apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Has anyone got any good recipes for spinach lasagna? The ones I've seen seem like you just add a layer of steamed spinach among your layers of cheese etc. but wouldn't it be better if I did something to it? This whole CSA thing is awesome but it is going to make me work this summer! Not being a big spinach eater, any tips would be appreciated!

many thanks for the chocolate ginger cake ideas last weekend! I ended up grating a medium-sized ginger root into the batter, and it was the perfect amount of spice without any bitterness or stringiness. I then made ginger snow (from jocie-o's recommendation) and used the ginger snow in lieu of plain sugar for homemade whipped cream to serve on the side. The co-workers all adored it.

i made boullibaise last nite for the first time visit to my house of a friend who's always hosting dinners, parties, bbq's, etc. i used chowder pieces from sm seafood plus a few shrimp & clams, bread, oil cured olives and morbier and marcona almonds for starters and she brought a bottle of good white. tomorrow's breakfast for my brother & his family. i think i'll make the big pancake, something my brother and i always loved as kids, piled with mixed berries. hmm, what to serve with it? sunday, early dinner for a couple of friends. not sure what i'll make yet. maybe pasta with ricotta salata & lemons? ideas welcome!

More Copper River Salmon tonight, with sauteed spinach. As for the rest of the weekend, we are just going to wing it and see what looks fresh when we venture out for our Saturday morning food safari!

I want to make that rhubarb coffee cake from the NYT food section this weekend. I hope I can find some rhubarb now (our farmers market hasn't opened yet). The grocery had it last week but the season is pretty short.

what I do for spinach lasagne-

I cook the spinach, chop it up, drain it of juices (put it in a colander and press with a spoon), and then mix it in with the soft cheese- in my case, tofu ricotta (used to be cottage cheese before I went dairy freee).

then, I make my lasagne like normal- which for me has always been meatless - as meat and milk have never mixed in my kitchen (jewish dietary laws).

hope this helps!
my lasagne recipe is online, as well at http//jillscooking.blogspot.com :
http://jillscooking.blogspot.com/2007/02/spinach-lasagne.html

does anyone have a recipe for a rhubarb pie or tart? i'm looking online now but thought i would ask here as well. went to the farmer's market this morning bright and early--came home with fresh strawberries, spinach, sugar snap peas, rhubarb, and asparagus. there was a frenzy around the tables of peonies, it made me smile that people were so excited about peonies at 8:30 am on a saturday morning.

the new york times had a rhubarb coffee cake recipe that looked good.

my allergies are totally acting up and i can't taste anything right now. might be time to make some thai curry chicken....

think i will look up that coffee cake, thank you!

Ugh thinkingwoman- I feel your pain. Woke up this morning with zero tastebuds-darn pollen...maybe some homemade salsa with extra chiles will do the trick. Orangette posted some tasty looking recipes and they've been stuck in my head.

must be a rhubarb kind of weekend
i got some at the farmer's market on sunday, but don't want to bake with it, or do a dessert at all...
anyone have any experience with taking rhubarb in a savory direction??

Here's something I love to do with fresh spinach:

Boil up pasta
Fry an egg in olive oil
slip the medium egg onto the pasta
throw handfuls of spinach into the hot pan to just slightly wilt
serve on top of the past and egg
toss a bit of fresh pepper and sea salt, and a quick grating of parmesan cheese.

Eat!

--

We grilled steak last night according to the recipe in this month's Domino magazine. I made a 'salsa verde' with scallions, parsley, mint, olive oil....something else too....and served it alongside the steak, plus corn on the cob, heirloom tomatoes with balsamic, oil, and basil. THe meat eaters said the steak and salsa were good, I just chowed the tomatoes and corn.

well, my allergies cleared up long enough for me to enjoy a yummy pasta primavera.

i made pasta according to clotilde's absorption method, using chicken stock and wine. in another pan, i sauteed onions, red pepper, zucchini, chickpeas, and carrots in olive oil. i tossed them together and topped with lots of pepper, truffle salt, and grated parmesan. YUM.

Spinach lasagna was dubbed "I don't know how you could make this any better", so I guess it turned out ok. Thanks for the tips, jillrenee! Rachel (Denver/NYC) I think I might have to try your recipe with the next CSA spinach, I'm still not used to eggs in my pasta but I might just have to give it a shot! Thanks!