Veggie No-Bake Lasagna

When I was asked to participate in recipe demos at the 14th and U St farmers market with fellow food bloggers Mango and Tomato, Florida Girl In DC and Thrifty DC Cook I was a) totally flattered and b) freakin’ the heck out! The recipe needed to include farmers market finds (duh!) but also be as no-cook/no-bake as possible.

Yikes! I love using farm fresh ingredients in all sorts of things…but it’s rare that I go the no-cook/no-bake route. I’m the girl who makes cheesecakes and brownies in the dead of summer. It could be 100 degrees out and I’m thinking about what to bake.

At any rate…Martha Stewart gave me some inspiration at the last minute. She had a photo and brief “recipe” for a veggie “lasagna” that looked so fresh and pretty. Turns out it was easy enough to make but was sorta bland. So I added in my favorite vinaigrette, some salt and pepper and all was well in the world again.

I hope you guys like it as much as I did! Enjoy!

Vegetable Frittata and Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

After all that market talk, I headed down to the Dupont Circle Farmers’ Market Sunday morning in search of great spring veggies for a frittata. Sadly, there’s not a huge selection of veggies yet, but what was there was great.

Some fresh salad greens, artisan bread and green, white and red onions…it was a successful trip. Oh! And…I got some quark cheese. A first for me, but it was so delicious when I tried it I had to get some. UPDATE: the cheese is from Keswick Creamery!

A quick pit stop at the Harris Teeter (or, The Teet, as I like to call it) to pick up bell peppers and asparagus (I HAD to have asparagus for some reason) and I was ready to frittata my evening up.

I’m pretty sure that making a frittata is the easiest meal you can make for either breakfast or dinner. And if you’re only feeding one or two mouths, making one can easily fill your belly for lunch and dinner the next day.

There’s no messing this one up folks. Pick a cheese, a meat (optional) and some veggies. Generally speaking, I’d say you need about 2 cups chopped veggies, 1 cup diced/chopped meat and 1/2-1 cup cheese (depending on what kind you’re using). That’s all estimated because you should feel free to put as much or as little in your frittata as you like. I’ve listed some ideas to get you rollin’ below the jump!

I served my frittata with a delicate green salad drizzled with a lemon vinaigrette and a charred piece of artisan bread spread with fresh quark cheese. How can you not love a dinner like this!?

Enjoy!

Eggs en Cocotte

Do you like breakfast? I love breakfast. I love breakfast like I love my dogs (they live in Phoenix with my parents)…I experience pure bliss when I’m with them, but miss them ’cause I don’t get to see them often. And so goes the same with breakfast…I don’t see breakfast much at all. Early rising, busy mornings…not a great recipe for a proper, scrumptious breakfast.

But eggs en cocotte have changed that. I’d seen a few recipes for eggs en cocotte (or just, baked eggs if it’s too early for a faux French accent), one at The Kitchn and another at Pete Bakes!, and thought, “Hmm…this looks interesting!”

2 Pasta Salads

I got a request (*ahem* I hope you’re reading, Tom.) for some healthy items. Well…I bake…and that’s not really the healthiest. However, I do have a New Year’s resolution to cook regular food more often this year. So into the cook books I went!

Whenever I think “healthy” I think farmer’s market…well it’s January, so scratch that. The second thing I think of is Weight Watchers. See, when I was 17, I spent a summer away from home…and having never cooked for myself, I proceeded to dine out for three months straight in ignorant bliss. My mother and father came to pick me up at the end of the summer and my poor mom was in pure shock. I had gained something in the vicinity of 20lbs. Yes. TWENTY POUNDS. So guess who ended up in Weight Watchers at the beginning of her senior year of high school? That’s right, this girl.

The BF Cooks: Late Night Cheese Crisps

The BF and I are both (proudly) from Arizona, so when we went home for the holidays it was meet the parents time. Though he’d technically “met” my parents before…it was really just a hand shake and a hello before heading out to a friend’s wedding…it was time for a sit-down, have a real conversation with a few awkward silences and maybe a few gaffes dinner.

What setting could be more appropriate for such an important event as my family’s favorite Mexican food restaurant!? I’m half Mexican-American…and I take my Mexican food seriously. Valle Luna is, hands-down the best Mexican food you can get in a restaurant that doesn’t have a drive-thru in Phoenix. Plus, who doesn’t want to eat a ton of refried beans, chile con carne, tamales, cheese crisps and tacos ending in bloated, food-coma bliss with your girlfriend and her parents?!