Two more good recipes

Fred forwarded me his famous Veggie Lasagna so I could post it.  Haven't tried it yet but it looks awesome!
Also, I tried a recipe today for Bean & Bacon soup that I came across on a blog called Table for Two
It was awesome.  Of course, anything with bacon in it can't be half bad.  Don't be fooled by the simple ingredients, it has a ton of flavor.  I used canned beans instead of the dried because that was what I had on hand.  I copied and pasted it below.  Both of these recipes work well for someone watching their carbs and if you are not, just add bread and a beer on the side!

Veggie Tofu Lasagna

Ingredients:

§  Extra virgin olive oil spray

§  1 medium uncooked eggplant, trimmed, 1/4-in thick slices

§  1 large uncooked zucchini, 1/4-in thick slices

§  1 large uncooked squash, 1/4-in thick slices

§  5-6 thin slices of onion

§  1 cup sliced mushrooms

§  2-3 cloves finely chopped garlic cloves

§  1/8 lb Angel Hair pasta, broken into 1” lengths

§  1 pound shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

§  3/4 pound part-skim ricotta cheese

§  2 16oz cans Hunts Fire Roasted Tomatoes

§  1 lb pack FIRM Tofu

§  Sea Salt, to taste

§  Cracked Black Pepper to taste

§  Oregano to taste

§  Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

§  1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Directions:

§  Pre-heat oven to 425°F

§  To assemble lasagna, coat bottom and sides of a 13x9x3 baking dish with olive oil spray

§  Layer half of eggplant, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, 4-5 onion slices, garlic to taste

§  Season to taste with salt, pepper, oregano (salt will pull the moisture out of the eggplant)

§  Sprinkle half of the basil across veggies

§  Add all of the pasta

§  Crumble half of the tofu across veggies

§  Place 6-8 tsps of Ricotta cheese across veggies

§  Cover with Fire Roasted Tomatoes

§  Sprinkle half of the Mozzarella across veggies

§  Repeat a second layer

§  Cover with foil, place on a flat cookie sheet and bake until the bottom starts to bubble, about 40-45 minutes. Remove foil and let bake for another 15 minutes, and then broil for 2 minutes.

§  Remove lasagna from oven and allow to rest for about 5-10 minutes.

Modifications include

• using whole milk instead of part skim ricotta and mozzarella cheese
• adding another protein, cooked chicken (breast or thighs), or ground turkey
• Fire roasted tomatoes can be substituted with pasta sauce
• I like to use the Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic and Oregano included
• If you’re not into Tofu you could leave it out but I encourage you to give it a try
• You could try no cook lasagna noodles, I’ve never tried it.
• Add a salad, some whole grain bread (Rosemary, Olive Loaf), and a nice red wine and enjoy

Creamy White Bean and Bacon Soup

Yield: 4-6 servings | Prep Time: 10 minutes plus overnight soaking of the beans | Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups of dried cannellini beans

5 strips of bacon, cut into tiny pieces

1 medium onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 tbsp. (or more) of fresh rosemary, chopped

4 cups chicken stock

1 tbsp. tomato paste

Instructions:

1. Soak your beans overnight covered in water. Drain the next day and set aside.
2. In a large stockpot, add the bacon to the pan and cook until bacon pieces are brown and crispy. Remove and let drain on a paper towel.
3. If there's a lot of bacon grease in the pan, dump out all but 3 tbsp. of it.
4. Saute onion, garlic, and carrots in the bacon grease until vegetables start to get tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rosemary and cook for an addition 1 minute.
5. Gently pour in the chicken stock and add the drained beans. Whisk the tomato paste in until all has dispersed and incorporated into the soup.
6. Bring mixture up to a boil then cover and let simmer gently for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. When the soup is ready, carefully use your immersion blender and gently pulse the bean mixture until a desired creamy texture is achieved. You see whole beans in my picture - that's because I gently pulsed and left some beans whole because I wanted texture in my soup. You're more than welcome to blend the entire mixture to be more of a puree consistency. If you're worried about blending too much, you can always ladle out a few scoopfuls of beans, blend the soup, then add the beans back in. Really, it's all up to preference! :)
8. Serve hot with bacon pieces on top.
9. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

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This delicious recipe brought to you by Table for Two
http://www.tablefortwoblog.com/2013/01/23/creamy-white-bean-and-bacon-soup/