
You have to agree, this is a pretty nice way to spend a Saturday.


You have to agree, this is a pretty nice way to spend a Saturday.

Today I have something special to share. I promise this isn’t a hard one to make. This a great dish for two, when you have just a short span of time to devote to making dinner. The recipe for this dish came from the trusted Food Network.
I am happy to say that I followed the recipe as it is written. Except I have to admit that I don’t actually own gratin dishes. So I used what I had…

…I think the gratin still turned out good, looks and taste wise (if I may say so myself).
A perfect dinner entree for two. Maybe this could be next year’s Valentine’s Day dinner entree? I strongly recommend!

I am sure this is no grand discovery for many of you but the biggest bang for the time involved is….drum roll please…. lasagna. It takes a little bit of effort, but once it’s all done, you’ve got at least 4 days of dinners. This just means that you’ve carved out 4 evenings of free time to be taken up by some other errands.
Now for the recipe of this time-saver dish. The Three Cheese Lasagna recipe came to me courtesy of Epicurious.com. Knowing me, you’re probably wondering, “how did she alter this recipe?”. I do confess, for some odd reason I couldn’t find the right kind of carrots when I was shopping for the required ingredients. What does one do in this situation? Well, I don’t know what one does, but I just left them out. The taste is still amazing, and every time I serve it, the hubby gives praises.
I serve it with a leafy greens salad, either on the bed of or on the side. In case you are curious, I mix the leafy greens with tomatoes, cucumbers, a bit of red onions and walnuts, tossed with either fat free balsamic vinaigrette or salt, black pepper and a little bit of vegetable oil. Now I present you, with a square of Three Cheese Lasagna on the bed of leafy greens salad (tossed with vegetable oil).


This appetizer is mouth watering (exactly the sensation I experienced when I first laid eyes on it). And why not? All the ingredients individual and together are delicious. So drool no longer, instead take 20 minutes to make the Strawberry Goat Cheese Bruschetta from the Better Homes and Gardens website.
This is a super easy salad to throw together. I was flipping through my first issue of F&W magazine and came upon the Asian Pear and Arugula Salad with Goat cheese. I threw this together for a refreshing lunch for my husband and I.

I very slightly modified the original recipe. Here is what I did:
Ingredients:
Baby Arugula
1 Peeled, cored and thinly sliced asian pear
Slivered Almonds
Extra virgin olive oil
Honey
Chopped fresh thyme
Lemon juice
Salt and black pepper
Crumbled goat cheese
For the dressing:
Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, honey and chopped thyme. Season with salt and pepper.
In a separate bowl, toss together arugula, asian pears, and slivered almonds. Add the earlier mentioned dressing and toss well. Top with goat cheese and serve.

This salad is perfect for a light and refreshing lunch!
The peppers turned out delicious. Judge for yourselves.

Of course you are wondering, how can I have a stuffed pepper like this for dinner? Well, it’s actually relatively simple.
What you will need:
Canned Italian Tomatoes (I suggest buy chopped tomatoes, if you want to save on prep time)
Grated zucchini
Fresh mint
Grated Romano Picorino cheese
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper
Chicken broth (I used 99% fat free)
Orzo, and of course
Sweet bell peppers
What you will want to do to turn these great ingredients into actual stuffed peppers is the following:
1. Mix canned tomatoes, grated zucchini, chopped fresh mint, cheese, olive oil, salt and ground pepper in a bowl.
2. Bring chicken broth to boil.
3. Add orzo to boiled chicken broth and boil for a few minutes (make sure the orzo is NOT fully cooked).
4. Once orzo is ready, sift it.
5. Mix the orzo with the ingredients you’ve already premixed in item 1 above and poor the left over chicken broth into the baking dish you’ll use for the stuffed peppers. To identify the dish, I chose a glass pie dish I had at home that was able to fit 6 peppers.
6. Remove all the insides of the bell peppers and discard.
7. Place the peppers in the baking dish and fill with the orzo mix.
8. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes at 400F. Than remove foil, cover the peppers with additional grated cheese and bake for another 15 minutes uncovered…
…and Voila!

I would recommend letting the peppers cool off slightly before serving. From personal experience they tasted better when they weren’t steaming hot.
Enjoy!