Twice Baked Potatoes

Serves 4

• 4 medium Russet potatoes
• 1 cup broccoli, chopped and cooked
• 4 slices deli ham, chopped (omit for vegetarian option)
• 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese
  
• 2 Tbs sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk
  
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper

1. Wash potatoes and pat dry. Poke holes with a fork so they don't explode in your oven. Place directly on oven rack. Bake potatoes on the middle rack in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 10-15 minutes.
2. Cut off the top of the potato in an oval shape and with a spoon gently scoop out most of the potato into a mixing bowl. Be careful not to scoop too closely to the skin or it will break. (You can save the tops and make potato skins out of them.)
   
3. Stir in milk, sour cream, salt and pepper and mix till smooth.
4. Add in broccoli and ham.
5. Spoon mixture back into the potato skins, top with cheese and bake for another 15 minutes at 350 degrees until hot all the way through and the cheese has melted.
   

Food Find: Morningstar Farm Chik Patties

(See my post on J'09 on TN about this...)

On nights when it's really warm and/or we've both had a long day at work, hitting a fast food joint for dinner is a pretty regular occurance. We're trying to ammend that, but there are nights where chopping/sauteing/baking/etc. is just NOT appealing. So, we've started finding low-cal, make-at-home alternatives to some of our fast food faves.

This Week: Home Remake of Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich

Since my husband is a vegetarian, he obviously doesn't eat this at Wendy's, but I do, and I love it. We wanted meals we can eat together, so the first thing we did was find a chicken patty substitue. The best one we found:

Morningstar Farms Chik Patties Original

Here's the rest:

*Cook the patties to package instructions (we do ours on an indoor Cuisniart grill)
*During the last moments of cooking, add Hot Pepper Jack cheese (this is to simulate the spice rub Wendy's puts on their actual patty)
*Fix whole wheat hamburger bun with light mayo (or Mustard), sliced tomatoes, and lettuce

We paired ours with oven baked sea salted potato wedges.

Enjoy! :-)

Eggplant Lasagne

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
1 Large eggplant, sliced
Butter, for greasing
Barilla no-boiling required lasagne noodles
1/2 cup pine nuts, chopped
1 egg
8 ounces ricotta cheese (about 1/2 a container)
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
1 jar of prepared sauce, or a few cans of diced tomatoes.
12 fresh basil leaves
Olive oil for Drizzling
Red pepper flakes
4 T Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Salt

Place eggplant slices in a colander, sprinkle with salt and let drain for 2 hours.
Rinse, pat dry, and cook under a preheated broiler until tender, about 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375.
Grease a baking dish large enough for your lasagna.

In a medium bowl beat together the egg, ricotta, and 1 cup of the mozzarella.

Spoon 1/4 sauce on the bottom of dish.
Arrange a layer of the no-boil noodles - no not overlap.
Place 1/2 the eggplant slices on top.
Place 1/2 the pine nuts on top.
Place 1/2 the cheese mixture on top.
Spoon 1/4 of the sauce on top.
Place 6 basil leaves on top.
Sprinkle (to taste) red pepper flakes - a few should be fine :)
Drizzle with olive oil.
Place another layer of noodles on top, and repeat the layering process once more (for 2 full layers).
Place another layer of noodles on top.
Spread remaining sauce on top (be sure to cover noodles completely).
Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 C mozzarella cheese on top.
Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese on top.

Cover with foil. Bake 45-50 minutes, until bubbly. Uncover and bake 5 more minutes, until cheese is brown on top.


I made this once and was told to put it on our weekly rotation. I'm making it tonight, so we'll see if it comes out as tasty as it did last time. This recipe is a combination of a few recipes, tweaked for our tastes and needs (for example, I'm not going to make my own lasagne noodles).

Portobello and Black Bean Burgers

Recipe
2 medium portobellos, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon soy sauce or Worcestershire
6 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook mushrooms, onion and bell pepper, stirring occasionally, until pepper begins to soften, 4 to 5 minutes. Add beans, paprika, garlic powder and black pepper. Cook, smashing beans with the back of a spoon, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer mixture to a bowl and mix in eggs, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and breadcrumbs. Form into 4 patties. Wipe out skillet; heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat and cook burgers until brown and firm, 6 to 7 minutes per side.

Modifications I made...used probably 1.5 to 2 times the amount of breadcrumbs it called for (based on a recommendation from a friend), and I used Panko whole wheat breadcrumbs as opposed to regular bread crumbs. I also used Worcestershire as opposed to soy sauce. Served them with shredded cheddar cheese melted on top, on a hamburger bun.