I've been having another adventure in foods that are easier to make than one would think!
This round: yogurt.
Yogurt is great. It's fermented, so you know there are lots of good bacteria ready to help you digest your food; it's got lots of protein, which is great for vegetarians; it has lots of calcium to keep your legs from breaking when you fall through the deck.
One downside: It's expensive! Seriously, sustainable yogurt is not sustainable for my wallet. It was always a special treat.
No longer! Milk is way cheaper than yogurt! Turn milk into yogurt in a very simple way!
You will need: 1 quart of milk; 1 t yogurt (yeah, it seems silly to need yogurt to start yogurt, but you won't need to buy yogurt again!); 1 pot with a lid; thermometer so you cook the milk to the right temp; towel or oven.
1 - Heat the milk in the pot to 180 degrees. It takes a while but keep an eye on it.
2 - Once the milk is at 180, turn the heat off, or remove from heat until it reaches 120 degrees. While that's cooling, also bring your dollop of yogurt to room temperature. If you're using an oven, heat to the lowest setting for a couple minutes to take the cold out of it.
3 - Once your milk is 180, mix in the yogurt.
4 - Cover your mixture, and wrap it well in the towel and tuck in in a corner, or stick it in the barely warmed oven. Leave the light on in the oven to keep it a little warmer.
5 - Go to work/bed/do something for 8-12 hours. Let the bacteria have a party and ferment in the milk. This is good for you. Keep it in there longer for a tangier taste. I kept mine in there 9 hours and it didn't really have a taste at all.
6 - Stick it in the fridge for at least 4 hours to set it.
7 - You can eat it now. It'll be a little runny, so you have the option to strain it. Put a cheesecloth in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl, and drain it for half an hour, or up to 6 hours in the fridge for Greek yogurt. Or even longer for yogurt cheese.
Just save the whey for something. If I have whey, I use it for mixing in protein shakes or something. If you're into fermenting, apparently it's great stuff for other fermenting uses. It's good for chickens. Or cooking. I'm sure if you're trying to make your own yogurt, you will find a magical way to use the whey if you want, too.
See? Easy!
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Sorry! Have some lasagna!
I haven't been cooking as much lately. I mean, I have been but it's been not-so-exciting stuff, like chili, wild rice soup, etc. Variations on a theme (aka stuff I've made before or should be common knowledge or is ridiculously easy to make and doesn't deserve a whole blog post).
I did make lasagna a couple times, including tonight, and forgot to post about it, though!
What's so special about this lasagna? It's really low-carb. "But how can you have low-carb lasagna?" you ask?
Zucchini!
Instead of noodles, slice the zucchini lengthwise. I had 6 smallish zucchini and had about half of one left over, but this is the season for bigass zucchini! People look at them and think "How the heck am I going to eat that much zucchini???" This is the dish for those bigass zucchini. They make perfectly lasagna-sized notnoodles. My smallish zucchini were ok, but it's easier with larger ones.
Today, I made alfredo zucchini. I've been on a full-fat kick, so the alfredo sauce has whole milk, the ricotta was made with whole milk, etc. I am just experimenting with healthy fats. Let's see if I get fat! Or heart disease! So far, I don't feel any different, and I don't notice any major difference in the taste. Whole milk smells better warmed up, I guess. Still tastes gross plain as skim milk, so I'll stick with soy for drinking.
Anywho, I used a green pepper, 6 roma tomatoes, 4 medium-sized carrots, 4 scallions, 1 cup fresh parsley, 1/2 c grated parmesan, 1/2 c shredded parmesan, 2 cups ricotta cheese, some italian-style vegan sausages, and some alfredo sauce mix reconstituted with whole milk and more parmesan. And the zucchini.
My first layer was the carrots, green pepper, 2 scallions and grated parmesan. My second layer was the ricotta cheese with the vegan sausages. My third layer was the other onions, tomatoes and parsley along with some of the shredded parmesan.
Splash a layer of alfredo on the bottom, the one layer of zucchini, then the carrot mix. Cover that with a layer of zucchini, followed by a splash of alfredo, then the ricotta/sausage mix. Zucchini, tomato mix, alfredo, zucchini, alfredo, and top with the rest of the parmesan.
Bake for 45 minutes at 350F. You could cover it with tinfoil for the first 30 minutes, but the zucchini lets out water instead of absorbing it like lasagna noodles, so it'll be a lot wetter than usual so I prefer to keep it uncovered. One could also add dry TVP to the bottom layer to help soak up the juice.
The nice thing about lasagna is that it's really flexible. You can use whatever sauce, veggies, proteins, cheeses, etc. My mom told me to use lots and lots of cheese, but I prefer to go a bit lighter on the cheese and heavier on the veggies. Some people use really meaty marinara sauce, but some people also use a light primavera-type sauce. Choose what you like and what your body needs.
Enjoy!
I did make lasagna a couple times, including tonight, and forgot to post about it, though!
What's so special about this lasagna? It's really low-carb. "But how can you have low-carb lasagna?" you ask?
Zucchini!
Instead of noodles, slice the zucchini lengthwise. I had 6 smallish zucchini and had about half of one left over, but this is the season for bigass zucchini! People look at them and think "How the heck am I going to eat that much zucchini???" This is the dish for those bigass zucchini. They make perfectly lasagna-sized notnoodles. My smallish zucchini were ok, but it's easier with larger ones.
Today, I made alfredo zucchini. I've been on a full-fat kick, so the alfredo sauce has whole milk, the ricotta was made with whole milk, etc. I am just experimenting with healthy fats. Let's see if I get fat! Or heart disease! So far, I don't feel any different, and I don't notice any major difference in the taste. Whole milk smells better warmed up, I guess. Still tastes gross plain as skim milk, so I'll stick with soy for drinking.
Anywho, I used a green pepper, 6 roma tomatoes, 4 medium-sized carrots, 4 scallions, 1 cup fresh parsley, 1/2 c grated parmesan, 1/2 c shredded parmesan, 2 cups ricotta cheese, some italian-style vegan sausages, and some alfredo sauce mix reconstituted with whole milk and more parmesan. And the zucchini.
My first layer was the carrots, green pepper, 2 scallions and grated parmesan. My second layer was the ricotta cheese with the vegan sausages. My third layer was the other onions, tomatoes and parsley along with some of the shredded parmesan.
Splash a layer of alfredo on the bottom, the one layer of zucchini, then the carrot mix. Cover that with a layer of zucchini, followed by a splash of alfredo, then the ricotta/sausage mix. Zucchini, tomato mix, alfredo, zucchini, alfredo, and top with the rest of the parmesan.
Bake for 45 minutes at 350F. You could cover it with tinfoil for the first 30 minutes, but the zucchini lets out water instead of absorbing it like lasagna noodles, so it'll be a lot wetter than usual so I prefer to keep it uncovered. One could also add dry TVP to the bottom layer to help soak up the juice.
The nice thing about lasagna is that it's really flexible. You can use whatever sauce, veggies, proteins, cheeses, etc. My mom told me to use lots and lots of cheese, but I prefer to go a bit lighter on the cheese and heavier on the veggies. Some people use really meaty marinara sauce, but some people also use a light primavera-type sauce. Choose what you like and what your body needs.
Enjoy!
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