Slow Cooker Lasagne

We love lasagne! But, when I think of lasagne, I think of it as being a weekend meal because it does take a little bit more time. On a busy weekday however, preparing something like lasagne isn't really an option. That being said, this recipe is a great solution, allowing us to enjoy one of our favourite meals on any day. The smell of the house was fantastic, and the cheese gets all gooey. Is there really anything better?

9 whole wheat lasagne , uncooked
6 cups fresh spinach
1 cup light ricotta
1 ½ cup light cottage cheese
2 cups marinara (either your favourite jarred or homemade)
1 ½ cup shredded mozzarella (I used bocinccini pearls instead – I hate grating!!)
½ cup water

In your slow cooker, spray lightly with olive oil.
Begin layering the lasagne with a large spoonful of the sauce on the bottom. Then add a layer of lasagne noodles (break them up if you need to fit them in). Add some of the ricotta cheese, followed by some of the cottage cheese, and then the spinach. Continue to make about 3 layers (depending on the size of your slowcooker) in the same order; sauce, noodles, ricotta, cottage cheese, spinach. Top with the mozzarella cheese. Add about ½ a cup of water to the slowcooker once your lasagne is layered, to prevent it from burning. Cook on low for about 6 hours. Let it stand for about 15 minutes after it is cooked to allow everything to “settle”, and any excess liquid to be absorbed.

Cauliflower Soup

One of my daughter’s favourite foods is soup. I could put anything into a soup, and she would gobble it down. So I thought I would try to make a healthier version of cream of cauliflower soup. She couldn’t get enough of it!

6 cups cauliflower, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, peeled
3 tbsp olive oil
1 litre vegetable stock
½ cup red lentils
Salt and Pepper to taste
Parmesan or Asiago cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet, bake the cauliflower, onion and garlic for about 40 minutes.
Add cauliflower, onion and garlic to the stock, and add the red lentils. Cook for approximately 15 minutes more. When the cauliflower is soft, it is done. Puree until smooth. Top with fresh asiago or parmesan cheese.

Black Bean Tacos (similar to fish tacos)

When we were on a recent vacation, my husband fell in love with fish tacos. I came home, and tried to replicate these for him, but in a vegetarian version. They turned out really good, and were so simple and easy to make. To be honest, they took about 10 minutes to make (and even less time to eat)!

6 soft corn taco shells
1 19oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tbsp cumin
4 cups cabbage, finely sliced
Juice of one lime
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 avocado, sliced
1 cup salsa

In a medium bowl, combine beans and cumin. Set aside.
In another medium bowl, combine cabbage, lime juice and cilantro.
To assemble tacos, do a layer of black beans on a taco shell, followed by some of the cabbage mix, and top with the avocado and salsa. Enjoy!

Tortellini Soup

This soup is so good! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the end result was fantastic! When getting a pre-made tortellini, have a look at the ingredients. Make sure that it is whole grain, and that there aren’t any ingredients on the package that you can’t pronounce. If possible, get an organic brand, but if that isn’t available, there are plenty out there that work well. Fresh tortellini can usually be found in the deli section of your grocery store.

1 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 litre vegetable stock
1 19oz can diced tomatoes, liquid included
5oz fresh, whole wheat tortellini, cheese flavoured (these come in different size packages, so choose one that is about 5oz)
5oz fresh spinach, roughly chopped
8-10 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

Fresh Parmesan cheese for topping

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 2 or 3 minutes. Add stock, and bring to a boil. Add tortellini and cook for half the cooking time stated on the package. Add in all other ingredients, and continue cooking until the tortellini is cooked. Top with fresh parmesan cheese if desired. Serve immediately.

Bean and Rice Fiesta Salad

1 cup brown rice, cooked according to package directions
1 19oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup diced tomatoes
3 green onions, finely sliced
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
2 tbsp lime juice
¾ cup frozen corn, thawed
Salt to taste

Place all ingredients in a bowl, and mix well. Let it refrigerate for a couple of hours so that the flavours really come out.

Cottage Cheese Gnocchi

I was surprised at how easy this was to make. I was inspired by a cooking show I watched, so I tried it out, adding my own twist to the ingredients. It has a lot of protein in it, so it is very filling.

3 cups cottage cheese, strain out as much liquid as possible.
2 cups spelt flour
Pinch of salt
1 egg
2 egg whites
¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp olive oil

Leave the cottage cheese in a strainer for a couple of hours to get out as much liquid as possible.

After the cheese has been strained, boil a large pot of salted water.
In a food processor, blend cottage cheese. Add all other ingredients but olive oil. Do not over-mix, as the gnocchi will be chewy.

Place blended ingredients into a Ziploc bag, as you would in a pastry bag. Squeeze the dough into one of the corners, and then cut the corner of the bag with scissors. Squeeze one centimeter pieces of dough through the corner and cut with a paring knife, directly into the boiling water. Once all the gnocchi have been cut, cook for 3 minutes. Strain, and add the olive oil so that they don’t stick together.

Top with a marinara sauce and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Tomato Soup with a spicy twist

This isn’t really my recipe. A friend of mine brings it to work all the time, and so I tried it at home, and it is so good. It has just enough spice and flavor to satisfy your hunger.

24oz can of diced tomatoes
19 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
½ cup dried red lentils.
6 cups fresh spinach
1 tbsp cumin, cinnamon and paprika
1 litre vegetable stock
1 diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced

In a large pot, sauté onions, garlic and spices for a few minutes. Add all other ingredients. Cook for about 20-30 minutes. Puree and serve.

Tomato Stew

This is a very quick slowcooker/weekday meal. I think next time I will try it with fresh basil on top. The goats cheese adds just the right richness to the stew.

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 cup green beans, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup frozen corn
1 19oz can chick peas, rinsed and drained
2 cups vegetable stock
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsp goats cheese

Add all ingredients but goats cheese to the slowcooker. Cook on low for 6 hours, or high for 3 hours. Add goats cheese, and continue to cook for 30 minutes.
I served it with toasted pita bread, but you can also put it on top of rice or pasta.

Laziest of Lazy Man Cabbage Rolls (Slowcooker)

Since I love cabbage rolls, but hate the work that goes into them, I decided to try out this recipe in the slowcooker. It really can't get any easier than this! Both my husband and daughter had seconds, so I'm going to take that as a strong hint that this was a good recipe.

1 litre vegetable stock
1 24oz can diced tomatoes, including liquid
1 5.5oz can tomato paste
¾ cup brown rice
½ cup dried red lentils
1 340g bag of cole slaw, or 6-8 cups sliced cabbage
1 onion, diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a slowcooker, and cook for 6 hours on low. Then, add about 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, and continue to cook for another half an hour on high, or until the cheese is melted. See, I told you it was easy!

Enchilada Casserole

Everything about this casserole was tasty. The sauce was very rich because I used tomato paste rather than the traditional tomato sauce, and the cocoa added so much flavour. The bean mixture was very filling, and the olives on top added the perfect amount of saltiness. I'm not sure how authentic this casserole is, but it is definitely delicious!


Bean Mixture
1 yellow bell pepper, finely diced
1 onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp salt
1 19oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

Sauce
1 5.5oz can tomato paste
1 cup water
1 tsp cocoa powder
2 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp salt
A pinch of cinnamon

Other
3 whole wheat tortillas
1 cup cheddar cheese
About 10 Kalamata Olives, pitted and chopped (optional)


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a frying pan heated to medium high, sautee pepper, onion, garlic, cumin and salt in a little bit of olive oil until onions are translucent. Add black beans. Continue cooking for another couple of minutes.

While the onion and pepper is sautéing, combine all ingredients for sauce in a bowl, and mix until a sauce is formed. Set aside.

In a circular pyrex dish that is about the same size as the tortillas (it doesn’t have to be the exact same size), layer sauce, tortillas, bean mixture and cheese (in that order) like you would a lasagne. Top with pitted and chopped Kalamata olives if desired.

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.

Tapenade

If you like olives, try this recipe. It totally beats the tapenades that you can buy in the grocery store. An added bonus is that it takes no time, and any guests that you serve this to will be impressed that you took the extra effort to make it yourself. We served it on crackers and bread.

1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and finely chopped
2 tbsp capers, roughly chopped
1/4 cup roasted red pepper (jarred is fine), finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil

Combine all items in a bowl, and serve. If you like a more pureed tapenade, then this can easily be pureed in a blender or with an emulsifier.

Artichoke Spread

When my husband and I were in Italy, we had an amazing meal that we talk about all the time. We went to a market and bought fresh tomatoes, cheese, olive oil, wine, arugula and a loaf of bread, and ate all of it! Seriously, there wasn't a bite left.
We often try to recreate this meal, and although it doesn't taste quite the same as it did in Italy, it always comes pretty close. We had one of these meals recently, and I decided to try something new with it. This artichoke spread was delicious on freshly toasted bread. If you like artichokes, you'll love it.

1 14oz can artichokes, liquid drained
1 tbsp olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
Salt to taste

Puree all items in a blender, and spread on fresh bread.

Minestrone Soup

Since being back at work off of my mat leave, my slowcooker has also been working full time. I love coming home to a house that smells great, and having little to no prep work for getting dinner on the table. This recipe is amazingly good! The red wine makes the broth so full of flavour, and with all the beans, it is very filling.

If you have a cold day coming up in the forecast (which is almost everyday for us with all the rain we are getting), put this into the slowcooker. There is no better way to warm up on a cold day than a hot bowl of soup.

1 litre vegetable stock
1 19oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 14oz can lima beans, rinsed and drained
3 small zucchini, 2 medium carrots, 2 celery stalks, 1 yellow onion, 2 cloves garlic, all finely diced
1 24oz can diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
Salt and Pepper to taste
2/3 cup red wine
3 tbsp freshly chopped basil
½ cup whole wheat macaroni
Parmesan Cheese

Add all ingredients up to salt and pepper to slowcooker. Cook on low for 6 hours. Add red wine, basil and macaroni. Continue to cook for another hour. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Eggs with blue corn chips and salsa

My daughter loves eggs! So, I tried out this recipe, and not only did she love it, but so did my husband and I. It was pretty easy to do, and a great weeknight meal. I made it for dinner, but it would be a great dish for a brunch or a heartier breakfast.
If you like things spicier, I would add a chopped up jalapeno or hotter salsa, but since I was making it with my daughter in mind, I didn’t use the spice.

1 onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cups blue corn tortilla chips, crushed up
2 whole eggs
8 egg whites
¼ cup skim milk
1 3/4 cups mild salsa, use hotter if you like it
1 cup cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese

In a large pan, sauté onions over medium/high heat with olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. While onions are cooking, whisk together eggs and milk in a medium bowl.

Once onions are cooked, add chips to the onions. Pour egg mixture over top. Cook for a few minutes, or until eggs are scrambled. Add salsa and cheese. Continue to cook for a couple of minutes until the cheese is melted.

Simple Lasagna

This is an easy lasagna to make and makes for great leftovers, although with how good it is, I’m not sure how much you will have leftover. When I made this, everyone had seconds, and there was only a little bit left for lunch the next day, and that was for 4 adults and 2 toddlers. Delicious!

12 whole wheat lasagna noodles
2 cups Ricotta cheese
2 cups cottage cheese
2 pkgs. Frozen spinach, thawed
4 cups marinara sauce, jarred is fine, but homemade is even better. I have a recipe under pasta if you want to try to make your own.
1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese, grated


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cook noodles according to package directions.

While noodles are cooking, squeeze excess water out of spinach into the sink. This is very important, otherwise the lasagna will be too watery. Place spinach in a bowl once the liquid has been drained. Add ricotta and cottage cheese to the bowl. Mix well.

In a very large, rectangular pyrex or corningware dish layer ingredients starting first with marinara sauce, followed by noodles and then spinach mixture. Top with the mozzarella.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown.

Rice Cooker Macaroni and Cheese

No, there isn’t a typo, and I didn’t mean slowcooker. This really is macaroni and cheese done in the rice cooker. Sounds crazy, but this recipe is unbelievably good!

Not only does it taste great, but it is easier than making macaroni and cheese out of a box. Well, maybe not that easy, but pretty close. If you try no other recipe on this blog, try this. You won’t be disappointed.

2 cups whole wheat macaroni
2 cups vegetable stock
1 ¼ cup cheddar cheese
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup skim milk
2 cups chopped up broccoli florets
Salt to taste

Put macaroni and stock in rice cooker. Cook for 15 minutes. Add all other ingredients. Continue to cook for another 30 minutes. That's it! Seriously, the pasta comes out perfectly cooked, and the broccoli is tender but not overcooked.

Next time, I am going to add 1 cup of frozen peas as well.

Baked Veggies

These veggies are fantastic! If you have kids who don’t like veggies, try this recipe. The bread crumbs and cheese are perfect for hiding the fact that they are eating vegetables. Everyone in our household loved these. And, they don’t take a huge amount of time/effort, so they are great for a quick weeknight meal.

2 cups whole grain bread crumbs
½ cup Asiago or Parmesan Cheese
2 cups buttermilk
1 bell pepper, diced
½ red onion, diced
1 small zucchini, diced

Preheat oven to 425.
In a bowl, combine bread crumbs and cheese. In another bowl pour the buttermilk.
Taking a few vegetables at a time, first put them into the buttermilk, then into the bread crumb mixture. Once they are coated with the bread crumbs, place onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat mat.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Broil for the last couple of minutes if you prefer a crunchier texture.

Cheesy Spinach Casserole

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this recipe, but this was amazingly good! Seriously, it was delicious. My one year old daughter even loved it. This is for sure going to be a regular in this household. Plus, it is super easy, so how can you go wrong?


1 Package Frozen Chopped Spinach (10 oz.)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup cottage cheese
1/3 cup shredded Havarti cheese
2 whole eggs, lightly beaten
4 egg whites
1 red pepper, chopped


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Squeeze out excess water from spinach in a paper towel over the sink. This is extremely important, otherwise it will be too watery and won’t cook properly.

In an 8 inch Corningware dish, combine all ingredients. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the casserole is no longer jiggly. Broil for a couple of minutes until the cheese is golden brown.

Stuffed Peppers

I have always wanted to make stuffed peppers, but I have never reallly gotten around to it. I bought a big bag of quinoa a while back and have been trying to find suitable recipes for it, but nothing really caught my eye.

I went to my friends a couple of weeks ago, and she made stuffed peppers with quinoa, and figured I would try them out for myself. Traditionally, rice is used in stuffed peppers, but I actually really like the quinoa flavour in this recipe. If you are used to the rice and meat stuffed peppers, this is quite a bit different, but not being a meat eater, I found these quite tasty. However, this recipe may be a little “strange” if you eat meat on a regular basis. But, try it out, you might actually be surprised by these.

1 cup quinoa
½ cup red lentils
1 24oz can diced tomatoes, juice included
1 ½ cups vegetable stock
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
1 cup Asiago cheese
Salt to taste
4 bell peppers, any colour works

In a medium pot, bring to boil the vegetable stock. Add tomatoes, lentils and quinoa. Let simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the quinoa “opens” to form little curls. Remove from heat and add ¾ cup of cheese, chopped basil and salt.

While quinoa is cooking, cut the tops off of the bell peppers, and remove seeds and membranes. Cut a small slice off of the bottom of the pepper as well, so that it will stand straight in the dish. Place in an oven safe dish, standing up. Place about a cup of water (depending on the size of your dish) so that there is about ¼ inch of water on the bottom. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of peppers.

Place in a 425 degree oven for about 40 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool for a couple of minutes before eating.

Roasted Vegetable Wraps

I went to a friends house for a bbq, and she made bbq’d eggplant, and my husband and I loved it! This is also the same friend who inspired me to make eggplant parmesan. I never used to like eggplant, but now can’t seem to get enough of it. So, I bought one this weekend, and was actually going to bbq it like she did, but decided to roast it instead and put it into a wrap. However, plain roasted eggplant in a wrap is a little boring, so I added a few other ingredients to make it a little bit different. This was a fantastic and easy meal. I made two extra wraps, for our lunch the next day and they were delicious!
If you don’t have a panini press, a sandwich maker or a quesadilla maker can also work. Or, you can even put it in the oven, but they don’t turn out quite as well in the oven as they would using one of the above appliances.

Makes 4 wraps

1 red pepper, diced
1 medium eggplant, diced
1 medium zuccini, diced
Half red onion, diced
4 cloves garlic
2 cups cherry tomatoes
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1 ½ tbsp olive oil
¼ cup goats cheese
½ cup havarti cheese, grated
4 large whole grain wraps

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a greased pan, mix red pepper, eggplant, zuccini, onion, garlic and tomatoes with vinegar and oil. Place in oven for about 45 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Remove from oven. Add goats cheese.
Take a wrap and lay it flat. Place ¼ of the havarti cheese on the bottom of the wrap, followed by ¼ of the vegetables. Wrap like this - http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/techniques/ht/burritofolding.htm. Place into a panini press for a few minutes, until the cheese has melted, and the wrap is golden brown.
If you don’t have a panini press, just wrap the cheese in the tortilla and place in the oven for a couple of minutes. Don’t over-cook it in the oven, otherwise it will dry out. However, use a panini press, or a sandwich maker/quesadilla maker for best results.