Fun With Carbs

I’m so glad this one worked out. Otherwise, I may have given up on lasagna for good.

Yes, I’m going to drop that bomb here and back away. I don’t like lasagna in its traditional form, probably because of my pickiness when it comes to the flavor, consistency and volume of tomato sauce. But drown something in alfredo or bechamel, and I’ll eat every bite.

I’ve been searching for new and innovative butternut squash recipes this winter. I’ve made too many bisques. A vegetarian chili with squash and black beans didn’t do it for me, and I certainly can’t make homemade ravioli every night. But a lasagna seemed like an interesting presentation.

Word of warning: I found this to be fairly labor-intensive. As in, not something you can whip up after working late. But I imagine it stores/freezes well if you want to make it in advance and reheat.

Despite the two hours of prep and cook time, this was a huge success – hearty and comforting without heaviness and regret. The roasted squash’s sweetness shines through every layer, melding with the just-enough creaminess of the white sauce and the nutty Parmesan.

I adapted my own twists on this Good Housekeeping recipe (no Swiss chard, more herbs in the sauce, the addition of minced garlic and shallots) but maintained the majority of it. Reworked steps after the jump.

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I didn’t realize tofu would be such a polarizing ingredient when I started this vegetarian experiment. And that’s fine. To each their own, but I’m loving it.

If only it didn’t take so damn long to drain. I’ve found that it’s best to freeze a package, defrost the block and cut it into usable strips/portions, and then press those pieces between two cutting boards with a cloth towel on top (absorbs more liquid than paper towels.)

But once it’s dried, you’re ready to go. This time, I decided to see how tofu would do with a classic buffalo-wing sauce and blue cheese dressing. After grilling the slices, I tossed them in Frank’s Red Hot Sauce with a touch of Tabasco for some more heat.

The verdict? So-so. I do enjoy deep-fried boneless buffalo wings on occasion, and maybe this was just too healthy for me, or not crispy enough. I think I would have been better off making baked buffalo chicken tenderloins.

Nor did I love my chosen brand of “healthy” blue cheese dressing: Bolthouse Farms, with yogurt. I’m not a fan of processed salad dressings to begin with, but it just tasted odd. Another blogger suggested making your own “dressing” by blending blue cheese crumbles with nonfat Greek yogurt, and I think I would have enjoyed that quite a bit more.

I don’t have any photos to share, because I am delinquent. But we finished another semi-vegetarian week and guess what, we’re starting to like it.

Monday: I cooked this curried lentil soup with lemon from Vegetarian Times, adding handfuls of baby spinach for more leafy greens. (I absolutely love spinach in soup.) Great success; I enjoyed eating it for lunch over the next few days. I bought a big loaf of wheat bread to serve with it.

Tuesday: Black bean and butternut squash crockpot chili. I personally didn’t love it. But Rob did, so at least it got eaten. If we’re being totally honest, I’m not a chili fan to begin with, but I figured I might enjoy a version without tons of beef.

Wednesday: Margarita pizza with fresh mozzarella. Basic. Easy. And my pizza stone did not divide itself in the oven.

Thursday: Black bean burgers, again. They were a little too spicy. I need to cut back on the chipotle.

I ate meat on Wednesday (pork banh mi and rare-beef pho at Huong Viet in Hartford) and Friday (my beloved chicken korma at Pintu’s in West Springfield.) And all was fine until Saturday, when we decided to pick up some grass-fed ribeye to cook at home. First, I wasn’t thrilled with the outcome of my red-wine reduction sauce. Second, the flavor of the meat didn’t excite me nearly as much as a good steak used to. Third, I had an upset stomach for the remainder of the night. While I’m not positive the meat caused it, I suspect that it could have been a culprit.

But yesterday, all I wanted for lunch was a turkey sandwich. And so that’s what I ate, returning to vegetarianhood at dinner with handmade butternut squash ravioli and roasted Brussels sprouts.

And while I’m sure this has coincidence written all over it, this is the week where I’ve reached two major running milestones. I’ve been following the Couch to 5K training program on and off since May and began hitting a wall around week 5, where the first of three runs (alternating 5-minute runs and 3-minute walks) jumps rather inexplicably to an 8-minute run/5-minute walk interval and then to a 20-minute run with no walk breaks. I spent months stuck on the first run of that week, mastering the five-minute run and feeling too intimidated to move on.

Until last Monday, when I decided to just go for it and attempt the 8 minutes. When I finished with ease, I felt like a damn superhero. And after completing two more of those runs on Tuesday and Friday, I got on the treadmill Sunday and went for broke. I passed 8 minutes and kept going. Re-evaluated at 10; kept going. Gave Rob the thumbs-up at 11 minutes when he stopped by the water fountain. Shortly after that, I just entered a zone. At the end of the full 20 minutes, I just started dancing on the treadmill. I don’t even care who was watching.

Let me assure you, the last time I ran that far – and long – I was in training for junior varsity cheerleading during my sophomore year of high school, when I was trying to come back from a nasty knee injury. And I thought it would take me another few months to reach this goal. I believe I’ll be signing up for a 5K sometime next year for sure now.