Lentil Baked Ziti

New year, new resolutions -- or affirmations of old ones. Making dinner following a recipe once a week. Sounds good? I still don't like meat, don't like to fry things, and don't like most vegetables. My daughter is even more finicky. So here's what I tried last night: Lentil Baked Ziti.



From the recipe description:

This baked ziti is precisely what I want to eat when it’s cold outside. Hearty, saucy, cheesy pasta with redeeming whole grains and protein-rich lentils to keep me fueled for hours.

Here's how I made it:

1 package Trader Joe's steamed lentils (17 ounces, ready to heat)
12 oz pasta
1 jar of marinara sauce
1 generous cup of cottage cheese
1 cube of Trader Joe's crushed frozen garlic
1.5-2 loosely packed cups of grated cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

• boil pasta al dente, drain, put back in pot
• add lentils (I heated them in the microwave first, but I'm not sure that was necessary)
• add garlic
• add 1/2 coup of grated cheese (I used cheddar, because that's what I had, but mozzarella might be better), let melt
  
• pour one cup of marinara sauce into baking dish (I used a 13x9, but I don't think it matters)
• add pasta/lentil mix, spread evenly
• spoon cottage cheese in dollops on top, spread just a little

• add rest of sauce
• add rest of cheese (1 lightly packed cup should be enough, I think I used a bit too much, as you can see in the first picture)

• bake for 30 minutes at 350 F
• if you like a crunchy layer, broil for 3 additional minutes at the end

The dish came out great. It was very satisfying in a "I'm eating pasta and cheese, but it might not be 100% unhealthy" kind of way. Even my finicky 9-year old liked it. About generous portions (recipe says 6-8, but I would make more if I had to feed 8 hungry people in the middle of winter). We'll happily finish off what is left tonight.


Happy New Year!

Week 14: Lentils & Macaroni

Vegetable ingredients: Lentils, tomatoe

This week, I was a bit under the weather. I needed a homey, simple dish. Mark Bittman had the answer: Lentils and macaroni! I used Trader Joe's ready-to-eat steamed lentils, which made the process very easy.

Ingredients
1/2 packet Trader Joe's ready-to-eat steamed lentils
2 carrots
1 medium onion, minced
1 cup cored and chopped tomato (canned is fine)
salt and pepper
1 TS minced fresh oregano
1 pound elbow macaroni or something similar
1 ts minced garlic

Preparation
Combine lentils, carrots, onion in large pot, simmer for 15 mins
add tomatoe, sald, pepper, half of th eoregano, stir, keep warm
bring water to boil for pasta
reserve a cup of water
stir cooked pasta into lentils, add oregano, perhaps water
cook for 2-3 minutes

It doesn't look very fancy, but it tasted really good. We helped ourselves to seconds. Even the little person tried one of the shells (after carefully peeling off a lentil).

Verdict: 7/10 for taste and ease of preparation. 2/10 for looks.

Week 2: Lentil Soup With Pasta

Vegetable Ingredients: Lentils, tomatoes, carrots


This week I made lentil soup. Again, this is something I made in the past (with some success), but I couldn't find my original recipe anymore. So I used this one, by Giada De Laurentiis (a person I had never heard about before).

• Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling (I did without the drizzling)
• 1 medium onion, chopped (this is when I discovered that one can buy prechopped onions. Hooray!)
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped (ditched these, I hate celery)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped (used frozen garlic cubes from Trader Joe's)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 pound lentils (approximately 1 1/4 cups)
• 11 cups low-salt chicken broth (11 cups? That's a lot!)
• 4 to 6 fresh thyme sprigs
• 2/3 cup dried elbow pasta (I used a little more)
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan

Directions

Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper and saute until all the vegetables are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices. Simmer until the juices evaporate a little and the tomatoes break down, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add the lentils and mix to coat. Add the broth and stir. Add the thyme sprigs. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and simmer over low heat until the lentils are almost tender, about 30 minutes. Stir in the pasta. Simmer until the pasta is tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve.

Verdict: 7/10

The soup didn't taste as rich and stewlike as the one that I meant to make, but it was really quite good, especially the next day. 6 servings seems about right (4 servings for hungry people).