Dinner for Two: Fabulous Lasagna

The great thing about lasagna is that once you’ve gone through the trouble of putting it together, there are tons of leftovers for the next few meals.

The bad part of lasagna is that once you’re sick of eating lasagna every night, the rest sits in the fridge uneaten. It takes two people a long time to eat a full pan of it! But that problem is eliminated with this method!

Now, I’ve got an amazing lasagna recipe that I swear by, but this was just an easier, simpler, less time-consuming version.

Cook up some ground beef…

And boil some lasagna noodles.

When the beef is browned, drain out the grease and add jarred sauce. I used Wegman’s Italian Classics, one jar of Roasted Garlic and one jar of Grandpa’s Sauce.

Next, prepare your cheese. Some ricotta,

an egg,

and some basil, thyme, garlic powder, and oregano.

All mixed up!

Drain your noodles, let them cool, and then begin assembling.

Start with a little sauce in the bottom of some disposable foil loaf pans.

Then add a noodle to each (I had to cut about 2 inches off the end of each with a pair of kitchen shears).

Ooops, just remembered to add mozzarella to the cheese!

Stir that in, then spread a bit on each noodle.

More sauce…

Lather, rinse, repeat. I think I had 4 noodles in each pan at the end.

Top with some more shredded mozzarella, and you’re good to go!

I covered each with foil. Two were set aside to freeze, and the other two went into the oven.

After about 25 minutes in the oven, this is what one looked like!

Very yummy. A little more time intensive than I’d like for a weeknight, but I guess it’s worth it since it’ll save me the work on another night.

Adrienne’s Famous Bean Salsa

I’m not sure how long my sister-in-law, Adrienne, has been making this bean salsa for my family. I’ve been out of state for a while so I haven’t been savvy to who brings what side dishes to gatherings. But everyone in our family knows about it so it’s probably been a while.

All I know is that when hubby and I moved back to NY this summer, she invited us to join her and my brother at her parents’ cottage on the lake for an afternoon. We were sitting on the patio in the shade, watching boats go by and sipping cold beer. Hubby and I had just eaten lunch so we weren’t particularly hungry, and we pretty much ignored the bean salsa that was sitting on the table. For a little whole.

Then, during a lull in the conversation, I picked up a tortilla chip and scooped some out.

Then I couldn’t stop, even though I was full. So nummy. Scoop after scoop.

Afterwards, I wanted it again, but didn’t want to make it just for hubby and I because I knew that it makes a lot. And it’s one of those recipes that’s very difficult to halve because you’re using a can of beans here, a can of corn there, an envelope of seasoning there, etc.

But then Adrienne invited some people over. Now was my chance! It’s a little silly to bring over someone’s own recipe, but I did it anyway.

Here are my ingredients:

Start with the green bell pepper.

Dice it up, and then do the same with a sweet onion.

And then a couple tomatoes.

Next, open up cans of black beans, black eyed peas, and corn. Drain and rinse, then add to the diced veggies.

Then take a tablespoon of minced garlic. This took me forever to prepare, peeling and mincing a ton of small cloves. Better than the stuff from a jar, though.

Plop it on top of everything else.

Oh, and then cut open a lime

And squeeze it over the whole thing.

Now for some seasonings… Oregano…

Basil (from the tube in my fridge)…

And cilantro (also from a tube).

Finally, in a little bowl, combine some olive oil…

and vinegar (I wasn’t sure what kind, so I used white wine vinegar)…

and a packet of Italian dressing mix.

Mix it up, and pour on top of the salsa!

And with that, you’re done!

Chill it for a few hours, then serve with tortilla chips.

It’s so addicting. Seriously. The dressing mix tenderizes the veggies and makes such a delicious flavor. You’re supposed to drain before serving, but I happen to love the Italian dressing/ veggie juice mixture sitting at the bottom of the bowl, so I didn’t.

So when can I have this again?