Two weeks ago Darcey and I started eating healthier. I think it was just after my ice cream epiphany: homemade ice cream tastes really good; so good, in fact, that there is a real danger of eating it all straight away.
This healthier eating decision wasn't really my decision - I needed to get pushed into doing it [Darc is doing some sort of weight-loss challenge at work so I am being supportive] - but now that we are doing it, it feels good. That said, I think what we ate before was mostly good, too - we made almost everything from scratch and bought as few processed foods as possible. We also haven't gone out to eat in restaurants nearly as often since leaving Winnipeg, which, although is mostly sad, is probably better for our health.
So I have waved a [temporary] goodbye to my favourite nemesis, butter [and cream, and cheese and bread and pasta and all things chocolate and...]. And I now watch my portion sizes more carefully. Also, there is a formula about how many carbs we eat, and when we eat them, but to be honest - that is more Darcey's thing than mine. I decided I am only sort of supporting him in the low-carbs department. He is on a schedule where he eats low-carbs for four days, and then higher-carbs for one day. Supposedly this tricks your metabolism into believing you're not on a diet. It also gives you a break on day five, so that you're not constantly craving bread and pasta and bread.
We are allowed to eat some carbs throughout days 1-4, of course. I find these high-fibre, relatively low-fat bran muffins are pretty tasty. They are pretty small, so they make a good snack. We usually have wheat bran in the pantry because I use it to make bran-enriched bread. The recipe for the muffins can be found here.
This website has always inspired me to cook healthier foods, so the other night we tried this recipe. I adapted it only slightly by using spinach instead of kale. It turned out great - except in my opinion this is best eaten right after you cook it. It's not a great leftover dish because it looses its colour and everything kind of turns to mush. Not very appetizing, so next time I would make just enough for one meal.
Yesterday, being day 5 of our carbohydrate consumption schedule, we allowed ourselves some lasagne. I know you are thinking: that is totally cheating. But it wasn't. Normally I make lasagne the way it should be made: lots of rich tomato sauce, lots of rich ricotta and mozzarella and probably I use beef or sometimes pork and beef. It's always a hit. But also very heavy. Yesterday's lasagne reminded me a bit of a leaner, low-fat cross between lasagne and pasticcio. It has lean turkey meat instead of beef or pork, and the only cheese is a bit of parmesan sprinkled on top. The reason I liked it so much was because of all the mushrooms that get stirred into a lighter version of a classic bechamel sauce. Darc found the recipe in one of his muscle-man magazines - and because we had recently also tried a really tasty recipe for turkey burgers from the same magazine , I decided we could chance it.
Turkey and Mushroom Lasagne
[adapted from Muscle and Fitness magazine]
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups sliced mushrooms [any kind you like]
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups skim milk [I almost couldn't do it, but it worked out OK, trust me]
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
450 g lean ground turkey, cooked
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
14 oz can chopped tinned tomatoes, drained a bit
dried Italian type spices, to taste
a few shakes of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
about 9 lasagne sheets, cooked
For the topping:
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 large egg
a few tbsp grated parmesan
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add sliced mushrooms and sautée until the mushrooms are cooked well and most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and use the same pan to cook the turkey, if it hasn't already been cooked.
In a medium saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil until hot. Add the onion and garlic and stir it around a bit. Leave it to caramelize a little bit, probably a few minutes at least. Then you can add whatever spices you think are nice, and a bit of salt and pepper. I used basil, marjoram and thyme. Stir this around just a bit and when you can really start to smell the spices, add the tinned tomatoes. I would keep a bit of the juice because it tends to dry up otherwise. Once you've stirred this all up, you can toss in few red pepper flakes. Let it come to a bit of a boil, and then reduce the heat to let it simmer while you prepare the rest of the lasagne [you may want to keep it slightly covered to stop the liquid from evaporating completely].
Now for the white sauce. In another medium saucepan [I don't use a non-stick for this one because I like to use a metal whisk, but it's up to you], melt butter over medium heat. Once it's sizzling a bit, add the flour and quickly stir it up so all the butter gets incorporated. Move it around a bit until it gets to be a nice golden colour. Then, whisking quickly the whole time, pour in the milk a bit at a time [I get Darc to pour in the milk so I can hold the pan with one hand and whisk with the other - I'm not really very good at this part]. Keep whisking until it boils and thickens, and then you can add the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir for a few more minutes, making sure it doesn't start to burn. Now you can add the mushrooms and the turkey and stir it all up.
Put about half the tomato mixture in a 9x9 oven-proof dish. Then add a layer of noodles, making sure they don't overlap too much. Top this with half the turkey mixture and repeat. Place remaining noodles on top.
The topping is very simple. Just mix the egg and yogurt together well and spread it evenly over the top layer of noodles. Then sprinkle as much parmesan as you deem necessary over top.
Slide it into the oven and bake for about 40-45 minutes - till the top is nicely golden. Take it out and let it sit for a bit before serving. Serves about 6, fairly generously. Or four people who aren't on a diet [but then you should make real lasagne, I think]. And that's it. Bon appetit.
p.s. I don't have a picture of how this turned out because we were starving and I didn't think to snap a photo. And then we promptly put the leftovers in the freezer to have on our next day 5. Maybe I'll show you a photo on Saturday....
