Category: Weeknight Meals
March 2, 2018
Braised Lima Beans with Garlic and Dill
I know what you’re thinking. Lima beans, really? I’ve been trying to minimize our meat content, both for health and economic reasons. The fact that I don’t always digest meat well is just a side benefit. Anyway, I found the original recipe (which is for fava beans) in a favorite cookbook and adapted it to what I could get my hands on at the time.
The original recipe, for the record, can be found in Najmieh Batmanglij’s Silk Road Cooking.
The big sticking point for me with this recipe was the fava beans, as in I couldn’t find any. They were badly out of season. I did find frozen lima beans, which make a good substitute for fava so I used them instead. My husband isn’t generally a huge fan of eggs, but they’re a good food to eat if you have any kind of anxiety disorder or insomnia issue so I decided to include them.
Everyone in the family loved this dish. The Spouse loves dill, so he barely noticed the eggs and had seconds of the whole dinner. The Zoodle loved everything, and the dill acts as a carminative so some of the less socially acceptable side effects of the beans decreased.
2 pounds frozen lima beans
Ingredients for Braised Lima Beans with Fava and Dill
2 tablespoons olive oil
20 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large bunch dill, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
3 cups water
2 tablespoons lime juice
4 large eggs
November 19, 2017
“Steam-deconstructed” broccoli with pasta
Here at Turtle and Zoodle Make Stuff, we’re not going to pretend to be perfect. We’re trying new things. We’re learning new crafts. We’re experimenting with new tastes. Sometimes we screw things up. Sometimes we have a cooking disaster. We have meltdowns, or we have equipment failures.
You probably have them too. We’re here to show you that you’re not alone, other people have them too, and you’ll get through it.
This is about one of my cooking disasters.
I’ve made this dish a thousand times before. It’s a supremely easy weeknight meal. It doesn’t have very many ingredients, it’s vegan if you use the right pasta and avoid butter, and it’s delicious.
Here’s where the cooking disaster happened. Everything started out just fine. I went through all of the steps, just like normal. The only difference is that I was using a pot with a strainer built into the lid to cook the pasta. I burned myself with the pasta water, dropped the lid, and spilled the pasta all over the dirty sink.
Physical evidence of my mistake
I couldn’t just not serve dinner, so I had to cook more pasta. I didn’t want the broccoli to get cold, though, so I left the lid on while my second batch of pasta cooked.
Big mistake.
The broccoli kept cooking. It didn’t just overcook. No, the broccoli disintegrated. It pureed itself.
The funny thing is, it didn’t taste all that bad. The texture was terrible, as you can probably imagine, but the flavor wasn’t bad at all. I was horrified, and I didn’t want to eat it at all. I did document it, so you could get a good laugh and maybe forgive yourself a little bit the next time you make a mistake or two in the kitchen.
Ingredients
1 large bag broccoli florets
1 head garlic, peeled and sliced
1/2 tsp salt
2 – 3 tbsp olive oil
water
1 box pasta – I usually use whole wheat
Equipment
pasta pot
ladle
strainer
large sauté pan with lid
- Bring the water to a boil.
- Once the pasta is boiling, add the pasta to the pot.
- Heat the oil in the sauté pan over low heat.
- Add the garlic and sprinkle with salt.
- Sauté the garlic until fragrant.
Sauté the garlic.
- Add the broccoli and stir-fry to coat. You can add some crushed red pepper here. We don’t, because the Zoodle is averse to spicy food, but it would taste great.
- Splash 1 ladle full of boiling pasta water into the broccoli pan and put the lid on.
- Drain the pasta when done.
- Transfer the pasta to a bowl. Pour the broccoli and garlic mixture onto the pasta and serve hot.
October 26, 2017
Lasagna with Artichoke and Spinach
Everyone loves lasagna. It’s a scientific fact. This lasagna delights with canned artichoke hearts and frozen spinach. You can make it at any time of year.
This lasagna does not include bechamel. My grandmother didn’t use bechamel in her lasagna, and I think it would clash with the artichoke. You can include it if you like, but I think it’s better without it.
I did create this recipe while working from one on allrecipes.com. You can find that recipe here. Key differences from that one include increasing the amount of artichoke, using ricotta cheese, and cooking the lasagna in our Big Green Egg.
You don’t have to cook your lasagna in a smoker. In fact, it’s probably easier to use your oven. Our oven is… well, it’s just not usable at this point. This is a source of constant frustration to me, but we’re Americans and we’re resourceful.
The smoker gives the cheeses an extra depth of flavor that everyone in our family adores. If the popularity of smoked cheeses at my local supermarket is any indication, your family will probably like it too. Most of the components can be made ahead. All you’d have to do on the day of would be assemble and bake, which makes this a good weeknight meal.
Leftovers taste amazing the next day, hot or cold.
Leftover lasagne
Lasagna with Artichokes and Spinach (serves 10 – 12)
1 package fresh lasagna noodles
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
8 garlic cloves, crushed
14 oz vegetable broth
2 – 3 sprigs chopped fresh rosemary
1 large jar marinated artichoke hearts
1 pound chopped frozen spinach, thawed
28 ounces pasta sauce (I used a Wegman’s roasted garlic sauce. Homemade works well too.)
12 oz shredded mozzarella (I like part skim)
A pile of raw matter that will become a lasagna. Don’t be intimidated! It’s very easy.
32 ounces ricotta cheese
4 ounces herb or sun-dried tomato feta, crumbled
Equipment:
One roasting pan
Slotted spoon
Saute pan, with lid
Smoker or Big Green Egg (optional)
- Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan.
- Add the garlic and the onion. Saute until fragrant.
Onions and garlic, being sauteed
- Add the rosemary. Saute for about a minute.
- Add the vegetables and broth. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to break up any big clumps of spinach.
- Add the sauce. Return to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer approx. 5 minutes. (This is a good point to stop if you’re prepping ahead of time.)
- Now you can preheat your oven to 375 degrees. If you’re using a Big Green Egg, set up for indirect cooking.
- Prepare your pan. Use the cooking spray to coat the bottom and insides of the roasting pan.
- Next, cover the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of the vegetable and sauce mixture. I don’t know why this works, but it does.
- Cover this layer with lasagna noodles.
- Layer another dose of the sauce mixture on top of the noodles. Cover with mozzarella and ricotta.
- Repeat until you get to the top of the pan, ending with noodles.
Lasagna in the layering phase
- Cover with mozzarella.
- Sprinkle the feta on top.
- Bake 1 hour.
- Let rest 15 minutes.
- Cut and serve. You can serve this with salad or on its own.
