Friday Recipes

It's Friday, time to get ready for the weekend. Today's recipes include Baked Spaghetti and a Philadelphia-Cherry Danish Dessert. Yum! Enjoy!

THREE-CUP VEGETABLES

This is from Ali Slagle in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Ali wrote, “This vegan dish is inspired by three-cup chicken, a deeply savory Taiwanese specialty that can be traced back to the 13th century, to the execution of Wen Tianxiang, a scholar-general of the Song dynasty who resisted Kublai Khan’s invasion. The night before Wen’s death, a guard is said to have made him the surprisingly pungent chicken dish with the prison’s limited resources. It has many variations, but usually calls for braising chicken in rice wine, soy sauce and sesame oil with plenty of ginger, garlic and basil. Here, root vegetables like carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes and turnips take the place of the chicken, but feel free to also add tofu and quick-cooking vegetables like broccoli or snap peas with the roots. Serve over rice or ramen noodles to soak up sauce.”

Yield: 4 servings; Time: 30 minutes.

To view this on the Times’ website, click here.

Note: If, like me, you don't keep alcohol around the house, don't panic. I've been known to add water (or a suitable broth) in place of wine in recipes.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil

6 cups root vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes and-or turnips, cut into 1/4-inch slices and halved or quartered if large (about 2 pounds)

1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

10 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

3/4 cup Chinese rice wine

6 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 dried chiles, like chiles de árbol, or 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

2 cups fresh basil leaves, torn if large

Preparation

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the vegetables, ginger and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender and browned in spots, 7 to 10 minutes.

Lower the heat to medium and stir in the rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar and red-pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the sauce has reduced, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in the basil.

BASIL CHICKEN SOUP

Prep Time: 15 Minutes; Cost: $; Servings: 4; Difficulty Level: 2

Source: The Diabetic Newsletter

View this online at https://diabeticgourmet.com/diabetic-recipes/basil-chicken-soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 large onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, pressed or minced

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

3-1/2 cups chicken broth (low-sodium)

1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 cup diced cooked chicken

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

1/2 cup shredded light jarlsberg cheese

Directions

In a 2 to 3 quart pan, combine butter, onion, and garlic. Stir occasionally over medium heat until onion is limp and slightly tinged with brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour to coat onion. Gradually stir in broth, and bring to a boil on high heat.

Add potato; cover and simmer over low heat until potato is tender when pierced, 15 to 20 minutes. Add chicken; cover and simmer just until chicken is hot, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in basil. Ladle into bowl and offer cheese to add to taste.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 237; Fat: 5.1 g; Sodium: 168 mg; Protein: 19 g; Carbohydrates: 19 g

Diabetic Exchanges: 1 Starch, 2-1/2 Low-Fat Meat

ULTIMATE NACHOS

This comes from the infamous long-since-forgotten emailing list.

Ingredients

1/2 lb. Extra lean ground beef

8 oz. Velveeta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

6 oz. Tortilla chips (about 7 cups)

1 cup shredded lettuce

1/4 cup sliced ripe olives

1 can (10 oz) Ro Tel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, drained well

Directions

Brown meat in medium skillet; drain.

Microwave Velveeta in medium microwave-safe bowl on HIGH 1 minute or until completely melted, stirring after 30 seconds.

Place chips on large platter; top with Velveeta, meat and remaining ingredients.

PHILADELPHIA-CHERRY DANISH DESSERT

This is from Kraft, and begins, “Skip the line at the bakeshop and make your own cherry Danish dessert! These PHILADELPHIA-Cherry Danish Dessert squares take just 15 minutes of prep.” Very yummy!

Prep Time: 14 minutes; Cook Time: 45 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour; Makes: 24 Servings.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

2 cans (8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls, divided

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided

1 egg white

1 tsp. vanilla

1 can (20 oz.) cherry pie filling

3 Tbsp. milk

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F.

Unroll 1 can crescent dough into 2 rectangles; press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan sprayed with cooking spray, firmly pressing perforations and seams together to seal.

Beat cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar, egg white and vanilla with mixer until blended; spread onto crust. Cover with pie filling.

Unroll remaining can of crescent dough into 2 rectangles; pat into 13x9-inch rectangle, firmly pressing perforations and seams together seal. Place over pie filling.

Bake 25 to 30 min. or until golden brown; cool slightly.

Mix milk and remaining sugar until blended; drizzle over dessert.

BAKED SPAGHETTI

This is from the Food Network, and begins, “This mash-up of lasagna and spaghetti with meat sauce makes for a warming one-pan dinner. (And if you start with leftover cooked noodles and meat sauce, you're set for a super-fast weeknight meal.) Assemble the casserole ahead of time and bake when you're ready to serve.”

Prep Time: 10 minutes; Inactive Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 1 hour 25 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes; Level: Intermediate; Yield: 6 servings

To view this online, go to https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/baked-spaghetti-3361814.

Ingredients

Kosher salt

1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck

Freshly ground black pepper

1 large onion, diced (about 2 cups)

1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and diced (about 1 cup)

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

One 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

8 ounces thin spaghetti

8 ounces sharp Cheddar, grated (about 2 cups)

1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Heat a second large pot over medium-high heat. Add the beef, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper and cook, stirring to break the meat up, until browned, about 4 minutes. Add the onions, bell peppers, garlic and a generous pinch of salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the crushed and diced tomatoes, sugar and oregano and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti for 2 minutes less than the time indicated in the package directions. Strain well. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cover the bottom of a 13-by-9-by-2-inch pan with a third of the sauce. Add half the pasta and a third of the Cheddar; repeat the layers and add the last of the sauce; reserve the last of the Cheddar.

Bake for 30 minutes. Top with the remaining Cheddar and continue baking until it melts and the sauce bubbles, about 5 more minutes. Let cool in the dish for at least 10 minutes. Garnish with the parsley before cutting into squares.

EASY SLOW-COOKER LASAGNA

This is from tbsp. (Tablespoon.com), and begins, “This lasagna tastes like you spent all day making it, without all of the work.”

Prep Time: 15 minutes; Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes; Servings: 10

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

1/2 cup diced white onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 jar (25.5 oz) Muir Glen™ Organic Pasta Sauce

1/2 cup water

1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg

2 tablespoons fresh parsley or 2 teaspoons dried parsley

6 uncooked lasagna noodles

Directions

In a large skillet, brown beef and onion. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Drain.

Add spaghetti sauce and water to skillet and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Mix ricotta, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, egg and parsley.

Pour 1 cup of spaghetti meat sauce into a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Place half of the noodles and half of the ricotta mixture on top of the sauce. Cover with 2 cups meat sauce. Top with remaining noodles (if the noodles don't fit exactly, break them to fit), cheese mixture and meat sauce.

Cook on LOW for 4-5 hours or until noodles are soft, being careful not to overcook. (Don't try to speed up the process by cooking on high.) Sprinkle 1/2 cup of mozzarella and remaining Parmesan on top. Cover with the lid to melt the cheese and allow to sit 10 minutes before serving.