Broccoli and Three-Cheese Lasagna

I’m not sure if I have mentioned this before or not but – I love Real Simple! A lot! This lasagna is, well, from Real Simple. And – it is delicious. Really. I made this for our dear friends Meredith and Zach, and although they have acted like they like everything I make, I think everyone realllly liked this one.

Funny story on this one. It calls for heavy cream. Well, I had no idea what that was when I went to the store and didn’t really know where to look. I found “heavy whipped butter” and decided oh, that must be it! Well, that is not it. I opened the package while making the lasagna and realized very soon that it was not going to work. Luckily, you can make heavy cream out of 3/4 cup milk and 1/3 cup butter. So, that’s what I did and it worked great.

Ingredients:
1 15-ounce container ricotta
1 pound frozen broccoli florets—thawed, patted dry, and chopped
2 1/4 cups grated mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
salt and black pepper
1 16-ounce jar marinara sauce
1/2 cup heavy cream (or 3/4 cup milk and 1/3 cup butter)
8 no-boil lasagna noodles (I used regular lasagna noodles and boiled them)
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the foil

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400º F. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, broccoli, 2 cups of the mozzarella, ¼ cup of the Parmesan, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. In a small bowl, combine the marinara sauce and cream.
2. Spoon a thin layer of the sauce into the bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish. Top with 2 noodles, a quarter of the remaining sauce, and a third of the broccoli mixture; repeat twice. Top with the remaining 2 noodles and sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of mozzarella and ¼ cup of Parmesan.
3. Cover tightly with an oiled piece of foil and bake until the noodles are tender, 35 to 40 minutes. Uncover and bake until the top is golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

I served this lasagna with the previously mentioned lemon salad. Yum!

(Original Recipe)

Favorite Recipe Websites

Just a quick post tonight. I found a new website for recipes the other day: http://www.mixingbowl.com. Seems like it has good posts made by members of the site. One extra that I like is that you can join groups that share certain types of recipes.

Other websites I visit frequently are: Realsimple.com and Bettycrocker.com, along with many blogs like Thinkliz.com and Smittenkitchen.com.

What are your favorite cooking websites? Do you have a go-to source online?

Sweet and Sour Chicken

This recipe comes out of a Better Homes and Garden cookbook for eating healthy. The section it is found in is Kid’s Favorites… and this is the section I have used most for us! Not sure what to think of that. Anyways, this recipe is done in a healthy way so there is no deep frying and it is a quick meal, you can make it in 25 minutes.

Ingredients:
1 8-uonce can pineapple chunks
1/2 cup bottled sweet and sour sauce
12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 medium red sweet pepper, cut into bite-size strips (1 cup)
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot (1)
4 teaspoons cooking oil
1 cup fresh pea pods, tips and stems removed (I used green beans)
2 cups hot cooked rice

Directions:
1. Drain pineapple, reserving 2 tablespoons of the juice; set pineapple chunks aside.
2. In a small bowl stir together the reserved pineapple juice and the sweet-and-sour sauce; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl toss chicken with soy sauce; set aside.
4. In a large nonstick skillet cook and stir sweet pepper and carrot in 3 teaspoons of the hot oil over medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Add pea pods (or green beans). Cook and stir about 1 minute more or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Remove from skillet; set aside.
5. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to skillet. Using a slotted spoon, add chicken to skillet. Cook and stir for 3 to 4 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.
6. Add sweet-and-sour sauce mixture, vegetable mixture, and pineapple chunks; heat through.
7. Serve chicken mixture with hot cooked rice.

We liked this okay. I haven’t made it again, but I would if I had the ingredients on hand. It is a healthy recipe that is a little different than we usually eat!