Poco-Cocoa

Years ago, when I first started cooking, in a small apartment in San Marcos, I found a cookbook called Looneyspoons. I tried lots of recipes from this book, and we loved all of them. Slowly, I bought more and more cookbooks, and this one got put on the shelf and sadly, forgotten about.

Until this week! I found it again, and am excited to be cooking from it again. It’s full of yummy, healthy recipes, plus tidbits of nutrition info. It’s a fun read–the recipes have silly names and lots of puns and jokes. For example, the authors have dubbed this recipe “Thou Shell Eat Beans.” This recipe is the first of many that I will be re-making.

Shells and Beans

• 1 cup diced green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 2 cups canned black beans, drained and rinsed
• 8 ounces uncooked medium-sized shell-shaped pasta (about 3 cups dry)
• 1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese (2 ounces)

Spray a large saucepan with non-stick spray. Add first 6 ingredients and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, until vegetables are softened. Add tomato sauce and black beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare pasta shells according to package directions. Drain. Add shells to sauce and mix well. Ladle into individual serving bowls and sprinkle with cheese.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: Looneyspoons by Janet & Greta Podleski

Tiramisu is an Italian dessert that is traditionally light and airy, made of ladyfingers or sponge cake dipped in a mixture of coffee and marsala wine, then layered with creamy mascarpone cheese and grated chocolate. Tiramisu literally means “pick-me-up”, and it’s one of Justin’s favorite desserts. I decided to make an easy, Americanized version at home to use up some ricotta that we had in the fridge. The result was creamy, sweet, and reminiscent of (though not as rich or perfect as) versions Justin has tried in restaurants.

I did change the recipe a bit (when do I ever follow a recipe exactly?). It calls for Kahlua, which I don’t have at home, and which wasn’t available at the grocery store. I wasn’t about to make a trip to a liquor store for an expensive bottle of something I may not use again, so I used coffee instead. I used instant, because we don’t have a coffee maker, and just dipped the ladyfingers in it. Next time, I think I will just drizzle the coffee over the ladyfingers in the dish, because they absorbed so much coffee that it was a bit too liquidy. It may be the type of ladyfingers I used, though (I found them in the bakery section of HEB)…they were very soft and airy. A stiffer cookie would work better for dipping. Justin loved it, and as it was super-easy to make, he’ll probably get this treat often.

Instant Tiramisu

• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 24 cakelike ladyfingers (2 [3-ounce] packages)
• 1/2 cup Kahlua (coffee-flavored liqueur)
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth.

Split the ladyfingers in half lengthwise. Arrange 24 halves in a single layer in an 11×7-inch baking dish. Drizzle with half of Kahlua, and let stand for 5 minutes. Spread half of cheese mixture evenly over ladyfingers. Repeat the procedure with remaining ladyfingers, Kahlua, and cheese mixture. Sprinkle with cocoa.

Makes 10 servings.

Source: Cooking Light magazine

I’d say aside from chocolate, one of may favorite foods is pasta. Any kind of pasta. I usually make penne or angel hair, spaghetti or rigatoni. I rarely make stuffed pastas because they seem like so much work. I decided to try this manicotti, though, not because it seemed easier (you don’t have to boil the shells!), not because it was lighter, but because the filling had cottage cheese instead of ricotta. My sister used to make us lasagna when we lived at home, and I loved it. She used cottage cheese between the layers of pasta and sauce, and it was always a bit chewy, very flavorful, and not too cheesy. Most stuffed pasta recipes call for ricotta, which is good in its own way, but which I find too gritty and creamy–I always end up smushing out the excess ricotta from manicotti or shells or lasagna.

Anyway, this recipe is a definite repeater. It wasn’t too difficult, though stuffing the manicotti shells took some time. I thought the original recipe for the filling needed a bit more flavor, so I added garlic powder and basil, which turned out perfectly. Justin even loved this, and he’s not a fan of cooked spinach (although he was a bit upset that I hid it from him). Enjoy!

Easy Meatless Manicotti

• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 (16-ounce) carton fat-free cottage cheese
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (8-ounce) package manicotti (14 shells)
• 1 (26-ounce) jar marinara sauce
• Cooking spray
• 1 cup water

Preheat oven to 375�F.

Combine 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, cottage cheese, and the next 7 ingredients (through black pepper) in a medium bowl. Spoon about 3 tablespoons cheese mixture into each uncooked manicotti. Pour half of marinara sauce into a 13×9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange stuffed shells in a single layer over sauce, and top with the remaining sauce. Pour 1 cup water into the dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella evenly over sauce. Cover tightly with foil. Bake for 1 hour or until shells are tender. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 7 servings.

Adapted from Cooking Light magazine.