until thickened. Add italian seasoning, salt and pepper, and parsley. Set aside half of the white sauce.


4. On each lasagna noodle, layer 2-3 T. ricotta mixture, 3 T. sauce, 3 T. broccoli, and a sprinkle of remaining mozzarella. Roll up noodle and toppings carefully, and place in pan, seam side down. Repeat with remaining noodles. Spread remaining white sauce over rolls in pan. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serves 6.



Yogurt Sauce with Cayenne & Dill


1 c. yogurt
1/2 c. sour cream
1 large garlic clove, crushed
Salt
2 t. dill, chopped
3/4 t. cayenne or hot paprika

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate before serving. Yield: 1 1/2 cups.

[This sauce, plus the roasted veggies, scrambled eggs and cheese made for a great breakfast burrito!]



Best Strawberry Shortcake


1 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. baking soda
1/2 c. plain, fat-free yogurt
1/2 t. vanilla
strawberries, finely diced

1. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Sift dry ingredients.

2. Add the dry ingredients to the batter alternately with yogurt. Beat until smooth. Blend in vanilla. Pour into greased and floured 7x11 pan.

3. Bake at 325 for approximately an hour. After cooling for 5-10 minutes, cut into 10 servings. Top with strawberries.

[Note, the original recipe is doubled and baked in 3 loaf pans. It also uses sour cream instead of yogurt. I've tried it both ways and can't tell the difference. I'd also love to make this in jumbo muffin tins for individual servings, but I don't have any. I don't know why it wouldn't work though.]