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Soup and Salad

Editor's Note: This column was submitted on Nov. 22 however was not placed in the Nov. 25 issue due to space.

This week's column could be rather short - or not. I do tend to get long-winded at times... Sometimes I'm not so good about planning ahead (okay, often I'm not), and I've let Thanksgiving sneak up on me. Obviously, the timing of this holiday necessitates a shortened deadline. Instead of needing my small contribution to the weekly edition of the Courier by noonish on Monday, they want it by five on Sunday. Never mind that lately, due to other commitments on my Monday mornings, I've been doing my writing on Sunday afternoons, now that it's mandatory, it's bothersome. This week there's nothing on my Monday morning agenda. So instead of napping, I'm grumbling, but I am getting the writing done.

Again, it's now obvious to this procrastinator that it's much too late to share any special Thanksgiving recipes. Instead, I'll share one for a "comfort food." I started with my Aunt Audentia's lasagna instructions, but made it into soup. As I've said before, my other half doesn't much care for pastas, although when I ask for supper suggestions, I usually get asked for hamburger and macaroni. (I know, but he swears macaroni is NOT pasta.) After browning the hamburger for his meal, I took half the meat for my soup. Aunt Audie's recipe follows, then I'll talk about how I changed it. Feel free to adjust it to your needs/wants.

Lasagna

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

6-9 cooked and cooled noodles

2 small cans tomato paste

3 small cans tomato sauce

Dash each: oregano, garlic, onion, chile powder, salt

Large container small curd cottage cheese

2 eggs

American cheese

Parmesan cheese

Brown the beef. Make sauce with the sauce and paste, adding spices. Add the browned beef, set aside. Beat the eggs, then mix with the cottage cheese. Assemble layers with noodles, meat sauce, cottage cheese, American cheese pieces in a greased 9x13" pan. Repeat layers. Top with parmesan. Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes.

I had a bit more than a half pound of hamburger, browned with a chopped red onion and a couple minced shallots, salted and peppered a lot. I skipped the tomato paste, and used a pint jar of my own balsamic roasted tomato sauce. I rinsed that jar with a full pint (plus a bit more) water into the pot. A 16-ounce container of low-fat cottage cheese was mixed in. I broke up five uncooked lasagna noodles roughly into quarters, stirring until they were fully submerged. This simmered on low until the noodles were done. I topped the soup with grated sharp cheddar. No American or parmesan cheeses, or eggs, were used. This hearty soup fed me for four meals. (I must learn to cook in smaller amounts sometime.)

This next recipe also fed me four meals. I still like it. The dressing is really easy to make, and will work on many other salads as well. I had both broccoli and cauliflower chopped into mine. My dried cranberries are sugarless. I mixed both sunflower seeds and sliced almonds together while toasting them. My cheddar was sharp. I know I'll make this salad many times for myself. It's another one of those no-go dishes for Dennis.

Broccoli Salad

1 pound broccoli, chopped bite-size

1/2 C raw sunflower OR slivered almonds

1/2 C finely chopped red onion

1/2 C grated cheddar

1/3 C dried cranberries OR tart cherries, chopped

Honey-Mustard Dressing

1/3 C EVOO

2 Tbl apple cider vinegar

1 Tbl Dijon mustard

1 Tbl honey

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

Toast seeds (or nuts) over low heat until aromatic. Add to the rest of the salad ingredients.

Combine dressing ingredients, whisking well. Pour over salad, tossing to coat. Marinate in the fridge 20 minutes or more.

Keeps 3-4 days in the fridge.

Hope you enjoyed your (socially distanced?) Thanksgiving. Maybe I'll manage a few holiday recipes in the coming weeks.

 

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