Collard Greens w/ Browned Onions

One of my favorite recipes. It was popular w/ the greens-eaters at our Thanksgiving dinner.

1. Thoroughly wash, remove coarse stalks & slice into fine ribbons:

• 1 lb collard greens

2. In a large pot, heat over medium-high flame:

• ¼ c olive/mustard oil

3. When oil is hot, stir fry until medium brown color:

• 2 medium onions, peeled & diced

4. Add & stir fry for one minute:

• 3 garlic cloves, peeled & finely diced
• ½ - 1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled & finely chopped

5. Add & stir fry for one minute:

• 1 small tomato (about ¼ cup), finely chopped

6. Add, stir to mix & bring to boil:

• Collard greens
• 2 c vegetable stock
• 1¼ tsp salt
• dash of cayenne pepper (to taste)

7. Cover & turn heat down to low. Cook to desired doneness. The original recipe calls for 1 – 1½ hours cook time. I prefer the greens tender but crunchy & bright green, so I cook them between 15-30 minutes.

Roasted Vege Lasagna

A combination of Moosewood's, Joy of Cooking's Vege Lasagna & my own additions. Pretty tasty. (When I made the sauce from scratch, it took about 2.5 hours to prepare.)

Roasted Veges:

1. Preheat oven to 450 (F). Cut into ½” slices/pieces:

• · 1 Eggplant (1.5 lbs)
• · 1 head cauliflower(The original recipe called for zucchini. I’m not a zucchini fan. Roasted cauliflower is delicious!)

2. Toss veges to coat in:

• · ½ c olive oil
• · 1 tsp salt
• · ½ tsp black pepper

3. Arrange veges in single layer on cookie sheets. Roast until browned & soft, about 20 minutes. Turn veges over & roast an additional 20 minutes, until browned & soft.
4. Remove from oven. Drain any liquid. Reduce oven temp to 375 (F).
5. Prepare pasta. Boil until just tender & then place in cold water:

• · 1lb lasagna noodles

Tomato Sauce: (Skip to # if you have at least 3 cups of prepared sauce on hand.)

6. Saute in skillet until soft (15-20 minutes):

• · 1 c onion, diced
• · 1 celery rib w/ leaves, chopped

7. Add & sauté 2 minutes:

• · 2 garlic cloves, minced
• · 1 tsp basil
• · ½ tsp oregano

8. Stir in:

• · 28oz can diced tomatoes w/ juice
• · 2 tbsp tomato paste
• · ¾ tsp salt
• · ¼ tsp black pepper

9. Simmer uncovered until thickened, 15-20 minutes. (If you have a hand blender, blend until smooth. If you don’t have a hand blender, let the sauce cool before blending in the blender – steamy things in the blender is a bad idea.)

Filling:

10. Stir together:

• · 15 oz. cottage cheese
• · 2 eggs
• · ½ lb cooked spinach (if using frozen spinach, make sure to drain it)
• · ½ c grated parmesan cheese (I usually skip this)

11. Put cooled roasted veges in blender & blend until cauliflower is crumbled & eggplant is evenly mixed in.
12. Combine blended veges with cottage cheese mixture. (If you & other folks who will be joining you for lasagna aren’t grossed out by big vege pieces, you can skip this part. I added it because it seemed to help to hide the veges from the non vege eaters. Works really well.)

Lasagna Prep:

13. Combine:

• · 4c shredded mozzarella & ½ c grated parmesan (I usually skip the parmesan & use however much mozzarella I need…)

14. Heat oven to 375 (F).
15. Grease 13x9x2 glass baking dish.
16. Layer lasagna in the following order:

• · Thin layer of sauce in pan
• · Layer of pasta
• · 1/3 of filling mixture
• · ¼ of mozzarella & parmesan mixture
• · ¾ c sauce
• · repeat pasta, filling, cheese, sauce 2 more times
• · Top with remaining sauce & cheeses

17. Cover with foil & bake for 30 minutes.
18. Remove foil & bake another 15 minutes uncovered, until golden & bubbly.
19. Cool 15 minutes before serving.