Arthicoke and Mushroom Lasagna

Ingredients

• 1 pound sliced baby portobello mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cans (14 ounces each) water-packed artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained and chopped
• 1 cup chardonnay or other white wine
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• SAUCE:
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3-1/2 cups 2% milk
• 2-1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup chardonnay or other white wine
• ASSEMBLY:
• 9 lasagna noodles
• 4 cups (16 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

Nutritional Facts

1 piece equals 383 calories, 18 g fat (11 g saturated fat), 54 mg cholesterol, 751 mg sodium, 29 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 24 g protein.

Directions

1. Cook noodles as package directs.

1.  Preheat oven to 350°. In a large skillet, saute mushrooms in butter until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute. Add artichokes, wine, salt and pepper; cook over medium heat until liquid is evaporated.
2. For sauce, in a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in flour until smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 1 minute or until thickened. Stir in Parmesan cheese and wine.
3. Spread 1 cup sauce into a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Layer with three noodles, 1-2/3 cups sauce, 1 cup mozzarella and 1-1/3 cups artichoke mixture. Repeat layers twice.
4. Cover and bake 45 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. Yield: 12 servings. 

adapted from www.tasteofhome.com

Butternut Squash and Gorgonzola Pizza

• Crust
• ¾ cup warm water
• 2½ teaspoon yeast
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ teaspoons salt
• 1½- 2 cups white whole wheat flour (or unbleached all purpose)
•  
• Topping
• 2 cups butternut squash puree
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 spring rosemary
• ½ cup blue cheese
• 3-4 ounces mozzarella cheese

1. In a bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, yeast, and honey- stir with a wooden spoon until yeast is dissolved. Let sit until yeast begins to activate, 5-10 minutes. Once yeast is ready, add in oil, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Turn your mixer on low with the dough hook on and let mix, scrapping down the sides as needed. From here on out, add 2-4 tablespoons of flour at a time, letting the dough mix for a bit until adding more flour. When the dough starts to come together, continue to let the mixer run for 1-2 minutes and adding more flour until your dough has pulled away from the sides of the mixer. Remove from the mixer and place in a warm spot. Brush with oil and let rise for 1 hour.
2. If needing to make butternut squash puree, slice a butternut squash in half, remove the seeds, and place cut side down in a roasting pan. Fill with a ¼” of water and roast butternut squash at 425˚ until tender, 40-50 minutes depending on size. Remove and scoop out the squash. Alternatively, peel and cube butternut squash. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add butternut squash. Boil until tender and mash. In a food processor, pulse garlic and rosemary until broken into small pieces. Add the butternut squash and puree until smooth.
3. Once your dough has double in size, preheat your oven to 500˚. Return to your dough and punch it down. Let rise for 20 more minutes. Roll the dough out onto a surface covered in cornmeal (I used a large wood cutting board put some of you may have a pizza peel.) Roll it out to the size of your pizza stone.
4. Spread the squash puree over the pizza dough and top with mozzarella cheese and blue cheese.
5. Carefully transfer pizza to the stone and bake until cheese is bubbling and crust is golden, 12-15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before slicing.

**** You can substitute pre-made pizza crust/dough if you'd like *****

adapted from www.naturallyella.com

Rosemary Herbed Pork Chops in an Onion Cream Sauce with Parmesan Roasted Turnips

Rosemary Pork Chops in an Onion Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

• pork chops - 4 tender thick cut (I used bone-in pork chops and also a smaller boneless tender cut for myself)
• olive oil- 2 tablespoons
• rosemary - 1.5 tablespoons freshly chopped
• Seasoning - 2 teaspoons of a mix of dried onion, sea salt, garlic, crushed red peppers, orange peel and paprika.)
• mini pearl onions - 1 cup whole unpeeled 
• white wine - 1 cup (1/2 for roasting and 1/2 for sauce) can substitute chicken broth if needed for dietary reasons 
• water - 1/2 cup 
• salt and pepper to taste
• butter - 1 tablespoon

Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heatoven to 190 Celsius or 375 F.
Step 2: Rub your pork chops with olive oil on both sides. Season pork chops with fresh rosemary, Kick N Chicken Seasoning (or make your own with dried onion, sea salt, garlic, crushed red peppers, orange peel and paprika.)
Step 3: Heat up an oven proof skillet or pan to a medium high heat stove top burner and sear for just a minute or two on both sides of seasoned pork chops.
Step 4: Place your pork chops in a ovenproof pan, add 1/2 cup of wine and unpeeled mini-onions. Bake your pork chops uncovered for about 25-30 minutes or until the internal temperature of at least 145 degrees F or 160 F if you like well done, depending on how thick your pork chops are. (now I know that our moms have taught us that you need to cook pork until it is lifeless and resembles shoe leather and then just a few minutes more, just to be safe.) However, new guidelines for USDA Pork  is safe at this temperature as long as you leave it rest for about 5 minutes after cooking.
Step 5: Remove your pork chops for the pan and rest covered for 5 minutes. (Do not wash the pan that you cooked the pork chops in) Instead place the pan you cooked your pork chops in over a burner on top of the stove and turn on medium heat. Add wine to deglaze the pan.  Add water. Chop up a few of the caramelized mini onions and add to the wine sauce. Allow the wine sauce to reduce to about 1/2. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off the burner and add a tablespoon of butter to finish the shallot wine sauce.
Step 6: Serve pork chops with a drizzle of shallot wine sauce on top. Enjoy!

Roasted Turnips with Parmesan

Ingredients

• 2 pounds turnips (about 4 medium), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1/2 ounce)

Directions

1. Step 1

   Preheat oven to 475 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, combine turnips, cayenne, nutmeg, and oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss well to coat. Arrange turnips in a single layer and roast until golden on both sides, 25 minutes, flipping halfway through- sprinkle with parmesan and bake 5 more minutes.

Adapted from www.marthastewart.com

Bacon Sticky Buns

Ingredients:

For the sticky buns:
5 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
12 Tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1 (17.3-ounce; 2 sheets) package frozen puff pastry, defrosted
For the filling:
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Cook the bacon in a large saucepan over medium heat until a majority of the fat has rendered. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter with 1/3 cup light brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Divide the butter mixture between the cups of a nonstick 12-cup muffin pan. Divide the chopped pecans and cooked bacon between the cups, sprinkling them on top of the butter. (See Kelly's Notes.)
Lightly flour your work surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry onto the surface with the folds opening left to right. Brush the whole sheet of pastry with half of the melted butter then sprinkle it with half of the light brown sugar and half of the cinnamon. Starting at the bottom edge (closest to you), tightly roll up the pastry ending with the seam side down. Trim and discard the two ends then cut the roll into 6 equal pieces, about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral facing up, in each of six muffin cups. Repeat the filling, rolling and slicing process with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.
Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (to catch any overflow) and bake the sticky buns on the center rack for 25 to 30 minutes until the buns are golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove the sticky buns from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for 5 minutes only, then invert the pan onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet, scraping out any topping from the cups. Let the buns cool slightly then serve.
Kelly's Notes:
It's important that you sprinkle the chopped pecans and bacon on top of the butter mixture in each muffin pan so that they do not burn while baking.
Do not let the sticky buns cool for longer than 5 minutes in the pan or the topping will become too hard and not release along with the buns when you invert the muffin pan onto the baking sheet.

Recipe adapted from www.justataste.com

Burrito Bowl with Creamy Chipotle Sauce

Makes 3-4 burrito bowls

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked rice or quinoa

1/2 cup salsa

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2-3 roma tomatoes, diced

1 1/2 cups corn (I used frozen corn, thawed)

Romaine lettuce, chopped

Creamy chipotle sauce*

Other additions: onion, green onion, bell pepper, avocado, cheese, cilantro

Directions

Cook rice. (For firmer rice, use 1 cup rice + 1 1/4 cup water.)

While rice is cooking, prep your veggies and make the creamy chipotle sauce.

When rice is cooked, stir in salsa.

Begin layering your bowl: start with rice, then black beans, and vegetables.

Drizzle the creamy chipotle sauce on top and enjoy.

*Creamy Chipotle Sauce:

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

1 chipotle in adobo sauce

1/2 tsp. adobo sauce

1-2 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

1/8 tsp. cumin

Scrape away the seeds from the chipotle with a knife (use caution when handling chipotle, and wash your hands when done.)

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.

Taste and adjust seasonings/consistency as necessary.

Tips: if the sauce is too thick, thin it out with more lime juice, or olive oil. If it's too thin, add more greek yogurt. If you like a touch of sweetness, add some honey/agave.