"lightened up" macaroni and cheese

aka cracked out macaroni and cheese (in a good way)

if you were able to read this month's issue of bon appetit without running into the kitchen to make mac and cheese, then you're a stronger person than me.

the only catch was that i just wanted to do it my way. and i wanted it to be a meal i could eat without feeling completely guilty about consuming a bowl of pasta and fat. yes, it's harsh i know but really, with what resulted there's no deprivation involved, i promise. the big deal here is substituting nonfat yogurt for any milk, cream, and/or butter i would have otherwise used. and i guess you could go with low fat cheese however, i went with the "high-quality will go further" idea. since the cheese has a lot of flavor, you can use less of it and still be just as satisfied. the cheese and yogurt melt together to form the perfect cheesy sauce, no roux, eggs, cream or butter required.

cracked out, i mean lightened up mac and cheese

• 8 oz pasta elbows (i used brown rice ones)
• 2 links spicy chicken sausage, casing removed
• 1/2 large bunch of broccoli rabe, sliced into 1-inch sections
• olive oil
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
• 1 teaspoon chili sauce
• salt & pepper
• 1 6 oz plain nonfat yogurt
• 1/4 cup gruyere, grated
• 1/4 cup sharp white cheddar, grated
• 1-2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated

• preheat oven to 375.
• cook the pasta until just undercooked.
• while pasta is cooking, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pan.c ook sausage over medium-low heat, breaking up the pieces as it cooks.
• when the sausage is cooked, set aside in a casserole dish.
• add remaining olive oil to same pan. add shallots, garlic and broccoli rabe and cook over medium heat until the broccoli rabe is wilted. add to casserole dish.
• mix cooked pasta, sausage, broccoli rabe, mustard, chili sauce, salt, pepper, gruyere, cheddar, and yogurt together in dish. top with Parmesan cheese.
• bake for 15-20 minutes until heated through.

baked eggplant casserole thingy (YUM)

subtitle: eggplant moussaka, minus the moussaka

subtitle II: eggplant parmesan--no it isn't really that either...

you will second guess the ingredients. and if you haven't by the time the cashier slowly glances up at you as she rings up the 2nd pound of mushrooms and the 3rd eggplant...you better double check your ingredient inventory. because chances are, you forgot something. then you'll feel knocked over the head yet again as you swipe your credit card to pay for all these groceries you have to lug home
when you realize 1 of the 4 guests doesn't like mushrooms. but what are you going to do? 2lbs of them are already weighing you down and you're wishing you didn't do that last set of curls at the gym.

seeing as i have my own food issues, i tend to freak out a little bit when "vegetarian" gets thrown into the mix. now, granted, i pretty regularly happen to eat vegetarian but when it involves cooking for a crowd, i feel the pressure. no longer! a thoughtful gift of the new moosewood cookbook is the perfect remedy for this kind of situation. the original recipe that caught my eye as i was flipping through was eggplant moussaka. the only problem was that i really don't like dairy-y sauces (a bechamel in this case). i blame it on the lactose intolerance. go ahead and try to fight that. so i skipped it.

what resulted was a delicious crowd-pleasing dish--even the non mushroom person! and, she doesn't like eggplant either! "you know, i don't like mushrooms or eggplant but this is good." pre-baking the eggplant dries it out some so that you don't get any sort of that slimy eggplant texture. and the tomato sauce is actually quite dry (has so much stuff in it) that it doesn't re-slime the eggplant.

eggplant _________

• 3 medium eggplans (abt 7" long), peeled or not
• salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs mushrooms, coarsely chopped
• 5 medium cloves garlic, minced
• 1 14 1/2-oz can tomatoes, including all liquid
• 1 6-oz can tomato paste
• 1 tsp cinnamon (i did not use)
• black pepper
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 - 1 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1 packed cup freshly minced parsley
  
• 1/2 cup fine bread crumbs, plus extra for top (1/4 cup) (gluten-free)
  
• 1/2 cup grated parmesean
  

• slice the eggplant into quarter-inch-thick rounds. sweat the eggplant: salt the slices lightly on both sides, then layer them gently in a colander, and place over a sink or bowl. let stand for 20-30 min
• lightly oil a baking sheet, and preheat oven to 375. pat eggplant dry with a towel and spread slices on the baking sheet (it's okay if they overlap a little) and bake until tender (20-25 min)

mushroom tomato sauce:

• heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet or dutch oven. add onions and salt and cook over medium heat, stirring, for 8-10 min, or until the onions become translucent. add mushrooms and garlic, stir and cover. cook over medium heat another 8-10 minutes (until mushrooms start to cook down).
• add tomatoes, tomato paste, pepper, oregano and basil. crush tomatoes. bring to a boil then lower heat, and simmer, uncovered, another 12-15 minutes. remove from heat, stir in parsley bread crumbs and parmesan. set aside
  

• preheat oven to 375 degrees. oil a very large casserole or deep baking pan at least 9"x13." place a double layer of eggplant on the bottom, add half mushroom sauce, add the rest of the eggplant and then add the rest of tomato sauce. dust lightly with bread crumbs and some parmsean.
• baked uncovered for 35-40 minutes, or until bubbly on the bottom and lightly browned on top.
  

weeknight dinner: eggs in purgatory casserole

there are certain things that don't have immediate appeal to me. casseroles are one of these things. and it undoubtedly has to do with what was cooked in my house when i was growing up. (lots of spaghetti but never ever meatloaf. got it?)

so when i received my march issue of bon appetit and saw a casserole feature, i first flipped straight past. until the pictures distracted me and i realized how delicious they looked. these weren't your standard tuna noodle casserole (no, i've never had one). and although i wanted to make them all, there was one that particularly caught my eye: eggs in purgatory. a of all, it featured many things i like (eggs, artichokes and parmesean) and b of all, it seemed pretty straightforward. a perfect weeknight meal, if you will. or even better, a perfect roomie meal entree. this is exactly why i file away recipes for later use.

and even though this dish incorporated things i'm not so fond of (okay, one thing: potatoes) it allowed me to knock off some more of those csa potatoes. yes, they're still around. in a nutshell: comfort food at its finest. yum yum.

eggs in purgatory
from bon appetit

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• coarse kosher salt
• 1 8- to 10-ounce package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, drained
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice (preferably fire-roasted)
• 8 ounces red-skinned or white-skinned potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons drained capers
• 8 large eggs
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  

• heat olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. add onion, thyme, and red pepper; sprinkle lightly with coarse kosher salt and sauté until onion is tender and golden brown, about 10 minutes. add artichokes and minced garlic; stir 1 minute. stir in diced tomatoes with juice and bring to boil. reduce heat; cover skillet and simmer 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
• meanwhile, cook potatoes in small saucepan of boiling salted water just until tender, about 8 minutes. drain. add potatoes and capers to tomato-artichoke sauce; cover and simmer 5 minutes. season to taste with coarse salt and pepper.
• preheat oven to 375°F. pour tomato-artichoke sauce into 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. using back of spoon, make 8 evenly spaced indentations in sauce for holding eggs. crack 1 egg into each indentation in sauce (some of eggs may run together slightly in spots). bake until egg whites and yolks are softly set, 12 to 16 minutes. carefully remove baking dish from oven; sprinkle grated parmesan cheese over and serve.
• serves 4 very hungry roomies